Prince Ra-Man is a fictional comic book magician published by DC Comics. Mark Merlin first appeared in House of Secrets #23 (August 1959), and was created by Mort Meskin. Prince Ra-Man first appeared in House of Secrets #73  (July 1965), and was created by Jack Miller and Bernard Baily.

Fictional character biography
Also known as the Mind Master, he was actually a Doctor Strange-style 'replacement' for a previous long-running series character in House of Secrets named Mark Merlin. A blue suit and black bow tie-clad supernatural detective who lived in the small suburban hamlet of "Cloister" in a mansion on "Mystery Hill" that he had inherited from a stage magician uncle of the same name, Mark Merlin used its vast collection of occult literature and artifacts to battle those who would use the occult for evil ends with the assistance of his beautiful blond secretary/fiancee Elsa Magusson and his black cat Memakata who he found in the tomb of a pharaoh of the same name and whose body he could transfer his mind into with the help of an ancient cat-headed amulet.

When Mark Merlin is banished to the other-dimensional lost world of Ra by the lizard-masked villain the Gargoyle, using the mystic oil lamp of Imhotep he gains mind over matter powers from an emerald-like six-sided jewel that represents the strange hexagonal green sun that hangs above the ancient Egyptian-style realm and which grants all who dwell there immortality. However, he cannot return to Earth in his own body, so the kindly Kranak, a scientist-sorcerer who had led his persecuted peace-loving followers to the alien refuge of Ra over 4000 years ago, uses a potion to reincarnate Merlin's spirit and memories in the body and brain of a long-dead young wizard named Prince Ra-Man, a hero whom ancient legends proclaimed as the son of the sun god for whom their pyramided planetoid was named. The reborn Ra-Man is able to go to Earth in his place and defeat the Gargoyle with his mighty "mental beam" which gives him control over virtually all non-living matter, allowing him to telekinetically levitate objects and to transform stone, metal and even the air itself into other shapes and forms under his command.

Although he longed to return to the peaceful paradise of Ra and Kranak's lovely dark-haired daughter Rimah, the bearded and brooding Ra-Man moved into the mansion, telling Elsa that Mark was dead, and vowed to continue his predecessor's work against the forces of evil. Riding around on his flying carpet-like six-sided green 'sun-disc' armed with his magic gem and an encyclopedic knowledge of black magic, he fought such arcane antagonists as the Heap (no relation to any of the other comic book creatures of the same name) and Lord Leopard and twice battled the evil Eclipso, another House of Secrets regular. The "Prince Ra-Man" feature ended in House of Secrets #80 (September–October 1966).

The "Whatever Happened To Mark Merlin and Prince Ra-Man" backup story in DC Comics Presents #32 (April 1981) finally has Ra-Man reveal his full origin and true connection with Mark Merlin to Elsa whom he had kept it a secret from in the original series, with the Mind Master having been accidentally trapped in Memakata's body after a battle with Merlin's old archenemy Doctor-7 in the years since then. Prince Ra-Man would later be killed in the last issue of Crisis on Infinite Earths. The only panel in which he appeared was his death scene, which was witnessed by the original Shade, the Changing Man.

Later appearances
Ra-Man made a cameo appearance in Grant Morrison's run on Animal Man. He reappeared along with all the other characters who were killed in the Crisis, but the only parts of him that appeared where those that had not been destroyed by the antimatter wave. He appeared stuck on the wall in Arkham Asylum, begging for help.

An aged, retired Mark Merlin appeared briefly in Ed Brubaker's run on the Detective Comics series. Whether this indicates that Mark survived the death of the Ra-Man body or that his death has been retconned is unknown. Batman speaks highly of Merlin's former detective skills and seeks his aid in a case involving the actor-turned-supervillain, the Charlatan.

In Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers of Victory, Zatanna met a floating fakir-like pale green-skinned, balding and big-headed being known as King Ra-Man in the process of investigating the coming Sheeda menace. It is unclear if he is the same person as Prince Ra-Man or another more alien entity from his home dimension which is now referred to as the Interreality of Ra. He vowed that he would assume his 'Wrathful Battle Aspect' and fight the Sheeda. The 'six-sided sun jewel' of the original Ra-Man has now been replaced by the actual cube-shaped sun which, he points out, only looks hexagonal from a distance, which shines over Ra-Man's extra-dimensional realm as the direct source of his powers.

Mark Merlin's widow Elsa and Memakata reappear in Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis in the sea fortress Windward Home along with Dane Dorrance of the Sea Devils and Jim Lockhart, the Red Torpedo. In the Reign In Hell limited series, Prince Ra-Man is one of the leaders of the rebellion in Purgatory, Blaze and Satanus's "Secretary of State" in the armies of Hell. Mark Merlin, no longer dead, appears in Superman #690 and #692, asking the help of Zachary Zatara to find Prince Ra-Man. Mark Merlin appears in a flashback in Xombi vol. 2 #2, in which he teamed up with Sargon the Sorcerer, Julian Parker, and Rabbi Sinnowitz to imprison a powerful magical creature.

After DC Rebirth, he appears as one of the magical characters refusing to be hired by Henry Bendix to kill Midnighter and Apollo.

References

External links
 DCU Guide: Prince Ra-Man
 Mark Merlin/Prince Ra-Man at Mike's Amazing World of Comics
 Mark Merlin at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on February 13, 2016.

Comics characters introduced in 1959
Comics characters introduced in 1965
DC Comics characters who use magic
DC Comics fantasy characters
DC Comics superheroes
DC Comics supervillains
DC Comics characters who have mental powers
DC Comics telekinetics
Fictional characters with elemental transmutation abilities

Prince Ra-Man


Edgar Pierre Joseph Tinel (27 March 185428 October 1912) was a Belgian composer and pianist.

He was born in Sinaai, today part of Sint-Niklaas in East Flanders, Belgium, and died in Brussels. After studies at the Brussels Conservatory with Louis Brassin (piano) and François-Auguste Gevaert (composition), he began a career as a virtuoso, but soon abandoned this for composition. In 1877 his cantata Klokke Roeland won him the Belgian Prix de Rome, and in 1881 he succeeded Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens as director of the Mechelen Institute of Religious Music.

He devoted himself to a study of old church music, and his ideas gave rise to Pope Pius X's Motu proprio. Appointed inspector of music education in 1889, he moved to the Brussels Conservatory to become professor of counterpoint and fugue in 1896, and director at the end of 1908. He was made maître de chapelle to the king in 1910, having been elected to the Belgian Royal Academy in 1902.

His liturgical music is polyphonic in the Palestrina style, but this technique conflicted with Tinel's lyrical and mystical temperament, and he had much greater success in his two concert settings of the Te Deum, the oratorio and the religious dramas. These works indicate his total admiration for Bach, but the orchestration, dominated by the strings, is Romantic. Tinel's piano pieces and songs recall Schumann, Mendelssohn and Brahms. He published Le chant gregorien (Mechelen, 1890).

Work

Operas
Godelieve, Op. 43
Katharina, Op. 44

Choral
Klokke Roeland, Op. 17, cantata
Kollebloemen, Op. 20, cantata, 1879, rev. 1889–90
Vlaamsche stemme, Op. 25, 4 male vv
Te Deum, Op. 26, 4vv org, 1883
Psalm vi, Op. 27, 4 male vv 1891
4 Adventsliederen, Op. 35, SATB
Franciscus, Op. 36, oratorio, 1890, libretto by Lodewijk de Koninck
Aurora, Op. 37, 4 male vv (1885)
Psalm xxix, Op. 39, 4 male vv
Missa in honorem BMV de Lourdes, Op. 41, 5 vv 1892
Cantique nuptial, Op. 45, S/T, org, pf/harp
Te Deum, Op. 46, 6vv, org, orch, 1905
Psalm cl, Op. 47, 4 male vv, 1907

Keyboard music
Four Nocturnes (voice and piano), Op.1
Three Fantasy Pieces, Op. 2
Scherzo in C minor, Op. 3
Two Pieces, Op.7
Piano Sonata in F minor, Op. 9
Au Printemps, Five Fantasy Pieces, Op. 14
Piano Sonata in G minor, Op. 15
Organ Sonata in G minor, Op. 29
Bunte Blätter, six pieces for piano, Op. 32

Orchestral music, songs

 Principal publishers: Breitkopf & Härtel, Schott (Brussels)
Kollebloemen (lyrical poem)
Drie ridders ('Three knights', ballad)
 Incidental music to Pierre Corneille's Polyeucte (1878–1881)

Tinel also wrote a treatise on plain-song.

Honours
 1900: Officer in the Order of Leopold.

