Europe

INTRODUCTION

The present report reviews the evolution of the drug control policy in Sweden, one of the most widely examined and debated drug control policies in the world.

The Swedish drug control policy is guided by the vision and the ultimate goal of achieving a drugfree society and the unequivocal rejection of drugs, their trafficking and abuse is considered somewhat unique. This is particularly so when the drug policy in Sweden is compared to drug control policies in other countries of the European Union. Over the years, the drug control policy in Sweden has been subject to scrutiny numerous times, either at the national level, mostly by expert Commissions established specifically for that purpose, or by scientific researchers both in Sweden and internationally.

As part of its ongoing series on drug control policies at local and national level, UNODC has decided to review the Swedish drug control policy that has evolved over the past forty years. It is a rapid assessment, based on open-source documents, supplemented by Government documents and information obtained from Government officials. While the report does not aim to be comprehensive or exhaustive, an attempt has been made to thoroughly review the available evidence, including data on drug abuse, dating back to the 1940s.

The document examines important junctures in Swedish drug control policy, including the often discussed Stockholm experiment of drug prescription, the introduction of methadone maintenance programmes and, of course, the vision of a drug-free society. An analysis of the drug control situation in Sweden over the years accompanies the document and shows how the drug control situation has evolved over time.

It is difficult to establish a direct and causal relationship between specific policy measures and the resulting drug situation. Nevertheless, in the case of Sweden, the clear association between a restrictive drug policy and low levels of drug use is striking. Few people in Sweden are likely to take drugs in their lifetime, and even less likely to use drugs regularly. Attitudes towards drugs and their abuse is clearly negative. Preliminary calculations for the UNODC Illicit Drug Index, a single measure of a country’s overall drug problem, show a very low value for Sweden which indicates that its drug problem is small, compared to that of other States. However, the relatively high proportion of heavy drug use among drug abusers remains a concern that has been difficult to address. This document cannot provide definite answers to questions about how the levels of drug abuse are influenced by policy measures. It can only present the facts and leave the readers to draw their own conclusions.

Source: https://www.unodc.org/pdf/research/Swedish_drug_control.pdf February 2007

Filed under: Europe,Latest News,Political Sector,Prevention and Intervention :

10 Feb 2026 | By Benjamin Ferrer

Key takeaways

  • The EFSA has set a provisional safe daily intake of 0.0275 mg per kg of body weight for highly pure CBD, a significant decrease from previous international recommendations.
  • Safety could not be set for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, people taking medications, or anyone under 25 due to potential developmental and liver risks.
  • This new threshold applies strictly to CBD isolates with at least 98% purity, excluding any products containing nanoparticles or those with unproven production safety.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published a significant update to its risk assessment of cannabidiol (CBD) under EU novel food regulation. For the first time, it has established a provisional safe intake level for the non-intoxicating cannabis extract on its own or when incorporated as an ingredient in products like tinctures, beverages, and gummies, which are typically marketed for relaxation and stress relief. 

In a newly published statement, scientists from EFSA’s Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens set the limit at 0.0275 mg/kg of body weight per day. For an average adult weighing 70 kg, this equates to a maximum daily intake of approximately 2 mg.

The new limit is considerably lower than the previous 10 mg provisional limit for an average 70 kg adult, suggested by the UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) in late 2023. This stricter European threshold implies that certain products currently on the market may require significant reformulation or relabeling to comply with the emerging EU safety standards.

“This provisional safe dose applies solely to food supplement formulations with CBD purity ≥ 98%, without nanoparticles, for which the production process is considered safe, and genotoxicity is ruled out,” outlines the statement.

“The Panel concludes that, based on all available data, the safety of CBD for individuals under 25 years of age, pregnant or lactating women, and those on concurrent medications cannot be established.”

Human and animal studies

This 2026 update follows a 2022 statement where EFSA halted all CBD authorizations due to a lack of safety information. While the new report acknowledges that there are still many data gaps around CBD, it performed “benchmark dose modeling” based on recent studies up to June 2024. The team applied an uncertainty factor of 400 to determine its toxicological reference point.

“Concerns [in 2022] focused on potential adverse effects on the liver, gastrointestinal tract, endocrine, nervous, and reproductive systems,” the report authors detail.

“Pharmacokinetic studies confirmed that CBD’s bioavailability is variable, influenced by delivery matrix and food intake. Its ability to cross the placenta and accumulate systemically raises further safety concerns. Animal studies revealed consistent liver toxicity, with liver weight and histopathological changes emerging as sensitive endpoints.”

Human trials indicated hepatotoxic potential, particularly when CBD is used in combination with other medications, EFSA warns. Human trials indicated hepatotoxic potential, particularly when CBD is used in combination with other medications, the authors note. Gastrointestinal effects were reported at higher doses, while neurological and psychiatric safety data remain insufficient.

Meanwhile, animal studies have demonstrated reproductive and developmental toxicity. However, EFSA notes that the extent to which these effects occur in humans is still uncertain, particularly in women of childbearing age and in young adults aged 18 to 25 whose neuronal systems are still developing.

The authors also highlight that neurodevelopmental effects following prenatal exposure were observed in research, suggesting “long-lasting, sex-specific outcomes.” These included endocrine disruptions, such as altered thyroid hormone levels and adrenal histopathology.

Key safety findings

EFSA concludes that a safe level cannot be established for individuals under the age of 25, pregnant or lactating women, and consumers taking concurrent medications.

In terms of bioavailability, the agency warns that CBD absorption is highly variable and increases significantly when taken with fatty foods, which complicates setting a fixed safe dose.

The guidance also comes with product specifications. The 0.0275 mg/kg of body weight per day provisional limit applies only to CBD isolates with a purity of 98% or higher, which do not contain nanoparticles and have been cleared of genotoxicity.

EFSA states it will continue to review this provisional level as applicants provide new, high-quality toxicological data to fill the remaining gaps on the nervous and reproductive systems.

Global regulatory variances

Governments have set varying guidance on the safe intake levels for CBD. In the US, the substance remains in a state of regulatory limbo. While the FDA officially maintains that CBD is not authorized for use in foods or supplements under existing federal law, the agency has admitted its current rules are “not appropriate” for the substance. 

EFSA concludes that a safe level cannot be established for individuals under the age of 25, pregnant or lactating women, and consumers taking concurrent medications.

Consequently, while the FDA has called on Congress to create a new regulatory pathway specifically for hemp-derived products, thousands of CBD items continue to be sold across the country under a patchwork of state-level laws and federal enforcement discretion.

In Switzerland, the Federal Department of Home Affairs and the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office issued a letter in 2021 recommending a maximum daily oral dose of 12 mg CBD for adults. The Swiss authorities are also calling for stricter regulation and more toxicological studies to ensure consumer safety.

Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved low-dose CBD-containing products for over-the-counter access as of Dec 15, 2020. This allows TGA-approved low-dose CBD-containing products, up to a maximum of 150 mg/day, for use in adults to be sold over the counter by a pharmacist without a prescription.

For Canada, the Science Advisory Committee on Health Products Containing Cannabis concluded in 2022 that CBD is safe and tolerable for short-term use (a maximum of 30 days) at doses from 20 mg/day to a maximum dose of 200 mg/day via oral administration for healthy adults, provided they discuss the use of all other medications and substances used with their pharmacist.

Source: https://www.nutritioninsight.com/news/eu-efsa-cbd-cannabidiol-safety-novel-food.html

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Europe,Harm Reduction,Marijuana and Medicine,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction :
Home
Lisbon

Introduction

Illicit drugs and new psychoactive substances (NPS) are commonly used across Europe.
Acute toxicity from their use, along with acute toxicity from the non-medical use (misuse) of
prescription medicines, can lead to emergency department (ED) presentations with the
potential for significant morbidity and/or mortality. For the purpose of this protocol, the term
‘recreational drug’ encompasses these three substance groups. A previous study showed
that there are limited systematic data available at a national or international level on acute
harm related to the use of recreational drugs (Heyerdahl et al., 2014). It is not possible to
easily collect these data from national/central sources because of the limitations in the
coding of acute drug toxicity using coding systems such as ICD-10 (Wood et al., 2019). This
lack of systematic data on acute drug toxicity represented a significant gap in the public
health understanding of the implications of drug use in Europe.
To address this gap, the European Drug Emergencies Network (Euro-DEN) project was set
up in 2013, originally funded for 12 months by the DPIP/ISEC Programme of the European
Union. The project has continued as the Euro-DEN Plus project, with support from the
EMCDDA/EUDA. The aim of the project is to increase knowledge on ED presentations with
acute toxicity related to the use of recreational drugs across Europe, in order to contribute,
along with other sources of information, to monitoring and act as an early warning system on
drug-related harms, as well as to inform responses and policies in Europe.
A network of sentinel centres across Europe was developed to collect systematic data on
acute drug and NPS toxicity presentations. Data are collected using a purpose-built
representative minimum dataset (Wood et al., 2014). These data are collected from routine
hospital medical records, with no additional information collected over and above that
collected as part of routine clinical care. Data were initially collected in an Excel spreadsheet
(from 2013-2022). In 2022, the project adopted the secure and EU-approved REDCap online
database for data collection. The data are collated by the Euro-DEN Plus coordinating centre
in London, UK. The EUDA provides support with data quality control for the Euro-DEN
dataset.
The initial Euro-DEN project involved 16 centres in 10 European countries. Over the lifetime
of the Euro-DEN Plus project, 53 centres in 27 countries have contributed data. In 2025,
there were 37 active centres in 21 countries, and over 90 000 presentations were recorded
in the database. The description of the centres is available in the Source table section of the
Euro-DEN Plus data explorer (EUDA, 2025). The location of the centres who reported data
for the year 2024 is presented in the map below (Figure 1).

 

To access the full document:

  1. Click on the ‘Source’ link below.
  2. An image  – the front page of the full document will appear.
  3. Click on the image to open the full document.

Source: euro-den-plus-protocol

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Europe,Psychedelics :
From the French Connection to today’s criminal networks, drug trafficking in France has undergone profound transformations, evolving from centralized, predictable structures to decentralized, technologically advanced organizations. This article examines these changes and highlights the need for a comprehensive approach that combines targeted law enforcement, social prevention programs, financial monitoring, and international cooperation. By reflecting on historical experience, policymakers and law enforcement agencies can better understand modern trafficking methods, anticipate the adaptability of criminal networks, and enhance the overall effectiveness of strategies aimed at reducing the social, economic, and security impacts of drug-related crime

Introduction

Over the past decade, the illicit drug market in France has undergone unprecedented expansion, underscoring the magnitude of a phenomenon long underestimated by public authorities. A research note published in December 2025 by Christian Ben Lakhdar and Sophie Massin, professors at the University of Lille, estimates that the economic value of this market nearly tripled between 2010 and 2023, reaching approximately 7.9 billion U.S. dollars annually. This growth reflects not merely rising consumption levels but a profound restructuring of procurement dynamics: while cannabis remains dominant in terms of volume, cocaine has emerged as the most profitable substance, and synthetic drugs have experienced particularly rapid expansion. These trends point to the consolidation of criminal networks capable of optimizing pricing, purity, and distribution channels on an international scale. As a result, drug trafficking has become a major security and public health concern, extending well beyond the boundaries of conventional criminal activity. Understanding this contemporary landscape, however, requires a historical perspective, as today’s challenges are embedded in a longer continuum of State efforts to confront highly structured and adaptive criminal organizations in France.

The war on drugs in France has unfolded through multiple historical phases, each revealing shifts in criminal structures and governmental responses. During the 1960s and 1970s, a criminal network based in Marseille controlled the flow of heroin to the United States. This network, popularized globally by William Friedkin’s film The French Connection(1971), consisted of Corsican mobsters and Marseille traffickers operating clandestine laboratories where heroin was refined before being shipped by sea to New York and Boston . French authorities, cooperating closely with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), relied on traditional intelligence methods: physical surveillance, infiltration, and monitoring of laboratories and transport routes. These operations identified key leaders, disrupted the trafficking network, and enabled the seizure of large heroin shipments. A notable example is the arrest of French TV presenter Jacques Angelvin in New York in 1962, resulting from a Franco-American joint investigation, which demonstrates how international collaboration facilitated the progressive dismantling of the French Connection while highlighting the interplay between domestic policing and transatlantic intelligence coordination.

Today, drug trafficking in France has become a pressing public health and security challenge, far more complex than in the 1960s. According to the French Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, roughly 1.1 million people used cocaine at least once in 2023, while cannabis remained the most widely consumed illicit drug, with 5 million adults reporting use during the same year. Other substances, including heroin and synthetic drugs, circulate through ports, airports, and dense urban networks. Modern traffickers rely on encrypted communications and opaque financial flows to evade detection. Law enforcement agencies must sift through extensive data—from wiretaps and financial transfers to social media activity—to track the movement of drugs and identify key actors. Violence associated with trafficking is escalating, marked by targeted shootings, score-settling, and even acts of torture, underscoring the urgent need for multidimensional strategies to curb traffickers’ influence across France. The scale and sophistication of contemporary operations demand a response that combines physical, digital, and social interventions, illustrating that historical methods alone are insufficient for addressing modern organized crime.

A comparison between historical and contemporary criminal networks illuminates how organized crime has evolved and identifies levers for modern enforcement. The French Connection was dismantled due to its centralized structure and high visibility, but today’s networks require more sophisticated, adaptive approaches. Effective action now combines digital and field intelligence, targeted arrests, disruption of supply chains, financial tracking, and social initiatives to reduce traffickers’ appeal among vulnerable populations. International coordination is equally essential: France collaborates with Europol, Interpol, and other agencies to monitor drug and money flows across borders. Historical lessons provide a framework for evaluating the effectiveness of cooperation, infiltration, and criminal flow management, while also highlighting the necessity of adapting policing and judicial methods to technological innovation. By reconciling enforcement, prevention, and social protection, France aims to address current and future challenges in the war on drugs, reflecting the dynamic and multifaceted nature of modern trafficking networks.

France’s Narco Challenge

Over the past decade, France has faced a worrying surge in drug-related violence, affecting both the suburbs of major cities and medium-sized towns. According to the Ministry of the Interior, more than 110 tons of narcotics were seized in 2024, including 53 tons of cocaine—more than double the previous year’s haul (). Cannabis seizures exceeded 50 tons, alongside the destruction of nearly 700,000 plants. Meanwhile, 110 drug-related deaths and several hundred injuries were reported. Cities historically less affected, such as Clermont-Ferrand (150,000 inhabitants) and Avignon (92,000 inhabitants), were designated “reinforced security zones” following fatal shootings, while metropolitan hubs like Nantes saw over 1,100 drug-dealing hotspots dismantled between September 2022 and September 2023. Marseille, long a hub for drug trafficking, continues to experience deadly incidents, including the November 2025 murder of 20-year-old Mehdi Kessaci, apparently intended to intimidate his brother, an anti-drug activist. This event sparked widespread local protests, highlighting the persistence and territorial reach of criminal networks despite sustained law enforcement efforts. The scale and visibility of these operations underscore the pressing challenge posed by modern trafficking, both in terms of public safety and operational complexity.

The social and economic consequences of rising drug-related violence are profound. In neighborhoods of Marseille, Lyon, and Nantes, fear shapes daily life: residents restrict movement, shops close earlier or intermittently, and families hesitate to let children travel alone. Police presence, though increased through patrols and identity checks, is often seen as inadequate, fostering feelings of abandonment and vulnerability. In areas sometimes described as “no-go zones,” minors as young as 14 are recruited by traffickers for final distribution, surveillance, or territorial security, perpetuating cycles of violence and criminality. Public demonstrations, such as those following Mehdi Kessaci’s assassination, reflect dual social demands: for a more visible and efficient justice system capable of deterrence and for community support programs that reduce trafficking’s appeal among vulnerable youth. Authorities themselves acknowledge the limits of their power in these contexts. These dynamics illustrate that modern drug violence is not merely a law enforcement problem, but a deeply rooted social and economic issue, requiring coordinated interventions that address both criminal operations and the broader community environment.

Despite intensified policing, repression alone proves insufficient against criminal networks, whose sophistication surpasses the French Connection. Traffickers rely on undetectable smartphones, encrypted messaging, and cryptocurrencies to obscure financial flows, complicating investigations and prolonging operational timelines. “XXL clean-up” operations in spring 2024 resulted in thousands of arrests and the seizure of weapons, narcotics, and criminal assets, demonstrating short-term effectiveness but failing to curb trafficking long-term. Experts advocate a multidimensional strategy that combines targeted enforcement, digital surveillance, financial control, prevention measures, and social reintegration programs. This holistic approach draws lessons from historical dismantling but must adapt to modern realities: criminal networks are flexible, decentralized, and technologically sophisticated, making AI-driven analysis of big data critical. The contrast with the French Connection underscores both continuity and evolution: the principles of disruption remain valid, but operational methods must now account for mobility, cryptography, and the fluidity of modern criminal ecosystems.

Inside the French Connection

The French Connection, active primarily in the 1960s and 1970s, represents a historical model of organized crime built around a highly centralized supply chain. Groups based in Marseille controlled the production, refining, and export of heroin to the United States by importing morphine base from Turkey and the Middle East. Clandestine laboratories in the Marseille countryside transformed diacetylmorphine into highly pure heroin for U.S markets. The most notorious of these laboratories, the “Césari Lab,” linked to chemist Joseph Césari, was dismantled in March 1972 with nearly 100 kg of heroin seized. Cell leaders managed security, coordination, and transport, often relying on predictable routes: overland transfer to Marseille, concealment in shipments of fruit, textiles, or machinery, followed by maritime dispatch to the East Coast. While this organization enabled industrial efficiency, it also created vulnerability: fixed routes and concentrated production points made surveillance and interceptions easier, ultimately contributing to the network’s downfall. This paradox highlights the balance between operational efficiency and exposure in centralized criminal systems.

Authorities dismantled the French Connection through a three-pronged strategy. First, international cooperation with the U.S. DEA was significantly strengthened, ensuring continuous intelligence sharing on routes, laboratories, couriers, and financiers. This collaboration produced high-profile joint operations, including the January 1973 arrests of Jean-Baptiste Croce and Joseph Mari, key figures in Marseille’s heroin export to the United States. Second, French services applied classic intelligence techniques: surveillance, wiretapping, supply chain mapping, and meticulous monitoring of regional hubs. The investigations identified clandestine laboratories and intermediary networks. Third, targeted operations seized shipments, arrested chemists, and systematically dismantled production units, gradually weakening the network. These successive strikes revealed that what made the operation efficient also made it exploitable, demonstrating the inherent vulnerability of tightly centralized criminal structures.

These combined efforts exposed the internal weaknesses of a system the media depicted as sprawling. Dependence on fixed routes, the concentration of laboratories, and the public visibility of influential figures—including Marcel Francisci, a businessman and politician—facilitated intelligence work. By late 1973, these operations led President Richard Nixon to declare that Marseille heroin had effectively vanished from the American market. The French Connection provides a valuable framework for understanding contemporary criminal networks can be neutralized when flows, actors, and infrastructure are clearly identified, even without modern technology. Yet, comparing past and present highlights change: centralized, predictable structures have given way to fragmented and mobile networks using encrypted communications, digital services, and dispersed logistics. The enduring lesson is that law enforcement effectiveness depends on a combination of patient intelligence, international cooperation, and strategic adaptability—principles that remain essential for understanding today’s sophisticated criminal networks.

Modern Challenges in Narcotics Enforcement

Drug trafficking in France today relies on far more fragmented structures than those of the French Connection. Contemporary criminal networks operate through autonomous, interchangeable cells capable of functioning independently and dissolving rapidly under intense police pressure. This flexible design allows traffickers to simultaneously exploit multiple supply chains: cocaine is imported by container in Le Havre, cannabis resin transits via the Iberian Peninsula, heroin arrives from the Belgian Dutch border region, and synthetic drugs circulate within party circuits. Clandestine apartments, storage units, and logistical hubs outside city centers are used to split shipments into smaller loads, reducing the risk of interception. The mobility of these networks complicates the identification of operational bases: a single network may coordinate transactions from Paris, store merchandise in Brittany, and redistribute it in Lille neighborhoods. Furthermore, the systematic use of encrypted phones, VPNs, and ephemeral messaging services makes surveillance increasingly difficult. This operational fluidity creates a decentralized criminal environment without visible ringleaders, compelling investigators to combine traditional physical observation with digital intelligence and financial tracking to monitor complex networks efficiently.

The sophistication of modern trafficking is not unique to France. Criminal organizations worldwide are increasingly adopting advanced technologies to secure supply chains, reducing the role of human couriers. In July 2025, the Colombian Navy intercepted the first unmanned narco-submersible near Santa Marta, remotely controlled via satellite and capable of carrying up to 1.5 tons of cocaine. Still in testing, the vessel sailed several hundred kilometers offshore, demonstrating the integration of civilian technologies, including satellite connectivity for real-time navigation. Coordinated tracking between patrol vessels and aerial drones allowed authorities to monitor its trajectory before interception. This operation highlights a new form of trafficking in which removing the human factor—a criminal network’s primary vulnerability—creates a “black hole” for intelligence services. France, confronting mobile and interconnected traffickers, must combine physical surveillance, digital monitoring, and technological anticipation to maintain operational effectiveness, demonstrating the growing need for multidimensional approaches to narcotics enforcement.

France’s response centers on the Office Anti-Stupéfiants (OFAST), the French Anti-Narcotics Office created in 2020. OFAST coordinates police, gendarmerie, customs, and international counterparts, enabling rapid intelligence sharing on ports, transit routes, and financial flows. Between 2023 and 2024, OFAST conducted nearly 4,000 operations, including long-term infiltrations, high-risk container tracking, and analysis of encrypted smartphones seized during arrests. Local units focus on mapping criminal networks, tracing financial flows via cryptocurrencies, and identifying clandestine warehouses. Asset seizures totaled more than US$140 million in 2024, reflecting a strategy targeting the economic core of criminal organizations. By integrating human, digital, and financial expertise, France has developed a comprehensive approach to decentralized and mobile trafficking, illustrating that effective law enforcement now requires coordination across multiple domains rather than isolated interventions.

Long-term strategies aim not only to arrest traffickers but also to disrupt the structural and logistical foundations of criminal ecosystems. Operations target transit points, warehouses, money-laundering networks, and suppliers of encrypted equipment, while monitoring digital communications. Legal measures reinforce enforcement: the 2025 anti-drug trafficking law allows authorities to seize crypto assets, freeze assets linked to money laundering, and temporarily close premises. Complementary social programs aim to prevent recruitment in vulnerable neighborhoods, providing community mediation, educational support, and personalized guidance for at-risk youth. This holistic strategy demonstrates that combating modern trafficking requires simultaneous action across economic, digital, logistical, and social dimensions, limiting traffickers’ adaptability while restoring state control over affected territories.

By contrast, the United States focuses primarily on securing entry points and intercepting shipments before they reach national territory. In August 2025, Operation Pacific Viper, led by the U.S. Coast Guard, seized 34 tons of drugs, including cocaine and marijuana. The operation relied on intensive maritime patrols, surveillance of suspicious vessels, and coordination with the U.S. DEA and other federal agencies. Under the Donald Trump administration, the strategy prioritized upstream disruption, aiming to stop drug flows at the source rather than intervening in urban areas. This contrasts with the French approach, which combines intelligence gathering, field operations, financial tracking, and social interventions. The comparison highlights a central point: the effectiveness of anti-drug operations depends on adapting methods to the mobility, fragmentation, and technological sophistication of trafficking networks. Revisiting lessons from the French Connection demonstrates how precise identification of key players and routes allows disruption of centralized criminal networks, providing a valuable framework for contemporary enforcement strategies.

Continuity and Change in Narcotics Operations

Comparing the French Connection with today’s criminal networks reveals both enduring lessons and major structural shifts. Historically, the French Connection relied on a centralized, hierarchical organization with identifiable leaders and relatively fixed routes connecting laboratories, ports, and international markets. This visibility allowed targeted physical infiltrations and direct seizure of shipments, while communication remained limited to trusted messengers. Key principles—tracking flows, monitoring logistical hubs, and making targeted arrests—enabled authorities to disrupt the network for extended periods, demonstrating the importance of interagency coordination and precise intelligence. However, applying these methods directly to contemporary trafficking would be insufficient: the mobility, encryption, and decentralization of modern cells render the old model largely obsolete. Nevertheless, studying historical criminal networks remains invaluable for identifying the levers of action and disruption logic while cautioning against mechanically reproducing outdated practices in a vastly transformed technological and structural environment.

Modern trafficking operates through decentralized, autonomous networks functioning across multiple routes and territories. Leaders are no longer visible, cells can dissolve quickly, and financial flows move through shell companies or electronic wallets, evading conventional oversight. As Pamela F. Izaguirre noted regarding Mexico, the high-profile arrest of a cartel leader did not change the overall dynamics of criminal organizations, which continued to adapt and reconfigure themselves. Today’s criminal networks display even greater plasticity, forcing law enforcement to integrate traditional methods with advanced tools: physical surveillance and targeted interventions remain essential but must be complemented by cyber-surveillance, big data analytics, and financial tracing. The contrast with the French Connection is striking: predictability and centralization no longer simplify police operations. Contemporary strategies demand a combination of field operations, digital intelligence, and real-time international coordination to counter constantly evolving criminal structures.

Nevertheless, some principles persist: accurate intelligence, interagency cooperation, and sustained effort remain the foundation of effective enforcement. For instance, a 2025 joint operation between France and Spain, involving surveillance, electronic monitoring, searches, interceptions, and real-time intelligence sharing, led to the arrest of 24 network members, including leaders, and the seizure of more than 150 kg of drugs. This demonstrates that classic investigative methods—carefully adapted—retain relevance, while international coordination ensures rapid information exchange, harmonization of procedures, and mobilization of specialized teams. The evolution of trafficking also highlights the need to link coercive and social strategies. Unlike the export-focused, relatively invisible French Connection, today’s criminal networks operate within cities and suburbs, spreading violence and insecurity. A balanced approach combining law enforcement, technological innovation, and social intervention is therefore essential to restore territorial control and reduce traffickers’ adaptive capacity.

Conclusion

Almost every week, French media report drug-related violence, from gang shootouts and score-settling accompanied by torture to tense neighborhoods. In early December 2025, north of Paris, a fight between two gangs of traffickers erupted in a kindergarten playground, terrifying three-year-olds. The war on drugs has become a pressing reality at the heart of national debate, as President Emmanuel Macron concludes his term amid public confusion and limited popular support for his policies. Contemporary trafficking networks—decentralized, mobile, and technologically sophisticated—no longer follow the traditional models of the French Connection, rendering targeted arrests insufficient. French authorities now rely on advanced investigations, international cooperation, and digital monitoring. Europol, Interpol, and cross-border agencies enable near-instantaneous sharing of information on drug flows, financial transactions, and encrypted communications. Specialized units analyze this intelligence to trace supply chains, identify key players, and map trafficking hotspots. Revisiting historical practices demonstrates that lessons from the French Connection remain relevant, emphasizing the enduring value of combining patient intelligence, strategic coordination, and technological adaptation to combat modern, adaptive criminal networks effectively.

The social, legislative, and technological dimensions are equally critical for a sustained response, requiring strategies that go beyond immediate enforcement. Neighborhoods plagued by violence demand comprehensive prevention, educational support, community engagement, and targeted programs to limit the pool of potential recruits for dealers and lookouts—efforts supported by social organizations, local authorities, and political actors across the spectrum. Concurrently, French authorities are leveraging AI, predictive analytics, and financial tracking tools while reinforcing legislation on cryptocurrencies and money laundering to disrupt fluid and technologically sophisticated criminal networks. Logistical monitoring, mapping of hotspots, and coordinated international cooperation further strengthen these efforts. Beyond law enforcement, these measures aim to restore state authority, rebuild public trust, and address the structural vulnerabilities exploited by traffickers. Rising public demand for harsher repression risks polarizing society, yet solidarity and strategic foresight remain essential, particularly as Europe faces mounting geopolitical pressures, including the imperial ambitions of Vladimir Putin, demonstrating the inextricable link between domestic security and international stability.

Source: https://smallwarsjournal.com/2025/12/24/frances-war-on-drugs/

Filed under: Crime/Violence/Prison,Culture,Europe,Latest News,Prevention and Intervention,Strategy and Policy,Treatment and Addiction :

Opening statement by NDPA:

NDPA has mixed feelings about Harm Reduction – in one form, aiming to minimise harm in users while they consider cessation of drug use, it is something which NDPA supports, but in another form it is a ‘closet legalisation ploy’ – promoting the notion that drug use is valid and one should only seek to reduce the harm users experience – and NDPA clearly does not support this form. With this caveat, this article is included as an opinion piece for reading.

by Ricardo Fuertes, EATG member and representative at the EU Civil Society Forum on Drugs – December 17, 2025

Earlier this month, Mr Fuertes participated in the Civil Society Forum on Drugs as a representative of EATG. The discussions offered important insights into the current direction of EU drug policy and the conditions under which civil society organisations are operating.

The New EU Drugs Strategy: An Unbalanced Approach and the Downgrading of Harm Reduction

The European Commission presented the new EU Drugs Strategy. From the perspective of many civil society organisations, the Strategy is notably unbalanced. While prevention, treatment, and social integration are clearly highlighted and structured as core pillars, harm reduction is treated differently. Rather than being recognised as a distinct and essential pillar, it is dispersed across the document, diluted in its language, and separated from the other approaches.

At the same time, the Strategy is highly detailed when it comes to security-related themes, threats, and supply reduction. Considerable attention is given to law enforcement and control measures, while approaches grounded in public health and human rights receive comparatively less emphasis. Decriminalisation and the legal regulation of drugs are entirely absent from the framework. In addition, the Strategy lacks a defined timeframe or end date, raising concerns about accountability and evaluation. It is also not accompanied by a dedicated budget or a comprehensive action plan beyond an Action Plan against drug trafficking.

These concerns have been explicited in a joint letter coordinated by the International Drug Policy Consortium and signed by a wide number of organisations, including EATG, as a tool to encourage negotiation with Member States.

Systemic Barriers and Excluded Populations

Discussions throughout the Forum highlighted the need to better address systemic barriers affecting vulnerable populations. While HIV and viral hepatitis are mentioned within the EU Drugs Strategy, this is done in broad terms, without clearly identifying who is being left behind and why.

From EATG’s perspective, undocumented migrants must be explicitly included in prevention and treatment efforts. Legal precarity, fear of detection, and administrative barriers continue to exclude many undocumented migrants from access to drug services, HIV prevention, and care for viral hepatitis. A generic commitment to identifying systemic barriers is not sufficient; concrete measures are needed to ensure that prevention and treatment are accessible to all, regardless of migration status.

Civil Society Participation Under Pressure

A noticeable decline in participation at this year’s Forum was also observed. This reflects the increasingly difficult conditions under which many civil society organisations are operating across Europe. Participants reported funding cuts, staff reductions and layoffs, as well as decisions to limit participation in international meetings. These pressures are forcing organisations to reduce activities and service provision, with harm reduction particularly affected.

Across the Forum, there was a shared sense that civil society space is narrowing and that critical voices are at risk of being marginalised.

As debates around the EU Drugs Strategy continue, EATG will continue to underline the importance of protecting civil society space, restoring harm reduction as a central pillar of drug policy, and ensuring that prevention and treatment genuinely reach the most marginalised, including undocumented migrants. A balanced, public health- and rights-based approach is not an abstract principle; it requires concrete actions, political commitment, and sustained investment.

           Photo: Delegates at the Civil Society Forum on Drugs – December 17, 2025

Source:  https://www.eatg.org/blogs/the-new-eu-drugs-strategy-an-unbalanced-approach-and-the-downgrading-of-harm-reduction/

Filed under: Culture,Drug use-various effects,Europe,Harm Reduction,Latest News,Prevention and Intervention,Strategy and Policy,Treatment and Addiction :

European Commission logo  EUROPEAN COMMISSION

  • News article from Directorate-General for Communication – 4 December 2025

Drug trafficking is a global criminal business that is undermining health and security in Europe. Criminal networks that sell illicit drugs such as cocaine and synthetic drugs drive violence and corruption in our streets. Drug abuse, particularly among the young, poses an increasing problem. The European Commission has responded to this challenge with a new drugs strategy and action plan to stop the traffic of narcotics into the EU.

Drug traffickers change their trafficking routes frequently and increasingly operate online. The strategy will tackle this behaviour by focusing on 5 key areas:

  •  Enhancing preparedness and response to drug related threats
  • Protecting public health, by strengthening prevention, treatment and reintegration measures
  • Strengthening security, with stricter rules against organised crime
  • Measures to prevent drug-related harm focused on protecting young people from recruitment into organised crime
  • Stronger partnerships with non-EU countries

The EU Drugs Agency with its new, stronger mandate, will play a key role in supporting EU countries in these proposed areas of action.

The strategy is complemented by an action plan that will focus on:

  • Adapting to evolving routes and methods used by criminal networks
  • Preventing crime and reduce drug-related violence, particularly among young people
  • Stepping up cooperation of law enforcement, judiciary and customs authorities
  • Addressing the challenge of synthetic drugs and drug precursors (chemicals used to manufacture narcotics)
  • Advancing research and development and innovation  
  • Strengthening international cooperation and further reinforcing partnerships with key countries.

The European Commission has also proposed new rules to make the monitoring and controlling of drug precursors and designer precursors clearer and simpler. Proposed new measures include real-time reporting of significant seizures of drug precursors and a ban on designer precursors.

Source:  https://commission.europa.eu/news-and-media/news/new-measures-tackle-drug-trafficking-and-help-protect-europes-health-and-security-2025-12-04_en

Filed under: Crime/Violence/Prison,Europe,Trafficking,Youth :

Abstract

Alcohol, tobacco, and drug misuse continue to rise globally, with adolescents at particular risk. In response, school-based prevention programs have been widely implemented, yet their efficacy and long-term impact remain under-discussed. This scoping review synthesised evidence on the effectiveness of three commonly used programs (Preventure, Unplugged, and IPSYcare) in Europe. A search of four databases (PubMed, Embase, PsycInfo, and Web of Science) identified 21 peer-reviewed articles published between 2008 and 2023, spanning 12 European countries. Unplugged was most frequently evaluated (10 studies), followed by Preventure (6 studies) and IPSYcare (5 studies). Findings showed that Preventure yielded mixed outcomes, delaying binge drinking and reducing substance use among high-risk groups but with limited generalisability. Unplugged was associated with reductions in cannabis use and heavy drinking at 15 months post-intervention. IPSYcare demonstrated longer-term benefits, including improved school connectedness and reductions in alcohol and tobacco use. Results suggest that while standardised programs such as Unplugged enable scalability, contextual adaptations may enhance effectiveness, and tailored approaches are valuable for high-risk populations. Overall, the programs show potential, but variability indicate the need for further longitudinal and qualitative research in order to improve program delivery and sustain long-term impacts.

Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41154973/

 

Filed under: Alcohol,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Europe,Prevalence,Prevention and Intervention,Tobacco, smoking,Youth :

United Nations – Office on Drugs and Crime   – Youth Initiative

October 30th 2025

As the second launch in the region, the Montenegro Friends in Focus pilot was made possible thanks to the support of the Government of Italy to UNODC. Another ingredient making the pilot possible is the strong local partnerships. The Ministry of Education warmly welcomed the programme and is endorsing the active participation of youth and schools in the cascade training sessions. And the key contributor to this pilot launch was CAZAS, a local non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting the healthy development of young people and advocating for youth education and drug use prevention. As the key implementing partner, CAZAS played a central role in organizing the Training of Trainers and recruiting youth trainers who will lead the dissemination of the programme in high schools of their communities.

Master trainers continue to be the core resource persons for each implementation round, providing essential knowledge and skills that enable youth trainers to confidently lead their own peer sessions on drug prevention. During 20 – 22 October, young people from Podgorica, Nikšić, and Bijelo Polje came together in Podgorica for a three-day Training of Trainers (ToT). Throughout the training, participants explored key topics around risk and protective factors related to drug use, challenged common misconceptions about substances, and reflected on the impact of social and group dynamics.

The successful launch of Friends in Focus in Montenegro marks a step forward in strengthening youth-led drug prevention efforts across South-Eastern Europe. With a newly certified regional Master Trainer and a cohort of empowered youth trainers, the programme is now better equipped to strengthen its content, expand its reach, deepen its local impact, and foster stronger regional collaboration. UNODC remains committed to supporting young people by creating spaces for learning, leadership, and resilience, ensuring that youth voices continue to shape the future of prevention in their communities and beyond.

Source: https://www.unodc.org/unodc/prevention/youth-initiative/youth-action/2025/October/regional-momentum-builds-as-friends-in-focus-reaches-montenegro.html

Filed under: Europe,Health,Prevention and Intervention,Youth :
Elsevier

Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior

Volume 254, September 2025, 174056
Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior
by Lee-Yuan Liu-Chen, Peng Huang

Highlights

  • •
    KOR agonists produce additive analgesic effect with MOR agonists.
  • •
    KOR agonists reduce reinforcing properties and side effects of MOR agonists.
  • •
    KOR agonists when used with MOR agonists for analgesia may prevent opioid use disorder.
  • •
    KOR agonists decrease reinforcing properties of cocaine.
  • •
    KOR agonists may be useful for treatment of cocaine use disorder.

Abstract

Reports in the 1990s and 2000s showed that kappa opioid receptor (KOR) agonists might be promising for treatment and/or prevention of opioid use disorder (OUD) and cocaine use disorder (CUD). However, the side effects associated with KOR agonists available at the time, such as psychotomimesis, dysphoria and sedation, prevented clinical development. Subsequently, nalfurafine and recently triazole 1.1 and oxa-noribogaine, three centrally acting KOR agonists devoid of such side effects, have been studied in animal models of OUD and CUD. By and large, earlier findings with typical KOR agonists were replicated with nalfurafine and in limited studies with triazole 1.1 and oxa-noribogaine. KOR agonists reduced reinforcing effects of mu opioid receptor (MOR) agonists and decreased tolerance to and dependence on MOR agonists. Oxa-noribogaine suppressed cue-induced reinstatement of morphine and fentanyl seeking. KOR agonists countered itch elicited by MOR agonists and produced additive analgesic effects with MOR agonists, thus allowing use of lower doses of MOR and KOR agonists, resulting in lower degrees of MOR-related side effects (such as respiratory depression) and typical KOR-associated side effects. In addition, KOR agonists attenuated locomotor sensitization and conditioned place preference sensitization following repeated cocaine, reduced acquisition and maintenance of cocaine self-administration and decreased cocaine-induced increase in extracellular dopamine. KOR agonists also suppressed cocaine priming-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking. Therefore, a combination of a KOR agonist and a MOR agonist or a compound with dual KOR/MOR agonist activities when used as analgesics will deter escalation use of MOR agonists, thus prevent OUD, and KOR agonists may be useful for treatment of cocaine abuse and relapse. Importantly, KOR agonists with no or fewer side effects of typical KOR agonists should be further investigated in animal models of OUD and CUD, particularly those that simulate stress-, cue- and drug priming-induced relapse for potential clinical development.

Introduction

In the US more than one million people have died since 1999 from overdose of drugs of abuse (https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/health-data/health-factors/health-behaviors/alcohol-and-drug-use/drug-overdose-deaths). The number of reported opioid overdose deaths increased dramatically in recent years, with 81,083 deaths in 2023 (the most recent CDC data) (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2024/20240515.htm). In the same year, 29,918 people died from overdoses involving cocaine (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2024/20240515.htm). Many more are suffering from opioid use disorder (OUD)1 or/and cocaine use disorder (CUD). While overdose deaths involving opioids decreased in 2023 compared with 2022, overdose deaths involving cocaine and psychostimulants (like methamphetamine) increased. Unlike OUD, there are no effective medications for CUD. The % of overdose deaths in US involving both fentanyl and stimulants increased from 0.6 % (235) in 2010 to 32.3 % (34,429) in 2021 (Friedman and Shover, 2023). OUD and CUD are often co-morbid. Substance use disorder is a medical, societal, economic, and public health issue, that exacts terrible tolls on the individuals and the society. Therefore, developing drugs effective for treatment of substance use disorder (SUD) is critically important. SUD encompasses compulsive use of many drugs of abuse despite of negative consequences. This review will focus on OUD and CUD.
The kappa opioid receptor (KOR) is one of the three opioid receptors. Studies published as early as 1990s showed that KOR agonists reduced reinforcing properties of opioids and cocaine. KOR agonists prevented morphine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) at low doses that do not cause conditioned place aversion (CPA) (Bolanos et al., 1996; Funada et al., 1993) and reduced self-administration (SA) of morphine, oxycodone, or heroin in rats and mice at doses that do not affect water SA (Glick et al., 1995; Kuzmin et al., 1997; Xi et al., 1998). KOR agonists also reduced acquisition and maintenance of cocaine SA (Glick et al., 1995; Mello and Negus, 1998, Mello and Negus, 2000; Negus et al., 1997) and attenuated cocaine-induced reinstatement of extinguished cocaine-seeking behavior in rats and monkeys (Morani et al., 2009; Schenk et al., 1999). However, development of KOR agonists for clinical use has been limited by side effects, most importantly dysphoria, psychotomimesis, and sedation (Pande et al., 1996; Pfeiffer et al., 1986; Walsh et al., 2001), except for nalfurafine (formerly named TRK-820)[reviewed in(Miyamoto et al., 2022; Zhou et al., 2022)] and, the peripherally acting difelikefalin (Fishbane et al., 2020; Lipman and Yosipovitch, 2021). Nalfurafine has been used in Japan since 2017 and difelikefalin was approved in the USA in 2021, both for pruritus associated with kidney dialysis. In addition, in preclinical studies triazole 1.1 showed promises as a selective KOR agonist without adverse effects associated with typical KOR agonists (Brust et al., 2016; Zhou et al., 2013).
Herein pharmacology of nalfurafine and triazole 1.1 is briefly described. Then evidence is reviewed for effects of KOR agonists on reinforcing effects of opioids and cocaine and reinstatement of drug seeking after extinction of SA behaviors. With the availability of KOR agonists that show no or fewer unwanted side effects, the notion that KOR agonists may be useful for the prevention and treatment of SUD warrants re-evaluation.

Section snippets

Nalfurafine

Nalfurafine is a highly potent and moderately selective KOR agonist (Cao et al., 2020; Nagase et al., 1998; Wang et al., 2005). Using [35S]GTPγS binding, we have shown that nalfurafine is a potent KOR full agonist (EC50 = 0.097 nM) and MOR partial agonist with 32× KOR/MOR and 242× KOR/DOR selectivity, respectively (Cao et al., 2020). By inhibition of [3H]diprenorphine binding, we determined its Ki to be 0.075 nM for the KOR with 69× KOR/MOR selectivity and 214× KOR/DOR selectivity(Wang et al.,

U50,488H and the dynorphin A analog E-2078

Funada et al. (1993) reported that in male ddY mice, an outbred strain, morphine (3 or 5 mg/kg, s.c.) produced significant CPP, whereas U50,488H (1 mg/kg, s.c.) and the dynorphin A analog E-2078 (0.1 mg/kg, s.c.) induced a slight, nonsignificant CPA. Morphine (3 mg/kg)-induced CPP was abolished by pretreatment with U50,488H (1 mg/kg) and significantly decreased by pretreatment with E-2078 (0.1 mg/kg). The inhibitory effects of U50,488H and E-2078 were antagonized by the KOR antagonist

U50,488

Pretreatment of C57BL/6 mice with nalfurafine (3 μg/kg and 10 μg/kg, s.c.) or U50,488 (3 mg/kg, s.c.) for 15 min before cocaine conditioning blocked cocaine (15 mg/kg)-induced CPP, while these drugs alone did not cause CPA or sedation in the rotarod assay (Dunn et al., 2020). Pretreatment of mice with 10 μg/kg nalfurafine or 3 mg/kg U50,488 immediately before testing potentiated cocaine SA (0.5 mg/kg/infusion). Further, 10 μg/kg nalfurafine also increased progressive ratio break point,

KOR agonists vs. KOR antagonists for the prevention and treatment of SUDs

Koob proposed a conceptual framework of SUDs, which is a three-stage cycle – binge/intoxication, withdrawal/negative affect, and preoccupation / anticipation (Koob, 2020, Koob, 2021, Koob, 2022). The three stages represent dysregulation in three functional domains: incentive salience and/or habits, negative emotional states, and executive function, respectively. Repeated use of drugs of abuse leads to escalating drug use and development tolerance and/or dependence (binge/intoxication) and

Centrally acting novel KOR agonists with fewer side effects

Centrally acting KOR agonists that produce fewer side effects typically associated with KOR agonists, such as nalfurafine, RB64, triazole 1.1, oxa-noribogaine, LOR17 and HS666, makes it feasible to use these compounds for prevention and treatment of SUD. Among these compounds, only nalfurafine is used clinically. As mentioned above, nalfurafine has been approved and used in Japan and South Korea for management of systemic itch associated with kidney dialysis or chronic liver diseases without

Conclusions

There was a large body of literature in 1990s and 2000s showing that KOR agonists reduced reinforcing properties of opioids and cocaine and suppressed reinstatement of opioids or cocaine seeking. However, because of the side effects associated with KOR agonists available at the time, the investigations were limited to preclinical studies in animal models. Subsequently, centrally acting KOR agonists that showed no or lower degrees of side effects have become available, including nalfurafine,

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Lee-Yuan Liu-Chen: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft, Project administration, Investigation, Funding acquisition, Conceptualization. Peng Huang: Writing – review & editing, Conceptualization.
Source:  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0091305725001030
Filed under: Addiction,Cocaine,Drug use-various effects,Europe,Opioids,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction :

 

Authors: Cyntia Duval, Brandon A. Wyse, Noga Fuchs Weizman, Iryna Kuznyetsova, Svetlana Madjunkova & Clifford L. Librach

Published by: Nature Communications

Published: 09 September 2025

 

Abstract

Cannabis consumption and legalization is increasing globally, raising concerns about its impact on fertility. In humans, we previously demonstrated that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and its metabolites reach the ovarian follicle. An extensive body of literature describes THC’s impact on sperm, however no such studies have determined its effects on the oocyte. Herein, we investigate the impact of THC on human female fertility through both a clinical and in vitro analysis. In a case-control study, we show that follicular fluid THC concentration is positively correlated with oocyte maturation and THC-positive patients exhibit significantly lower embryo euploid rates than their matched controls. In vitro, we observe a similar, but non-significant, increased oocyte maturation rate following THC exposure and altered expression of key genes implicated in extracellular matrix remodeling, inflammation, and chromosome segregation. Furthermore, THC induces oocyte chromosome segregation errors and increases abnormal spindle morphology. Finally, this study highlights potential risks associated with cannabis use for female fertility.

Introduction

Cannabis consumption for both medicinal and recreational use and legalization have been rising globally1. Cannabis contains several classes of chemicals with cannabinoids being the most prominent; among these, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the primary psychoactive compound and the most studied2. Notably, the concentration of THC in cannabis products has increased significantly, from an average of 3% (by weight) in the 1980s to around 15% in 2020, with some strains reaching 30% of THC2. The increase in frequency, ease of availability, and escalation in potency raises concerns about broader impacts on global human health, including reproductive health. Indeed, the main apprehension regarding THC and reproductive health stems from the importance of the endocannabinoid system in human reproduction3. Endocannabinoids, including N-arachidonoylethanolamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol, are endogenous cannabinoids that play a central role in both male and female reproduction3, whereas THC is an exogenous cannabinoid. Extensive research has documented the effects of THC on male reproduction, highlighting an impact on sperm deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) methylation  4,5,6,7 and sperm parameters8 including sperm concentration  9,10,11, morphology  12,13,14 and motility14. As for female health, literature reports the impact of cannabis use during pregnancy on pregnancy outcomes  15,16,17,18, placental development  18,19,20 and offspring health  18,20,21,22. However, to our knowledge, no studies have investigated the impact of cannabis on the human female gamete, the oocyte, a gap partly due to the challenge associated with obtaining these samples.

During in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment, exogenous gonadotropins are administered in a process called “controlled ovarian hyperstimulation” which recruits multiple follicles and induces follicle growth. These recruited follicles, each containing an oocyte, are then collected by a physician in a procedure called oocyte retrieval. Oocytes are collected along with their surrounding microenvironment, including follicular fluid (FF) and supportive somatic cells (granulosa cells). The oocytes are isolated, and mature oocytes are used for subsequent in vitro fertilization. Using FF, our group has previously quantified Δ9-THC and its metabolites, 11-OH-THC and 11-COOH-THC  23,24, demonstrating that these compounds could reach the follicular niche. This is significant as it suggests that THC may directly alter the microenvironment where the oocyte matures. Furthermore, our group has shown that THC exposure altered human granulosa cell methylation in a concentration dependent manner23, and in vitro exposure modulated cannabinoid receptor dynamics in granulosa cells24. However, no human studies and only a few animal model studies have investigated the impact of cannabis directly on oocyte development with conflicting results  25,26,27,28,29.

Maturation of the oocyte is a unique and highly specialized process beginning in utero during fetal development. It is widely accepted that female neonates are born with a finite number of oocytes, which, following menarche, are recruited to mature in cohorts with each menstrual cycle30. Although oocytes are protected in the ovary by the blood-follicle-barrier, they remain highly sensitive to environmental factors31. Given their essential role in reproduction, any perturbations in their development and maturation could have profound effects on fertility and on future generations. Thus, understanding the impact of THC on oocyte health is critical for providing informed guidance and counseling to patients of the potential risks to their fertility and future offspring.

In this study, we determine the impact of physiologically relevant concentrations of THC on oocyte maturation, elucidate the transcriptomic changes induced by THC exposure and its effect on chromosome segregation, and compare our findings with a retrospective cohort study. Our investigation will aid in bridging the knowledge gap in our understanding of the sex-specific reproductive consequences of cannabis use and contribute to more effective and evidence-based patient counseling.

 

To read the full article, please click on the source link below

Source:  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-63011-2

 

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Europe,Marijuana and Medicine,Others (International News),Prevention and Intervention,Sexual Behaviour,Treatment and Addiction,UK,USA :
Drug and Alcohol Dependence

Drug and Alcohol Dependence – Volume 273, 1 August 2025, 112714

by Gustave Maffre Maviel,  Camilla Somma, Camille Davisse-Paturet, Guillaume Airagnes,  Maria Melchior.

A systematic review and meta-analysis

Highlights
  • •
    Studies reveal a significant association between cannabis use and suicidality, independent of depression.
  • •
    Existing research is inconsistent regarding whether the association differs between individuals with and without depression.
  • •
    More research is needed to identify the pathways linking cannabis use to suicidality.

Abstract

Background

Depression has been cited as a possible confounder, moderator, and mediator of the relationship between cannabis use and suicidal behaviours. We aimed to assess the role of depression in the relationship between cannabis use and suicidal behaviours by systematically reviewing existing literature in the general population.

Methods

We systematically searched PubMed, Science Direct and Psych Articles from database inception to May 20th 2024, for quantitative observational studies investigating the role of depression in the association between cannabis use and suicidal behaviours. We conducted a meta-analysis to examine the confounding role of depression and search for qualitative arguments in favour of moderating and/or mediating roles of depression.

Results

We screened 1081 articles, selected 43 for full-text screening and finally included 25. Among adolescents, cannabis use was associated with suicidal ideation (OR = 1.46 [1.17, 1.83]) and suicide attempts (OR = 2.17 [1.56, 3.03]) in studies adjusting for depression. Among adults, cannabis use was associated with suicidal ideation (OR = 1.78 [1.28, 2.46]) in studies adjusting for depression. 12 out of 25 studies found no association between cannabis use and suicidality after adjustment for depression. Six studies investigated a potential moderating role of depression, with four reporting significant but conflicting results. No article investigated the mediating role of depression.

Discussion

There is a clear relationship between cannabis use and suicidal behaviours, which is partly confounded by depression. Studies investigating a moderating role of depression did not agree about the direction of moderation. Further research using methodologies that consider the chronology of events is needed. 

Keywords

Cannabis
Cannabis use
Cannabis use disorder
Suicidal behaviours
Suicide
Depression
Source:  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037687162500167X?
Elsevier Science has two locations: one in New York, United States, and the other in Amsterdam, Netherlands.  

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Europe,Health,Mental Health,Prevention and Intervention,USA :
by EUDA (European Union Drugs Agency) – Lisbon – 02.07.2025

Exactly one year ago today, we became the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) and embarked on our new mission to strengthen EU preparedness on drugs. Building on the work of the EMCDDA, and with a more proactive mandate, we set off to support the EU and its Member States in addressing emerging drug issues in an ever-changing world. Our work contributes to making Europe’s streets safer and to saving lives. Our motto — ‘Acting today, anticipating tomorrow’.

In our role, we help policymakers anticipate and respond effectively to drug-related threats. We issue health and security alerts and risk communications, share knowledge and recommend evidence-based policies and actions to address problems efficiently.

This first year has been one of many milestones. Among our achievements in these 12 months as the EUDA, we have:

  • Established the European Drug Alert System
  • Set up a European network of forensic and toxicological laboratories
  • Strengthened the Early Warning System on new substances
  • Organised the first European conference on drug-related violence, issued a call to action and launched the Safe futures project
  • Issued a call to action on new synthetic opioids
  • Supported Member States with our first pilot threat assessment on highly potent synthetic opioids in the Baltic region
  • Expanded our foresight work allowing us to envision possible scenarios to help our stakeholders make forward-thinking decisions
  • Adopted a new brand identity and communication strategy
  • Adopted a new international cooperation framework
  • Worked closely with our partners to develop new products and services (such as a cannabis policy toolkit)
  • Helped shape evidence-based drug policies across Europe

Transforming from the EMCDDA into the EUDA marked the most significant organisational shift in the agency to date. To rise to this challenge, we accelerated our business transformation to build the capabilities needed to deliver innovative, future-oriented services while providing core monitoring services to support EU drug policy.

With a renewed baseline vision of being ‘your European Union Drugs Agency’, we enter our second year with a clear commitment to lead, innovate and partner in tackling drug-related challenges — for a healthier, safer and more resilient Europe.

Source:  https://www.euda.europa.eu/news/2025/first-anniversary-euda-delivers-key-gains-strengthening-europes-preparedness-drugs_en

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Europe,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction :

by Sarjna Rai – New Delhi –  Jun 26 2025 

Observed on June 26, the day raises global awareness about drug abuse and illicit trafficking. The 2025 theme, “Break the Cycle. #StopOrganisedCrime,” calls for long-term action and reform

World Drug Day 2025 theme, “Break the Cycle. #StopOrganizedCrime,” urges global action against drug abuse and illicit trafficking.(Photo: Adobestock)
Every year on 26 June, the world observes the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking—also known as “World Drug Day”—to raise awareness of the global drug crisis and promote multilateral action toward prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation.

History & Theme

On December 7, 1987, the General Assembly of the United Nations set aside the 26th day of June of each year as International Day Against Illicit Trafficking of Drugs and other Substances of Abuse to be observed worldwide. 
The theme for 2025, Break the Cycle. #StopOrganisedCrime, emphasises the significance of focused long-term action to disrupt the link between drug trafficking and organised crime, both of which fuel violence, corruption, and instability across regions. 

Source:  https://www.business-standard.com/health/international-day-against-drug-abuse-2025-theme-history-significance-125062600553_1.html

Filed under: Australia,Canada,Europe,New Zealand,Others (International News),Strategy and Policy,UK,USA :

  Lisbon 20.06.2025

 This week, the EUDA and the University of Limerick’s REPPP team (1) officially launched ‘Safe futures’, a project focused on identifying effective ways to prevent youth involvement in European drug markets.

The initiative responds to growing public and policy concern about the increasing recruitment and exploitation of young people by criminal drug networks across Europe. These networks often target the most vulnerable young people, leading to significant security, social and public health consequences.

The two-year project brings together policymakers, researchers, law enforcement agencies and practitioners from across Europe to collaborate in a new multi-disciplinary Community of Practice conceived to share knowledge and research and inform and design future interventions in this complex policy area. This week’s meeting involved a cross-section of these groups to examine the issue across different jurisdictions, share information and begin collaborative problem-solving.

The agenda featured a dynamic mix of presentations, group work and plenary discussions designed to highlight both existing challenges and promising solutions. Participants also explored knowledge gaps and discussed next steps for the Community of Practice.

The overall purpose of the project is to enhance drug-related crime prevention efforts in Europe by:

  • evaluating existing models and strategies for the involvement of young people in drug markets and drug-related crime;
  • supporting linked networking building activities; and
  • identifying possible facilitators and barriers to the implementation of programmes in this area. 

The project outputs are expected to contribute to a better understanding of future research, policy and developmental needs and inform future investments in this area at national and European level.

In November 2024, following the first European conference on the topic, the EUDA issued a Call to action to break the cycle of drug-related violence. This underlined the urgent need for cross-sector collaboration to ensure a safer and more secure Europe. It also stressed that targeted prevention mechanisms should focus on young people and other at-risk groups, including prevention of their recruitment into organised crime. ‘Safe futures’ responds to this call.

Notes

(1) ‘Safe futures: Identifying promising approaches, opportunities and barriers for interventions designed to prevent youth recruitment and participation in European Drug Markets’. Project duration 24 months: December 2024-December 2026. Contract CT.24.SAS.0109.1.0 awarded to University of Limerick. The project is being led by the Research Evidence into Policy, Programmes and Practice (REPPP) team at the University on behalf of the EUDA. REPPP is a research collaboration between the School of Law in the University of Limerick and the Irish Department of Justice. Its aim is to improve the evidence base in relation to youth crime and youth justice policy and practice in Ireland.

In its fight against drug trafficking and organised crime, the European Commission’s Roadmap to Fight Drug Trafficking and Organised Crime identifies 17 actions across 4 priority areas. Priority 4 focuses on measures to: ‘prevent organised crime through exchange of best practices and guidance among Member States to prevent infiltration of these groups in the society and legal economy, prevent criminal groups to recruit youngsters and improve public safety and health, and to limit more effectively access to drug precursors’. 

Source:  https://www.euda.europa.eu/news/2025/launch-safe-futures-project_en

Filed under: Culture,Drug use-various effects,Education,Europe,Prevention and Intervention,Youth :

Opening comment by NDPA: Although this item is a fairly unashamed promo for AI, it nevertheless gives a useful summary of how AI can be applied to this field, so we have retained it.

 

A New Era in Health Begins with Intelligence — Artificial and Human

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not just a buzzword — it’s one of the most transformative forces reshaping modern healthcare. From revolutionizing diagnostics and personalizing treatments to advancing drug prevention strategies, AI is enhancing the way we understand, predict, and treat human health. As the world embraces the potential of AI, organizations working in prevention and treatment must also evolve — strategically and ethically.

  1. Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare: The Global Landscape

AI is redefining care on a global scale. According to the European Commission, AI technologies are already supporting physicians, analyzing large datasets in seconds, and optimizing hospital workflows. Countries like the US, UK, Canada, China, and the EU are implementing large-scale AI integration strategies to support digital health systems.

The AI Act of the European Union is the world’s first legal framework on AI, emphasizing risk-based regulation. For health-focused organizations, this framework ensures safety, transparency, and human oversight in the deployment of AI tools.

  1. AI’s Role in Drug Discovery, Prevention, and Treatment

AI accelerates drug discovery and improves accuracy in substance use disorder (SUD) diagnosis and treatment planning. According to ScienceDirect, machine learning models can predict relapse risks, personalize therapy plans, and even detect substance use through digital biomarkers such as speech or behavioral patterns.

As Gubra outlines, AI is enabling:

  • Simulation of molecular interactions to discover new therapeutic targets
  • Automation in toxicology screenings
  • Integration of patient data for tailored treatment

  1. Best Practices in AI-Driven Drug Prevention and Education

From chatbots offering 24/7 counseling to AI-curated educational content, innovative prevention models are emerging worldwide:

  • USA: The NIH’s 2025 HHS AI Strategic Plan promotes AI for early screening of addiction risks, especially in underserved populations.
  • Denmark: National efforts combine AI with social data to map out drug-use hotspots and target community outreach.
  • India & Brazil: AI is integrated into mobile health (mHealth) apps that detect mood changes and alert caregivers, reducing dropout rates in prevention programs.

Platforms like Listen First by UNODC could benefit from AI enhancements to deliver content tailored to emotional tone and local language patterns.

  1. AI and the Prevention of Drug Use and Online Gaming Disorders

One of the most exciting — and necessary — frontiers of AI is its application in preventing drug use and behavioral addictions such as online gaming disorder. Emerging research shows how predictive algorithms can identify vulnerable individuals and intervene early.

According to a 2023 article in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, AI tools are being developed to detect substance use behaviors through digital footprints, social media interactions, and app usage patterns. These tools can flag at-risk youth in real time, prompting early outreach.

The Ashdin Foundation reports that AI-powered interventions, including conversational agents and real-time behavioral monitoring, are revolutionizing how we approach drug prevention — making it more personalized, scalable, and responsive.

In Portugal, the NOVA University Lisbon project is pioneering AI models that track user behavior on gambling platforms to intervene before addiction escalates. This approach is equally relevant for youth struggling with excessive gaming — an issue increasingly associated with anxiety, depression, and even substance use.

As a recent Nature Medicine article highlights, AI is becoming a cornerstone in the personalization of behavioral health interventions, offering adaptive content, peer support suggestions, and gamified learning modules.

A comprehensive review confirms that AI algorithms can be trained to predict not only who is likely to use substances but also who is most likely to benefit from specific prevention programs. Moreover, NACADA Kenya is investing in AI to power community mapping tools that identify high-risk zones and recommend targeted prevention messaging.

  1. Ethical and Educational Considerations

AI offers vast promise, but not without limitations. As explored in BMC Medical Education, there is a growing need to train healthcare professionals and community workers to interpret AI results critically. Meanwhile, UMaryland highlights challenges around algorithmic bias, data privacy, and accountability.

Source:  https://www.dianova.org/news/how-ai-is-transforming-drug-prevention-and-healthcare-worldwide/

Dianova is a Swiss-based NGO.

 

 

Filed under: Europe,Health,Internet,Prevention and Intervention :

The Organisation Internationale Dianova, or Dianova International, is a public utility Swiss NGO committed to social progress. Through its members operating on four continents, Dianova International supports the development of activities aimed at improving people’s lives.

Introduction: Let’s Get One Thing Straight Forget the outdated slogans. “Just say no” doesn’t cut it anymore. Today’s teens and young adults live in a world of pressure, performance, and constant scrolling — and they deserve real strategies, not scare tactics. Evidence shows that drug prevention targeting youth needs to be science-based, stigma-free, and deeply human. That’s what the new wave of prevention is all about. That’s what #VoicesWithoutStigma is here to launch.

PART I

Why We Need a New Conversation

According to the UNODC, around 90% of adult substance use disorders begin in adolescence. That’s why early prevention isn’t optional — it’s essential. But not any kind of prevention: the kind that’s rooted in evidence, compassion, and the real-life experiences of young people.

From the WHO-UNODC International Standards for Drug Use Prevention, we know what works:

  • Early childhood development programs that support parents and help kids develop emotional and cognitive skills.
  • Life skills training in schools, including emotional regulation, problem-solving, and resisting social pressure.
  • Community strategies to reduce access and increase awareness — think youth centers, mentorship programs, and safe recreational spaces.
  • Digital campaigns that meet youth on their terms — mobile-first, meme-friendly, and emotionally honest.

 

The Science Behind the Shift

Prevention is no longer about “bad kids” making “bad choices.” The real risk factors are often trauma, inequality, exclusion, and untreated mental health issues. That’s why the UN, PTTC Network, and others are calling for a new approach that’s inclusive, respectful, and developmentally informed. As highlighted by the United Nations Chronicle, strategies that empower communities — especially youth — are the most sustainable.

#VoicesWithoutStigma: Speak. Share. Shift the Culture.

Launching globally on June 26, 2025, by Dianova International, the #VoicesWithoutStigma campaign is about rewriting the narrative. Young people from 17 countries will take the mic — literally and digitally — to speak about:

  • Mental health and asking for help
  • Coping with anxiety, trauma, and depression
  • Navigating social pressure without losing their sense of self
  • Reclaiming their identity through music, dance, podcasts, and storytelling

The campaign’s launch video sets the tone: young people in silence, whispers of stigma — then rhythm, color, voice. A girl declares: “They told me feeling was weakness. But my voice is strong. And yours is too.”

Breaking the Taboo ≠ Being Alone

Whether you’re 16 or 26, it’s not weird to feel overwhelmed. The Listen First campaign by UNODC reminds us that starting with empathy — not judgment — is how we win hearts, minds, and futures.

Feeling low? Not sure how to support a friend? Talking honestly — and listening with compassion — are the strongest tools we’ve got. That’s how we build resilience and community.

No Drama, Just Data: Environmental Strategies That Work

According to this UNODC framework, community-wide strategies — like regulating alcohol sales to minors, setting up youth-focused events, and positive norm campaigns — can reduce substance use before it starts. Add peer mentoring and digital outreach, and you’ve got a full-circle prevention plan.

A Final Word: You’re Not the Problem. You’re the Power.

You don’t have to be perfect. You just have to be real. Drug prevention today is about showing up for yourself, and others, with truth, humor, and heart. Whether you’re creating a Reel, starting a support group, or just learning more — you’re part of the solution.

