This Week in History 7/9/04 July 10, 1992: Manuel Noriega is convicted on eight counts of drug trafficking, money laundering and racketeering, and sentenced to 40 years in federal prison. July 11, 1979: A deadly shootout between Colombian traffickers in broad daylight at Miami's Dadeland Mall brings the savagery of the Colombian cocaine lords to the attention of US law enforcement. July 13, 1931: The International Convention for Limiting the Manufacture and Regulating the Distribution of Narcotic Drugs is convened in Geneva. July 13, 1995: The New York Times reports the FDA has concluded for the first time that nicotine is an addictive drug that should be regulated. July 13, 1998: The Associated Press reported that Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey asserted that drug abuse problems in The Netherlands are "enormous" and, as reported by Reuters, said, "The murder rate in Holland is double that in the United States... That's drugs." McCaffrey's comments are subsequently condemned and ridiculed by Dutch officials and media, who point out that the murder rate in the Netherlands is actually less than one fourth the US rate (http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/050/footinmouth.shtml). http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/345/history.shtml