See also
 Joseph Ryelandt

References

 E. Closson: Sainte Godelieve de E. Tinel (Leipzig, 1879)
 A. van der Elst: Edgar Tinel (Ghent, 1901)
 P. Tinel: Edgar Tinel: Le recit de sa vie et I'eregese de son oeuvre de 1854 a 1886 (Brussels, 1923)
 Le 'Franciscus' d'Edgar Tinel (Brussels, 1926)
 Edgar Tinel (Brussels, 1946) J. Ryelandt: 'Notice sur Edgar Tinel', Annuaire de I'Academie royale de Belgique, cxvi (1950), 207
 C. van den Borren: Geschiedenis van de muziek in de Nederlanden, ii (Antwerp, 1951), 239ff, 287ff, 335f, 367f
 F. van der Mueren: 'Edgar Tinel', Musica sacra, 1xiii (1962), 113
 J. Vyverman: 'Tinel, Edgar', BNB
 Hugo Riemann, Musik-Lexikon, 9th ed., Max Hellers Verlag, Berlin, 1919.
 S.A.M Bottenheim, Prisma Encyclopedie der Muziek, Het Spectrum, Utrecht, 1957.
 Sylvia van Ameringen, Elseviers Encyclopedie van de muziek, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1962.
 Percy A. Scholes, John Owen Ward, The Oxford Companion to Music, 10th ed., Oxford University * Press, London, 1974.
 New Groves Dictionary (1981), Volume 18

External links
 Edgar (Pierre Joseph) Tinel | Classical Composers Database at www.classical-composers.org

  Site of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels – Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel (Flemish section)
  Site of museum of Edgar Tinel at Sinaai-Waas, Belgium

1854 births
1912 deaths
19th-century classical composers
19th-century classical pianists
20th-century classical composers
20th-century classical pianists
Belgian classical composers
Belgian classical pianists
Belgian male classical composers
Belgian opera composers
Belgian Roman Catholics
Classical composers of church music
Flemish composers
Male opera composers
Prix de Rome (Belgium) winners
People from Sint-Niklaas
Male classical pianists
20th-century Belgian male musicians
19th-century Belgian male musicians
Oratorio composers

Edgar Tinel


Guillaume-André-René Baston (29 November 1741, at Rouen – 26 September 1825, at Saint-Laurent) was a French theologian.

Life
He studied theology at St. Sulpice in Paris and finished his studies at Angers. He was then appointed professor of theology at Rouen. During the French Revolution he wrote against the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Having refused to take the oath, he was obliged to go into exile (1792), first to London, then to Holland, and finally to Coesfeld in Westphalia. In 1803 he returned to Rouen, where he was appointed vicar-general and dean of the chapter by Archbishop Cambacérès. As a Gallican, he won the favor of Napoleon, who appointed him Bishop of Séez (1813), and the chapter of the cathedral accepted him as capitular vicar. Pope Pius VII failing to approve of this nomination, the cathedral chapter revoked the nomination (1814), and Baston went into retirement at Saint-Laurent near Pont-Audemer, where he died.

Works
Baston was the author of numerous works on theology, the most important being "Lectiones theologicae", written while he was professor theology, in collaboration with Abbé Tuvache (10 vols., Rouen, 1818), and he published several polemical works on the subject of theology: "Réponse au mémoire et à la consulation de M. Linguet, touchant l'indissolubilité du mariage" (Paris, 1772); "Les entretiens du pape Ganganelli" (Clement XIV) (Antwerp, 1777); "Voltairimeros, ou première journée de M. de Voltaire dans l'autre monde" (Brussels, 1779).

During the Revolution he wrote many pamphlets against the Civil Constitution of the Clergy and his book "Doctrine catholique sur le mariage" (1791) was published about the same time. During his exile in Kösfeld he began his "Mémoires", edited later by the Société d'histoire contemporaine (3 vols., Paris, 1897–99).

In his last years he wrote "Réclamation pour l'Église de France et pour la vérité contra l'ouvrage de M. le comte de Maistre [Du Pape]" (Rouen, 1821); "Antidote contre les erreurs et la réputation de l'Essai sur l'indifférence en matière de religion" (Paris, 1823); "Concordance des lois civiles et des lois ecclésiastiques touchant le mariage" (Paris, 1824).

References

Mémoires de l'Abbé Baston, ed. Loth and Verger (Paris, 1897)
Hugo von Hurter, Nomenclator (Innsbruck, 1895), III
Bellamy in Dict. de théol. cath., s. v.

1741 births
1825 deaths
Writers from Rouen
18th-century French Catholic theologians
Bishops of Séez

Guillaume-André-Réné Baston


The NatFilm Festival, staged annually across 16 cinemas in Copenhagen, in addition to several in Odense, Aalborg (replaced by Kolding in 2007) and Århus, shows the widest programme of films to the largest festival audience in Denmark. Established in 1990, it rivals the more recently established Copenhagen International Film Festival which emerged in 2003 in prestige though not directly - NatFilm generally occurs in Easter, around the beginning of April, whereas the CIFF is staged in September. Since 2003 NatFilm has steadily attracted a total audience of around 35,000 over its annual ten-day run.

The Copenhagen International Documentary Festival, or CPH:DOX, is an offspring of the NatFilm festival occurring in November. It usually shares some of its more popular or controversial offerings with NatFilm.

The Festival has become an important platform for domestic distributors, who exhibit a range of new films from Bollywood to J-Horror to festival-goers to both gauge and encourage their likely popularity and profitability in the Danish and wider Scandinavian market; the Audience Prize, selected from amongst recent productions that have no scheduled distribution in Denmark, guarantees funds for the theatrical release of the winning film.

The 19th and last staging of the festival, the 2008 NatFilm Festival, occurred between March 28 and April 6, 2008. From 2009, NatFilm and the CIFF was merged into a single event, CPH PIX, it launched on April 16–26, 2009.

The Festival

The Programme
NatFilm generally presents a wide selection of recent international releases targeting certain regions and genres, a programme of Danish films, and a more general retrospective with some particular tributes. Every year since its conception a particular figure in the industry has been selected for a Special Tribute, in which a retrospective of their work has been shown.

To date, NatFilm Festival tributes have comprised the following:

The Awards
Audience Award

The bulk of the festival programme consists of titles not scheduled for Danish distribution, and all participating films without a prior distribution deal for Denmark compete for the Audience Prize of 125.000 DKK (c. $20,000) earmarked for national theatrical release.

Recent recipients of this award include Ten Canoes by Rolf de Heer in 2007 and All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane by Louise Alston in 2008.

Natsværmerpris

The festival is organised by Natsværmerfonden, an independent foundation established to support young Danish film-makers, and every year a stipend of DKK 25,000 is awarded to one or more individuals considered to have made a valuable contribution to Danish film.

Notable prior recipients of this award include Lars von Trier, Thomas Vinterberg and Natasha Arthy.

Critics Award

The Critics Award was introduced in 2004. Each year a panel of three international judges chooses a winner from around ten nominated films, all debut or second features of selected directors. The award is announced at the festival's closing gala and comes with a stipend of DKK 25,000.

Other Awards

Other awards and prizes offered intermittently in the festival's history include a Danmark Radio Filmland Award, Canal+ Script Award and Grand Prix.

International Partners

NatFilm Festival is a member of European Coordination of Film Festivals and serves as the official Danish partner of Equinoxe under the presidency of Jeanne Moreau.

See also
2008 NatFilm Festival
Copenhagen International Documentary Festival

References

External links
Official website of NatFilm Festival
Film Festival World entry for NatFilm
Everything2.com entry for NatFilm

Film festivals in Denmark
Festivals in Copenhagen
Film festivals established in 1990
Recurring events disestablished in 2008
1990 establishments in Denmark
2008 disestablishments in Denmark

NatFilm Festival


GINAF (legally GINAF Trucks Nederland BV) is a Dutch truck manufacturer which produces trucks mainly for heavy duty off-road transport, construction and agricultural work. About 250 trucks are made each year in the company's factory in Veenendaal in the Netherlands. The company also has a service center for their trucks in the small Dutch town Ederveen.

History
The company was founded in 1948 by Wuf and Adrie van Ginkel and started out as a truck dealer. Modifications to trucks left over from the US Army such as the GMC Diamond were also done and these trucks were then sold. In the early 1960s the company became a true truck manufacturer and changed name to Van Ginkels Automobiel Fabriek, or GINAF for short. The company started producing their own trucks using mainly DAF components. Because of this GINAF trucks often look similar to DAF trucks as the cabin used is usually the same as the ones used by DAF.

Since 1986 GINAF uses a hydropneumatic suspension system for many of its trucks, which functions better under heavy loads and rough terrain compared to conventional suspension systems and also has a longer lifespan.

GINAF was declared bankrupt in December 2011; it was then taken over by Chinese CHTC. In October 2020, CHTC divested itself from the company through a management buy-out.

Special trucks
Special custom made trucks include firetrucks, riot control trucks, military trucks, garbage trucks and airport fuel bowsers. Several GINAF trucks also participate in the annual Dakar Rally as both rally and service trucks, having done so since 1987, though the first GINAF to participate in the rally was labelled as being a DAF for marketing purposes. The number of GINAF trucks participating in the rally has been on the rise since Dutch driver Hans Bekx entered a newly constructed GINAF truck in 2000.

References

External links

Official GINAF website

Truck manufacturers of the Netherlands
Dutch companies established in 1948
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1948
Companies based in Utrecht (province)
Ede, Netherlands
Veenendaal

GINAF


The Mazda Porter an Porter Cab wis a series o smaw trucks produced frae 1968 tae 1989, mainly sauld in the domestic Japanese mercat.

B360/B600

The predecessor o the Porter, introduced in Februar 1961, the Mazda B360 wis a pickup (KBBA33) or licht van (KBBAV) version o the R360 kei passenger caur. It haed a 356 cc OHV V-twin (BA) producin 13 hp (10 kW) an weighed 535 kg (1,179 lb).
The 1962, export anerlie Mazda B600 wis seemilar tae the B360 except that it received an enlarged 577 cc version o the air-cooled V-twin. Later versions shared the P600 Carol's 586 cc engine.
In September 1963 the B360 gained the 4-cylinder, 358 cc 20 hp (15 kW) OHV engine frae the Carol. It an aa received a facelift an new modelcodes (KBDA33/KBDAV), an a DeLuxe Van version wis added. Top speed went up frae 67 tae 79 km/h (49 mph). In October 1966 the B360 received anither facelift, givin it a muckle mair modren leuk.