✨ Join us. Share your truth. Inspire others. #VoicesWithoutStigma isn’t a campaign. It’s a movement. And it’s made for you.

Want to know more? Check the UNODC-WHO standards or EUDA’s library. It’s prevention — but make it real, and make it yours.

 

PART II

Voices Without Stigma: Breaking the Silence, Building the Future

Introduction: More Than Just Say No

Let’s get real — telling young people to “just say no” to drugs isn’t working. Not because they’re reckless, but because they’re smart. Smart enough to know that life is complicated, that pain is real, and that decisions are rarely black or white. That’s why youth drug prevention today isn’t about preaching. It’s about listening, empowering, and building trust. And that’s exactly what #VoicesWithoutStigma is all about.

Why It Matters: The Real Stats Behind the Talk

According to the UNODC-WHO International Standards on Drug Use Prevention, effective prevention is rooted in science, not scare tactics. Research shows that adolescence is a critical period: 90% of adult substance use disorders begin during this phase. Prevention efforts must be developmentally appropriate, engaging, and embedded in the realities of young people’s lives.

So, What Works? A Look at Evidence-Based Prevention

The United Nations and World Health Organization have spent years studying what actually prevents drug use. Spoiler alert: the most effective strategies have nothing to do with guilt or shame. Here’s what the research tells us:

  • Family-based programs that build parenting skills and family bonding.
  • School-based life skills education, focusing on emotional regulation, decision-making, and peer resistance.
  • Community-wide environmental strategies like reducing access to substances and strengthening local support systems.
  • Digital and peer-to-peer outreach that speaks in the language of youth.

These aren’t just theories — they’re approaches with measurable impact across cultures and contexts. Check the UNODC’s breakdown of international standards here.

Let’s Talk Urban: Prevention in a Real-World Context

Today’s young people are navigating pressures their parents never imagined — social media, performance culture, identity exploration, and mental health challenges. Prevention has to meet them where they are: in the group chat, on TikTok, in the locker room, at home after a hard day.

That means:

  • Creating safe, shame-free spaces to talk about anxiety, depression, and trauma.
  • Highlighting relatable stories from young people who’ve overcome challenges without glamorizing drug use.
  • Using influencers, creatives, and peers to drive positive narratives.

#VoicesWithoutStigma: A Movement in the Making

Dianova’s 26 June 2025 global campaign — #VoicesWithoutStigma — is here to flip the script on stigma. With the slogan “Your Voice is Power”, it invites young people around the world to share their truth, their way — through spoken word, memes, music, reels, or just real talk.

The campaign’s goals are bold:

  • Inspire creative expression around mental health and substance use.
  • Normalize seeking help, showing it as strength rather than weakness.
  • Mobilize schools, NGOs, families and social platforms to amplify youth voices.

And the teaser? A powerful video where silence gives way to rhythm, movement, art, and voices that say, “We don’t hide how we feel — we transform it.”

#VoicesWithoutStigma is not just a campaign. It’s a cultural wave.

Curious Yet? Stay Tuned.

On June 26, something big is dropping. A campaign made of real voices, raw stories, and bold creativity. If you’ve ever felt misunderstood, judged, or silenced — this is your moment.

Get ready to join the voices that refuse to be labeled. To cry, to laugh, to heal, to shout back with truth.

Follow the campaign. Join the lives. Share your story. Explore the science, feel the voices, join the movement:

Because when we speak with compassion instead of judgment, and with facts instead of fear, we don’t just prevent drug use — we create a future worth living for.

#VoicesWithoutStigma | #YourVoiceIsPower | #June26 | #MentalHealthMatters | #PreventionWorks

 

Source: https://www.dianova.org/news/real-talk-real-tools-drug-prevention-that-actually-works-for-todays-youth/

Filed under: Culture,Education,Europe,Mental Health,Prevention and Intervention,Youth :

Dianova and G2H2 launched a series of debates with a session dedicated to prevention and treatment initiatives for children and adolescents – 16/05/2025

Substance use prevention targeting children and adolescents is a science that relies on evidence-based interventions to address the complex factors contributing to substance use disorders – Photo by Ernest Brillo on Unsplash

On Tuesday 12 May, the first session in a series of debates organized by G2H2 was opened. Entitled ‘People, power and policies in global health: perspectives from civil society’, the series was organized in the run-up to the 78th World Health Assembly, held from 19 to 27 May.

Co-hosted by Dianova and the Geneva Global Health Hub (G2H2) , the session ‘Growing up safe: public health approaches to drug use prevention and treatment for children and adolescents’ brought together high-level participants, including Anja Busse (WHO) and Wadih Maalouf, (UNODC).

G2H2 is a network of civil society organisations based in Geneva that promotes information exchange and joint political action on global health issues – Dianova International is a member of G2H2.

The main objective of the session, as outlined by Gisela Hansen (moderator, Dianova International), was to reconnect drug policies with public health, focusing on the prevention and treatment of substance use among children and adolescents. The aim was to promote models centred on health and human rights, especially in vulnerable or disadvantaged contexts around the world.

Contributions follow from each of the following experts:

  • Anja Busse (World Health Organization)
  • Oriel Esculies (Proyecto Hombre, Spain)
  • Shrook Mansour Ali (Psychiatric Care Development Foundation, Yemen)
  • Cristina von Sperling Afidi (KKAWF, Pakistan)
  • Rajesh Kumar (SPYM, India)
  • Cressida de Witte (WFAD, Sweden)
  • Rebecca Haines-Saah (University of Calgary, Canada)
  • Wadih Maalouf (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)

Anja Busse (WHO)

Head of the Unit on Drugs, Alcohol and Addictive Behaviours at the WHO. Anja has been involved in this field at the global level since 2005 and has been supporting science-based strategies for the treatment and care of drug dependence.

Anja took the floor and began by reminding  the WHO’s commitment to promoting global health, particularly among the most vulnerable. The WHO Constitution (1946) emphasizes the importance of healthy child development: “Healthy  development of the child is of basic importance, the ability to live harmoniously in a changing total environment is essential to such development.”

“A public health response to substance use prevention and treatment means reaching the highest number of people with the most effective, least costly, and least invasive strategy or intervention” 

This involves creating environments in which children and adolescents can grow up healthy and safe, and where it is easier for them to avoid alcohol, tobacco and drugs. The burden of responsibility should primarily be placed on the system and on all of us rather than on the individual.

Safer is an initiative launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2018, aiming to prevent and reduce alcohol-related harm in various countries – image: excerpt from presentation by Anja Busse, WHO

Globally, 22% of young people aged 15 to 19 consume alcohol, with significant regional differences demonstrating the fundamental role of our environment

UNODC data also reveal that, in 2021, around 5.3% of 15–16-year-olds had used cannabis in the previous year, and that, in most countries and regions, cannabis use is more prevalent among young people than in the general population.

  • Download .pdf presentation by Anja Busse

Anja highlighted that the UNODC and the WHO have published several documents on the health and development of children and adolescents, as well as international standards on drug use prevention. These include strategies targeting the population as a whole, as well as those used in schools, the health system, the workplace, the community, and finally, families. She emphasised one of the basic principles of prevention: ‘The earlier we act, the better’, although it is never too late to implement interventions.

Science based strategies targeting the general population have the widest impact, but they must also consider implementing interventions for the most at-risk groups.

Children and adolescents face several obstacles when seeking mental health and drug services – image: excerpt from presentation by Anja Busse, WHO

According to Anja, the most effective strategies target multiple and multi-level vulnerabilities rather than limiting themselves to narrow interventions in single settings. Finally, Anja emphasised the need for well-conducted planning involving many stakeholders and for an effective social and health system providing accessible mental healthcare services at all levels, which is not the case everywhere.

While it is acceptable for a government to restrict or regulate the availability, distribution and production of drugs, it is important to avoid the unnecessary punishment of people who use drugs.

After reviewing various organizational prevention methods and their effectiveness, Anja also highlighted interventions that research has found to be ineffective or of questionable or unproven effectiveness. These include media awareness campaigns (not effective); use of social media and influencers (effectiveness unknown); information sessions on the consequences or harms of drugs (not effective); sports and other leisure activities (lack of evidence, controversies) strategies targeting children/youth particularly at risk (lack of evidence) and drug testing in schools (no evidence).

Documents

  • Guidelines on mental health promotive and preventive interventions for adolescents (available in six languages)
  • Global Accelerated Action for the Health of Adolescents
  • Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST)
  • UNODC/WHO International Standards on Drug Use Prevention
  • A Global Health Strategy for 2025-2028

Oriol Esculies – Proyecto Hombre (Spain)

Oriol is a psychologist with over thirty years’ experience of helping people with addiction problems. He is the International Commissioner of the Proyecto Hombre association and coordinator of the Oviedo Declaration.

The impact of drugs, including tobacco and other legal substances, is enormous. This is not only an issue of security, economics or the law, but also a health issue affecting millions of people, including children and adolescents, in all aspects of their health: physical, emotional, intellectual and social.

We must invest in health now, while our children are healthy; otherwise, the future problem of substance use will be greater, not only for them, but for society as a whole – this is the paradox of prevention.

Some of the stakeholders involved in the Oviedo Declaration, following its presentation at the Commission for the Study of the Constitution (CND) in March 2024 – Photo: Proyecto Hombre, all rights reserved

This also presents a significant challenge to decision-makers and governments, as it necessitates planning and governance with a long-term vision. Launched last year, the Oviedo Initiative is a declaration comprising ten proposals in line with international standards on prevention. It is also a global mobilisation to incorporate prevention into drug policies once and for all. It is an inclusive, collective campaign that is already supported by over 3,000 institutions and several observers, including the UNODC.

  • Read article on the Oviedo Declaration and support the Declaration, available in 48 languages

The main strength of this initiative, which builds bridges between local and global levels, lies in the voluntary work of 174 focal points within countries. At Dianova International, we are honoured to contribute to this initiative as the focal point for Switzerland.

We hope that the resolution on prevention recently adopted by the CND in Vienna last March will mark a turning point towards the accelerated implementation of effective and forward-looking drug prevention policies.

Shrooq Mansour Ali, Psychiatric Care Developmental Foundation (Yemen)

As a public health expert and the Yemen focal point for the Oviedo Initiative, Shrooq works for the Yemeni NGO, the Psychiatric Care Developmental Foundation, providing mental health and psychological support services to vulnerable young people.

She points out that, after ten years of conflict, Yemen is facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, exacerbated by ongoing violence, the consequences of climate change and the collapse of the economy, institutions and services. According to the 2024 Humanitarian Needs Assessment, approximately half of Yemen’s population, or more than 18 million people, require humanitarian assistance.

Research has shown that populations affected by armed conflict are at a higher risk of using drugs as a coping mechanism in response to such dramatic situations.

Furthermore, factors such as prolonged psychological trauma, disrupted education, unemployment and chronic poverty in Yemen further increase the risks. Despite this, mental health and substance use issues remain highly neglected. Therefore, ensuring adequate care for substance use issues in humanitarian contexts is a priority.

As the focal point for the Oviedo Declaration in Yemen, Shrook and her colleagues face significant challenges in advancing the initiative within government structures due to the many divisions between the government recognised by international institutions in the south and the de facto authorities in the north. This means that all activities must be coordinated with different entities, which is made more difficult by the sensitive nature of the issue.

Yemen lacks reliable data on substance use. As one of the Oviedo Declaration’s recommendations highlights, there is a need to focus on evidence-based strategies grounded in the collection and evaluation of data. This data would serve as a basis for implementing prevention programmes and national policies in this area.

Problems associated with substance use exist in Yemen and can no longer be ignored or denied.

Cristina von Sperling Afridi, Karim Khan Afridi Welfare Foundation (KKAWF), Pakistan

Following the tragic loss of her son, Karim, in 2015, Cristina established the Karim Khan Afridi Welfare Foundation (KKAWF) to support young people and raise awareness of addiction. The foundation’s work is based on five pillars: drug awareness, sport, the environment, art and culture, and civic engagement.

Currently in Pakistan And across the region Drug use prevention strategies are significantly underrepresented In public policies agendas. The Oviedo declaration launched in 2024 represents a timely and powerful call to action urging nations to prioritize prevention in the drug policies For Pakistan this framework offers a critical opportunity to redirect focus towards long-term sustainable solutions.

Cristina emphasised the urgency of the situation: Pakistan lies at the heart of the Golden Crescent, one of the world’s most notorious drug producing region. Of all the countries in the region, Pakistan is the most affected by the drug menace. It harbors the largest heroin consuming population in the region, a crisis now compounded by the rise of crystal meth.

Drug use among young people poses a particular risk to democracy in Pakistan, a country with a population of around 250 million, 154 million of whom are under the age of 30. This massive young population is the country’s greatest asset and potential, but also its greatest vulnerability.

The growing threat of drug use among young people poses considerable social, health, and economic challenges for the nation. The KKAWF Foundation plays an active role in preventing drug use. It raises awareness among policymakers, civil society and other stakeholders of the importance of prevention.

Prevention must become the central pillar of national drug policies, but this requires essential resources, coordination and commitment — and urgently so!

The KKAWF develops numerous partnerships in its advocacy work for prevention. Here, the Foundation’s president, Cristina Von Sperling Afridi (right), with a representative of the Green Crescent Federation – Photo: KKAWF, all rights reserved

One of the Foundation’s main areas of focus is fostering collaboration between the government, civil society organisations, and the private sector, as only a unified, strategic approach can effectively address this public health crisis. It is also crucial to integrate drug education into school curricula at secondary and higher education levels.

The KKAWF advocates an evidence-based, stigma-free approach that promotes emotional intelligence, resilience, and critical thinking.

Cristina believes that prevention must become a way of life, not just a programme. She believes that only by cultivating a culture of prevention will it be possible to protect future generations.

Rajesh Kumar, Society for the Promotion of Youth and Masses (SPYM), India

Rajesh is the executive director of SPYM, an NGO that has worked in the field of addiction for over 40 years, receiving several national awards for its work with marginalised communities. SPYM has consultative status with ECOSOC, and Dr Kumar has served on numerous government and international bodies.

India’s proximity to the Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle has made the country a destination for large quantities of drugs. Substance use is therefore on the rise, particularly among children. In response to this serious violation of children’s rights, SPYM began working with children suffering from addiction in 2010.

In India, approximately 4 million children use opiates, 2.6 million inhale drugs, and 2 million use cannabis. Even with a population of over 1.4 billion, these figures represent a huge problem, particularly given that only 1% of affected children seek help.

While it is estimated that 99.9% of children do not use drugs, it is essential to invest in treatment and scientifically validated prevention strategies based on collaboration with families, communities and schools to ensure they stay on this path. These groups have a duty to ensure that substance use prevention and mental health are part of their regular activities, which is why SPYM has developed the Navchetna programme under the auspices of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

  • Download .pdf presentation by Rajesh Kumar

The Navchetna school programme is designed with different modules tailored to students according to their age. It is run by trained teachers under the supervision of the Ministry of Education.

A significant part of SPYM’s work is carried out for the benefit of the well-being of the most disadvantaged children and adolescents – Photo: SPYM, all rights reserved

Once their training is complete, the ‘master trainers’ must in turn train up to 100 teachers within two years, with the ultimate goal of training one million teachers, although so far, only 100,000 have been trained. The programme also uses videos, which are currently available in English and Hindi and will soon be available in 12 regional languages.

SPYM also develops numerous programmes and activities to help vulnerable people, particularly children and teenagers. These include a community-based early intervention programme run by peers in nearly 300 districts in the country most affected by drug use, residential treatment centres for various populations including children and adolescents in conflict with the law, activities focused on life skills and rehabilitation, and advocacy activities.

SPYM and KKAWF are both associate members of Dianova International.

Cressida de Witte – World Federation Against Drugs (WFAD, Sweden)

Cressida is the project coordinator and communications manager for the WFAD. She leads projects for this organisation in various countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, India, and Georgia. She is also a member of the WFAD committees on gender and youth.

The continuum of care includes a wide range of interventions, from health promotion to recovery and follow-up, including various prevention strategies and different phases or modalities of treatment.

Diagram produced by Dr Audrey Begun – Theories and Biological Basis of Substance Misuse

The Continuum of Care in addiction treatment refers to a comprehensive approach that guides and tracks patients over time through various levels and intensities of care – Image: excerpt from presentation by Cressida de Witte

Although prevention programmes for young people generally target school-age children, adolescents and young adults due to the high risk of experimenting with substances, research has shown that prevention efforts should start even earlier.

The early years of a child’s life are a critical period for brain development. This is when the foundations of decision-making, impulse control and resilience are laid. As younger children learn to manage their emotions, resolve conflicts and set goals, they develop skills that will inform healthier choices in adolescence and adulthood.

However, prevention is not solely the responsibility of the child; it also depends on their environment, which is why action must be taken at all levels, from the macro to the micro, and from family dynamics to community support.

The WFAD is a multilateral community with ECOSOC consultative status, composed of over 470 NGOs in 73 countries. The organisation’s three pillars are capacity building through webinars, training courses and forums; advocacy at national, regional and international levels to strengthen prevention, treatment and recovery; and project development, particularly international projects. One such project is a youth project in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Sober Youth and Healthy Communities: Transforming Violent Youth in Kinshasa. Learn more about the project.

Within the framework of these advocacy efforts, the organisation launched the ‘Global Youth Declaration on Prevention, Treatment and Recovery’. Presented at the 68th session of the CND in March 2025, the declaration is based on six recommendations aimed at ‘ensuring access to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and recovery services that are youth-friendly and respectful of their rights, in order to ensure a healthy, safe and drug-free future for all young people worldwide’. The declaration is available in seven languages.

Rebecca Haines-Saah – University of Calgary (Canada)

Rebecca is a public health sociologist and associate professor at the University of Calgary. Her research interests include youth drug use, harm reduction approaches, and drug policy reform.

As a teenager, she was cast in a popular Canadian television programme in which her character experimented with substance use. This, in some way, launched her career and her commitment to supporting young people she said.

Rebecca believes that we need to radically rethink drug prevention for young people. Unfortunately, in North America as elsewhere, prevention has long been based on values rather than scientifically validated evidence of what works and what doesn’t. Past prevention campaigns, such as Nancy Reagan’s ‘Just Say No’ motto, were never evidence-based or evaluated.

“Prevention has been based on values rather than evidence for too long, which is why we need to radically rethink drug prevention for young people” – excerpt from presentation by Rebecca Haines-Saah

Even worse, an evaluation of the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) programme – a series of lessons delivered by police officers in schools – showed that it was associated with a slight increase in substance use! It was hypothesised that the most marginalised young people reacted badly to the presence of police officers in the classroom. These campaigns primarily relied on stereotypes and stigmatisation of young people.

“In Canada, it has been highlighted that the most effective drug prevention programmes have very little to do with drugs” 

If we want to improve prevention outcomes among young people, she stresses, we need to focus less on educating them about specific substances, and instead strive to promote community well-being, as well as individual and family resilience. That’s where we need to invest.

Scientific research indicates that effective strategies include psychosocial and developmental interventions that enhance conflict resolution and problem-solving abilities, social-emotional learning, and anything else that helps teenagers manage challenging situations with their peers and cope with trauma and community conflict. These strategies have demonstrated several positive long-term outcomes.

Rebecca also highlighted the implementation of a community-based prevention model in Calgary and other parts of the country. Planet Youth, the model implemented in Calgary and elsewhere, was developed based on the Icelandic prevention model: a participatory, evidence-based approach that has dramatically reduced substance use, particularly tobacco and alcohol.

Finally, Rebecca presented a slide on the ‘prevention pyramid’, particularly focusing on the first level: the more effort made to create equitable social and economic conditions, the better the results. She believes that this is a much more ambitious and difficult goal to achieve than simply setting up a programme or activity. However, it is on this point that our vision must be aligned.

The more effort that is made to create equitable social and economic conditions in prevention, the better the results.

In addition to prevention needs, Rebecca emphasised the urgent need to address young people’s harm reduction needs to prevent drug poisoning deaths. Drug poisoning is currently the leading cause of death among 10- to 18-year-olds in western Canada, ahead of cancer and car accidents, so this is a public health emergency.

Dr Wadih Maalouf – UNODC

Wadih is a public health professional who holds a PhD in mental health and drug epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. With over 25 years’ experience, he is now the global coordinator of the addiction prevention programme at UNODC, and is one of the world’s leading prevention experts.

Wadih began by emphasising the importance and timeliness of this conversation because it is based on scientific evidence. A large number of standards have now been developed for prevention and treatment, thanks to collaboration between UNODC and WHO, and the science is available. He also noted that science is receiving greater recognition, not only from organisations working in the field, but also from civil society. This is evident in the 3,000 stakeholders who have rallied around the common agenda promoted by the Oviedo Declaration.

This recognition is also evident at government level, as demonstrated by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs’ resolutions, which call for early prevention to target different stages of development rather than drug use. These resolutions also call for multisectoral prevention, despite all the challenges posed by multilateralism.

There is now a desire to develop science-based, multisectoral prevention programmes for young people.

In his view, there is a real desire to prioritise science and prevention, particularly for young people, and to work across multiple sectors. With the right ingredients — science, political commitment, and action on the ground — it is possible to turn this knowledge into action.

As a people-centred approach, prevention must also focus on the environment and context in which people live, as well as their level of vulnerability. This systemic approach must aim to leave no one behind.

To achieve this, we must focus on different age groups, contexts of vulnerability and gender. This is an important consideration in the context of vulnerabilities, particularly for children, whose developmental trajectories may be affected in different ways.

The current generation of young people has the highest potential ever seen, which is why it is essential that they are meaningfully engaged in prevention efforts.

Young people are not only the beneficiaries of prevention; they must also be its agents because every child has the right to grow up healthy, and we have the means to make that happen.

Source: https://www.dianova.org/news/growing-up-safe-prevention-strategies-for-children-and-adolescents/
Filed under: Culture,Drug use-various effects,Europe,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,Youth :

by Ben Stevens in Business of Cannabis Europe, CBD, Hemp  – April 17, 2025

Italy’s hemp industry has been dealt another major blow this week as the Regional Administrative Court (TAR) rejected an appeal, rendering CBD oil a narcotic.

It comes just days after Article 18 of Italy’s Security Bill, which equates industrial hemp (inflorescences) flower with high-THC cannabis, was forced through under emergency measures, decimating the industry.

One mild reprieve following this brutal crackdown was that it only banned CBD oils obtained from flowers, so those extracted from the leaves or stems would still be legal for over-the-counter sale.

However, with this latest ruling U-turn by the Court, which twice rejected this crackdown based on a lack of scientific evidence, the restriction now applies to all oral compositions of CBD extracted from the cannabis plant, regardless of whether the extract comes from flowers, leaves, or stalks.

Timeline of the CBD oil ban

  • 2020: The initial decree listing oral CBD as a narcotic was introduced by then-Health Minister Roberto Speranza. However, it was immediately suspended, pending input from scientific authorities, the Superior Health Council and Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), and never enforced.
  • August 2023: Under the new government led by Minister Orazio Schillaci, the 2020 decree was reinstated without new opinions from the relevant health bodies. This move triggered immediate legal challenges.
  • October 2023: The TAR issued a ruling blocking the enforcement of the decree, citing the lack of supporting scientific evidence and reinforcing the argument that CBD is non-psychoactive.
  • June 27, 2024: The Ministry of Health reissued the decree, now backed by new opinions from the ISS and the CSS, asserting that oral CBD may present health risks, particularly in relation to its potential interaction with THC.
  • September 11 & October 24, 2024: The TAR again suspended the decree, citing a scientific report by Professor Costantino Ciallella, a former forensic medicine director at La Sapienza University, who concluded that CBD does not cause psychophysical dependence and lacks psychoactive effects.

Court’s U-turn

In a ruling on April 16, 2025, the TAR ultimately rejected the appeal brought by hemp industry associations Canapa Sativa Italia, Giantec S.r.l., Biochimica Galloppa S.r.l., and Orti Castello.

Following the decision, Italy has effectively banned the sale of oral CBD products as food or supplements, limiting them to prescription-only medicines, dealing a final blow to an industry already on its knees.

In their challenge of the decree, issued on June 27, 2024, the associations argued that the classification was unjustified, economically damaging, and lacked scientific merit.

However, after twice rejecting the bill, the court sided with the Ministry, accepting its application of the precautionary principle, a European legal doctrine that allows preventive regulation when scientific uncertainty exists about potential health risks.

The Ministry based its decision on evaluations from Italy’s National Health Institute (ISS) and Higher Health Council (CSS), both of which raised concerns about the safety and regulatory oversight of CBD products derived from plant extracts.

These concerns included the potential for liver toxicity, psychiatric side effects, contamination with THC or synthetic cannabinoids, and discrepancies in product labelling.

The court emphasised that the ruling does not equate to listing pure CBD as a narcotic, nor does it affect products containing synthetic CBD.

“In light of uncertain but credible risks to public health, precautionary regulatory intervention is justified,” the judges wrote, citing the Ministry’s duty to protect consumers even in the absence of definitive scientific consensus.

Business of Cannabis will be exploring the rulings and their impact on the industry in the coming days. (They say)

Source: https://businessofcannabis.com/italys-hemp-industry-dealt-2nd-major-blow-as-cbd-oil-classified-as-narcotic/?

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Economic,Europe,Hemp :

 

by Nicolas Traino with Lucie Valais – 20/03 /25, then PL with AFP – 04/09 /25

The Academy of Medicine relies on certain studies carried out in countries where cannabis has been legalized to reaffirm its opposition to legalization in France.

The French Academy of Medicine reiterated, this Wednesday, April 9, its long-standing opposition to the legalization of cannabis in France, citing certain recent studies which point to negative effects in terms of public health in countries which have authorized the consumption of this drug.

 

“The legalization of the ‘recreational’ use of cannabis would cause serious problems in terms of public health”, said this institution in a press release, which aims to express medical consensus on a given subject.

This position has been assumed for several decades by the Academy of Medicine, which expresses itself above all on the consequences of legalization in matters of public health and not, for example, crime.

 

An opinion based on studies carried out in other countries

The institution explains this new communication by the fact that the scientific literature has recently been expanded based on the experience of several territories having legalized cannabis, including Canada and more and more American states.

“Recently published medical data confirms (…) the problems that have arisen in countries that have carried out such legalization”, says the Academy.

Among the studies cited, one, carried out in Canada and published in 2022 in the New England Journal of Medicine, shows that with legalization, the proportion of patients testing positive for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active substance in cannabis has doubled among motorists hospitalized after an accident.

 

Also in Canada, a study, published in 2025 in the Jama Network Open, showed that, among patients hospitalized for schizophrenia, the proportion associated with cannabis use tripled, going from around 3% to more than 10%.

 

The Academy’s position is also part of a political context where deputies – from the left and Macronist ranks – proposed at the start of the year to legalize the use and the possession of cannabis, according to a “closely regulated model”.

Conversely, the institution insists on “maintaining the ban in France on the sale and consumption of cannabis” and on increasing prevention among young people.

 

Source: https://www.bfmtv.com/sante/un-soulagement-enorme-le-processus-vers-la-legalisation-du-cannabis-therapeutique-relance-par-le-gouvernement_AV-202503200126.html

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Europe :
By Emma Thies AD – Last update: 25-02-25, 16:58
The Netherlands is one of the largest suppliers of kush: the life-threatening synthetic drug that is a particularly serious problem in West African Sierra Leone. So many people die from the addictive drug strain that group cremations are even held in the country. What exactly is kush, and how dangerous is it?
According to the report by the Clingendael Institute and Global Initiative, published today, the Netherlands is one of the largest suppliers of kush. The largest shipment ever intercepted (300 kilos) came from the Netherlands. The UK is also a major supplier. The synthetic drug is drawing a trail of destruction among the youth of the African country of Sierra Leone.
The stuff is spotty, highly narcotic and extremely addictive: it makes users walk the streets like zombies. Kush is said to have first surfaced in 2016, in the capital Freetown. There, ‘hundreds of young men’ reportedly died because of organ failure caused by the drug, the BBC reported last year. No official death tolls are known, but it is clear that addiction – with all its consequences – is becoming widespread. In April last year, a state of emergency was even declared in Sierra-Leone.
But what is kush?
The term ‘kush’ is often associated with cannabis, but in this case it is a synthetic cannabinoid. The cheap stuff is often light green, dark green, brown or reddish in colour and is usually smoked with tobacco. According to users, the drug is said to relieve stress or even ‘make all feelings disappear’.
For a long time, much was unclear about what exactly kush is. According to research now published by Clingendael, the stuff mostly contains synthetic cannabinoids or nitazenes: a heavy painkiller stronger than morphine, heroin and fentanyl. It makes kush extremely potent. Also, according to Clingendael, a lot of rumours about kush circulate: for instance, the drug strain is said to contain methamphetamine and human bones, among other things. No evidence of this has been found.
But it is clear that kush is highly dangerous and extremely addictive. Users reported needing increasing amounts, and according to the research institute, the number of reported overdoses allegedly caused by kush has increased significantly since 2022. Users can suffer from skin abnormalities and ulcers and severe limb swelling. The kush users who die often struggle with serious health problems or stop eating, for example.
The role of the Netherlands
According to Clingendael, the number of kush deaths leads to pressure on morgues and group cremations were even held. Drug users in the survey say they know on average between two and four people who have died from the drug. Some even have between 20 and 50 cush deaths in their vicinity.
The kush market was expanding at a very catastrophic pace in Sierra Leone. According to Clingendael, there are indications that the Netherlands and the UK are exporting kush. Interviews conducted by researchers show that key figures in the kush market have connections with the two countries. In 2024, 300 kilos of ‘organic material’ was intercepted in a cargo from Rotterdam, presumably to make kush. That cargo also contained plastic syrup bottles from a Dutch factory.
There are no indications that the Netherlands’ most wanted criminal, Jos Leijdekkers, is involved in kush. This ‘Bolle Jos’ keeps to himself in Sierra Leone and is said to be mainly involved in the export of cocaine. In the Netherlands, he was sentenced to 24 years for large-scale drug trafficking.
According to Clingendael, there are a lot of indications that the kush market is being ‘protected’ at a high political level, but this cannot be sufficiently proven. However, there are said to be two major players who cooperate and have political links through family.
Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Europe,Others (International News),Synthetics :
by Ioulia Kondratovitch – UNODC

Globally, the number of people who used drugs rose to 292 million in 2022 – a 20 per cent increase over 10 years.  The UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) 2024 World Drug Report shows that the emergence of new synthetic opioids and a record supply and demand of other drugs have compounded the impacts of the world drug problem, including overdoses, violence, instability, environmental harms and more.

The Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), the United Nations’ central drug policy-making body, is meeting this week to take stock of progress made in the implementation of international drug policy commitments.

Below, learn more about the CND and why it matters.

The basics

The CND is where UN member states set policy on all issues related to drugs. 53 Member States from all regions of the world are elected to serve four-year terms.

UNODC acts as Secretariat to the CND.

Why does the CND matter?

Drug production, trafficking and consumption can cause violence, instability and even death.

UNODC’s 2024 World Drug Report found that 64 million people worldwide suffered from drug use disorders in 2022, with only one in 11 in treatment.

Drug trafficking is empowering organized crime groups, who are also engaged in other crimes including human trafficking, online scams, fraud and illegal resource extraction.

A new record high of cocaine production has coincided with a rise in violence in states along the supply chain, as well as an increase in health harms in countries of destination. Meanwhile, nitazenes – a group of synthetic opioids which can be even more potent than fentanyl – have recently emerged in several high-income countries, resulting in an increase in overdose deaths.

How does it work?

CND reviews and analyses the global drug situation and takes action through resolutions and decisions. At this year’s CND, Member States will be discussing resolutions on preventing drug use among children; research on evidence-based interventions for the treatment and care of stimulant use disorders; alternative development; safety of officers in dismantling synthetic opioid laboratories; the impact of drugs on the environment; and strengthening the global drug control framework.

The CND also decides, based on recommendations by the World Health Organization and the International Narcotics Control Board, on which substances will be placed under international control – or “scheduled” – under the three international drug control treaties.

These conventions help prevent the abuse of psychoactive substances, protecting individuals, communities and entire countries from drug use epidemics while reducing crime and violence. They also ensure that these substances are available for necessary medical and scientific purposes.

International scheduling of substances, including precursor chemicals, helps law enforcement efforts to curb production and trafficking of dangerous drugs.

Why are we talking about it now?

In recognition of these new and persistent challenges, the CND adopted the 2019 Ministerial Declaration to accelerate the implementation of the international drug policy commitments made since 2009.

At last year’s CND, Member States made new commitments under the “Pledge4Action” on how they could expedite actions to tackle the world drug problem. This year, Member States will report on efforts to fulfill these pledges, as well as have an opportunity to make new ones.

What else is the UN doing to address the world drug problem?

UNODC collects, analyses and reports data on drug trends and developments. Find more in our 2024 World Drug Report, Afghanistan Drug Insights Series, Colombia and Bolivia coca surveys, and Myanmar opium survey.

Additionally, by strengthening the ability of Member States to detect and intercept illicit drug flows at borders and equipping front-line officers with testing equipment, UNODC bolsters countries’ national security by disrupting the operations and profits of organized drug trafficking groups. Making borders and key shipping routes less vulnerable to exploitation also fosters a safer environment for legitimate business and trade, contributing to a more stable and resilient global economy.

UNODC also works with Member States to support the prevention of drug use; treatment and rehabilitation for people who use drugs; and access to controlled drugs for medical purposes.

Source: https://www.unodc.org/unodc/news/2025/March/explainer_-what-is-the-commission-on-narcotic-drugs.html

Filed under: Australia,Canada,Europe,New Zealand,Others (International News),UK,USA :
Home
United Nations
The United Nations Office at Geneva

 

Synthetic drugs are rapidly transforming the global drug trade, fuelling an escalating public health crisis, according to the UN administered International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).

In its 2024 Annual Report, released on Tuesday, the INCB explains that unlike plant-based drugs, these substances can be made anywhere, without the need for large-scale cultivation, making them easier and cheaper for traffickers to produce and distribute.

The rise of powerful opioids like fentanyl and nitazenes – potent enough to cause overdoses in tiny doses – has worsened the crisis, driving record-high deaths.

“We need to work together to take stronger action against this deadly problem which is causing hundreds of deaths and untold harm to communities,” he continued.

Traffickers stay ahead of regulations

Criminal groups are constantly adapting to evade law enforcement.

By exploiting legal loopholes, they develop new synthetic compounds and use artificial intelligence to find alternative chemicals for drug production.

New smuggling methods – including drones and postal deliveries – make these drugs harder to detect.

As a result, seizures of synthetic substances are now outpacing those of traditional plant-based drugs like heroin and cocaine.

Patchwork response

Despite efforts to curb synthetic drugs, responses remain fragmented, allowing traffickers to stay ahead.

The INCB is calling for stronger global cooperation, including partnerships between governments, private companies and international organizations, to disrupt supply chains and prevent harm.

Medication out of reach

While synthetic drugs flood illegal markets, millions of people in low- and middle-income countries still lack access to essential pain relief medication.

The report highlights that opioid painkillers such as morphine, remain unavailable in regions like Africa, South Asia and Central America – not due to supply shortages, but because of barriers in distribution and regulation.

The INCB is urging opioid-producing nations to increase production and affordability to improve palliative care and pain management.

Regional hotspots concerns

The report identifies several regions where synthetic drug trafficking is expanding.

In Europe, the looming heroin deficit following Afghanistan’s 2022 opium ban could push more users toward synthetic alternatives while in North America, despite efforts to curb the crisis, synthetic opioid-related deaths remain at record highs.

The manufacture, trafficking and use of amphetamine-type stimulants are increasing across the Middle East and Africa, where treatment and rehabilitation services are often inadequate.

Meanwhile, in the Asia-Pacific region, methamphetamine and ketamine trafficking continues to grow, particularly in the Golden Triangle.

Call for urgent action

The INCB is urging governments to strengthen international collaboration, improve data-sharing and expand drug prevention and treatment services.

Without decisive action, the synthetic drug trade will continue to evolve, putting more lives at risk.

 

Source: ‘Rapid expansion’ of synthetic drugs reshaping illicit markets, UN anti-narcotics body warns
Filed under: Australia,Canada,Europe,Fentanyl,New Zealand,Others (International News),Prevalence,Prevention and Intervention,Synthetics,UK,USA :
by researchers Joaquín Rodríguez-Ruiz and Raquel Espejo Siles – University of Córdoba – 14-Jan-2025

A team at the University of Cordoba analyzed more than 8,000 scientific papers on substance use and adolescence to look for the factors that protect adolescents from using them when they are encouraged to do so by those in their social circles, issuing a call for prevention policies to be updated to include vaping and social media

According to the Health Ministry’s Survey on Drug Use in Secondary Education in Spain (ESTUDES 2023), the average at which young people begin to consume alcohol is 13.9 years of age; tobacco, 14.1; and cannabis, 14.9. One of the risk factors for substance use is the influence of those who are already using, and who share common characteristics, among young people’s social peers or equals, with these including classmates and others friends.

Not all young people, however, decide to take these substances, so the question arises of what factors protect an adolescent from using substances when others around them are. This question was also posed by Raquel Espejo Siles and Joaquín Rodríguez-Ruiz at the University of Cordoba’s Coexistence and Violence Prevention Studies Lab (LAECOVI), proving that, although there is a great variety of protective factors (including individual, family and school ones), there are, in fact, two aspects that should guide prevention policies: age and type of substance.

Espejo and Rodríguez-Ruiz confirmed this after a bibliographic analysis that began with more than 8,000 research articles, reduced to 50 after discarding those that did not meet the inclusion criteria set down in the systematic review. Based on all this scientific evidence, they  concluded that age is essential, since an adolescent does not relate to substances in the same way at age 10 as they do at age 17, for example. Family or school factors, such as parental supervision and feelings of attachment to one’s school, protect against substance use in early adolescence, but they lose their influence and cease to do so as the years go by.

“As adolescence progresses and peers become more influential, prevention strategies should place more emphasis on peer culture. As of the age of 16, when their development is more advanced, they can address individual issues such as promoting self-control and responsible decision-making,” Rodríguez-Ruiz added.

Similarly, the type of substance must also be taken into account. According to all the studies analyzed, an individual factor like assertiveness is not effective against the separate consumption of alcohol, tobacco, or cannabis, but it does protect against polyconsumption.

In addition to taking into account the substance, and age, prevention strategies should also be updated taking into account vaping and the influence of social media. As Espejo Siles explains: “we are dealing with a changing phenomenon, with new forms of consumption and new ways in which adolescents relate to each other”.

Published in the journal Adolescent Research Review, the study also delves into the need for studies to unify their criteria (such as defining adolescence in the same way) and to expand their geographical diversity, since most are based on  American culture.

Source:  https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1070392

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Education,Europe,Prevention and Intervention,Youth :

  Polytechnique insights: A REVIEW BY INSTITUT POLYTECHNIQUE DE PARIS

            Guillaume Airagnes
            Lecturer at Universite  Paris Cite
           Amine Benyamina
            Professor at Paris Saclay Faculty of Medicine
             assisted by Sophie Podevin
            Journaliste Scientifique, Ginkio
Key points:
  • Addictions are widespread among the French population: in 2020, 25.5% of adults smoked every day and 10% drank at least one glass of alcohol a day.
  • Addiction is based on criteria such as craving, continued consumption despite the dangers, or a withdrawal syndrome when the substance is stopped.
  • In France, the most commonly used addictive substances are tobacco (responsible for 75,000 deaths a year), alcohol (41,000 deaths a year) and cannabis.
  • There has been a marked increase in the use of psychostimulant drugs among adults since 2010, and diversion of opiate-based medicines is on the rise.
  • Current research is focusing on studies specifically dedicated to drug users, to better identify effective therapies tailored to their profiles.

As the leading cause of a deregulation in the brain’s reward circuit, addictions are still widespread among the French population. This is largely due to the widespread use of legal psychoactive substances: tobacco and alcohol, which are the two leading causes of premature death in France. In 2020, nearly 25.5% of adults smoked every day (12 million people) and 10% drank at least one glass of alcohol a day (5 million people). So, what is the situation for substance addictions in France for the coming year?

A restricted definition

First of all, to qualify as an addiction, a person must meet at least 2 of the 11 criteria set out in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM‑5), including: craving, a compelling need to consume the substance or perform the activity; loss of control over the quantity and time devoted to consumption; increased tolerance to the product; a strong desire to reduce doses; continued use despite the damage; or the presence of a withdrawal syndrome when the addictive behaviour is abruptly stopped…

To date, only addictions to substances (tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, opium and derivatives) or to video games and gambling are recognised as “addictions”. Social networking, sexual hyperactivity and sugar are not considered as such due to a lack of data and scientific evidence.

Top three

In France, the most widely used addictive substances are still tobacco, alcohol and cannabis. The first two are responsible for 75,000 and 41,000 deaths a year respectively. These are terrifying figures, known but ignored because of habit.

In an article published on 20 October 2024, Doctor Bernard Basset, chairman of the Addictions France association, and psychiatrist and addictologist Amine Benyamina, chairman of the Fédération Française d’Addictologie (FFA), proposed a series of measures combining public health and government debt, such as taxing drinks according to their alcohol content, or introducing a minimum price per drink based on the Scottish model. “In France, we have a real cultural problem with alcohol and very powerful lobbies,” says Amine Benyamina. “All public prevention policies are stifled or censored.” And yet, according to data collected by the Constances epidemiological cohort, which numbered almost 200,000 people in 2018, 19.8% of men and 8% of women in the working population are thought to have a harmful use of alcohol.

While the problem persists, it is changing. Starting with a major positive point made by Guillaume Airagnes, Director of the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Tendencies (OFDT) and Doctor of Psychiatry and Addictology: “The general consumption of substances such as tobacco and alcohol has been falling among young people since 2010.” However, there was a downside at the time of Covid, when several addictive activities were on the increase during confinement.

On the other hand, a clear increase in the use of psychostimulant drugs has been observed among adults since 2010, “although the levels of use in the general population remain incomparably lower than those for tobacco, alcohol or cannabis” points out Guillaume Airagnes.

These substances, like ecstasy, have benefited from their image becoming much more commonplace. This is also the case for cocaine, the availability of which has risen steadily over the last ten years, and which used to be the social marker of a wealthy economic category. In 2021, 26.5 tonnes of cocaine were seized, a 67% increase on 2018. “Cocaine benefits from the tenacious stereotype that it does not produce dependence. In reality, while the signs of physical withdrawal are almost non-existent, it is one of the most psychologically tyrannical substances, with extremely powerful cravings,” describes Amine Benyamina, who is also head of the psychiatry and addictology department at the Paul-Brousse hospital in Paris. This increase is set to continue. The 2020 lockdowns demonstrated the adaptability of the drug trade, with home delivery services, marketing, attractive packaging, the use of social networks and instant messaging, and even payments in cryptocurrency.

Misuse of medicines as a new drug

Another less well-known development is the misuse of certain opiate-based drugs, such as codeine or tramadol, which are intended for therapeutic purposes. These are morphine derivatives with a less powerful analgesic effect than morphine. “Paradoxically, this makes them more addictive,” explains Guillaume Airagnes. “As the psychoactive effects are less intense, this leads to greater compulsive consumption.” Misuse of these drugs has been documented for around ten years and remains under close surveillance, although it still only concerns a “very small proportion of users” the director of the OFDT points out.

In his department, Amine Benyamina also sees new types of drug misuse: “More marginal but just as problematic is the use of pregabalin or LYRICA. This is a product designed to treat neuropathic pain or post-traumatic stress syndromes.” This analgesic, which this time is not a morphine derivative, also has a strong addictive potential, encouraging patients to continue taking it beyond the prescription period.

One of the first problems facing carers is the lack of information about drug users themselves. In fact, most of the data on addiction in France comes from surveys carried out on the general population to be more representative. But not for much longer! In April 2024, the first national e‑cohort open only to drug users was launched: ComPaRe Pratiques Addictives. “We already have several thousand subscribers,” says Guillaume Airagnes, who is heading up the study. “The only condition to be eligible is to be a psychoactive substance user at the time of inclusion in the study. Of course, our aim is to follow up participants for at least 5 years, regardless of whether they continue to use substances.”

The responses and the long-term follow-up will enable Guillaume Airagnes and his teams to explore several avenues of research: the question of multiple drug use, which seems to be the rule rather than the exception; the relationship between drug use and economic, demographic or professional situation; the study of the very strong stigmatisation phenomenon among these users, etc. These data will also enable us to better target effective therapies that are adapted to each profile.

In its Guide pratique de psychothérapies les plus utilisées en addictologie of May 2022, the Fédération Française d’Addictologie lists and ranks the different therapies according to their clinical relevance. The behavioural and cognitive therapy (BCT) approach remains the most popular, with a method that can be adapted to addictions with and without substances and solid results confirmed by scientific studies.

But other avenues of treatment are being explored, such as the surprising use of LSD derivatives. “The initial results are surprising and encouraging,” says Professor Amine Benyamina with satisfaction. “Of course, it’s important to remember that these studies are very closely supervised” warns the professor, who is working with his team on the effect of psilocybin on alcohol addiction. “They should not be reproduced at home!”

Filed under: Addiction,Europe,Medicines :

The martial language used by the government when presenting its plan to combat drug trafficking cannot mask the wide blind spots in its announcements, particularly in terms of health and social issues.

Published in Le Monde on November 9, 2024, at 12:46 pm (Paris), updated on November 9, 2024, at 2:14 pm 2 min read Lire en français

Gang warfare in a growing number of towns, repeated shootings punctuated by the deaths of ever-younger teenagers, drug traffickers with increased financial power and influence operating even from their prison cells… There can be little doubt that France, like other European countries, is grappling with the scourge of drugs on an unprecedented level. Criminal groups thrive on an illicit market estimated at over €3.5 billion, posing an ever-growing threat to the lives of entire neighborhoods, to public health and even to democracy.

Asymmetrical and unequal, the battle between drug traffickers prepared to do anything and a democracy based on the rule of law requires institutions and procedures to be strengthened and adapted. The announcements made in Marseille on Friday, November 8, by Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau and Justice Minister Didier Migaud are a step in this direction: The creation of a “national prosecutor” to combat organized crime, which would be subject to special criminal courts composed solely of magistrates to avoid pressure on juries. The system will also be improved for criminals who accept to collaborate with the justice system. Both of these procedures are among the logical proposals inspired by a Senate bill resulting from an inquiry commission report published in May, as well as by the former justice minister Eric Dupond-Moretti’s work.

There are, however, some grey areas surrounding this legislative measure, which is scheduled for parliamentary review in 2025, notably as regards the precise scope of the new prosecutor and the expansion of the current anti-drug office. As for the immediate measures announced on Friday, they remain imprecise, both in terms of the reinforcement of the Paris prosecutor’s office, to which a “coordination unit” would be attached, and the resources devoted to scrambling the telephone conversations of prisoners at the “top end” of the criminal spectrum, who would be assigned to specialized prison quarters.

Concrete action needed

But the martial language used by the two ministers to demonstrate their willingness to “join forces” over and above their political differences, cannot mask the blind spots in their announcements. Significantly, the health minister was not consulted. Information on addiction, risk reduction for drug users and providing care for people addicted to drugs are a few examples of these blind spots.

Cracking down on trafficking and putting pressure on the supply of illicit substances are essential, but they cannot be effective unless they are accompanied by strong action on demand and without a debate, informed by other countries, on the benefits and risks of partial decriminalization. At a time when consumption is becoming commonplace in many circles, from the most disadvantaged to the most privileged, public authorities should also strive to build and disseminate a counter-narrative to that of social ascent through trafficking.

A real “national cause,” the battle against drug trafficking requires France to build the conditions, if not for a consensus, at least for a political majority. This requires not only the addition of a strong preventive component but also that the government distances itself from the interior minister’s constant conflation of drugs and immigration.

Source: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/article/2024/11/09/france-s-drug-problem-both-repression-are-prevention-are-needed_6732224_23.html
Filed under: Addiction,Alcohol,Drug use-various effects,Education,Education Sector,Europe,Legal Sector,Prevention and Intervention,Social Affairs :

Cryptocurrency Tether enables a parallel economy that operates beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement

Wall Street Journal     Angus Berwick  and Ben Foldy       Sept. 10, 2024

A giant unregulated currency is undermining America’s fight against arms dealers, sanctions busters and scammers. Almost as much money flowed through its network last year as through Visa cards. And it has recently minted more profit than BlackRock, with a tiny fraction of the workforce. Its name: tether. The cryptocurrency has grown into an important cog in the global financial system, with as much as $190 billion changing hands daily.

In essence, tether is a digital U.S. dollar—though one privately controlled in the British Virgin Islands by a secretive crew of owners, with its activities largely hidden from governments.

Known as a stablecoin for its 1:1 peg to the dollar, tether gained early use among crypto aficionados. But it has spread deep into the financial underworld, enabling a parallel economy that operates beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement.

Wherever the U.S. government has restricted access to the dollar financial system—Iran, Venezuela, Russia—tether thrives as a sort of incognito dollar used to move money across borders.

Russian oligarchs and weapons dealers shuttle tether abroad to buy property and pay suppliers for sanctioned goods. Venezuela’s sanctioned state oil firm takes payment in tether for cargoes. Drug cartels, fraud rings and terrorist groups such as Hamas use it to launder income.

Yet in dysfunctional economies such as Argentina and Turkey, beset by hyperinflation and a shortage of hard currency, tether is also a lifeline for people who use it for quotidian payments and as a way to protect their savings.

Tether is arguably the first successful real-world product to emerge from the cryptocurrency revolution that began over a decade ago. It has made its owners immensely rich. Tether has $120 billion in assets, mostly risk-free U.S. Treasury bills, along with positions in bitcoin and gold. Last year it generated $6.2 billion in profit, outearning BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, by $700 million.

Tether’s CEO, Paolo Ardoino, boasted earlier this year that, with under 100 employees, it earned more profit per person than any company ever.

Tether wants “to build a fairer, more connected, and accessible global financial system,” Ardoino said in a May press release. He claims over 300 million people are using the currency.

With sanctions, Washington can cut adversaries off from the dollar and thus much of the global trading system, since all dollar transactions involve U.S. regulated banks. Tether’s popularity subverts those powers.

“We need a regulatory framework that doesn’t allow offshore dollar-backed stablecoin providers to play by a different set of rules,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told The Wall Street Journal. Adeyemo singled out tether in April testimony before Congress.

For this article, the Journal spoke with tether users, researchers and officials, and reviewed messages exchanged between intermediaries, court and corporate records, and blockchain data.

Tether didn’t respond to requests for comment. The company said in May it collaborates with law enforcement and was upgrading its capacity to monitor transactions for sanctions evasion. Tether voluntarily freezes digital wallets used to transfer its tokens that were connected with sanctioned entities, it says. Ardoino said Tether has a “proactive approach to safeguarding our ecosystem against illicit activities.”

How Tether works: The company behind tether, Tether Holdings, issues the virtual coins to a select group of direct customers, mostly trading firms, who wire real-world dollars in exchange. Tether uses those dollars to purchase assets, mostly U.S. Treasurys, that back the coin’s value.

Once in the wider market, tether can be traded for other tokens or traditional currencies through exchanges and local brokerages. In Iran, for example, a crypto exchange called TetherLand allows Iranians to swap rials into tether.

Tether vets the identities of its direct customers, but much of its vast secondary market goes unpoliced. The tokens can be pinged near-instantaneously along chains of digital wallets to obfuscate the source. A United Nations report this January said tether was “a preferred choice” for Southeast Asian money launderers.  The company says it can track every transaction on public blockchain ledgers and can seize and destroy tether held in any wallet.

But freezing wallets is a game of Whac-A-Mole. Between 2018 and this June, Tether blacklisted 2,713 wallets on its two most popular blockchains that had received a total of about $153 billion, according to crypto data provider ChainArgos. Of that massive sum, Tether could only freeze $1.4 billion because the rest of the funds had already been sent on.

Tether’s founders—a group that included a former plastic surgeon called Giancarlo Devasini—created the currency back in 2014. Uptake for a stable token was initially slim. The prospect of profiting from billions of accumulated dollars was a “fantasy,” said William Quigley, an investor who was part of the founding team.

He and other co-founders sold their stakes soon after to Devasini, who has run Tether ever since, according to people familiar with the company. The reclusive billionaire lives at a modernist villa in the French Riviera enclave of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, corporate records show. Ardoino, a fellow Italian, has become Tether’s public face.

Tether’s entry into the crypto mainstream came during the market’s 2020-2021 bull run, as traders used tether to buy and sell out of risky bets. Its market capitalization exploded from $4 billion to almost $80 billion.

The dollar for all: In Venezuela, financially isolated by sanctions and economic mismanagement, Tether found a ready user base.

President Nicolás Maduro’s government was under siege in 2020 from U.S. measures that targeted state oil firm Petróleos de Venezuela, or PdVSA. That October, Maduro’s parliament passed an “Anti-Blockade Law” that authorized the government to use crypto to protect its transactions.

PdVSA began demanding payment for oil shipments in tether, according to people familiar with its activities and transaction records. Purchase orders authorized by PdVSA often instructed buyers to transfer tether to a certain wallet address. Another method was for intermediaries to swap deliveries of cash for tether and load the tokens onto prepaid travel cards, which enabled holders to use crypto for purchases. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s parliament passed a law allowing the government to use crypto to protect its transactions. The company’s adoption of tether was so pervasive it had another effect: instead of sending oil revenues back to the government, the middlemen that PdVSA used for the sales diverted funds for themselves, leading to a scandal that toppled the oil minister.

“This cryptocurrency’s use only has served to perpetuate gigantic levels of corruption,” Rafael Ramírez, a former oil minister under Maduro, said in an interview.

Venezuela’s government didn’t respond to requests for comment. The country’s attorney general said in April that middlemen’s use of crypto made the stolen funds “undetectable” for authorities.

For regular Venezuelans, tether became a lifeline, too. Inflation that reached 2 million percent wiped out savings held in bolivars. Currency controls made bank transfers abroad impractical.

Guillermo Goncalvez, a 30-year-old Caracas graduate, runs a platform called El Dorado that offers Venezuelans peer-to-peer tether trading, which links buyers and sellers directly.  El Dorado has over 150,000 users, who pay fees that are a fraction of what traditional money remitters charge: local stores converting daily revenues into tether, Venezuelan migrants sending money back to families, and freelancers receiving salaries in USDT, as tether is also known. “USDT is the digital dollar for all Venezuelans,” Goncalvez said.

Enough money to fill a plane: In Russia, tether is a vital payment channel, the Journal has previously reported.

A confidential report drawn up this year by a government-backed Russian research center identified tether as one of the most popular ways for importers to convert rubles into foreign currencies. Major institutions are involved, too: Rosbank, a Russian lender, arranges tether transfers for clients to pay suppliers abroad, according to a company presentation circulated in June. Rosbank spokespeople didn’t respond to requests for comment.

It is also the go-to currency for Russia’s elite.

A glamorous fixer called Ekaterina Zhdanova told associates in Telegram messages in 2022 and 2023 that she was arranging huge ruble-for-tether deals for clients. Digital wallets she shared had transferred over $350 million in tether, according to blockchain data.

Born in a Siberian village, Zhdanova, 38 years old, ran a concierge service to help wealthy Russians get foreign visas, and a travel agency that organized luxury cruises. Her ex-husband was a top lieutenant for a billionaire Russian real-estate developer.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions amplified demand for her services.

Two months into the war, Zhdanova relayed a request from a client to a group of large Russian crypto traders, according to chats on Telegram. The client, who she said had their own bank, wanted to buy about $10 million of tether each month, needing $300 million’s worth in total, in exchange for cash that would be handed over in the United Arab Emirates or Turkey.

After finding a trader willing to accept the deal, Zhdanova told the group she could coordinate the cash’s collection. “They will use planes to pick up the cash,” she said.

Treasury sanctioned Zhdanova late last year, accusing her of transferring crypto on behalf of unnamed oligarchs. Police in France detained her around that time at an airport there as part of a separate French money laundering investigation, people familiar with her arrest said. She remains in custody. A lawyer for Zhdanova declined to comment.

‘Everything. Everywhere.’: Tether is now investing in startups that use tether for everyday payments. The more Tether can encourage its usage, the more tokens it needs to issue, and so the more dollars it will have to put to work.

In Tbilisi, Georgia, a popular landing spot for Russian émigrés, the token’s symbol—an encircled green “T”—glimmers outside money-change shops with blacked-out windows. Cash machines advertise that users can deposit bills for the stablecoin.

Ardoino, the Tether CEO, visited Georgia last year and approached government officials with an offer to help expand the local crypto economy. They signed a cooperation deal that Ardoino said would make the former Soviet republic a flourishing payments hub. Tether invested $25 million in local startups, according to Georgia’s innovation agency.

The main recipient of Tether’s financing, CityPay.io, has rolled out tether-payment systems for thousands of Georgian businesses. Hotels including Tbilisi’s downtown Radisson Blu Iveria have CityPay point-of-sale terminals, and it has joined with a property venture there to sell premium apartments in tether.

CityPay also facilitates international payments in tether for companies, totaling as much as $50 million a month, according to Eralp Hatipoglu, its Turkish CEO. He said the pressure the U.S. applied on the global banking system created these opportunities. Companies exporting from Turkey to Georgia get hammered with questions from correspondent banks, he said, and wire transfers take days. CityPay’s website advertises “100% anonymous transactions,” though Hatipoglu said they check clients’ identities against sanctions lists and don’t accept Russian businesses.

Tether has said it aims for CityPay to expand into other emerging markets. At a crypto conference in a Tbilisi skyscraper this June, sponsored by Tether and attended by its head of expansion, banners promoted the currency’s use for daily payments on CityPay. Guests queued to buy coffee in tether. “Pay with USDT,” read one sign. “Everything. Everywhere.”

 

Source: Tether: The Cryptocurrency Fueling the Financial Underworld – WSJ

Filed under: Australia,Canada,Crime/Violence/Prison,Drug Specifics,Economic,Europe,New Zealand,Others (International News),Prevalence,UK,USA :

Published Lisbon  16.09.2024

The Croatian national focal point and the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) are organising today the latest Reitox Academy on evidence-based prevention. The academy will cover the principles of science-based prevention, feature examples of quality prevention programmes across Europe and discuss models for improving national prevention interventions.

Experts from different countries will present examples of good practice in prevention interventions in diverse settings, including: school (Estonia, Spain, Brazil); family (Estonia) and community (Croatia, Germany) (1).

The event will round off with a session on lessons learned in applying evidence-based prevention programmes and implementing quality standards in the EU. An expert from Bosnia and Herzegovina will share experience from a non-EU country in a final panel discussion.

Notes

(1) To find out more about evaluated prevention interventions, please check out our Xchange online registry. This is one of the EUDA tools aimed at facilitating EU-wide knowledge exchange for evidence-based interventions.

Source: https://www.euda.europa.eu/news/2024/reitox-national-academy-evidence-based-prevention-opens-today-zagreb_en

Filed under: Education,Europe,Prevention and Intervention :

Drug gangs recruiting hundreds of compatriots arriving across Channel to work for multimillion-pound operations

by Charles Hymas      Home Affairs Editor  – Daily Telegraph  (UK) – 28 September 2024 12:00pm

Albanian migrants are recruited as workers in illegal cannabis ‘farms’ set up in rented houses or disused industrial buildings.

Hundreds of Albanians who crossed the Channel on small boats have helped their drug gangs secure a stranglehold on Britain’s cannabis market.

They have been recruited as workers in illegal cannabis “farms” set up in rented houses or disused industrial buildings to produce crops worth up to £2 million a time and which can be grown and harvested in as little as 12 weeks.

The industrial scale of the cannabis production has been revealed by an undercover investigation into a secret channel on the encrypted messaging service Telegram. It is used by more than 700 Albanians to share intelligence on their cannabis operations.

Conversations between members of the group centre on the best chemicals for plant growth, the most effective way to harvest cannabis plants, the economics of securing properties for drug production and why crossbows are better than guns to defend their crops from rival gangs.

Members of the group recount robberies where cannabis “farm” workers have had their fingers cut off and landlords have demanded five-figure shares of the profits.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said that the ruthless professionalism that the Albanians have brought to cannabis farming has enabled them to displace the Vietnamese as the main domestic providers of the drug in Britain.

Albanian gangs who previously specialised in cocaine moved into cannabis because it was “very, very low-risk”.

It turns a good profit because of high demand – Britons consume 240 tonnes of the drug, worth £2.4 billion, a year – and does not require risky cross-border transportation because it is homegrown, according to the NCA.

The surge in Albanians crossing the Channel in 2022, when 12,685 reached the UK in small boats, has provided the ready supply of illegal workers, skilled in the hydroponic technology required to grow the plants in the darkened rooms of houses where all the windows have been sealed.

It has led to increasing focus by police on the domestic production of cannabis. Some 29 Albanians were sentenced in July alone for illegally producing the drug. That was followed by a further 24 Albanians appearing before the courts in August. That represents nearly one a day.

Some 101 illegal Albanian migrants were sentenced to more than 300 years in jail in three months at the end of last year. Three-quarters of them were convicted of offences linked to cannabis production across England and Wales in indoor farms.

Many of the illegal migrants were recruited by the gangs after a government crackdown on black economy work made it difficult for them to find jobs.

Fines for bosses who employ illegal migrants have tripled to up to £60,000 per worker to make the practice so economically damaging that it could “put them out of business”. Police are concerned that Telegram has become a go-to platform for criminals. It has 900 million users but only about 100 employees. Pavel Durov, Telegram’s Russian-born founder, was detained in France this summer over its alleged failure to fight the use of the service for crime, including the spread of child sex abuse material.

The Albanians’ channel goes under the name Kusho, which means “cousin” and is the nickname Albanians use to address each other.

It currently has 703 members who share information about how to produce the maximum amount of cannabis from seed to full-grown plant.

Posts on the channel were collected by an Albanian reporter who infiltrated the group. “Everyone, you need to know how to grow ‘roses’,” said one of the organisers of the channel.

Another member listed the six key chemicals that had proved the most effective for fast, healthy growth.

One video demonstrated the best way to trim the dead leaves from a cannabis plant, while one member, using the pseudonym Bushi06, offered cannabis seedlings for £5 and boasted that he had sold 700 so far.

In discussions on how to protect the “farms”, one Albanian explained that it was better to spend £337 on a high-powered crossbow than a gun, because being caught in possession would carry a lesser sentence.

Some appeared less worried about police discovering their illegal operations than being attacked and robbed by rival gangs.

“Most robberies in the cannabis houses are happening in Leicester. They cut off the fingers of an Albanian worker,” said one member of the group.

“Police are not the big problem,” said a London-based Albanian using the pseudonym Deni. “The main problem is robbers who are now using drones to identify the houses. They detect the heat from the plants through the roofs of the houses.”

Others complained that landlords were overcharging them for the use of their properties or demanding a cut of the profits. “London landlords are charging £4,000 a month for a house. Not worth it at all,”  said one.

Another said: “So far I have invested £31,000 in a house including 12K for sealing it up, and 12K for the lights. Do not know if I will get my money back. The agency who rented me the house are asking for £9,000 when the product is ready for harvesting.”

Last summer, police launched Operation Mille to target cannabis farms in the UK. Among those jailed was Nard Nidri, 34, who entered the UK illegally in 2022 and lived in Birmingham, then moved to Swansea, where he worked at a car wash, before being recruited for a cannabis farm.

He was one of four “gardeners” jailed for a combined total of six years in August after police arrested them at a property in Neath, south Wales. Two rooms and the attic had been adapted and insulated to grow plants with a street value of £85,000.

Sentencing them, Judge Geraint Walters said cannabis farms being run by Albanian criminal gangs had reached “epidemic levels” and had, in his judgment, “become something of an industry”.

He suggested that authorities should look at the rental housing sector, noting that while so-called cannabis “farmers” often appeared in court, landlords and others receiving money from the rent of properties being used for the growing operations rarely did so.

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Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/28/how-albanian-migrants-have-taken-over-uk-cannabis-market/

 

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Crime/Violence/Prison,Europe :

Written by Ania Wellere, Master of Public Health Candidate, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.

As many know, drinking alcohol in a licensed premise under the age of 18 is against the law in the UK, however those aged 16 or 17 and accompanied by an adult can drink but not buy beer, wine, or cider with a meal. However, with relatively high alcohol use among children and young people in the UK, is the flexibility of this law one of many factors contributing to heavy episodic drinking among this population?

Youth drinking

According to Truque et al. (2023), 25% of adolescents in Europe begin to consume alcohol as early as the age of 13, and depending on region and gender, the prevalence of weekly alcohol consumption from adolescents is anywhere from 2%-33%. In 2021, NHS England found that the proportion of 15-year-olds who reported drinking at least once a month was 36%, with 14% saying at least weekly. Specifically in England, the World Health Organization found that the proportion of 13-year-olds who had consumed alcohol was far higher than the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) average – which covers 44 countries – and in Scotland and Wales.

Several factors influence children and young people’s alcohol use. One of the primary reasons young people give for why they drink at a young age is because of their peers. Drinking interest stems from failure to miss out, pressure to drink, and an attempt to improve their social status.

There are also some non-consensual factors, particularly outdoor advertising, but also advertising in magazines and television, that could be fuelling underage drinking because of its appeal to younger audiences. Children and young people do not ask to be exposed to these advertisements, and they cannot always filter the advertisements that they see through these mediums.

