Police warn of new drug: Cloud Nine

Miami police have warned of a potent new mind-altering drug called "Cloud Nine," after a snarling homeless man threatened to eat two officers a week after a grisly face-gnawing attack. The ecstasy-like drug is part of a new line of over-the-counter "bath salts" implicated in an attack last week in which a growling naked man chewed off most of a homeless man's face before being shot dead by police. The police department is now warning officers to be extremely cautious around disorderly homeless men and telling the public to call police immediately if they see anyone showing signs of being on the new drug.

In the latest incident, police took Brandon De Leon into custody after he entered a restaurant shouting obscenities and initially resisted arrest. On the way to the station he slammed his head against the plexiglass barrier in the patrol car, shouting to the officers: "I'm going to eat you!" Later, the 21-year-old growled and grunted like an animal, and tried to bite an officer's hand, police said, prompting them to fit him with a bite mask and leg restraints. In addition to the Cloud Nine, police also believe De Leon finished off a bottle of rum and was working on a beverage called Four Loko, which combines alcohol and caffeine. He tested positive for marijuana, Xanax and alcohol. The case "bears resemblance to an incident that occurred in the city of Miami last week, when a male ate another man's face. AFP

Army finds Mexico's biggest marijuana plantation

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — Mexican soldiers have found the largest marijuana plantation ever detected in Mexico, a huge field covering almost 300 acres (120 hectares), the Defense Department said Thursday.

The plantation is four times larger than the previous record discovery by authorities at a ranch in northern Chihuahua state in 1984. The pot plants sheltered under black screen-cloth in a huge square on the floor of the Baja California desert, more than 150 miles (250 kilometers) south of Tijuana, across the border from San Diego. Army Gen. Alfonso Duarte said the screening, which is often used by regular farmers to protect crops from too much sun or heat, made it difficult to detect from the air what was growing underneath. It was only when soldiers on the ground reached the isolated area Tuesday that they found thousands of pot plants as high as 2.5 yards (meters) tall. The average height of the plants was about 1.5 yards (meters). Duarte said they were not yet ready for harvest.

Video of the plantation showed a sophisticated system of piped-in irrigation to support the plants, which Duarte said was fed by two wells. The plantation also included some wooden outbuildings, presumably for use by people caring for the plants. Troops will destroy the fields by burning them, Duarte said. While it's unknown how much of Mexican drug cartels' income comes from marijuana, recent discoveries suggest it remains a large-scale trade.

Wow that is a lot of weed!