Porter

Available aither as a pickup truck (KBDB33) or a smaw van (KBDBV), the first Porter (E360 in export markets) wis produced frae November 1968 tae Aprile 1976. The caur wis closely based on the B360 predecessor, but wi aw-new body panels.

The initial engine wis the carry-ower fower-stroke, 20 hp (15 kW) 358 cc I4 frae the B360. The engine wis changed tae the Chantez' 35 hp (26 kW)  359 cc watter-cooled, twa-stroke twa cylinder in Aprile 1973, which required some cosmetic changes (KBAA/KBAAV). In 1975 the Porter wis modified tae fit new, lairger license plates an the engine downgraded tae 32 hp (24 kW) tae match new, stricter emissions regulations.

The wheelbase wis 1,995 mm (78.5 in) wi leaf springs in the rear, wecht wis 475 kg (1,047 lb) an maximum cargo capacity wis 300 kg (661 lb) whan first introduced.

Porter Cab (1st generation)

The Porter Cab (KECA53) wis introduced in Mairch 1969. It wis a smaw, cabover pickup truck on a 1,835 mm (72.2 in) wheelbase, equipped wi a live rear axle an a 23 hp (17 kW) at 5500 rpm, 359 cc watter-cooled, twa-stroke twa cylinder. This, the CC, wis Mazda's first twa-stroke engine. Top speed wis 90 km/h (56 mph).

In 1970 new doors wur developed, wi slidin windaes wur exchanged for roll-doun items, incorporatin a quarter windae. A ventilation vent wis an aa added tae the front. Lik the Porter, the Porter Cab received the Chantez-derived AA engine in Aprile 1973, which offered 30 hp (22 kW) at 6000 rpm, five less nor in the Chantez. In Januar 1975, the Porter Cab too wis lightly modified tae fit the new lairger license plates - hitherto, kei caurs haed carried smawer license plates than regular caurs (230 mm (9.1 in) x 125 mm (4.9 in) rather than 330 x 165 mm). The Porter Cab, wi its peculiar cowlings aroond the headlights carried an instantly recognizable "surprised" appearance.

Prices

Porter Cab (2nt generation)

When Kei caur regulations wur changed for 1976, due tae shrinkin sales in the category, Mazda did na think it a worthwhile expenditure tae develop a new, clean 550 cc engine. Instead, thay discontinued the Chantez passenger caur an the Porter pickup, an began buyin Mitsubishi's 2G23 engines tae equip the Porter Cab. The Porter Cab wis stretched bi 200 mm (awmaist entirely ahind the rear axle, wi the 1,835 mm (72.2 in) wheelbase remainin) an widened bi 100 mm (3.9 in). Dimensions wur nou 3,195 mm (125.8 in) x 1,395 mm (54.9 in), the 546 cc Vulcan S twa-cylinder developed 31 hp (23 kW) at 5500 rpm. The headlight bezels wur squared off, lending the caur a mair conventional appearance.

The seicont generation Porter Cab wis anerlie available in a bricht blue colour wi licht grey trim (bumpers, headlight bezels) an black interior, until the 1983 facelift efter which anerlie white wis available. The facelifted version gained the cleaner Vulcan II engine (G23B), awtho pouer ootput remained the same. Trim pieces wur nou in a daurker grey, interior broun.

In 1985 thare wis anither minor facelift, wi trim pieces nou in black an a black baund atween the headlights. The engine switched frae a timin chain tae a timin belt, an the interior changed tae gray. Air conditioning wis nou available as an option. In 1987 the Mitsubishi Minicab received Mitsubishi's new three-cylinder engine, but the Porter Cab haed tae soldier on wi the auld twa-cylinder. In Juin 1989, efter twintie years o continuous production wi nothing mair nor facelifts, the Porter Cab wis finally retired. It wis replaced bi the Autozam Scrum, a mere badge-engineered Suzuki Carry.

References
 360cc: Nippon 軽自動車 Memorial 1950-1975: p97, 2007. ISBN 97-4-86144-083-0
 Kazuo Ozeki, Memories of Japanese K-cars: 1951 ~ 1975: pp34–35, 85, 94-96. 2007: Mikipress. ISBN 978-4-89522-501-4

Kei trucks
Porter
Pickup trucks

Mazda Porter


The Georgian Uprising of Texel (5 April 1945 – 20 May 1945) was an insurrection (a rebellion, or mutiny, when soldiers disobey their orders) by Soviet Georgian soldiers on the island of Texel. The uprising was against the Germans army who had taken over the Dutch island during the Second World War. The event  is sometimes described as Europe's last battlefield.

The island was very important in the German Atlantic Wall – the line of defences along the Atlantic coast. It was strong and had many defences. The Georgians were soldiers from the Soviet Republic of Georgia who had been captured (taken prisoner) on the Eastern front. They were now fighting for the Germans so that they did not have to stay in camps for prisoners. Their job was to help the German troops.

On the night of 5–6 April 1945 they thought that the Allies would land soon. They took over the island and killed 400 German soldiers. Some parts of the island stayed under German control and the Georgian soldiers could not capture them. More Germans were able to come to the island to help defeat the Georgians. After a few weeks of very tough fighting the Germans took control of the island again.

Unfortunately the British and Canadians, who were warned of the events on Texel by escapees who fled by boat to England, did not believe them, and did not take any action in order to stop the fighting.

On Texel this is called the Russian war. Approximately 800 Germans, 500 Georgians, and 120 Tesselans (people from the island) were killed. Lots of farms were burned. Even after the Germans surrendered (gave up) in the Netherlands and Denmark on 5 May 1945, and after the full German surrender on 8 May, the fighting continued. Canadian soldiers stopped the fighting on 20 May.

The Georgian survivors did not have a happy ending. They were sent back to the Soviet Union. Stalin said that because the soldiers had been captured by the Germans, they had not fought until they died, so they were traitors. Some of the two million Soviet prisoners who were sent back to the Soviet Union by the Allied forces after the end of the war were executed (killed) when they got there.

A museum at the airport on the island tells the story of this event.

1945 in Europe
1940s in the Netherlands
Battles involving Canada
Battles involving Germany
Battles involving the Soviet Union
Battles involving the Netherlands
European battles of World War II
April 1945 events
May 1945 events
Texel

Georgian uprising on Texel


Cabredo is a Spanish village located in the west of Navarre near the border with Álava,  away from Pamplona, the capital of the Chartered Community of Navarre. In 2012 it had a total population of 109 inhabitants. It is located below the Codes mountain range and crossed by the Ega river.

Geography
Cabredo has a total surface of , and it borders Genevilla to the north, Aguilar de Codes to the east and Marañon to the South. It is inside the region of Estella.

History
Cabredo is situated in the valley of Aguilar, right below the Codes mountain range. Therefore most of its history is related to this area. Cabredo always belonged to the Kingdom of Navarre. Nevertheless in the 19th century it was briefly a part of Álava, in 1822 and in 1840. In the latter occasion it was the complaints of the local authorities that made the village return to the Navarre territory.

From the 15th to the 18th century Cabredo was the venue of an important sculpture workshop in which the best artists of the area worked.

Art
The principal work of art in Cabredo is the James the Greater church. It dates back to the 16th century and its magnificent wooden wall was built in the 17th century. In the church there are also two valuable altarpieces, one dedicated to the Ecce Homo and the other one to Our Lady of the Rosary.

Cabredo is shaped as a transitory town. It is built around two parallel streets and there are two little chapels in it. One is dedicated to Saint Christ, dating back to the 16th century and another one honouring Simeon. About 500 meters away from the village there is another chapel built in the 19th century which is dedicated to the Our Lady of Carrascal..

Important people

In Cabredo was born Baltasar Jaime Martínez de Compañón who was a prelate who served as Bishop of Trujillo, Peru from 1779 to 1790, at Trujillo Cathedral, and Archbishop of Bogotá New Granada, from 1790 to 1797. He was responsible for founding new towns, building schools, and reforming the silver mine at Hualgayoc. He is most remarkable for his efforts to educate Trujillo's Indians and for his research into local plants, animals, archaeological ruins, music, and native cultures.

In 2011 the Ruta Quetzal honoured the memory and the work he did in South America by naming that year's expedition with his name and visiting the town he was born in, which was called ''La Aventura de Martínez Compañón en Perú, del Desierto Moche a la Selva Amazónica".

Festivities

Cabredo's mayor festival is held the third weekend of September, which is celebrated in memory of San Simeon Labrador. A variety of activities are carried out these days, such as a mass honouring the local saint and a popular dinner.