Despite regulatory efforts and codes that have been in place to protect children from alcohol marketing, researchers believe that attempts to protect children through the regulatory system and codes are failing. Several councils across the UK have taken the initiative to establish local policies that restrict advertisements of unhealthy commodities, including alcohol. If more local authorities follow suit in creating policies to restrict alcohol advertising, it would protect children and young people from exposure and potential alcohol-related harms.

Effect on the adolescent brain

Although youth drinking is slowly decreasing across the UK, heavy episodic drinking and its health impact is still a concern amongst adolescents, especially the effect alcohol has on the adolescent brain. Research on the effect alcohol has on the adolescent brain is limited. Research has typically focused on the impact alcohol has on the adult brain and the relationship between alcohol dependence and increased risk of dementia and other chronic diseases.

Before diving into the specific impact alcohol has on adolescent brains, it is important to lay out the process of how alcohol even travels through the body. So envision this: you take your first sip, and the alcohol makes its way through the stomach and into your bloodstream through the walls of your small intestine, where the blood will take the alcohol throughout the rest of your body. Alcohol then makes its way quickly to your brain, kidneys, lungs, and liver via the bloodstream. The way these parts of the body act is also contingent on the amount of alcohol that is in the bloodstream. For the brain, alcohol can impact your thought processes, emotions, memory, and coordination.

For an adolescent, alcohol moves through the body and breaks down slower than other age groups. The brains of adolescents have an increased likelihood of being negatively impacted compared to adult brains, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. For young heavy episodic drinkers, brain development, structure, and function could possibly be altered compared to young non-heavy episodic drinkers, as seen through neuroimaging.

This impact on the brain has been noted to significantly affect the executive function of the adolescent brain. Executive function is defined as the mental processes that help an individual set and carry out their goals. Scientific evidence shows that weakened executive functions cause young people to make more errors and struggle with their shifting abilities (i.e., the ability to adapt). In the long run, this can follow young heavy episodic drinkers to adulthood.

In more technical terms, adolescent heavy episodic drinking is associated with a greater risk of reductions in grey matter during adolescence and disrupts white matter integrity, impacting neurocognitive functioning, according to Chikritzhs et al. (2024). In simple terms, the brain’s grey matter that helps individuals control movement, memory, and emotions is reduced, and white matter that allows the brain to exchange information and gives the ability to concentrate and learn is disrupted.

With these types of tissues being impacted by alcohol at a young age, there is research that has highlighted some of the risk factors that have come to disturb the lives of young heavy episodic drinkers when they become adults. A study including about 488,000 Swedish men found that heavy episodic drinking in adolescence was one of the strongest risk factors for developing early-onset dementia in adulthood.

As adolescence is a critical phase of development, more protective measures are put in place to reduce alcohol use among adolescents and, as a result, reduce alcohol-related harm to their brains. These protective measures usually include regulation of youth’s access to alcohol and alcohol advertising.

As we know, alcohol marketing is causally linked to young people drinking more and at an earlier age, and much of this marketing is non-consensual. To protect children’s rights, ‘the state must do all it can, through passing legislation and creating administrative systems, to promote and protect children’s rights’, according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The brain is a vital organ to the body, and adolescent brain health is critical. With alcohol being accessible to children and young people in the UK, a ban on alcohol marketing should be taken into consideration. In addition, the normalisation of alcohol use among young people has to be put to an end, and that may start in the home with parents reshaping how they communicate alcohol use with their children and not encouraging drinking behaviour. Furthermore, future research should look at the differences between light to moderate and heavy drinking among adolescents to see if the effects on the brain are drastically different.

Source: https://www.ias.org.uk/2024/08/01/alcohol-and-its-impact-on-the-adolescent-brain/

Filed under: Alcohol,Brain and Behaviour,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Europe,Prevalence,Youth :
Harm reduction encompasses interventions, programmes and policies that seek to reduce the health, social and economic harms of drug use to individuals, communities and societies. On this page, you can find the latest analysis of harm reduction interventions in Europe, including key data on opioid agonist treatment, naloxone programmes, drug consumption rooms and more. 

This page is part of the European Drug Report 2024, the EMCDDA’s annual overview of the drug situation in Europe.

Evolving drug problems pose a broader set of challenges for harm reduction

The use of illicit drugs is a recognised contributor to the global burden of disease. Interventions designed to reduce this burden include prevention activities, intended to reduce or slow the rate at which drug use may be initiated, and the offer of treatment to those who have developed drug problems. A complementary set of approaches goes under the general heading of harm reduction. Here the emphasis is on working non-judgementally with people who use drugs in order to reduce the risks associated with behaviours that are mostly associated with adverse health outcomes, and more generally to promote health and well-being. Probably the best known of these is the provision of sterile injecting equipment to people who inject drugs, with the aim of reducing the risk of contracting an infectious disease. Over time these sorts of approaches appear to have contributed to the relatively low rate, by international standards, of new HIV infections now associated with injecting drug use in Europe. Over the last decade, as patterns of drug use have changed and the characteristics of those who use drugs have also evolved, to some extent, harm reduction interventions have also needed to adapt to address a broader set of health outcomes and risk behaviours. Prominent among these are reducing the risk of drug overdose and addressing the often-considerable and complex health and social problems faced by people who use drugs in more marginalised and socially excluded populations.

A spectrum of responses is needed to reduce changing drug-related harms

Chronic and acute health problems are associated with the use of illicit drugs, and these can be compounded by factors such as the properties of the substances, the route of administration, individual vulnerability and the social context in which drugs are consumed. Chronic problems include dependence and drug-related infectious disease, while there is a range of acute harms, of which drug overdose is perhaps the best documented. Although relatively rare at the population level, the use of opioids still accounts for much of the morbidity and mortality associated with drug use. Injecting drug use also increases risks. Correspondingly, working with opioid users and those who inject drugs has been historically an important target for harm reduction interventions and also the area where service delivery models are most developed and evaluated.

Reflecting this, some harm reduction services have become increasingly integrated into the mainstream of healthcare provision for people who use drugs in Europe over the last three decades. Initially, the focus was on expanding access to opioid agonist treatment and needle and syringe programmes as a part of the response to high-risk drug use, primarily targeting injecting use of heroin and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Recent joint EMCDDA-ECDC guidance on the prevention and control of infectious diseases among people who inject drugs recommends providing opioid agonist treatment to prevent hepatitis C and HIV, as well as to reduce injecting risk behaviours and injecting frequency, in both the community and prison settings. The guidelines also recommend the provision of sterile injecting equipment alongside opioid agonist treatment to maximise the coverage and effectiveness of the interventions among people who inject opioids.

 

To access the full report, please click on the link below:

Source: https://www.euda.europa.eu/publications/european-drug-report/2024/harm-reduction_en

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Europe,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction :

The European Drug Report 2024: Trends and Developments presents the EMCDDA’s latest analysis of the drug situation in Europe. Focusing on illicit drug use, related harms and drug supply, the report provides a comprehensive set of national data across these themes, as well as on specialist drug treatment and key harm reduction interventions.

This report is based on information provided to the EMCDDA by the EU Member States, the candidate country Türkiye, and Norway, in an annual reporting process.

The purpose of the current report is to provide an overview and summary of the European drug situation up to the end of 2023. All grouping, aggregates and labels therefore reflect the situation based on the available data in 2023 in respect to the composition of the European Union and the countries participating in EMCDDA reporting exercises. However, not all data will cover the full period. Due to the time needed to compile and submit data, many of the annual national data sets included here are from the reference year January to December 2022. Analysis of trends is based only on those countries providing sufficient data to describe changes over the period specified. The reader should also be aware that monitoring patterns and trends in a hidden and stigmatised behaviour such as drug use is both practically and methodologically challenging. For this reason, multiple sources of data are used for the purposes of analysis in this report. Although considerable improvements can be noted, both nationally and in respect to what is possible to achieve in a European-level analysis, the methodological difficulties in this area must be acknowledged. Caution is therefore required in interpretation, in particular when countries are compared on any single measure. Caveats relating to the data are to be found in the online Statistical Bulletin 2024, which contains detailed information on methodology, qualifications on analysis and comments on the limitations in the information set available. Information is also available there on the methods and data used for European-level estimates, where interpolation may be used.

Content

The drug situation in Europe up to 2024

This page draws on the latest data available to provide an overview of the current situation and emerging drug issues affecting Europe, with a focus on the year up to the end of 2023. The analysis presented here highlights some developments that may have important implications for drug policy and practitioners in Europe.
Understanding Europe’s drug situation in 2024 – key developments

Drug supply, production and precursors

Analysis of the supply-related indicators for commonly used illicit drugs in the European Union suggests that availability remains high across all substance types. On this page, you can find an overview of drug supply in Europe based on the latest data, supported by the latest time trends in drug seizures and drug law offences, together with 2022 data on drug production and precursor seizures.
Drug supply, production and precursors – the current situation in Europe 

Cannabis

Cannabis remains by far the most commonly consumed illicit drug in Europe. On this page, you can find the latest analysis of the drug situation for cannabis in Europe, including prevalence of use, treatment demand, seizures, price and purity, harms and more.
Cannabis – the current situation in Europe 

Cocaine

Cocaine is, after cannabis, the second most commonly used illicit drug in Europe, although prevalence levels and patterns of use differ considerably between countries. On this page, you can find the latest analysis of the drug situation for cocaine in Europe, including prevalence of use, treatment demand, seizures, price and purity, harms and more.
Cocaine – the current situation in Europe 

Synthetic stimulants

Amphetamine, methamphetamine and, more recently, synthetic cathinones are all synthetic central nervous system stimulants available on the drug market in Europe. On this page, you can find the latest analysis of the drug situation for synthetic stimulants in Europe, including prevalence of use, treatment demand, seizures, price and purity, harms and more
Synthetic stimulants – the current situation in Europe 

MDMA

MDMA is a synthetic drug chemically related to the amphetamines, but with somewhat different effects. In Europe, MDMA use has generally been associated with episodic patterns of consumption in the context of nightlife and entertainment settings. On this page, you can find the latest analysis of the drug situation for MDMA in Europe, including prevalence of use, seizures, price and purity and more.
MDMA – the current situation in Europe 

Heroin and other opioids

Heroin remains Europe’s most commonly used illicit opioid and is responsible for a large share of the health burden attributed to illicit drug consumption. Europe’s opioid problem, however, continues to evolve in ways that are likely to have important implications for how we address issues in this area. On this page, you can find the latest analysis of the drug situation for heroin and other opioids in Europe, including prevalence of use, treatment demand, seizures, price and purity, harms and more.
Heroin and other opioids – the current situation in Europe 

New psychoactive substances

The market for new psychoactive substances is characterised by the large number of substances that have emerged, with new ones being detected each year. On this page, you can find an overview of the drug situation for new psychoactive substances in Europe, supported by information from the EU Early Warning System on seizures and substances detected for the first time in Europe. New substances covered include synthetic and semi-synthetic cannabinoids, synthetic cathinones, new synthetic opioids and nitazenes.
New psychoactive substances – the current situation in Europe 

Other drugs

Alongside the more well-known substances available on illicit drug markets, a number of other substances with hallucinogenic, anaesthetic, dissociative or depressant properties are used in Europe: these include LSD, hallucinogenic mushrooms, ketamine, GHB and nitrous oxide. On this page, you can find the latest analysis of the situation regarding these substances in Europe, including seizures, prevalence and patterns of use, treatment entry, harms and more.
Other drugs – the current situation in Europe 

Injecting drug use

Despite a continued decline in injecting drug use over the past decade in the European Union, this behaviour is still responsible for a disproportionate level of both acute and chronic health harms associated with the consumption of illicit drugs. On this page, you can find the latest analysis of injecting drug use in Europe, including key data on prevalence at national level and among clients entering specialist treatment, as well as insights from studies on syringe residue analysis and more.
Injecting drug use – the current situation in Europe 

Drug-related infectious diseases

People who inject drugs are at risk of contracting infections through the sharing of drug use paraphernalia. On this page, you can find the latest analysis of drug-related infectious diseases in Europe, including key data on infections with HIV and hepatitis B and C viruses.
Drug-related infectious diseases – the current situation in Europe 

Drug-induced deaths

Estimating the mortality attributable to drug use is critical for understanding the public health impact of drug use and how this may be changing over time. On this page, you can find the latest analysis of drug-induced deaths in Europe, including key data on overdose deaths, substances implicated and more.
Drug-induced deaths – the current situation in Europe 

Opioid agonist treatment

Opioid users represent the largest group undergoing specialised drug treatment, mainly in the form of opioid agonist treatment. On this page, you can find the latest analysis of the provision of opioid agonist treatment in Europe, including key data on coverage, the number of people in treatment, pathways to treatment and more.
Opioid agonist treatment – the current situation in Europe 

Harm reduction

Harm reduction encompasses interventions, programmes and policies that seek to reduce the health, social and economic harms of drug use to individuals, communities and societies. On this page, you can find the latest analysis of harm reduction interventions in Europe, including key data on opioid agonist treatment, naloxone programmes, drug consumption rooms and more.
Harm reduction – the current situation in Europe 

PDF version of full report

The European Drug Report 2024 was designed as a digital-first product, structured by modules, and optimised for online reading. Within each chapter, you may download a PDF version of the page. We are also making available here  a PDF version of the full report (all modules and annex tables combined). Please note that some errors may have occurred during the transformation process and that it is possible that this version does not contain all corrections made since the report was first published (please check the last updated date).

Download full PDF version of the European Drug Report 2024 (16 MB, last updated 14.06.2024)

Source: https://www.euda.europa.eu/publications/european-drug-report/2024_en

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Europe,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction :
Open Access: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_access
Published:July 25, 2024 DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S2666-7568(24)00108-9
The article as uploaded shows link to tables e.g.(Table X) which, for brevity, have been deleted. Please therefore ignore these links!

Summary

Background

Cancer, coronary heart disease, dementia, and stroke are major contributors to morbidity and mortality in England. We aimed to assess the economic burden (including health-care, social care, and informal care costs, as well as productivity losses) of these four conditions in England in 2018, and forecast this cost to 2050 using population projections.

Methods

We used individual patient-level data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) Aurum, which contains primary care electronic health records of patients from 738 general practices in England, to calculate health-care and residential and nursing home resource use, and data from the English Longitudinal Study on Ageing (ELSA) to calculate informal and formal care costs. From CPRD Aurum, we included patients registered on Jan 1, 2018, in a CPRD general practice with Hospital Episode Statistics (HES)-linked records, omitting all children younger than 1 year. From ELSA, we included data collected from wave 9 (2018–19). Aggregate English resource use data on morbidity, mortality, and health-care, social care, and informal care were obtained and apportioned, using multivariable regression analyses, to cancer, coronary heart disease, dementia, and stroke.

Findings

We included 4 161 558 patients from CPRD Aurum with HES-linked data (mean age 41 years [SD 23], with 2 079 679 [50·0%] men and 2 081 879 [50·0%] women) and 8736 patients in ELSA (68 years [11], with 4882 [55·9 %] men and 3854 [44·1%] women). In 2018, the total cost was £18·9 billion (95% CI 18·4–19·4) for cancer, £12·7 billion (12·3–13·0) for coronary heart disease, £11·7 billion (9·6–12·7) for dementia, and £8·6 billion (8·2–9·0) for stroke. Using 2050 English population projections, we estimated that costs would rise by 40% (39–41) for cancer, 54% (53–55) for coronary heart disease, 100% (97–102) for dementia, and 85% (84–86) for stroke, for a total of £26·5 billion (25·7–27·3), £19·6 billion (18·9–20·2), £23·5 billion (19·3–25·3), and £16·0 billion (15·3–16·6), respectively.

Interpretation

This study provides contemporary estimates of the wide-ranging impact of the most important chronic conditions on all aspects of the economy in England. The data will help to inform evidence-based polices to reduce the impact of chronic disease, promoting care access, better health outcomes, and economic sustainability.

Introduction

Public health initiatives and the development of cardioprotective medications have led to an increase in life expectancy in the past six decades, giving rise to an ageing population.

This ageing population is suffering from a different set of medical issues than the population a century ago, with cancer, coronary heart disease, dementia, and stroke being the four leading causes for mortality and morbidity in England.

In 2019, these four conditions accounted for 59% of all deaths and 5·1 million disability-adjusted life-years in England.

Research investment is essential to combat major public health challenges, facilitating the development of new treatments and interventions that can improve rates of prevention, treatment, or management of diseases, enhancing quality of life and reducing their economic burden. However, it is important that the distribution of research funding across diseases is proportionate to their respective impact on society. In 2008, a UK study (Dementia 2010) evaluated the economic costs of, and research investment into dementia, and compared these costs and investments with those for cancer, coronary heart disease, and stroke.

Such estimates are important to inform health policy and identify diseases in need of greater investment,

with successive UK Governments having placed a greater priority for research funding in dementia.

However, previous studies that quantified the costs of these four chronic conditions had several important limitations, including that care resource use for each of the four conditions was apportioned based on assumptions and estimates from the literature, with methods differing between conditions. With representative cohorts from England, we are now able to estimate the economic burden of these conditions using individual patient-level data and a consistent methodology across conditions. Therefore, we aimed to estimate the economic burden of cancer, coronary heart disease, dementia, and stroke in England in 2018, and forecast this cost to 2050 using population projections.
Research in context
Evidence before this study
We conducted a systematic review of the literature to identify studies evaluating the costs of dementia. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Central Register of Controlled Trials, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, EconLit, Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Registry, Turning Research Into Practice, NHS Economic Evaluation Database, Science Citation Index, Research Papers in Economics, and OpenGrey Repository from Jan 1, 2000, to Aug 31, 2023. Search terms included “dementia”, “Alzheimer’s disease”, “cognitive impairment”, “costs”, and “resources”, among others. Except for one study conducted for the year 2008, we did not find any current study evaluating and contrasting the costs of the four chronic conditions with the highest mortality and morbidity burden in England—namely, cancer, coronary heart disease, dementia, and stroke. This study found that the total costs of dementia in England were £23·4 billion, followed by cancer (£12·0 billion), coronary heart disease (£7·8 billion), and stroke (£5·0 billion). However, these estimates were not estimated concurrently, with methodologies and sources of data varying considerably across conditions, including from generally small studies, which did not capture the impact of comorbidities on the levels of care provided. Therefore, results for each of the four conditions are probably not comparable.
Added value of this study
Our study assesses the total costs of cancer, coronary heart disease, dementia, and stroke, concurrently using patient-level data from two representative English cohorts: the Clinical Practice Research Datalink Aurum and the English Longitudinal Study on Ageing. We show that cancer, coronary heart disease, and dementia had similar overall health-care and social care costs, but when other costs were included, cancer had the highest overall economic burden. Using age-specific and gender-specific population projections to 2050, we found that the costs of the four conditions increased by 64% due to population ageing alone, with social care costs increasing by 104% between 2018 and 2050.
Implications of all the available evidence
Our study sheds light on the significant consequences of the four most important chronic conditions in terms of mortality and morbidity in England on various sectors of the economy. The data we present not only emphasise the magnitude of the economic burden caused by cancer, coronary heart disease, dementia, and stroke but also provide valuable insights for public health decision makers. By identifying the specific areas that require targeted interventions, our findings can guide policy makers in implementing strategic measures to alleviate the economic burden of these four conditions. With a projected increase in costs of 64% by 2050, our research findings can aid in directing governmental research expenditure to areas that hold the greatest potential for advancing the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, further reducing its economic impact on England.

Methods

Analysis framework and data sources

We adopted a societal perspective for our analyses, with inclusion of the following costs: health care, social care (defined as residential and nursing home, and formal care costs), informal care, and productivity losses. We used an annual timeframe that included all costs for 2018, irrespective of the time of disease onset. We obtained England-specific aggregate resource use data on health and social care, mortality, morbidity, and prevalence of disease. To apportion aggregate data on health, and residential and nursing home resource use to each of the four conditions, we analysed individual patient-level data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) Aurum linked to National Health Service Hospital Episode Statistics (HES).

CPRD Aurum is a large database of routinely recorded primary care electronic health records of patients from 738 general practices in England (10% of practices), covering 13% of the population.

The database contains information on symptoms, diagnoses, prescriptions, referrals, tests, immunisation, and medical staff. Primary care and secondary care diagnosis codes were used to identify the four conditions of interest. CPRD Aurum codes used to diagnose patients in primary care are reported in the appendix (pp 2–55). CPRD records were then linked to secondary care records contained in HES using Aurum (version 2.3) from August, 2019. In secondary care records, cancer was defined by ICD-10 category codes I00–I99, coronary heart disease by codes I20–I25, dementia by codes F00–F03 and G30, and stroke by codes I60–I69. The use of CPRD Aurum for this study was approved by the independent scientific advisory committee for CPRD research (protocol reference CPRD00120051). CPRD obtains annual research ethics approval from the UK’s Health Research Authority Research Ethics Committee (05/MRE04/87) to receive and supply patient data for public health research. No further ethical permissions were required for the analyses of these anonymised patient-level data. The analysis was based on 4 161 588 patients registered on Jan 1, 2018, in a CPRD general practice with HES-linked records, omitting all children younger than 1 year (appendix pp 56–57).

Informal and formal care information was obtained from the English Longitudinal Study on Ageing (ELSA).

ELSA collects data from people older than 50 years, with spouses from age 40 years also included, to understand all aspects of ageing in England. More than 18 000 people have taken part in the study since it started in 2002, with the same people re-interviewed every 2 years. For this study, we used information on wave 9 (2018–19; appendix pp 58–59). Access to ELSA, through the UK Data Service, was obtained as part of the UK Access Management Federation. ELSA has been approved by the National Research Ethics Service (London Multicentre Research Ethics Committee [MREC/01/2/91]).

Health-care resource costs

Primary care consisted of visits with general practitioners and practice nurses in health-care facilities or in patients’ homes. Accident and emergency care consisted of all hospital emergency visits. Outpatient care consisted of specialist consultations and treatments in outpatient wards, clinics, or patients’ homes. Hospital care consisted of hospital admissions, including day cases and inpatient stays. Pharmaceutical expenditure included the costs of all prescriptions dispensed in the community (eg, pharmacies), but excluded costs of medications administered in secondary care settings, which were included in the costs of inpatient care.
We obtained the overall total number of all-cause health-care contacts with each type of service and medication expenditure in England (table 1; appendix p 60). Patient-level data from CPRD Aurum with HES linkage were then used to apportion all-cause health-care contacts and pharmaceutical expenditure in England to cancer, coronary heart disease, dementia, and stroke. All resource use was valued using relevant unit costs.

Nursing and residential care home costs

We included resources associated with living in a nursing home (requiring 24 h nursing care) or residential home (accommodation supporting people who are not able to manage everyday tasks).

Of the more than 10 million people in England aged 65 years or older in 2018, 5% were living in a nursing or residential care home.

Using patient-level data from CPRD Aurum, we apportioned the proportion of people living in a nursing or residential care home in England due to cancer, coronary heart disease, dementia, and stroke (table 1; appendix pp 65–66). Nursing and residential home care home cost was valued at £837 per week,

taking into account the relative proportions of people living in nursing and residential homes,

and the local authority, not-for profit, and profit sector provision case mix.

Informal and formal care

Informal care costs were equivalent to the opportunity cost of unpaid care (ie, the time [work, leisure, or both] that carers forgo), valued in monetary terms, to provide unpaid care for relatives or friends with cancer, coronary heart disease, dementia, or stroke, and based on the conservative assumption that only patients limited in daily activities received care. We valued informal care using the proxy good method, in which an hour of informal care provided was valued using the labour market price of a close market substitute

(i,e. the mean hourly wage for a home care assistant [£7·85]).

Hence, for informal care, we multiplied the age-specific and gender-specific products of age-specific and gender-specific prevalence of cancer, coronary heart disease, dementia, and stroke in England;

the probability of living in the community (appendix p 66); the probability of being severely limited in daily activities as a result of each of the four conditions under study (appendix p 67); the probability of receiving informal care conditional on being limited in daily activities (appendix p 67); and the hours of informal care received, conditional on being limited in daily activities and receiving informal care (appendix p 67).

Formal care costs included the costs associated with paid care for patients living in the community, which was valued at £27·00 per h.

For formal care, we multiplied the age-specific and gender-specific products of age-specific and gender-specific prevalence of cancer, coronary heart disease, dementia, and stroke in England;

the probability of living in the community (appendix p 66); the probability of receiving formal care (appendix p 68); and the hours of formal care received, conditional on receiving formal care (appendix p 68).

Given that ELSA had no participants younger than 40 years, care was only estimated for those aged 40 years or older.

Morbidity losses

Morbidity losses were determined to be the cost associated with temporary or permanent absence from work in patients with cancer, coronary heart disease, dementia, or stroke.

Annual days off sick were obtained from the European Working Conditions Surveys.

To the total number of days of work due to sickness, we applied the proportion of absence that was attributable to cancer, coronary heart disease, dementia, and stroke, which was obtained from the UK Department of Works and Pensions (personal communication).

To calculate permanent absence from work due to sickness or disability, information on the numbers of working-age individuals receiving incapacity or disability benefits and not being able to work was obtained, including recipients of the disability living allowance, employment support allowance (ESA), and incapacity benefit by condition.

Given that recipients of ESA can work up to 45·82% of their time, we only included the proportion of time that was not worked.

Days of absence from work due to sickness or disability were multiplied by mean daily earnings.

Furthermore, for permanent absence, we used the friction period approach because absent workers are likely to be replaced, whereby only the first 90 days of work absence were counted.

Mortality losses

We assumed an initial working age of 15 years and a maximum age of retirement of 79 years. Age-specific and gender-specific deaths due to cancer, coronary heart disease, dementia, and stroke were obtained.

The number of potential working years lost was then estimated as the difference between the age at death and maximum age of retirement. Each lost year of working life was valued using average annual earnings.

However, not all of the population is economically active until age 79 years; hence, age-specific and gender-specific unemployment and activity rates

were applied to the potential foregone earnings. Following UK-recommended guidelines, future earnings lost due to mortality were discounted to present values using a 3·5% annual rate.

Statistical analysis

CPRD Aurum data analyses informed the age-specific and gender-specific health-care resource use and nursing or residential care home use associated with cancer, coronary heart disease, dementia, and stroke. ELSA data analyses were used to derive the age-specific and gender-specific estimates needed to inform the calculations of informal and formal care received associated with the four conditions. To achieve this, we used regression analyses (Poisson, logistic, and generalised linear models) for each type of resource use, adjusting for history of cancer, coronary heart disease, dementia, or stroke; Elixhauser comorbidity index; age; and gender. Together with data on disease prevalence, we used the derived models to estimate the total costs associated with each condition. For more details, see the appendix (pp 60–68).

Finally, we projected the costs estimated for 2018 to 2050 based on future projections of the population alone,

excluding other factors such as epidemiological trends of the four conditions under investigation, risk factor prevalence rates, and life expectancy.

For this, we applied age-specific and gender-specific rates of resource use, prevalence, mortality, and disability observed in 2018 to the predicted distribution of the population in 2050. We valued resource use in 2050 using 2018 costs. For more details, see the appendix (pp 69–71).

Total resource use estimates and costs are reported alongside 95% CIs, which were derived using 1000 bootstrap estimates of all resource use regressions undertaken in CPRD Aurum and ELSA. Given that country-wide productivity loss estimates were obtained (eg, disease-specific working days lost, disability claims, and deaths), sampling uncertainty was not required, and these cost estimates are provided as point estimates. Population projections were not provided with uncertainty levels so these are also treated as point estimates. Significance was set at a p value of less than 0·05.
All analyses were conducted in STATA (version 15, 64-bit).

Role of the funding source

The funder of the study had no role in the study design; the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the paper for publication.

Results

The analyses to apportion total all-cause health-care and nursing and residential care home resource use in England to cancer, coronary heart disease, dementia, and stroke was based on 4 161 558 patients in CPRD Aurum with linked HES data (mean age 41 years [SD 23]), with 2 079 679 (50·0%) men and 2 081 879 (50·0%) women. Of these patients, 174 942 (4·2%) had a history of cancer either in primary or secondary care records, 191 603 (4·6%) of coronary heart disease, 52 862 (1·3%) of dementia, and 61 509 (1·5%) of stroke (appendix p 56).
To estimate total hours of formal and informal care in England due to cancer, coronary heart disease, dementia, and stroke, analyses were based on 8736 patients in ELSA (mean age 68 years [SD 11]), with 4882 (55·9%) men and 3854 (44·1%) women. Of these patients, 744 (8·5%) had a history of cancer, 423 (4·8%) of coronary heart disease, 211 (2·4%) of dementia, and 313 (3·6%) of stroke (appendix p 58).
Of all admissions to hospitals (including day cases and inpatient stays) in 2018, 2 164 000 (95% CI 2 083 000–2 243 000) admissions were found to be associated with patients with cancer, followed by coronary heart disease (1 081 000 [1 053 000–1 110 000]), stroke (517 000 [497 000–535 000]), and dementia (234 000 [224 000–244 000]; table 2). The condition with the highest prescribed pharmaceutical expenditure was coronary heart disease (£982 million [95% CI 968–998]), followed by cancer (£925 million [909–940]), stroke (£451 million [437–464]), and dementia (£277 million [269–285]). Overall, the health-care costs associated with these conditions in England were £8·1 billion (95% CI 8·0–8·2) for cancer, £6·7 billion (6·6–6·7) for coronary heart disease, £1·5 billion (1·5–1·6) for dementia, and £3·4 billion (3·4–3·5) for stroke.
About 133 000 (95% CI 126 000–141 000) people older than 65 years with dementia were living in residential or nursing homes in 2018. This estimate was higher than for stroke (75 000 [95% CI 70 000–80 000]), coronary heart disease (52 000 [49 000–54 000]), and cancer (33 000 [31 000–35 000]). Living in residential or nursing homes accounted for costs of £5·8 billion (95% CI 5·5–6·1) for dementia, £3·2 billion (3·1–3·4) for stroke, £2·2 billion (2·1–2·4) for coronary heart disease, and £1·4 billion (1·4–1·5) for cancer (table 2).
Overall health-care and social care costs were £9·7 billion (95% CI 9·5–9·9) for cancer, £8·9 billion (8·8–9·0) for coronary heart disease, £8·0 billion (7·3–8·6) for dementia, and £6·9 billion (6·6–7·1) for stroke (table 2). This resulted in costs of £174 (95% CI 171–178) per capita for cancer, £162 (158–164) for coronary heart disease, £144 (132–155) for dementia, and £124 (120–129) for stroke (appendix p 72). Per person with the condition, the highest health-care and social care costs were associated with stroke at £12 923 (95% CI 12 491–13 399), followed by dementia at £11 641 (10 680–12 558), cancer at £6660 (6526–6803), and coronary heart disease at £5530 (5437–5625).
Friends and family spent a total of 115 million h (95% CI 62–175) providing informal care for patients with cancer; 95 million h (46–137) for those with coronary heart disease, 461 million h (224–561) for those with dementia, and 75 million h (37–110) for those with stroke (table 2). Total informal care costs were £905 million (95% CI 486–1374) for cancer, £748 million (365–1758) for coronary heart disease, £3619 million (1758–4405) for dementia, and £587 million (291–865) for stroke.
More than 271 000 working years were lost due to cancer, 80 000 due to coronary heart disease, 3000 due to dementia, and 37 000 due to stroke, with corresponding mortality losses of £7·8 billion, £2·6 billion, £0·1 billion, and £0·8 billion, respectively (table 2). Losses due to temporary and permanent absence from work due to illness and disability for the conditions under study were £497 million for cancer, £378 million for coronary heart disease, £49 million for dementia, and £362 million for stroke. Overall, productivity losses were highest for cancer (£8·3 billion), followed by coronary heart disease (£3·0 billion), stroke (£1·2 billion), and dementia (£0·1 billion).
The overall costs in England in 2018 were £18·9 billion (95% CI 18·4–19·4) for cancer, £12·7 billion (12·3–13·0) for coronary heart disease, £11·7 billion (9·6–12·7) for dementia, and £8·6 billion (8·2–9·0) for stroke (table 2). Per case, patients with dementia had the highest costs at £17 145 (95% CI 13 998–18 604), followed by stroke at £16 224 (15 482–16 954), cancer at £13 031 (12 681–13 393), and coronary heart disease at £7857 (7599–8068; appendix p 72).
The way costs were distributed among cost categories varied considerably by condition (table 2; figure 1). The proportion of total costs due to health care varied from 52% (£6·7 billion) for coronary heart disease to 13% (£1·5 billion) for dementia. Although productivity losses accounted for 44% (£8·3 billion) of the total costs for cancer, for dementia these accounted for 1% (£145 million) of total costs.
Figure 1 – Distribution of total costs in patients with cancer, coronary heart disease, dementia, and stroke in England in 2018

 

The population of England, excluding those younger than 1 year, is expected to increase from 55 million in 2018 to 65 million in 2050 (18% increase), with the population aged 65 years or older projected to increase by 49% (from 10 million to 15 million).

Assuming no changes in age-specific and gender-specific prevalence rates, this population increase will increase the number of people with cancer by 39% (2·0 million), coronary heart disease by 45% (2·3 million), dementia by 81% (1·2 million), and stroke by 41% (0·8 million; appendix p 69).

These increases in the overall disease prevalence will result in cost increases between 2018 and 2050 of 40% (95% CI 39–41) to £26·5 billion (25·7–27·3) for cancer, 54% (53–55) to £19·6 billion (18·9–20·2) for coronary heart disease, 100% (97–102) to £23·5 billion (19·3–25·3) for dementia, and 85% (84–86) to £16·0 billion (15·3–16·6) for stroke (table 3). Costs with the highest increases are those related to social care, which are projected to rise between 2018 and 2050 by 88% (95% CI 86–90) to £2·9 billion (2·7–3·3) for cancer, 91% (90–92) to £4·4 billion (4·1–4·6) for coronary heart disease, 110% (109–111) to £13·5 billion (12·1–14·8) for dementia, and 109% (107–108) to £7·1 billion (6·6–7·5) for stroke (figure 2).

Figure 2 – Total costs of cancer, coronary heart disease, dementia, and stroke in England in 2018 and the projected costs in 2050 due to demographic change alone

Discussion

Whereas a previous study has assessed the overall costs of chronic conditions, our study made use of individual patient-level data to generate more precise cost estimates for cancer, coronary heart disease, dementia, and stroke, using the same methodology and sources across conditions. Previously the total costs of dementia in the UK were calculated as £23·4 billion, followed by cancer (£12·0 billion), coronary heart disease (£7·8 billion), and stroke (£5·0 billion).

These estimates are not comparable with the findings in this study, possibly due to methodologies and sources of data varying considerably across conditions.

Our results show that the areas of the economy bearing these costs differed substantially by disease area. For example, health-care costs of dementia accounted for 13% (£1·5 billion) of the total, with most costs being borne by the social care system (£6·4 billion, 55% of total costs). By contrast, in cancer, the majority of costs were borne by the labour market, with £8·3 billion in lost productivity (44% of total costs). These findings are notable in that they further emphasise the need for interventions designed to prevent or screen for early-stage disease. For cancer and, to a lesser extent, coronary heart disease, with so much of the cost borne by the labour market, interventions that prevent the disease will not only increase the health of the population and reduce health-care costs, but also improve labour productivity. However, these findings also raise important questions about perceived fairness and equality.

In the UK, about 90% of hospital cases, which according to our findings is where most of the care of patients with cancer or coronary heart disease takes place, is funded by the government (data are from the Eurostat database). By contrast, for dementia and, to a lesser extent, stroke, most of the care takes place in either the social care system, of which 60% is funded by the government, or by relatives and friends through informal care (data are from the Eurostat database). Therefore, patients with dementia and stroke are substantially at higher risk of having to fund their care themselves than those with cancer or coronary heart disease.

Our study also shows the effect of the projected population ageing over the coming decades. On the basis of demographic change alone, we project that the costs of cancer will increase by 40%, those of coronary heart disease by 54%, those of dementia by 100%, and those of stroke by 85%. With the population aged 65 years or older projected to increase by 49%, the costs with the fastest projected rise will be, averaged across all four conditions, for social care, with a 104% projected increase in costs, and informal care, with a projected increase of 78%. Therefore, research funding into interventions aimed to prevent, treat, and care for disease are required as a way to help to reduce or mitigate this projected increase in costs and improve health, especially in those conditions—ie, stroke and dementia—seeing the fastest increase in costs, and that historically have received the lowest levels of research funding.

The limitations of this study should be noted. Our results are based on diagnostic coding from both primary and secondary care records, rather than on careful ascertainment of patients through multiple and overlapping methods such as in population-based cohort studies. Therefore, our results might not reflect the absolute prevalence and costs of disease. Given that there is no single and simple diagnostic test for dementia, this under-ascertainment of disease in routinely collected health data or surveys might be most prevalent in dementia.

The failure to identify these undiagnosed cases might explain the relatively low levels of health-care resource use identified in CPRD Aurum due to dementia.

For diseases affecting cognitive ability, such as dementia and stroke, supervision will be a major component of any informal care provided.

However, in ELSA, respondents were not explicitly asked for supervisory activities received, with our results likely to be an underestimate. We were unable to quantify the costs of formal and informal care in people younger than 40 years. This will, inevitably, have reduced our total estimates of costs, especially for cancer and stroke, where people younger than 40 years account for 6% (110 000) and 8% (60 000) of cases, respectively, compared with 2% (41 000) for coronary heart disease and less than 1% (5000) for dementia.

Finally, our projection of costs from 2018 to 2050 was based on future projections of the population alone, and might be considered simplistic. Our projections did not include other factors, such as epidemiological trends of the four conditions under investigation or the predicted rise in comorbidities predicted for England.

For example, analyses based on ELSA have projected the costs of dementia in the future based on current trends in cardiovascular disease incidence rates.

In addition, new treatments that prevent, slow progression, or successfully treat the four conditions under study, will undoubtedly affect the projected costs estimated in this study.

In conclusion, our study sheds light on the substantial consequences of the four most important chronic conditions in terms of mortality and morbidity in England on various sectors of the economy. These data not only emphasise the magnitude of the economic burden but also provide valuable insights for public health decision makers. By identifying the specific areas that require targeted interventions, our findings can guide policy makers in implementing strategic measures to alleviate the economic burden of these four conditions and improve patient health outcomes. With a projected increase in costs of more than 60% across the four conditions by 2050, our research findings can aid in directing governmental research expenditure in areas that hold the greatest potential for advancing the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, further reducing its economic impact.

Source: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanhl/article/PIIS2666-7568(24)00108-9/fulltext

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Economic,Europe,Treatment and Addiction :

Never before in history has the supply of drugs been as bounteous, as reliable, as cheap, and as high-quality as in the London of 2024. Any interested customer may, at little risk to themselves, conveniently obtain any herb, mushroom, powder, or pharmaceutical they fancy. The British appetite for drugs dwarfs our consumption of tea and coffee. The number of organised criminals is equivalent to the staffing of a large government department.

It is possible that no city on earth consumes as many drugs as London. Britain accounted for 36% of the EU drug market, and London consumed a disproportionate amount of the drugs within the UK — an outlier within an outlier. Debates about ‘decriminalisation’ have taken on a surreal quality: London is now saturated with drugs and gangs, and possession has been quietly decriminalised for many years already.

This change has come as crime reporting has been suppressed. Shrinking budgets pulled reporters out of court rooms. Judge-invented privacy laws banned the naming of suspects before they are charged. The longest lasting impact of the Leveson Inquiry has been the loss of almost all Fleet Street sources within the police. The Met, despite its astounding lack of competence in fighting crime, has been able to cut off the flow of tips and gossip from within its own ranks. What passes for crime reporting nowadays usually consists of reposting official press releases. As such, the law-abiding might only be able to sense what has been happening through the omnipresent smell of cannabis and the occasional sight of police tape, but the black market shapes and reshapes our city nonetheless.

Multiculturalism is never on clearer display than when we examine the drug market. The Albanian domination of the powder cocaine market is extensively documented. Britain’s welcome to Kosovar refugees has been rewarded with a new and unwelcome ethnic mafia. They have professionalised the cocaine trade and now dominate the entire supply chain, from importation to customer. Reliable customer service is paired with the ruthless application of horrible violence. They have nonetheless kept out of the popular imagination: rather than stabbing each other on the high street, they prefer to kidnap, torture, murder, and dismember far from public view. The result for the consumer is excellent. Much like in the rest of Europe, it is likely that, over the past decade or so, while cocaine prices have remained stable or even slightly fallen, purity has risen considerably. Suppliers are easily found via a search on Telegram. If you want cocaine at three in the morning, it will be quickly dispatched to you by an Albanian in an uninsured BMW. It is no wonder that, despite their small numbers in Britain, Albanians make up the largest foreign contingent in our prisons — and that is after many of them are deported back to Albania to serve their sentences.

The power of the Albanian Mafia has not yet reached its apex. The Albanians also increasingly dominate the cannabis farms, forcing out the Vietnamese (at least they have nail bars to fall back on). Cannabis farming is an innovation only a few decades old. It turns out that, given low energy costs (through tampered electrics), no taxes, and low (very low!) labour costs, British domestic production can outcompete foreign imports. Despite the cost of land in London, the farms proliferate in domestic houses, in secret underground caverns, and abandoned police stations. It is likely that there is more agriculture in London today than at any point in the last century.

Not that the Albanians are the only ethnic mafia in London. The Turks have their own, which is distinguished by their fondness for heroin, shootings, and corrupting public officials. The Iranians specialise in methamphetamines: the Islamic Republic is the main source for a drug used here almost entirely for gay sex parties. Even the Chinese appear, importing a cornucopia of chemicals from their home country, and playing a key role in money laundering (‘No card, we cash only’).

“The British, if they think of their Chinese neighbours at all, may be vaguely aware of a demographic division. Firstly, there are the Cantonese-speaking Hong Kongers, who mostly arrived in two waves in the ’90s and ’20s, and have settled here permanently. Then there are the Mandarin-speaking Mainlanders, usually wealthy students who keep to themselves and never seem sure why they are here. But least known of all are the poor Fujianese, only ever glimpsed in kitchens and building sites. Their numbers cannot easily be gauged, but illegal Chinese immigrants in London come almost entirely from Fujian.”

As we move down the supply chain and into less profitable substances, the demographics change and the professionalism erodes. The junkies and crackheads don’t get the full Deliveroo service. Local dealers buy in powder cocaine and heroin, and the former is converted to crack with little more than a pyrex and a microwave. At this point, the official vocabulary changes from ‘Organised Crime Group’ to ‘Urban Street Gang’, although the barriers to entry are so low that some dealers are effectively self-employed. Marketing is rudimentary: a common technique is sending out hundreds of SMS messages a day to local addicts. These are the most visible drug dealers: nowadays, the stereotype of a young black man in a tracksuit with a rambo knife in his bag is really only found at this level. They carry by far the most risk, both of arrest and injury. The daylight stabbings that have become part of daily life are both perpetrated and suffered at this tier. They are the easiest for the police to catch, in no small part because this demographic don’t simply see dealing as a job, but as an aspirational lifestyle. It is almost impossible for a normal Briton to comprehend the myopia of the typical Roadman. London’s council estates are not ‘cosmopolitan’ or ‘world-wise’ but insular in the extreme. When the world does not exist outside of the M25, it makes far more sense to stab another child who is from the wrong postcode.

The street dealer also serves up cannabis, sending out menus via WhatsApp. These customers are certainly nicer to deal with. For the discerning customer, a more convenient option has lately emerged. Nobody who walks London’s streets can have failed to notice the plethora of posters and stickers advertising websites selling cannabis. Gone are the days of darknet markets, requiring the customer to download Tor and make a risky purchase in cryptocurrency. Nowadays, should you scan a QR code, you will be directed to a professional website that could as well be selling t-shirts. Add the product to your basket, check out, and cannabis will arrive in the next post. Better than Amazon!

Legalisation in the United States has allowed manufacturers to conduct exciting experiments in ‘What can we put cannabis in next?’. The British marijuana user has access to an astonishing range of cannabis products: oils, crystals, waxes, chocolates, soaps, fruits — even gummies, which tend to be popular among young school children, resulting in occasional mass hospitalisations. Its stench has supplanted London’s smog: several visitors from the East have remarked to me that it is the city’s least pleasant aspect. On the other hand, the mass demonstration of its stultifying cognitive effects has obliterated the old stereotype about enhanced creativity. The astonishingly brazen advertising tactics used by these networks makes it clear that the Met are either unwilling or unable to act.

Decriminalisation is increasingly de jure as well as de facto. Take cannabis. If you are caught in possession of cannabis, you will be given a Community Resolution: essentially, no further action. If you are caught a second time, you would be issued a Penalty Notice for Disorder, of little more consequence than a parking ticket. Being caught a third time, you may have to attend a police station to receive a formal caution. Only if you are caught in possession of cannabis four times — an incredibly unlikely circumstance, considering that there are no police operations targeting users — do you risk prosecution. And even if that freakish turn of events did come to pass, 97% of the time you walk free from court.

Even the suppliers increasingly find there is little to worry about. Fewer and fewer criminals are arrested, and fewer and fewer of those arrested are charged. Theresa May’s Modern Slavery Act 2015 — despite stiff competition, one of the worst pieces of legislation passed in the last ten years — handed a ‘Get Out Of Jail Free’ card to any dealer unlucky enough to be caught. Even a report by the Slavery Commissioner, hardwired to defend the existing legislation, found that:

…criminals are enabled in their efforts to exploit others by the statutory defence and are coaching victims and associates alike to exploit the protections the trafficking defence offers. You have the perfect storm; motivated traffickers who know how to abuse vulnerable victims and how to exploit the statutory defence — and the systemic weaknesses enabling them to do so.

The same report contained some typical examples:

A 15 year old is frequently being arrested but is still dealing drugs on the street. He has openly told Police that they ‘can’t touch him’ since the NRM decision [identifiying him as a victim of Modern Slavery] ended the prosecution against him. He sustained significant injuries after being attacked with a machete…

This is an individual who historically [was identified as victim of Modern Slavery] (aged 15 years) but has since continued to grow their local drug network to now becoming a suspected operator of their own county line. The issue here is that this non-recent NRM decision is still bought into play when they come to our attention today and this makes the securing of a criminal justice outcome difficult. This person (now 17 years) is now believed to no longer be in any duress.

Defendants playing the ‘Modern Slavery’ defence don’t need to inform on their supposed bosses, or give any detail identifying them. A vague account of duress is often enough to see a prosecution abandoned.

Even if a dealer is unlucky enough to end up in jail, they often find their lifestyle can continue substantially unaltered. The Prison Service is shot through with corruption: smartphones proliferate, cell blocks stink of cannabis, and many female guards (and even governors) are happy to provide sexual favours. Some jailed drug dealers are even able to carry on controlling their drug lines from jail, directing runners from the safety and comfort of His Majesty’s Prison.

We have arrived at the worst of all possible worlds: untrammelled demand and rampant criminal supply. On the last estimate (seven years ago), £9.4 billion was spent on drugs each year in England and Wales, triple national spending on tea and coffee. The cost to society of drugs was estimated at £19 billion. From 2012/13 to 2017/18, 56% of London’s homicides were drug-related.

Crime certainly pays: even low-level drug dealers have a tax free salary that can beat much of the respectable middle class. Dealers can go decades without being troubled by the police. Washing dirty money is made easy by Companies House’s extraordinarily lax system of company creation, which charges almost nothing for registering a company, has no identity checks whatsoever for directors (meaning you can just use a fake identity), does not require proof that you own or have the right to use the registered office address, and is in fact legally not even permitted to try to comply with anti-money laundering checks. The main difficulty tends to come with buying a home: stiffer (or at least existent) anti-money laundering checks at this point can mean that even fairly successful drug dealers are still stuck in their baby-mumma’s council flat, or renting in Royal Arsenal Woolwich or New Providence Wharf. Nonetheless, those further up the chain are usually able to invest in Home County houses, flats in Dubai, and villas in their homelands. Those at the bottom of the food chain have a far more grim existence: illegal immigrants locked in a warehouse watering cannabis plants, or young teens ordered to stuff gear into an orifice, travel down to some god-forsaken town, and serve up from a traphouse.

Laundering their reputations is easier still. The rapper ‘Digga D’, at time of writing in prison for drug importation, is due to headline the Wireless festival later in July. His peer, ‘Skrapz’, is set to perform at Reading festival, despite having been convicted of covering up a murder a few months ago. The journalistic, cultural, and political mainstream has developed a dangerous fetish for professional criminals.

The full scale of organised crime in London can be hard to picture. But occasionally we get glimpses. Four years ago, the French and Dutch police hacked EncroChat, an encrypted communications network used exclusively by organised crime. For months, they were able to read and capture the messages sent on the network. In Britain alone, over 3,000 people have been arrested so far, and the cases continue to pop up in court. One of those caught was Nana Oppong, who had used the device to plan the murder of a rival. Oppong had been tried for three previous murders, and had gotten off each time. The EncroChat hack is one of the most audacious and successful in the history of policing, unearthing thousands of hitmen and mob bosses. Yet its scope was narrow, looking at only one communications network for a matter of months. It is unsettling to think about how many more gangsters remain untouched.

The situation is bad, and it is getting worse. We should not, however, pretend that our problems are insoluble. As with almost all of Britain’s issues, this is the result of political decisions. We must not indulge in coping mechanisms: ‘Well, every country has crime’; ‘Prohibition never works’; ‘It could be worse, just look at [country X]’. As many countries have demonstrated, it is perfectly possible to reduce drug use and the associated criminality to the point of irrelevance. Better things are possible.

A government interested in solving this problem would have, broadly speaking, two paths to choose from. The first is legalisation: creating a controlled, regulated market for drugs. We could abrogate the various UN treaties that require prohibition, and return Britain to the state of affairs prior to the First World War, when cocaine and opium could be bought from the local chemist. This has a certain libertarian appeal. There may also be financial benefits: police resources could be directed towards other crimes, and the newly legalised drugs could be heavily taxed, much like tobacco and alcohol. Perhaps conveniently available amphetamines would resolve our ‘productivity puzzle’.

These are some very real upsides. But experiments with decriminalisation in North America have also made the downsides obvious. The streets of cities on the West Coast now overflow with human beings decaying alive. During our last era of legal drugs, individuals had fuller responsibility for their own health, housing, and behaviour. Today, the taxpayer would be unable to bear the cost of the inevitable increase in drug consumption. Legalisation would have to be paired with a radical reordering of our social safety net and criminal justice system — something that, while not impossible, is unlikely to happen any time soon.

The alternative is suppression. Contrary to tired arguments about Prohibition and Al Capone, it is perfectly possible to stamp out drug use. The requisite policy is significant penalties for possession. For decades our approach has been to go after the dealers, the higher up the chain the better. This is appealing on a moral level. Addicts are usually pretty pitiable characters, and it feels right to devote resources to those who profit from human misery. This has been a total failure. Draconian punishments for suppliers are a necessary but insufficient precondition for success. Consider the market dynamic. Demand drives supply. When a drug dealer drops off — into prison, fleeing to Dubai, or stabbed — the opportunity for profit will inevitably tempt another to step into their place. If a drug user stops — due to punishment, overdose, or a change in habits — there is no equivalent. A young man might choose to start selling heroin if the local big man goes to prison; nobody is so drawn to taking drugs.

Targeting drug users would be a radical shift. Initially, it would probably be unpopular. For decades there has been a real effort to destigmatise drug use. Locking up users will attract outrage from the NGO-media-legal class that must be overcome. The courts and the police — on which responsibility implementing such policies will fall — will also most likely push back. On a purely practical level, the number of crack and heroin users is more than three times the current prison population, and prisons are currently filled with drugs anyway. The immediate priority for any government who wants Britain to kick its habit is to fix the prisons: firstly, through a massive expansion of the estate; and secondly, by purging the corrupt elements in the prison service. Crack and heroin represent 86% of the costs associated with drug use.

On strategic grounds, the campaign should start here. A Progressive regime should begin its reform programme with long sentences for for ‘petty’ acquisitive crimes such as shoplifting or burglary — crimes which are overwhelmingly committed by the worst addicts — before expanding to the penalisation of the more general anti-social behaviour associated with users. The asylums must also be expanded. As state capacity is rebuilt, the campaign could gradually broaden out to punishing simple possession. Each drug will need to be stigmatised and eliminated in turn.

What happens if we do not change course towards either legalisation or suppression, and instead continue along our current route of ‘decriminalisation’? This is the path Labour is almost certain to follow: the new Minister for Prisons has praised the Dutch approach to incarceration. The Netherlands has always been Europe’s most futuristic country: every trend emerges there first. The omens are grim. Holland is now home to truly terrifying organised crime networks which the state struggles to contain. Efforts to bring one mob boss, Ridouan Taghi, to justice cost the lives of bloggers, journalists, relatives of witnesses, and lawyers. Decriminalisation invariably puts billions of pounds into the pockets of organised crime, and eats away at society from within. The Netherlands has become a narco-state, but at least at least their prison population is lower than ours, eh?

Crime is an open goal for any political movement. The British public are bloodthirsty when it comes to criminals; the costs to society are tremendous; and, above all, it is the right thing to do. Drugs are a tempting problem to ignore. Droning on about it makes you sound like Peter Hitchens on one of his more boring days. Many of us have used drugs and enjoyed them. Yet solving this problem — whatever form that solution takes — is essential to breaking the power of organised crime and making the British people secure in their person and property once more.

Source:  2024 Pimlico Journal
548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104

Filed under: Crime/Violence/Prison,Economic,Europe :

The new European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA), to be soon launched, will have more powers to face current and future challenges
The European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) will replace the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) on July 2, 2024. The EUDA will have a new mandate and stronger role in addressing drug-related issues in the EU – adapted from photo by Antoine Schibler on Unsplash
By the Editorial Team – The European body that centralizes information on drugs and drug addiction celebrated its thirtieth anniversary last year. With the creation of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) in 1993, the European Union committed itself for the first time to developing drugs policies based solely on data collection and scientific evidence.

New mandate, new agency

This year marks another milestone in the history of European action on drugs. On 2 July, the EMCDDA will officially become EUDA, the European Union Drugs Agency (the acronym ‘EUDA’ remaining the same in all languages). The Agency’s new regulation, which repeals and replaces the EMCDDA’s, already entered into force in July 2023, but it has taken a whole year of intensive work to prepare for EUDA’s formal launch and to transform the body from a monitoring centre into an agency, with the power to act.

The EMCDDA was originally set up to provide the Member States with objective and comparable information on the prevalence and trends in drugs and drug addiction and their consequences at European level, in order to adequately inform the development of drugs policies. This objective has not changed. What is changing, however, is the scope of the mandate given to the EUDA and the increased powers conferred on it to enable it to meet current and future challenges in the field of drugs and drug addiction.

And it’s not just a change of name or brand identity. With a new mandate that is far more proactive and adapted to the current situation, the Agency will have greater powers and a larger budget to support decision-makers in three key areas: monitoring, preparedness and competence development for better interventions.

EUDA will be better equipped to help the EU and its Member States deal with emerging drug problems

In addition to its work in collecting, analysing and disseminating data on drugs and drug addiction, the new agency will also be responsible for, among other things: developing threat assessment capabilities in the areas of health and security; issuing alerts, through a new European drug alert system, when high-risk substances appear on the market; monitoring and addressing poly-substance use, an increasingly widespread problem; and developing and promoting evidence-based interventions and best practices.

Cooperation with civil society

An important aspect of EUDA’s new mandate is the emphasis now placed on cooperation with civil society. The EMCDDA has always had trust-based, cordial relationships with civil society organizations (CSOs). However, these relationships have been merely informal, consisting of occasional exchanges on various drug-related issues – such as the online meetings set up during the COVID-19 crisis to assess access to services – without there being any formal exchange mechanism.

Article 55 of the new Regulation requires the Agency to establish cooperation with relevant CSOs, at national, EU or international level, for the purposes of consultation, exchange of information and pooling of knowledge. For this purpose, the Agency should designate a single point of contact for this purpose to ensure that CSOs are regularly informed of its activities. The EUDA should also allow CSOs to submit data and information relating to its activities.

Furthermore, the Agency’s new mandate requires it to work with all civil society actors concerned by the drugs phenomenon, i.e. CSOs, but also communities affected by drug-related crime, and communities of people who use drugs or have a lived experience of drug use.

Intensive preparatory work in 2023

This is a major step forward for the European organisation, which has logically guided much of its work in 2023, as its General Activity Report 2023 shows. The development of new concepts and services had to be initiated, some in close collaboration with the organization’s European partners. Various preparatory works were launched with a view to a significant expansion of the organization’s operations, and finally, a new project was launched to redefine the organization’s brand identity.

To these considerable efforts made by the organisation in 2023 must be added the core mission of the former EMCDDA: to provide European and national decision-makers with high quality services and publications, including, among others, the European Report on Drugs 2023 and the joint EMCDDA and Europol study: EU Drug Markets: In-depth Analysis.

Finally, we wish EUDA a successful launch and, above all, a productive journey. At a geopolitical moment in Europe when populist ideologies are on the rise and turning their backs on the inclusion of the most vulnerable communities, at a time when many Member States seem to be leaning more and more towards supply reduction and repression, rather than demand reduction, public health and the well-being of the communities concerned, it is up to  civil society as a whole, in partnership with the agencies, to present a united front in defence of human rights.

All of us, civil society organizations and other stakeholders, must commit to and support the work of the Agency in order to defend and promote drug policies based on health, human rights, the fight against stigma, and social justice.

Source: https://www.dianova.org/news/emcdda-becomes-euda-more-powers-and-cooperation-with-civil-society/

Filed under: Europe,Political Sector,Social Affairs :

UNIVERSITY OF BATH, UK – Last updated on Tuesday 26 March 2024

There is no evidence that CBD products reduce chronic pain, and taking them is a waste of money and potentially harmful to health, new research finds.

CBD oil may be popular for treating pain but taking it appears to be a waste of money

There is no evidence that CBD products reduce chronic pain, and taking them is a waste of money and potentially harmful to health, according to new research led by the University of Bath.CBD (short for cannabidiol) is one of many chemicals found naturally in the cannabis plant. It’s a popular alternative treatment for pain and is readily available in shops and online in the form of oils, tinctures, vapes, topical creams, edibles (such as gummy bears) and soft drinks.However, consumers would do well to steer clear of these products, according to the new study.“CBD presents consumers with a big problem,” said Professor Chris Eccleston, who led the research from the Centre for Pain Research at Bath. “It’s touted as a cure for all pain but there’s a complete lack of quality evidence that it has any positive effects.”

He added: “It’s almost as if chronic pain patients don’t matter, and that we’re happy for people to trade on hope and despair.”

For their study, published this week in The Journal of Pain, the team – which included researchers from the Universities of Bath, Oxford and Alberta in Canada – examined research relevant to using CBD to treat pain and published in scientific journals up to late 2023.

They found:

  • CBD products sold direct to consumers contain varying amounts of CBD, from none to much more than advertised.
  • CBD products sold direct to consumers may contain chemicals other than CBD, some of which may be harmful and some illegal in some jurisdictions. Such chemicals include THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the main psychoactive component of the cannabis plant.
  • Of the 16 randomised controlled trials that have explored the link between pain and pharmaceutical-grade CBD, 15 have shown no positive results, with CBD being no better than placebo at relieving pain.
  • A meta-analysis (which combines data from multiple studies and plays a fundamental role in evidence-based healthcare) links CBD to increased rates of serious adverse events, including liver toxicity.

Medical vs non-medical CBD

In the UK, medical cannabis is the only CBD product that is subject to regulatory approval. It’s occasionally prescribed for people with severe forms of epilepsy, adults with chemotherapy-related nausea and people with multiple sclerosis.

Non-medical CBD is freely available in the UK (as well as in the US and many European countries) so long as it contains negligible quantities of THC or none at all. However, CBD products sold on the retail market are not covered by trade standards, meaning there is no requirement for them to be consistent in content or quality.

Most CBD products bought online – including popular CBD oils – are known to contain very small amounts of CBD. Moreover, any given product may be illegal to possess or supply, as there’s a good chance it will contain forbidden quantities of THC.

Chronic pain

An estimated 20% of the adult population lives with chronic pain, and sufferers are often desperate for help to alleviate their symptoms. It’s no surprise then that many people reach for CBD products, despite their high price tag and the lack of evidence of their effectiveness or safety.

Dr Andrew Moore, study co-author and former senior pain researcher in the Nuffield Division of Anaesthetics at the University of Oxford, said: “For too many people with chronic pain, there’s no medicine that manages their pain. Chronic pain can be awful, so people are very motivated to find pain relief by any means. This makes them vulnerable to the wild promises made about CBD.”

He added that healthcare regulators appear reluctant to act against the spurious claims made by some manufacturers of CBD products, possibly because they don’t want to interfere in a booming market (the global CBD product market was estimated at US$3 billion in 2021 or £2.4 billion and is anticipated to reach US$60 billion by 2030 or £48 billion) especially when the product on sale is widely regarded as harmless.

“What this means is that there are no consumer protections,” said Dr Moore. “And without a countervailing body to keep the CBD sellers in check, it’s unlikely that the false promises being made about the analgesic effects of CBD will slow down in the years ahead.”

The study’s authors are calling for chronic pain to be taken more seriously, with consumer protection becoming a priority.

“Untreated chronic pain is known to seriously damage quality of life, and many people live with pain every day and for the rest of their lives,” said Professor Eccleston. “Pain deserves investment in serious science to find serious solutions.”

 

Source: https://www.bath.ac.uk/announcements/cbd-products-dont-ease-pain-and-are-potentially-harmful-new-study-finds/

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug Specifics,Drug use-various effects,Europe :

Summary

Background

Cannabis use is associated with increased risk of later psychotic disorder but whether it affects incidence of the disorder remains unclear. We aimed to identify patterns of cannabis use with the strongest effect on odds of psychotic disorder across Europe and explore whether differences in such patterns contribute to variations in the incidence rates of psychotic disorder.

Methods

We included patients aged 18–64 years who presented to psychiatric services in 11 sites across Europe and Brazil with first-episode psychosis and recruited controls representative of the local populations. We applied adjusted logistic regression models to the data to estimate which patterns of cannabis use carried the highest odds for psychotic disorder. Using Europe-wide and national data on the expected concentration of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in the different types of cannabis available across the sites, we divided the types of cannabis used by participants into two categories: low potency (THC <10%) and high potency (THC ≥10%). Assuming causality, we calculated the population attributable fractions (PAFs) for the patterns of cannabis use associated with the highest odds of psychosis and the correlation between such patterns and the incidence rates for psychotic disorder across the study sites.

Findings

Between May 1, 2010, and April 1, 2015, we obtained data from 901 patients with first-episode psychosis across 11 sites and 1237 population controls from those same sites. Daily cannabis use was associated with increased odds of psychotic disorder compared with never users (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3·2, 95% CI 2·2–4·1), increasing to nearly five-times increased odds for daily use of high-potency types of cannabis (4·8, 2·5–6·3). The PAFs calculated indicated that if high-potency cannabis were no longer available, 12·2% (95% CI 3·0–16·1) of cases of first-episode psychosis could be prevented across the 11 sites, rising to 30·3% (15·2–40·0) in London and 50·3% (27·4–66·0) in Amsterdam. The adjusted incident rates for psychotic disorder were positively correlated with the prevalence in controls across the 11 sites of use of high-potency cannabis (r = 0·7; p=0·0286) and daily use (r = 0·8; p=0·0109).

Interpretation

Differences in frequency of daily cannabis use and in use of high-potency cannabis contributed to the striking variation in the incidence of psychotic disorder across the 11 studied sites. Given the increasing availability of high-potency cannabis, this has important implications for public health.

Funding source

Medical Research Council, the European Community’s Seventh Framework Program grant, São Paulo Research Foundation, National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London and the NIHR BRC at University College London, Wellcome Trust.

Source: The contribution of cannabis use to variation in the incidence of psychotic disorder across Europe (EU-GEI): a multicentre case-control study – The Lancet Psychiatry March 2019

Filed under: Brain and Behaviour,Cannabis/Marijuana,Europe :

Free-marketeers are ignoring the devastating harm it can do as they champion consumer rights.

Four men had to be rescued last weekend from England’s highest mountain, Scafell Pike, after becoming “incapable of walking due to cannabis use”. Said Cumbria police: “Words fail us.”

Well, yes. Does everyone agree that these men placed an irresponsible burden on a public service? Apparently so. Does everyone agree that the use of cannabis should be discouraged to reduce its irresponsible burden on society? Well, no; quite the opposite.

Last week Prince William raised the “massive issue” of drug legalisation. Although he expressed no opinion, merely to raise it was inescapably to express one, since the only people for whom it is a “massive issue” are those who promote it.

At the Labour Party conference yesterday the comedian Russell Brand called for drugs to be decriminalised. At next week’s Conservative conference, the free-market Adam Smith Institute will be pushing for the legalisation of cannabis. Legalisation means more users. That means more harm, not just to individuals but to society. The institute, however, describes cannabis as “a low-harm consumer product that most users enjoy without major problems”. What? A huge amount of evidence shows that far from cannabis being less harmful than other illicit drugs, as befits its Class B classification, its effects are far more devastating. Long-term potheads display on average an eight-point decline in IQ over time, an elevated risk of psychosis and permanent brain damage.

