American Morning
NYC health dept. needled over 'heroin how-to' flier
By Alina Cho, CNN
Critics are calling it nothing more than a "how-to" guide for drug addicts. But New York City's health department thinks a controversial flier that's being handed out to heroin users might just save a few lives.
The 16-page pamphlet is called "Take Charge, Take Care: 10 tips for safer use." It’s a virtual heroin how-to guide, complete with illustrations and detailed tips.
"Jump up and down to show your veins, find your vein before you try to inject it. Where's the health concern there? If you miss the vein, you might get a bruise? That's an egregious misuse of taxpayer money," says NYC Councilman Peter Vallone, Jr.
The brainchild of New York City's health department, the 70,000 fliers were paid for with 32,000 taxpayer dollars.
"I think it sends out the message, and the wrong message, that heroin use can be safe. Heroin use cannot be safe; heroin use can be deadly," says John Gilbride, special agent in charge, New York DEA.
That's exactly why New York's health department says these tips are crucial. Accidental overdose is the fourth-leading cause of death in the city, claiming more than 600 lives a year.
Another big issue: HIV and AIDS. One-third of Americans living with HIV are infected through injection drug use. One reason why the health department also encourages users not to share needles, but adds there's no healthy use of drugs, just helpful information.
“The messages are clear. It's about getting help to stop using drugs. It's about preventing overdose. It's about preventing HIV infection and hepatitis infections. That's the context,” says Dr. Adam Karpati, exec. deputy commissioner, NYC Dept. of Health.
The health department says the $32,000 they spent on the fliers is actually a drop in the bucket when you consider how much money is saved by preventing infections. Over a lifetime, treatments can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per person.
The health department says not teaching people how to shoot up safely is turning your back on reality. Meaning you can try to tell someone to stop using drugs, but unless they're ready, they won't.
Scientists 'cooking the books' on global warming?
The climate change summit that starts today in Copenhagen is bringing together officials from nearly 200 nations, including President Obama, who will fly there next week. One of the goals is to get countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions, which scientists say are heating up the Earth and doing damage to the world our kids and their kids will inherit.
But is the problem as bad as some people make it sound? Critics say e-mails swiped from a British university suggest researchers could be putting their own spin on reality. The controversy is creating political fireworks all the way to Washington. Our Jim Acosta has the report.
Kirk Cameron attempts to debunk Darwin
Former teen idol Kirk Cameron is on a crusade to debunk evolution. He's a born-again Christian and part of a group that wrote a new 50-page intro to Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" to mark its 150th anniversary.
Cameron and his group are handing out thousands of copies of the book on universities across the country. CNN's Carol Costello reports.
Follow-up: Patriots or Extremists?
By Jim Acosta
The question comes up time and again: Why is President Obama the target of so much fury from self-described "patriots," tea partiers, and other libertarians in America? Is it racial as former President Carter suggested earlier this year? Sadly, for some Americans, that is the case.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/11/18/patriots_or_millitia292x219.jpg caption="Militias and extremist groups are on the rise in this country, but who is joining these groups and why?"]
But in the growing "patriot movement" in America, there are other factors. For starters, the leaders and many members of both the militia in Michigan and the "Oath Keepers" vehemently deny race is their cause for alarm.
In fact, one militia member told us he was proud to see the first African-American become President of the United States. He just doesn't like where Mr. Obama stands on the issues.
A good many of the self-described patriots say their beef boils down to some of the issues President Obama inherited from the Bush administration.
Libertarians detest a whole host of Bush-era policies from the Patriot Act to the indefinite detention of enemy combatants during the "War on Terror."
Gun enthusiasts abhor the brief confiscation of firearms that happened in the City of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina – another Bush legacy.
Then came the Bush bailout of 2008. For many libertarians and self-described "patriots," the financial rescue of the banks remains an outrage.
So when President Obama continued the bailout with a taxpayer lifeline to the car companies, many on the right saw a further erosion of what they believe is the American way.
The Obama administration argues it was facing a potential Great Depression II, and had no choice but to carry on with the bailout.
White House officials also say they are trying to reverse several Bush war on terror policies right now but caution those changes won't happen overnight.
All of this begs the question: Why didn't these libertarians and self-styled patriots speak out more forcefully when Bush was in charge?
To answer that, you can google Ron Paul. Unfortunately for President Obama, many Americans don't point fingers at former presidents. When things are going downhill, they blame the people in charge.
Do risks of routine mammograms really outweigh benefits?
There are millions of women today who are now questioning the best strategy for detecting and fighting breast cancer.
New guidelines from a government task force advise women to now wait until they are 50-years-old, not 40, to start getting routine mammograms.
So, do the risks of routine mammograms really outweigh the benefits?
To get a perspective from all sides, we talked to: Julie Sisskind, a breast cancer patient without any family history, who was diagnosed from a routine mammogram; Lucy Marion, one of the members of the task force that created the new guidelines; and our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN chief medical correspondent and practicing neurosurgeon.
Since the new recommendations have the potential to affect the health and well-being of millions of American women, it's not surprising that there is a deep concern from many over what this all actually means.
At times heated, this is an interview you don't want to miss.
An oath to the Constitution, not the president
By Jim Acosta
In the first two parts of our series, “Patriots or Extremists?” we looked at the growth of private militias in this country. Now we turn to a group whose founder says he doesn't need a militia. That's because his organization is recruiting its members... right out of the military and law enforcement.
Just a couple of miles off the Las Vegas strip inside a casino ballroom, dozens of men and women are taking an oath. An oath, they say, to the Constitution of the United States – not to the president.
"If we're going to watch while our country dies and think that there's nothing we can do about it, we're wrong," says Richard Mack, a former sheriff.
They call themselves the "Oath Keepers," and last month they held their first national conference.
The group's founder, Stewart Rhodes, a former Army paratrooper and staffer for Congressman Ron Paul, says his members recite a revised version of the oath that's used for enlistment in the Armed Services, but they exclude this phrase: "I will obey the orders of the President of the United States."
"Our role is not to be obedient to whoever happens to be the leader. Our role is to defend the Constitution and the republic," says Rhodes.
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