References

External links
 CABREDO in the Bernardo Estornés Lasa - Auñamendi Encyclopedia (Euskomedia Fundazioa)
 Cabredo (es.wikipedia)

Municipalities in Navarre

Cabredo


Roderick Bernet Allen (born October 5, 1959) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and current game analyst for the Miami Marlins on Bally Sports Florida. He formerly worked as an analyst for the Detroit Tigers on Bally Sports Detroit and Fox Saturday Baseball. He played for the Seattle Mariners, Tigers, and the Cleveland Indians of the Major League Baseball (MLB), and also the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He previously worked as an analyst for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Baseball

Playing career
Allen was selected by the Chicago White Sox in the sixth round of the 1977 Major League Baseball draft. He enjoyed a brief stint with the Seattle Mariners in 1983. He was 23 years old when he made his major league debut on April 7, 1983. He hit .296 in 27 at-bats during a 15-game stint as an outfielder and designated hitter with the World Series Champion Detroit Tigers in 1984, but was not on the team during the postseason. He enjoyed another brief stint in the majors with the Cleveland Indians in 1988. Allen spent the last three years of his playing career with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of the NPB. He hit a pair of home runs against Seibu Lions in the 1991 Japan Series and set a Japanese regular season record with four home runs in four consecutive at bats during his time in the league.  He is infamous for charging the mound after Yokohama Taiyo Whales pitcher Kazuhiko Daimon hit him in the back with a pitch, subsequently chasing Daimon across the entire field with both teams' benches in tow.

Coaching career
Prior to his work as a broadcaster, Allen spent four seasons as a hitting instructor in the Florida Marlins organization from 1992 through 1995.  In 1994 and 1995, he was the hitting coach for the Kane County Cougars, the Marlins Single-A affiliate in the Midwest League. Some of the notable batters he coached include Mike Redmond, Kevin Millar, and Luis Castillo.  During his time in the organization, Allen worked under Marlins GM Dave Dombrowski, who would later become the Tigers president, CEO, and general manager.

Broadcasting

Arizona Diamondbacks
From 1998 to 2002 he spent five seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks as a television (Fox Sports Arizona) and radio (KTAR) analyst. He served as the color commentator on the Diamondbacks radio broadcasts during the 2001 postseason, including the World Series win against the New York Yankees.  Allen was replaced as Diamondbacks television analyst by former major leaguer Mark Grace.

Detroit Tigers
Allen was the regular color commentator on Detroit Tigers telecasts for Fox Sports Detroit, joined by play-by-play man Mario Impemba. Allen won Michigan Emmys in 2006 and 2007 for his analysis of Detroit Tigers baseball.

Allen is a longtime member of the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association founded in 1948 by Tigers broadcaster Ty Tyson.

On September 21, 2016, Tigers catcher James McCann hit a three-run home run against the Minnesota Twins that put the Tigers up 6-0 in the sixth inning. Allen excitedly shouted "Second Deck!", but when heard, it sounds like "suck a dick." This was picked up by Detroit radio station WXYT-FM and it became their most popular drop.

On September 4, 2018, Allen and Impemba were allegedly involved in a physical altercation off the air after broadcasting the Tigers game against the Chicago White Sox. Fox Sports Detroit sent the men home on different planes after the game, and the next night's telecast was covered by Kirk Gibson and field-level reporter Matt Shepard. One source claimed that there was an argument over a chair, followed by Allen using a choke hold on Impemba, but Allen's agent denied that his client choked Impemba. On September 7, Fox Sports Detroit suspended both men from calling any Tigers games for the remainder of the 2018 season. It was later announced the contracts of both Impemba and Allen were not renewed for future seasons, ending their 16-year partnership.

Fox Saturday Baseball
In addition to his work for the Diamondbacks and Tigers, Allen did color commentary for Fox Saturday Baseball, including games involving the Tigers until 2018.

Miami Marlins
In March 2022 it was announced Allen would be joining Bally Sports Florida as an analyst for Miami Marlins telecasts.

Family life
Allen and his wife, Adrian, have four children: Rhonda, Rod, Jr., Andrew, and Rachel. The Allens live in the Phoenix, Arizona area. Rod, Jr. was selected by the New York Yankees in the 12th round of the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft after a collegiate career at Arizona State University. He played the 2004 season with the Staten Island Yankees in the New York–Penn League, and played for the Class A Winston-Salem Warthogs in 2006 and 2007. His most recent professional stint was in 2011 with the White Sands Pupfish in the Pecos League. Andrew was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 43rd round of the 2007 Major League Baseball draft.  He attended Desert Vista High School in Phoenix, Arizona.

References

External links

1959 births
Living people
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Rod Allen


The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through the use of drug prohibition laws. The think tank Global Financial Integrity's Transnational Crime and the Developing World report estimates the size of the global illicit drug market between US$426 and US$652billion in 2014 alone. With a world GDP of US$78 trillion in the same year, the illegal drug trade may be estimated as nearly 1% of total global trade. Consumption of illegal drugs is widespread globally, and it remains very difficult for local authorities to reduce the rates of drug consumption.

History

The government of the Qing Dynasty issued edicts against opium smoking in 1730, 1796 and 1800. The West prohibited addictive drugs throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Beginning in the 18th century, British merchants from the East India Company began to illegally sell opium to Chinese merchants, and by the early 19th century, an illegal drug trade in China emerged. As a result, by 1838 the number of Chinese opium-addicts had grown to between four and twelve million. The Chinese government responded by enforcing a ban on the import of opium; this led to the First Opium War (1839–1842) between the United Kingdom and Qing-dynasty China. The British defeated the Chinese, and in the resulting treaty that ended the war, the Treaty of Nanking, the Qing government was forced to allow British merchants to sell Indian-grown opium. Trading in opium was lucrative, and smoking it had become common for the Chinese in the 19th century, so British merchants increased trade with the Chinese. The Second Opium War broke out in 1856, with the British joined this time  by the French. The Treaty of Tianjin, which concluded that conflict, stipulated that the Chinese authorities would open further ports to foreign trade, including opium.

In 1868, as a result of the increased use of opium in Britain, the British government restricted the sale of opium by implementing the 1868 Pharmacy Act. In the United States, control of opium remained under the control of individual U.S. states until the introduction of the Harrison Act in 1914, after 12 international powers signed the International Opium Convention in 1912.

Between 1920 and  the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution banned alcohol in the United States. Prohibition proved almost impossible to enforce and resulted in the rise of organized crime, including the modern American Mafia, which identified enormous business opportunities in the manufacturing, smuggling and sale of illicit liquor.

The beginning of the 21st century saw drug use increase in North America and Europe, with a particularly increased demand for marijuana and cocaine. As a result, international organized crime syndicates such as the Sinaloa Cartel and 'Ndrangheta have increased cooperation among each other in order to facilitate trans-Atlantic drug-trafficking. Use of another illicit drug, hashish, has also increased in Europe.

Drug trafficking is widely regarded by lawmakers as a serious offense around the world. Penalties often depend on the type of drug (and its classification in the country into which it is being trafficked), the quantity trafficked, where the drugs are sold and how they are distributed. If the drugs are sold to underage people, then the penalties for trafficking may be harsher than in other circumstances.

Drug smuggling carries severe penalties in many countries. Sentencing may include lengthy periods of incarceration, flogging and even the death penalty (in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and elsewhere). In December 2005, Van Tuong Nguyen, a 25-year-old Australian drug smuggler, was hanged in Singapore after being convicted in March 2004. In 2010, two people were sentenced to death in Malaysia for trafficking  of cannabis into the country. Execution is mostly used as a deterrent, and many have called upon much more effective measures to be taken by countries to tackle drug trafficking; for example, targeting specific criminal organisations that are often also active in the smuggling of other goods (i.e. wildlife) and even people. In many cases, links between politicians and the criminal organisations have been proven to exist.

In June 2021, Interpol revealed an operation in 92 countries that shut down 113,000 websites and online marketplaces selling counterfeit or illicit medicines and medical products a month earlier, led to the arrests of 227 people worldwide, recovered pharmaceutical products worth $23 million, and led to the seizure of approximately nine million devices and drugs, including large quantities of fake COVID-19 tests and face masks.

Societal effects
The countries of drug production and transit are some of the most affected by the trade, though countries receiving the illegallyimported substances are also adversely affected. For example, Ecuador has absorbed up to 300,000 refugees from Colombia who are running from guerrillas, paramilitaries and drug lords. While some applied for asylum, others are still illegal immigrants. The drugs that pass from Colombia through Ecuador to other parts of South America create economic and social problems.

Honduras, through which an estimated 79% of cocaine passes on its way to the United States, had, as of 2011, the highest murder rate in the world. According to the International Crisis Group, the most violent regions in Central America, particularly along the Guatemala–Honduras border, are highly correlated with an abundance of drug trafficking activity.

Violent crime
In several countries, the illegal drug trade is thought to be directly linked to violent crimes such as murder and gun violence. This is especially true in all developing
countries, such as Honduras, but is also an issue for many developed countries worldwide. In the late 1990s in the United States the Federal Bureau of Investigation estimated that 5% of murders were drug-related. In Colombia, drug violence can be caused by factors such as the economy, poor governments, and no authority within law enforcement.

After a crackdown by US and Mexican authorities in the first decade of the 21st century as part of tightened border security in the wake of the September 11 attacks, border violence inside Mexico surged. The Mexican government estimates that 90% of the killings are drug-related.

A report by the UK government's Drug Strategy Unit that was leaked to the press, stated that due to the expensive price of highly addictive drugs heroin and cocaine, drug use was responsible for the great majority of crime, including 85% of shoplifting, 70–80% of burglaries and 54% of robberies. It concluded "[t]he cost of crime committed to support illegal cocaine and heroin habits amounts to £16 billion a year in the UK"

Drug trafficking routes

Africa

East and South
Heroin is increasingly trafficked from Afghanistan to Europe and America through eastern and southern African countries. This path is known as the "southern route" or "smack track". Repercussions of this trade include burgeoning heroin use and political corruption among intermediary African nations.