Cannabis is associated with a host of biological ill-effects including cirrhosis of the liver, strokes and heart attacks. People who use it are more likely than non-users to access other illegal drugs. And so on.

Ah, say the autonomy-loving free-marketeers, but it doesn’t harm anyone other than the user. Well, that’s not true either. It can destroy relationships with family, friends and employers. Users often display more antisocial behaviour, such as stealing money or lying to get a job, as well as a greater association with aggression, paranoia and violent death. According to Stuart Reece, an Australian professor of medicine, cannabis use in pregnancy has also been linked to an epidemic of gastroschisis, in which babies are born with intestines outside their abdomen, in at least 15 nations including the UK.

Long-term potheads display on average an eight-point drop in IQ

The legalisers’ argument is that keeping cannabis illegal does not control the harm it does. Yet wherever its supply has been liberalised, its use and therefore the harm it does have both gone up. In 2001 Portugal decriminalised illegal drugs including cocaine, heroin and cannabis. Sparked by a report by the American free-market Cato Institute, which claimed this policy was a “resounding success”, Portugal has been cited by legalisers everywhere as proof that liberalising drug laws is the magic bullet to erase the harm done by illegal drugs.

The truth is very different. In 2010 Manuel Pinto Coelho, of the Association for a Drug Free Portugal, wrote in the BMJ: “Drug decriminalisation in Portugal is a failure . . . There is a complete and absurd campaign of manipulation of facts and figures of Portuguese drug policy . . .”

According to the Portuguese Institute for Drugs and Drug Addiction, between 2001 and 2007 drug use increased by 4.2 per cent, while the number of people who had used drugs at least once rose from 7.8 per cent to 12 per cent. Cannabis use went up from 12.4 per cent to 17 per cent.

The latest evidence about Portugal, a study by the Intervention Service for Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies, shows “a rise in the prevalence of every illicit psychoactive substance from 8.3 per cent in 2012 to 10.2 per cent in 2016-17”, with most of that rise down to increased cannabis use.

For free-marketeers, this evidence of devastating harm to individuals and society is irrelevant. Nothing can be allowed to dent their dogmatic belief that all human life is a transaction, market forces are a religion and the rights of the consumer are sacrosanct. Says the Adam Smith Institute about cannabis legalisation: “The object isn’t harm elimination, it’s not even harm reduction alone, it’s utility maximisation.” In other words, they want as many people as possible to be puffing on those spliffs.

Free-market libertarians are nothing if not consistent. They oppose policies to reduce social harm across the board. Smoking curbs, mandatory seat-belts, speed cameras, gambling restrictions, controls to end unmanageable immigration — they’ve been against them all.

Despite how they are viewed, there’s nothing conservative about the free-marketeers. Far from conserving legal or social constraints, they want to tear them down in the name of consumer choice. The classical political thinkers they quote in support of applying market principles to every aspect of society never in fact subscribed to such a doctrine. Far from putting the autonomous self on a pedestal, Adam Smith himself in his Theory of Moral Sentiments put personal rights last and the interests of others first.

The distortion of such thinking is why Russell Brand and the Adam Smith Institute are soul mates. In a fearful symmetry, both the left and the free-market right deny the importance of conserving the social good. One calls it paternalism, the other the nanny state. Both are radically irresponsible and destructive. The only difference is the gender. And even that, in our current lifestyle free-for-all, is now surely up for grabs.

Source: Thinking is warped on cannabis legalisation (thetimes.co.uk) September 2017

Filed under: Brain and Behaviour,Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Europe,Global Drug Legalisation Efforts,Political Sector :

SIXTY people have died in the UK in the past eight months, in circumstances believed to be linked to a drug more potent than heroin, it has been revealed.

The National Crime Agency (NCA), which is investigating the use of the potentially deadly fentanyl and its variants, warned the toll could rise as they await further toxicology results.

Tests on heroin seized by police since November found traces of the synthetic drug, with more than 70 further deaths pending toxicology reports, the NCA.

The toxic synthetic opioid is being mixed with heroin and in some cases proving fatal, the agency said, as it accused dealers of playing “Russian roulette” with users’ lives.

The NCA’s deputy director Ian Crouton said recent investigations have uncovered that fentanyl and its chemical derivatives are being both supplied in and exported from the UK.

He said: ”We believe the illicit supply from Chinese manufacturers and distributors constitutes a prime source for both synthetic opioids and the pre-cursor chemicals used to manufacture them.”

Fentanyl, which can be legally prescribed as a painkiller sometimes in the form of a patch or nasal spray, is around 50 times more potent than heroin, according to America’s Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

A variant known as carfentanyl – which is often used to anaesthetise large animals like elephants – can be up to 10,000 times stronger than street heroin.

The potency means investigating officers often have to wear protective clothing to handle the substance.

Health officials and police have warned drug users to be “extra careful” as heroin and other class A drugs were being laced with synthetic drugs like fentanyl.

The 60 victims, whose post mortem examination results indicated their drug-related deaths were known to be linked to fentanyl or one of its chemical variants, were predominantly men and a range of ages, although no person was younger than 18.

Detective Superintendent Pat Twiggs, of West Yorkshire Police, said: “People are playing Russian roulette with their lives by taking this stuff, that’s why we would strongly recommend to the drug-using community to stay away from it.

“The business is not done under lab conditions, it’s not done by scientists, it’s done in a very uncontrolled way by people seeking out profit – this is why we’re concerned when you’re dealing with such toxic chemicals.”

Following links between fentanyl and deaths this year in the north of England, Public Health England (PHE) said it began an urgent investigation.

Pete Burkinshaw, the organisation’s alcohol and drug treatment and recovery lead, said the “sharp increase” in overdoses that had been feared did not appear to have materialised.

He said: “We have been working with drug testing labs and local drug services to get more information on confirmed and suspected cases.

“We do not have a full picture, but the deaths in Yorkshire do appear to have peaked earlier in the year and fallen since our national alert and, encouragingly, our investigations in other parts of the country suggest we are not seeing the feared sharp increase in overdoses.

“Investigations are ongoing and plans are in place for a scaled-up response if necessary.”

PHE is working with the Local Government Association to increase the availability of naloxone, an overdose antidote, to drug users and at hostels and outreach centres.

A raid at a drug-mixing facility in Morley, Leeds, in April resulted in three people being charged with conspiracy to supply and export class A drugs.

The NCA said it had identified 443 customers of that “criminal enterprise” – 271 overseas, and 172 within the UK.

A fourth man was charged on Monday night, following a separate investigation in May, after police said they identified him using the so-called dark web to buy fentanyl or synthetic opioids.

Kyle Enos, of Maindee Parade in Gwent, is accused of importing, supplying and exporting class A drugs.

The 25-year-old, who is in custody, is due at Cardiff Crown Court for a hearing on August 29.

The death of US pop star Prince was linked to an overdose of fentanyl in 2016.

The opioid was first made in 1960 by Belgian doctor Paul Janssen and introduced in hospitals as an intravenous anaesthetic.

Last November, 18-year-old Briton Robert Fraser died after unintentionally overdosing on the drug.

Robert’s mother Michelle said: “It shouldn’t be on the streets, this sort of stuff.

“These days there is too much and its too easily accessible for teenagers especially as we have mobile phones and the internet.

“It’s kids giving it to kids a lot of the time – they don’t know what they are giving.”

Source:

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/835794/Fentanyl-heroin-painkiller-overdose-60-dead-NCA-PHE-carfentanyl

Filed under: Europe,Heroin/Methadone :

By Fabrizio Schifano Chair in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics at University of Hertfordshire

Fabrizio is a member of the UK advisory council on the misuse of drugs. He has also received EC funding in relation to researching the effects of novel psychoactive substances. These views are his own and in no way represent either the council or the EC.

In one respect, the world’s drug problem is not getting much worse. The UN believes that the use of drugs such as cocaine and heroin has stabilised, for example. In fact, the ground in the drugs battle has just shifted. The focus is now increasingly on legal highs.

People might be aware that altered versions of ecstasy or cannabis are available nowadays, but the true range of what we in the trade call novel psychoactive drugs is far more varied. There are derivatives of everything from ketamine to cocaine, from opiates to psychotropics. Their use is rising, and so is the number of fatalities. Some people fear that the figures are only going in one direction.

Enforcers vs chemists

Why has this happened? In recent years there was a worldwide decrease in the purity of drugs like amphetamine and cocaine and the MDMA content of ecstasy. This decrease helped fuel demand for alternatives (though admittedly there are signs that this purity decrease is now reversing). The internet has also made possible the sort of sharing of information that makes it much easier to sell these substances nowadays. And as has been well documented, banning these drugs is difficult because the manufacturers can constantly bring out new varieties with slight alterations to the chemistry.

It has turned into a battle between the drug enforcers and the drug chemists, who are typically based in the Far East, for example in China and Hong Kong. There are many databases online with information on the molecular structures of existing drugs. This makes it easier for these people to modify them to create a new product.

The market is very strong in the UK. You might think it is because the information online is often written in English. This would explain why Ireland has a big problem too, but then again the US does not. And other problem countries includeLatvia, Hungary, Estonia and Russia.

The big worries

Certain categories particularly worry us. One is the ecstasy derivatives known as phenethylamines. One of the well-known ones in the UK is PMA, which has been nicknamed “Dr Death” because of the number of fatalities. Another is known as “blue mystique”. These have been made illegal in a number of European countries, but many more keep appearing. A related group is known as NBOMe, which are very powerful and therefore also a great concern.

Then there are cannabimimetics, which are sometimes known as the “spice drugs”. There are a few hundred known variations, many of which are very powerful, sometimes thousands of times more than cannabis. They were behind the “spiceophrenia” epidemic in Russia, but are prevalent closer to home too. Last week a new HM Prisons report mentioned them among a number of legal-high concerns in British prisons. To make matters worse, they are very easy to modify and have the big selling point that they can’t always be traced in urine.

Sometimes legal highs are marketed as a solution to a problem that an illegal drug might cause. For example ketamine (“special K”) is known to damage the intestine and bladder, so a new drug reached the market called methoxetamine, or “special M,” which claimed to be bladder-friendly. But in fact it is still toxic for the bladder and also the kidney and central nervous system. And after it was made illegal, a number of other derivatives appeared such as diphenidine. The health risks associated with this class makes the new versions particularly scary.

The unwinnable battle?

We often don’t know how these drugs affect people. Researchers like myself are working on this, but the number of new substances is increasing too quickly for us to keep up. By the time we publish papers focusing on more popular versions, the market has changed. When something goes wrong, doctors don’t know how to treat the effects – in many cases they can’t even ascertain the exact drug.

We have reached the point where I am now more worried about legal highs than illegal drugs. Whenever I see a heroin client in my clinic, I know exactly what to do. That is often not the case with legal highs. And as a psychiatrist I know that they potentially have far more psychiatric consequences than heroin. Whenever you tamper with very sensitive mechanisms in your brain, it’s difficult to know what will happen.

One argument is that we should keep these drugs legal since we are facing an unwinnable battle. But the big drawback with this is that it makes adolescents and other susceptible people think that the drug must be safe. New Zealand tried this approach by permitting drugs to remain in circulation if the producers could demonstrate they were low risk, but this year the government U-turned after there were a number of adverse incidents. Now its approach is similar to the UK with its expanding prohibition schedule.

The problem with the New Zealand low-risk policy is that establishing the safety of a drug is a very slow process if you are going to do it properly. Proving through clinical trials that a drug works, is safe and is not toxic takes upwards of 10 years. Anything less would be cutting corners. If a manufacturer were to go through that process and prove that a drug was low risk, that might be a different discussion, but it’s not going to help with today’s problem.

Similarly there has been some debate about permitting the supply of legal highs but keeping it tightly restricted – perhaps allowing one distributor per town, for example. But this both ignores the reality of the internet and offers no answer to the safety problem.

Another possibility is to legalise the illegal drugs that we know much more about, so that people are encouraged to take them instead. But even if this was politically possible, it doesn’t sound like the right course of action either. I see disasters from drug-taking on a daily basis. And it wouldn’t necessarily stop people from taking legal highs anyway.

The answer to what we actually should do is complex. The answer probably lies in prevention: we need dedicated resources and funding, we need new ideas to try and convince youngsters that these drugs are not safe just because they are legal. This requires a big change in how we see these substances. These are not just some marginal concern. This is the new drug battle for the decades ahead.

Source:  http://theconversation.com/legal-highs-regulation-wont-work  29th October 2014

Filed under: Ecstasy,Europe,Global Drug Legalisation Efforts,Legal Highs :

Theresa May has walked into the sunshine again after a few awful days. Such is the magic of politics.

Just a few days ago, much of her shine as a tough and competent Home Secretary had worn off.  Her child abuse inquiry appeared doomed before it had begun. With the prospect of an expensive and endless white elephant ahead (what the experience of both the Saville and Chilcot probes portend) as she apologised to the victims, she must have been ruing the day she ever gave into their demands.

Yes, it was just a few days ago that she could please no one. Her insistence on opting back into the European Arrest Warrant infuriated her backbenchers and left the Eurosceptic public astonished. Could she really be giving carte blanche for us to be picked off our own streets and dumped in a Latvian, Czech or Bulgarian gaol where due process, habeas corpus and so forth are, despite their EU member status, still  pretty much conspicuous for their absence?

Then at the nadir of her fortunes up she comes smiling.  All thanks to the Daily Mail – and very grateful she should be to them too – she was handed Norman Baker’s scalp on a plate.  Overnight she became the new scourge of the Lib Dems, to the joy of her party and her admirers.

Nick Clegg, the Mail discovered, had encouraged the BBC to give airtime to the drug-legalising organisations (Transform and Release) to promote the controversial and highly (Lib Dem) spun Home Office report pushed by his Home Office placeman, one Norman Baker.

This report was already proving a severe embarrassment to her, adding to her woe.

Opening up the drug debate to ‘legalising liberals’ had never been of her choosing.  She was bounced into it.  At the time of the Home Affairs Select Committee report and Nick Clegg’s demand for a Royal Commission on Drugs Policy (a couple of years ago now), giving permission to her then (Lib Dem) Minister, Jeremy Browne, to go on a jaunt (sorry, I meant an international drugs policy fact-finding mission) must have seemed infinitely preferable.

But instead of subsequently chucking into the bin the contents of this ‘jolly’ (to the drug-loving countries of Uruguay, Colorado, the Czech Republic and Portugal, to name but a few of those selected)  – which she should and could have done on the basis of its questionable content – she sat on it.

At that moment she made herself a hostage to fortune. Specifically, she made herself a hostage to Norman Baker, the conspiracy theorist, ageing hippy and would-be rock star that Clegg had chosen to replace the more cogent and intelligent Mr Browne.

But for the Daily Mail scoop, but for their forensic research, which exposed the report’s dodgy facts, but for their pinning the whole thing on Calamity Clegg and Barmy Baker, Theresa would today still be doing daily battle with an unbearably smug Norm and seeming rather less than in charge.

Indeed, she still might be blissfully unaware of the civil servant porkies they so glibly presented in her name as ‘evidence-based’ policy  – of the false facts it took the Mail to expose.

“It is clear that there has not been a lasting and significant increase in drug use in Portugal since 2001”, the civil servants, who drafted the report with Baker’s blessing, asserted.     Except there has been.

In the decade following decriminalisation, school-age drug use, as the Mail correctly pointed out, rose from 12 per cent to 19 per cent of the age group. Back in 1995 (before decriminalisation) only 8 per cent of this group had tried drugs.

Either the researchers were not going  to let an inconvenient fact get in the way of good story or they just didn’t bother to do their homework. That’s why anyone interested in reading through the entire report is advised to put down the rose-tinted spectacles accompanying it.

It skates through medical marijuana in the United States, legalisation of cannabis in Colorado and Uruguay, drug consumption rooms, ‘assisted heroin injecting’ and other liberal ‘harm reduction’ but ethically dubious policies in other countries. It ignores swathes of criticism of these back door to legalisation policies and lacks the rigour and detail to provide a credible basis for discussion.

Predictably, it treats Portugal’s ‘dissuasion commissions’ on a par with the USA’s longstanding, 2,500-strong federal wide and much respected drug court network – of which independent evaluations have demonstrated positive outcomes and over whose time span  cocaine use has dropped by 75 per cent.

Frankly, Mrs May is lucky to no longer have this dodgy dossier still hanging round her neck.  With all the plaudits that have been raining down on her – from the Mail to the Telegraph – for being the longest-serving Home Secretary since Rab Butler, for surviving one of the most difficult senior roles in Cabinet, for regaining the top spot in the battle for the Tory succession in the regular poll of activists by Conservative Home and accompanying fulsome praise –  she’d do well to reflect how lucky she has been.

She might think it is time to sharpen up those micro-management skills that The Times’s Francis Elliott rather kindly supposes to have kept her on top.  The Daily Mail scoop and the Lib-Dems’ shenanigans and spin surrounding the publication of a report that she herself signed off show these much-hyped qualities have not been much in evidence.

A bit more micro-management and she’d have sent her civil servants back to the drawing board and queried their ‘facts’, instead of letting Norman’s day arrive and allowing the report’s publication on the very same day as ‘loopy’ Caroline Lucas’s much heralded and Russell Brand-supported parliamentary drugs debate.

For all her apparent skills this is far from her first mistake. She made a far worse one on her first day in office when she signed off Harriet Harman’s horrendous and costly Equalities Act without any further discussion or reflection.  She didn’t stop there but published her own ‘right on’ Contract for Equalities.  There is nothing that ‘We’re all in this together’ does not cover.

I guess we just have to be thankful she didn’t then, this last week, under Lib Dem pressure for ‘evidence-based policy’,  action equal access to illicit drug use by decriminalising it.  Her featherbrained new feminist minister Lynne “gay marriage” Featherstone (responsible for crime prevention) is bound to suggest it. Be warned.

Source: By Kathy Gyngell conservativewoman.co.uk    6th November 2014

Filed under: Europe,Global Drug Legalisation Efforts,Political Sector :

Legalising marijuana can lead to increased use of the drug, according to a French study that looked at consumption levels in two US states and Uruguay in the midst of a debate over France’s narcotics laws.

The study conducted by France’s National Institute of Higher Security and Justice Studies and the French Observatory for Drugs and Drug Addiction examined data from Washington and Colorado, which in 2012 became the first two US states to legalise marijuana for recreational use.

Like several US studies on the subject it noted that legalisation in the states had not increased marijuana use among teenagers, “which nonetheless remains at a high level.”

Among adults, however, marijuana use had increased, particularly among over-25s, the French researchers found.

But in Uruguay, which in July became the first country to legalise marijuana nationwide, “all the indicators of use have risen”, including among teens, the study showed.

In the two American states, the legalisation had led to a “significant” increase in the number of people admitted to hospital with suspected cannabis poisoning, particularly tourists, it added.

On the economic front, it found that sales of recreational marijuana in Colorado and Washington had steadily increased, reaching $1 billion a year in each case.

State tax receipts from the sales had surpassed taxes on cigarettes, the report said, while noting that legalisation had not stamped out marijuana trafficking.

In Uruguay, trafficking was driven by the huge gap between demand and legal production, which accounted for just 10 to 20 percent of marijuana use.

In the American states, by contrast, the black market was being fuelled by the higher cost of over-the-counter marijuana, the report concluded.

The researchers acknowledged, however, that legalisation of marijuana had eased the caseload of the police and judiciary.

In France, marijuana use is a crime punishable by up to a year in prison and a fine of 3,750 euros ($4,400). President Emmanuel Macron has proposed easing the penalty to an on-the-spot fine.

Source: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-10-legalising-marijuana-french.html

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Europe,Global Drug Legalisation Efforts :

Consumption of alcohol, tobacco and illegal psychoactive substances, mainly cannabis, have increased in the last five years in Portugal, according to a study by the Intervention Service for Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies (SICAD).

“We have seen a rise in the prevalence of alcohol and tobacco consumption and of every illicit psychoactive substance (essentially affected by the weight of cannabis use in the population aged 15-74) between 2012 and 2016/17, according to the 4thNational Survey on the Use of Psychoactive Substances in the General Population, Portugal 2016/17.

The study focused on the use of legal psychoactive substance (alcohol, tobacco, sedatives, tranquilizers and/or hypnotics, and anabolic steroids), and illegal drugs (cannabis, ecstasy, amphetamines, cocaine, heroin, LSD, magic mushrooms and of new psychoactive substances), as well as gambling practices.

According to the study, alcohol consumption shows increases in lifetime prevalence, both among the total population (15-74 years) and among the young adult population (15-34 years), and among both men and women.

Tobacco consumption shows a slight rise in lifetime prevalence, which, according to the report, “is mainly due to increased consumption among women.”

The study also saw an increase from 8.3% in 2012, to 10.2% in 2016/17, in the prevalence of illegal psychoactive substance use. There were increases in both genders when considering the total population, a decrease among men and a rise among young adult women.

“These are the trends found for cannabis,” the most popular illegal substance, according to the provisional results of the study.

Compared to 2012, there is a later average onset age of consumption for alcohol, tobacco, drugs, amphetamines, heroin, LSD and hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Source: http://theportugalnews.com/news/alcohol-tobacco-and-drug-consumption-rise-over-last-five-years/43214 20th Sept.2017

Filed under: Europe,Global Drug Legalisation Efforts :

A new study provides credible evidence that marijuana legalization will lead to decreased academic success. (Elaine Thompson/AP)

The most rigorous study yet of the effects of marijuana legalization has identified a disturbing result: College students with access to recreational cannabis on average earn worse grades and fail classes at a higher rate. Economists Olivier Marie and Ulf Zölitz took advantage of a decision by Maastricht, a city in the Netherlands, to change the rules for “cannabis cafes,” which legally sell recreational marijuana. Because Maastricht is very close to the border of multiple European countries (Belgium, France and Germany), drug tourism was posing difficulties for the city. Hoping to address this, the city barred noncitizens of the Netherlands from buying from the cafes.

This policy change created an intriguing natural experiment at Maastricht University, because students there from neighboring countries suddenly were unable to access legal pot, while students from the Netherlands continued.

The research on more than 4,000 students, published in the Review of Economic Studies, found that those who lost access to legal marijuana showed substantial improvement in their grades. Specifically, those banned from cannabis cafes had a more than 5 percent increase in their odds of passing their courses. Low performing students benefited even more, which the researchers noted is particularly important because these students are at high-risk of dropping out. The researchers attribute their results to the students who were denied legal access to marijuana being less likely to use it and to suffer cognitive impairments (e.g., in concentration and memory) as a result.

Other studies have tried to estimate the impact of marijuana legalization by studying those U.S. states that legalized medicinal or recreational marijuana. But marijuana policy researcher Rosalie Pacula of RAND Corporation noted that the Maastricht study provide evidence that “is much better than anything done so far in the United States.”

States differ in countless ways that are hard for researchers to adjust for in their data analysis, but the Maastricht study examined similar people in the same location — some of them even side by side in the same classrooms — making it easier to isolate the effect of marijuana legalization. Also, Pacula pointed out that since voters in U.S. states are the ones who approve marijuana legalization, it creates a chicken and egg problem for researchers (i.e. does legalization make people smoke more pot, or do pot smokers tend to vote for legalization?). This methodological problem was resolved in the Maastricht study because the marijuana policy change was imposed without input from those whom it affected.

Although this is the strongest study to date on how people are affected by marijuana legalization, no research can ultimately tell us whether legalization is a good or bad decision: That’s a political question and not a scientific one. But what the Maastricht study can do is provides highly credible evidence that marijuana legalization will lead to decreased academic success — perhaps particularly so for struggling students — and that is a concern that both proponents and opponents of legalization should keep in mind.

Source:https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/07/25/these-       college-students-lost-access-to-legal-pot-and-started-getting-better-grades/?   

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Education,Education Sector (Papers),Europe :

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE:

Nationwide data have been lacking on drug abuse (DA)-associated mortality. We do not know the degree to which this excess mortality results from the characteristics of drug-abusing individuals or from the effects of DA itself.

METHOD:

DA was assessed from medical, criminal, and prescribed drug registries. Relative pairs discordant for DA were obtained from the Multi-Generation and Twin Registers. Mortality was obtained from the Swedish Mortality registry.

RESULTS:

We examined all individuals born in Sweden 1955-1980 (n = 2,696,253), 75,061 of whom developed DA. The mortality hazard ratio (mHR) (95% CIs) for DA was 11.36 (95% CIs, 11.07-11.66), substantially higher in non-medical (18.15, 17.51-18.82) than medical causes (8.05, 7.77-8.35) and stronger in women (12.13, 11.52-12.77) than in men (11.14, 10.82-11.47). Comorbid smoking and alcohol use disorder explained only a small proportion of the excess DA-associated mortality.

Co-relative analyses demonstrated substantial familial confounding in the DA-mortality association with the strongest direct effects seen in middle and late-middle ages. The mHR was highest for opiate abusers (24.57, 23.46-25.73), followed by sedatives (14.19, 13.11-15.36), cocaine/stimulants (12.01, 11.36-12.69), and cannabis (10.93, 9.94-12.03).

CONCLUSION:

The association between registry-ascertained DA and premature mortality is very strong and results from both non-medical and medical causes. This excess mortality arises both indirectly-from characteristics of drug-abusing persons-and directly from the effects of DA. Excess mortality of opiate abuse was substantially higher than that observed for all other drug classes. These results have implications for interventions seeking to reduce the large burden of DA-associated premature mortality.

Source:  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28550519   May 2017

Filed under: Effects of Drugs (Papers),Europe,Medical Studies :

Highlights

· •Cannabidiol appears often in Norwegian THC-positive blood samples.

· •Cannabidiol does not appear to protect against THC-induced impairment.

· •Cannabidiol may be detected in blood for more than 2 h after cannabis intake.

· •Hashish has revealed far lower THC/cannabidiol ratios than marijuana in Norway.

Abstract

Background and aims

Several publications have suggested increasing cannabis potency over the last decade, which, together with lower amounts of cannabidiol (CBD), could contribute to an increase in adverse effects after cannabis smoking. Naturalistic studies on tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and CBD in blood samples are, however, missing. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between THC- and CBD concentrations in blood samples among cannabis users, and to compare cannabinoid concentrations with the outcome of a clinical test of impairment (CTI) and between traffic accidents and non-accident driving under the influence of drugs (DUID)-cases. Assessment of THC- and CBD contents in cannabis seizures was also included.

Methods

THC- and CBD concentrations in blood samples from subjects apprehended in Norway from April 2013–April 2015 were included (n = 6134). A CTI result was compared with analytical findings in cases where only THC and/or CBD were detected (n = 705). THC- and CBD content was measured in 41 cannabis seizures.

Results

Among THC-positive blood samples, 76% also tested positive for CBD. There was a strong correlation between THC- and CBD concentrations in blood samples (Pearson’s r = 0.714, p < 0.0005). Subjects judged as impaired by a CTI had significantly higher THC- (p < 0.001) and CBD (p = 0.008) concentrations compared with not impaired subjects, but after multivariate analyses, impairment could only be related to THC concentration (p = 0.004). Analyzing seizures revealed THC/CBD ratios of 2:1 for hashish and 200:1 for marijuana.

Conclusions

More than ¾ of the blood samples testing positive for THC, among subjects apprehended in Norway, also tested positive for CBD, suggesting frequent consumption of high CBD cannabis products. The simultaneous presence of CBD in blood does, however, not appear to affect THC-induced impairment on a CTI. Seizure sample analysis did not reveal high potency cannabis products, and while CBD content appeared high in hashish, it was almost absent in marijuana.

Source:  http://www.fsijournal.org/article/  July 2017 Volume 276, Pages 12–17

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drugs and Accidents,Europe :

Highlights

* •The THC content in French cannabis resin has risen continuously for the last 25 years.

* •The emergence of a new high potency cannabis resin in France is shown by the monitoring of THC content and THC/CBD ratio.

* •The THC content in French herbal cannabis has known three stages of growth for the last 25 years.

* •The rise of potency and freshness of French herbal cannabis may be correlated to the increase of domestic production.

Abstract

Cannabis contains a unique class of compounds known as the cannabinoids. Pharmacologically, the principal psychoactive constituent is Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The amount of THC in conjunction with selected additional cannabinoid compounds (cannabidiol/CBD, cannabinol/CBN), determines the strength or potency of the cannabis product. Recently, reports have speculated over the change in the quality of cannabis products, from nearly a decade, specifically concerning the increase in cannabinoid content. This article exploits the analytical data of cannabis samples analyzed in the five French forensic police laboratories over 25 years. The increase potency of both herbal and resin cannabis in France is proved through the monitoring of THC content.

For cannabis resin, it has slowly risen from 1992 to 2009, before a considerable increase in the last four years (mean THC content in mid-2016 is 23% compared to 10% in 2009). For herbal cannabis, it has known three main stages of growth (mean THC content is 13% in 2015 and mid-2016 compared to 7% in 2009 and 2% in 1995). The calculation of THC/CBD ratios in both herbal and resin samples confirms the recent change in chemotypes in favor of high potency categories. Finally, the CBN/THC ratios in marijuana samples were measured in order to evaluate the freshness of French seized hemp.

Source: source: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2017.01.007 March 2017Volume 272, Pages 72–80 

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Europe :

Australia21 and the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) have been telling politicians and the media of the ‘success’ of Portugal’s decriminalisation of all drugs.[i],[ii]  Their claim is that decriminalisation will not increase drug use. But here is what is really happening in Portugal.

Implemented in 2001, drug use in Portugal is reported, as with every other country in the European Union according to the requirements of the REITOX reporting network controlled by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.[iii]These reports are readily available on the worldwide web and are referenced below.

According to the first 2007 national survey in Portugal after decriminalisation, Portugal’s overall drug use rose, with a small rise in cannabis use but a doubling of cocaine and of speed and ice use as well for those aged 15-64.[iv] For those under the age of 34, use of speed and ice quadrupled. Admirably, heroin use decreased from the highest level in the developed world at 0.9% in 1998 to 0.46% by 2005, however much of these decreases already predated decriminalisation, moving to 0.7% by 2000, the year before decriminalisation.[v] It is important to note that use of all other illicit drugs in Portugal, other than heroin, had been well below European averages before decriminalisation.[vi]

In the second Portuguese national survey in 2012 overall drug use decreased 21% below 2001 levels for those aged 15-64. This is what prompts the campaign by Australia21 and NDARC. What they fail to mention is that the decreases are not as significant as for various other European nations at that same time.[vii]

Italy – Opiates                    0.8% (2005)                         0.48% (2011)

Spain – Opiates                  0.6% (2000)                         0.29% (2012)

Switzerland – Opiates     0.61% (2000)                      0.1% (2011)

Italy – Cocaine                    1.1% (2001)                         0.6% (2012)

Italy – Speed/Ice               0.4% (2005)                         0.09% (2012)

Austria – Speed/Ice         0.8% (2004)                         0.5% (2012)

They also fail to mention the alarming 36% rise in drug use by high-school-age children 16-18 years old from 2001 to 2011, accompanied by a smaller rise in drug use by 13-15 year olds off 2001 levels.[viii]

By comparison Australia’s Tough on Drugs policy, without decriminalisation of all drugs running interference as in Portugal, decreased overall drug use from 1998 to 2007 by 39%.[ix]

Decriminalisation has not worked for Portugal, whereas Tough on Drugs, which maintained criminal penalties as a deterrent to drug use, did.

We encourage all Australian Parliamentarians to check each of the references cited below, and also see Drug Free Australia’s evidence in ‘Why Australia Should Not Decriminalise Drugs’ indicating that drug use normatively increases after decriminalisation, whether in Australia or overseas at:   http://drugfree.org.au/images/13Books-FP/pdf/Decriminalisation.pdf.

Source:  Gary Christian , Secretary Drug Free Australia  Feb.2017

[i] https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/ndarc/resources/Decriminalisation%20briefing%20note%20Feb%202016%20FINAL.pdf

[ii] https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/ndarc/resources/Australia21%20background%20paper%20July%202012.pdf

[iii] http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/system/files/publications/695/EMCDDA_brochure_ReitoxFAQs_EN_326619.pdf

[iv] See REITOX report 2014 graphs (p 36) comparing surveys of drug use in the previous 12 months in 2001, 2007 and 2012  http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/system/files/publications/996/2014_NATIONAL_REPORT.pdf

[v] See World Drug Report  2004 http://www.unodc.org/pdf/WDR_2004/Chap6_drug_abuse.pdf

[vi] See United Nations’ World Drug Report 2004 tables for drug consumption pp 389-401 http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/WDR-2004.html

[vii] Figures below are taken from United Nations’ World Drug Report drug consumption tables from various years from 2000 through 2013 https://www.unodc.org/wdr2016/en/previous-reports.html

[viii] Compare Portugal’s REITOX National Report 2008 for school age children’s use in the last month (p 23) http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/system/files/publications/522/NR_2008_PT_168550.pdf with 2014 (p 37)  http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/system/files/publications/996/2014_NATIONAL_REPORT.pdf

[ix] See Table 2.1 (p 8) –  ‘Any illicit’ comparing 1998 with2007 http://www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=10737421139&libID=10737421138

Filed under: Europe,Global Drug Legalisation Efforts :

Germany’s lower house of parliament has passed a law legalising the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes.

People with serious illnesses, such as multiple sclerosis and chronic pain, or a lack of appetite or nausea, could be offered marijuana under the law.  Patients will only have the right to be treated with cannabis “in very limited exceptional cases” and they will not be allowed to grow their own cannabis, according to the bill.

The health minister, Hermann Gröhe, said: “Those who are severely ill need to get the best possible treatment and that includes health insurance funds paying for cannabis as a medicine for those who are chronically ill if they can’t be effectively treated any other way.”

A health ministry spokeswoman said cannabis would only be used as a last resort. She said a scientific study would simultaneously be carried out to assess the effects of cannabis use in such cases.  Until now, patients have only been able to access cannabis for medicinal purposes by special authorisation, making the process complicated. Now they will be able to get a prescription from their doctor and a refund for the upfront cost from their health insurance, she said.

The spokeswoman said the law was likely to take effect in March after a procedural reading by the upper house of parliament.  Until state-supervised cannabis plantations are set up in Germany cannabis will be imported.

Other European countries that allow cannabis to be used for medical purposes include Italy and the Czech Republic.

Source:  https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/19/german-mps-vote-to-legalise-cannabis-for-medicinal-purposes

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Europe,Marijuana and Medicine :

Two thirds of drug-misuse patients in the health service in Northern Ireland last year had taken cannabis, new figures show.

From a total of a total of 2,229 people presenting to health services here with problem drug misuse, almost 66% were cannabis users.

The figures are contained in the Department of Health’s Northern Ireland drug misuse database.   Cannabis was by far the most commonly-used substance amongst problem drug-misuse patients here, according to the database.

Benzodiazepines, a class of drug with a host of medical uses that is commonly prescribed to patients suffering from anxiety, was the next most commonly used drug with just over 37% reporting having taken benzodiazepines.

The next on the list is cocaine with more than a third of those in the database (almost 35%) having taken it.  That represents a significant increase in the number of people who said they took cocaine. Last year it was 25%.

The use of ecstasy dropped substantially, from 26% last year to 10% this year, while heroin use has also fallen, from 13% to 10%.

One-in-20 said they had injected themselves with drugs.

The database also shows that most (60%) of those presenting for treatment took more than one drug. A fifth (23%) took two drugs, while another fifth (19%) said they took at least four different drugs.

Almost half (46%) said they took stimulants; this type of drug includes cocaine and amphetamines.  Just over a quarter (26%) said they used at least one opioid analgesic drug – a class of drugs used in medicine to relieve pain, that also includes the illegal drug heroin.  A fifth (20%) of all those who said they used these type of drugs also said it was their “main drug”.   The figures also showed a clear gender divide with males making up 79% of patients.

The Department of Health say they hold “information relating to 2,340 individuals that presented to drug misuse treatment services in 2015/16”.  The figures quoted in this article are based on 2,229 of those individuals who agreed to be included in the database.

Tobacco and alcohol misuse is excluded.

Source:  http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/crime/two-thirds-of-mental-health-drug-patients-used-cannabis-   23rd December 2016

Filed under: Drug Specifics,Europe,Social Affairs :

The number of school-children who have used cannabis has doubled in the European country that decriminalised drugs, according to a major international survey.

Number of pupils taking cannabis doubles under softer drug laws in Portuguese system hailed by Nick Clegg

*  Fifteen per cent of 15 and 16-year-olds in Portugal admitted to use of drug

*  In 1995, when tougher drug laws were in place, it was just 7 per cent

*  Findings led to fresh warnings Britain should not follow decriminalization

Portugal’s liberal policies, which mean those caught with drugs for personal use are no longer treated as criminals, have been hailed by campaigners including former Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg

Fifteen per cent of 15 and 16-year-olds in Portugal admitted having used the drug in the survey carried out last year.  In 1995, when tougher drug laws were in place, the number of teenagers in the country who had used cannabis was just 7 per cent.

Portugal’s liberal policies, which mean those caught with drugs for personal use are no longer treated as criminals, have been hailed by campaigners including former Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, tycoon Sir Richard Branson, and even Home Office civil servants.

But the findings on the Portuguese experiment led to fresh warnings yesterday that Britain should not follow the decriminalisation lead.   In contrast to Portugal, the number of teenagers who use cannabis in Britain – where laws against drug abuse are frequently criticised by reform campaigners – has more than halved over the past 12 years.

Kathy Gyngell, a fellow of the right-wing Centre for Policy Studies think-tank, said that the Portuguese outcome was entirely predictable.

She added: ‘It is what happens when you remove sanctions. It is a disaster for young people in Portugal, and it would be a disaster for young people in this country if the Portuguese example were ever followed here. ‘Even though our laws against cannabis and other drugs are hardly enforced, removing them would send a highly damaging signal. It would be playing Russian roulette with the lives of young people.’

In Britain, according to government-backed studies, 30 per cent of school pupils between 11 and 15 had tried illegal drugs in 2003. But by 2014 the level was down to 11 per cent of 15-year-olds who had tried cannabis, and 2 per cent any other illegal drug.

The findings on cannabis in Portugal come from the respected European School Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD), which carried out a survey last year in 35 European countries. Nearly 3,500 Portuguese schoolchildren took part.

But the findings on the Portuguese experiment led to fresh warnings yesterday that Britain should not follow the decriminalisation lead

Portugal brought in its decriminalisation law in 2001. Instead of being arrested, those caught with drugs for personal use are considered to have a health problem and are required to appear before a committee which considers the best treatment.

In 1999, the number of 15 and 16-year-olds in Portugal who had used cannabis was 9 per cent. According to the ESPAD survey, this rose to 15 per cent in 2003, dropped to 13 per cent in 2007 and, in 2011, rose again to 16 per cent.

The latest finding shows that cannabis use among pupils has remained at around double mid-1990s levels consistently for a dozen years.

In Britain brief experiments with drug liberalisation under Tony Blair’s government led to indicators of rising cannabis use among the young.  However levels appear to have more than halved since 2003, matching falls in smoking and drinking among young people, and, since 2008, record falls in numbers of teen pregnancies.

The increasing number of clean-living teens in Britain has been associated with the rise of social media and the development of a ‘Facebook generation’ more likely to be exchanging messages from their bedrooms than hanging around on the streets.

Portuguese drug policies were praised in a 2014 Home Office report, inspired by Lib Dem Coalition ministers, which said the country had seen ‘improvement in health outcomes for drug users’.

In 2012 the Commons home affairs select committee, then led by recently-disgraced MP Keith Vaz, said it was ‘impressed’ by Portuguese policies and that the country had ‘a model that merits significantly closer consideration’ in this country.

Even last week Mr Clegg was praising the Portuguese example, saying that ‘there have been dramatic reductions in addiction, HIV infections and drug-related deaths. In other words, you don’t need criminal penalties in order to intervene and change people’s drug habits’.

Cannabis has been assessed as increasingly dangerous in recent years as stronger variants of the drug, such as ‘skunk’, have become more widely available. Cannabis use is also increasingly associated with violent crime.

And an inquiry by Manchester University published in May found that nearly a third of the children and young people who commit suicide have been taking illegal drugs.

Source:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3801297/Number-pupils-taking-cannabis-doubles 22.09.16

Filed under: Europe,Global Drug Legalisation Efforts,Political Sector :

Latest statistics show 305 admissions were diagnosed as drugs misuse in the year 2011/12 — compared to 97 in 2007/08.

Across NHS Tayside as a whole the number has more than doubled, with an increase from 244 five years ago to 512 last year.  Doctors have warned there is now a “constant background level of recreational drug use” in the region’s Accident and Emergency departments.

A&E consultant Dr Julie Ronald said people come in with drugs-related problems most weekends.  She said: “We deal with a lot of drugs-related admissions. It can be very time consuming — especially if patients cause disruption to the rest of the department.

“It’s something we see most weekends of some variety. The vast majority are brought in by ambulance.  Usually someone has been with the patient or found them and decided they require medical attention.”

Across Tayside, opioids — such as heroin — were the cause for more than 80% of admissions over the period.  Of these, 60 were categorised as resulting from multiple drugs or other less common drugs.

And 468 — more than 90% — were classed as emergency admissions. Also last year, 28 of the admissions were for cannabis-type drugs, nine were for cocaine, eight for sedatives or hypnotics and seven were for other sedatives.

Dr Ronald, who works in the A&E departments at Ninewells Hospital and Perth Royal Infirmary, said there has been a noticeable increase in younger patients for drugs misuse .She said: “There is a constant background level of recreational drug use. We’re always coming into contact with it. We do see heroin misuse. What we have certainly seen is more recreational legal high-type drugs.   A lot of teens and people in the younger age groups are coming in who have taken party drugs, such as bubbles or MCAT.”

Some 89 of the admissions for 2011/12 had to stay in hospital for a week or longer. Dr Ronald said: “A&E look after the vast majority of people coming in with recreational drug misuse. We tend to keep them in for a few hours for observation, or overnight if they need to be monitored for longer.”

Source:  www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk   15th June 2013

Filed under: Effects of Drugs,Europe,Health,Heroin/Methadone :

Two groups of legal highs that imitate the hallucinogenic effects of LSD and of heroin are to be banned as class A drugs on the recommendation of the government’s drug advisers.

The home secretary, Theresa May, is expected to confirm that AMT, which acts in a similar way to LSD, should be banned along with other chemicals known as tryptamines that have been sold at festivals and in head shops with names including “rockstar” and “green beans”.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) said the tryptamine group of chemicals had become widely available in Britain. The experts said four deaths in 2012 and three deaths in 2013 in Britain were attributed to tryptamines. The ACMD also said a synthetic opiate known as AH-7921, sometimes sold as “legal heroin”, should be class A. It follows the death last August of Jason Nock, 41, who overdosed on AH-7921 after buying the “research chemical” on the internet for £25 to help him sleep.

Professor Les Iversen, the ACMD chair, said the substances marketed as legal highs could cause serious damage to health and, in some cases, even death.

He said the ACMD would continue to review new substances as they were picked up by the forensic early warning system in Britain.

“The UK is leading the way by using generic definitions to ban groups of similar compounds to ensure we keep pace within the fast moving marketplace for these drugs,” said Iversen.

 

Source:   theguardian.com 10th June 2014

Filed under: Effects of Drugs,Europe,Global Drug Legalisation Efforts,Legal Highs :

Dublin city coroner Dr Brian Farrell is to write to the Department of Health to highlight a link between methadone use and heart failure following an inquest into the death of a 30-year-old man.   Philip Wright of Celbridge, Co Kildare, died on December 13th, 2011, having collapsed after taking heroin.

He had discharged himself on December 12th from Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown where he had been taken off methadone, a heroin replacement drug, because of the dangerous effect it was having on his heart. Mr Wright had attended the hospital on December 9th after collapsing at home. He was also on antibiotics for a chest infection.

Dr Joseph Galvin, consultant cardiologist at the hospital, told the coroner an electrocardiogram (ECG) carried out on Mr Wright picked up a problem with his heart and his methadone was stopped on December 11th. He said the drug could put the heart out of rhythm by changing its electrical properties “in a dangerous way”.

Mr Wright’s heart returned to normal after he was taken off methadone, he said. Recent studies had shown up to 18 per cent of people on methadone had experienced the same heart problems, he said.   The doctor recommended that anyone who collapsed while using methadone should have an ECG carried out. “It is not as benign a drug as was first thought,” Dr Galvin said.

He also said he had recommended an alternative drug for Mr Wright to replace the methadone: buprenorphine.  By lunchtime on Monday, December 12th, Mr Wright had not received the drug. His father, James Wright, told the coroner his son feared he would go into severe withdrawal without it.  He discharged himself from hospital against medical advice and obtained heroin. He died of respiratory failure in the bathroom of his parents’ home the following day having injected the heroin.

Evidence was also given that the pharmacy in the hospital did not receive a request for buprenorphine for Mr Wright and there were issues around access to the drug.

There was also a recommendation that there should be an interval between the time methadone is stopped and buprenorphine is given.  Returning a verdict of death by misadventure, Dr Farrell said he would write to the department and to methadone maintenance authorities and clinics about the potential cardiac effects of methadone.

He would also raise the issue of availability of buprenorphine.

Source: www.irishtimes.com Sat. 5th Jan

Filed under: Effects of Drugs,Europe,Health,Heroin/Methadone :

New psychoactive substances (NPS) are synthesized compounds that are not usually covered by European and/or international laws. With a slight alteration in the chemical structure of existing illegal substances registered in the European Union (EU), these NPS circumvent existing controls and are thus referred to as “legal highs”. They are becoming increasingly available and can easily be purchased through both the internet and other means (smart shops). Thus, it is essential that the identification of NPS keeps up with this rapidly evolving market.

In this case study, the Belgian Customs authorities apprehended a parcel, originating from China, containing two samples, declared as being “white pigments”. For routine identification, the Belgian Customs Laboratory first analysed both samples by gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry and Fourier-Transform Infrared spectroscopy. The information obtained by these techniques is essential and can give an indication of the chemical structure of an unknown substance but not the complete identification of its structure. To bridge this gap, scientific and technical support is ensured by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) to the European Commission Directorate General for Taxation and Customs Unions (DG TAXUD) and the Customs Laboratory European Network (CLEN) through an Administrative Arrangement for fast recognition of NPS and identification of unknown chemicals. The samples were sent to the JRC for a complete characterization using advanced techniques and chemoinformatic tools.

The aim of this study was also to encourage the development of a science-based policy driven approach on NPS.

These samples were fully characterized and identified as 5F-AMB and PX-3 using1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), high-resolution tandem mass-spectrometry (HR-MS/MS) and Raman spectroscopy. A chemo-informatic platform was used to manage, unify analytical data from multiple techniques and instruments, and combine it with chemical and structural information.

Source:    http://www.fsijournal.org/   August 2016   Volume 265, Pages 107–115

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2016.01.024

Filed under: Drug Specifics,Drug use-various effects,Europe,Legal Highs :

For decades, the Netherlands has been known for its tolerant cannabis laws – the poster nation for pro-pot advocates. Cannabis users from across the world have flocked to Amsterdam to patronize its many cannabis-selling “coffee shops.” Throughout this time cannabis has remained illegal in the Netherlands; although, the Dutch have not prosecuted anyone in possession of less than five grams of cannabis for personal use. This distinctive drug policy of tolerance toward cannabis is called gedoogbeleid, and known as the “Dutch model.”

Now, the U.S. now is the first, and so far the only, nation in the world to have fully legal production, sale, promotion, and use of cannabis for people 21 an older. In stark contrast, the Dutch are moving in the opposite direction, limiting the growth, distribution, and use of cannabis and showing no interest in “medical marijuana.” Cannabis with a THC level of more than 15 percent is now under consideration to be reclassified as a “hard drug.” In the Netherlands, that designation comes with stiff criminal penalties. Furthermore, the nation once had more than 1,000 coffee shops, 300 in Amsterdam alone. Now, there are fewer than 200 in the city and 617 nationwide. This is the result of the government’s actions to force coffee shops to choose either to sell alcohol or marijuana. Notably, many are choosing to sell alcohol.

While it has always been illegal to grow cannabis in the Netherlands, for years police acted as if they didn’t know where the shops were getting the drug. This is no longer the case. Now, new laws target even the smallest cannabis growers. In the past, anyone could grow up to five plants without fear of penalty. In 2011, the government issued new police guidelines declaring that anyone who grew cannabis with electric lights, prepared soil, “selected” seeds or ventilation would be considered a “professional” grower. This is a significant change because professional growers risk major criminal penalties, including eviction and blacklisting from the government-provided housing in which more than half of the country’s citizens reside.

What made the Netherlands make such a strong shift in its cannabis policy? The overall drug policy of the Netherlands – not just for cannabis but including cannabis – has four major objectives:

1. To prevent recreational drug use and to treat and rehabilitate recreational drug users.

2. To reduce harm to users.

3. To diminish public nuisance by drug users (the disturbance of public order and safety in the neighborhoods).

4. To combat the production and trafficking of recreational drugs.

The Netherlands has determined that its relaxed cannabis laws were a threat to these expressed public health objectives. The nation’s new, more restrictive laws on cannabis, including the banning of cannabis with THC levels of 15 percent or more, demonstrate that the government wants to reduce cannabis sale and use for reasons of public health.

As the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana spreads to more states in the U.S., we need to look anew to the Netherlands. The U.S. can benefit from what the lessons the Netherlands has learned about cannabis over the past four decades. How surprising is it that the American media frequently praised the Dutch cannabis policy when it seemed permissive but now that Dutch have become more restrictive their new cannabis policy is ignored?

Robert L. DuPont, M.D.

President, Institute for Behavior and Health, Inc.

Former Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse (1973-1978) Former White House Drug Chief (1973-1977)

Source: www.ibhinc.org 15th March 2015

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Europe,Legal Sector :

Teen Marijuana Use And The Risks Of Psychosis

Doctors in Germany have noted an alarming rise in psychotic episodes linked to excessive marijuana use among young people, which follows other studies around the world raising alarms.

BERLIN — Miklos has survived the worst of it. He doesn’t hear voices anymore. And if he did, he’d know it’s just an hallucination. “This isn’t real,” he would tell himself.

The 21-year-old can also interact with people again — even look them in the eye. As soon as his therapist enters the room he starts smiling. This would have seemed impossible just a few weeks ago. Miklos was admitted a while back to the psychiatric ward of the Hamburg University Hospital, which diagnosed him as having suffered from an “extreme psychotic episode after abuse of cannabis.”

Initially the help he received there seemed to have little effect. He suffered from paranoia, and even broke out of the hospital and caused a major traffic accident while on the run. He had frequent violent outbursts, refused to speak to anyone, and was fixated on just one thought: “I want to leave, just leave, leave, leave.” But he eventually came to embrace his treatment.

Miklos had slid into addiction three years earlier. Nothing in his life seemed to be working at the time. A girl he liked laughed in his face when he confessed his love for her. His math teacher let it be known she thought he was a failure. He was in constant conflict with his parents. “Every time things went wrong, I would hide in my room and smoke weed,” he recalls.

Miklos smoked with a bong, or water pipe, so the relaxing effect of marijuana would kick in faster. He’d take his first puffs as soon as he woke up in the morning. Smoking pot became his full-time job.

Miklos stopped going to school and ended up failing his final exams. He became indifferent, avoided his friends and ultimately had virtually no social connections. And then the voices appeared. “Oh good God, you are such a loser, you never do anything right,” they would say. Finally, he turned to his parents for help and was admitted to the university hospital.

Playing with fire

The number of patients admitted with psychotic episodes after having consumed cannabis has more than tripled in Germany over the last 15 years, from 3,392 in 2000 to 11,708 in 2013. More than half of the patients are younger than 25.

Andreas Bechdolf is the chief of medicine for psychiatry and psychotherapy at the Berlin Urban Hospital and heads a two-year-old facility called the Center for Early Intervention and Therapy, or FRITZ, which focuses specifically on adolescents. It is the country’s only such project to date. “All major psychological disorders usually begin in adulthood,”
Bechdolf says. “But until now the welfare system has paid very little attention to young adults.”

FRITZ employs psychologists, psychiatrists, care providers and social workers as well as young people who cannot, at first glance, be distinguished from patients. They don’t wear white clothing. Some have nose piercings or large rings inserted in their earlobes. And they are purposely informal in how they relate with the patients. Bechdolf calls this a “subcultural” strategy.

“The truly awful thing is that it often takes years before young adults with psychoses receive treatment, and many feel stigmatized,” Bechdolf says. “It often takes another year from the point they start hearing voices before they finally take the step to open up to a doctor.” This is something FRITZ aims to change.

The program works with several hundred patients between the ages of 18 to 25. Some spend several weeks in the hospital ward. Others are outpatients, and some are treated at home. The vast majority (between 80% and 90%) were smoking marijuana on a regular basis before their treatment began. “Not all of them are addicted, but many of them are,” Bechdolf says.

Those who start smoking marijuana on a regular basis before the age of 15 are six times more likely to suffer from psychosis in later years. Adolescent cannabis consumers suffer from more anxiety and depression than their non-consuming counterparts. Cognitive performance is diminished and the loss of concentration is a common side effect. Quite often, these adolescents are unable to recall the content of a text they read only a few days before.

British scientists have established that people who smoked cannabis on a regular basis when young ended up, 10 years later, in a lower social standing, had worse academic results and a lower income than people who didn’t smoke.

“Dramatic effects”

The active ingredient is cannabis is Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which has been shown to inhibit brain maturation. The connecting of nervous cells in the brain takes place until about 25 years of age. THC impedes certain connections and certain areas remain underdeveloped while others connections are made by mistake.

A University of Melbourne study has even shown that the amygdala area of the brain, responsible for regulating the feelings of anxiety and depression, shrinks with regular cannabis abuse.

The abuse of marijuana also causes an unusually large amount of the neurotransmitter dopamine to be distributed throughout the brain. This in turn causes the feeling of relaxation but can, if abused over a long period of time, lead to hallucinations. The THC content in artificially cultivated cannabis, the most common form of cannabis production nowadays, is often quite high, up to 20%.

“This cannot be compared to the joints that were smoked in the 1960s and 1970s,” Bechdolf says. “The THC content of cannabis back then may have been only as high as 5%. But the cultivation of cannabis has become an industry that strives for optimization.”

High TCH levels are less of a problem for older people. “Those who are in their late 40s and smoke the occasional joint on the weekends don’t need to fear any repercussions,” the FRITZ head explains. “But the regular consumption of cannabis can have very dramatic effects on a 14- or 15-year-old.”

Bechdolf believes that nearly 20% of people who suffer from psychoses — extreme psychological disorders and loss of the concept of reality — could be healthy had they not smoked cannabis.

Trying to refocus

Psychoses often develop over several years. At first people have difficult concentrating and putting thoughts together. Things that used to be second nature become increasingly difficult. People are unable to understand the meaning of once-familiar words. Perceptions begin to change. Colors become more intense. A car that is 10 meters away might seem to be right in front of you.

“Those are the early symptoms,” Bechdolf explains. “This stage develops at a very slow pace over three or four years.” Then, when the psychosis manifests itself perceptively, acoustic hallucinations are added to the mix. Often the voices divulge secrets or utter a running commentary on the person’s shortcomings. People also feel they are being constantly followed or spied on.

The prognosis with a so-called substance-induced psychosis is usually relatively good. “Those who stop smoking pot have a very good chance of being healed,” Bechdolf says. Continued outpatient therapy after being released from the hospital is part of this healing process. Instead of going back to thinking, “If I have a joint, everything will be fine,” patients need to find a different approach to tackling their issues. “It is a huge challenge for those affected to re-learn how to deal with problems,” he says.

For Miklos, that’s meant nurturing a passion for longboarding. “It doesn’t give you the same kick as smoking pot, but it’s still pretty cool,” he says.

If his condition continues to be stable for the next two weeks, he will be discharged from the clinic and will have sessions with his therapist twice weekly. Miklos will not be moving back in with his parents when he’s discharged. Instead, he’ll be going to a supervised communal residence.

He even wants to try to repeat his final exams during the summer. Miklos says he’s also now able to appreciate the help he’s getting from the hospital’s doctors and social workers. “I know that I never would have been able to get better without them.”


Source: worldcrunch.com 3rd May 2015

Filed under: Drug Specifics,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Europe,Health :

Increasing numbers of Belgian teenagers are seeking help for cannabis use, De Standaard reported on Monday.

According to a report by the Flemish Association of Addiction Treatment Centres Care (VVBV), in 2013 495 boys and 78 girls aged between 15 and 19 sought assistance over continued use of the drug.

In addition, 36 children under the age of 15 also asked for help.

The report also found that more and more women are seeking help for heroin and cocaine use.

Counselling services are now been targeted at the young.

“Young men with a cannabis addiction used to be all in their twenties before they took the step to recovery.

In recent years, more and more 15- to 19-year olds are added, and they became a separate group in health care,” said VVBV Chairman Dirk Vandevelde.

“Based on these figures, it is difficult to estimate whether it is youth who are experimenting or already have an advanced addiction, and how long they remain in counselling,” he said.

Last week, a law allowing for the sale of medical marijuana was published in Belgium.

The law will come into effect at the beginning of July.

Amongst the drug’s medical properties is the alleviation of pain for sufferers of conditions such as multiple sclerosis.

Source:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-06/15/c_134328368.htm  15th June 2015

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Europe,Marijuana and Medicine,Treatment :

 

A new report provides insight into how traffickers move cocaine to the lucrative European market, including the key trafficking routes and smuggling techniques criminal groups have adopted to skirt drug interdiction efforts.

The recently released 2016 EU Drug Trafficking Report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and Europol explains Latin America’s role in the European cocaine industry, and the different routes and methods used to traffic the drug across the Atlantic (see map below).

Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela are singled out as “key departure points” for Europe-bound cocaine, from where the drug is smuggled out in vessels, private yachts or by air, among other methods.

According to the report, the increasing importance of Brazil suggests that Bolivia and Peru are expanding their role as suppliers for the European market. The traffic of Colombian cocaine into Venezuela across a “porous border” has similarly increased. From Venezuela, criminal groups use both flights and maritime routes — capitalizing on the busy traffic off the Venezuelan coast — to send the drugs to Europe.

Despite data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) suggesting otherwise, the report adds, Colombia is likely to continue being a key shipment point for cocaine heading to Europe, as evidenced by its growing production figures and continuing seizures. Ecuador and Argentina are also mentioned as departure points for the drug.

The Caribbean and West Africa are reportedly the two most common transit zones for cocaine moving across the Atlantic, and Central America appears to be becoming an increasingly important stop-off point. The Caribbean Sea’s main trafficking hubs are the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, although there have been reports that some activity has shifted to Caribbean countries further east.

Central America and the Caribbean was the only area to see a rise in cocaine seizures in 2013, with confiscations nearly doubling to 162 metric tons from 78 metric tons a year earlier, according to the EMCDDA. Behind the increase was a 800 percent spike in Dominican Republic seizures, which reached 86 metric tons in 2015. The apparent escalation of illegal trafficking through the Caribbean is described as a possible result of recent crackdowns in Mexico and Central America.

West Africa’s Bight of Benin — between Ghana and Nigeria — as well as the islands of Cape Verde, Madeira and the Canary Islands, make up the second major transit zone for cocaine heading to Europe. Nevertheless, the report points out that the Bight of Benin may be have lost importance in recent years.

Once on the other side of the Atlantic, cocaine continues its journey by sea, land or air, principally to western or southern Europe. In 2014, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Italy reportedly accounted for 80 percent of the 61.6 metic tons of cocaine seized in the European Union.

The largest ports on the continent — Rotterdam in Holland, and Antwerp, Belgium — are thought to be key entry points for cocaine. Dutch police estimated that 25 to 50 percent of all cocaine filtered into Europe through Rotterdam, following the seizure of 10 metric tons of the drug at the port in 2013. Of the 11 million containers that pass through the Rotterdam annually, only 50,000 are scanned (0.45 percent). Other key entry ports are Algeciras and Valencia in Spain, and Hamburg in Germany.

The EMCDDA expressed increasing concern over the use of existing trafficking routes for other drugs to move cocaine, including cannabis corridors in Morocco and Algeria and heroin corridors in Tanzania. The report warns that Tanzania may emerge as a new cocaine route to Europe, given an increase in seizures in East Africa and as a consequence of the Panama Canal’s expansion.

The vast capacity for moving drugs and diversity of routes offered by maritime transport makes it the preferred option for cocaine traffickers to Europe. Traffickers are increasingly hiding cocaine in shipping containers aboard commercial vessels, which makes it harder to detect. Seizures involving containers have reportedly gone up sixfold since 2006.

Colombian and Italian organized crime networks reportedly continue to dominate the cocaine trade in Europe, in cooperation with Dutch, British, Spanish and Nigerian groups. The Netherlands and Spain are primary distribution centers.

InSight Crime Analysis

One of the most interesting trends highlighted by the report is that traffickers prefer to transit through the Caribbean rather than Central America on their way to Europe. While this may appear to be the easiest route, in the past organizations were known to send drugs to Central American countries before crossing the Atlantic.

The theory that the Caribbean is re-emerging as a popular drug route as Central American traffic declines has been suggested since at least 2010, and evidence over the years has both supported and refuted this theory.

There is a general consensus that tougher interdiction in Central America and Mexico is behind the supposed revival of the Caribbean corridor that had been popular in the 1980s, although such predictions have mainly be applied to drug trafficking to the United States. Still, it appears that the Caribbean route is more significant for Europe-bound cargo, as Central America remains the main trafficking corridor for northbound narcotics.

Another revealing takeaway from the report is the evolution of trafficking techniques used by criminals to skirt interdiction efforts.

The growing use of shipping containers to move cocaine demonstrates how criminal organizations are taking advantage of increasing global maritime traffic to run their business. Part of this trend is the increasingly popular “rip-on/rip-off” technique, which relies on the use of corrupt port officials to slip drugs into legitimate containers by breaking and replacing the security seal at the point of origin. Concealing cocaine with perishable goods also ensures the drugs pass through controls faster.

It is unsurprising that traffickers should take advantage of shipping routes — maritime trade handles tremendous volume and is a sector often overlooked in the fight against organized crime, providing the perfect cover for drug smugglers.

In addition, corruption, informality and a lack of resources in many departure ports makes it easier for groups to smuggle their drugs onto ships. Such is the case in Peru, where Mexican traffickers reportedly control Pacific drug routes to Europe.

The report illustrates how criminal groups must be consistently creative to survive, noting new smuggling techniques used by drug mules that include ingesting liquid rather than powder cocaine, and concealing drugs in breast implants.

Europe’s relevance to the global cocaine trade is not to be underestimated. High profit margins for traffickers and a saturated US market are likely to increase its importance in the coming years.

Source:  http://www.insightcrime.org/news-analysis/cocaine-trafficking-to-europe-explained-by-new-report  2016

 

 

Filed under: Cocaine,Europe,Global Drug Legalisation Efforts,Social Affairs :

Abstract

Background and Purpose

An increasing number of case reports link cannabis consumption to cerebrovascular events. Yet these case reports have not been scrutinized using criteria for causal inference.

Methods

All case reports on cannabis and cerebrovascular events were retrieved. Four causality criteria were addressed: temporality, adequacy of stroke work-up, effects of re-challenge, and concomitant risk factors that could account for the cerebrovascular event.

Results

There were 34 case reports on 64 patients. Most cases (81%) exhibited a temporal relationship between cannabis exposure and the index event. In 70%, the evaluation was sufficiently comprehensive to exclude other sources for stroke. About a quarter (22%) of patients had another stroke after subsequent re-exposure to cannabis. Finally, half of patients (50%) had concomitant stroke risk factors, most commonly tobacco (34%) and alcohol (11%) consumption.

Conclusion

Many case reports support a causal link between cannabis and cerebrovascular events. This accords well with epidemiological and mechanistic research on the cerebrovascular effects of cannabis.

  1. Daniel G. Hackam, MD, PhD, FRCPC

+Author Affiliations

  1. From the Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Medicine, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.

  1. Correspondence to Daniel G. Hackam, MD, PhD, FRCPC, 1400 Western Rd, London, Ontario, Canada N6G 2V2. E-mail dhackam@uwo.ca

Source: http://stroke.ahajournals.org/content/early/2015/02/19

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Europe,Health,Prevention and Intervention,USA :

The methadone programme in Scotland is “out of control”, an expert has warned.

Prof Neil McKeganey, from the Centre for Drug Misuse Research, said “it is literally a black hole into which people are disappearing”. Data obtained by BBC Scotland showed pharmacists were paid £17.8m for dispensing nearly half a million doses of methadone in 2014.

In response, the Scottish government said both doses and costs linked to opioid treatment had been dropping. Community Safety Minister Paul Wheelhouse told the BBC: “Fewer Scots are taking drugs – numbers are continuing to fall amongst the general adult population, and drug taking among young people is the lowest in a decade.”

However, a lack of data to measure the programme’s impact was the focus of criticism from Prof McKeganey. He said: “We still don’t know how many addicts are on the methadone programme, what progress they’re making, and with what frequency they are managing to come off methadone.

“Successive inquiries have shown that the programme is in a sense out of control; it just sits there, delivering more methadone to more addicts, year in year out, with very little sense of the progress those individuals are making towards their recovery.”

But David Liddell, director of the Scottish Drug Forum, disputed claims that addicts were parked on the methadone programme. He said: “What we know is the level of methadone being dispensed continues at the same level, but it’s not the same individuals. “Our sense is that of the 20,000-plus people on methadone, it will be less than half who are on it for a very long period of time.” However Mr Liddell admitted that, unlike England, there is currently no data in Scotland on whether users are relying on the programme indefinitely.

