Word: drugging
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...mechanisms by which antenatal depression may affect a child's future behavior are hazy, but researchers think they could have to do with the environment inside the womb and its long-lasting impact on the growing fetus - a process known as "fetal programming." Maternal influences such as alcohol or drug use, poor nutrition and stress are known to affect the level of hormones in the mother's body. It is thought that biochemical changes in the uterus have an impact on the baby's development, affecting its birth weight and even its future risk of disease, among other things...
...generation of leadership at a moment when Costa Rica's stature as the Switzerland of Central America is in decline. Its democracy remains the region's strongest, but it has been rocked in recent years by a spate of high-level government corruption scandals, a spike in drug-trafficking violence and a widening gap between rich and poor. Costa Rica's image as Central America's moral authority also took a hit last year when Arias - who won the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize during his first presidency for brokering an end to the region's civil wars - was largely ignored...
...Costa Rica, which has long given the isthmus a model to emulate - something it still urgently needs. Central America may no longer be fighting the civil wars that ravaged it in the 1980s, but its problems are nonetheless mountainous and pose policy headaches for Washington in areas like the drug war, free trade and illegal immigration. The region's homicide rates, for example, are among the world's highest, as are its illiteracy and malnutrition indexes. Rule of law, as the Honduras debacle demonstrated, remains largely dysfunctional...
Many Costa Ricans feel that the Arias generation, which did such an impressive job keeping those problems at bay at the end of the 20th century, has let them leach into the country in the 21st. If Chinchilla's winning platform is any indication, rising drug-related violence worries Costa Ricans the most. ("Security, security and more security," she promised.) But worsening social inequality is high atop her campaign's list as well, particularly when it comes to access to education. Schools used to be one of Costa Rica's largest sources of pride and a big reason First World...
...spectacle has created a cruel irony: as the Olympic athletes enjoy the good life - free food, spacious rooms - in a taxpayer-financed housing complex, just a few blocks away sits Vancouver's Downtown Eastside neighborhood, site of some of the most acute poverty in North America. Homeless people and drug addicts hole up in back alleys; one church alone shelters 300 people on any given night. The neighborhood also hosts the first supervised heroin-injection location in North America. "For the city to let that occur while building the Village - that's the height of irresponsibility," says Shaw. Vancouver...