West

Cocaine produced in Colombia and Bolivia increasingly has been  shipped via West Africa (especially in Nigeria, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Cameroon, Mali, Benin, Togo, and Ghana). The money is often laundered in countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, and Senegal.

According to the Africa Economic Institute, the value of illicit drug smuggling in Guinea-Bissau is almost twice the value of the country's GDP. Police officers are often bribed. A police officer's normal monthly wage of $ is less than 2% of the value of   of cocaine  (€7000 or $). The money can also be laundered using real estate. A house is built using illegal funds, and when the house is sold, legal money is earned. When drugs are sent over land, through the Sahara, the drug traders have been forced to cooperate with terrorist organizations, such as Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb.

Asia
Drugs in Asia traditionally traveled the southern routesthe main caravan axes of Southeast Asia and Southern Chinaand include the former opium-producing countries of Thailand, Iran, and Pakistan.  After the 1990s, particularly after the end of the Cold War (1991), borders were opened and trading and customs agreements were signed so that the routes expanded to include China, Central Asia, and Russia. There are, therefore, diversified drug trafficking routes available today, particularly in the heroin trade and these thrive due to the continuous development of new markets. A large amount of drugs are smuggled into Europe from Asia. The main sources of these drugs are Afghanistan, along with countries that constituted the so-called Golden Crescent. From these producers, drugs are smuggled into the West and Central Asia to its destinations in Europe and the United States. Iran is now a common route for smugglers, having been previously a primary trading route, due to its large-scale and costly war against drug trafficking. The Border Police Chief of Iran said that his country "is a strong barrier against the trafficking of illegal drugs to Caucasus, especially the Republic of Azerbaijan." The drugs produced by the Golden Triangle of Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand, on the other hand, pass through the southern routes to feed the Australian, U.S., and Asian markets.

South America

Venezuela has been a path to the United States and Europe for illegal drugs originating in Colombia, through Central America, Mexico and Caribbean countries such as Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico.

According to the United Nations, there was an increase of cocaine trafficking through Venezuela since 2002. In 2005, the government of Hugo Chávez severed ties with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), accusing its representatives of spying. Following the departure of the DEA from Venezuela and the expansion of DEA's partnership with Colombia in 2005, Venezuela became more attractive to drug traffickers. Between 2008 and 2012, Venezuela's cocaine seizure ranking among other countries declined, going from being ranked fourth in the world for cocaine seizures in 2008 to sixth in the world in 2012.

On 18 November 2016, following what was known as the Narcosobrinos incident, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's two nephews were found guilty of trying to ship drugs into the United States so they could "obtain a large amount of cash to help their family stay in power".

According to a research conducted by the Israel-based Abba Eban Institute  as part of an initiative called Janus Initiative, the main routes that Hezbollah uses for smuggling drugs are from Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil into West Africa and then transported through northern Africa into Europe. This route serves Hezbollah in making a profit in the cocaine smuggling market in order to leverage it for their activities.

Online trafficking
Drugs are increasingly traded online on the dark web on darknet markets. Internet-based drug trafficking is the global distribution of narcotics, making extensive use of technology. Similarly, the use of the Internet for the illegal trafficking of two controlled categories of drugs can also be identified as Internet-related drug trafficking. The platform Silk Road provided goods and services to 100,000 buyers before being shut down in October 2013. This prompted the creation of new platforms such as Silk Road 2.0, which were also shut down.

Profits

Statistics about profits from the drug trade are largely unknown due to its illicit nature. An online report published by the UK Home Office in 2007 estimated the illicit drug market in the UK at £4–6.6 billion a year.

In December 2009 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa claimed illegal drug money saved the banking industry from collapse. He claimed he had seen evidence that the proceeds of organized crime were "the only liquid investment capital" available to some banks on the brink of collapse during 2008. He said that a majority of the $352 billion (£216bn) of drug profits was absorbed into the economic system as a result: "In many instances, the money from drugs was the only liquid investment capital. In the second half of 2008, liquidity was the banking system's main problem and hence liquid capital became an important factor ... Inter-bank loans were funded by money that originated from the  trade and other illegal activities...there were signs that some banks were rescued that way".

Costa declined to identify countries or banks that may have received any drug money, saying that would be inappropriate because his office is supposed to address the problem, not apportion blame.

Though street-level drug sales are widely viewed as lucrative, a study by Sudhir Venkatesh suggested that many low-level employees receive low wages.  In a study he made in the 1990s working closely with members of the Black Gangster Disciple Nation in Chicago, he found that one gang (essentially a franchise) consisted of a leader (a college graduate named J.T.), three senior officers, and 25 to 75 street level salesmen ('foot soldiers') depending on season.  Selling crack cocaine, they took in approximately $32,000 per month over a six-year period.  This was spent as follows: $5,000 to the board of twenty directors of the Black Gangster Disciple Nation, who oversaw 100 such gangs for approximately $500,000 in monthly income.  Another $5,000 monthly was paid for cocaine, and $4,000 for other non-wage expenses.  J.T. took $8,500 monthly for his own salary.  The remaining $9,500 monthly went to pay the employees a $7 per hour wage for officers and a $3.30 per hour wage for foot soldiers.  Contrary to a popular image of drug sales as a lucrative profession, many of the employees were living with their mothers by necessity.  Despite this, the gang had four times as many unpaid members who dreamed of becoming foot soldiers.

Impact of free trade
There are several arguments on whether or not free trade has a correlation to an increased activity in the illicit drug trade. Currently, the structure and operation of the illicit drug industry is described mainly in terms of an international division of labor. Free trade can open new markets to domestic producers who would otherwise resort to exporting illicit drugs. Additionally, extensive free trade among states increases cross-border drug enforcement and coordination between law enforcement agencies in different countries. However, free trade also increases the sheer volume of legal cross-border trade and provides cover for drug smuggling—by providing ample opportunity to conceal illicit cargo in legal trade. While international free trade continues to expand the volume of legal trade, the ability to detect and interdict drug trafficking is severely diminished. Towards the late 1990s, the top ten seaports in the world processed 33.6 million containers. Free trade has fostered integration of financial markets and has provided drug traffickers with more opportunities to launder money and invest in other activities. This strengthens the drug industry while weakening the efforts of law enforcement to monitor the flow of drug money into the legitimate economy. Cooperation among cartels expands their scope to distant markets and strengthens their abilities to evade detection by local law enforcement. Additionally, criminal organizations work together to coordinate money-laundering activities by having separate organizations handle specific stages of laundering process. One organization structures the process of how financial transactions will be laundered, while another criminal group provides the "dirty" money to be cleaned. By fostering expansion of trade and global transportation networks, free trade encourages cooperation and formation of alliances among criminal organizations across different countries.
The drug trade in Latin America emerged in the early 1930s. It saw significant growth in the Andean countries, including Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. The underground market in the early half of the 20th century mainly had ties to Europe. After World War II, the Andean countries saw an expansion of trade, specifically with cocaine.

Drug trafficking by country

Syria

The Ba'athist government of Syria ruled by the Al-Assad family is known for its extensive involvement in drug trade since 1970s. As of 2022, the Syrian government finances the biggest multi-billion dollar drug trade in the world, mostly focused on an illegal drug known as Captagon, making it the world's largest narco-state. Its revenues from Captagon smuggling alone is estimated to worth 57 billion dollars annually in 2022, which is approximately thrice the total trade of all Mexican cartels. General Maher al-Assad, younger brother of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and commander of the Fourth Armoured Division, directly supervises the production, smuggling and profiteering of the drug business. Already suffering from severe financial problems as a result of corruption and civil war, profits from Captagon are said to be the "lifeline" of the Assad regime, through which it earns more than 90% of its total revenue. The smugglers receive direct training from Syrian military to successfully conduct trafficking operations.

A joint investigation conducted by Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and BBC News Arabic published a documentary in June 2023, revealing further details about the activities of regime officials, Ba'athist military commanders and Assad family members in their involvement in Syria's drug cartel. The investigation found that Lebanese criminal and drug kingpin Hassan Daqou collaborated with Syria's Fourth Armoured Division on trafficiking billions of dollars of drugs, under the command of General Ghassan Bilal, the right-hand man of Maher al-Assad. The report also unearthed Hezbollah's close participation in the drug production and smuggling networks. The Fourth Armoured Division, being an elite military unit permitted to move freely across Assad regime's checkpoints, oversees the smuggling operations from Syria, including the trafficking of cash, weapons, illegal drugs, etc. Days after the publication of the joint BBC-OCCRP documentary; Assad government banned all activities of BBC media outlets and entry of affiliated media personnel in Syria.

The extensive involvement of Syrian Armed Forces in sponsorship of drug production and trade has led to pervasive drug addiction problems amongst pro-Assad soldiers. In many instances, military officials encourage the soldiers to consume captagon and other illegal drugs, leading to overdose or drug abuse. Pro-Assad fighters in the National Defence Forces and Hezbollah also consume illegal drugs in large quantities. In July 2023, German police busted a major captagon network run by two Syrian-born men in southern German state of Bavaria. Assad regime sponsors the largest Captagon production network in Syria; which is the source of about 80% of total captagon supply in the world.