Regional increases

In 2013, pharmacies claimed back more than £17.9m from the Scottish government for dispensing 470,256 doses of methadone – 22,980 doses more than in 2014.

But despite this overall decrease, new data – obtained from National Services Scotland through a freedom of information request – revealed the amount of methadone dispensed has increased in more than a third of Scottish local authorities over the last two years.

The Edinburgh council area saw the largest increase in doses (2,949), followed by Falkirk (421) and Argyll and Bute (405). The largest decreases were found in Renfrewshire (5,842), Inverclyde (5,611) and East Ayrshire (5,598).

And while fees paid to pharmacies for dispensing methadone have declined over a four-year period, Prof McKeganey said the average annual outlay does suggest users are parked on the drug.

Prof McKeganey said: “The aspiration contained within the government’s ‘Road to Recovery’drug strategy explicitly said that the goal of treatment must be to enable people to become drug-free rather than remain on long-term methadone. These figures show you that we are not achieving that goal – we are not witnessing large numbers of people coming off the methadone programme.”

New strategy

Methadone has been at the heart of drug treatment strategies since the 1980s, but its use has been widely criticised by recovering addicts and drugs workers.

Methadone is by far the most widely used of the opioid replacement therapies (ORT), with an estimated 22,000 patients currently receiving it, but some users take it for years without being weaned off it altogether. Howevera review commissioned by the Scottish governmentin 2013 concluded methadone should continue to be used to treat heroin addicts.

There are alternatives, including prescribing medical heroin, but many in the drugs field say the debate should move away from these to an examination of how the wider needs of drug users can be met. Prof McKeganey said methadone does have a role to play in helping addicts wean themselves off heroin, but it should not be prescribed as widely as it is now.

An estimated 22,000 people are currently on Scotland’s methadone programme

He said he would like to see a two-year reassessment implemented so that if the “highly addictive” methadone does not seem to be working for an individual, they can then either try the more expensive suboxone, or enter a drug-free residential home. “That seemed preferable to me than leaving people on a methadone prescription for years – and then the worry is that you’ve turned your heroin addicts into methadone addicts.”

Figures released by the NHS in 2012revealed that methadone-implicated deaths increased dramatically in cases where the individual had been prescribed the drug for more than a year.

Recent figures from the National Records of Scotland also revealmethadone was implicated in nearly the same number of deaths as heroin in 2013.

‘Methadone millionaires’

The methadone data obtained by BBC Scotland reveals how much each individual pharmacy claimed back in fees from the Scottish government.

Last year more than £102,000 was claimed by just one pharmacy on Glasgow’s Saracen Street in Possilpark – an area ranked the third most-deprived in Scotland. The largest claims were made by pharmacy giants Boots and Lloyds, who reclaimed £3.8m and £3.3m respectively from their hundreds of branches across the country.

The fees paid back to pharmacies are not only for the dispensing of methadone, but for oral hygiene services, and the services of a supervisor to ensure the dose is taken onsite and not sold on the street. Pharmacies apply to enter into a contract with their health board to provide methadone services and must justify the need for such a service within that locality. Pharmacists in Greater Glasgow are currently paid £2.16 for dispensing every dose of methadone and £1.34 for supervising addicts while they take it.

The fees are negotiated with individual health boards to suit local needs, and are lower than in England.

But a spokesman from Community Pharmacy Scotland dismissed the“methadone millionaire” tagplaced on such pharmacies in the past by certain media outlets.

He said: “Methadone is an NHS prescription medicine and as such a community pharmacy is obliged to provide it when it has been prescribed for a patient by a GP.

“While community pharmacists are paid to administer the program, the income is far outweighed by the time, administration and difficulties that can often be encountered by taking on a role in this difficult area. The argument is not a financial one – but a health and social issue.”

A statement by the Scottish government did not address the lack of data to prove the programme was enabling addicts to become drug-free. However, Mr Wheelhouse said: “Both the number of items and the number of defined daily doses of opioid treatment have dropped steadily over the past five years and the cost of methadone is down 19% since 2010-11. He added: “Independent experts advise that opioid replacement therapy is a crucial tool in treating opiate dependency. However, we believe it is important that there are a range of treatments available that suit the unique needs of individuals.

“Prescribing opioid replacement therapy is an independent decision for individual clinicians, in line with the current UK guidelines on the Clinical Management of Drug Misuse and Dependence.”

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-31943109 24th March 2015

Filed under: Economic,Environment,Europe,Heroin/Methadone,Social Affairs :

“Even at normal doses, taking psychiatric drugs can produce suicidal thinking, violent behavior,  aggressiveness, extreme anger,  hostility, irritability, loss of ability to control impulses, rage reactions, hallucinations, mania, acute psychotic episodes, akathisia, and bizarre, grandiose, highly elaborated destructive plans, including mass murder.

“Withdrawal from psychiatric drugs can cause agitation, severe depression, hallucinations, aggressiveness, hypomania, akathisia, fear, terror, panic, fear of insanity, failing self-confidence, restlessness, irritability, aggression, an urge to destroy and, in the worst cases, an urge to kill.” -  From “Drug Studies Connecting Psychotropic Drugs with Acts of Violence” – unpublished.

My previous article on Global Research discussed the frustration of large numbers of aware observers around the world that were certain that Andreas Lubitz, the suicidal mass murderer of 149 passengers and crewmembers of the of the Lufthansa airliner crash, was under the intoxicating influence of brain-disabling, brain-altering, psychotropic medicines that had been prescribed for him by his German psychiatrists and/or neurologists who were known to have been prescribing for him.

These inquiring folks wanted and needed to know precisely what drugs he had been taking or withdrawing from so that the event could become a teachable moment that would help explain what had really happened and then possibly prevent other “irrational” acts from happening in the future. For the first week after the crash, the “authorities” were closed mouthed about the specifics, but most folks were willing to wait a bit to find out the truth.

However, another week has gone by, and there has still been no revelations from the “authorities” as to the exact medications, exact doses, exact combinations of drugs, who were the prescribing clinics and physicians and what was the rationale for the drugs having been  prescribed. Inquiring minds want to know and they deserve to be informed.

There are probably plenty of reasons why the information is not being revealed. There are big toes that could be stepped on, especially the giant pharmaceutical industries. There are medico-legal implications for the physicians and clinics that did the prescribing and there are serious implications for the airline corporations because their industry is at high risk of losing consumer confidence in their products if the truth isn’t adequately covered up. And the loss of consumer confidence is a great concern for both the pharmaceutical industry and its indoctrinated medical providers.

It looks like heavily drugged German society is dealing with the situation the same way the heavily drugged United States has dealt with psychiatric drug-induced suicidality and drug-induced mass murders (such as have been known to be in a cause and effect relationship in the American epidemic of school shootings – see www.ssristories.net).

The Traffickers of Illicit Drugs That Cause Dangerous and Irrational Behaviors Such as Murders and Suicides are Punished. Why not Legal Drug Traffickers as Well?

But there is a myth out there that illegal brain-altering drugs are dangerous but prescribed brain-altering drugs are safe. But anyone who knows the molecular structure and understands the molecular biology of these drugs and has seen the horrific adverse effects of usage or withdrawal of legal psychotropic drugs knows that the myth is false, and that there is a double standard being applied, thanks to the cunning advertising campaigns from Big Pharma.

But there is an epidemic of legal drug-related deaths in America, so I submit a few questions that people – as well as journalists and lawyers who are representing drug-injured plaintiffs – need to have answered, if only for educational and preventive practice purposes:

1) What cocktail of 9 different VA-prescribed psych drugs was “American Sniper” Chris Kyle’s Marine Corps killer taking after he was discharged from his psychiatric hospital the week before the infamous murder?

2) What were the psych drugs that Robin Williams got from Hazelden just before he hung himself?

3) What were the myriad of psych drugs, tranquilizers, opioids, etc that caused the overdose deaths of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Heath Ledger, Anna Nicole Smith, etc, etc, etc (not to mention Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Lee, Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe) – and who were the “pushers” of those drugs?

4) What was the cocktail of psychiatric and neurologic brain-altering drugs that Andreas Lubitz was taking before he intentionally crashed the passenger jet in the French Alps – and who were the prescribers?

5) What are the correctly prescribed drugs that annually kill over 100,000 hospitalized Americans per year and are estimated to kill twice that number of out-patients?

(See http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/05/07/death-by-prescription-drugs-is-a-growing-problem/)

Because the giant pharmaceutical companies want these serious matters hushed up until the news cycle blows over (so that they can get on with business as usual), and because many prescribing physicians seem to be innocently unaware that any combination of two or more brain-altering psychiatric drugs have never been tested for safety (either short or long-term), even in the rat labs, future celebrities and millions of other patient-victims will continue dying – or just be sickened from a deadly but highly preventable reality.

But what about “patient confidentiality”, a common excuse for withholding specific information about patients (even if crimes such as mass murder are involved)? It turns out that what is actually being protected by that assertion are the drug providers and manufacturers. Common sense demands that such information should not be withheld in a criminal situation.

America’s corporate controlled media makes a lot of money from its relationships with its wealthy and influential corporate sponsors, contributors, advertisers, political action committees and politicians, but, tragically, the media has been clearly abandoning its historically-important investigative journalistic responsibilities (that are guaranteed and protected by the Constitution). It is obvious that the media has allied itself with the corporate “authorities” that withhold, any way they can, the important information that forensic psychiatrists (and everybody else) needs to know.

We should be calling out and condemning the authorities that are withholding the information about the reported “plethora of drugs” that is known to have been prescribed for Lubitz by his treating “neurologists and psychiatrists”, drugs that were found in his apartment on the day of the crash and identified by those same authorities who have not revealed the information to the people who need to know. Two weeks into the story and there still has been no further information given, or as far as I can ascertain, or asked for by journalists.

So, since the facts are being withheld by the authorities, I submit some useful lists of common adverse effects of commonly prescribed crazy-making psych drugs that Lubitz may have been taking. Also included are a number of withdrawal symptoms that are routinely  and conveniently mis-diagnosed as symptoms of a mental illness of unknown cause.

And at the end of the column are some excerpts from the FAA on psych drug use for American pilots. I do not know how different are the rules in Germany, but certainly both nations have to rely on voluntary information from the pilots.

1) Common Adverse Symptoms of Antidepressant Drug Use

Agitation, akathisia (severe restlessness, often resulting in suicidality), anxiety, bizarre dreams, confusion, delusions, emotional numbing, hallucinations, headache, heart attacks  hostility, hypomania (abnormal excitement), impotence, indifference (an “I don’t give a damn attitude”), insomnia, loss of appetite, mania, memory lapses, nausea, panic attacks, paranoia, psychotic episodes, restlessness, seizures, sexual dysfunction, suicidal thoughts or behaviors, violent behavior, weight loss, withdrawal symptoms (including deeper depression)

2) Common Adverse Psychological Symptoms of Antidepressant Drug Withdrawal

Depressed mood, low energy, crying uncontrollably, anxiety, insomnia, irritability, agitation, impulsivity, hallucinations or suicidal and violent urges. The physical symptoms of antidepressant withdrawal include disabling dizziness, imbalance, nausea, vomiting, flu-like aches and pains, sweating, headaches, tremors, burning sensations or electric shock-like zaps in the brain

3) Common Symptoms of Minor Tranquilizer Drug Withdrawal

Abdominal pains and cramps, agoraphobia , anxiety, blurred vision, changes in perception (faces distorting and inanimate objects moving), depression, dizziness, extreme lethargy, fears, feelings of unreality, heavy limbs, heart palpitations, hypersensitivity to light, insomnia, irritability, lack of concentration, lack of co-ordination, loss of balance, loss of memory, nightmares, panic attacks, rapid mood changes, restlessness, severe headaches, shaking, sweating, tightness in the chest, tight-headedness

4) Common (Usually Late Onset) Adverse Psychological Symptoms From Anti-Psychotic Drug Use

Blurred vision, breast enlargement/breast milk flow,  constipation, decreased sweating, dizziness, low blood pressure, imbalance and falls, drowsiness, dry mouth, headache, hyperprolactinemia (pituitary gland dysfunction), increased skin-sensitivity to sunlight, lightheadedness, menstrual irregularity (or absence of menstruation), sexual difficulty, (decline in libido, anorgasmia, genital pain).

The lethal adverse effects of antipsychotic drugs include Catatonic decline, Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS, a condition marked by muscle stiffness or rigidity, dark urine, fast heartbeat or irregular pulse, increased sweating, high fever, and high or low blood pressure); Torsades de Pointes (a condition that affects the heart rhythm and can lead to sudden cardiac arrest”; Sudden death

5) Late and Persistent Adverse Effects of Antipsychotic Drug Use  (Some of these symptoms may even start when tapering down or discontinuing the drug!)

Aggression, akathisia (inner restlessness, often intolerable and leading to suicidality), brain atrophy (shrinkage), caffeine or other psychostimulant addiction, cataracts, creativity decline, depression, diabetes, difficulty urinating, difficulty talking, difficulty swallowing, fatigue and tiredness, hypercholesterolemia, hypothyroidism, intellectual decline (loss of IQ points), obesity, pituitary tumors, premature death, smoking – often heavy – (nicotine addiction), tardive dyskinesia (involuntary, disfiguring movement disorder), tongue edge “snaking” (early sign of movement disorder), jerky movements of head, face, mouth or neck, muscle spasms of face, neck or back, twisting the neck muscles, restlessness – physical and mental (resulting in sleep difficulty), restless legs syndrome, drooling, seizure threshold lowered, skin rashes (itching, discoloration), sore throat, staring, stiffness of arms or legs, swelling of feet, trembling of hands, uncontrollable chewing movements, uncontrollable lip movements, puckering of the mouth, uncontrollable movements of arms and legs, unusual twisting movements of body, weight gain, liver toxicity

6) Common Symptoms of Antipsychotic Drug Withdrawal

Nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, rhinorrhea (runny nose), heavy sweating, muscle pains, odd sensations such as burning, tingling, numbness,  anxiety, hypersexuality, agitation, mania, insomnia, tremor, voice-hearing

FAA Medical Certification Requirements for Psychotropic Medications

https://www.leftseat.com/psychotropic.htm

Pilots can only take one of four antidepressant drugs – Celexa (Citalopram), Lexapro (Escitalopram), Prozac (Fluoxetine) and Zoloft (Sertraline).

Most psychiatric drugs are not approved under any circumstances.

These include but are not limited to:

  • Abilify (Aripiprazole)
  • Effexor (Venlafaxine)
  • Elavil (Amitriptyline)
  • Luvox (Fluvoxamine Maleate)
  • Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors
  • Paxil (Paroxetine)
  • Remeron (Mirtazapine)
  • Serzone (Nefazodone)
  • Sinequan (Doxepin)
  • Tofranil (Imipramine)
  • Trazodone
  • Tricyclic Antidepressants
  • Wellbutrin (Bupropion)

To assure favorable FAA consideration, the treating physician should establish that you do not need psychotropic medication. The medication should be discontinued and the condition and circumstances should be evaluated after you have been off medication for at least 60 and in most cases 90 days.

Should your physician believe you are an ideal candidate, you may be considered by the FAA on a case by case basis only. Applicants may be considered after extensive testing and evidence of successful use for one year without adverse effects. Medications used for psychiatric conditions are rarely approved by the FAA. The FAA has approved less than fifty (50) airmen under the FAA’s SSRI protocol.

After discontinuing the medication, a detailed psychiatric evaluation should be obtained. Resolved issues and stability off the medication are usually the primary factors for approval.

Dr Kohls is a retired physician who practiced holistic mental health care for the last decade of his family practice career. He writes a weekly column on various topics for the Reader Weekly, an alternative newsweekly published in Duluth, Minnesota, USA. Many of Dr Kohls’ weekly columns are archived at http://duluthreader.com/articles/categories/200_Duty_to_Warn.

Source:  http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-connections-between-psychotropic-drugs-and-irrational-acts-of-violence/5441484  April 08, 2015

 

Filed under: Addiction,Brain and Behaviour,Drug use-various effects,Effects of Drugs,Europe,Global Drug Legalisation Efforts,Health,Psychiatric drugs,Social Affairs,USA :

Low achievers, women and those who did courses involving maths most benefited from being banned from coffeeshops . The ‘partial-prohibition’ sought to ban smokers from France and Luxembourg

Students who were banned from smoking legal cannabis in Dutch coffeeshops were found to be more likely to pass exams, specifically maths-based ones, according to researchers. The findings were worked out during a temporary “partial-prohibition” of cannabis cafes in the city of Maastricht, in which people were not allowed to enter on the sole basis of their nationalities.

Students who were banned from the 13 coffee shops in the city have been 5.4 per cent more likely to pass their courses, economists at the University of Maastricht found. The effect is “five times larger” for courses requiring quantitative thinking and maths-based tasks, the researchers wrote.

Lower performers – who had a pre-study GPA below the median of 6.62 – were most impacted by the ban with a 7.6 per cent increase in probability of passing a course.  This may be down to ‘high’ achievers already getting top grades, regardless of cannabis consumption, they added.

The study comes after 20 US states legalised the use of medicinal cannabis and 14 others took some steps to decriminalise possession. Uruguay is planning to become the first nation in the world to fully legalise all aspects of the cannabis trade. Women were also found to have higher improved grades than men, which researchers Olivier Marie and Ulf Zölitz believe is down to differences in processing high amounts of THC found in Dutch weed, which is often twice as strong as that in the US.

They also claim that grade improvements are not in correlation with any increases in effort or amount of study hours. The undergraduates have a median age of 20.6, and most of the improvements were also found in those who were the youngest.

Online evaluations filled in by the students showed that overall understanding of their courses improved the most when they did not smoke in coffeeshops.“The effects we find are large, consistent and statistically very significant,” Marie told the Observer. “For example, we estimate that students who were no longer able to buy cannabis legally were 5% more likely to pass courses.

“The grade improvement this represents is about the same as having a qualified teacher and, more relevantly, similar to decreases in grades observed from reaching legal drinking age in the US.”  The seven-month policy implemented by the Maastricht association of cannabis-shop owners (VOCM) from October 2011, after pressure by local authorities, had sought to control weed smoking by “drug tourists” from neighbouring countries.

People from France and Luxembourg were found to be the “bad tourists,” according to the study, as they had been “creating the most nuisance” for the city’s residents.  Belgian and German citizens were allowed to use cannabis cafes and, including Dutch people, they comprise 90 per cent of all customers – which shows that the “partial prohibition” was only carried out on a minority of people.

Researchers admit that students who were banned could have got hold of cannabis illegally through friends and dealers, however they believe that the findings are significant enough to be considered when international drug laws are amended.

More than 54,000 grades were analysed of around 4,200 students.  Fifty-two per cent were German, 33 per cent Dutch, six per cent Belgian and remaining eight per cent listed as “other”.

Source:  http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/students-banned-from-cannabis-coffee-shops-more-likely-to-pass-exams-a-dutch-study-claims-10169625.html

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Education Sector,Europe,USA :

Dutch study finds mathematics results suffer most from dope consumption – findings sure to fuel debate over steps towards legalisation If you want to do well in your exams, especially maths, don’t smoke dope.

This is the finding of a unique study that is likely to be fiercely debated by those in favour of and those against the liberalisation of cannabis laws.

Economists Olivier Marie of Maastricht University and Ulf Zölitz of IZA Bonn examined what happened in Maastricht in 2011 when the Dutch city allowed only Dutch, German and Belgian passport-holders access to the 13 coffee shops where cannabis was sold.

The temporary restrictions were introduced because of fears that nationals from other countries, chiefly France and Luxembourg, were visiting the city simply to smoke drugs, which would tarnish its genteel image.

After studying data on more than 54,000 course grades achieved by students from around the world who were enrolled at Maastricht University before and after the restrictions were introduced, the economists came to a striking conclusion.

In a paper recently presented at the Royal Economic Society conference in Manchester they revealed that those who could no longer legally buy cannabis did better in their studies.  The restrictions, the economists conclude, constrained consumption for some users, whose cognitive functioning improved as a result.

“The effects we find are large, consistent and statistically very significant,” Marie told the Observer.  “For example, we estimate that students who were no longer able to buy cannabis legally were 5% more likely to pass courses.

The grade improvement this represents is about the same as having a qualified teacher and, more relevantly, similar to decreases in grades observed from reaching legal drinking age in the US.”

For low performers, there was a larger effect on grades. They had a 7.6% better chance of passing their courses.  Interestingly, Marie and Zölitz found the effects were even more pronounced when it came to particular disciplines.

“The policy effect is five times larger for courses requiring numerical/mathematical skills,” the pair write.This, they argue, is not that surprising.  “In line with how THC consumption affects cognitive functioning, we find that performance gains are larger for courses that require more numerical/mathematical skills,” Marie said.  THC – tetrahydrocannabinol – is the active ingredient in skunk cannabis, which some studies have linked with psychosis.

The ground breaking research comes at a significant moment.  The clamour for liberalisation of cannabis laws is growing.

In Germany, Berlin is considering opening the country’s first legal cannabis shop. Uruguay plans to be the first nation in the world to fully legalise all aspects of the cannabis trade. In the US, more than 20 states now allow medical marijuana use, while recreational consumption has become legal in Alaska, Oregon, Washington and Colorado.

But, as Marie and Zölitz observe in their paper: “With scarce empirical evidence on its societal impact, these policies are mainly being implemented without governments knowing about their potential impact.

“We think this newfound effect on productivity from a change in legal access to cannabis is not negligible and should be, at least in the short run, politically relevant for any societal drug legalisation and prohibition  decision-making,” Marie said. “In the bigger picture, our findings also indicate that soft drug consumption behaviour is affected by their legal accessibility, which has not been causally demonstrated before.”

The research is likely to be seized upon by anti-legalisation campaigners.  But Marie was at pains to say the research should simply be used to raise awareness of an often overlooked aspect of drug use: its impact on the individual’s cognitive ability.  “If marijuana is legalised like it is in many states in the US, we should at least inform consumers about the negative consequences of their drug choices.”

It will also feed into the debate about THC levels in cannabis, which are becoming ever stronger. Levels of THC in marijuana sold in Maastricht’s coffee shops are around double those in the US. “Considering the massive impact on cognitive performance high levels of THC have, I think it is reasonable to at least inform young users much more on consequences of consuming such products as compared with that of having a beer or pure vodka,” Marie said.  History suggests that prohibition often results in the illicit drug or alcohol trade producing ever stronger products.

Campaigners for liberalisation argue that it could help bring THC levels down and allow users to know what they are buying. The authors concede that their findings could turn out to be different if they were to replicate their study in a country that did not have restrictions on cannabis use.  Marie said his work had helped inform his discussions with his teenage son.  “I have a 13-year old boy and I do extensively share this with him as a precautionary measure so that he can make the best informed choice if he is faced with the decision of whether to consume cannabis or not.”

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/apr/11/cannabis-smokers-risk-poorer-grades-dutch-study-legalisation

Filed under: Alcohol,Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Education,Education Sector,Europe,Social Affairs,USA,Youth :

A new political party is planning to field as many as 100 candidates at the general election to force the issue of cannabis legalisation centre stage.

Cista – Cannabis is Safer than Alcohol – is inspired by legalisation of the drug in some US states. The party’s election candidates will include Paul Birch, who co-founded Bebo before it was sold to AOL for $850m (£548m) in 2008 and says he is investing up to £100,000 in the venture.

Other candidates around the UK are soon to be named; this week the party said Shane O’Donnell, a former Conservative party activist, would stand against Labour’s Keir Starmer and the Green party leader, Natalie Bennett, in the London constituency of Holborn and St Pancras.

According to YouGov polling commissioned by Cista and provided to the Guardian, 44% of voters support the legalisation of cannabis against 42% who don’t (with 14% undecided).

The two mainstream parties with the most to lose from some voters being tempted to opt for Cista in marginal constituencies are the Greens, which supports decriminalisation, and the Liberal Democrats, which has been looking at the decriminalisation of all drugs for personal use and allowing cannabis to be sold on the open market.

However, Birch’s party has made a policy decision not to run in Brighton, where the sole Green MP Caroline Lucas is defending her seat, and in constituencies with incumbent Lib Dem MPs. The decision was taken after Lib Dem MP Julian Huppert, one of parliament’s most visible advocates of the decriminalisation of drugs, raised the issue of a candidate from Cista standing against him.

Birch said that in the main the other parties were keen not to talk about the issue of legalisation because they were embarrassed by it. “In the absence of this party forming I doubt that it would be an election issue. The Greens are the most explicit but even they don’t make it a prominent issue,” he added.

“With what has been happening in US states though, it now feels like it’s within touching distance. It’s like this is the final push and the time is right.”

Birch suggested that parallels with the road to legalisation in US states were forming on the basis of another of his party’s YouGov poll findings, which was that 18% of people believed that cannabis was safer than alcohol, while more than half thought that they were the same in safety terms.

He said: “In Colorado [one of the first US states to legalise the recreational use and sale of marijuana] the basis of their campaign was to juxtapose cannabis and alcohol. They knew that once they moved people to understand that it was safer then people would be happy to legalise it.”

Principally, Birch has faith that the public will come around to the idea in greater numbers as a result of becoming ever more informed. Of a recent experiment where the Channel 4 News anchor Jon Snow took large amounts of skunk-type cannabis, resulting in him feeling “as if his soul had been wrenched from his body”, Birch said that this was akin to forcing a teetotaller to down a bottle of illegally distilled moonshine. In a regulated industry, he argued, the risk to consumers could be considerably reduced.

Cista’s candidates will campaign for a royal commission to review the UK’s drug laws relating to cannabis – a relatively modest initial aim calibrated to maximise its appeal. They will also push the economic argument for legalisation, which the party argues could net the exchequer as much as £900m if cannabis were legalised and properly controlled.

The party, which is keen to establish itself as a professional outfit in contrast to previous electoral attempts at highlighting the decriminalisation cause, is signing up members and candidates using online forms. It is eager to push back against stereotypes and, in particular, encourage women to become involved.

Five candidates, including Birch, are signed up to stand for election on 7 May, while he and his team will this week begin travelling around the UK in search of other candidates who they expect will include academics, existing campaigners, students and people who work or have experience of working in the criminal justice system.

Source:  http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/25

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug Specifics,Effects of Drugs,Europe,Global Drug Legalisation Efforts,USA :

Several independent scientific study’s using the latest Brain Scan technologies have confirmed without a doubt that marijuana abuse causes great harm and devastation to the human brain. Some of the the most recent studies reported are:

And now we have another important scientific study regarding the damage that marijuana abuse does to the human brain; by the Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (KOKI).

Hungarian Scientists Prove Devastating Effect Cannabis Use Has On The Brain

Smoking cannabis dramatically reduces the number of molecules ensuring the fine-tuning of brain functions and can significantly interfere in the two-way communication between neurons, according to the result of research spanning several years carried out by the Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (KOKI), published in the world’s most highly acclaimed neuroscience journal, Nature Neuroscience.

A statement issued by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences reminds that a study arriving at the same conclusion, authored by Hungarian neuroscientists István Katona and Tamás Freund, deputy chairman of the Academy (MTA) and head of the Institute of Experimental Medicine), had already been published in the U. S. Journal of Neuroscience in 1999.

According to the latest results of Mr. Katona’s team, recreational cannabis gravely interferes with the two-way communication between neurons.

The discovery, revealing the gravity of the effect cannabis use has on a molecular level, shocked both the researchers and their colleagues, Mr. Katona said, adding that decision-makers must seriously consider the permitted THC content of cannabis products during increasingly widespread legalisation of the drug.

Research has shown that the number of receptors in synapses receiving endocannabinoid molecules decreased dramatically, by around 85 per cent, after a six-day THC treatment, with total regeneration taking as long as six weeks, the MTA statement reads.

The primary authors of the study published in Nature Neuroscience are junior MTA researcher Barna Dudok, László Barna, leader of the Nikon-KOKI Microscope Centre and Italian guest researcher Marco Ledri.

Source: http://hungarytoday.hu

http://www.nature.com March 2015

Filed under: Brain and Behaviour,Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Europe :

Marijuana Use and Mania

 As the debate continues to rage over the possible risks or advantages of smoking marijuana, new research out of Britain’s Warwick University has found a “significant link” between marijuana use and mania, which can range from hyperactivity and difficulty sleeping to aggression, becoming delusional and hearing voices.

Published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, the study of more than 2,000 people suggested potentially alarming consequences for teenagers who smoke the herb. 

“Cannabis [marijuana] is the most prevalent drug used by the under-18s,” said lead researcher Dr Steven Marwaha. “During this critical period of development, services should be especially aware of and responsive to the problems cannabis use can cause for adolescent populations.”

Researchers examined the effect of marijuana on individuals who had experienced mania, a condition that can include feelings of persistent elation, heightened energy, hyperactivity and a reduced need for sleep. On the other side of the coin, mania can make people feel angry and aggressive with extreme symptoms including hearing voices or becoming delusional.

“Previously it has been unclear whether cannabis use predates manic episodes,” Dr Marwaha said. “We wanted to answer two questions:

1.      Does cannabis use lead to increased occurrence of mania symptoms or manic episodes in individuals with pre-existing bipolar disorder?

2.      “But also, does cannabis use increase the risk of onset of mania symptoms in those without pre-existing bipolar disorder?”

Dr Marwaha found that marijuana use tended to precede or coincide with episodes of mania. Representing what the lead researcher referred to as “a significant link,” there was a strong association with new symptoms of mania, suggesting that these are caused by marijuana use.

The researchers also found that marijuana significantly worsened mania symptoms in people who had previously been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. “There are limited studies addressing the association of cannabis use and manic symptoms which suggests this is a relatively neglected clinical issue,” Dr Marwaha said.

“However, our review suggests cannabis use is a major clinical problem occurring early in the evolving course of bipolar disorder.   More research is needed to consider specific pathways from cannabis use to mania and how these may be effected by genetic vulnerability and environmental risk factors.”

These findings add to a body of previous studies that have linked marijuana to increased rates of mental health problems including anxiety, depression, psychosis and schizophrenia, and have suggested that the herb is addictive and opens the door to hard drugs.

A study which was published in the journal Neuroscience earlier this month nevertheless found that marijuana could be used to treat depression.

Scientists at the University of Buffalo’s Research Institute on Addictions said molecules present in marijuana could help relieve the depression resulting from long-term stress.

 Source: Journal of Affective Disorders Feb 2015

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Europe,Health,Treatment and Addiction :

You would not tie an anchor to a drowning man and claim you were helping him swim. Yet the Obama administration’s Department of Justice has done something quite similar with a determination that Native American reservations may become centers for “legal” marijuana sales and use, notwithstanding that this policy stands in stark violation of the federal Controlled Substances Act.

This new push for expanding marijuana use is legally suspect. Prior DOJ memoranda suspending enforcement of federal drug laws, such as in Colorado, were contingent on the alignment of marijuana sales and use with prevailing state laws or regulatory regimes. But Native American reservations are not legally equivalent to states; rather, they are “dependent domestic sovereigns,” broadly subject to federal law.

But there is worse in store. The impact on both Native Americans and the broader principles of political and economic integrity will be deeply damaging.

Native American history teaches that many tribes have suffered as much from well-intentioned but devastating policies offered by “friends” as they have from malign attacks by those who sought to destroy their culture. To this litany of harm from good intentions can now be added “legal” dope and the fanciful notion that drug proceeds will lift Native American economies more than they will worsen their health and criminal-justice burden.

There is the threat to Native lives from substance abuse, which has a history of degradation, violence, and pathology for First Americans. Alcohol abuse is pronounced, while heroin and methamphetamine are established threats, especially for tribes adjacent to Southwest Border smuggling routes. According to the National Household Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), the Native American rate of past-month illicit-drug use is 29 percent higher than the rate for whites (12.3 percent vs. 9.5 percent), while the Native rate of past-year drug abuse or dependence is 77 percent higher (14.9 percent vs. 8.4 percent).

Such afflictions are worse for the vulnerable. Natives suffer disproportionately from the harms of drugs due to poverty, remoteness, and inadequate public-health resources, including the limitations of the Indian Health Service. Effective reporting from Sari Horowitz of the Washington Post documents the pathologies of reservation life among the 566 federally recognized Native groups (found in 35 states), including high rates of poverty, unemployment (reaching 87 percent at Pine Ridge, S.D.), domestic abuse, sexual violence, school dropout, early death, and suicide.

How conceivably could adding increased supply (and acceptability) of an addictive drug  with psychosis, IQ and learning loss, increased susceptibility to suicide, school failure, and greater need for drug treatment be anything other than a needless disaster?

In addition to the damage from addiction, there is damage to the wider community. Internationally, “legal” drug markets are known to be accompanied by , prostitution, theft, violent coercion, neighborhood degradation, and economic loss, as documented by the Netherlands’ “cannabis cafes.” Meanwhile, Colorado is already experiencing lawsuits filed by businesses claiming harm from marijuana sales operations, based on racketeering and organized-crime statutes.

Consider that Southern California alone is home to nearly 30 recognized Indian tribes, with a total population of nearly 200,000. Were they to become purveyors of marijuana, by the experience of Colorado, they could quickly become smuggling centers for black-market marijuana distribution to surrounding communities and states. Reservation boundaries could turn into “domestic borders” comparable to international borders, where drug operations by criminal organizations thrive in driving illegal cultivation and trafficking.

This determination also presents an obvious course for fueling corruption in reservation politics, and equally worrying, U.S. financial affairs, for the emerging market in illicit drugs threatens our economic integrity nationwide. Not only has the DOJ set about dismantling, in states that have legalized, basic banking and money-laundering protections against criminal organizations penetrating the financial system, but there is further risk from another center of illicit finance and money-laundering: the cash business of casinos.

There are nearly 500 Indian “gaming” operations found in nearly 30 states, and while the revenues are great (estimated at $27 billion annually), many are in serious debt. What would another cash business, dealing in addiction and in violation of federal law, presumably paying no federal taxes, do to tribal integrity? What could this contribute to the power of transnational criminal cartels?

Already, marijuana-related law firms from Colorado are guiding those tribes with casinos in setting up high-potency marijuana operations. The potential for public corruption is high, as is the certainty of increased suffering among America’s longest victims.

Legal reservation dope is the most dangerous and shameful policy that has yet been proposed by the Obama administration.  By John P. Walters & David W. Murray

 

David W. Murray and John P. Walters direct the Hudson Institute’s Center for Substance Abuse Policy Research. They both served in the Office of National Drug Control Policy during the George W. Bush administration.

Source:

http://www.realclearpolicy.com/blog/legal_dope_for_native_americans_1226.html

10th March 2015

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Economic,Europe,Global Drug Legalisation Efforts,Social Affairs,USA :

This article shows how drug use in an area can impact more than the individual and their families and friends.  The local economy and small businesses are having to cope with lower productivity due to ‘functioning’ drug dependents in the workforce.    NDPA

New Hampshire drug czar: Addiction dragging state’s economy down

Providing more treatment and recovery options for drug addicts is as much about the addicts as it is about helping spur the state’s economy, said the state’s new drug czar.

“For me, it’s all about the money,” said John G. “Jack” Wozmak, senior director for substance misuse and behavioral health.  Wozmak was appointed in January by Gov. Maggie Hassan. The position is funded by a grant from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. Wozmak spent nearly a decade as the administrator of the Beech Hill substance abuse treatment facility in Dublin, and since 1998 had been the Cheshire County administrator.

“With a broad range of experience dealing with substance misuse through his roles in the public sector and in private substance abuse treatment, Jack will help strengthen our efforts to improve the health and safety of Granite Staters, and I thank him for his commitment to serving the people of New Hampshire, as well the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation for making his position possible,” Hassan said in a statement.

Wozmak’s task: Get a host of agencies and organizations to work together to reduce the state’s drug abuse, particularly heroin addiction.  Wozmak takes the post at a time when heroin overdoses and deaths are at an all-time high in New Hampshire. The Centers for Disease Control reports that New Hampshire is among 28 states that saw big increases in heroin deaths.

But Wozmak said drug addiction is more than the headline-generating heroin overdoses and drug-related burglaries and robberies that dominate the news.
“Yes, the number of heroin deaths is doubling (from the previous year). But that’s just the tip of the iceberg” of the state’s drug epidemic, he said.

Functioning addicts

The underlying problem – and what the drug czar said will help him get more money for treatment and prevention efforts from state legislators – is the thousands of drug abusers who do not necessarily overdose but drive up costs for employers, he said.
“You don’t hear about the day-to-day drug exposure that companies have because it’s all below the surface, like an iceberg,” he said.

Employers see everything from diminished production to having to overstaff or pay overtime to cover for employees addicted to drugs who miss work, he said. This hurts profit and, in turn, decreases the state’s revenue from business profits taxes. He said estimates from the state’s hospitality sector indicate that as many as 20 percent of that field’s employees may have drug addiction issues.

“I want to increase jobs and this is getting in the way,” he said. “It’s just interfering with productivity. It’s interfering with the economy.”  Wozmak said the drug problem as been exacerbated by a myriad of issues, including budget cuts for treatment programs, along with insurance companies cutting or capping policy coverage for substance abuse treatment.

In the 1980s, he said, the state had more than 600 beds at six private centers providing treatment for substance abuse. After all the cuts by insurance companies, the state now has 62 beds available, he said.

Further, the state ranks second-to-last – after Texas – in providing treatment for drug addiction and has the lowest rate in the country – 6 percent – of people who get treatment for their addictions.  “We have decimated the system of treatment and recovery, and we have to rebuild it,” he said. “Imagine the outrage if diabetes were treated this way.”

More money

Hassan has proposed more than tripling the state’s spending for the Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention, Treatment and Recovery in her proposed two-year budget, from a total of nearly $2.9 million in the 2014-15 budget, to nearly $9.6 million in 2016-17.

The way to convince legislators that the funding is necessary is by appealing to their desire for job growth in a state that has had anemic population growth, Wozmak said.  To get population and job growth, he said, the state has to make its work force healthier and the best way to do that is to reduce drug addiction.

“If you ran on a platform of job growth, you have to deal with this issue,” he said. “If (job growth is) not going to be from people moving here, then you have to improve the work force that’s here.  “If you’re not looking to take care of this problem, then you’re falling down on your promise,” he said. “If you want to create jobs, you have to make the work force more viable.”

Wozmak said the problem can be solved. He said his role includes getting the affected parties – including law enforcement, public resources, private or nonprofit organizations, charities and treatment facilities – working together. He said a provision of the Affordable Care Act that requires insurers to cover substance abuse again should help spur private investment in treatment and recovery facilities.

“There is no easy answer, but I believe there are many opportunities to make the change now on a variety of levels and a myriad of fronts,” he said. “I think we’re going to have a lot of success.”  He said getting help from the state’s medical professionals will also be key, as most heroin addicts, he said, start with addictions to prescription painkillers. He said medical professionals are “not the sole source” of the issue, but could be involved in changing the way pain is managed to help prevent addictions.

“None of them wanted to become addicts,” he said.

– See more at: http://www.unionleader.com/article/    8th March 2015

Filed under: Economic,Education,Effects of Drugs,Environment,Europe,Health,Prevention and Intervention :

Charities warn against drug legalisation on eve of Clegg announcement. 

 A new poll of over 100 charities by the think-tank, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) found that:

69 per cent would be concerned if the Government decriminalised cannabis;

73 per cent were concerned of the effects that cannabis had on their clients and families.

Charities on the front-line of the battle against poverty are opposed to liberalising cannabis laws, a new think-tank survey finds. A new CSJ poll of over 100 charities – many of them are working directly to combat addiction or are supporting those with addictions back into education and work – has found over two-thirds (69 per cent) would be concerned if the Government decriminalised cannabis because they say it would lead to greater drug abuse. The poll comes on the eve of the Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg’s announcement that the Liberal Democrats want to decriminalise cannabis.  

Nearly three-quarters (73 per cent) of the charities surveyed by the CSJ were concerned about the effect cannabis use had on their clients and families. Over half (56 per cent) felt the decriminalisation of cannabis would lead to an increase in its use. Less than a quarter (23 per cent) thought it would not. 

Commenting on the findings, Christian Guy, Director of the CSJ said: “Drug addiction is ripping Britain’s poorest communities apart. Our network of 300 front-line charities sees this on a daily basis. Many are right to be worried that liberalising cannabis laws will lead to more people taking drugs and developing harder use.” Politicians need to listen to these experts. They are the people who witness the devastating impact of drugs in our poorest neighbourhoods day in, day out.”

While the survey was anonymous, a number of charities wanted to make their voice heard publically on this crucial issue. Andy Cook, CEO of Twenty Twenty, who work with disadvantaged young-people, said: “We are scared by the idea of liberalising cannabis laws. We work tirelessly to get the most disadvantaged and disengaged young people back into learning and to hold down jobs. If they are taking cannabis it makes it almost impossible to succeed – sapping their motivation and effectively tying our hands in the support we can give. Cannabis is ruining the life opportunities of those we work with, so the idea that society would be better off if this stuff was decriminalised is crazy. Making it more easily available and more culturally acceptable will mean that more of our young people would take it. The result will be that more of our young people would fail to make the most of their potential.”  

Data shows that cannabis addiction is a growing problem. In 2005-6, nine per cent of those presenting to treatment for the first time were doing so for a cannabis addiction. Data for 2013-14 show this has almost doubled to 17 per cent. Figures also suggest there is a particular issue with young people – 43 per cent of those aged 18-24 who were presenting to treatment for the first time were doing so due to a cannabis addiction. This report also comes weeks after an academic study found that: “the risk of individuals having a psychotic disorder showed a roughly three-times increase in users of skunk-like cannabis compared with those who never used cannabis”.

Source:  http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Europe,Social Affairs :

Nick Clegg’s most recent contribution to the drugs debate has been to call for an end to imprisonment for the possession of drugs for personal use, and to move leadership of the UK drug strategy from what he sees as an enforcement obsessed Home Office to a treatment focused Department of Health. His rationale for this is that we are currently wasting resources locking up the ” victims “of the drug trade while allowing “health harm to go untreated”. 

Ending the use of imprisonment to protect people from themselves has much to commend it. The detailed legal drafting will be trickier than the deputy PM seems to realise, and it is unlikely to free up much resource, given the small numbers involved and the short periods actually served in custody. Nevertheless this reform, particularly if it were allied to amendments to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act to prevent minor convictions having a disproportionate impact on people’s future life chances, offers a sensible measured step to correct the negative consequences of the Misuse of Drugs Act. Furthermore this could be achieved without opening the Pandora’s box of legalisation, from which may flow increased drug use, and increasing harm, reversing the trend of young people turning away from drugs we have seen over the last decade.

So three cheers for proposal number one. Proposal number two, at first glance seems like common sense. If you want to focus on treatment the Department of Health is the obvious home for policy. My view based on 12 years in Whitehall responsible for the English treatment system is that it could be a disaster. Here is why.

Drug policy and drug treatment has never been a priority for the Department of Health or the NHS. The financial crisis, the interface between health and social care, waiting times, cancer, dementia, and a host of other issues dominate the DH/NHS agenda. Even when policies focus on the wider social determinants of health in an effort to reduce the burden on scarce NHS resources the priorities are :smoking: 80,000 deaths a year, obesity 30,000 deaths a year, alcohol 6500 deaths a year, not illegal drugs: 2000 deaths a year. Drug use simply doesn’t kill enough people or cause as much ill-health as over risky behaviours, and the priority accorded to it by successive Health leaderships reflects that.

Although illegal drug use causes less health harm than either alcohol or tobacco it is neither safe nor harmless. Overall, government estimate drug misuse causes £15 billion worth of harm to society, dwarfing the 5 billion of health harm from smoking. 13 billion of this is the cost of drug-related crime. Home Office research estimates that 50% of the marked rise in crime that occurred in the 1980s and 90s is attributable to the successive waves of heroin epidemics that swept over the country during those decades. Addressing this escalation in criminality by making treatment readily available across the country was the rationale behind the government’s hugely increased investment in treatment following 2001, up from 50 million a year to 600 million. Public Health England estimate that providing rapid access to treatment for around 200,000 individuals, more than twice as many as in 2001, currently prevents almost 5 million crimes each year.

Given the Home Secretary’s responsibility for crime it is not surprising that the Home Office have a very different view of the priority of drug treatment to the Department of Health. The private view in the Department of Health is that the current level of drug spend is a misdirection of scarce health resources which are needed to respond to more pressing health priorities. The Home Office view is that the current spend on treatment is cost-effective yielding, according to the National Audit Office, £2.50 worth of value for the taxpayer from every £1 invested, largely from reduced crime.

Put simply the Home Office see drug treatment as value for money the Department of Health see it as a misallocation of resources. On a number of occasions over the last decade the Department of Health has sought to disinvest from drug treatment, only stepping back when this has been resisted by successive Home Secretaries. These different orientations are particularly important at the moment as the resources currently spent on drug treatment across England come under threat of disinvestment by hard-pressed Local Authorities(who were given responsibility for drug treatment under the Lansley NHS reforms) looking to raid their public health grants to prop up core services.

So what may appear at first sight as commonsense will be very likely to result in drug policy becoming the responsibility of a department that isn’t very interested, has a wealth of competing priorities, and a track record of seeking to disinvest from the very intervention that the proposal is designed to promote. Meanwhile a department that has a powerful rationale for championing treatment, and a track record of doing so, is sidelined. If Mr Clegg is as committed to drug policy based on evidence as he maintains, perhaps he needs to reconsider.

Source:  www.huffingtonpost.co.uk  9th March 2015

Filed under: Economic,Effects of Drugs,Environment,Europe,Health :
A speaker at yesterday’s drugs conference has accused its organisers of being biased in favour of those who want to legalise all drugs. 
Speaking at Homerton College yesterday, Neil McKeganey told those at the Home Affairs Select Committee’s drugs conference that too many of the selected speakers were those who wanted to push forward drug law reform.  Mr McKeganey, of the centre for drug misuse research, asserted the conference programme was “overwhelmingly skewed” in favour of those who hope to see drugs legalised, particularly for medicinal purposes.
He said: “Their programme is so overwhelmingly skewed in favour of those in favourof drug law reform it has to be a fundamental compromise of that principle of the select committee.
“There’s no way with any justification whatsoever that the range of speakers overwhelmingly in favour of legalisation should stand as a contribution of the select committee’s discussion of drug misuse.  The case for drug policy reform is based on the drug laws having failed. In actual fact drug policies in the UK have not failed.
“We have witnessed the most substantial reduction in the prevalence of illegal drug use since records began. The statistics here are very clear. It’s completely dishonest to present that situation as indicative of government failure.”
Mr McKeganey continued that it was “preposterous” to suggest that existing drug policies were doing more harm than illegal drugs themselves.  He added: “It is said it is more effective to set up a regulated market.   That is said by people who are not considering the evidence of the impact of a regulated market.
“How on earth do you propose to regulate an unregulated market? There will still be illegal suppliers of drugs – how do you propose to regulate those individuals?”
However opinion at the drugs conference remained divided, with several speakers giving whole-hearted support to drug law reform.  The safety of drug users was one of the key reasons cited, with claims that regulating drug use would help prevent people from taking drugs which had been mixed with harmful cutting agents.
Health problems are also caused by cutting agents used to make the drug more profitable – including levamisole used to worm sheep – which can lower blood cell numbers and phenacetin which can cause kidney problems.
Imperial College London academic Prof David Nutt, who is also the chair and founder of the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs, was one of those who spoke out in favour of drug law reform.   Prof Nutt told the conference that almost everything which had been done in the past 30 years to tackle drugs had led to greater problems.
He said: “Prohibition of cannabis has driven us into much more dangerous drugs.
“It’s the same with MDMA. The prohibition of MDMA has led to the massive rise in deaths from PMA.  The perverse consequences of the laws must be taken account of. You cannot think there is a simple solution.
“I am very sympathetic to the idea of recovery but the abstinence recovery programme will lead to more deaths.  A policy which focuses simply on reducing use but does not take account of deaths is missing the key element of drugs policy.”
Sarah Graham, an addictions therapist and member of the advisory council on the misuse of drugs, also lent her support to the government regulating drugs.  Ms Graham said she agreed with the argument that drug users should not be criminalised.
The support for drug law reform comes after the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in a report into the use of powdered cocaine in the UK and its impacts on society.
The report suggests powdered cocaine use remains most common among 20 to 29-year-olds.
 Source: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Cambridge-drugs-conference-accused-8216/story-26163142-detail/story.html#LvCZKJOoxrosfdYp.99
Filed under: Alcohol,Cannabis/Marijuana,Europe,Global Drug Legalisation Efforts,Legal Sector :

In 1990s Britain a common reaction to allocating resources to treating cannabis users was, ‘Why bother? We have more than enough patients with problems with serious drugs like heroin.’ Calls for a treatment response were seen as pathologising what in many societies is both normal and in some ways desirable youth development: trying new experiences, challenging conventions, exposing the hypocrisy of alcohol-drinking adults. The typically calming use of the drug by adults was seen as preferable to the main alternative, alcohol and its associated violence and disorder. 

Those views retain some validity for the vast majority of cannabis users, but this has become, and/or become seen more clearly as, a drug with a problem tail which justifies therapeutic intervention. As heroin use and treatment numbers fall way, cannabis treatment numbers are on the rise – not, according to Public Health England, because more people are using the drug, but perhaps because services relieved of some of the recent pressure of opiate user numbers are giving more priority to cannabis, because they are making themselves more amenable to cannabis users, and because stronger strains of the drug are creating more problems.

Cannabis accounts for half of all new drug treatment patients

Whatever the causes, across the UK figures submitted to the European drug misuse monitoring centre show that the proportion of patients starting treatment for drug problems who did so primarily due to their cannabis use rose steadily from 11% in 2003/04 to 27% in 2013, that year amounting to about 27,270 individuals. Among first ever treatment presentations, the increase was more pronounced, from 19% to 49%, meaning that by 2013 their cannabis use had became the main prompt for half the patients who sought treatment for the first time  chart right. Showing that more users was not the reason for more starting treatment, over about the same period, in England and Wales the proportion of 16–59-year-olds who in a survey said that had used cannabis in the past year fell from about 11% to about 7% in 2013/14, having hovered at 6–7% since 2009/10.

The treatment figures largely reflect trends in England, where in 2013/14 the number of patients starting treatment due primarily to their cannabis use had continued to rise to 11,821, 17% of all treatment starters, up from around 7,500 and 9% just seven years before. The greater ‘stickiness’ of opiate use meant that in the total treatment population – new and continuing – the proportionate trends were less steep, cannabis numbers rising from around 11,000 in 2005/06 to 17,229 in 2013/14, and in proportion from 6% to 9%. Among younger adults, cannabis dominates; in 2013/14, far more 18–24s started treatment for cannabis than for opiate use problems – 5,039 versus 3,142 – and they constituted 43% of all treatment starters.

Further down the age range, among under-18s in treatment in England, cannabis is even more dominant. In 2013/14, of the 19,126 young people who received help for alcohol or drug problems, 13,659 or 71% did so mainly in relation to cannabis, continuing the generally upward trend since 2005/06.

Though the crime reduction justification for treating adult heroin and crack users is not so clear among young cannabis users, still immediate impacts plus the longer term benefits of forestalling further problems has been calculated to more than justify the costs of treating under-18 patients, among whom cannabis is the major player.

Cannabis users rarely stay in long-term treatment

Relative to the main legal drugs, at least in the USA dependence on cannabis is more quickly overcome. A survey of the US general adult population found that within a year of first becoming dependent, 3% each of smokers and drinkers were in remission and remained so until they were surveyed. For cannabis the figure was nearly 5% and for cocaine, nearly 9%. After ten years the proportions in remission had risen to 18% for nicotine, 37% for alcohol, 66% for cannabis and 76% for cocaine  chart right. About 26 years after first becoming dependent, half the people at some time dependent on nicotine were in remission, a milestone reached for alcohol after 14 years, for cannabis six years, and for cocaine, five.

Unlike heroin users, regular users of cannabis have been seen as sufficiently amenable to intervention to warrant trying brief interventions along the lines established for risky but not dependent drinkers, and sufficiently numerous in some countries to make routine screening in general medical and other settings a worthwhile way of identifying problem users. When the World Health Organization trialled its ASSIST substance use screening and brief advice programme in Australia, India, the United States and Brazil, just over half the identified patients (all had to be at moderate risk of harm but probably not dependent) were primarily problem cannabis users. Among these, risk reduction in relation to this drug was significantly greater among patients allocated to a brief advice session than among those placed on a three-month waiting list for advice. In each country too, risk reduction was greater among intervention patients, except for the USA, where the order was reversed. Suggesting that severity of use was not a barrier to reacting well to brief intervention, only patients at the higher end of the moderate risk spectrum further reduced their cannabis use/risk scores following intervention. The ASSIST study was confined to adults, but young people in secondary schools in the USA whose problem substance use focused mainly on cannabis also reacted well to brief advice.

In some studies brief interventions have been found to work just as well as more intensive treatment, but when the patients are heavily dependent, and the most difficult cases are not filtered out by the research, longer and more individualised therapies can have the advantage. These studies on adults might not translate to adolescents, for whom approaches which address family, school and other factors in the child’s environment are considered most appropriate for what are often multiply troubled youngsters.

The relative persistence of opiate use problems and transitory nature of those primarily related to cannabis seemed reflected in an analysis of treatment entrants in England from 1 April 2005 to the end of 2013/14. At the end of this period just 7% of primary cannabis users were still in or back in treatment compared to the 30% overall figure and 36% for primary opiate users. The figure peaked at 43% for users of opiates and crack. Over half – 53% – of primary cannabis users had left treatment as planned, apparently having overcome their cannabis problems, compared to 27% of primary opiate users and just 20% with dual opiates and crack use problems. Another 40% of cannabis users had left treatment in an unplanned manner not having overcome their dependence, a slightly higher proportion than among opiate users. The figures tell a tale of relatively high level of success which enables cannabis users to leave treatment, though even in the absence of recorded success, few stay long-term.

However, the forms patients in England complete with their keyworkers while in treatment seem to tell a different story. Compared to how they started treatment, around six months later 45% of primary cannabis users were assessed as using just as often (including a few using more), compared to 29% of opiate users and 38% whose main problem drugs were both opiates and crack, suggesting more rapid and/or more complete remission for opiate users than for cannabis users. One interpretation is that the widespread use of substitute drugs like methadone more reliably reduced the illegal opiate use of opiate users and also helped retain them in treatment, while cannabis users tended quickly to leave treatment, having done well or not. However, these figures relate only to patients who completed the forms at their six-month review, which in practice could have happened anywhere from about one to six months after their assessment for treatment. What proportion of primary cannabis users were still in treatment at that point and available to complete the forms is not clear, but they may have been the patients whose problems were deep seated enough to require extended treatment.

These are some of the issues thrown up by a set of patients and a set of interventions rather different from those associated with the drugs treatment in the UK has normally focused on. If current trends continue, understanding the findings of these and other studies will become yet more important to British treatment services.

Source:  www.findings.org.uk     03 March 2015

Filed under: Alcohol,Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Effects of Drugs,Europe,Treatment and Addiction :

Teens Affected by Addiction is a project aimed at raising awareness about the impact of alcoholism on families – here, they share some personal stories. 

Here, four people who grew up with an alcoholic parent share their stories.  These stories have been collected by ‘Teens Affected by Addiction’, a Young Social Innovators project from Mount Mercy College in Cork, Ireland,  with the aim of raising awareness about how addiction impacts children.

“I will never get my childhood back”

“My life as a child of an alcoholic parent was frightening and lonely. My dad was a chronic alcoholic. I had a different childhood to all my friends: no birthday parties, couldn’t invite friends over to the house, and Christmas was a nightmare.

There was no one I could talk to and no one could help me, I just had to put up with it.

When I was 17 I had no choice but to leave home. I had to live my own life. My mother was heartbroken but she knew I had to go.

When I was 18, I was able to get counselling which was a great help to me. I was able to understand that alcoholism was an illness. A few months after leaving home my dad turned his life around and stopped drinking.

I will never get my childhood back but I now have a great relationship with my father and my mother now has the life she deserves. I hope this story can give other children some hope and let them know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”

*******

“Missing you”

The following is a short poem a woman sent to us about her father’s alcoholism.

I don’t miss the sense of invisibility to you, 

I don’t miss listening constantly for the front door,
I don’t miss watching your face to decipher your mood,
I don’t miss dodging your verbal assaults,
I don’t miss the sense of being so small,
I don’t miss the enormity of you and your drink,
I don’t miss the deep shame,
I don’t miss everyone covering up for you,
I don’t miss everyone knowing but me,
I don’t miss the smell of drink,
I don’t miss the fear of drink,
I don’t miss my friends knowing,
I don’t miss no-one caring about me,
I don’t miss fear,
I don’t miss loving you,
I don’t miss hating you,
I don’t miss you.

******* 

 “We had food in the house but it wasn’t for us – it was for the social worker to see.”

“My alcoholic parent was my mother. She always drank. She started when she was young. When she was a child her father abused her and her brothers. They were battered by their father constantly. They locked their doors every night to keep their father out. She was beaten badly and was always expected to act like a lady. She started drinking to forget the pain she had to go through. This doesn’t make what she did to her children any bit forgivable.

When I was a child my uncle and aunts tried to take me away from my home by taking me on day trips with my sister. Back then I thought my mother would heal. My sister and I used to beg my uncle and aunts to bring us home so we could mind our mother. We didn’t want to upset her by being away for too long. One of my uncles was like a father to me. His oldest daughter and I look like brother and sister. We are just as close too. They tried to help me and give me a better life but they couldn’t.

My mom had a lot of ‘boyfriends’. They never really stayed too long. A small few used to beat me. These men were constantly in our house so we never really questioned a strange man in our house. It was normal for us.

At 15 years old I would come home from school and meet up with my mother and grandmother in the pub. My mother would buy me beer and I would sit in the pub with my drunken mother and help her get home. My home was filthy. There used to be dogs running through the house constantly and the house was never cleaned. We had food but it wasn’t for us. The food was perfect but we were not allowed eat it as it was only for when the social workers called so it would look like she was feeding us. In reality we were starving.

I started hanging out with a very rough group where I lived. They were drinking constantly and doing drugs. Eventually, I got away from them and my mother. I ran from Ireland at 16 to the States to my father. My sister was so upset with me for leaving her with my mother back in Ireland.

Now I’m living in America with a beautiful wife and three amazing children. Sometimes what happened still affects me but I try to block it out and ignore it and carry on. I’m honestly not recommending running away. I am planning on coming back to Ireland soon to sort out a few things with my mother.

*******

“I’ve never not known Mum to have her cans by her chair and her vodka stashed away under the bed”

Well to begin with there’s a common misconception that men are generally the alcoholics in a family but when it’s the mother, the nucleus of the family is destroyed and everything falling apart becomes an inevitable fate. I come from a small family with it just being my mum, dad and my brother and I. We’ve been battling with my mother’s alcoholism for as long as I remember, I’ve never not know her to have her cans by her chair and her vodka stashed away under the bed. It wasn’t that I always saw it as the norm but when you don’t know any different it does tend to be a bit more difficult to imagine the situation differently. I’m actually very happy to see the back of 2014 as from December 2013 my whole family spiralled out of control and I spent more times in hospital than anywhere else. My parents split in December 2013 after 21 years married (I am 20 years old) my mum’s alcoholism was at its peak. Having been in and out of hospital for the past six years due to liver failure, she was on a path to destruction. In those months, mum had fallen whilst drunk and tried to hit my father with a golf club and broke her femur. She had several serious operations and she nearly died as her blood is extremely thin due to medication and alcoholism. Mum came out of hospital and continued to drink and began running around saying that she was fine and could walk. She fell hundreds of times and it became so bad she now can’t walk properly. I live with my grandmother, having left school at 17 as I suffered from depression and I went back to do my Leaving Cert and moved out of my home. Within months a series of events led to both my father and brother leaving and moving into an apartment and my mum was left wallowing in her drunken states ringing and abusing everybody (she still does this).I contacted the HSE in January 2014 with several emails sent to all organisations that support victims of alcoholism, I got a lot of reaction. I was furious that I spent years sitting in my mothers’ doctor’s surgery with my dad begging for ways out. They would always look at us helplessly and say “move out”. I felt embarrassed and as if there were no light at the end of the tunnel. My grandmother who I live with and who’s been a mother to me all my life has had a nervous breakdown and right now I spend my days working eight hour shifts as a photographer in a studio and then I go home to this mess. 

My mum has been in hospital about eight times since February 2014 when a stomach ulcer burst and she was found in a pool of blood by my grandmother. I soon lost faith but I always tried to get help; my letter to the HSE got me six months with a councillor but I was so busy with my Leaving Cert and everything I just couldn’t find time to go.

Now I am still living with this situation but I try my very best to overcome it every day and I refuse any kind of medication such as an “anti depressant” as I believe it’s just a easy way for doctors to dose people up and make money. I wish to study politics and history and possibly then business in university in the future and I hope that one day I can actually help people.

These stories are shared by ‘Teens Affected by Addiction’, a Young Social Innovators project from Mount Mercy College in Cork. The students have recently received funding from the YSI Den to publish a book with the stories of adults who grew up with an addict in the home. 

 Please see www.teensaffectedbyaddiction.com or email:  affectedbyaddictionysi@gmail.com if you would like to share your story.

Follow Teens Affected by Addiction on Twitter: @affbyaddiction

Source:   www.thejournal.ie    March 2015

Filed under: Addiction,Alcohol,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Europe,Parents :

Young men who use cannabis may be putting their fertility at risk by inadvertently affecting the size and shape of their sperm, according to new research. In the world’s largest study to investigate how common lifestyle factors influence the size and shape of sperm, a research team found that sperm size and shape was worse in samples ejaculated in the summer months, but was better in men who had abstained from sexual activity for more than six days.

(Stock image) Credit: © milkovasa / Fotolia

In the world’s largest study to investigate how common lifestyle factors influence the size and shape of sperm (referred to as sperm morphology), a research team from the Universities of Sheffield and Manchester also found that sperm size and shape was worse in samples ejaculated in the summer months but was better in men who had abstained from sexual activity for more than six days.

However, other common lifestyle factors reported by men, including smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol, appeared to have little effect.

The study, published in the medical journal Human Reproduction, recruited 2,249 men from 14 fertility clinics around the UK and asked them to fill out detailed questionnaires about their medical history and their lifestyle. Reliable data about sperm morphology was only available for 1,970 men and so the researchers compared the information collected for 318 men who produced sperm of which less than four per cent was the correct size and shape and a control group of 1,652 men where this was above four per cent and therefore considered ‘normal’ by current medical definitions.

Men who produced ejaculates with less than four percent normal sperm were nearly twice as likely to have produced a sample in the summer months (June to August), or if they were younger than 30 years old, to have used cannabis in the three month period prior to ejaculation.

Lead author Dr Allan Pacey, Senior Lecturer in Andrology at the University of Sheffield, said: “Our knowledge of factors that influence sperm size and shape is very limited, yet faced with a diagnosis of poor sperm morphology, many men are concerned to try and identify any factors in their lifestyle that could be causing this. It is therefore reassuring to find that there are very few identifiable risks, although our data suggests that cannabis users might be advised to stop using the drug if they are planning to try and start a family.”

Previous research has suggested that only sperm with good sperm morphology are able to pass into the woman’s body following sex and make their way to the egg and fertilize it. Studies in the laboratory also suggest that sperm with poor morphology also swim less well because their abnormal shape makes them less efficient. Dr Andrew Povey, from the University of Manchester’s Institute of Population Health, said: “This research builds on our study of two years ago which looked at the risk factors associated with the number of swimming sperm (motile concentration) in men’s ejaculates.

“This previous study also found that there were relatively few risk factors that men could change in order to improve their fertility. We therefore have to conclude again that there is little evidence that delaying fertility treatment to make adjustments to a man’s lifestyle will improve their chances of a conception.”

Although the study failed to find any association between sperm morphology and other common lifestyle factors, such as cigarette smoking or alcohol consumption, it remains possible that they could correlate with other aspects of sperm that were not measured, such as the quality of the DNA contained in the sperm head.

Professor Nicola Cherry, originally from the University of Manchester but now at the University of Alberta, commented on a recent companion paper published by the group in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine: “In addition to cannabis exposure shown in this paper, we also know that men exposed to paint strippers and lead are also at risk of having sperm with poor morphology.”

Source:

University of Sheffield. “Sperm size, shape in young men affected by cannabis use.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 4 June 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140604202946.htm>.

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Effects of Drugs (Papers),Europe,Health :

Moderate alcohol intake of at least 5 units every week is linked to poorer sperm quality in otherwise healthy young men, suggests research. And the higher the weekly tally of units, the worse the sperm quality seems to be, the findings indicate, prompting the researchers to suggest that young men should be advised to steer clear of habitual drinking.

They base their findings on 1221 Danish men between the ages of 18 and 28, all of whom underwent a medical examination to assess their fitness for military service, which is compulsory in Denmark, between 2008 and 2012.

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As part of their assessment, the military recruits were asked how much alcohol they drank in the week before their medical exam (recent drinking); whether this was typical (habitual); and how often they binge drank, defined as more than 5 units in one sitting, and had been drunk in the preceding month.

They were also invited to provide a semen sample to check on the quality of their sperm, and a blood sample to check on their levels of reproductive hormones.