United States

Background
The effects of the illegal drug trade in the United States can be seen in a range of political, economic and social aspects. Increasing drug related violence can be tied to the racial tension that arose during the late 20th century along with the political upheaval prevalent throughout the 1960s and 70s. The second half of the 20th century was a period when increased wealth, and increased discretionary spending, increased the demand for illicit drugs in certain areas of the United States. Large-scale drug trafficking is one of the capital crimes, and may result in a death sentence prescribed at the federal level when it involves murder.

Political impact
A large generation, the baby boomers, came of age in the 1960s. Their social tendency to confront the law on specific issues, including illegal drugs, overwhelmed the understaffed judicial system. The federal government attempted to enforce the law, but with meager effect.

Marijuana was a popular drug seen through the Latin American trade route in the 1960s. Cocaine became a major drug product in the later decades. Much of the cocaine is smuggled from Colombia and Mexico via Jamaica. This led to several administrations combating the popularity of these drugs. Due to the influence of this development on the U.S. economy, the Reagan administration began "certifying" countries for their attempts at controlling drug trafficking. This allowed the United States to intervene in activities related to illegal drug transport in Latin America. Continuing into the 1980s, the United States instated stricter policy pertaining to drug transit through sea. As a result, there was an influx in drug-trafficking across the Mexico–U.S. border, which increased the drug cartel activity in Mexico. By the early 1990s, so much as 50% of the cocaine available in the United States market originated from Mexico, and by the 2000s, over 90% of the cocaine in the United States was imported from Mexico. In Colombia, however, there was a fall of the major drug cartels in the mid-1990s. Visible shifts occurred in the drug market in the United States. Between 1996 and 2000, U.S. cocaine consumption dropped by 11%.

In 2008, the U.S. government initiated another program, known as the Merida Initiative, to help combat drug trafficking in Mexico. This program increased U.S. security assistance to $1.4 billion over several years, which helped supply Mexican forces with "high-end equipment from helicopters to surveillance technology". Despite U.S. aid, Mexican "narcogangs" continue to outnumber and outgun the Mexican Army, allowing for continued activities of drug cartels across the U.S.–Mexico border.

Social impacts

Although narcotics are illegal in the US, they have become integrated into the nation's culture and are seen as a recreational activity by sections of the population. Illicit drugs are considered to be a commodity with strong demand, as they are typically sold at a high value. This high price is caused by a combination of factors that include the potential legal ramifications that exist for suppliers of illicit drugs and their high demand. Despite the constant effort by politicians to win the war on drugs, the US is still the world's largest importer of illegal drugs.

Throughout the 20th century, narcotics other than cocaine also crossed the Mexican border, meeting the US demand for alcohol during the 1920s Prohibition, opiates in the 1940s, marijuana in the 1960s, and heroin in the 1970s. Most of the U.S. imports of drugs come from Mexican drug cartels. In the United States, around 195 cities have been infiltrated by drug trafficking that originated in Mexico. An estimated $10bn of the Mexican drug cartel's profits come from the United States, not only supplying the Mexican drug cartels with the profit necessary for survival, but also furthering America's economic dependence on drugs.

Demographics
With a large wave of immigrants in the 1960s and onwards, the United States saw an increased heterogeneity in its public. In the 1980s and 90s, drug-related homicide was at a record high. This increase in drug violence became increasingly tied to these ethnic minorities. Though the rate of violence varied tremendously among cities in America, it was a common anxiety in communities across urban America. An example of this could be seen in Miami, a city with a host of ethnic enclaves. Between 1985 and 1995, the homicide rate in Miami was one of the highest in the nation—four times the national homicide average. This crime rate was correlated with regions with low employment and was not entirely dependent on ethnicity.

The baby boomer generation also felt the effects of the drug trade in their increased drug use from the 1960s to 80s. Along with substance use, criminal involvement, suicide and murder were also on the rise. Due to the large amount of baby boomers, commercial marijuana use was on the rise. This increased the supply and demand for marijuana during this time period.

Mexico

Political influences
Corruption in Mexico has contributed to the domination of Mexican cartels in the illicit drug trade. Since the beginning of the 20th century, Mexico's political environment allowed the growth of drug-related activity. The loose regulation over the transportation of illegal drugs and the failure to prosecute known drug traffickers and gangs increased the growth of the drug industry. Toleration of drug trafficking has undermined the authority of the Mexican government and has decreased the power of law enforcement officers in regulation over such activities. These policies of tolerance fostered the growing power of drug cartels in the Mexican economy and have made drug traders wealthier. Many states in Mexico lack policies that establish stability in governance. There also is a lack of local stability, as mayors cannot be re-elected. This requires electing a new mayor each term. Drug gangs have manipulated this, using vacuums in local leadership to their own advantage.

In 1929, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) was formed to resolve the chaos resulting from the Mexican Revolution. Over time, this party gained political influence and had a major impact on Mexico's social and economic policies. The party created ties with various groups as a power play in order to gain influence, and as a result created more corruption in the government. One such power play was an alliance with drug traffickers. This political corruption obscured justice, making it difficult to identify violence when it related to drugs. By the 1940s, the tie between the drug cartels and the PRI had solidified. This arrangement created immunity for the leaders of the drug cartels and allowed drug trafficking to grow under the protection of the government officials. During the 1990s, the PRI lost some elections to the new National Action Party (PAN). Chaos again emerged as elected government in Mexico changed drastically. As the PAN party took control, drug cartel leaders took advantage of the ensuing confusion and used their existing influence to further gain power. Instead of negotiating with the central government as was done with the PRI party, drug cartels utilized new ways to distribute their supply and continued operating through force and intimidation. As Mexico became more democratized, the corruption fell from a centralized power to the local authorities. Cartels began to bribe local authorities, thus eliminating the structure and rules placed by the government—giving cartels more freedom. As a response, Mexico saw an increase in violence caused by drug trafficking.

The corruption cartels created resulted in distrust of government by the Mexican public. This distrust became more prominent after the collapse of the PRI party. In response, the presidents of Mexico, in the late twentieth century and early twenty-first century, implemented several different programs relating to law enforcement and regulation. In 1993, President Salinas created the National Institute for the Combat of Drugs in Mexico. From 1995 to 1998, President Zedillo established policies regarding increased punishment of organized crime, allowing "[wire taps], protected witnesses, covert agents and seizures of goods", and increasing the quality of law enforcement at the federal level. From 2001 to 2005, President Vicente Fox created the Federal Agency of Investigation.
These policies resulted in the arrests of major drug-trafficking bosses:

Mexico's economy
Over the past few decades drug cartels have become integrated into Mexico's economy. Approximately 500 cities are directly engaged in drug trafficking and nearly 450,000 people are employed by drug cartels. Additionally, the livelihood of 3.2 million people is dependent on the drug cartels. Between local and international sales, such as to Europe and the United States, drug cartels in Mexico see a $25–30 bn yearly profit, a great deal of which circulates through international banks such as HSBC. Drug cartels are fundamental in local economics. A percentage of the profits seen from the trade are invested in the local community. Such profits contribute to the education and healthcare of the community. While these cartels bring violence and hazards into communities, they create jobs and provide income for its many members.

Culture of drug cartels
Major cartels saw growth due to a prominent set culture of Mexican society that created the means for drug capital. One of the sites of origin for drug trafficking within Mexico, was the state of Michoacán. In the past, Michoacán was mainly an agricultural society. This provided an initial growth of trade. Industrialization of rural areas of Mexico facilitated a greater distribution of drugs, expanding the drug market into different provinces. Once towns became industrialized, cartels such as the Sinaloa Cartel started to form and expand. The proliferation of drug cartel culture largely stemmed from the ranchero culture seen in Michoacán. Ranchero culture values the individual as opposed to the society as a whole. This culture fostered the drug culture of valuing the family that is formed within the cartel. This ideal allowed for greater organization within the cartels.
Gangs play a major role in the activity of drug cartels. MS-13 and the 18th Street gang are notorious for their contributions and influence over drug trafficking throughout Latin America. MS-13 has controlled much of the activity in the drug trade spanning from Mexico to Panama. Female involvement is present in the Mexican drug culture. Although females are not treated as equals to males, they typically hold more power than their culture allows and acquire some independence. The increase in power has attracted females from higher social classes. Financial gain has also prompted women to become involved in the illegal drug market. Many women in the lower levels of major drug cartels belong to a low economic class. Drug trafficking offers women an accessible way to earn income. Females from all social classes have become involved in the trade due to outside pressure from their social and economic environments.

Colombia

Political ties
It was common for smugglers in Colombia to import liquor, alcohol, cigarettes and textiles, while exporting cocaine. Personnel with knowledge of the terrain were able to supply the local market while also exporting a large amount of product. The established trade that began in the 1960s involved Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela and Cuba. Peasant farmers produced coca paste in Peru and Bolivia, while Colombian smugglers would process the coca paste into cocaine in Colombia, and trafficked product through Cuba. This trade route established ties between Cuban and Colombian organized crime. From Cuba, cocaine would be transported to Miami, Florida; and Union City, New Jersey. Quantities of the drug were then smuggled throughout the US. The international drug trade created political ties between the involved countries, encouraging the governments of the countries involved to collaborate and instate common policies to eradicate drug cartels. Cuba stopped being a center for transport of cocaine following the establishment of a communist government in 1959. As a result, Miami and Union City became the sole locations for trafficking. The relations between Cuban and Colombian organized crime remained strong until the 1970s, when Colombian cartels began to vie for power. In the 1980s and 90s, Colombia emerged as a key contributor of the drug trade industry in the Western Hemisphere. While the smuggling of drugs such as marijuana, poppy, opium and heroin became more ubiquitous during this time period, the activity of cocaine cartels drove the development of the Latin American drug trade. The trade emerged as a multinational effort as supplies (i.e. coca plant substances) were imported from countries such as Bolivia and Peru, were refined in Colombian cocaine labs and smuggled through Colombia, and exported to countries such as the US.