The average number of units drunk in the preceding week was 11. Almost two thirds (64%) had binge drunk, while around six out of 10 (59%) said they had been drunk more than twice, during the preceding month.

The analysis showed that after taking account of various influential factors, there was no strong link between sperm quality and either recent alcohol consumption or binge drinking in the preceding month. But drinking alcohol in the preceding week was linked to changes in reproductive hormone levels, with the effects increasingly more noticeable the higher the tally of units.

Testosterone levels rose, while sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) fell; similar associations were also evident for the number of times an individual had been drunk or had binge drunk in the preceding month. Almost half (45%, 553) of the men said that the quantity of alcohol they drank in the preceding week was typical of their weekly consumption.

And in this group the higher the tally of weekly units, the lower was the sperm quality, in terms of total sperm count and the proportion of sperm that were of normal size and shape, after taking account of influential factors. The effects were evident from 5+ units a week upwards, but most apparent among those who drank 25 or more units every week. And total sperm counts were 33% lower, and the proportion of normal-looking sperm 51% lower, among those knocking back 40 units a week compared with those drinking 1-5. Habitual drinking was associated with changes in reproductive hormone levels, although not as strongly as recent drinking, while abstinence was also linked to poorer sperm quality.

This is an observational study, so no definitive conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect. And the researchers point out that the findings could be the result of reverse causation — whereby men with poor quality sperm have an unhealthier lifestyle and behaviours to start with. But animal studies suggest that alcohol may have a direct impact on sperm quality, they say.

“This is, to our knowledge, the first study among healthy young men with detailed information on alcohol intake, and given the fact that young men in the western world [drink a lot], this is of public health concern, and could be a contributing factor to the low sperm count reported among [them],” they suggest.

And they conclude: “It remains to be seen whether semen quality is restored if alcohol intake is reduced, but young men should be advised that high habitual alcohol intake may affect not only their general health, but also their reproductive health.”

Source:

BMJ-British Medical Journal. “Moderate weekly alcohol intake linked to poorer sperm quality in healthy young men”ScienceDaily,2October2014.      <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141002221232.htm>.

Filed under: Alcohol,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Europe :

International Narcotics Control Board report says US and Uruguay are breaking drug treaties and warns of huge rise in abuse of ADHD treatment Ritalin

The United Nations has renewed its warnings to Uruguay and the US states of Colorado and Washington that their cannabis legalisation policies fail to comply with international drug treaties.

The annual report from the UN’s International Narcotics Control Board, which is responsible for policing the drug treaties, said it would send a high-level mission to Uruguay, which became the first country to legalise the production, distribution, sale and consumption of cannabis for recreational purposes.

The UN drug experts said they would also continue their dialogue with the US government over the commercial sale and distribution of cannabis in Colorado and Washington state.

The possession and cultivation of cannabis became legal on 26 February inWashington DC. Voters in Oregon and Alaska have also approved initiatives to legalise the commercial trade in cannabis for non-medicinal purposes.

The INCB said it “continues to engage in a constructive dialogue” with the US government on cannabis developments and it is clear the UN is putting strong pressure on the US government to ensure that the drug remains illegal at a federal level.

The US government has issued new guidance to banks on their provision of services to marijuana-related businesses and all state attorneys have been reminded of the need to investigate and prosecute cannabis cases in all states.

The INCB said it was aware that the US government intended to monitor the impact on public health of legalising cannabis and has again reminded the Obama administration that the position in Colorado and Washington meant the states were failing to comply with the treaties.

Lochan Naidoo, the INCB president, said the limitation of use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances to medical and scientific purposes was one of the fundamental principles underpinning the international drug control framework. “This legal obligation is absolute and leaves no room for interpretation,” he said.

The UN body also renewed its call for the abolition of the death penalty for drug-related offences and voiced concern that Oman was proposing to make use of the death penalty for drug-trafficking offences.

The INCB’s annual report records a further rise in the number of new “legal highs” or psychoactive substances that have been identified. The number has risen from 348 to 388 in the past year – an increase of more than 11%. More than 100 countries are taking action against “legal highs” and the INCB has welcomed moves by China, considered by many to be one of the main sources, to start banning these synthetic substances that imitate the effects of traditional drugs such as cannabis and ecstasy.

The UN drug board also warns of a 66% increase in the global consumption of a stimulant, methylphenidate, which is primarily used in the treatment of ADHD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and is better known by one of its trade names, Ritalin. The rise has been seen in its use by teenagers and young adults in the US, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Australia.

It also highlights the lack of access for 5.5 billion people to medicines containing drugs such as codeine and morphine, which means that 75% of the world’s population do not have access to proper pain-relief treatment.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/society 3rd March 2015

Filed under: Australia,Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Ecstasy,Environment,Europe,Global Drug Legalisation Efforts,Prescription Drugs,USA :

An ITV documentary will take a look at the impact of drinking alcohol in pregnancy as one in 100 babies are born in Britain each year brain-damaged with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).

These babies will go through life with a range of developmental, social and learning difficulties. A few will have tell-tale facial features which will make it easier to get a diagnosis and access support, but the majority will battle with an invisible disability.

What is FASD?

Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder is a series of preventable birth defects caused entirely by a woman drinking alcohol at any time during her pregnancy, often even before she knows that she is pregnant.

The term ‘spectrum’ is used because each individual with FASD may have some or all of a spectrum of mental and physical challenges. In addition each individual with FASD may have these challenges to a degree or ‘spectrum’ from mild to very severe.

These defects of both the brain and the body exist only because of prenatal exposure to alcohol.

What are the guidelines?

The Government’s current guidelines advise that those who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant should avoid alcohol altogether – but then adds: “If women do choose to drink, to minimise the risk to the baby, we recommend they should not drink more than one to two units once or twice a week and they should not get drunk.”

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists had taken a similar view, although they referred to one or two units a week as a safe amount.

Spokesman Dr Pat O’Brien said: “If nobody drank any alcohol in pregnancy there would be no Foetal Alcohol Syndrome and no Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. But on the other hand if you look at all of the evidence there appears to be a safe level of alcohol intake in pregnancy.”

However earlier this month they updated their advice, recommending that pregnant women do not drink alcohol during the first three months of pregnancy. The advice does say that drinking small amounts of alcohol after this time does not appear to be harmful for the unborn baby, but that pregnant women should not drink more than one or two units, and then not more than once or twice a week.

Professor Sir Al Aynsley-Green, former Children’s Commissioner for England, said: “Exposure to alcohol before birth is the single most important preventable cause of incurable brain damage. And it’s an issue which affects all of us in society.”

Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/ 3rd March 2015

Filed under: Alcohol,Drug use-various effects,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Environment,Europe,Health,Treatment and Addiction :

The last time Derrick Bergman came to Amsterdam to buy cannabis, he did so behind a locked door with a long, thick curtain obscuring his activity from the canal-lined residential street outside, in the quiet Lastage neighborhood. The secretary of the Netherlands’s Union for the Abolition of Cannabis Prohibition, Bergman comes here to weekly gatherings of a two-month-old—and seriously clandestine—“cannabis social club” called the Tree of Life, because it’s the only place in town he can find one of his favorite strains: Super Silver Haze.

Since 1976, authorities across the Netherlands have chosen to openly ignore that cannabis use is illegal here, and they prosecute no one in possession of less than five grams of marijuana for personal use. The policy, called gedoogbeleid, is known as the “Dutch model,” and it’s why hundreds of “coffee shops” sprung up across Amsterdam and the Netherlands, luring marijuana connoisseurs from across the globe to one of the few places they could roll and smoke a joint without fear. But that’s no longer the case.

Cannabis with more than 15 percent of the THC that makes it intoxicating is now under consideration to be reclassified as one of the “hard drugs” that come with stiff penalties. The government has also forced coffee shops where marijuana is sold to choose between alcohol and pot, prompting many to choose the former. Amsterdam once played host to nearly 300 coffee shops, of more than 1,000 scattered across the country. There are now fewer than 200 in the city and only 617 nationwide. While it’s always been illegal to grow marijuana in the Netherlands, authorities passively allow coffee shops to sell weed, often pretending not to know where the shops’ cannabis comes from.

But no longer. New laws target even the smallest of marijuana growers in Holland. In the past, people could grow up to five plants without fear of retribution. In 2011, the government issued new police guidelines and declared anyone who grew with electric lights, prepared soil, “selected” seeds or ventilation would be considered “professional.” It’s a significant change, as professional growers risk major penalties, including eviction and blacklisting from the government-provided housing in which more than half of the country’s citizens reside.

The result: Coffee shops are increasingly buying buds from criminal organizations willing to absorb the risk of prosecution by growing large amounts of cannabis in shipping containers buried underground, with little regard for quality or mold abatement. “It’s amazing how bad the quality has become,” says Bergman. “And the price is up. It’s what we’ve all predicted.”

That’s why Bergman travelled from his native Eindhoven to Amsterdam on a recent Monday, both to convene with other activists and to pick up five grams (the legal limit) of Super Silver Haze. Because the club is not-for-profit, its members can focus their efforts on finding and buying the best product and providing it to their members at much better prices than the coffee shops.  

Modelled after a proliferation of similar establishments in Spain, the social clubs offer a new way to subvert the harsher laws. As in Holland, cannabis is illegal in Spain, but the government doesn’t prosecute anyone for personal consumption and there’s no implicit limit on the number of plants a person can grow, meaning the government doesn’t care if you grow one plant or 15. In fact, signs point to the government not caring at all. Barcelona is developing a reputation as “the new Amsterdam,” meaning the old Amsterdam is losing out on a significant source of revenue: drug tourists.

Inside an Amsterdam coffee shop called The Rookies, 22-year-old John Bell rolls a spliff of tobacco and a strain called Dutch Kashmir, which Bell can’t find in his native Liverpool. Bell has been to Amsterdam 11 times in the past three years, not because it’s hard to find weed in the U.K., but because the quality here is better. He wouldn’t visit the city at all if not for these coffee shops and Amsterdam’s quasi-legal cannabis, adding: “It’s too expensive to drink here, for a proper night out.”

Such drug tourists represent a major element of the city’s economy. The union of coffee shops in Maastricht commissioned research in 2008 that found foreign visitors to the city’s coffee shops spent money in other businesses there as well: €140 million (approximately $170 million) annually. It’s a significant number and one of the reasons government officials in Amsterdam have fought to keep the coffee shops from going out of business.

About a third of all visitors to Amsterdam step into one of its coffee shops at some point; nationally, the number is one in five. Banning such visitors would hit tourism revenues hard, chasing off travellers who tend to be well-behaved. “If you’re really a deadbeat hippie punk, a no-money kind of guy, how are you going to afford a ticket to Amsterdam?” Bergman says.

Cities such as Maastricht, on the other hand, have banned foreigners from coffee shops since 2005. The result, insists Bergman and other critics, is a proliferation of street dealers. People still come from neighboring countries to score marijuana, but now they stock up and head back home in a day, instead of spending any time in local hotels and restaurants.

How did Holland get here? Some trace the backlash to 9/11. The world’s global panic about terrorism in the wake of the attacks on New York City and Washington led to a surge in the power of conservative political parties in places as far away as the Netherlands. Ever since Holland’s People’s Party for Liberty and Democracy began to consolidate influence here, its leaders have pushed for zero tolerance drug laws. “Our last prime minister [Jan Peter Balkenende] believed in his heart that weed comes from Satan,” says Mila Jansen, a legendary figure in Amsterdam, who once invented a way to make hash in a washing machine.

Other factors influencing the government crackdown are pressure from outside nations, especially France, which has pushed the International Narcotics Control board to sanction Holland for violating international treaties on drug laws with its permissive pot policy. Ironic, argues Bergman, because the rate of marijuana use is twice as high in France as it is in the Netherlands, and Holland has one of the lowest number of drug-related deaths in Europe.   

“Hard drugs are still illegal in Holland, but we also see that there are still many people who want to try drugs on occasion,” said the city’s mayor, Eberhard van der Laan, in a statement provided to Newsweek. “This is a reality we cannot ignore. And this is one of the key principles to our country’s drug policies: Drug use is first and foremost an issue of public health. By not focusing on the criminal aspects of drug use, as is the case in many other countries, we can be more effective when it comes to informing the public, testing drugs and prevention.”

Unfortunately, van der Laan’s federal counterparts don’t agree. They also don’t see that prohibition amounts to little more than, as they say here, “mopping with the tap on.”

Now, activists like Bergman are trying to convince Holland to consider the American model—the legalization and regulation of all components of marijuana cultivation and sale. Citing Oregon’s law, which allows residents to grow as many as four plants, Bergman says: “I’m sort of jealous.”

That’s because America seems to be learning from Holland’s mistakes. Holland’s passive-aggressive policy doesn’t stop illicit activity or drug tourism or make anyone safer, say activists: It actually has the reverse effect. Quasi-legalization leaves too many entry points for criminals to line their own pockets from the drug trade. State by state, the U.S. is legalizing pot with initiatives that clearly spell out who is allowed to manufacture, distribute and consume it. That’s the key to a successful policy, and it’s one Dutch activists are now working to implement in their own country, before things swing too far the other way.

This article appears in the latest Newsweek Special Edition, “Weed Nation: Is America Ready For a Legalized Future?” by Executive Editor Jeff Ashworth of Topix Media Lab.

 Source: http://www.newsweek.com/marijuana-and-old-amsterdam- 22nd Feb.2015

Filed under: Economic,Europe,Legal Sector,Social Affairs :

This article originally appeared on VICE Romania

Ana Iorga is a Romanian neuromarketing pioneer, who specialises in market research using EEG sensors, biometric measures and implicit-association tests. Attending an advertising conference in Amsterdam last month, Ana staged an impromptu experiment to measure the effect that weed has on the brain using the EEG helmet she tends to carry around in her bag.

“I noticed how quite a few of the attendees grabbed a joint between breaks, and I kept wondering what goes on in their brains during those moments. Because I don’t possess any mind-reading techniques, I thought about comparing their brain activity before and after smoking,” she told me when she got back.

Two of her colleagues were kind enough to sacrifice themselves to the shrine of science; One evening, after dinner, one of them lit a spliff and the other got to munching on a space cookie.

 


The first participant – EEG trajectory before smoking

“Before consuming the products, we went to the hotel bar and I recorded their brain activity. After 15 minutes, I repeated the measures. I was convinced that I’d see a decrease in brain activity, because they said they felt slower, more absent and more relaxed. I was very surprised by the result.”

 


The first participant – EEG trajectory after smoking

Your brain contains billions of cells called neurons, which communicate with each other through electricity. The simultaneous communication between billions of neurons produces a large quantity of electric brain activity, which can be detected and measured through EEG technology. Because these electric impulses are triggered periodically as waves, they’re called “brain waves”.

EEG sensors measure the activity of neurons located on the surface of the cerebral cortex, and in the case of the two subjects, they showed a very high frequency and amplitude after smoking – the cerebral rhythm being visibly changed compared to the initial situation. This translates into a brain activity contrasting heavily with the participants’ mood (in stand-by mode and relaxed mode).

 


The second participant – EEG trajectory before eating the space cookie

Often, studies claim that THC has the effect of slowing down the cerebral rhythm when it is associated with a state of relaxation, and of speeding up when it is associated with visual hallucinations or tripping. With Ana’s two subjects, “it was clear that the cerebral rhythm was faster after smoking and that wave amplitude was larger – which doesn’t mean that things function chaotically, but that the brain is in a higher alert state. Maybe the guy was tripping or had some sort of bizarre feelings,” explains Laura Crăciun – a neurologist.

Crăciun emphasises that in the case of the first subject there is an imbalance standing out between the left hemisphere’s cerebral electricity [which deals with logic, language and math processes] and the right [where creativity, intuition, art and music processes take place] and along the sequence from the wave recording taken before smoking. That means that the imbalance is not exclusively determined by cannabis smoking.

Both subjects had consumed moderate quantities of alcohol at dinner, which didn’t interfere with the process very much. During the experiment, the two weren’t asked to perform any tasks, as their brain activity was measured in stand-by and relaxation mode.

 


The second participant – EEG trajectory after eating the space cookie.

“With the subject who ate a space cookie, the effect was both a slowing down [the basic wave frequency rhythm of both hemispheres went down] and speeding up of the amplitude, which is associated with a state of sleep-like, profound relaxation.”

“On the first recording, the cerebral rhythm is visibly faster – in the right hemisphere, because I can’t see a big difference in the left one – as well as less symmetrical and steady, but I wouldn’t say the effect is a “disturbance” over the brain waves, but more likely a state of awareness,” Crăciun added.

Source: http://www.vice.com/en_uk/ 15th Feb 2015

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Effects of Drugs (Papers),Europe :

Health minister seeks court ban amid fears new cannabis-laced electronic cigarettes could incite further use of drug

Cannabis-laced electronic cigarette

Recreational use of cannabis is illegal in France.

France has sought to stamp out a new electronic cigarette containing cannabis, launched on Tuesday with the claim that it provides all of the relaxation but none of the mind-altering effects of the drug.

The health minister, Marisol Touraine, said the product would incite the consumption of cannabis and she intended to approach the courts to ban it. “I am opposed to such a product being commercialised in France,” she told RTL radio.

The product was launched by a French-Czech company called Kanavape which said it hoped to offer millions of people a legal and flavourful way to consume cannabis.

Smoking e-cigarettes, or vaping, is fashionable in France, and while people have long since figured out how to doctor them to smoke marijuana – as evidenced by hundreds of YouTube tutorials on the subject – Kanavape claims its product is legal.

The company extracts Cannabidiol – a compound in cannabis that does not contain the mind-altering THC ingredient – from hemp, a variety of cannabis grown for fibre and seeds.

The hemp is grown on farms in France, Spain and the Czech Republic without chemicals or fertiliser, the company claims on its website. “Kanavape provides you with a unique experience. Cannabidiol is a non-psychotic component of hemp. It does not have euphoric effects but helps you feel more relaxed,” it says.

Recreational use of marijuana is illegal in France, but the country allows the drug’s active ingredients to be used for medical purposes.

Source: The Guardian, Tuesday 16 December 2014 13.02 GMT

Filed under: Europe,Global Drug Legalisation Efforts,Legal Sector :

The drugs arrest case is a serious case of drug use/abuse in a work place and clearly reflects the seriousness of the local drug problem.

Already one of the defendants in the case has appeared in court and has volunteered to start a drug rehabilitation programme. This is another indication of the many people of all ages, all walks of life and employment in Gibraltar with drug issues who need help, where it has taken an arrest of this kind for that person to seek help.

The arrest of people at work, taking or abusing drugs should not shock those who know something about the local drug problem, because it has been a related drug issue that has grown on par with the general substance abuse problem. The fact that many people in Gibraltar prefer to bury their head in the sand and hope this serious social problem will go away has compounded many aspects of drug control locally.

Gibraltar’s Growing Drug Problem

The fact remains, the Rock has serious substance abuse problem that will continue to grow and blossom like a poisonous mushroom unless the Government takes immediate action in putting together a national plan to combat drug abuse in Gibraltar. People affected, individuals and whole families who are caught up in the lethal local drug syndrome as a whole, have not been effectively protected!

In fact Gibraltar cannot wait another year or when the government thinks it’s fit to unfold a substance abuse programme based on data taken from up to date research. This serious problem had been steadily creeping into local society, specifically attacking young people and the not so young. In fact, I go further, unless a determined and drastic action is taken, the Rock could lose the potential and the contribution of hundreds of young people and the fibre of the Gibraltarian family will be seriously impaired.

Nearly two decades have passed since the local drug problem really came into its own, what has wavered, and has been just as damaging as consuming drugs itself, is the manner Gibraltar has reacted to the problem. Over the years hundreds of young people have been asking and required help that never came. Many young people now adults were on their own or with their families struggling against the terrible habit, many are now paying dearly for the consequences. Too many young people are now going through the same cycle and like others in the same predicament, are going to waste.

What is Society Going to do About It!

What are we going to do about it? That “we” embraces the whole of society, from the law enforcers to the drug pushers and the drug abusers, to parents and their friends, their teachers, their employers, the owners of bars, nightclubs and squeaky-clean establishments or hotels where transactions are possible made, and where at some momentous times in their lives, youngsters or their elders take the horrendous decision to “try one, to see how it feels”.

It remains strange that a nation of the size of ours, the pushers and the traffickers and the big ones remain difficult to track down, although much has been done and is being done by the police. One big step remains to be taken: nailing down the Big Fish himself/herself to break the back of the drug problem in Gibraltar. Easier said than done; that much is obvious!

Its incredible, that the Government has not thought it important in nearly 3 years in office to compile Statistics to show the estimated number of problematic drug users, much of what we know in this sense is guesswork, empirically based or taken from police arrest and court attendance figures which has never been or will ever be an accurate picture of the real problem with drugs out there.

At the social level, the level of family, friendship and employment, that is, the habits of a “daily drug user” ought to be identifiable, his or her performance or behaviour at school or in the workplace ought to be detectable in one way or another: Lack of productivity, absence of concentration, inability to function normally to take but three characteristics that should show up. If I am correct, the implications are that there may be friends, teachers, parents and employers walking on the other side of the road, a morally and ethically alarming thought.

Everyone Should be Pulling at the Same Rope!

All Government agencies, organisations, NGOs, the Church, and schools should all be pulling the same rope and working closely together in a coordinated manner. Of course people who have overcome an addiction and are now rehabilitated would have an important story to tell.

For the above reason, I would also like to see more holistic and perceptive treatment of social welfare cases. “For instance, if a person applies for the social housing scheme, s/he should not simply be provided with a house. Further investigations should take place to determine whether the person in question has succumbed to additional problems, such as drug abuse etc. Because already in this sense, there have many problems regarding one relatively new estate where many social cases were transferred without properly looking into these social issues effecting them.

In my book, National Drug Policies should no longer be drafted solely by academics. Even after drafting and implementation, a national policy remains an on-going process, in need of constant evaluation. Aspects which are not working or having the desired effects should be identified and the authorities should have the courage to acknowledge the flaws and strive to find alternative strategies, this was never the case with the previous drug strategy that went flat before it even started.

Gibraltar Continues to Fail on this Important Social Problem

There are clear indicators that we’re failing somewhere. We therefore need more research to find out what’s really happening. It could be that 16-year-olds are emulating their peers and drinking alcohol because it’s the hip thing to do. But there could also be instances where this tendency has deeper roots…A properly coordinated outreach programme should get off the ground, with agencies actively seeking out those in need and not merely awaiting to be approached!

Employers should also be enticed to shoulder their responsibility by closely following their employees and identifying and referring cases such as drug abuse. They would be helping society as well as the workplace.

The Government recently informed Panorama “the strategic drug-working group focuses on substance misuse i.e. drug and alcohol not just drugs. We are committed to conducting a Drug Prevalence survey within the current term of office. Priority issues include reduction in drug consumption, emphasis on enforcement, increased awareness and comprehensive review of rehabilitation services. The strategic response (national drug strategy) is currently being developed to include all these issues many of which are interrelated and require clear coordination between different governmental bodies and statutory bodies”.

The Government further adding, “this is an important document, which needs to be done thoroughly but it will certainly be completed before the end of this term of office. The Government also confirmed that the public will be invited to contribute given this is an issue of general public concern as highlighted by successive Police Authority surveys”.

Frankly I do not agree that this serious social issue should have to wait until the end of the term of office of the present administration before a national drug strategy is in place, if that actually happens?

Because even today no one knows the real extent of the substance abuse problem in Gibraltar! Similarly, no one even now, appears to be in any great hurry to find out the extent of the problem either. A situation that is an incomprehensible because you would think that after nearly three years in office the Government would want to know what they are facing when it comes to drug abuse in Gibraltar.

Panorama has been asking for years for these important drugs findings to be carried out. Why should we have to wait a few months or weeks before an election to get this vitally important information? Data or research that may reveal that someone or vulnerable group in society requires immediate attention and not wait before the next election, which may be over a year away and come to late for the desperate person concerned!

Source:    http://www.panorama.gi/localnews/  05-09-14

Filed under: Economic,Europe,Social Affairs :

One in 10 cancers in men and one in 33 in women are caused by drinking

  • The projected number of new cases of alcohol-related cancers in the Republic of Ireland is expected to double by the year 2020 for women and to increase by 81% for men during the same period (Source) 

  • Because alcohol consumption is higher among poorer people, their risk for alcohol-related cancers is also higher (Source) 

  • The National Cancer Registry has noted the correlation between higher incidence of head and neck cancers and lung cancer among males in the Republic of Ireland living in socio- economically deprived areas and the corresponding higher rates of alcohol consumption and tobacco use in these areas (Source)  

  • Alcohol is classified as a group 1 carcinogen and it is one of the most important causes of cancer in Ireland, being a risk factor in seven types of cancer

  • Cancers of the mouth, upper throat, larynx, oesophagus, liver, bowel and female breast have a causal relationship to alcohol consumption

  • The National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) conducted research in 2012 to calculate Ireland’s overall cancer incidence and mortality attributable to alcohol consumption and found that approximately 5% of newly diagnosed cancers and cancer deaths are attributable to alcohol – that’s around 900 cases and 500 deaths each year

  • There is a risk relationship between the amount a woman drinks, and the likelihood of her developing the most common type of breast cancer. Drinking one standard alcoholic drink a day is associated with a 9% increase in the risk of developing breast cancer, while drinking 3-6 standard drinks a day increases the risk by 41%

  • It is estimated that up to 20% of breast cancer cases in the UK can be attributed to alcohol

  • Three people in Ireland die from oral and pharyngeal cancer (OPC) every week – which is more than skin melanoma or cervical cancer. Two major risk factors for OPC are tobacco and alcohol consumption

  • Ireland has the second highest cancer rate in the world. Regular alcohol consumption is listed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) as one of the factors contributing to the high cancer rates

  • Alcohol and tobacco together are estimated to account for about three-quarters of oral cancer cases in Europe

  • The risk of bowel cancer increases by 8% for every two units of alcohol consumed a day

  • Cancer risk due to alcohol are the same, regardless of the type of alcohol consumed and even drinking within the recommended limits carries an increased risk

  • A recent study on the burden of alcohol consumption on the incidence of cancer in eight European countries reported that up to 10% of all cancers in men and 3% of women may be attributed to alcohol consumption (Source) 

  • While moderate alcohol consumption has been linked to a decrease in risk for cardiovascular disease, the overall net effect of drinking in relation to cancer risk, even of moderate drinking, has been shown to be harmful (Source)

Follow this link for research and reports on alcohol and cancer

Source:http://alcoholireland.ie/facts/alcohol-and cancer/#sthash.JUf1wiYP.dpuf

Filed under: Alcohol,Europe,Health :

Pro-legalisers often quote the so-called models of Portugal and the Netherlands – but more people in these countries want cannabis to be illegal.

In 2011, 52% of portuguese aged 15-24 years old argued that cannabis should remain illegal – that figure is now 66%. In the Netherlands the figures also rose by 14%. The direction is contrary to european countries whose policies have not experimented with it, where 53% of young europeans want to keep cannabis illegal, a fall of 6% from 2011.

Original story by Leonor Paiva Watson, with Anthony Soares in Jornal de Noticias 26 August 2014

Translation below.

The Portuguese trend “is surprising,” said Manuel Cardoso, deputy director general of the Department of Intervention in Sicad (Intervention on Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies).  “But his reflects the work done to sensitise for youth risk behaviours.”

He recalls that SICAD recently undertook a study addressing on new psychoactive substances, verifying also that “most young people, even those that drank, did not agree with its legalisation… Consumption (in small quantities) is not a crime, but marketing is prohibited. People know that can hurt.”

Alongside Portugal are countries like the Netherlands (14% more than 2011), Belgium (plus 13%), Latvia (8%) and France (6% more than in 2011).

Elsewhere in Europe, even in countries where the overwhelming majority do not want legalisation, the tendency is for fewer young people to think so. In Cyprus, for example, 72% of young people do not want the legalisation of cannabis, but that is 10% less than 2011. In Italy, for example, the figures are down 22%, Germany 14-17%, Austria and Slovenia least 13%. In the Netherlands (53%), Austria (53%), Slovakia (54%), Poland (55%), Ireland (57%), Italy (60%), Slovenia (64%) and Republic Czech (73%), most people want legalisation. It is noteworthy is that, although the Netherlands generally is perceived as wanting legalisation of cannabis, there is a 14% increase in those who defend the substance remaining illegal.

Source: dbrecoveryresources.com   27th August 2014

Filed under: Europe,Global Drug Legalisation Efforts :

Barcelona City Hall has ordered the closure of almost 50 cannabis clubs in a bid to stem an industry that has the Catalan capital rivalling Amsterdam as a “potheads’ paradise”   Barcelona City Hall has ordered the closure of almost 50 cannabis clubs in a bid to stem an industry that has the Catalan capital rivalling Amsterdam as a “potheads’ paradise”.

Authorities, concerned about Barcelona’s fast-growing reputation as a weed smokers’ haven, ordered the closures after an inspection of 145 cannabis clubs in the city found a third of them had “deficiencies” in their management.  The clubs facing closure are accused of various violations, among them selling cannabis illegally, attempting to attract non-members onto the premises and poor ventilation.   The number of cannabis clubs in Spain has soared over the past few years, ballooning from an estimated 40 associations in 2010 to more than 700 across the nation, according to estimates by smokers’ groups.

Barcelona is home to more than half of these clubs, which vary from elegant cocktail-style bars to sparsely furnished basement rooms in apartment blocks.   They have sprung into existence because of a legal loophole which allows marijuana to be cultivated and distributed among members forming a not-for-profit association. Members must pay an annual subscription plus a variable fee to cover the cost of cultivating the cannabis they consume.

Without clear regulations in place, however, some clubs have ventured beyond the spirit of the law and actively encourage tourists by allowing them to sign up for club membership online ahead of their arrival in the city and to buy drugs when they visit.   Barcelona now tops the rankings on WeBeHigh, a travel advice website for soft drug users, beating traditional stoners’ favourite Amsterdam.

Earlier this year Barcelona’s city hall imposed a year moratorium on associations opening premises for smoking the drug and regional authorities also want new rules on cannabis.  Recent figures show that in Catalonia alone there are 165,000 registered members of cannabis clubs bringing in an estimated 5 million euros (£4 million) in revenue each month.

City Hall announced plans in June to tighten control of the cannabis clubs, which include ensuring that they do not open premises near schools and that they are well ventilated. Authorities are also seeking to control opening hours of club premises and set maximum membership numbers.

The associations themselves have also called for better regulations to be introduced to avoid malpractice such as leafleting on the street to lure in new members and dealing in black market cannabis rather than produce homegrown specifically for use by the association.

Martin Barriuso, the spokesman for the Spanish Federation of Cannabis Associations, acknowledged that some “bad practices” have emerged.  “We have reported them,” he told AFP last month. “But it is hard to control without a clear regulation that separates the wheat from the chaff.”

Following the closures on Wednesday, the Catalan federation of cannabis associations, CatFAC, appealed for dialogue between the authorities and the clubs.  “We are aware that the administration does its job well and ensures the common good but this situation would be easier if, before it acts, it set clear rules for all cannabis associations,” it said in a statement.

The more reputable clubs have doctors on hand to advise those who may be using marijuana for medicinal purposes, such as easing the side effects of chemotherapy.

Catalonia’s Ministry of Health will in September present a draft law to the regional parliament calling for the regulation of cannabis consumption.

Source:  www.telegraph.co.uk  14.08.2014 

Filed under: Economic,Europe,Social Affairs :

Drug decriminalization in Portugal is a failure, despite various reports published recently all over the world saying the opposite.

There is a complete and absurd campaign of manipulation of Portuguese drug policy facts and figures, which some authors appear to have fallen for.

The number of new cases of HIV / AIDS and Hepatitis C in Portugal recorded among drug users is eight times the average found in other member states of the European Union.

“Portugal keeps on being the country with the most cases of injected drug related AIDS (85 new cases per one million of citizens in 2005, while the majority of other EU countries do not exceed 5 cases per

million) and the only one registering a recent increase. 36 more cases per one million of citizens were estimated in 2005 comparatively to 2004, when only 30 were referred ” (EMCDDA – November 2007).

– Since the implementation of decriminalization in Portugal, the number of homicides related to drug use has increased 40%. “Portugal was the only European country to show a significant increase in homicides between 2001 and 2006.” (WDR – World Drug Report, 2009)

“With 219 deaths by drug ‘overdose’ a year, Portugal has one of the worst records, reporting more than one death every two days. Along with Greece, Austria and Finland, Portugal is one of the countries that recorded an increase in drug overdose by over 30% in 2005”. (EMCDDA – November 2007)

The number of deceased individuals that tested positive results for drugs (314) at the Portuguese Institute of Forensic Medicine in 2007 registered a 45% raise climbing fiercely after 2006 (216). This represents the highest numbers since 2001 – roughly one death per day – therefore reinforcing the growth of the drug trend since 2005.

(Portuguese IDT – November 2008)

– “Behind Luxembourg, Portugal is the European country with the highest rate of consistent drug users and IV heroin dependents”. (Portuguese Drug Situation Annual Report, 2006)

– Between 2001 and 2007, drug use increased 4.2%, while the percentage of people who have used drugs (at least once) in life, multiplied from 7.8% to 12%. The following statistics are reported:

  • Cannabis:       from 12.4% to 17%
  • Cocaine:        from 1.3% to 2.8%
  • Heroin:          from 0.7% to 1.1%
  • Ecstasy:        from 0.7% to 1.3%.

(Report of Portuguese IDT 2008)

– “There remains a notorious growing consumption of cocaine in Portugal, although not as severe as that which is verifiable in Spain. The increase in consumption of cocaine is extremely problematic.” (Wolfgang Gotz, EMCDDA Director – Lisbon, May 2009)

– “While amphetamines and cocaine consumption rates have doubled in Portugal, cocaine drug seizures have increased sevenfold between 2001 and 2006, the sixth highest in the world”. (WDR – World Drug Report, June 2009)

– “It is difficult to assess trends in intensive cannabis use in Europe, but among the countries that participated in both field trials between 2004 and 2007 (France, Spain, Ireland, Greece, Italy, Netherlands and Portugal), there was an average increase of approximately 20%”. (EMCDDA – November 2008)

The reality of Portuguese drug addiction seems to have been tampered with. The statistical results seem to have been manipulated by institutions controlled by the government.

The problem is serious and deserves consistent answers. The banner of “harm reduction” cannot be an ideology and an end in itself. It is extremely disturbing to promote the correct use of drugs “safely” (sic) integrating consumption into the habits (about 70% of Portuguese addicts scrutinized in the country are not in drug-free programs but in programs that, while called treatments, are actually “replacements” because these “treatments” substitute one drug for another) that is being made possible by public institutions (such as the Portuguese IDT), who submits with the support (sic) from the State, countless numbers of addicts to a life of dependency.

“Resounding success”? Glance at the results!

If facts are important, the Portuguese model is a mistake.

The example of CzechRepublic, Mexico and Argentina that adopted the sadly famous Portuguese drug decriminalization model should not be followed by anyone.

Manuel Pinto Coelho

(Chairman of APLD – Association for a Drug Free Portugal and member of International Task Force on Strategic Drug Policy)

Source: DrugWatchInternational.  31st October, 2011

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Crime/Violence/Prison,Drug use-various effects,Europe,Global Drug Legalisation Efforts,Health,Social Affairs :

Cannabis use during adolescence and young adulthood increases the risk of psychotic symptoms, while continued cannabis use may increase the risk for psychotic disorder in later life, concludes a new study published online in the British Medical Journal.

Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit drug in the world, particularly among adolescents, and is consistently linked with an increased risk for mental illness. However, it is not clear whether the link between cannabis and psychosis is causal, or whether it is because people with psychosis use cannabis to self medicate their symptoms.

So a team of researchers, led by Professor Jim van Os from Maastricht University in the Netherlands, set out to investigate the association between cannabis use and the incidence and persistence of psychotic symptoms over 10 years.

The study took place in Germany and involved a random sample of 1,923 adolescents and young adults aged 14 to 24 years.

The researchers excluded anyone who reported cannabis use or pre-existing psychotic symptoms at the start of the study so that they could examine the relation between new (incident) cannabis use and psychotic symptoms.

The remaining participants were then assessed for cannabis use and psychotic symptoms at three time points over the study period (on average four years apart).

Incident cannabis use almost doubled the risk of later incident psychotic symptoms, even after accounting for factors such as age, sex, socioeconomic status, use of other drugs, and other psychiatric diagnoses. Furthermore, in those with cannabis use at the start of the study, continued use of cannabis over the study period increased the risk of persistent psychotic symptoms

There was no evidence for self medication effects as psychotic symptoms did not predict later cannabis use. These results “help to clarify the temporal association between cannabis use and psychotic experiences,” say the authors. “In addition, cannabis use was confirmed as an environmental risk factor impacting on the risk of persistence of psychotic experiences.”

The major challenge is to deter enough young people from using cannabis so that the prevalence of psychosis is reduced, say experts from Australia in an accompanying editorial.  Professor Wayne Hall from the University of Queensland and Professor Louisa Degenhardt from the Burnet Institute in Melbourne, question the UK’s decision to retain criminal penalties for cannabis use, despite evidence that removing such penalties has little or no detectable effect on rates of use. They believe that an informed cannabis policy “should be based not only on the harms caused by cannabis use, but also on the harms caused by social policies that attempt to discourage its use, such as criminal penalties for possession and use.”

Source:    ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 3 March 2011. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110301184056.htm>

Filed under: Brain and Behaviour,Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Europe,Health :

Young Swiss men who say that they believe in God are less likely to smoke cigarettes or pot or take ecstasy pills than Swiss men of the same age group who describe themselves as atheists. Belief is a protective factor against addictive behaviour. This is the conclusion reached by a study funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Karl Marx said that religion was the opium of the people. New figures now suggest that religion plays a role in preventing substance misuse. A research team led by Gerhard Gmel from Lausanne University Hospital has shown in the journal Substance Use & Misuse that, in Switzerland, fewer religious young men consume addictive substances than men of their age group who are agnostics or atheists.

At the army recruitment centre For their study on substance use in Switzerland, Gmel and his colleagues interviewed almost twenty-year-old men at army recruitment centres in Lausanne, Windisch and Mels between August 2010 and November 2011. The researchers have now evaluated the 5387 questionnaires completed by the young men. Based on the responses, the scientists split the young men into five groups: the “religious” believe in God and attend church services, the “spiritual” believe in a higher power, but do not practice any religion, the “unsure” do not know what to believe about God, the “agnostics” assume that no-one can know whether there is a God or not, and the “atheists” do not believe in God.

The researchers found that these groups deal differently with addictive substances. Among the 543 religious young men, 30% smoked cigarettes daily, 20% smoked pot more than once a week and less than 1% had consumed ecstasy or cocaine in the past year. Among the 1650 atheists, 51% smoked cigarettes, 36% smoked pot more than once a week, 6% had consumed ecstasy and 5% cocaine in the past year. The three groups that lay between these extremes were in the mid-range both regarding their religious beliefs and the consumption of addictive substances.

A protective influence for Gmel, these figures indicate that research into addictive behaviour should not only consider risk factors, but also protective factors. The results of his study show that belief is a protective factor when it comes to the consumption of addictive substances. Whether the differences between the groups can be attributed to the ethical values of the young men or to social control in the environments in which they live, remains unanswered.

Source: Religion Is Good, Belief Is Better: Religion, Religiosity, and Substance Use Among Young Swiss Men. Substance Use & Misuse, 2013; 48 (12): 1085 DOI: 10.3109/10826084.2013.799017

Filed under: Addiction,Brain and Behaviour,Europe,Prevention and Intervention,Youth :

Drug tourism has always been a big issue, and a big business, in the Netherlands

That land of  “laissez-faire,” with its reputation as a haven of drug tolerance, is not only mired in internal political discord over a nationwide extension of the prohibition against “soft” drug sales to tourists but also facing serious border disputes around the development of “weed ghettos” in areas near its neighbors.

Currently, only the country’s southern provinces have implemented last year’s ban outlawing the sale of drugs to tourists by the infamous coffee shops and limited sales to government-issued “weed pass”-carrying locals.

But the law created conflict mainly with an active lobby of coffee shop owners who decided to openly defy the law, triggering month-long suspended jail sentences and fines during the summer.

The battle between coffee shop owners and Onno Hoes, mayor of Maastricht (the regional capital of the south) and a stalwart supporter of Prime Minister Mark Rutte, ended at the Supreme Court in The Hague, which last week invoked a Solomon-like compromise: Move the coffee shops from the city center to so-called “coffee corners” on the edge of town.

Three coffee shop owners agreed to relocate immediately to an industrial park near the Belgian border.

However, five nearby Belgian towns weren’t amused – and the mayor of one even threatened to close roads crossing the border due to “international risk.”

“I can make all the cars returning from Maastricht undergo checks,” he told local journalists.

The national law banning foreigners from buying weed at the legal coffee shops has been widely ignored in most of the country, including Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the two largest cities whose mayors refuse to comply with the central government’s decision.

The battle’s been most intense in Maastricht, where Hoes claims that the 1.6 million foreign “drugs tourists” visiting the city’s 13 licensed coffee shops every year created “an unacceptable nuisance” and brought filth, noise and crime to the city.

The coffee shop owners argue that the ban has devastated their business, damaged the local economy and led to an increase in illegal street dealing.

A Dutch News article comparing “police and city council figures“ reports that “the decision to ban foreigners not resident in the Netherlands from the country’s cannabis cafes has led to an ‘explosion’ in drug-related crime in the south of the country. The government’s decision to turn the cafes into “members’ only clubs” in the southern provinces last May led to a sharp rise in street dealing.

In Maastricht, at the forefront of efforts to reduce drug tourism, the number of drug crimes has doubled over the past year while in Roermond they are up three-fold with at least 60 active street dealers.”

According to other surveys recently published in the local Dutch press, two-thirds of the country’s 478 cannabis cafes continue to sell marijuana to tourists, creating a new and sharp north-south divide.

The ban appears to leave a loophole for a local, ‘tailor-made’ approach, permitting licensed coffee shops to continue selling small amounts of cannabis to any adult for personal use. And while possession is not legal, the police turn a blind eye to people with less than five grams.

Amsterdam’s mayor, Eberhard van der Laan, for example, has made clear that his city will not ban tourists from its 220 coffee shops because “the legislation makes it possible to take local circumstances into account.” The mayors of many other towns support and follow his position.

Although Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten declared his ministry is not yet planning to impose a deadline on city councils to implement the ban, he also warned that he will not tolerate mayors refusing to ban tourists from buying marijuana.

At least 10 of Netherlands’ local councils, among them some of the biggest cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague have called for regulated growing, arguing that legalized production would remove organized crime from the equation.

Minister Opstelten has already said he will not approve that plan either.

Source: 24th Sept.2013 http://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2013/09/24/weed-ghettos-for-tourists-anger-netherlands-neighbors/

Filed under: Economic,Europe :

Abstract

As cannabis use is more frequent in patients with psychosis than in the general population and is known to be a risk factor for psychosis, the question arises whether cannabis contributes to recently detected brain volume reductions in schizophrenic psychoses. This study is the first to investigate how cannabis use is related to the cingulum volume, a brain region involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia, in a sample of both at-risk mental state (ARMS) and first episode psychosis (FEP) subjects. A cross-sectional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study of manually traced cingulum in 23 FEP and 37 ARMS subjects was performed. Cannabis use was assessed with the Basel Interview for Psychosis. By using repeated measures analyses of covariance, we investigated whether current cannabis use is associated with the cingulum volume, correcting for age, gender, alcohol consumption, whole brain volume and antipsychotic medication. There was a significant three-way interaction between region (anterior/posterior cingulum), hemisphere (left/right cingulum) and cannabis use (yes/no). Post-hoc analyses revealed that this was due to a significant negative effect of cannabis use on the volume of the posterior cingulum which was independent of the hemisphere and diagnostic group and all other covariates we controlled for. In the anterior cingulum, we found a significant negative effect only for the left hemisphere, which was again independent of the diagnostic group. Overall, we found negative associations of current cannabis use with grey matter volume of the cingulate cortex, a region rich in cannabinoid CB1 receptors. As this finding has not been consistently found in healthy controls, it might suggest that both ARMS and FEP subjects are particularly sensitive to exogenous activation of these receptors.

University of Basel Psychiatric Clinics, Center for Gender Research and Early Detection, c/o University Hospital Basel, Petersgraben 4, CH-4031 Basel, Switzerland.

Source:  Psychiatry Res. 2013 Sep 17. pii: S0925-4927(13)00178-9. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2013.06.006.   ncbi.nlm.gov/pubmed/24054

Filed under: Brain and Behaviour,Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Europe,Health :

The Dutch government said Friday it would move to classify high-potency marijuana alongside hard drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy, the latest step in the country’s ongoing reversal of its famed tolerance policies.

The decision means most of the cannabis now sold in the Netherlands’ weed cafes would have to be replaced by milder variants. But skeptics said the move would be difficult to enforce, and that it could simply lead many users to smoke more of the less potent weed.  Possession of marijuana is technically illegal in the Netherlands, but police do not prosecute people for possession of small amounts, and it is sold openly in designated cafes. Growers are routinely prosecuted if caught.

Economic Affairs Minister Maxime Verhagen said weed containing more than 15 percent of its main active chemical, THC, is so much stronger than what was common a generation ago that it should be considered a different drug entirely.

The high potency weed has “played a role in increasing public health damage,” he said at a press conference in The Hague .  The Cabinet has not said when it will begin enforcing the rule. Jeffrey Parsons, a psychologist at Hunter College in New York who studies addiction, said the policy may not have the benefits the government is hoping for.  “If it encourages smoking an increased amount of low-concentration THC weed, it is likely to actually cause more harm than good,” he said, citing the potential lung damage and cancer-causing effects of extra inhalation.

The Dutch Justice Ministry said Friday it was up to cafes to regulate their own products and police will seize random samples for testing.   But Gerrit-Jan ten Bloomendal, spokesman for the Platform of Cannabis Businesses in the Netherlands, said implementing the plan would be difficult “if not impossible.”   “How are we going to know whether a given batch exceeds 15 percent THC? For that matter, how would health inspectors know?” he said. He predicted a black market will develop for highly potent weed.

The ongoing Dutch crackdown on marijuana is part of a decade-long rethink of liberalism in general that has seen a third of the windows in Amsterdam’s famed prostitution district shuttered and led the Netherlands to adopt some of the toughest immigration rules in Europe.

The number of licensed marijuana cafes has been reduced, and earlier this year the government announced plans to ban tourists from buying weed. That has been resisted by the city of Amsterdam, where the marijuana cafes known euphemistically as “coffee shops” are a major tourist draw. Marjan Heuving of the Netherlands’ Trimbos Institute, which studies mental health and addiction, said there is a growing body of evidence that THC causes mental illnesses.   She said it stands to reason “the more THC the body takes in, the more the impact.” But it has not been demonstrated scientifically that high THC weed is worse for mental health, she said.

Parsons of Hunter College said it remains difficult to be sure whether marijuana causes mental problems or whether people predisposed to, say, depression seek it out as a form of self-medication.

The Trimbos Institute says the average amount of THC in Dutch marijuana is currently around 17.8 percent. It has been declining since 2004 after increasing steadily from 4 percent or so in the 1970s.By comparison, in the United States the average level of THC in marijuana is around 10 percent and rising, according to the last measure released by the Office of National Drug Control Policy in 2009.

Heuving agreed with Ten Bloomendal that determining THC levels outside of a laboratory setting would prove difficult, as exact content varies widely from batch to batch and even within a single plant.   “I don’t know of any home test,” she said. “How this is going to work in practical terms, I have no idea.”

Source:   www.independent .co.uk    Oct. 2011

Filed under: Drug Specifics,Economic,Europe :

Bipolar disorder patients who also have substance misuse disorders are at an increased risk of suicide compared with patients who are non- drug dependent or do not abuse drugs, suggest Canadian and Italian scientists.

It is estimated that between 25 and 60 per cent of patients with bipolar disorder make at least one suicide attempt during the course of their illness. Despite this, few studies have examined the clinical predictors of suicide attempts in these patients.

Researchers administered the Structural Clinical Interview for DSM-IV to 336 patients with a diagnosis of bipolar I, bipolar II or schizoaffective disorder (bipolar type).

The team, from the University of Toronto and the University of Milan, then compared clinical predictors of suicide attempts in attempters and non-attempters. They found that 26 per cent of the subjects had made at least one suicide attempt.

Lifetime co-morbid substance use disorders were diagnosed in 34 per cent of the subjects, while lifetime comorbid anxiety disorders were diagnosed in 26 per cent of the subjects.

Significantly, patients with a lifetime comorbid substance use disorder (that is, drug abuse and dependence) had a 40 per cent lifetime rate of attempted suicide compared with a rate of 24 per cent for those without the comorbidity.

The team speculates that the relationship between lifetime comorbid substance use disorder and suicide attempts may have a genetic origin and/or may be explained by severity of illness and trait impulsivity.

They add that further research is needed to examine severity of illness, impulsivity and the temporal link between substance use and suicide attempts.

Source: www.thealmagest.com  21.07.2013

Filed under: Brain and Behaviour,Canada,Drug use-various effects,Europe :

Pro drug groups, or as they prefer to call themselves ‘drug policy reform groups’ are constantly

quoting the ‘success’ of Portugal’s more liberal drug laws.  They are not correct – the use of heroin

has tripled,  as the following figures from ‘Publico’ show:

 

 

“Publico” today´s edition: “regresso ao consume de heroína”

means ” return to heroin use has tripled”

1008 cases in 2010

1843 in 2011

2881 in 2012

Source : www.publico.pt    4th July 2013

Filed under: Europe,Social Affairs :

Espada J.P., Griffin K.W., Pereira J.R. et al.

Uniquely this Spanish study eliminated either problem solving or social skills training from secondary school drug education to see if these really were active ingredients in reducing substance use. Probably they were was the conclusion, though there were no statistically significant differences between the full programme and the excised versions.

Summary

Training in social skills and in problem-solving skills feature in many contemporary drug use prevention programmes. The former aims to promote assertiveness, empathy and social negotiation strategies, the latter, self-reliance and coping skills. Commonly these components are taught as generic skills first and then applied to situations related to substance use.

An example is the Spanish school programme Saluda which aims to delay the onset of alcohol and drug use. Its problem-solving components aim to help pupils understand and appreciate the advantages of non-consumption and the disadvantages of drug abuse by first applying problem-solving methods to everyday situations, and then specifically to substance use scenarios. The social skills components aim to help pupils develop skills related to active listening, initiating, maintaining and concluding conversations, expressing opinions and positive feelings, and defending one’s personal rights, such as saying ‘No’ and coping with peer pressure. Both types of components are taught mostly via skill-focused activities. Each is the focus of two different sessions of the 10-session programme, offering the opportunity to try variations which omit one but not the other as a way of testing which components are needed to generate the programme’s impacts. This was the strategy adopted by the featured study, which replaced the missing sessions with general discussion sessions not involving any skills training activities.

The study recruited 341 of the 358 students in 14 classes in two secondary schools. Whole classes were assigned to the full Saluda programme, to the programme with social skills but not problem solving training, to one with problem solving but not social skills training, or at random to education as usual until the final follow-up assessments had been completed a year after the Saluda lessons had finished.

Main findings

At the start of the study there were no statistically significant differences between pupils assigned to the different options. However, by the end questionnaires completed by the pupils revealed that those offered any version of Saluda had over the last month drunk alcohol significantly less often than pupils in education-as-usual classes. Though the biggest impact was seen with the full programme, there were no statistically significant differences between the three versions of Saluda. Similar findings emerged in respect to willingness to use alcohol or illegal drugs (actual use of the latter was too rare to be analysed), except that this pattern emerged in the surveys taken immediately after the lessons had ended as well as a year later.

The study also assessed the impact on the relevant skills of omitting lessons focused on these skills. In respect of problem solving skills, after the lessons ended both versions of the programme which had included the relevant training led to better skills (as assessed by a questionnaire) than among pupils not offered the programme at all, but this difference persisted to the final follow-up only after the full programme. In respect of social skills as reflected in reported difficulties with family, peers, or the opposite sex, on no measure were there any statistically significant differences between the three versions of the Saluda programme. Other findings revealed no obviously consistent pattern.

The authors’ conclusions

In general, findings indicated that the three versions of the Saluda programme were all significantly more effective at curbing drinking and intention to use substances than usual education only, but not significantly different from each other. However, there were indications that effectiveness may diminish unless training in both social and problem-solving skills is retained in the programme.

As assessed by average scores at the final follow-up, the largest advantages over usual education in drinking and in problem solving were seen after the full programme. In respect of problem solving, the full programme also bettered the version which included the relevant training, suggesting that social skills training acts synergistically with problem-solving training to improve problem-solving skills.

In terms of effects on skills, the programme without social skills training produced inconsistent changes in the relevant skills, as did the programme without problem solving skills training. It should be cautioned however that non-random assignment to the education options means the results may be due to differences between the pupils.

This draft entry is currently subject to consultation and correction by the study authors and other experts.

Source: Prevention Science: 2012, 13(1), p. 86–95.  June 2013.

Filed under: Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Europe,Prevention and Intervention :

The letter below was written by a Portuguese doctor to a Journalist from Der Spiegel who had printed an article about how successful Portuguese drug policy was. Dr.Coelho shows how the journalist clearly had pre-conceived ideas about the article he was writing and how he totally ignored evidence disputing many of his assumptions. Readers in Germany will not have been able to decide for themselves on evidence, having only read a biased and one sided version of events. The media worldwide have powerful influences on the public and we should, wherever possible, call them to task over inaccurate or downright untruthful reporting. Whether they would publish is another story……

Dear Wiebke,

Reading your article was, surprisingly, a disappointment. I´m sorry to say. You´ve come to Portugal to independently investigate and write a piece on the Portuguese drug policy experiment, but actually, after reading your article, one thing has become clear to me – impartiality is not your game.

What does one do when writing an impartial depiction on a given situation? One listens to every intervening party and to what they have to say and, then translate that to contextualized writing, allowing the essential juicy content about each party to surface in rigorous replication. And that…you did not do.

You have created a skewed depiction on this reality. If on one side of the scale you have placed a fairly detailed description about the official decriminalization policy, its origins, it´s protagonists, it´s numbers and statistics, it´s routines and philosophy; on the other side you were exceedingly scarce and vague with presenting information, the real objective information that contradicts the established thought current.

You´ve limited your words to just saying that there is an opposing character, me, who´s against it all. You say I´m against decriminalization. You say I´m at odds with former colleagues and with “the system”. You say my greatest concern is that my country has given up on the idea of a drug-free world. You say I´m fighting the extensive methadone program (which is actually an incorrect statement). You say that my critical perspective has made me an outsider in my own country. And you say that I don´t agree with Goulão about drug users not being criminals and being sick. And that is, unfortunately, how you´ve summarized my words. Other than that, there´s only you characterizing me with romanticized redundancies that, although perhaps entertaining for the reader, share absolutely NO real information about the issue at hand. And don´t get me wrong – I do not mind being shaped into a character, I get it, it´s more entertaining to read and it´s just a matter of style. What I do mind is when that is done at the expenses of vital core information not appearing. Because ultimately, that is what serving the public is all about, providing information so they can think and decide for themselves. And my filtered and randomly picked phrases or my persona are, absolutely not the point. They are secondary to the technical information I provide, So, where is it?

You see, I did not pick this side of the coin just because I like to contradict and annoy people. I simply cannot ignore the contradicting evidence that presents itself before my eyes and, I feel obligated to contribute with my accumulated knowledge because I feel my help can prevent a whole number of painful situations, which I see are being neglected. I feel it is my duty to act and inform. And I think that that should just as well be yours.

And then you do worse. The ONLY reference that you make to any documentation provided by me is in a description of me showing you a “brief and skeptically worded fact sheet”, “as if” I were “offering proof”, so you say. So, once again, absolutely no concrete data, no content whatsoever is being conveyed to the reader. Just a description of me

handing you sheets of paper. Is that an honest representation of what happened? Far from it. Is that valuing my contribution? Absolutely not. Misleading? Yes indeed.

You were at my house interviewing me for about 3 to 4 hours. I provided you with a whole amount of technical and statistical information, and plenty of documentation based on official sources. After that, you continued to ask questions by email, and I continued to provide you with answers and more documentation. And, of all that documentation and data, what was the only thing that you´ve found worthy of reference? That I have shown you a brief and skeptically worded fact sheet, “as if offering proof”. And let me tell you that I love your subtle vote of distrust in these words – “as if offering proof”. So, what you are saying is, that I might not be showing any proof after all, I´m just acting “as if” I were. Lovely.

A few further inaccuracies to be corrected: you say I fight the extensive methadone program. Not quite true. As I´ve told you before, I believe methadone to be useful in a whole variety of situations. What I absolutely cannot agree with is the decision of making it solely the only practice, applied to every opioid dependent. Making it close to impossible for full remissions and recoveries to happen. Do you realize what that means in someone´s life? It means they´ll be a dependent forever. They´ve changed drugs, but they continue being dependents. And that is a huge heavy burden to carry. They´re self-confidence is always shattered even if they don´t show it. They carry the stigma with them permanently in self-corroding secrecy, always self-conscious about it. Their functioning in the world is always compromised by that. It is quite ludicrous that something as simple as allowing a dependent to have a full drugless recovery, should be eradicated, just because it means more state money spent. In my opinion, the toll is much higher for everybody when such a large part of the population is being maintained in a state of numbness – an opioid is an opioid…

And when I say drugless recovery, I don´t mean “cold turkey” remission, which was another inaccuracy of yours. There is absolutely no need for the recovering dependent to experience the agony and pain of the chemical physical dependence during the remissive process, they already have them in large amounts in their “lives”, and I never did recommend it. So, once again, “cold turkey withdrawals” are not something I would recommend as being the best treatment.

So, to conclude, your article is biased, clearly favoring decriminalization and the Portuguese policy´s point of view. And that was something that you had already established long before meeting me. But just as basic academic rules dictate, you had to have a pinch of contradictory salt – the opposing character. Just a slight colorful adornment to the text to make it seem better founded. But my foundations were overlooked and disregarded, avoided. They were never your focus.

But I understand your context now. You have an agenda, just like Der Spiegel probably does. I noticed in another recent issue of the magazine, an article about how the German state spends 4 billion euros in fighting drugs, and mentioning how a lot of people now believe that decriminalization drug consumption is the way. I don´t condemn your points of view, it´s a current attractive trend, I´m aware of that, and everyone´s entitled to believe whatever seems better to their eyes. I just think that rigor and honesty should not be compromised when it comes to allowing different voices to be heard.

Having said that, if Der Spiegel should be interested in portraying the both sides of the coin more consistently, you are welcome to attend the “I International Congress on Drugs & Dependencies: Recovery is possible”, in Lisbon, next May 23, 24 and 25.

Sincerely at your disposal, Manuel Pinto Coelho

Filed under: Europe,Social Affairs :


The article below mentions cocaine use increasing in the UK and the EU report states the cocaine is the second most popular illicit drug in Europe after cannabis. It has been known since the 1990s that heavy cannabs users are 66% more likely to use cocaine than non-user of cannabis. Contact the NDPA for references to these studies.

IRELAND has one of the highest rates of cocaine use in Europe, a new report shows. The country has also been identified by international law enforcement agencies as a gateway for cannabis smuggled from Morocco into the rest of Europe.

In the first overview of drug trafficking throughout the continent, the report from Europol and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) also found:

* Ireland is a hotbed for Vietnamese and Chinese organised crime gangs cultivating home-grown cannabis.

* We top the poll for use of new drugs or “head shop” highs.

* Polish and Lithuanian gangsters are increasingly trafficking drugs from the Netherlands into Ireland.

In the study, Ireland is identified as among a “handful” of countries, also including the UK and Spain, where cocaine use remains “relatively high”, particularly among young adults. The EU drugs market survey shows cocaine is the second most popular illicit drug in Europe after cannabis. The reports warns: “Labelled as the ‘champagne of drugs’ because of its high price and associations with the rich and famous, cocaine snorted in powder form has found acceptance among drug users in recreational settings.”

Ireland is also one of a number of countries that has seen a phenomenal rise in home-grown cannabis over the past five years. The study says Vietnamese-organised crime gangs have in recent years become prominent in the indoor cultivation of cannabis in many countries, Ireland among them.

“Chinese nationals have also been reported to grow cannabis commercially in countries including Ireland and the United Kingdom,” the report states. Polish and Lithuanian gangs are also trafficking drugs from the Netherlands into Ireland and the UK. Turning to new psychoactive substances – or “legal highs”, often sold in “head shops” – the study found young people, aged between 15 and 24, in Ireland were three times more likely to have taken them than in most other European countries.

Legacy

Meanwhile, experts say they aren’t surprised by the report’s findings. Dr Chris Luke, a consultant in emergency and preventative medicine at Cork’s University and Mercy hospitals, said: “We’re still seeing plenty of long-term cocaine use. It’s the legacy of the Celtic Tiger.”

New figures also show that the number of illegal drugs seized here is on the rise. Drugs worth €55.3m were seized in 2011, with cannabis the most commonly found drug. Cocaine worth €7.9m was also found. The total seized was up on 2010, when drugs worth €45m were taken.

www. Independent.ie February 01 2013

Filed under: Economic,Europe :


Eastern European gangs are becoming “prominent” traffickers of drugs into Ireland, according to a report. It also claims Ireland is a distribution point for the supply of cannabis resin from Morocco to Britain. Research by EU police and drugs agencies confirms that Vietnamese and Chinese organised criminal gangs (OCGs) are heavily involved in cannabis cultivation across the continent, including Ireland. The EU Drug Markets Report said criminal gangs were exploiting the legitimate, commercial transport sector to move drugs and that the internet was emerging as an “online marketplace for drugs”. Action was needed to address this, it said. The report said while heroin was in overall long-term decline and cocaine use was falling in high-prevalence countries including Ireland, the trade in synthetic drugs and domestically produced cannabis was growing. The 158-page report, the first EU market analysis of its kind, said Dutch, British, and Belgian OCGs seemed to control much of the trade in western Europe in amphetamine and MDMA (ecstasy). But it said Eastern European gangs were muscling in on the trade, including to Ireland: “Intelligence suggests the growing prominence of Polish and Lithuanian OCGs in trafficking drugs obtained in the Netherlands to various Nordic and Baltic States, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.” The report, jointly compiled by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction and Europol, said their reach was extending as far as the US and Russia. It said Lithuanian OCGs were brokers for “numerous illicit commodities” and had links with Russian gangs. Last November, Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan warned that Irish gangs were joining forces with Russian outfits in the supply of drugs and cigarettes, while Eastern European networks were involved in supplying firearms and narcotics. The report said Ireland was being used to smuggle cannabis resin from Morocco into the UK. “Average seizure sizes greater than 1kg suggest that Ireland is also an entry point for Morocco resin into Europe,” it said. “Resin seizures represent about 15% of estimated national consumption; it is likely that some of the resin entering Ireland eventually ends up in the United Kingdom.”

Source: Irish Examiner Friday, February 01, 2013

Filed under: Economic,Europe :

The government is planning to classify strong strains of marijuana and cannabis as a Class A drug alongside heroin and cocaine, justice minister Ivo Opstelten told parliament in briefing on Monday.

‘Hard drugs have no place in the coffee shops and in the future they will only be able to offer cannabis with a THC level of below 15%,’ the minister said. THC is the active ingredient in marijuana.

The Netherlands has some 500 cannabis cafes, known as coffee shops, where people can buy up to five grammes of the drug for their personal use.

Opstelten did not say when the THC restriction is to be introduced but according to RTL news, it is unlikely to be this year.

Dangerous

Last year a report for the government said marijuana with more than 15% THC is so dangerous it should be classed alongside heroin and cocaine.

Experts say the THC content of Dutch-grown marijuana is between 15% and 18%. Some 75% of the marijuana sold in the country’s cannabis cafes is grown in the Netherlands.

Source: http://www.expatica.com/nl/news/dutch-new 27th Nov. 2012

Filed under: Europe :


In a recent Editorial in Medical Journal Australia Wodak calls for Australia drug policy reform based on Portugal “improved outcomes and declined problematic drug use” since decriminalization.

Drug decriminalization in Portugal is a failure despite of various reports like this one published all over the world pretending the opposite (1, 2).

There is a complete and absurd campaign of manipulation of Portuguese drug policy facts and figures, which Wodak appears to have fallen for. This is not the academic standard we expect from MJA.

As the Executive Office of the President Barak Obama Drug Control Policy, states (3)

“it is safe to say that claims by drug legalization advocates regarding the impact of Portugal’s drug policy exceed the existing scientific basis”.

Let´s focus on Nuno Miranda – a drug dependent Portuguese car parker, speech: “I am lucky to live in a society that has accepted the fact that drugs and addiction are part of life” (4)

By making drug consumption less difficult, drug dependents throughout the world become neglected, have shorter and more difficult lives and reproduce this poor situation to their children.

Sir,

Do you want Australia to be populated by gentlemen like Nuno?

Kofi Annan definitively does not.

“Young people need models that may help them to find a positive way – a way without drugs. The eradication of drug abuse from our Planet is a giant task, but with the human organizations joint effort from all levels and the struggle of all, we can move forward to that direction” (5).