Colombia's economy
Colombia has had a significant role in the illegal drug trade in Latin America. While active in the drug trade since the 1930s, Colombia's role in the drug trade did not truly become dominant until the 1970s. When Mexico eradicated marijuana plantations, demand stayed the same. Colombia met much of the demand by growing more marijuana. Grown in the strategic northeast region of Colombia, marijuana soon became the leading cash crop in Colombia. This success was short-lived due to anti-marijuana campaigns that were enforced by the US military throughout the Caribbean. Instead, drug traffickers in Colombia continued their focus on exporting cocaine. Having been an export of Colombia since the early 1950s, cocaine remained popular for a host of reasons. Colombia's location facilitated its transportation from South America into Central America, and then to its destination of North America. This continued into the 1990s, when Colombia remained the chief exporter of cocaine. The business of drug trafficking can be seen in several stages in Colombia towards the latter half of the 20th century. Colombia served as the dominant force in the distribution and sale of cocaine by the 1980s. As drug producers gained more power, they became more centralized and organized into what became drug cartels. Cartels controlled the major aspects of each stage in the traffic of their product. Their organization allowed cocaine to be distributed in great amounts throughout the United States. By the late 1980s, intra-industry strife arose within the cartels. This stage was marked by increased violence as different cartels fought for control of export markets. Despite this strife, this power struggle led to then having multiple producers of coca leaf farms. This in turn caused an improvement in quality control and reduction of police interdiction in the distribution of cocaine. This also led to cartels attempting to repatriate their earnings which would eventually make up 5.5% of Colombia's GDP. This drive to repatriate earnings led to the pressure of legitimizing their wealth, causing an increase in violence throughout Colombia.

Throughout the 1980s, estimates of illegal drug value in Colombia ranged from $2bn to $4bn. This made up about 7–10% of the $36bn estimated GNP of Colombia during this decade. In the 1990s, the estimates of the illegal drug value remained roughly within the same range (~$2.5bn). As the Colombian GNP rose throughout the 1990s ($68.5bn in 1994 and $96.3bn in 1997), illegal drug values began to comprise a decreasing fraction of the national economy.
By the early 1990s, although Colombia led in the exportation of cocaine, it found increasing confrontations within its state. These confrontations were primarily between cartels and government institutions. This led to a decrease in the drug trade's contribution to the GDP of Colombia; dropping from 5.5% to 2.6%. Though a contributor of wealth, the distribution of cocaine has had negative effects on the socio-political situation of Colombia and has weakened its economy as well.

Social impacts
By the 1980s, Colombian cartels became the dominant cocaine distributors in the US. This led to the spread of increased violence throughout both Latin America and Miami. In the 1980s, two major drug cartels emerged in Colombia: the Medellin and Cali groups. Throughout the 1990s however, several factors led to the decline of these major cartels and to the rise of smaller Colombian cartels. The U.S. demand for cocaine dropped while Colombian production rose, pressuring traffickers to find new drugs and markets. In this time period, there was an increase in activity of Caribbean cartels that led to the rise of an alternate route of smuggling through Mexico. This led to the increased collaboration between major Colombian and Mexican drug traffickers. Such drastic changes in the execution of drug trade in Colombia paired with the political instabilities and rise of drug wars in Medellin and Cali, gave way for the rise of the smaller Colombian drug trafficking organizations (and the rise of heroin trade). As the drug trade's influence over the economy increased, drug lords and their networks grew in their power and influence in society. The occurrences in drug-related violence increased during this time period as drug lords fought to maintain their control in the economy. Typically a drug cartel had support networks that consisted of a number of individuals. These people individuals ranged from those directly involved in the trade (such as suppliers, chemists, transporters, smugglers, etc.) as well as those involved indirectly in the trade (such as politicians, bankers, police, etc.). As these smaller Colombian drug cartels grew in prevalence, several notable aspects of the Colombian society gave way for further development of the Colombian drug industry. For example, until the late 1980s, the long-term effects of the drug industry were not realized by much of society. Additionally, there was a lack of regulation in prisons where captured traffickers were sent. These prisons were under-regulated, under-funded, and under-staffed, which allowed for the formation of prison gangs, for the smuggling of arms/weapons/etc., for feasible escapes, and even for captured drug lords to continue running their businesses from prison.

Western Balkans
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the global drug trade network witnessed the emergence of criminal groups from the Western Balkans as crucial players. These groups have moved up from being small-time crooks to major drug distributors. Most of these organized crime groups belonged to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. The illicit trade activities of the Balkans primarily involved Latin America, Western Europe, South Africa, Australia and Turkey. These groups keep their operations outside the Western Balkans, while staying connected to their homeland. Within the network of these groups, the dealmakers operate in a proximity of supply sources and the distribution networks are managed by foot soldiers. However, the bosses of the organized criminal groups stay and keep their wealth in the United Arab Emirates. The UAE is amongst the enablers of global corruption and illicit financial flows. Analysts have claimed that criminal actors across the world either operate from or through the Emirates. It was a haven for criminals, where the risk for illicit activities remains low.

For the Balkan criminals, a growing trend was to relocate to the UAE, which became an attraction to dirty money and kingpins from several European nations and the United Kingdom. Besides, Dubai was also dubbed as the "new Costa del Crime", replacing the crime hideaway of Spain, the Costa del Sol. The UAE had poor regulations for money laundering and for screening of suspicious transactions. The lack of regulations against illicit financial activities prompted the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to place the Gulf country on its grey list in March 2022. Consequently, the Emirates' remained a safe option for the criminals. Nearly two-thirds of the Albanian criminal groups, who were active in trade of drugs like cocaine, were believed to be hiding in the UAE. One of such individuals, Eldi Dizdari was accused of international drug trafficking and was living in Dubai. Research revealed that these criminals invested huge amounts in the Emirates' real estate and other economical sectors to live there. Another trafficker of cocaine from Bosnia, Edin Gačanin was living in the UAE using his extensive profits to buy property and protection in the country. Dubbed as the "European Escobar", he connected the supply network between production markets of Latin America and consumer markets of Western European. He was able to evade the arrest and investigations, including by the US Drug Enforcement Administration, by seeking shelter in the Emirates.

Trade in specific drugs

Cannabis

While the recreational use of (and consequently the distribution of) cannabis is illegal in most countries throughout the world, recreational distribution is legal in some countries, such as Canada, and medical distribution is permitted in some places, such as 10 of the 50 US states (although importation and distribution is still federally prohibited). Beginning in 2014, Uruguay became the first country to legalize cultivation, sale, and consumption of cannabis for recreational use for adult residents. In 2018, Canada became the second country to legalize use, sale and cultivation of cannabis. The first few weeks were met with extremely high demand, most shops being out of stock after operating for only four days.

Cannabis use is tolerated in some areas, most notably the Netherlands, which has legalized the possession and licensed sale (but not cultivation) of the drug. Many nations have decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana. Due to the hardy nature of the cannabis plant, marijuana is grown all across the world and is today the world's most popular illegal drug with the highest level of availability. Cannabis is grown legally in many countries for industrial, non-drug use (known as hemp) as well. Cannabis-hemp may also be planted for other non-drug domestic purposes, such as seasoning that occurs in Aceh.

The demand for cannabis around the world, coupled with the drug's relative ease of cultivation, makes the illicit cannabis trade one of the primary ways in which organized criminal groups finance many of their activities. In Mexico, for example, the illicit trafficking of cannabis is thought to constitute the majority of many of the cartels' earnings, and the main way in which the cartels finance many other illegal activities; including the purchase of other illegal drugs for trafficking, and for acquiring weapons that are ultimately used to commit murders (causing a burgeoning in the homicide rates of many areas of the world, but particularly Latin America).

Some studies show that the increased legalization of cannabis in the United States (beginning in 2012 with Washington Initiative 502 and Colorado Amendment 64) has led Mexican cartels to smuggle less cannabis in exchange for more heroin.

Alcohol

Alcohol, in the context of alcoholic beverages rather than denatured alcohol, is illegal in a number of Muslim countries, such as Saudi Arabia, and this has resulted in a thriving illegal trade in alcohol. The manufacture, sale, transportation, import, and export of alcoholic beverages were illegal in the United States during the time known as the Prohibition in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Heroin

In the 1950s and 1960s, most heroin was produced in Turkey and transshipped in France via the French Connection crime ring, with much of it arriving in the United States. This resulted in the record setting April 26, 1968 seizure of  of heroin smuggled in a vehicle on the SS France (1960) ocean liner. By the time of The French Connection (1971 film), this route was being supplanted.

Then, until , the majority of the world's heroin was produced in an area known as the Golden Triangle. However, by 2007, 93% of the opiates on the world market originated in Afghanistan. This amounted to an export value of about US$4 billion, with a quarter being earned by opium farmers and the rest going to district officials, insurgents, warlords and drug traffickers. Another significant area where poppy fields are grown for the manufacture of heroin is Mexico.