References:

1. The figures related to the prevalence in the Portuguese population show that the percentage of people who have tried illicit drugs at least once in their lifetime increased from 7,8% (800 000 people) in 2001 to 12% (1,3 million) in 2007 (Portuguese ex- IDT 2008 November Activities Report).

2. “The highest mortality rates caused by HIV / AIDS among drug users were reported by Portugal, followed by Estonia, Spain, Latvia and Italy. In most other countries the rates are low” (EMCDDA, 2010 Annual Report).

3. DRUG DECRIMINALIZATION IN PORTUGAL: CHALLENGES AND LIMITATIONS- www.whitehouse.gov/…/portugal_fact_sheet_8-25-10.pdf

4. Specter M, Getting a Fix, The New Yorker, 2011 Oct; 17.

5. Annan K, International Day Against the Abusing and Illicit Traffic on Drugs. New

Filed under: Addiction,Europe :

By Matthew Hill BBC health correspondent

Some analysts suggest that lessons can be learned from Portugal’s drug laws. So how are things done differently there?

As she waited calmly with fellow drug users queuing for their weekly treatment in Lisbon’s main detox centre, Anna was happy to talk about the addiction that has blighted her for the past 15 years.

The 53-year-old drug user, who preferred not to give her surname, said she was now able to lead a normal life because of Portugal’s enlightened approach that favours public health over the criminalisation of drug users.

Anna visits Lisbon’s ‘Centro das Taipas’ each week to receive the heroin substitute methadone.

She explained: “I had a good life, and when I started taking drugs I spoilt my life and now I am drug-free again and I am well. When I feel ok I will stop methadone, if necessary on an in-patient basis.”

The change in law that led to this treatment was a response to a growing drug problem in the late 1990s.

‘No problem’

Portugal had developed a reputation as a gateway for drug trafficking, with more than three quarters of drugs seized destined for other European countries.

By 1999, it had the highest rate of drug-related Aids cases in the EU and there was a growing perception that the criminalisation of drug use was increasingly part of the problem.

So in 2001, the socialist government changed the law to turn possession of drugs into an “administrative offence”, sending those caught with drugs for personal use to a “dissuasion board” rather than face prosecution.

At one of these hearings was a 32-year-old man who had been caught in possession of  hashish.

Paulo showed no regret as he explained his case to a social worker and psychologist, saying: “I don’t feel I have a problem with drugs, so I don’t feel I need to be here”.

As this was his first appearance before the board he was just given a warning. If he is caught again, sanctions will be applied.

But far more drug users are taking up treatment as a result of the change in law, an independent study by Dr Alex Stevens from theUniversity of Kentfound.

It said the overall numbers of drug users in treatment expanded in Portugal from 23,654 to 38,532 between 1998 and 2008. While between 2000 and 2008 the number of case of HIV reduced among drug users from 907 to 267.

“This is a highly significant trend which as been attributed primarily to the expansion of harm reduction services,” it concluded.

Radical change

The advisor of the management board of the Instituto of Drugs in Portugal, Dr Fatima Trigeiros, said its partners had feared decriminalisation would make people flock to Portugal to take drugs, but that did not happen.

“Before the law changed people with drug consumption would fear to come into the treatment structures because they were afraid they would be taken to court,” she said.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

We have a government that on paper at last is a dream ticket for actually putting in place substantive reforms”

End Quote Danny Kushlick Transform

“Also we were not tackling first-time users, those who were experimenting, because the time between being caught and the time they were taken to court was too long. Now they are being taken to the dissuasion boards in 72 hours.”

Would the British government ever entertain such a radical change? The Home Office says decriminalisation is not the answer; instead it wants to reduce drug use and drug-related crime and help addicts kick their habit.

But there is evidence the prime minister thought differently when he was in opposition. Eight years ago, David Cameron wrote in the Daily Telegraph, that “politicians need to get up from behind their barricades and look at what works, rather than what sounds good”.

He called for a declassification of some drugs so cannabis would move from class B to class C and ecstasy from A to B, even allowing some severe heroin users access to injecting rooms.

As a backbench MP, Mr Cameron called on the government to raise a debate at the United Nations on legalisation and regulation. It was the clearest indication ever given by a future British prime minister of a desire to rethink drugs policy.

The charitable think tank “Transform”, which is lobbying for a change in the law, is hoping the prime minister’s past views will prevail.

Its head of external affairs, Danny Kushlick said: “We have a government that on paper at last is a dream ticket for actually putting in place substantive reforms that are going to shift resources from criminal justice and towards public health.”

With difficult public sector cuts looming, drug reform may not be the first priority of the British government, but it is now consulting on the UK Drugs Strategy.

Reformers say if they want to reduce spending on drugs they could do worse than to look to Portugal.

Source  bbc.co.uk/news 3rd Oct.2010

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Europe,Legal Sector,Treatment and Addiction :

A rebuttal of information by John Stossel of  Fox News.  2nd March  2012

Mr Stossel. You are welcome to publish my response if you wish.

Your article about drugs is not backed up by the evidence, there is plenty of scope for drugs use to increase under a change of system where drugs use is normalised (either decrimininalisation or various legalization models). The evidence is in the tobacco/alcohol model /as variously applied/ around the world. Tobacco and alcohol cause far more /total harm/ than the illegal drugs simply through prevalence.

Your remarks about Portugal are not supported by a critical examination of what has taken place there. All the hyperbole about Portugal as a model is based on one flawed study, assiduously reported around the world as a “meme” by the George Soros financed, world-wide, legalisation campaign. You have been hoodwinked. Not surprising really, millions of dollars have been spent to do that to you.

Portugal and decriminalisation appears now to be “the new orthodoxy” for those with a certain direction of travel and for those “user advocates” who want more freedom to use, regardless of the wider social effects.

Portugal is being misrepresented

1. The number of new cases of HIV and Hepatitis C inPortugalis eight times the average in other EU countries

2.Portugal has the most cases of injected drug related AIDS with 85 new cases per one million citizens. Other EU countries averaging 5 per million.

3. Since decriminalisation, drug related homicides have increased 40%.

4. Drug overdoses have increased substantially, over 30% in 2005

5. There has been an increase of 45% in post mortems testing positive for illegal drugs

6. Amphetamine & cocaine consumption has doubled in Portugal with cocaine seizures increasing sevenfold between 2001 and 2006.

Finally the suggestion made by some, that legalisation would somehow remove criminality from drug supply is ridiculous. Criminality loves use-reinforcing substances and behaviours. More than 20% of the UK tobacco market is smuggled, counterfeit, or both. In some other countries it is much worse.

Legalisation or decriminalisation, of substances unfit for human consumption, should only occur if a demonstrable “public good” can be evidenced.

The problem for the legalisation lobby is that it cannot.

 

David Raynes.

Member. International Task force on Strategic Drug Policy

http://www.itfsdp.org/members.php

 

 

Filed under: Cocaine,Europe,Legal Sector :

The fashionable party drug mephedrone has been linked to up to 98 recent deaths in Britain, the Government’s advisers warned last night, as they called for tougher action to combat the proliferation of legal highs.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) said unscrupulous manufacturers made a mockery of the law by falsely advertising addictive substances as “plant food” or “bath salts”. Its chairman, Professor Les Iverson, warned young users of “designer drugs” were playing “Russian roulette” with their lives – and said the effects were already being seen in hospitals. He said: “We are not seeing just a nice party drug but something that can kill.”

Prof Iverson released figures showing that in the past two years mephedrone had been confirmed as a factor in 42 deaths and had not been ruled out as contributing to another 56.
Users of designer drugs – created in labs to mimic the make-up of banned substances such as ecstasy and amphetamines – suffered such extreme side-effects that they had to be sedated. They had also been treated for paranoia, psychosis, high heart rates and raised blood pressure, he said. He added: “Users are playing Russian roulette. They are buying substances marked as research chemicals. The implication is that you should do the research on yourself to find out whether they’re safe or not. This is a totally uncontrolled, unregulated market.”

The first large quantities of legal highs, or psychoactive drugs – many made in China – appeared in Britain two years ago. They can be easily bought online or from shops selling drug paraphernalia and herbal goods. Some undergraduates also sell them to fellow students. The ACMD said: “Many people importing these new substances appear to have had no previous involvement in the illicit drug trade and are just in it to make a quick buck. They have included students who have set up websites to supply nationally and who also supply the local student population.”

Ministers have outlawed several such substances, but the ACMD warned that producers were sidestepping the bans by tweaking the composition of drugs. It backed creating a new system of broader bans in which all substances chemically similar to controlled drugs were automatically made illegal. The ACMD also called for suppliers to have to demonstrate that legal highs were not being produced for human consumption and for a fresh drive to alert the public to their dangers.

Roger Howard, chief executive of the UK Drug Policy Commission, backed the proposals. He said: “We have rapidly growing numbers of psychoactive drugs on the market and it’s increasingly difficult for police to identify the different drugs they are finding.”

The Home Office said it was considering the recommendations and added: “The Government is leading the way in cracking down on legal highs by outlawing not just individual drugs but whole families of related substances.”

By numbers…
2009 The year police made first seizure of mephedrone. It was banned in 2010.
£15 Approximate price of a gram before it was classified.
98 The number of deaths recently linked to mephedrone.

Source: The Independent 26th October

Filed under: Drug Specifics,Effects of Drugs,Europe,Legal Sector :

This letter is from Dr. Pinto Coelho from Portugal – his English is not perfect but the gist of the paper is very clear .. i.e. the media claims that decriminalisation in Portugal has been successful are simply not true.

The factual picture of Portuguese drug policy
Reaching out English Parliament and David Cameron
 

The Executive Office of the President Barak Obama Drug Control Policy, Director Gil Kerlikowske, in a letter to a member of the International Task Force on Strategic Drug Policy and Drug Watch International, is peremptory: “Our analysts found that claims that decriminalization has reduced drug use and had no detrimental impact in Portugal significantly exceed the existing scientific basis. Because this conclusion largely contradicts prevailing media coverage and several policy analyses in Portugaland the United States, my staff has heavily documented the sources of the data and information contained in this working paper. Please feel free to use this document in part or in whole to help strengthen your own efforts to advance a more honest discussion of decriminalization in Portugal and of the drug policy choices with nations are grappling today.”
 
This report is a consequence of a complete absurd campaign of an unacceptable manipulation of Portuguese drug policy facts and numbers, rose on the 33 pages of a so original as misleading book written by a writer/lawyer, Glenn Greenwald, fluent in Portuguese (on the eve of two important elections in Portugal), for the American “libertarian” think-tank Cato Institute –  a long time advocate of drug legalization.
 
That book, underestimating the readers’ understanding and suggesting the contrary to what the numbers show clearly and unequivocally, has been carried out unconscientiously and naively by some usually responsible national and international press all over the world that boosting the proliferation of the Portuguese “good news” are dangerously distorting the projection of the reality: “The Guardian” -“Britain looks at Portugal´s success story over decriminalizing personal drug use” (September 5th 2010), “The Economist” – “The evidence from Portugal since 2001 is that decriminalization of drug use and possession has benefits and no harmful side-effects” (August 27th 2009) and the Portuguese magazine “Visão” – “Portugal inspira Obama” (Maio 7, 2009) are just a few of the publications that mimicked the phenomena.
 
It was so effective that irreparable damages are already there – Czech Republic, Mexico and Argentina copied the Portuguese “good example” and did decriminalize drugs too…
 
That is the razing power of an attractive fallacy!
 
But lets go to the data (and his sources) and to that high representative USA official above letter: “Drug-induced deaths in Portugal that decreased from 369 in 1999 to 152 in 2003, climbed to 314 in 2007 – significantly more than the 280 deaths recorded when decriminalization started in 2001”. (EMCDDS, Statistical Bulletin 2009, Table DRD-2.)
 
“…the report´s claims of Portuguese drug legalization success, however it trumpets a decline in the lifetime prevalence rate for the 15-19 age group from 2001 to 2007, while discounting a larger lifetime prevalence increase in the 15-24 age group and ignoring the substantially larger lifetime prevalence increase in the 20-24 age group over the same period. (Greenwald, p.14.) Furthermore, the report emphasizes decreases in lifetime prevalence rates for the 13-18 age group from 2001 to 2006 and for heroin use in the 16-18 age group from 1999 to 2005, but once again downplays increases in the lifetime prevalence rates for the 15-24 age group between 2001 and 2006, and for the 16-18 age group between 1999 and 2005”. (Greenwald, pp. 12-14.)
 
“… despite an assertion in the Cato Institute report that increases in lifetime prevalence rates for a general population are “virtually inevitable in every nation”, EMCDDA data indicate that countries have been able to achieve decreases in lifetime prevalence rates, including Spain, for cannabis and ecstasy use between 2003 and 2008.” (EMCDDA, Statistical Bulletin 2009, Table GPS-1.)
 
To this painful data we must add:
 
“There is a notorious growing consumption of cocaine in Portugal, although not as severe as that which is verifiable in Spain. The increase in consumption of cocaine is extremely problematic”. (EMCDDA Executive Director, Wolfgang Gotz, Lisbon, May 2009.)
 
“While amphetamines and cocaine consumption rates doubled in Portugal, cocaine drug seizures have increased sevenfold between 2001 and 2006, rating Portugal the sixth highest in the world.” (World Drug Report, June 2009.)
 
“Behind Luxembourg, Portugal is the European country with the highest rate of consistent drug users and IV heroin dependents”. (Portuguese Drug Situation Annual Report, 2006)
 
“Portugal keeps on being the country with the most cases of injected drug related AIDS (85 new cases per one million of citizens in 2005, while the majority of other EU countries do not exceed 5 cases per million) and the only one registering a recent increase. 36 more cases per one million of citizens were estimated in 2005 comparatively to 2004, when only 30 were referred. It is the only country recording a recent increase. 703 newly diagnosed infections, followed from a distance by Estonia with 191 and Latvia with 108 reported cases.” (EMCDDA, November 2007.)
 
“The highest HIV/AIDS mortality rates among drug users are reported for Portugal, followed by Estonia, Spain, Latvia and Italy; in most other countries the rates are low” (EMCDDA – November 2010).
 
“In Portugal, since decriminalization has been implemented in July 2001, the number of drug related homicides has increased by 40%. It was the only European country with a significant increase between 2001 and 2006.” (World Drug Report, June 2009.)
 
This is the factual picture of Portuguese drug policy.
Unfortunately for drug dependent’ and their extended families and friends, a lie, as convenient as it could be, no matter how many times affirmed, no matter how insistently repeated, would never become the truth. So, “resounding success” seems a gross overestimate. It is rather simple and easy to grasp the reality of the facts, with one look at the real figures, the official figures.
Extraordinarily Mr. Greenwald managed to picture it otherwise and most of the world press bought it. Subsequently some governments disgracefully did too (USA fortunately didn’t) and others are pathetically wondering to “experiment the potential benefits of innovations like Portugal’s.” (“The Observer” Sunday 5 September 2010.) …
 
Manuel Pinto Coelho
Medical Doctor, Chairman of the Association for a Drug Free Portugal – member of World Family Organization and World Federation Against Drugs
Member of International Task Force on Strategic Drug Policy
Portugal Delegate of Drug Watch International
Portugal representative of European Cities Against Drugs
 
 
P.S.  I am political independent – I am not enrolled to any political party.
        I do not practice or have any links to any drug dependence facilities.

 

Filed under: Europe,Social Affairs :
Dutch coffee shop owners went to court Wednesday in a last ditch bid to block a government plan to stop foreigners from buying marijuana in the Netherlands.
Lawyers representing the coffee shops oppose what would be the most significant change in decades to the country’s famed soft drug tolerance: turning marijuana cafes into “members only” clubs open solely to Dutch residents. Members would only be able to get into the coffee shops by registering for a “weed pass” and the shops would only be allowed a maximum of 2,000 members.
The move comes into force in the south of the country May 1 and is scheduled to roll out nationwide on Jan. 1, 2013. Whether it will be enforced in Amsterdam, whose coffee shops are a major tourist draw card, remains to be seen.
The city has strongly opposed the pass idea and mayor Eberhard van der Laan says he wants to negotiate a workable compromise with the country’s Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten.  Lawyers for the cafe owners told a judge at The Hague District Court that the move — aimed at reining in problems caused by foreign “drug tourists” who buy marijuana in the Netherlands and resell it in neighboring countries — is “clearly discriminatory.”
Lawyer Ilonka Kamans argued that Dutch drugs policy gives citizens “the fundamental right to the stimulant of their choosing” and should not deprive visiting foreigners of the same right.
Another of the coffee shop lawyers, Maurice Veldman, told The Associated Press outside the court that the problem of drug tourism is confined to southern provinces close to the Dutch border with Germany and Belgium and should be tackled with local measures, not nationwide legislation.
But government lawyer Eric Daalder defended the measures.
“Fighting criminality and drug tourism is a reasonable justification” for the crackdown, Daalder told the court. He said the government wants to bring coffee shops back to what they were originally intended to be: “small local stores selling to local people.”
Marc Josemans of the Easy Going coffee shop in Maastricht said he expects the government will lose because it hasn’t thought through consequences or tried other ways of achieving its aims.
“We understand that this topic is something that’s of interest to tourists, but it’s equally important to our Dutch customers, which is most of them,” he told the AP ahead of Wednesday’s hearing.
“The limits on membership are going to lead to immediate problems in cities that don’t have enough coffee shops.”
Josemans said that if the court’s April 27 ruling goes against them, the Maastricht coffee shops plan to disregard the ruling, forcing the government to prosecute one of them in a test case.
Though the weed pass policy was designed to resolve traffic problems facing southern cities, later studies have predicted that the result of the system would be a return to street dealing and an increase in petty crime — which was the reason for the tolerance policy came into being in the 1970s in the first place.
The cities of Tilburg, Breda and Maastricht have now said they oppose the pass system, though Eindhoven plans to move ahead with it and the eastern city of Dordrecht wants to adopt it in anticipation of an influx of foreign buyers — even though it is not yet required to do so.
Marijuana cafes are a major tourist draw for Amsterdam, with some estimates saying a third of visitors try the drug, perhaps in between visiting the Van Gogh Museum and other major attractions.
Mayor Van der Laan says the Dutch capital doesn’t suffer major problems from pot smokers, and it doesn’t make sense to apply the same policy developed for the border cities here.  According to U.N. data, the use of marijuana by Dutch nationals is in the mid-range of norms for developed countries — higher than in Sweden or Japan but lower than in Britain, France or the United States.
In the face of growing evidence linking marijuana smoking with mental illness, the Dutch government has been placing new restrictions on coffee shops for a decade. It has set limits on the amount of active chemicals that can be contained in weed and hash; refused to renew licenses for shops that cause problems or are located too close to schools; and banned tobacco smoking at coffee shops in 2008.
Source:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/04/18/international/i063025D58.DTL
April 18th 2012
Filed under: Drug Specifics,Europe,Legal Sector :

A pill that makes alcoholics want to drink less has been developed by scientists for the first time, a conference has been told.

The drug is thought to work by blocking mechanisms in the brain that give alcoholics enjoyment from drink and so helps them fight the urge to drink too much. It only needed to be taken when people were going out where they might be tempted to drink alcohol. Alcoholics taking the drug and having counselling more than halved the amount of alcohol they drank per day and binged on fewer days. The findings were presented at the European Psychiatric Association (EPA) congress in Prague.

The drug, developed by Lundbeck pharmaceutical company, called nalmefene is not licensed yet and is currently going through clinical trials. There are other drugs on the market that make addicts ill if they drink any alcohol at all but this is thought to be the first aimed at reducing the amount of alcohol consumed. Side effects included dizziness, nausea, fatigue, sleep disorder or insomnia, vomiting, cold-like symptoms or excessive sweating.

Dr David Collier, of Barts and The London School of Medicine, Queen Mary University of London and an investigator in a nalmefene study, said: “The people volunteering for these trials had real problems with alcohol dependence, most had never sought help before, and others had tried and failed with abstinence strategies – stopping drinking for good.”

“Abstinence is the right option for many people, but not everyone wants to do that, and in those that do try, it helps only about half of them. From our experience in these trials, reducing alcohol consumption to safer levels can be a realistic and practical treatment goal for people who are dependent on alcohol, that can bring many short- and longer-term benefits to health.”

“These trial results suggest that the combination of medication and counselling could offer a new option for people in the UK not currently treated for their alcohol dependence.” There are thought to be 1.6m people addicted to alcohol who are not currently being treated.

Andrew Langford, Chief Executive of The British Liver Trust said: “We are genuinely worried about the increasing numbers of people from all walks of life with alcohol problems who are functioning seemingly well with their lives yet have built up a need for alcohol. Many feel that they need to drink just to feel normal, increasing potential negative effects on their physical and emotional health, including liver disease such as cirrhosis and liver cancer.”

In the study, nalmefene was used as needed by the patients, who took one tablet only when they perceived that there was a risk of drinking alcohol. Both the nalmefene and placebo groups of the study received counselling to maximise their motivation to reduce their alcohol intake, and ensure they continued to take the medicine.

Over six months in the trial the average amount of alcohol consumed per day reduced from 84g per day – the equivalent to a bottle of wine – to 30g per day or a large glass of wine. The number of days they drank heavily reduced from 19 to seven in those taking the drug alongside counselling.

The large study was conducted with 604 patients in Austria, Finland, Germany and Sweden.

Source: www. WiredIn.org.uk 6th March 2012

Filed under: Drug Specifics,Europe :

Congratulations to our colleague Manuel Pinto Coelho in Portugal.  This is an enormous victory!  The very liberal drug policy of Portugal is crumbling.

———————————————

Dear colleagues,

As you can see, although in Portuguese, it is official – Portuguese IDT and all its staff including the president Goulão has been abolished.

The mask fell down and there is no more “magnificent Portuguese model – an example to the world”. I hope Portuguese authorities decision may arrive in time to dissuade the rest of the world don’t follow countries like Mexico, Argentina and Czech Republic – as you know unfortunately they did bite the hook and decriminalized drugs already.

 The magnificent Health Minister Paulo Macedo (ex-responsible by the treasure and finances) is now trying to understand how it was possible the existence of so many holes of so many millions of euros, opening the eyes FINALY to some personal and/or corporate interests some years ago installed… and as you can imagine there is a (very) few people very worried about…!

Now there is the SICAD with the competencies of…”…planeamento e acompanhamento de programas de redução do consumo de substâncias psicoactivas, na prevenção dos comportamentos aditivos e na diminuição das dependências num novo serviço criado no âmbito da administração directa do Ministério da Saúde”

that means, the”… planning and following up of programs to reduce the consumption of psychoactive substances, prevention of addictive behaviours and diminishing of dependencies in a new service born in Health Ministry direct administration.”

Treatment and harm reduction structures are since today within the responsibility of the several structures in the ground of National Health Service untied to central services… So the licences to internments and other services became responsibility of each and every ARS – Health Regional Administration accordingly its needs in the ground.

 This is a big victory of good sense and REASON and very good news to everyone who suffer with drug dependence, giving to all of us more wings to believe that our efforts must go on moving always forward a drug free society

 Manuel Pinto Coelho, International Task Force on Strategic Drug Policy.  Dec. 2011

 

 

Filed under: Europe,Social Affairs :

The criminalization of illicit drug use provides positive health and social benefits by deterring nonmedical use of substances that cause great harm to HIV/AIDS-affected individuals. Incarceration that respects human rights and provides drug treatment services can accelerate an individual’s recovery from drug dependence and prevent drug-related harms to HIV/AIDS-affected individuals and prevent further proliferation of both diseases – HIV/AIDS and substance abuse.
In anticipation of the International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010) from July 18-23, 2010,i the Vienna Declaration was released by a group of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and signed by private individuals to outline a global strategy to deal with the modern drug epidemic. The Vienna Declaration is based on three false premises:
1) that the criminalization of illegal drug use fuels the HIV/AIDS epidemic,
2) that criminal justice and health promotion are conflicting approaches to drug
policy, and
3) that the major costs of illegal drug use are those generated by the criminal justice system.

The prohibition of illegal drug use does not encourage the spread of HIV/AIDS, but rather it reduces illegal drug use among HIV/AIDS patients, as well as the non-infected population and thereby reduces the population vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection by contaminated needles. Illegal drug use exacerbates weaknesses of the immune system, making individuals with AIDS more susceptible to infection and death. iii Marijuana use causes impaired immunity,iv v vi vii and opens the door for the virus that causes Kaposi’s Sarcoma,viii life-threatening for individuals with HIV/AIDS. Marijuana also contains bacteria and fungi that put users at risk for infection. ix x xi Illegal drug use among AIDS patients is life-threatening because these drugs lessen the effectiveness of anti-retroviral (ARV) medications.xii Nonmedical drug use is associated with increased risky sexual behaviors which promote transmission of HIV/AIDS in a way that needle exchange cannot prevent. xiii xiv
Illegal drug use also increases sexual violence which in turn results in more HIV infections, particularly among the most vulnerable members of society including womenxv as well as children. Mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS now can be largely prevented by medical intervention; however, there is no protection for unborn fetuses from the adverse effects of a drug-using mother. xvi Joint Statement in Opposition to the Vienna Declaration Released July 20, 2010 Page 2

There are 200 million illegal drug users globally, making up 5% of the world population aged 16-64,xvii and an estimated 33.4 million people living with HIV/AIDS.xviii Since the emergence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in 1981, an estimated 25 million people have died of HIV/AIDS-related causes and two million people die each year from this disease.xix These numbers are tragically high, but so is the number of global drug-related deaths, estimated at 223,000 each year. xx As previously noted, illegal drug use increases the risks associated with both contracting and treating HIV/AIDS. Reducing drug use must be part of the solution to curb the distressingly high HIV/AIDS death toll
.
The Vienna Declaration concludes that “reorienting drug policies towards evidence-based approaches that respect, protect and fulfill human rights has the potential to reduce harms deriving from current policies and would allow for the redirection of the vast financial resources towards where they are needed most: implementing and evaluating evidence-based prevention, regulatory, treatment and harm reduction interventions.” Prevention and treatment are admirable goals which aim to reduce illegal drug use; however many so-called “harm reduction” interventions normalize illegal drug use and inevitably lead to more nonmedical use of drugs, leading to more drug-caused harm. Real harm reduction is achieved by rejecting illegal drug use to improve the health and safety of would-be drug users.

To promote public health and public safety, and to reduce both illegal drug use and HIV/AIDS, the World Federation Against Drugs (WFAD), Drug Free America Foundation, Inc. (DFAF), Institute for Behavior and Health, Inc. (IBH) and numerous other organizations and individuals support a balanced restrictive drug policy that uses the criminal justice system, and the illegal status of nonmedical drug use, to reinforce both prevention and treatment. The current globally-endorsed balanced drug abuse prevention policy can be improved. Treatment systems can work together with the criminal justice system by incorporating new, effective and evidence-based strategies to reduce illegal drug use among criminal offenders. These approaches also reduce the commission of new crimes and associated incarceration.
The greatest costs of illegal drug use are not generated by the criminal justice system but by the nonmedical drug use itself. These costs include not only sickness and death but reduced productivity and the high healthcare costs generated by illegal drug use.

We are committed to efforts to improve current drug policy to further reduce illegal drug use by building on a balanced strategy that includes the criminal justice system. Rather than choosing between prevention and treatment on the one hand, and the criminal justice system on the other, it is important to find better ways for them to work together to achieve vital public health and public safety goals that neither can achieve alone. We know that the prevention of illegal drug use and HIV/AIDS prevention must go hand-in-hand; they are not in conflict with one another.

Organizations:
Sven-Olov Carlsson, International President, World Federation Against Drugs, www.wfad.se
Robert L. DuPont, M.D., President, Institute for Behavior and Health, Inc., www.ibhinc.org
David Evans, Esq., Executive Director, Drug Free Projects Coalition,
www.studentdrugtesting.org/
Calvina Fay, Executive Director, Drug Free America Foundation, Inc., www.dfaf.org
Members, International Task Force on Strategic Drug Policy, www.itfsdp.org Joint Statement in Opposition to the Vienna Declaration Released July 20, 2010 Page 3

Source: Joint Press Release www.dfaf.org and www.wfad.se July 20 2010

REFERENCES: XVIII International AIDS Conference. (2010). Retrieved July 12, 2010 from http://www.aids2010.org/
ii The Vienna Declaration. (2010). Retrieved June 30, 2010 from http://www.viennadeclaration.com/the-declaration.html
iii Antoniou, T., & Tseng, L. (2002). Interactions between recreational drugs and antiretroviral agents. Annual of Pharmacotherapy, 36, 1598-1613.
iv Cabral, G.A., & Vasquez, R. (1992). Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol suppresses macrophage extrinsic anti-herpes virus activity, Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, 199(2), 255-63.
v American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. (2004, November 17). Immunological changes associated with prolonged marijuana smoking.
vi Tashkin, D.P., Baldwin, G.C., Sarafian, T., Dubinett, S., & Roth, M.D. (2002). Respiratory and immunologic consequences of marijuana smoking. Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 42(11 Suppl), 71S-81S.
vii Wu, T.C., Tashkin, D.P., Djahed, B., & Rose, J.E. (1988). Pulmonary hazards of smoking marijuana as compared with tobacco. New England Journal of Medicine, 318(6), 347-351.
viii American Association for Cancer Research. (2007, August 2). Marijuana component opens the door for virus that causes Kaposi’s sarcoma. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 7, 2010 from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070801112156.htm
ix Fleisher, M., Winawer, S.J., & Zauber, A.G. (1991). Aspergillosis and marijuana. [Letter]. Annals of Internal Medicine, 115, 578-579.
x Ramirez, J. (1990). Acute pulmonary histoplasmosis: newly recognized hazard of marijuana plant hunters. American Journal of Medicine, 88(5), 60N-62N.
xi Taylor, D.N., Wachsmuth, I.K., Shangkuan, Y.H., Schmidt, E.V., Barrett, T.J., et al. (1982). Salmonellosis associated with marijuana: A multi state outbreak traced by plasmid fingerprinting. New England Journal of Medicine, 306(21), 1249-1253.
xii Ghaziani, A. (2005, October). Crystal methamphetamine use and antiretroviral drug resistance: A pilot study of behavioral and clinical correlates. International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care. IAPAC Monthly, 297-299. Retrieved July 9, 2010 from http://img.thebody.com/legacyAssets/22/36/meth.pdf
xiii Wechsberg, W.M., Parry, C.D.H., & Jewkes, R.K. (2010, May). Drugs, sex, gender-based violence, and the intersection of the HIV/AIDS epidemic with vulnerable women in South Africa. RTI Press. Retrieved July 9, 2010 from http://www.rti.org/pubs/pb-0001-1005-wechsberg.pdf
xiv Colfax, G., Coates, T.J., Husnik, M.J., Huang, Y., Buchbinder, S., Koblin, B., et al. (2005). Longitudinal patterns of methamphetamine, popper (amyl nitrite), and cocaine use and high-risk sexual behavior among a cohort of San Francisco men who have sex with men. Journal of Urban Health, 82(1 Suppl 1), i62-i70.
xv Wechsberg, W.M., Parry, C.D.H., & Jewkes, R.K. (2010, May). Drugs, sex, gender-based violence, and the intersection of the HIV/AIDS epidemic with vulnerable women in South Africa. RTI Press. Retrieved July 9, 2010 from http://www.rti.org/pubs/pb-0001-1005-wechsberg.pdf
xvi World Health Organization. (2010). PMTCT strategic vision 2010-2015: Preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV to reach the UNGASS and millennium development goals. Retrieved July 9, 2010 from http://www.who.int/hiv/pub/mtct/strategic_vision.pdf
xvii United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2010). World Drug Report 2010. New York: United Nations. Retrieved July 7, 2010 from http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2010/World_Drug_Report_2010_lo-res.pdf
xviiiUNAIDS. (2009, December). Global facts & figures. Retrieved July 7, 2010 from http://data.unaids.org/pub/FactSheet/2009/20091124_FS_global_en.pdf
xixUNAIDS. (2009, December). Global facts & figures. Retrieved July 7, 2010 from http://data.unaids.org/pub/FactSheet/2009/20091124_FS_global_en.pdf
xx National Drug Research Institute. (2003, February 25). Tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs responsible for seven million preventable deaths worldwide. Media release. Retrieved July 7, 2010 from http://db.ndri.curtin.edu.au/media.asp?mediarelid=40

 

Filed under: Europe,Legal Sector :

Letter published in The Times April 25th 2011
Sir,
Portugal is hardly the resounding success that the drugs liberalising lobby would have us believe
That fewer young people are trying drugs in Portugal may be the case (“Radical drug law could be imported to Britain”, April 22). But this simply reflects a Europe-wide trend, nowhere more evident than in the United Kingdom. The alarming Europe-wide increase in young people’s illicit drug use between 1995 and 2003 has come to a halt and is decreasing — in Portugal by rather less than the European average.
The picture painted by your report is less rosy overall when the data is examined fully. For according to Portugal’s Special Registry of the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, there has actually been an increase in Portugal’s drug-related deaths since decriminalisation was enacted, from 280 in 2001 to 314 in 2007. In well over half of these cases, opiates or opiates in combination with other substances (mainly cocaine or alcohol) were cited as the main substance involved.
Furthermore Portugal has been the only European country to show a significant increase in [drug-related] homicides between 2001 and 2006, by 40 per cent over a five-year period (2009 UNODC World Drug Report).
Finally, Portugal’s Instituto da Droga e da Toxicodependência reports that the overall prevalence of life time drug use increased from 7.8 per cent to 12.0 per cent in the period from 2001 to 2007, cocaine more than doubling and ecstasy close to doubling, with the prevalence of heroin abuse up from 0.7 per cent of the adult population to 1.1 per cent in the same period.
As to the decreases in new cases of HIV/Aids, not only is this also in line with a Western European trend but it is just as, if not more, plausible to associate this with Portugal’s annual increases in funding for treatment, detox and harm reduction than with the act of decriminalisation per se.
Portugal is hardly the resounding success that the drugs liberalising lobby would have us believe. And if it is what they are relying on to convert politicians and public to their cause it makes for a poor case.
Kathy Gyngell
Research Fellow, Centre for Policy Studies
Neil McKeganey
Professor of Drug Misuse, Centre for Drug Misuse Research, University of Glasgow
Mary Brett
Trustee, Cannabis Skunk Sense

Source: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/letters/article2997948.ece 25.4.2011

 

Filed under: Europe,Legal Sector :

 

(St. Petersburg, FL) The National Survey on Drug Use and Health conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and released this week shows a significant rise in marijuana use. In 2007, 4.4 million Americans 12 and older used marijuana; as of 2010 that number has risen to 17.4 million. The National Office of Drug Control Policy’s Director, Gil Kerlikowske, said the increases are prominent in states in which “medical” marijuana is legal. The survey also shows that 21.5 percent of young adults aged 18 to 25 used illicit drugs in 2010, an increase from 19.6 percent in 2008.

“Other than the lone voice of Director Kerlikowske and large marijuana dispensary raids by the DEA, the Obama Administration has basically turned a blind eye to the medi-pot issue, a matter that fuels the rise in marijuana use and continues to be the biggest scam ever to be perpetrated on the American public. While a crude toxic weed is peddled to sick and dying people as a medicine, our government has done far too little to protect the public. It is absolutely no surprise to me that marijuana use has sharply increased,” said Calvina Fay, executive director of Drug Free America Foundation, Inc. and Save Our Society From Drugs.

“Surveys have shown for years that when the perception of the harms of drugs decreases, use rises. The ruse that marijuana is a medicine has created a false sense that this addictive, dangerous drug is not harmful, but in fact helpful. Clearly, this belief has contributed to the increase of marijuana use among young people. In order to protect the public, it is time for our government to take its head out of the sand and aggressively push back against marijuana legalization for any purposes! Perhaps it’s time to withhold federal funds from states that fail to uphold our nation’s drug laws,” Fay concluded.

Source: Press Release Drug Free America Foundation 9th Sept.2011

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Europe,Marijuana and Medicine :

 

A significant increase (more than 10-fold) in the number of newly diagnosed HIV-1 infections among injecting drug users (IDUs) was observed in Greece during the first seven months of 2011. Molecular epidemiology results revealed that a large proportion (96%) of HIV-1 sequences from IDUs sampled in 2011 fall within phylogenetic clusters suggesting high levels of transmission networking. Cases originated from diverse places outside Greece supporting the potential role of immigrant IDUs in the initiation of this outbreak.

Source: Eurosurveillance, Volume 16, Issue 36, 08 September 2011

Filed under: Europe,Health,HIV/Injecting-Drug-Users :

 

Slovenian study identifies which chemicals in the blood best identify dependent drinkers in the sense of not missing those who are dependent, confirming when they have stopped drinking, and not falsely identifying non-dependent people as dependent.

Summary

The aim of this study was to determine the value of biochemical tests for glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH) in the blood as way of diagnosing alcohol dependence, in particular as compared to or in combination with other biochemical markers including gama-glutamyltransferase (GGT), aspartate-aminotranferase (AST), alanine-aminotransferase (ALT) and erythrocyte mean cell volume (MCV). All these levels were assessed three times in 238 alcohol dependent patients admitted to hospital (on admission, after 24 hours and after seven days) and also in healthy members of the public.
Main findings All the values were significantly higher in the patients than in healthy persons. GLDH exhibited the fastest decrease in levels after the resumption of abstinence. 24 hours of non-drinking is sufficient for a reliable evaluation of the fall in GLDH activity, even more so when alcohol dependants had not drunk for three to seven days, offering a way to confirm the cessation of drinking. The time course of changes in GLDH and AST were more applicable than for GGT after a week, but GLDH changes were most reliable. GLDH was the most specific marker with almost 90% specificity, correctly identifying nine in 10 of the healthy subjects as non-dependent. A decision tree combining MCV,  GGT and GLDH markers was selected as the best diagnostic procedure because of its simplicity, easy examination and moderate cost. It gave a model with 84.5% accuracy, excellent specificity at 90% (correctly identifying 9 in 10 healthy subjects as non-dependent) and very high sensitivity at almost 80% (correctly identifying 8 in 10 alcohol dependent patients as dependent).

Conclusions

The high accuracy of our classification model provides an opportunity to apply it as a helping method in finding and diagnosing alcohol dependence in everyday practice, with our exclusion criteria and differential diagnostic cautions taken into consideration. We strongly believe that watching changes in the activity of laboratory markers of alcoholism is an effective yet overlooked aid.
Thanks for their comments on this entry in draft to Matej Kravos of the Psychiatric Hospital Ormoz in Slovenia. Commentators bear no responsibility for the text including the interpretations and any remaining errors.

Source: Kravos M., Malešic I.
Alcohol and Alcoholism: 2010, 45(1), p. 39–44. Revised 22 Aug.2011

 

Filed under: Addiction,Alcohol,Europe :

The policy of the Government brought changes in the views, attitudes and directions, comparing to the previous years. The new drug strategy is part of these changes. It is based on prevention, strengthening the families, school education, and reconstruction of the rank of teachers, supporting young people, offering help for those, who got into trouble and on a strong law interdiction against drug dealers. These will form the basis of a new drug strategy, to be elaborated by the end of 2011, together with an action plan.

During the past 8 years new drugs emerged in the illegal marketplace and new forms of drug trafficking and distribution among young people were domesticated. Hungary having been a transit country of drug trafficking became a target country. The children and young people can access drugs and mind altering substances much easier than earlier. Drug liberalization came into the forefront and nothing happened to stop these negative trends. The drug strategy implemented by now had failed, as it was not capable to prevent or reduce the increasing drug problem. Those, who induced this situation, would not be able to create and implement an appropriate new drug strategy.

The drug strategy of the past years, which placed the emphasis on drug liberalization and harm reduction, cannot be continued any more. This policy benefited those, who preferred drug liberalization. Trafficking of yet non-scheduled, harmful substances became profitable, similarly to distribution of illicit drugs.

The task of the state is the protection of society, especially those groups who are the most deprived and endangered, against those, who want to gain profit by damaging them. In the focus of the Government stands now the strengthening of families, raising awareness of parents about their responsibilities and improving the societal solidarity. These goals are met by the measures of Government taken now, e.g. the family tax benefit, earlier retirement of women, sanctioning of avoiding school for more than 50 hours by pupils, stricter penalization of shoplifting. Positive effects of these measures have become visible in a short term.

Source: World Federation Against Drugs Jan. 2011

Filed under: Europe :

Up to 40 per cent of those presenting with psychiatric disorders are also abusing substances, and that figure rises to 60 per cent in the case of those who have committed suicide.

And doctors treating substance abuse addicts at Dublin’s Rutland centre have discovered that those presenting for treatment for addiction are also experiencing depression, anxiety, and other mental health challenges.

This, according to the Rutland’s Centre’s newly appointed clinical director, Dr Fiona Weldon, is “a reflection of the changing landscape in the use of mood-altering substances that have an impact on mental health, such as cocaine, hash and head-shop substances”.

The Rutland Centre has also seen an increase in those presenting with co-existing mental health issues and eating disorders. As a result, Dr Weldon has launched two new programmes to meet the growing demand for services to deal with issues in the area of addiction and eating disorders.

The first of these, which starts this month, is the Dual Diagnosis Outpatient Programme, an evidence-based intervention utilising Dialectical Behaviour Therapy responding to those experiencing difficulties with mental health and addiction. It aims to break the cycle of addiction and respond to other co-existing issues.

An Eating Disorder Programme will deal with compulsive overeating and an obsessional relationship with food leading to many other health-threatening issues.

Other eating disorders, also on the increase, particularly bulimia and anorexia, are also dealt with in a highly specialised group therapy and psycho-educational programme on a residential basis as well as in a new outpatient group targeting stabilisation of eating and increasing skills to manage psychological distress. Visit www.rutlandcentre.ie for more information.

Source: www.independent.ie Sunday July 11 2010

Filed under: Europe :

ALMOST a third of prisoners who die from drugs after being released from jail die within a week. Research shows nearly half of this group die within a month including eight out of 10 who are on temporary, or early, release. The report from the Health Research Board (HRB) comes as separate figures show almost 1,000 convicted criminals are on temporary release as the prison overcrowding crisis deepens.

The HRB report — the first of its type in Ireland — said many of the deaths are preventable through inexpensive action such as better links between prisons and treatment services and training to prevent overdoses. The report said there were 130 recorded drug deaths among prisoners and ex-prisoners between 1998 and 2005, but said this was likely to be an underestimate.

The HRB authors, lead by Suzi Lyons, said the 130 represented 5% of the 2,442 people on the National Drug-Related Deaths Index, a “much higher” proportion than for the general population. It said 105 of the 130 had left prison: 93 after completing their sentence and 12 on temporary (or early) release. Of the 105, 25 (or 28%) died within a week of release and a further 17 (19%) within a month. The mortality rate was the worst among the 12 people on temporary release, 10 of whom died within the first month. The research found exact dates of release for 89 individuals.

The results show of 105 drug deaths of ex-prisoners:

*89% were male, 62% were aged 20 to 29 and 84% were unemployed.

*20% were living in unstable accommodation and 10% were homeless.

*97% had a history of drug misuse, 61% had a history of drug injecting use and 34% were reported to be injecting at the time of their death.

*30% were on the methadone treatment register at the time.

*67% of deaths were due to poisonings.

*63% of deaths by poisoning within a month of release were due to two or more drugs.

* Heroin or methadone was involved in 79% of single drug deaths and 96% of polydrug deaths.

Campaigners have said that simple and inexpensive measures could cut the high number of prisoners who are dying. These include better communication between prisons and outside drug services, and more training for users, their families and drug workers on how to prevent overdoses.

Researchers said this number was “much higher” than for the general population and added the figure of 130 was likely to be an underestimate.

The report, Drug-Related Deaths Among Recently Released Prisoners in Ireland, was published in the International Journal of Prisoner Health. It concluded: “The increased proportions of individuals who die so soon after release from prison highlights the need for preventative measures for this at-risk group.

“Such measures include ensuring the release of drug-dependant prisoners in a planned manner, providing continuity of methadone and other forms of drug treatment, and providing accommodation and support to enter education or employment on release.”

It called for improved communication between prison services and addiction treatment and reintegration services.

Source: www. IrishExaminer.com 14th July 2010

Filed under: Europe :

A DECISION by the Dutch government to decriminalise the smuggling of hard drugs could leave Britain vulnerable to a flood of cheap cocaine.

Customs officers are allowing traffickers caught at Schiphol airport, Amsterdam, with less than 3kg of cocaine to go free. The only penalty they face is the confiscation of their drugs.
In the first phase of a policy that could soon be extended to other hard drugs, the liberal measures are being applied to 35 so-called “cocaine flights” a week from the Caribbean.
Last year police caught 2,176 smugglers from the region and seized six tons of the drug. But from now on, traffickers no longer have to worry about hefty prison terms or even arrest.
The policy may prove even more controversial than Holland’s infamous “coffee shops”, where soft drugs such as cannabis have been sold openly for decades.

The Dutch authorities claim the measure will allow them to divert money spent prosecuting offenders into drug seizures. However, critics in neighbouring countries, including Britain, fear it will lead to a boom in the number of people ready to act as “mules” for drug cartels.
The National Drug Prevention Alliance in Britain has warned that the policy amounts to a capitulation by the police with consequences that could spin out of control.

“This won’t just hit the UK badly. It will affect the whole of Europe,” said David Raynes, a former chief narcotics investigator for Customs and Excise. “Holland is the drugs warehouse of Europe and by not controlling its problem it’s creating an infection that will spread to all the countries around.”

In Germany the street value of cocaine has already fallen from €150 (£102) a gram to just €50 (£34), raising the prospect of a sharp rise in the number of addicts. The Dutch government has ignored a plea from Otto Schily, the German interior minister, to toughen rather than weaken its deterrent.

However, Ivo Hommes, a spokesman for the Dutch justice ministry, said the initiative could save millions spent on prosecuting and jailing offenders, allowing more funds to go into the detection and confiscation of drugs. “Locking up thousands of smugglers doesn’t solve the problem. There will always be more of them,” he said. “We’ve been honest enough to admit that we only manage to stop 15% of the drugs coming in, so we are trying something new.”
A leaked ministry memorandum, however, has suggested that the policy was adopted because the prosecution service was overburdened. It emphasised that drug-related arrests should not be permitted to “block the justice system”.

Britain’s National Criminal Intelligence Service is said to be eyeing the policy “warily”.
Source: Sunday Times 1.02.04

Filed under: Europe :

Amsterdam bans smoking of marijuana in some public places

AMSTERDAM – A majority of the city council in Amsterdam voted in favour of introducing a city-wide ban on smoking marijuana in public in areas where young people smoking joints have been causing public nuisance.
The decision comes after a successful trial ban in the De Baarsjes district of Amsterdam.
The experimental ban led to less public nuisance, city district De Baarsjes concluded after the year-long trial.
Source: Expatica.com Jan 2007

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Europe :

Steroid users appear more likely to commit crimes involving weapons and fraud, scientists in Sweden report.
Steroids are linked to manic episodes, depression, suicide, psychotic episodes and increased aggression and hostility, occasionally triggering violent behavior, including murder.
Researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden studied the relationship between crime and steroid use in 1,440 Swedish residents tested for the drugs between 1995 and 2001 from clinics, including substance abuse facilities, as well as police and customs stations.
Of those involved in the study, 241 tested positive, with an average age of about 20.
The research team found those who tested positive for steroid use were roughly twice as likely to have been convicted of a weapons offense and one-and-a-half times as likely to have been convicted of fraud.
When the researchers excluded people from substance abuse facilities from their analysis the connection with armed crime remained, but the link between steroid use and fraud disappeared.
While steroids are linked with outbursts of uncontrolled violence known as “‘roid rage,” they did not appear to be connected with sexual offenses, violent crimes such as murder, assault and robbery, or crimes against property such as theft.
This investigation instead reveals that steroid use may be linked with premeditated crimes—those involving preparation and advance planning.
One explanation the researchers suggest for the findings is that criminals involved in serious crimes such as armed robbery or the collection of crime-related debts might benefit from the muscularity, heavy build and increase in aggression that comes with steroid use.
The scientists report their findings in the November issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.

Source: Fox News Live Science Monday , November 06, 2006

Filed under: Crime/Violence/Prison,Drug use-various effects,Europe,Health :

Long-term alcoholics are running the risk of permanent brain damage, according a study published today.
Research has shown that while the brain can regenerate following damage caused by drink, it struggles more after longer periods.
Scanning technology and computer software was used to analyse how the form, function and size of brains in 15 patients changed over a period of six to seven weeks after they gave up alcohol. The researchers, from the UK, Switzerland and Italy, found that brain size increased by an average of almost 2 per cent 38 days after the start of the study.
Levels of chemicals that indicate how intact the brain’s nerve cells and sheaths are also rose significantly, by around 10 per cent to 20 per cent.
Only one patient appeared to continue to lose brain volume and he was the one who had been drinking the longest, for 25 years, the study found.
Dr Andreas Bartsch, from the University of Wuerzburg in Germany, who led the research, said: “The core message from this study is that, for alcoholics, abstention pays off and enables the brain to regain some substance and to perform better.
“However, our research also provides evidence that the longer you drink excessively, the more you risk losing the capacity for regeneration.” The results of such brain scans could be used to help keep alcoholics motivated on staying sober, Dr Bartsch added.
Furthermore, the findings, published in the online edition of the journal Brain, did not simply reflect rehydration.
“Instead, the adult human brain, and particularly its white matter [where nerve fibres are], seems to possess genuine capabilities for regrowth,” Dr Bartsch said.

Scotsman Source: www.aa-uk.org.uk Dec/ 18 2006

Filed under: Alcohol,Brain and Behaviour,Europe,Health :


Combining a randomised trial with a ‘real-world’ test, studies of the Dutch Drinking Less programme have gone further than any others to establish the beneficial impacts of web-based alcohol self-help interventions.

Abstract

The study was a ‘real-world’ test of a promising Dutch internet-based self-help intervention for problem drinking. A previous randomised trial employing the methodological safeguards possible in tightly controlled research (particularly the recruitment of a comparison group not given access to the intervention) had established that the intervention reduced drinking. At issue in the featured study was whether similar drinking reductions would be seen when the intervention was made freely available to the general public. If they were, then the assumption could be made that these too were caused by having access to the intervention.

Drinking Less is an on-line, interactive programme with no personal therapist input. Aimed at risky drinkers among the general adult population, the intervention is based on principles derived from motivational interviewing, cognitive-behavioural therapies and self-control training. Its home page offers links to alcohol-related information, treatment services, a discussion forum, and the Drinking Less self-help programme, the core of the intervention. Over a recommended six weeks (though this is entirely up to the user) the programme guides visitors in preparing to change their drinking, setting goals , implementing change, and finally sustaining it, preferably by drinking within recommended limits.
The earlier trial had found that six months later, at least 17% of adult problem drinkers randomly allocated to this intervention had reduced their drinking to within Dutch guidelines, compared to just 5% allocated to an on-line alcohol education brochure. Before the study, both groups had averaged about 55 UK units a week. At follow-up, the Drinking Less group had cut consumption to about 36 UK units a week, but the brochure group had barely changed.
The featured study monitored what happened when over 10 months spanning 2007 and 2008 the web site was advertised to the Dutch public. During this time round 27,500 people visited the site, of whom 1625 signed up for the self-help programme, accessing it on average 23 times. Typically they were well educated, employed, middle-aged men. On average they drank about 50 UK units a week, and nearly all who completed the on-line AUDIT screening questionnaire scored in a range indicative of alcohol abuse or dependence.
During the first seven of the 10 months, 378 of site visitors who signed up to the Drinking Less programme also agreed to participate in research to assess its impact. On average they drank roughly the same amount (95% exceeded Dutch guidelines) as all 1625 who signed up and were also similar in age, sex, employment, and motivation to change. Despite some statistically significant differences, they were also broadly similar to participants in the earlier randomised trial. Over 8 in 10 had never received professional help for their drinking. A few weeks later a survey suggested that after signing up, nearly 9 in 10 went on to use the programme, though generally only a few times.
Of the 378 in the baseline sample, 153 responded to an on-line follow-up survey six months later. Before signing up to the programme, just 4% had confined their drinking within Dutch guidelines; six month later, 39% did so. They had also nearly halved their average consumption from 50 UK units to 27. On the ‘fail-safe’ assumption that the intervention had no impact on people who were not followed up, still the drinking reductions were statistically significant; from 5%, the proportion drinking within guidelines rose to 19%, and consumption fell from 51 UK units to 42.
Next the analysts compared these results with those from the six-month follow-up in the randomised trial. Based only on respondents to the follow-up surveys, and adjusting for differences between the samples, in the ‘real-world’ test over twice as many (unadjusted figures 36% v. 19%) people moved to drinking within Dutch guidelines. When the assumption was made that in both trials the intervention had no impact on people not followed up, the figures still favoured the ‘real-world’ test (15% v. 10%), but the difference was no longer statistically significant.
The researchers concluded that the featured study had shown that the benefits established by the randomised controlled trial would be sustained when the intervention was made routinely and generally available to the public. The expected throughput of 3000 Drinking Less programme users a year would amount to nearly 3% of the country’s problem drinkers who would otherwise not have received professional help. Probably because they require the drinker to take the initiative and visit the site, such interventions reach people who, compared to the totality of problem drinkers, are more likely to be women, employed, highly educated, and motivated to change their drinking. Given its low cost per user, this type of intervention seems to have a worthwhile place in a public health approach to reducing alcohol-related problems.
Though only a minority of site visitors may sign up for web-based alcohol programmes, nevertheless the numbers engaged can be very large, and the risk-reductions seem of the order typical in studies of brief advice to drinkers identified in health care settings. In these settings screening programmes typically identify people who are not actually seeking help for drinking problems – ‘pushing’ them towards intervention and change – while web sites ‘pull’ in people already curious or concerned about their drinking. As such these two gateways can play complementary roles in improving public health and offering change opportunities to people who would not present to alcohol treatment services. However, in Britain and elsewhere, both tactics reach only small fractions of the population who drinking excessively, leaving the bulk of the public health work to be done by interventions which drinkers generally cannot avoid and do not have seek out, such as price increases and availability restrictions.
With its combination of a randomised trial and a ‘real-world’ test, the featured research programme has gone further than any other in establishing the beneficial impacts of web-based alcohol interventions. However, largely because many site users do not complete research surveys, it remains impossible to be sure that the results seen in such studies will be replicated across the entire usership of the sites. Details below.

Strengths and limitations of the featured study

The featured study’s combination of a randomised trial with all its methodological safeguards, and a ‘real-world’ trial approximating normal conditions, affords what seems to be the best indication to date of the contribution web-based self-help interventions could make to reducing heavy drinking and associated health risks. However, its twin pillars are weakened by the fact that many people either did not join the studies or did not supply follow-up data; those who did may not have been typical of all the people who might access such sites. In the randomised trial, 40% of the baseline sample did not complete the six-month follow-up survey, and in the featured study, nearly 60%. Though on the measures taken by the study the respondents generally seemed typical of the baseline sample, clearly something was sufficiently different to cause them to respond while the others did not. In both studies this problem was catered for by assuming that non-responders were also non-changers. Though this almost certainly underestimated the impact of the intervention, still in both there remained significant and worthwhile improvements.
What could not be catered for in either study was the degree to which people who join such studies differ from the much greater number who would use the web sites, but decline participation in research. This problem was especially apparent in the featured study, in which it seems that around 6% of site visitors signed up for the self-help programme. Of these, perhaps a third or slightly more of the people who signed up for the programme during the relevant period also agreed to participate in the research. In some important ways (including amount drunk and motivation to change) they seemed similar to the bulk of programme sign-ups, though the researchers suspect they were more likely to have engaged with the programme.

Opening more doors to change for more people

A review of computer-based alcohol services for the general public has rehearsed the advantages: immediate, convenient access for people (the majority in developed nations) connected to the internet; consequently able to capitalise on what may be fleeting resolve; anonymous services sidestep the embarrassment or stigma which might deter help-seeking; such services are available to people unwilling or less able to talk about their problems to a stranger; generally they are free and entail no travel costs or lost income due to time off work; very low operating cost per user if widely accessed; easily updated. In consumption terms, the drinking problems of web site users are comparable to those of drinkers who seek treatment, yet few have received professional help, perhaps partly because their higher socioeconomic status and greater resources have enabled them to restrict the consequential damage. People who actually engage with web-based assessments of their drinking problems have more severe problems than those who just visit and leave. Including the randomised trial which paved the way for the featured study, the review found eight studies which evaluated the effectiveness of computer-based interventions for the general public. In all but one the users significantly improved on at least one of the alcohol-related measures recorded by the studies.
A particular role for alcohol self-help sites may be to offer an easy, quick and accessible way to for drinkers to actualise their desire to tackle their problems, especially when that desire is allied with the resources to implement and sustain improvements without face-to-face or comprehensive assistance. After conducting the Project MATCH trial, some of the world’s leading alcohol treatment researchers argued that “access to treatment may be as important as the type of treatment available”. The implication is that in cultures which accept ‘treatment’ as a route to resolving unhealthy and/or undesirable drinking, having convincing-looking and accessible ‘treatment doors’ to go through may be more important than what lies behind those doors, as long as this fulfils the expectations of the client or patient. This is likely to be especially the case for people who retain a stake in conventional society in the form of marriages, jobs, families, and a reputation to lose. These populations – the kind the featured study suggests are attracted to self-help alcohol therapy web sites – have more of the ‘recovery capital’ resources needed to themselves do most of the work in curbing their drinking.

The British Down Your Drink site

The best known British alcohol self-help web site is the Down Your Drink site run by a team based at University College London, an initiative originally funded by the Alcohol Education and Research Council and now by the Medical Research Council’s National Prevention Research Initiative. In 2007 this was revised to offer set programmes from a one-hour brief intervention to several weeks, but also to generally give the user greater control over the use they made of the site. The approach remained based on principles and techniques derived from motivational interviewing and cognitive-behavioural therapies.
The previous version had been structured as six consecutive modules to be accessed weekly. An analysis of data provided by the first 10,000 people who registered at the site after piloting ended in September 2003 revealed that most were in their 30s and 40s, half were women, nearly two-thirds were married or living with a partner, just 4% were unemployed, and most reported occupations from higher socioeconomic strata. As an earlier study commented, site users were predominantly middle class, middle aged, white and European. Six in 10 either did not start the programme, or completed just the first week. About 17% completed the six weeks. Of these, 57% returned an outcome questionnaire. Compared to their pre-programme status, on average they were now at substantially lower risk, and functioning better and living much improved lives. The sample had been recruited over about 27 months, a registration rate of about 4500 a year. By way of comparison, in England during 2008/09, around 100,000 adults were treated for their alcohol problems at conventional services. User profile and site usage had been similar during the earlier pilot phase. Results from surveys sent to pilot programme completers indicated that three quarters had never previously sought help for their drinking.

Source: Published in Findings 19 May 2010 Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research: 2009, 33(8), p. 1401–1408

Combining a randomised trial with a ‘real-world’ test, studies of the Dutch Drinking Less programme have gone further than any others to establish the beneficial impacts of web-based alcohol self-help interventions.
Abstract The study was a ‘real-world’ test of a promising Dutch internet-based self-help intervention for problem drinking. A previous randomised trial employing the methodological safeguards possible in tightly controlled research (particularly the recruitment of a comparison group not given access to the intervention) had established that the intervention reduced drinking. At issue in the featured study was whether similar drinking reductions would be seen when the intervention was made freely available to the general public. If they were, then the assumption could be made that these too were caused by having access to the intervention.

Drinking Less is an on-line, interactive programme with no personal therapist input. Aimed at risky drinkers among the general adult population, the intervention is based on principles derived from motivational interviewing, cognitive-behavioural therapies and self-control training. Its home page offers links to alcohol-related information, treatment services, a discussion forum, and the Drinking Less self-help programme, the core of the intervention. Over a recommended six weeks (though this is entirely up to the user) the programme guides visitors in preparing to change their drinking, setting goals , implementing change, and finally sustaining it, preferably by drinking within recommended limits.
The earlier trial had found that six months later, at least 17% of adult problem drinkers randomly allocated to this intervention had reduced their drinking to within Dutch guidelines, compared to just 5% allocated to an on-line alcohol education brochure. Before the study, both groups had averaged about 55 UK units a week. At follow-up, the Drinking Less group had cut consumption to about 36 UK units a week, but the brochure group had barely changed.
The featured study monitored what happened when over 10 months spanning 2007 and 2008 the web site was advertised to the Dutch public. During this time round 27,500 people visited the site, of whom 1625 signed up for the self-help programme, accessing it on average 23 times. Typically they were well educated, employed, middle-aged men. On average they drank about 50 UK units a week, and nearly all who completed the on-line AUDIT screening questionnaire scored in a range indicative of alcohol abuse or dependence.
During the first seven of the 10 months, 378 of site visitors who signed up to the Drinking Less programme also agreed to participate in research to assess its impact. On average they drank roughly the same amount (95% exceeded Dutch guidelines) as all 1625 who signed up and were also similar in age, sex, employment, and motivation to change. Despite some statistically significant differences, they were also broadly similar to participants in the earlier randomised trial. Over 8 in 10 had never received professional help for their drinking. A few weeks later a survey suggested that after signing up, nearly 9 in 10 went on to use the programme, though generally only a few times.
Of the 378 in the baseline sample, 153 responded to an on-line follow-up survey six months later. Before signing up to the programme, just 4% had confined their drinking within Dutch guidelines; six month later, 39% did so. They had also nearly halved their average consumption from 50 UK units to 27. On the ‘fail-safe’ assumption that the intervention had no impact on people who were not followed up, still the drinking reductions were statistically significant; from 5%, the proportion drinking within guidelines rose to 19%, and consumption fell from 51 UK units to 42.
Next the analysts compared these results with those from the six-month follow-up in the randomised trial. Based only on respondents to the follow-up surveys, and adjusting for differences between the samples, in the ‘real-world’ test over twice as many (unadjusted figures 36% v. 19%) people moved to drinking within Dutch guidelines. When the assumption was made that in both trials the intervention had no impact on people not followed up, the figures still favoured the ‘real-world’ test (15% v. 10%), but the difference was no longer statistically significant.
The researchers concluded that the featured study had shown that the benefits established by the randomised controlled trial would be sustained when the intervention was made routinely and generally available to the public. The expected throughput of 3000 Drinking Less programme users a year would amount to nearly 3% of the country’s problem drinkers who would otherwise not have received professional help. Probably because they require the drinker to take the initiative and visit the site, such interventions reach people who, compared to the totality of problem drinkers, are more likely to be women, employed, highly educated, and motivated to change their drinking. Given its low cost per user, this type of intervention seems to have a worthwhile place in a public health approach to reducing alcohol-related problems.
Though only a minority of site visitors may sign up for web-based alcohol programmes, nevertheless the numbers engaged can be very large, and the risk-reductions seem of the order typical in studies of brief advice to drinkers identified in health care settings. In these settings screening programmes typically identify people who are not actually seeking help for drinking problems – ‘pushing’ them towards intervention and change – while web sites ‘pull’ in people already curious or concerned about their drinking. As such these two gateways can play complementary roles in improving public health and offering change opportunities to people who would not present to alcohol treatment services. However, in Britain and elsewhere, both tactics reach only small fractions of the population who drinking excessively, leaving the bulk of the public health work to be done by interventions which drinkers generally cannot avoid and do not have seek out, such as price increases and availability restrictions.
With its combination of a randomised trial and a ‘real-world’ test, the featured research programme has gone further than any other in establishing the beneficial impacts of web-based alcohol interventions. However, largely because many site users do not complete research surveys, it remains impossible to be sure that the results seen in such studies will be replicated across the entire usership of the sites. Details below.
Strengths and limitations of the featured study
The featured study’s combination of a randomised trial with all its methodological safeguards, and a ‘real-world’ trial approximating normal conditions, affords what seems to be the best indication to date of the contribution web-based self-help interventions could make to reducing heavy drinking and associated health risks. However, its twin pillars are weakened by the fact that many people either did not join the studies or did not supply follow-up data; those who did may not have been typical of all the people who might access such sites. In the randomised trial, 40% of the baseline sample did not complete the six-month follow-up survey, and in the featured study, nearly 60%. Though on the measures taken by the study the respondents generally seemed typical of the baseline sample, clearly something was sufficiently different to cause them to respond while the others did not. In both studies this problem was catered for by assuming that non-responders were also non-changers. Though this almost certainly underestimated the impact of the intervention, still in both there remained significant and worthwhile improvements.
What could not be catered for in either study was the degree to which people who join such studies differ from the much greater number who would use the web sites, but decline participation in research. This problem was especially apparent in the featured study, in which it seems that around 6% of site visitors signed up for the self-help programme. Of these, perhaps a third or slightly more of the people who signed up for the programme during the relevant period also agreed to participate in the research. In some important ways (including amount drunk and motivation to change) they seemed similar to the bulk of programme sign-ups, though the researchers suspect they were more likely to have engaged with the programme.
Opening more doors to change for more people
A review of computer-based alcohol services for the general public has rehearsed the advantages: immediate, convenient access for people (the majority in developed nations) connected to the internet; consequently able to capitalise on what may be fleeting resolve; anonymous services sidestep the embarrassment or stigma which might deter help-seeking; such services are available to people unwilling or less able to talk about their problems to a stranger; generally they are free and entail no travel costs or lost income due to time off work; very low operating cost per user if widely accessed; easily updated. In consumption terms, the drinking problems of web site users are comparable to those of drinkers who seek treatment, yet few have received professional help, perhaps partly because their higher socioeconomic status and greater resources have enabled them to restrict the consequential damage. People who actually engage with web-based assessments of their drinking problems have more severe problems than those who just visit and leave. Including the randomised trial which paved the way for the featured study, the review found eight studies which evaluated the effectiveness of computer-based interventions for the general public. In all but one the users significantly improved on at least one of the alcohol-related measures recorded by the studies.
A particular role for alcohol self-help sites may be to offer an easy, quick and accessible way to for drinkers to actualise their desire to tackle their problems, especially when that desire is allied with the resources to implement and sustain improvements without face-to-face or comprehensive assistance. After conducting the Project MATCH trial, some of the world’s leading alcohol treatment researchers argued that “access to treatment may be as important as the type of treatment available”. The implication is that in cultures which accept ‘treatment’ as a route to resolving unhealthy and/or undesirable drinking, having convincing-looking and accessible ‘treatment doors’ to go through may be more important than what lies behind those doors, as long as this fulfils the expectations of the client or patient. This is likely to be especially the case for people who retain a stake in conventional society in the form of marriages, jobs, families, and a reputation to lose. These populations – the kind the featured study suggests are attracted to self-help alcohol therapy web sites – have more of the ‘recovery capital’ resources needed to themselves do most of the work in curbing their drinking.
The British Down Your Drink site
The best known British alcohol self-help web site is the Down Your Drink site run by a team based at University College London, an initiative originally funded by the Alcohol Education and Research Council and now by the Medical Research Council’s National Prevention Research Initiative. In 2007 this was revised to offer set programmes from a one-hour brief intervention to several weeks, but also to generally give the user greater control over the use they made of the site. The approach remained based on principles and techniques derived from motivational interviewing and cognitive-behavioural therapies.
The previous version had been structured as six consecutive modules to be accessed weekly. An analysis of data provided by the first 10,000 people who registered at the site after piloting ended in September 2003 revealed that most were in their 30s and 40s, half were women, nearly two-thirds were married or living with a partner, just 4% were unemployed, and most reported occupations from higher socioeconomic strata. As an earlier study commented, site users were predominantly middle class, middle aged, white and European. Six in 10 either did not start the programme, or completed just the first week. About 17% completed the six weeks. Of these, 57% returned an outcome questionnaire. Compared to their pre-programme status, on average they were now at substantially lower risk, and functioning better and living much improved lives. The sample had been recruited over about 27 months, a registration rate of about 4500 a year. By way of comparison, in England during 2008/09, around 100,000 adults were treated for their alcohol problems at conventional services. User profile and site usage had been similar during the earlier pilot phase. Results from surveys sent to pilot programme completers indicated that three quarters had never previously sought help for their drinking.
Source: Published in Findings 19 May 2010 Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research: 2009, 33(8), p. 1401–1408

Filed under: Alcohol,Europe,Health,Internet,Treatment and Addiction :

Brief skills training is effective to curb college drinking
A study in Swedish colleges, where over-use of alcohol is widespread, showed that a Brief Skills Training Program was effective in reducing alcohol consumption over a two-year period.