According to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, the price of heroin is typically valued 8 to 10 times that of cocaine on American streets, making it a high-profit substance for smugglers and dealers. In Europe (except the transit countries Portugal and the Netherlands), for example, a purported gram of street heroin, usually consisting of 700–800 mg of a light to dark brown powder containing 5–10% heroin base, costs €30–70, making the effective value per gram of pure heroin €300–700. Heroin is generally a preferred product for smuggling and distribution—over unrefined opium due to the cost-effectiveness and increased efficacy of heroin.

Because of the high cost per volume, heroin is easily smuggled. A US quarter-sized (2.5 cm) cylindrical vial can contain hundreds of doses. From the 1930s to the early 1970s, the so-called French Connection supplied the majority of US demand. Allegedly, during the Vietnam War, drug lords such as Ike Atkinson used to smuggle hundreds of kilograms of heroin to the US in coffins of dead American soldiers (see Cadaver Connection). Since that time it has become more difficult for drugs to be imported into the US than it had been in previous decades, but that does not stop the heroin smugglers from getting their product across US borders. Purity levels vary greatly by region with Northeastern cities having the most pure heroin in the United States. On 17 October 2018 police in Genoa, Italy discovered 270 kg of heroin hidden in a ship coming from the Iranian southern port of Bandar Abbas. The ship had already passed and stopped at Hamburg in Germany and Valencia in Spain.

Penalties for smuggling heroin or morphine are often harsh in most countries. Some countries will readily hand down a death sentence (e.g. Singapore) or life in prison for the illegal smuggling of heroin or morphine, which are both internationally Schedule I drugs under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.

In May 2021, Romania seized 1.4 tonnes of heroin at Constanța port of a shipment from Iran that was headed for Western Europe.

Methamphetamine

Methamphetamine is another popular drug among distributors. Three common street names are "meth", "crank", and "ice".

According to the Community Epidemiology Work Group, the number of clandestine methamphetamine laboratory incidents reported to the National Clandestine Laboratory Database decreased from 1999 to 2009. During this period, methamphetamine lab incidents increased in mid-western States (Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio), and in Pennsylvania. In 2004, more lab incidents were reported in Missouri (2,788) and Illinois (1,058) than in California (764). In 2003, methamphetamine lab incidents reached new highs in Georgia (250), Minnesota (309), and Texas (677). There were only seven methamphetamine lab incidents reported in Hawaii in 2004, though nearly 59 percent of substance use treatment admissions (excluding alcohol) were for primary methamphetamine use during the first six months of 2004. As of 2007, Missouri leads the United States in drug-lab seizures, with 1,268 incidents reported. Often canine units are used for detecting rolling meth labs which can be concealed on large vehicles, or transported on something as small as a motorcycle. These labs are more difficult to detect than stationary ones, and can often be obscured among legal cargo in big trucks.

Methamphetamine is sometimes used intravenously, placing users and their partners at risk for transmission of HIV and hepatitis C. "Meth" can also be inhaled, most commonly vaporized on aluminum foil or in a glass pipe. This method is reported to give "an unnatural high" and a "brief intense rush".

In South Africa methamphetamine is called "tik" or "tik-tik"."Known locally as "tik," the substance was virtually unknown as late as 2003. Now, it is the country's main addictive substance, even when alcohol is included. " Children as young as eight are abusing the substance, smoking it in crude glass vials made from light bulbs. Since methamphetamine is easy to produce, the substance is manufactured locally in staggering quantities.

The government of North Korea currently operates methamphetamine production facilities. There, the drug is used as medicine because no alternatives are available; it also is smuggled across the Chinese border.

The Australian Crime Commission's illicit drug data report for 2011–2012 stated that the average strength of crystal methamphetamine doubled in most Australian jurisdictions within a 12-month period, and the majority of domestic laboratory closures involved small "addict-based" operations.

Temazepam

Temazepam, a strong hypnotic benzodiazepine, is illicitly manufactured in clandestine laboratories (called jellie labs) to supply the increasingly high demand for the drug internationally. Many clandestine temazepam labs are in Eastern Europe. The labs manufacture temazepam by chemically altering diazepam, oxazepam or lorazepam. "Jellie labs" have been identified and shut down in Russia, Ukraine, Latvia and Belarus.

Surveys in many countries show that temazepam, MDMA, nimetazepam, and methamphetamine rank among the top illegal addictive substances used.

Cocaine

Cocaine is a highly trafficked drug. In 2017 the value of the global market for illicit cocaine was estimated at between $94 and $143 billion dollars. In 2022, illicit sales in Europe were estimated at $11.1 billion, and illicit sales in the US at . In 2020, almost 2,000 tons of cocaine were produced for distribution through illicit markets.

See also

 Allegations of CIA drug trafficking
 Arguments for and against drug prohibition
 Corruption
 Counterfeit medications
 Drug liberalization
 Drug trafficking organizations
 Golden Crescent
 Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia)
 Illegal drug trade in the Indian Ocean region
 Maritime drug smuggling into Australia
 Narco-capitalism
 Narco-state
 Narcoterrorism
 Organized crime
 Operation Show Me How

International coordination
 International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
 Interpol
 United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances

References

External links

  of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
 Illicit drug issues by country, by the CIA. .

Smuggling

Illegal drug trade


The Merchant City Festival is a major cultural festival taking place in Glasgow's Merchant City area.

Attracting more than 55,000 people, the four-day Festival presents the cream of Scotland's theatre, music, visual arts, comedy, dance, film, fashion and food scene.

The Festival presents opera singers in the courtyards and squares performing alongside cutting-edge live art, street theatre, iconoclastic comedy and music from every genre in the bars and on the street. It also has a quirky short film programme that places films in estate agents, hairdressers and tattoo parlours. Many of the events are free of charge.

The Merchant City Festival has attracted an extensive range of supporters and contributors from festival directors to national organisations such as Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

A 'festival of festivals', it has worked with established festivals such as New Moves International, the Glasgow International Comedy Festival, Glasgow International Jazz Festival, Big in Falkirk and Glasgay! An international context is provided by the Directors' Choice programme that provides a remarkable range of street artists selected from festival directors throughout Europe.

The 2008 Merchant City Festival was held in September.

The Merchant City Festival is produced by UZ Events in partnership with Glasgow City Marketing Bureau.

Celtic Music Radio broadcast live from the 2008 festival on 1530kHz and on the internet, from an Outside Broadcast location in Merchant Square.

External links
Merchant City Festival website
Merchant City Photographs

Festivals in Glasgow
Tourist attractions in Glasgow
Cultural festivals in Scotland
Theatre festivals in Scotland
Opera in Scotland

Merchant City Festival


Digital Photo Professional (DPP) is the software that Canon ships with its digital SLR (and some of its compacts, e.g. the Canon PowerShot S90) cameras for editing and asset management of its Canon raw (.CR2) files. It can also work with the older .CRW format of selected models, and also JPEGs and TIFFs from any source. The full version ships on a CD with the camera, and updates can be downloaded from Canon's website. Even though officially DPP only supports Windows and Mac operating systems, it is possible to run DPP on Linux systems by using Wine.

Editing tools
Basic editing tools in DPP include brightness, white balance and picture style adjustment and the adjustments for contrast, saturation and sharpness. There is also a noise reduction tool which has separate settings for luminance and chrominance noise. Lens aberration tool can be used for correcting the effects of physical lens imperfections like peripheral illumination, distortion and chromatic aberration. Aberration tool only works with RAW files that were taken with compatible cameras and lenses.

See also
Comparison of raster graphics editors

References

External links
the-digital-picture.com/News/
Converting Photo To Canvas Painting
Canon Digital Learning Center DPP QuickGuide

Canon Inc.
Photo software

Digital Photo Professional


RCS-4, or 1-pentyl-3-(4-methoxybenzoyl)indole, is a synthetic cannabinoid drug sold under the names SR-19, BTM-4, or Eric-4 (later shortened to E-4), but originally, OBT-199.

Pharmacology
RCS-4 is a potent cannabinoid receptor agonist, with  EC50 values of 146 nM for human CB1 receptors, and 46 nM for human CB2 receptors. All methoxyphenyl regioisomers, and N-butyl homologues of RCS-4 and its regioisomers also display potent agonist activities at CB1 and CB2 receptors.

Legality
RCS-4 was banned in Sweden on 1 October 2010 as a hazardous good harmful to health, after being identified as an ingredient in "herbal" synthetic cannabis products.

It was outlawed in Denmark on 11 March 2011.

In August 2011, New Zealand added not only RCS-4 but also its 1-butyl homologue, and the 2-methoxybenzoyl isomers of both these compounds, to a temporary class drug schedule (i.e. equivalent to Class C but reviewed after 12 months, and with personal possession and use of small amounts decriminalised), which was newly created under the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Act 2011 passed a week earlier.

As of October 2015 RCS-4 is a controlled substance in China.

See also
AM-630
AM-679
RCS-8
Pravadoline (WIN 48,098)
Structural scheduling of synthetic cannabinoids

References

Benzoylindoles
Designer drugs

RCS-4


Crawford is a town in Texas, in the United States. It is former President George W. Bush's hometown. George W. Bush and the First Lady Laura Bush own a 1600-acre ranch in Crawford. They bought the ranch in 1999.  The first family's presence in Crawford, Texas, has helped the small town's economy to grow.  The once nearly deserted streets are now busy with tourists.

Towns in Texas

Crawford, Texas