Students were randomly assigned to a brief skills training program (BSTP) with interactive lectures and discussions, a twelve-step–influenced (TSI) program with didactic lectures by therapists trained in the 12-step approach, and a control group. More than three quarters of the students were rated “high risk” on an alcohol consumption score.

At follow-up two years later, the high-risk students who had received the BSTP program showed significantly better outcomes than high-risk students who had undergone TSI. The TSI students did no better than the control group.

Source:The study results are in the March issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental

Filed under: Alcohol,Europe,Treatment and Addiction,Youth :

Contrary to what is often claimed by supporters of the tolerant Dutch drugs policy, cannabis usage by young people in the Netherlands is not lower but actually higher than average in Europe, it emerges from the European School Survey on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) over the year 2007.

On usage of cannabis, the Netherlands scores above the European average. Over one-quarter (28 percent) of the youngsters aged 15 and 16 surveyed said they have used cannabis sometime in their life, compared with an average of 19 percent in Europe. Current cannabis usage (at least once in the month prior to the survey) is more than double the European average in the Netherlands (15 versus 7 percent).

The Netherlands has risen in the ranking order of 35 European countries from number 12 in 2003 to number 5 on recent cannabis usage. This is due on the one hand to a 2 percentage point increase from 2003 (13 percent) and on the other, to a reduction in a number of countries that scored worse than the Netherlands in 2003, including France (from 22 to 15 percent) and England(from 20 to 11 percent).

The Dutch youngsters, possibly due to the liberal climate, widely believe that cannabis is innocent. The proportion of schoolchildren that think regular cannabis usage involves big risks is the lowest in the Netherlands (50 percent) of all countries surveyed. It is highest in Finland, at 80 percent.

Nearly half (49 percent) of the Dutch schoolchildren say it is (quite) easy to get cannabis. This puts the Netherlands third after the Czech Republic (66 percent) and the UK (51 percent). The infamous Dutch cannabis bars (‘coffee shops’) are not allowed to admit any minors.

The proportion of Dutch schoolchildren that say they have experience with drugs such as ecstasy, amphetamines, LSD, ‘magic mushrooms’ and cocaine and heroin is 7 percent, exactly the same as the European average. Use of tobacco among Dutch youngsters is also average. The Netherlands does score badly on alcohol consumption.

In the month prior to the survey, nearly one-quarter of the Dutch 15 and 16 year old drunk alcohol more than 10 times, compared with a European average of 10 percent. Only schoolchildren in Austria drink more often. Dutch youngsters also drink slightly more alcohol per occasion than the European average, but countries like Denmark, the UK and Norway have considerably higher scores here.

The risks of alcohol usage are rated low by Dutch schoolchildren. Only 18 percent expect negative effects from their own use of alcohol, such as damage to health or problems with the police, compared with the European average of 32 percent. This gives the Netherlands the lowest score here along with Germany.

This is the fourth time the four-yearly ESPAD study has been carried out. The data collection in the Netherlands was financed by the health ministry and carried out by the Trimbos institute in collaboration with the University of Utrecht.
Source:  NIS News Bulletin <http://www.nisnews.nl 4th April 2009

Filed under: Alcohol,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Europe :

The Hague – Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin plans to criminalise the sale of merchandise designed for the cultivation of marihuana. The legislation is aimed at combatting ‘grow shops’ which trade throughout the Netherlands.

A majority of Dutch MPs favour banning ‘grow shops’ which sell everything necessary for growing cannabis plants. The outlets also often give advice on large-scale cultivation of the drug and on getting started in the marihuana trade.

Parliament is today debating the drugs issue and is expected to urge wide-ranging research into the effects of the Netherlands’ famously tolerant drugs policy.

Source: http://www.radionetherlands.nl/news/international/5672665 March 6th 2008

Filed under: Europe :

The policy on cannabis use in The Netherlands is substantially different from that in many other
countries. It is based on the idea that separating the markets for hard drugs and soft drugs prevents soft drug users to resort to hard drug use. Over the years so-called coffeeshops emerged.

Coffeeshops are alcohol free establishments where the selling and using of soft drugs is not prosecuted,provided certain conditions are met. Many of the cannabis products sold in these coffeeshops originate from Dutch-grown grass called ‘nederwiet’. Critics of the Dutch drug policy have claimed that the THC-content of nederwiet has increased drastically over the last decades.

However,the THC-content of cannabis products as sold in coffeeshops has not systematically been
tested. On request of the Ministries of Health and Justice, the potency of cannabis products as sold in coffeeshops in The Netherlands has been investigated since 1999.

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the main psychoactive compound in marihuana and hashish. The
aim of this study was to investigate the concentration of THC in marihuana and hash as sold in
Dutch coffeeshops. In addition we wanted to know whether there are differences between the cannabis products originating from Dutch grown hemp (nederwiet) and those derived from imported hemp. It is the eighth time that this study has been performed.

It might be that there are differences in potency of cannabis products in different seasons of the
year. For that reason, since 2001, every year extra samplings have been done in September. In
these extra studies only nederwiet was bought. The names and addresses of 50 Dutch coffeeshops were randomly selected. For the purpose of this study, 53 samples of nederwiet, 24 samples of foreign marihuana, 14 samples of Dutch hash and 42 samples of hash prepared from foreign hemp were anonymously bought in the selected coffeeshops.

In addition, 47 samples of the most potent marihuana product available in the coffeeshop,
were bought. As a rule samples of 1 gram were bought. The average THC-content of all the marihuana samples together13 was 14,2% and that of the hash-samples 17,2%. The average THC-content of nederwiet (16,0%) was significantly higher than that of foreign marihuana (6,0%). Hash derived from Dutch hemp contained more THC (29,1%) than hash originating from foreign hemp (13,3%). The average THC percentage of nederwiet was significantly lower than last year (16,9 vs. 17.5%).

Again, the THC-percentage in foreign marihuana did not differ from the previous samplings. The average THC-percentage of the marihuana samples that were bought as most potent (16,5%) did not differ from the average percentage of nederwiet. The potency of nederwiet bought in September 2006 was not significantly different from samples bought in December/January 2007. It was the first time that no seasonal influence in THC-levels was found. There seems to be a stabilization of the potency of nederwiet. Such stabilization was first seen in the cannabis samples bought in September. Most potent as indicated by the coffeeshop personnel. This is not corrected for in terms of relative contribution of number of foreign or Dutch samples.

Prices that had to be paid for foreign marihuana were lower than those for any of the other
cannabis products. The prices of nederwiet increased significantly the last year.
The most notable finding in the current investigation was a significant decrease in the potency
of imported hash (from 18,7% in 2006 to 13,3% in 2007). Climate factors in the countries
of origin seem to be the most logical explanation. Future monitoring has to show
whether this is an incident or a trend.

Source:THC-concentration in weed, netherweed and hasj in the Dutch coffeeshops (2006-2007)’, English summary.Trimbos Institute

Filed under: Europe :


For distribution to your contacts.
We are in agreement on the effects of ineffective international policies, political agendas and poor services.

We are requesting the Irish Government to take responsibility towards its Ministers as you will see from the article in our main National newspaper the Sunday Independent. [http://www.independent.ie/national-news/no-to-dail-coke-tests-minister-1
116996.html]
In the name of National security and especially as they are responsible
for national drug policy we feel it is imperative. This is similiar
for all other Governments.

If anyone is using it, means they are compromised in their position.
We did one hour on national radio yesterday discussing the effects of drug use on crime and the harm that our present national policy has
caused . Ireland has one of the highest rates of drug use in Europe.
When I work in Sweden we see the effects of a Drug Free Policy.
Less drug use, crime etc. Although they have a problem it is not in any way equal to that which we see under present ‘Harm Reduction’ – Harm Production policies internationally.

Source: Marie Byrne, Aisling Group International,Ireland. October 2007

Filed under: Europe :

The sale of hallucinogenic magic mushrooms is about to be banned by the Dutch Government in the latest sign of a conservative backlash against Amsterdam’s relaxed attitude towards sex and drugs.
A series of high-profile deaths and injuries linked to magic mushroom trips has proved too much for ministers, who are expected to discuss prohibition proposals from Ab Klink, the Health Secretary, at a Cabinet meeting today. The move follows growing official impatience with the unforeseen consequences of traditional Dutch tolerance, which instead of normalising drug taking and prostitution has drawn in people-traffickers, dealers and organised crime gangs from across Europe.
Mr Klink’s push for a ban on the mushrooms follows plans by the Mayor of Amsterdam for an upgrade of the city’s infamous red-light district, including the closure of many of its prostitute windows and coffee shops where cannabis is openly sold. Job Cohen, the mayor, has also proposed a three-day “cooling-off” period between ordering mushrooms and buying them, to put off Amsterdam’s many weekend tourists, but that did not go far enough for Mr Klink.
Fresh mushrooms — as opposed to dried fungi which are already banned — are legally on sale at so-called smart shops, about 40 of which have sprung up in the capital selling all manner of herbal and chemical compounds. The sale of hallucinogenic mushrooms is illegal in most other countries and the dramatic rethink in the Netherlands has followed a rise in medical emergencies in Amsterdam linked to mushroom use.
Ambulance call-outs rose from 70 in 2005 to 128 last year, with nine out of ten cases involving tourists. Britons were the largest group among them. In July an 18-year-old from Iceland threw himself out of a hotel window, breaking both his legs.
But what really caught the public imagination was the death of a 17-year-old French girl who jumped from a bridge over one of Amsterdam’s canals to her death in March, apparently under the influence of magic mushrooms. In May, Mr Klink ordered the national health institute to carry out a fresh study on the risks of mushrooms, following an earlier report that played down the health dangers and led to a continuation of the tolerant approach.
Magic mushrooms are not addictive, but can have severe psychological consequences. Over the past six years mushrooms in dried and fresh form have been banned in Britain, Denmark and Ireland. In Britain, freshly picked magic mushrooms have been classified as Class A drugs for two years. The Drugs Act 2005 brought the law on fresh mushrooms into line with dried specimens. Britain acted after a significant rise in the amount of imported magic mushrooms.

Source: Daily Dose 11th October 2007

Filed under: Europe :

DRUG deaths soared from 111 to 162 in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board area last year.
Heroin or morphine was the cause of 97 deaths and methadone was involved in 58 cases.
In Glasgow alone, there were 113 drug-related deaths, a sharp rise from 75 last year.
The rises in both areas were far higher than anywhere else in the country.
The figures, in a report from the General Register Office, revealed there were 421 drug-related deaths in Scotland, 85 more than last year.
They also show that there were 204,168 methadone prescriptions in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board area at a cost of almost £4.7million Glasgow Tory MSP Bill Aitken said: “These figures are so bad they point to a loss of control over an already desperate problem.
“The message has got to get across that dabbling with drugs then becomes a serious addiction and frequently ends with the loss of a life.
“We have to react to these tragic statistics. There must be a no-tolerance approach to drug taking, strict and punitive enforcement on drug dealers and better efforts to rehabilitate those who are willing address their demons.”
Minister for Community Safety Fergus Ewing said drug abuse was “one of the greatest problems facing us as a nation”.
He added: “It’s a long term problem, we need long-term solutions – not quick fixes. We will launch a new drugs strategy next year that will be focussed on using resources more effectively to get addicts drug-free.
“Connecting people to the right services and integrated care to help them lead drug free lives should be the norm across Scotland rather than the exception.”

Source: Evening Times. 19/12/07

Filed under: Europe :

IT IS clear for all to see that Ireland has a growing cocaine problem which we must face in a sensible and coherent manner. But in the process of tackling the problem, we must steer a careful path between two major mistakes that would make the situation worse.
The first mistake is that of normalising the problem by hyping its prevalence. The recent Prime Time Investigates programme grabbed the headlines with its findings that cocaine traces can be found in most pubs and nightclubs. But that is a long way from showing that most individuals take cocaine. If we create the impression that “everyone” takes cocaine when they clearly don’t, and if we communicate the idea that cocaine use is now the expected behaviour for young people, we can make the problem worse because of the powerful effect of social norm perceptions on human behaviour.
The second, and even greater, danger is to indulge in poorly thought-out policy reactions that will have the ultimate effect of making the problem worse. That’s why arguments about legalising cocaine and other drugs, must be rejected.
One of the arguments for legalisation is that state controls would put the crime lords out of business. But there is absolutely no evidence for this. Do we really believe that the gangs who have made millions, and who are prepared to kill to protect their narcotic empires, will simply walk away and retire?
At what age should children be allowed to buy legal cocaine? One study released earlier this year indicated that 40 per cent of Irish 15-year-olds have dabbled in illegal drugs. Should cocaine be legal for kids of this age? Unless we make cocaine more freely available than alcohol and tobacco, and place no age limits on it, a black market for underage cocaine will remain. In such a scenario, what’s to stop our drug lords killing each other to capture the teen coke market? And what if the cocaine magnates diversify into other banned substances, creating a new, expanded market where they won’t have to compete against the local cocaine-selling pharmacy? Do we really want expert drug pushers pursuing our teenagers in this way? What about the cost of legal cocaine? What’s to stop the criminal gangs from undercutting the price of legal cocaine?
But even if, in some alternative reality, the decriminalisation of cocaine would reduce crime, we still face a choice between two major evils and must ask ourselves which of them is the lesser: gangs wiping each other out or the prospect of even greater drug abuse and death in the rest of the population due to decriminalisation?
Legalising cocaine would inevitably increase drug consumption levels and with them, drug-related tragedies because the law plays a significant role in influencing human behaviour. Of course, it is peers that have the most intensely powerful impact on our behaviour, precisely because friends help to establish the social norms. But if this potent peer pressure has already led to a significant cocaine problem, how much greater would our problem be if the State endorsed cocaine?
Britain, in taking a softer approach to marijuana, has seen a 22 per cent increase in hospital admissions of cannabis users. The Netherlands, with its enlightened drugs policy, has seen a dramatic rise in heroin use since soft drugs were legalised. Meanwhile, Sweden, with some of the toughest drugs laws has Europe’s lowest consumption rate.
After the recent cocaine-related death of Kevin Doyle, 21, of Waterford, his family said that they “sincerely hope that no family has to suffer the pain that we are going through”. Can we really believe that a dangerous experiment with legalised cocaine would help their wish to come true?

Source: Independent i.e. Sunday December 23 2007
Patrick Kenny is a lecturer in marketing in the Dublin Institute of Technology.

Filed under: Europe :

Czech pot smokers have breathed a sigh of relief after the government clarified a law on drug use, turning the country into one of Europe’s safest havens for casual drug users.
Under the more transparent and liberal law in effect since January, people found in possession of up to 15 grammes (half an ounce) of marijuana or growing up to five cannabis plants no longer risk prison or a criminal record, but can only be fined if caught. The new law replaced an ambiguous one that made it a penalty to be in possession of “a larger than small amount” of marijuana.
But Karel Nespor, a doctor who heads the addiction treatment centre at Prague-Bohnice psychiatric hospital, is concerned about impact the eased law may have on health. “One study found that the risk of heart attack is four times higher in the hour after someone smokes a marijuana joint,” he recently told the Czech daily Dnes .”Marijuana use also risks provoking ‘cravings’ for the drug,” he said.
Adopted after years of wrangling, the new drug law also allows people to possess less than 1.5 grammes of heroin, a gramme of cocaine, up to five grammes of hashish, and five LSD blotter papers, pills, capsules or crystals.
Czechs can also legally grow up to five cannabis or coca plants or cacti containing mescaline, and possess up to 40 magic mushrooms. If growers comply with the legal limits, possession is treated as a minor offence, while the possession of bigger amounts may result in up to six months in prison for hemp and up to a year for magic mushrooms, plus a fine. In neighbouring Poland and Slovakia, people possessing any amount of marijuana risk ending up behind bars.

Source Daily Dose 18.03.10

Filed under: Europe :

Children, whose parents allow them to have alcohol at home in a bid to teach responsible drinking, drink even more outside of home, a new study claims.
A study of 428 Dutch families has found that teens who drank under their parents’ watch or on their own were at a greater risk of developing alcohol-related problems. The researchers insists that the study puts into question the advice of some experts who recommend that parents drink with their teenage children with the aim of limiting their drinking outside of the home.
Dr. Haske van der Vorst, the lead researcher on the study, said: “The idea is generally based on common sense. For example, the thinking is that if parents show good behavior-here, modest drinking-then the child will copy it. Another assumption is that parents can control their child’s drinking by drinking with the child.” Every family, which was quizzed, had two children between the ages of 13 and 15. Parents and teens completed questionnaires on drinking habits at the outset and again one and two years later.
The researchers found that, in general, the more teens drank at home, the more they tended to drink elsewhere; the reverse was also true, with out-of-home drinking leading to more drinking at home.
In addition, teens who drank more often, whether in or out of the home, tended to score higher on a measure of problem drinking two years later.
Haske van der Vorst, of Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands concluded: “I would advise parents to prohibit their child from drinking, in any setting or on any occasion. “If parents want to reduce the risk that their child will become a heavy drinker or problem drinker in adolescence, they should try to postpone the age at which their child starts drinking.” (ANI)

Source: Health News. Jan 28th 2010

Filed under: Alcohol,Europe,Parents,Youth :

Parents who try to teach responsible drinking by letting their teenagers have alcohol at home may be well intentioned, but they may also be wrong, according to a new study in the latest issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

In a study of 428 Dutch families, researchers found that the more teenagers were allowed to drink at home, the more they drank outside of home as well. What’s more, teens who drank under their parents’ watch or on their own had an elevated risk of developing alcohol-related problems. Drinking problems included trouble with school work, missed school days and getting into fights with other people, among other issues.

The findings, say the researchers, put into question the advice of some experts who recommend that parents drink with their teenage children to teach them how to drink responsibly — with the aim of limiting their drinking outside of the home.

That advice is common in the Netherlands, where the study was conducted, but it is based more on experts’ reasoning than on scientific evidence, according to Dr. Haske van der Vorst, the lead researcher on the study.

“The idea is generally based on common sense,” says van der Vorst, of Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands. “For example, the thinking is that if parents show good behavior — here, modest drinking — then the child will copy it. Another assumption is that parents can control their child’s drinking by drinking with the child.”

But the current findings suggest that is not the case.

Based on this and earlier studies, van der Vorst says, “I would advise parents to prohibit their child from drinking, in any setting or on any occasion.”

The study included 428 families with two children between the ages of 13 and 15. Parents and teens completed questionnaires on drinking habits at the outset and again one and two years later.

The researchers found that, in general, the more teens drank at home, the more they tended to drink elsewhere; the reverse was also true, with out-of-home drinking leading to more drinking at home. In addition, teens who drank more often, whether in or out of the home, tended to score higher on a measure of problem drinking two years later.

The findings, according to van der Vorst, suggest that teen drinking begets more drinking — and, in some cases, alcohol problems — regardless of where and with whom they drink.

“If parents want to reduce the risk that their child will become a heavy drinker or problem drinker in adolescence,” she says, “they should try to postpone the age at which their child starts drinking.”

Available at: http://www.jsad.com/jsad/link/71/105

Source: H. van der Vorst Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 71 (1), 105-114. Jan 2010

Filed under: Europe,Parents :

Amsterdam: – The alderman of Rotterdam, responsible for education, Leonard Geluk wants that all middle schools are going to perform drug tests among their students in order to track down traces of use. Geluk responded to the outcome of a test, done by the topicality show Netwerk on 12 different schools in Rotterdam. At half of these schools traces of cocaine were found. It is new and startling to find that cocaine is used at so many schools. I am really worried about this.

Netwerk had these tests performed in the same way the police and military police use to track down drug use. Besides traces of drugs, traces of marihuana use were found on 10 out of these 12 schools. At one school traces of heroin use were found. If you, as a parent, send your child to a school in Rotterdam, you can not and will not expect that your child encounters drugs, and especially not cocaine. The truth of the matter is very different and concerning.

Alderman Geluk pleas to perform drug tests on students who are allegedly drug users. Geluk is –by this plea- quicker than the minister of Justice, who has promised the Chamber a letter about the use of spray to track down traces of use. If there are any legal difficulties about using this spray, we have to check the other possibilities in order to be able to test on drugs.

Source: Renee Besselling Eurad Secretariat 15.01.08

Filed under: Europe :

POLICE have raided 100 cannabis factories capable of producing more than £60m worth of the drug for home and export. More than 100 cannabis factories capable of producing nearly £60 million of a super-strong variety of the drug every year have been found in Scotland.

The Scotsman can reveal the alarming scale of cannabis cultivation in a country which has never before witnessed large-scale illegal drug production.It comes as Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, insisted he is determined to see cannabis upgraded back to a Class B drug in order to send a signal to young people that its use was “unacceptable”.

But a government drugs advisory panel appears set to recommend that it stays at Class C .

In Scotland about 43,000 plants – mainly a high-strength variety known as “skunk” – have been recovered from houses, garages, and disused factories since south-east Asian crime gangs began setting up illicit production plants in the summer of 2006. An explosion in cannabis cultivation has been witnessed over the past 18 months as organised crime, sensing massive profits from a previously non-existent drug export trade, has moved in after being forced out of England and Wales.

For an outlay of about £30,000, individuals can set up a cultivation capable of reaping more than £500,000 worth of cannabis every year. They rig up high-powered lighting and watering systems in order to grow the skunk plants quickly. Despite the high demand for cannabis in the UK, police suspect the operation has yielded so many plants that much of it is being exported into lucrative markets in Europe and beyond.

The phenomenon has alarmed police and prosecutors, triggering a massive operation to root out factories and causing a senior judge to take the unusual step of issuing sentence guidelines to ward off potential growers. The trade is fuelling a growing human trafficking problem. A number of illegal immigrants involved in running cannabis factories, mainly from China and Vietnam, have been arrested since a Scottish police crackdown – called Operation League – began in December 2006. Some are locked in properties 24 hours a day in temperatures exceeding 38C as the bosses threaten to harm their families back home.

Detective Chief Superintendent Stephen Whitelock, head of intelligence at Strathclyde Police, said: “Within Strathclyde to date we’ve identified 70 cultivations and recovered over 35,000 plants. That equates to a maximum street value of £11million. More than 50 people have been arrested. “Across Scotland we’re talking over 100 cultivations and over 43,000 plants worth around £14million.”

Each plant is capable of producing four harvests every year, meaning the 100 factories smashed by police would have created an annual revenue of nearly £60 million had they gone undetected. More than two-thirds of the cannabis factories shut down by police have been found in Strathclyde, but others have been uncovered in towns virtually the length and breadth of the country, including Ayr, Thurso, Newmachar, Cambuslang and Livingston.

As well as the production of the illegal drug, police are extremely concerned about the risk of a fatality if a factory catches fire.

One officer told The Scotsman that the vast amount of heating equipment used to cultivate cannabis, and the fact that many of the factories tap straight into the electricity mains supply to avoid detection, meant it was “miracle” there have been no serious blazes. Each factory typically uses around 20 times the power used for a normal house to grow the cannabis. The cost to power companies is thought to be about £2 million a year.

Police, who say the number of officers on Operation League fluctuates depending on the amount of information they receive, have been known to monitor power supplies and even use infra-red cameras in spotter planes to identify areas of unexplained heat. Mr Whitelock said Operation League had been a huge success, revealing that most factories had been uncovered following tip-offs from the public.

“The main point of Operation League was to put it into the public arena, the threat of organised crime. We’ve had a great response from the public, speaking to officers and phoning Crimestoppers. “The public are generally aware what to look for – that gives us the eyes and ears of five million people in Scotland.

“They’ve had a significant impact on those involved in this area of criminality. But it remains a profitable concern for those involved. “They’re using Scotland as a base to cultivate cannabis for a market elsewhere that has yet to be identified. “Scotland is a consumer society for drugs. But we are now seeing cannabis being produced within our own shores.” He added: “We have identified the production sites, we have identified those involved in the manufacture and production of the plant. But there are obviously plants being cultivated and that is where our knowledge gap is: where do the plants go?”

Police believe the same crime network is involved because of similarities in electrical work and joinery they have found in their raids. Mr Whitelock appealed to landlords to help stamp out cannabis cultivation, insisting they have a responsibility to check what is going on in their properties.

He said police had a “better understanding” of the problem thanks to Operation League. “But it would be naive to say there are no other cannabis activities ongoing,” he added. “The primary people involved are south-east Asian organised crime groups. There are many links also with indigenous crime groups,” added Mr Whitelock.

Last November, Scottish judges were given tough new sentencing guidelines in an attempt to crack down on cannabis farms. Lord Hamilton, the Lord Justice General, said the move was needed to tackle a big increase in the farms, warning that even low-level cannabis “gardeners” should expect to face between four and five years in prison.

Source: The Scotsman.4.4.2008

Filed under: Europe :

MAASTRICHT, Netherlands (Reuters) – Sitting among the mellow smokers in a coffeeshop in Maastricht it is easy to forget that a plan to relocate half of the cannabis-selling outlets to the city limits has aroused fury. The southern Dutch city has been trying for five years to push seven shops to three new “coffee corners” at its northern, western and southern borders.

The marijuana equivalent of out-of-town shopping malls would serve the 1.5 to 2 million people who pour into the city each year in search of a powerful puff. Neighboring Belgian districts and the Dutch community of Eijsden, enraged by the prospect of coffeeshops on their doorsteps, forced Maastricht to back down after winning a legal challenge last month.

The Dutch city has now put forward a watered-down proposal to place two coffeeshops in a single “coffee corner” at its southern edge for a trial period of three years. Its neighbors are still not happy.
“We see reckless driving, car theft… We already have the highest level of crime of any countryside district in Belgium and 95 percent of it is due to drugs,” said Huub Broers, mayor of the Belgian district of Voeren, just south of Maastricht.

About 80 percent of the city’s coffeeshop customers are foreign — of which 60 percent come from Belgium and the rest from France and Germany. Most buyers come at the weekends but even on a weekday morning, there are Belgian cars clustered around coffeeshops. “Slow Motion,” near the station, is anything but, with a stream of customers in and out within minutes.

DRUGS GANGS

Both proponents and critics of the plan generally agree that the coffeeshops and the vast majority of their customers who come for a joint or a small bag of hash are not the problem, although residents do complain about congestion and parking.

The trouble comes from the criminals they attract, notably about 500 “drug runners” on the streets peddling substances such as cocaine, ecstasy or heroin. Western Europe is the world’s largest market for cannabis resin and Europe is the second-largest global market for cocaine, the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board said in March.

John Walters, director of U.S. national drug control policy, said earlier this month the euro’s gains against the dollar may be behind an enormous increase in the availability of cocaine in Europe: selling in euros may be more profitable than in dollars.

“Maastricht is plagued by drug gangs,” said Brice de Ruyver, a professor of criminology and drugs expert at Ghent University. “The coffeeshops themselves need huge quantities of illicit supplies. Then you have trouble in the city because of dealers. The reasoning is that whoever is interested in cannabis in a coffeeshop may also want something harder as well.”

Residents attest to the problems.

“You see the dealers jump out in the middle of the street flagging down French or German cars. They get in and can be aggressive,” said the owner of Nautica Jansen, a water sport shop beside two floating coffeeshops on the river front. While Voeren’s mayor fears Maastricht’s plan would simply move the criminals towards his district, Maastricht argues it is difficult to stamp out drug crime in the tight central streets.

At more isolated sites outside the city, the Dutch say, policing would be easier and dealers less able to reach people driving into gated coffeeshop enclosures. Marc Josemans, chairman of the Maastricht coffeeshop association, believes illegal dealers would find demand reduced.

That would in turn cut supply: “It’s a normal market mechanism,” he said. “We cannot prove it, because no one has given us the chance.” A survey by Joseman’s association found that a third of customers would prefer out-of-town sites: not surprising, given that so many are foreign.

CLAMPDOWN

The Dutch have cracked down on coffeeshops: there are now around 700, compared with around 1,200 in 1997. In Maastricht, all customers must prove they are at least 18 years old and there are plans to bring in finger scanners to ensure no one buys more than 5 grams per day.

“It’s easier for a terrorist to enter Europe than for a dope smoker to get inside a coffeeshop,” said Josemans “Tolerance in Europe has declined. You see that towards foreigners, religions. And that’s a key reason why the number of coffeeshops has fallen.”

But in Belgium, the rules have softened. Belgians are no longer prosecuted for possessing up to 3 grams (0.1 ounces) of cannabis and can grow a single plant, but would still face arrest for selling resin, plants or seeds in their country. De Ruyver says the coffeeshops cannot simply be labeled a Dutch problem. “If 60 percent of those visiting the shops on the border are Belgian, we must take our responsibility too,” he said.

Source: Reuters 20th April 2008

Filed under: Europe :

Decriminalization of drugs in Portugal – The real facts!
The national press, and especially the foreign, has referred with outlandish insistence, on the eve of two important elections in Portugal, the “resounding success” of the decriminalization of drugs launched in 2001 by the Socialist Government, neglecting all other European countries and in prejudice of the guidelines of the UN Conventions of which Portugal is a signatory.

Respect for the truth of the matter requires the Association for a Drug Free Portugal (APLD) to clarify to the Portuguese, and others, the real consequences of the implementation of this current policy, independent of particular party affiliation. Portugal adopted a unique and unmistakably questionable ‘solution’ to manage the nightmare of drugs.

Recent articles in the weekly British magazine, The Economist and The Cato Institute of Washington promote government options as a legitimate right. The problem is the rest; the manipulation of the facts and numbers is unacceptable!

In 2006, the total number of deaths as a consequence of overdose did not diminish radically compared to 2000, nor did the percentage of drug addicts with AIDS decrease significantly (from 57% to 43%). The opposite occurred.

Portugal faces a worrying deterioration of the drug situation. The facts prove “With 219 deaths from ‘overdose’ per year, Portugal has one of the worst results, with one death every two days. Along with Greece, Austria and Finland, Portugal registered an increase of deaths by more than 30% in 2005 ” and ” Portugal remains the country with the highest increase of AIDS as a result of injecting drugs (85 new cases per million residents in 2005, when the majority of countries do not surpass 5 cases per million). Portugal is the only country that recorded a recent increase, with 36 new cases estimated per million in 2005 when in 2004 only 30 were registered” (European Observatory for Drugs and Drug Addiction 2007). The European report also confirmed that in 2006, Portugal had registered 703 new cases of SIDA, which corresponds to a rate eight times higher than the European average!

The decriminalization of drugs in Portugal did not in any way decrease levels of consumption. On the contrary, “the consumption of drugs in Portugal increased by 4.2% – the percentage of people who have experimented with drugs at least once in their lifetime increased from 7.8% in 2001 to 12% in 2007 (IDT-Institute for Drugs and Drug Addiction Portuguese, 2008).

With regard to the consumption of cocaine “the latest data (surveys from 2005-2007) confirms the increasing trend during the last year in France, Ireland, Spain, The United Kingdom, Italy, Denmark and Portugal” (EMCDDA 2008). While rates of use of cocaine and amphetamine doubled in Portugal, seizures of cocaine have increased sevenfold between 2001 and 2006, the sixth highest in the world (WDR-World Drug Report, 2009).

With regard to hashish, it is difficult to assess the trends and intensive use of hashish in Europe, but among the countries that participated in field trials, between 2004 and 2007 (France, Spain, Ireland, Greece, Italy, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands and Portugal) there was an average increase of approximately 20% ” (EMCDDA, 2008).

In Portugal, since decriminalization has been implemented, the number of homicides related to drugs has increased 40%. “It was the only European country with a significant increase in (drug-related) murders between 2001 and 2006” (WDR, 2009).

A recent report commissioned by IDT, the Center for Studies and Opinion Polls (CESOP) of the Portuguese Catholic University, based on direct interviews regarding the attitudes of the Portuguese towards drug addiction (which has strangely never been released), revealed the following: 83.7% of respondents indicated that the number of drug users in Portugal has increased in the last four years. 66.8% believe that the accessibility of drugs in their neighborhoods was easy or very easy and 77.3% stated that crime related to drugs has also increased (“Toxicodependências” No. 3, 2007).

This is the painful reality in Portugal- the attitude towards drugs and drug addiction. For the Portuguese government, drug addicts are essentially regarded as ‘sick’. This is not only a suicidal attitude, but a public expense. Pretend you are sick and the government pretends to treat you! The decriminalization of consumption, possession and acquisition for consumption has added to the illicit consumption of drugs. Legalizing a crime committed by “drug addicts” (or “the sick”) does not seem the most effective way to combat the problem, as shown by greatly increased rate of drug-related homicides recorded in Portugal compared to other countries with reduced dependence and related crime.

What is happening in Portugal is very peculiar; drug addicts, with the support of the government, rely on their status as ‘sick’. But these addicts often forget that they are ‘sick’ and are assumed as free and responsible people, who are able to decide whether they want treatment or not! As a result of decriminalization the addict is considered a patient and not a delinquent. The state can not choose, through a political policy, a solution that gives priority to feed the “disease” rather than a cure! Resounding success? Glance at the results!

Manuel Pinto Coelho
President of the Association for a Drug Free Portugal

Source: www.wfad.se Tuesday, 02 February 2010

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Drug policy public hearing – a revivalist meet for the disciples of dope.

A Brussels Parliament sketch by Peter Stoker – Director, National Drug Prevention Alliance
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In the comfortable and prestigious surroundings of the European Parliament, a ‘Public Hearing’ was – in the event – heard by very few of The Public. Perhaps this is just as well, for the average citizen might have torched this expensive building, built from his tax money, had they heard what was being said.

Under the name of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee, the hearing concerned what was euphemistically called the ‘Anti-Drug’ Strategy, 2005 – 2012, and its attendant ‘Action Plans’ (2005 – 2008 and 2009 – 2011). Enthusiasts of drug policy will know the special significance of 2008; this is the year in which the UN is set to review its Conventions on Drugs, for which more than 100 nations have signed up, thereby generating an enormous and positive influence on drug policy around the world. It is precisely because the Conventions have a positive influence, a bulwark against legalisation, that they are hated by the pro-legalisation crowd. They would kill them today if they could but meanwhile they are working behind and in front of every available screen to administer a death blow as soon as they can.

Deep concern for the public health, social cohesion and safety of European society was cited as the drive for the ‘Anti-Drug’ Strategy – surely matters of interest to The Public, but this meeting was populated by a rather different variety of human being.

Instead of the public there was a collection of around 150 people – of which more than 100 came ‘on a mission from Gomorrah’, bearing banners and leaflets, and demanding a Europe of free drugs – not a Europe free of drugs. Largely in harmony with this aspiring cluster were some 15 MEPs who, if they spoke at all, spoke in terms which garnered the applause of the 100. Also on hand were around 25 EU officials who maintained at discreet silence – in all but one noteworthy case. Mathematicians amongst you will note that this leaves about five people are not accounted for? Who they? The prevention platoon – including yours truly.

Known drug legalisers and liberalisers were greeted like old friends – which maybe they were – and were given reserved seating plus arranged speaking slots in the agenda. Thus were we treated to presentations by ENCOD, TNI, IAPL and others who would not be given house room in any self-respecting house.

Looking on benevolently but keeping a low profile was Mike Trace, the disgraced former Deputy Drugs Tsar for the UK who, on the eve of his elevation to head of Demand Reduction for the UN, was spectacularly exposed by the London Daily Mail as running covert operations with legaliser bodies, notably those bankrolled by George Soros. Trace was obliged to resign his seat at the UN even before he had begun warming it, but he remains a force on the UK and European scene, the beneficiary of a determined rehabilitation scheme by those who feel there is still some useful mileage in him. He is a top cat in Drug Treatment Limited, in the Beckley Foundation, and in RAPt – the Rehabilitation of Addicted Prisoners Trust – the breadwinner job he has held since before his heady days of Drug Tsardom.

The meeting was chaired by Belgian MEP Antoine Duquesne, and did little to diminish his reputation as a strange person. A welcome was offered by the Health Minister for Luxemburg, who promised that of all present today had left their dogmas leashed up outside the front door, and that no preachers had been admitted. Our main goal, he suggested, should be free to reduce Harm … not only the physiological harm drug-users suffer but also the harm of their social exclusion (presumably users should be set on a pedestal in society). The minister concluded by entreating all present to not stick to a static view; there are many approaches, he said, witness the contents of the Action Plan produced by the splendidly named Horizontal Drug Group on the 23rd of February this year.

Next up was a spokesman for the Pompidou Group, Bob Kaiser, who did his best to maintain gravitas in presenting a predictable and unimaginative series of recommendations, ending with the plea that money should not be spent on new organisations (the implication being that it was better to spend it on old organisations – like his).

Paul Griffiths, spokesman for the Lisbon-based monitoring centre, EMCDDA, uttered the recurrent plea for more and better data, not withstanding what he saw as improvements in recent years. We needed, he said, to get much better at collecting evidence, if – that is – evidence-based policy (as distinct from policy-based evidence) is the goal.

A sanguine spokesman from the International Red Cross made new friends in the audience when he asserted that the notion of a drug-free world is unrealistic and that it was in the nature of man to swallow psychoactive substances – much in the way he had evidently swallowed this rhetoric. He lost one friend, however, when he dismissed the concerns of of Madame Roure, MEP for Lyon, France, who spoke of young children in deprived areas being drawn into drug use; that – said the Red Cross man – was a South American or Eastern Europe problem i.e. nothing for us civilised types over here to get excited about. Madame R gave him a short shrift; she was, she said, talking about the fair city of Lyon – not Bogota or Bucharest.

Luc Beauman, spokesman for ENCOD, knew he was preaching to the converted. From his position on the top table he presented a relaxed and intellectually stylish restatement of their position. At this, the 100 erupted into thunderous and extended applause, holding aloft colourful if modestly-sized banners (possibly designed to fit comfortably inside one’s jacket).

It was then that the assembled drug freedom fighters in the cheap seats became restless. Surely, the first cautiously suggested, it is the system of making drugs illegal which just makes prevention harder to appear: wouldn’t a bright new day dawn and everything be super if we just legalised them all?. Others quickly followed over this rickety bridge head: A man from Bologna complained that he couldn’t get a drink after 9pm or smoke cigarettes in shops – this is Prohibitionism even with legal drugs, so it’s just part of the same problem, and we must recognise that prohibitionists are dangerous animals. The appropriately-named ‘Freek’ Polack claimed that he had just one question for the Parliament – then proceeded to ask five; the gist of it was that policies which don’t enable drug use are failures, so why are we silent on this failure? He was received in silence.

An impassioned plea from a hirsute young German drug user took the form of a velvet trap – “You say we need your help, I say you need our help, so when will you stop isolating and demonising us?” (as in ‘When did you stop beating your wife?’).

An Italian plaintiff said he knew of five people, arrested for drug possession who, when their names were published in the media, committed suicide.The notion of an early death during this meeting was perhaps growing in the minds of some, who were by now finding the whole affair life-threatening.

In the name of balance, a Belgian prevention centre worker was invited to speak. He remarked that the discussions “seemed to getting very polemical” – perhaps unintentionally implying that they had not been polemical from the kick-off.

ENCOD’s Luc Beauman took another bite at the cherry; if cannabis is demonised, he opined, then kids don’t take any drug information seriously. Ergo, unreliable prevention messages damage all prevention messages, so his argument went.
( Unreliable libertarian messages did not, it seemed, qualify for the same criticism). ‘Regulation’ – the new buzzword for Legalisation – would usher in a new dawn of ‘ sincere and and honest information’. This would be best achieved by involving citizens, a pious hope of politicians since the 1980s but sadly a hope yet to be realised. 2008 or 2012 were, said Luc, intolerably far away … “What do we want? Regulation! When do we want it? Now!” … and so on …

It was left to the one civil servant who did speak to administer a cold douche of reality. Carel Edwards, Head of the Anti-Drugs Coordination Unit at the EC, told it how it was – and is likely to remain. He was given just six minutes to speak; and said “If you think I can, or will state that the EC position in six minutes, think again”. If today had demonstrated anything, he said, it had demonstrated once again the enormous confusion over the whole subject. The notion that opinions from street level would reach to and direct the top of government is the kind of dream that only comes from those smoking unusual tobaccos. In support of this he cited how few MEPs were here today – and the fact that no of single member state has yet reached what can be called a consenus on drug policy.

He made a somewhat bizarre reference to the Institute for Global Drug Policy Conference held in the European Parliament building about a month ago, characterising this as “Americans expressing a very repressive policy” (It seems that an attendance register, showing the wide variety of European and worldwide delegates at that meeting might helpfully enlighten him). In closing, he said the EC’s aim was to produce an ‘ideology-free, evidence-based’ policy. Those who wanted to debate ideology should go elsewhere; coming as it did after three and a half hours of almost unceasing ideology-pushing, this remark fell on stoned and stony ground alike.

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Filed under: Europe,Political Sector :

Highest in Europe – one in ten Scots used cannabis last year

SCOTS are some of the biggest users of drugs in Europe, a new study has shown.
The annual report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), has shown that 11 per cent of Scottish adults used cannabis last year – second only to Italy – compared with an European average of 6.8 per cent, and a UK rate of 8.4 per cent.

The report also showed Scotland has the highest usage of cocaine (3.8 per cent), amphetamines (2.2 per cent) and LSD (0.6 per cent), while ecstasy use came in at 3.2 per cent, second to the Czech Republic, which has a rate of 3.5 per cent.

The figures follow controversy over cannabis classification following UK government drug adviser Professor David Nutt’s sacking last week.

He had spoken out against the decision to reclassify cannabis from a Class C drug to the more dangerous category B.

The EMCDDA’s figures, which are based on the most up-to-date regional cannabis-use statistics, revealed that the Dutch were among the lowest users, with just 5.4 per cent using the drug.

Scottish Drugs Forum director David Liddle said the figures pointed to wider issues about approaches to tackling drug use.

“They raise the question of what is the best route, through education and giving young people information about drug use, or through the legal route,” he said. “The bigger issue is the one of early use, which leads young people on to particular cultures and problematic use of illegal substances, but early drunkenness and smoking are also linked to this.”

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “This report highlights why Scotland’s drugs problem cannot be tackled overnight.

“We need long-term cultural change, which is why we launched ‘Road to Recovery’, Scotland’s national drugs strategy.”

Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Bill Aitken said the figures reflected the need for a rethink on drugs policy.

Mr Aitken said: “These are clearly very concerning figures, and the cannabis statistics in particular result from the lack of a firm message from the UK government on cannabis classification.”
Source: http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotland 7th Nov. 2009

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New research shows alcohol-related illnesses could be killing one in 20 Scots – twice as many as previously thought. The study totalled the proportion of 53 different causes of death – ranging from stomach cancer and strokes to assaults and road deaths – in which alcohol consumption played a part, to show that nearly 3,000 deaths in 2003 were alcohol-related.
This is double the figure for deaths from illnesses caused almost entirely by alcohol consumption alone, such as alcoholic liver disease. It means one Scot may be dying from alcohol-related causes every three hours.
While alcohol-related deaths accounted for five per cent of all deaths in Scotland, this proportion rises to more than a quarter of deaths in men and a fifth of women aged 35-44. In addition, around 41,414 people were discharged from hospital due to alcohol consumption – more than one in twenty (7.3 per cent) of patients over 16, and 50 per cent higher than figures based on wholly attributable conditions.
Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said:
“This research shows that alcohol misuse is taking an even higher toll on Scotland’s health than previously thought. To have one in 20 Scots dying from alcohol-related causes is a truly shocking statistic. Drinking alcohol is part of Scottish culture, but it’s clear that many people are drinking too much and damaging their health in the process. Alcohol misuse is the biggest public health challenge we face and the Scottish Government has made crystal clear our determination to get to grips with it.”
Cancer deaths accounted for just over a fifth (21.7 per cent) of all alcohol attributable deaths. A total of 2,374 of the 2,882 deaths (82.4 per cent) linked to alcohol were in people under the age of 75. And of these, 1,080 deaths were people under the age of 55.
The calculations are based on consumption data from the Scottish Health Survey 2003, updated to reflect the increasing strength of alcoholic drinks. Conditions were identified where alcohol increased the likelihood of developing the condition and this information was applied to consumption patterns to calculate the proportion of deaths from a particular condition attributable to alcohol. New Scottish Health Survey data due for publication later this year will allow updated mortality figures to be calculated. The study, published by ISD Scotland, also indicated that 1,493 heart disease deaths may have been prevented by low levels of alcohol consumption, although drinking even at low levels was found to be a risk factor for almost all the other conditions. Furthermore, the positive effects of low consumption in relation to heart disease were cancelled out by higher consumption.
Last week the Scottish Government held an Alcohol Summit which brought together representatives from all the political parties, alcohol industry, NHS, retailers and academics to discuss the measures outlined in the Alcohol Framework.
Source: The Scottish Government 30th June 2009

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The ban on the sale of fresh hallucinogenic mushrooms from December 1 has been confirmed by health minister Ab Klink on Monday evening as earlier reported. The ban covers both the growing and sale of these mushrooms.
The sale of dried mushrooms is already banned.
Klink said last year he would ban the so-called magic mushrooms following a series of incidents involving tourists.
Source: DutchNews.nl 11th Nov. 2008

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The breakdown shows health boards and councils forked out £77 million on drug services in 2007 and just under £26 million on alcohol services.
Drug and alcohol abuse is costing Scotland nearly £5billion a year, according a report by the watchdog Audit Scotland. The breakdown shows health boards and councils forked out £77million on drug services in 2007 and just under £26million on alcohol services.
The report said spending patterns did not always reflect national priorities or need, and funding arrangements are often “complex and fragmented”.
Death rates for alcohol and drug abuse in Scotland are amongst the highest in Europe and have doubled in the last 15 years. This is while rates decrase in other parts of Europe. The number of alcohol-related deaths in 2007 was 1,399 – compared to 455 drugs-related deaths.
The report has called for a more co-ordinated approach to services.
Auditor General Robert Black said: “The range of services for people in need of help can depend on where they live and there is not enough information about the effectiveness of these services.”
Scottish ministers have not set out minimum national standards that victims and their families can expect from drug and alcohol services. The report says ministers need to work with the NHS, councils and others to ensure they all know their responsibilities. While recent Scottish Government strategies have a focus on prevention, only 6 per cent of direct spending was on preventive activities.
Scottish Conservative leader Annabel Goldie said: “This report came about as a result of Scottish Conservative pressure in the 2008 budget. We suspected there was chaos in how funding streams were directed towards addressing addiction. The horrific truth has now been exposed and I am shocked at the sheer scale of the drugs and alcohol problem in Scotland.”
Labour’s Cathy Jamieson added: “I am particularly concerned that Audit Scotland’s report states that the Scottish Government is not funding services in the most effective way as they have no way of measuring performance. This is completely unacceptable and must change.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said the Government had asked for the report and welcomed its findings. He added: “It details the system we inherited from the previous administration.” The spokesman also said spending on drug and alcohol services had increased.

Source: www.stv.tv 26 March 2009,

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ALCOHOL problems in the Western Isles are so widespread that experts find it difficult to decide which section of the population to target.

A new report says moves towards a cultural change must be maintained and developed to make excessive drinking less acceptable.

It says it makes sense to focus on young people, to attempt to reduce future problems. In addition to education and prevention, help must be given to young people affected by adult drinkers. Another study suggests a significant proportion of youth homelessness in the islands is related to parental alcohol misuse.

The report by the Western Isles Alcohol and Drugs Action Team will be discussed by the islands’ health board on Thursday. It shows men in the Western Isles drink more than women and are more likely to drink above sensible guidelines, but youngsters aged 18-24 drink more than older age groups.

Overall, the number of people taken to hospital with alcohol-related illnesses rose by 30 per cent between 1990-2000 and 2004-5, compared with a 21 per cent rise across Scotland. Most of these – 338 out of 437 (77 per cent) – were men, an increase of 23 per cent in the five years.

Over the same period, alcohol-related discharges of women from hospital in the Western Isles rose by 60 per cent, compared with a 20 per cent increase in the rest of Scotland. The report recommends this as a priority area for investigation and action.

Findings among children shows 53 per cent of 13-year-olds in the Western Isles (57 per cent nationally) have had an alcoholic drink, as have 92 per cent of 15-year-olds (84 per cent nationally).

Source: The Scotsman 26th August 2008

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Teenagers are to be banned from buying alcohol in France, as health advisers dismiss the cherished Gallic belief that children should be initiated in the art of wine-drinking at an early age. With British-style binge drinking gaining ground among French youth, officials say they want to send out a clear message against adolescent consumption. Roselyne Bachelot, the Health Minister, said that she was planning to make it illegal to sell alcohol to the under18s, with legislation likely to be introduced next year.
Her announcement signals a sea change in a society where 16-year-olds have been able to buy wine and beer, although not spirits, in cafés and restaurants and all alcoholic drinks in supermarkets and other shops with an off-licence. It marks a shift in official thinking over the hallowed French tradition of initiating the young in drinking rituals, notably involving wine. The French consensus has been that the first sips should be taken in early adolescence – or before – under parental supervision. This is believed to foster a mature, sensible approach to alcohol far removed from Anglo-Saxon excesses – a couple of glasses of red with lunch and dinner throughout the week, rather than ten pints of lager on a Saturday night.
A senior French health adviser told The Times that his compatriots were deluding themselves. Bernard Basset, deputy managing director of the National Institute for Health Prevention and Education, said that not only did childhood tippling encourage adult alcoholism, but it was also no barrier to binge drinking. He said: “In effect, you are authorising them to drink and suggesting that alcohol consumption is a normal thing.”
Studies showed that those who started drinking under the age of 18 were likely to consume more in later life than those who started afterwards, he added. Mr Basset hopes that the ban on serving alcohol to teenagers in public will encourage a similar move within Gallic families. “What we say is, don’t drink before adulthood.”
Research has debunked the idea that the French were immune to le binge-drinking, as it has become known. The percentage of under18s saying they got drunk regularly rose from 19 to 26 per cent between 2003 and 2006, for instance. According to the Health Ministry, the number of people under 24 treated in hospital in connection with alcohol increased by 50 per cent between 2004 and 2007.
Gilles Demigneux, a public health specialist, said: “The fact that you can get completely smashed in an Anglo-Saxon way, using alcohol as a drug, is something we couldn’t have imagined in France in the 1980s.”
In an attempt to curble binge-drink-ing the Health Ministry released Boire Trop(Too Much to Drink), a hard-hitting advertising campaign this summer, cautioning that excessive alcohol could lead to comas, violence, accidents and sexual abuse.
Critics say the government action could be counter-productive, however. The Federation of General Student Associations, a leading students’ union, said: “There is a tendency to infantilise young people when it would be better to make them take responsibility for themselves.” Olivier Douard, a sociologist at the Laboratory for the Study of and Research into Social Intervention in southern France, said: “Bans are not generally efficient as far as adolescents are concerned. They often lead to transgression.”
The debate has been given added urgency by the death from alcohol poisoning last month of an 18-year-old student in central France who had been out to celebrate passing his end of school exams. In another well-publicised case this week, a father from Brittany sued the supermarket that had sold three bottles of spirits to his 16-year-old daughter, who was taken to hospital after losing consciousness.
Source: The Times August 26, 2008

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Dutch growers earn around €2bn from exporting marijuana to the rest of the world every year, a senior police chief told the NRC newspaper this weekend. This compares to €5.5bn for the country’s entire flower and plant export trade, paper says.
Every year, more than 500 tonnes of marijuana grown in the Netherlands is shipped abroad, police commissioner Max Daniel told the paper. The figures are based on police research.
Daniel says that 80% of cannabis grown in the country is for export. ‘In the Netherlands, we have 400,000 cannabis users. If that was it, we would have a much more manageable problem.’
He claims that the involvement of organised crime in the marijuana trade is increasing. ‘Hemp has a role in almost every major murder, guns and drugs case,’ he tells the paper.
Organised crime
And the police chief claims that the lines between the underworld and ordinary society are becoming increasingly blurred. Banks give mortgages to hemp growers, while companies allied to universities help them improve their production techniques, says Daniel.
This summer the government set up a task force involving the police, justice ministry officials, energy companies and housing corporations to look at the role of organised crime in marijuana production.
It is illegal to grow marijuana in the Netherlands although police turn a blind eye if they find up to four plants. Marijuana possession is also technically illegal, but up to five grammes will be ignored.
Source: Drugwatch International quoting DutchNews.nl Oct. 20th 2008

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Germany’s health minister announced on January 22, 2009 that the government banned the production, sale or possession of a synthetic marijuana-like drug known as “Spice” (CP-47,497 and JWH018).
Health Minister Ulla Schmidt says Spice must “quickly be taken out of circulation.”
Germany is the fourth nation to ban the substance, marketed as an herbal room-freshener, after Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland.Read the article
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/21/AR2009012100543_pf.html

Source: ECAD Newsletter Jan. 2009

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PARIS: France will ban the sale of alcohol to minors and drinking in public near schools as part of a broad crackdown on binge drinking among youths, the health minister said in an interview published on Sunday.
Roselyne Bachelot said that a recent study showed an over all decline in alcohol consumption among youths but the frequency of drunkenness was increasing.
“Almost half of youths said they had had five glasses of alcohol on a single night on at least one occasion in the previous 30 days, which is the definition of binge drinking,” she said in an interview with Journal du Dimanche newspaper. She said she was working on a new bill that would also ban promotions known as “open bar” which allow customers to drink as much as they want to for a fixed price. “We are also going to ban open bars … which are a classic at student parties and which encourage binge drinking,” Bachelot said.
She said the number of under-25s hospitalised because of excessive drunkenness had doubled between 2004 and 2007. “Drinking alcohol in public places close to schools will also be forbidden,” she said.
She told the newspaper that at present there was a grey area surrounding sales of alcoholic drinks to teenagers aged 16 to 18, with different rules depending on the kind of alcohol and whether the sales point was a bar, a club or a supermarket. She said her bill would unambiguously ban any sale of alcohol to under-18s anywhere in France.
Another measure will be to ban sales of alcohol in filling stations. Bachelot said that at present, such a ban exists only from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and the new rule should help curb drunk driving.
Bachelot said the measures, which she expected will come into force in 2009, would be accompanied by an advertising campaign featuring youths in a heavenly environment that turns hellish after they have been drinking. In May, a government body in charge of fighting drug and alcohol addiction said it was considering banning “happy hours” during which bars offer cheaper drinks early in the evening to attract customers. Bachelot’s interview made no mention of this.
Source: Reuters July 13, 2008

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Long-term addicts to get two free doses of heroin a day in a Danish scheme that could be replicated across the UK Danish drug users will inject heroin in clinics under doctors’ supervision.
State-funded heroin is becoming a reality in Denmark, the latest in a small, but growing, number of European countries – including the UK – concerned with improving drug users’ quality of life and reducing criminality.
Since 1 January, hundreds of drug addicts in the Nordic country have the right to receive two free doses of heroin a day, paid for by their health system. The offer is only for adult, long-term users for whom substitutes such as methadone and subutex have not worked.
“The aim is to improve their state of health, help them avoid committing crimes and stabilise their lives,” explains Dr Anne Mette Doms at the Danish Board of Health, which supervises the project. “Quitting altogether is not a realistic option for most of these patients. For them, this will be a chronic treatment, as if you were treating a chronic disease.” Addicts will need to attend one of five specialist drug clinics across the country, where they will inject diamorphine – pharmaceutical-grade heroin – under doctors’ supervision. The drug will not be available on prescription so as to avoid resale on the street.
Danish authorities are in the process of setting up the clinics, registering the doctors who will work there, and finding out which drug companies they will source the heroin from. The £7.2m project is expected to be up and running by March.
The initiative was adopted by overwhelming consensus in February 2008, after all but one of the parties represented at the Danish parliament voted in favour of the policy – the only one against it was a tiny far-left party that did not oppose the project per se, but the way it was funded. Among those in favour was the far-right Danish People’s Party, a movement not usually known for its progressive views: at the last general election in 2007, it described some Danish Muslims as benefit-scroungers and fifth columnists who threatened Danish democracy.
Some might think this initiative is not surprising in a country with a historical tradition of progressive, social democratic policies. But, just as in the UK, the drug debate has been bruising in Denmark. And unlike in Britain, where heroin is available on the NHS for some cancer patients, heroin as a palliative is completely forbidden in the Nordic country.
“Five years ago I decided I would not participate in yet another debate on drugs,” recalls Preben Brandt, the chairman of the Council for Socially Marginalised People and an advocate of the policy. “It was too emotional, with different groups being very aggressive.”
“The counter-argument was always ‘you kill people by giving heroin’ or ‘with this initiative, you are telling people that taking heroin is OK’,” he says. “It is very difficult to have a rational debate when you are arguing against beliefs.”
The turning point came when results became available from experiments trialling the policy in other European countries, including Switzerland and the Netherlands. “The politicians became convinced that it could help those with the most severe drug problems,” says Mads Uffe Pedersen, the head of the Centre for Alcohol and Drug Research at the University of Aarhus. “You could not argue against the (positive) findings.” “The debate became more practical,” agrees Brandt. “It was about what policies worked and which ones did not. It was no longer about morality.”
Attitudes towards drugs addicts improved too. “Drug addicts in Denmark are less stigmatised,” says Brandt. “They are no longer perceived as criminals who are a danger to society. They’re seen as patients who have a disease they need help with. The new scapegoats in Denmark are the foreigners.”
Could a similar initiative be possible in the UK? It’s actually happening already, with three schemes taking place in Brighton, Darlington and south London, where long-term heroin users can inject drugs under medical supervision at specialised clinics. Early results indicate that the scheme has cut crimes and stopped street sales.
Crimes committed by the addicts involved in the scheme dropped from about 40 to six a month after six months of treatment, Professor John Strang, the head of the National Addiction Centre at the Maudsley hospital, told the Independent newspaper. A third of addicts stopped using street heroin and the number of occasions when the rest used it dropped from every day to four or five times a month, on average.
It remains to be seen whether UK politicians will expand the policy nationwide, especially if they fear a possible backlash from voters. But if British voters are similar to their European cousins, this would not be an issue. Last November, Swiss voters approved the scheme overwhelmingly, with 68% supporting the plan. And there has been no popular backlash in Denmark, following the adoption of the policy by parliament.
Source: www.guardian.co.uk 5th Feb.2009

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While a worldwide study has found teenagers on the whole are smoking less marijuana and going out less often with friends, Maltese teenagers have been found to be doing exactly the opposite in both respects.

A study published this week has found that the prevalence of smoking marijuana and going out with friends are inextricably linked. Out of 31 countries, marijuana use among 15-year-old boys and girls between 2002 and 2006 had increased only in Malta, Estonia and Lithuania, and among Russian girls.

Malta’s increases in both sexes were the highest recorded, as were the increased number of nights out with friends. Between 2002 and 2006, the prevalence of cannabis use among Maltese 15-year-old boys increased by 2.7 per cent – from seven per cent in 2002 to 9.7 per cent in 2006 – while the female increase was even higher at 5.6 per cent – from 4.2 to 9.8 per cent in 2006.

In both years, more Maltese girls reported having used cannabis over the previous year than boys while the female rate of increase was also far higher. In both sexes, Malta saw the largest increase in cannabis use, but in terms of overall prevalence Malta’s was ranked in an overall 26th place, and its 9.7-9.8 per cent usage rate paled in comparison to leading countries Canada, Switzerland and the United States – all of which saw rates in the mid to high 20s.

In tandem, Malta also saw the highest increase in the numbers of nights spent out with friends – from 1.9 in 2002 to 2.61 in 2006 for boys and from 1.63 to 2.43 for girls. Both were also the highest increases across the 31-country spectrum. While rates varied widely among countries, prevalence was highest both years in Canada, where 30 per cent of boys and almost 28 per cent of girls used marijuana in 2006. That was down 13 per cent among boys and almost 10 per cent among girls.

According to a study of 15-year-olds across 31 countries between 2002 and 2006, going out with friends and smoking marijuana are related, mostly because research has found that children who spend many evenings out are more likely to smoke marijuana than those who prefer to stay at home.

Since few parents approve of marijuana use, teenagers are most likely to smoke cannabis secretly away from home, said lead author Emmanuel Kuntsche of the Swiss Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Problems. While reasons for the declines are unclear, the researchers said drug prevention efforts and technology may have contributed. Moreover, instant messaging, email and mobile phones “may have partly replaced face-to-face contacts, leading to fewer social contacts in the evenings,” Dr Kuntsche said. But while the latter trends have also seen a sharp increase among Malta’s teenagers, so has the practice of going out at night with friends.

The researchers analysed data on 93,297 15-year-olds from periodic health surveys, the “Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children” study, conducted in collaboration with the World Health Organisation, which, among a multitude of other things, asked about marijuana use and evenings out with friends in the past year. Responses to 2006 surveys were compared with those from 2002. The next such research is due to cover the year 2010.

The results of this week’s study – titled “Decrease in Adolescent Cannabis Use from 2002 to 2006 and Links to Evenings Out with Friends” – were published in February’s Archives of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, released on Monday.

Source: Malta Independent Online 6th Feb 2009

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The Government will look at an open-minded and balanced approach to reducing drug use but there will be no relaxation of the laws around cannabis, Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne said today.

There were too many mental health problems, respiratory diseases and social issues related to cannabis for the Government to consider legalising the drug, he told an international drug policy symposium in Wellington.

Reports that levels of cannabis and methamphetamine use had levelled off were encouraging, but were not a reason for complacency, he said. “Evidence indicates a balance is needed between reducing supply of drugs through interdiction and enforcement, and also reducing the demand for drugs through prevention and treatment strategies, if we are to be effective in reducing adverse health and social consequences of drug misuse.”

Drug Foundation chairman Tim Harding said it was important the issues were taken seriously. “The problem we face is that sound policy is not always popular or, for that matter, obvious. It has to be based on solid foundations of research, experience and a liberal dose of wisdom.”

Police Deputy Commissioner Rob Pope released an Illicit Drug Strategy at the conference, which detailed the police response to drug related crime until 2010.
The strategy focused on methamphetamine, cannabis and how to protect and deter groups that were most at risk of using the drugs. “We now have increased capacity with the new National Intelligence Centre (NIC) based at Police National Headquarters.” Mr Pope said. “This is going to enable us to more actively record intelligence around drug related crime from each police area and district.”

The strategy recognised that cannabis and methamphetamine were the biggest drug issues in New Zealand, he said. “Preventing today’s young people from becoming tomorrow’s drug users contributes to reducing harm and reducing the overall crime rate.”

United Nations director of policy analysis and public affairs at the office on Drugs and Crime, Sandeep Chawla, told the conference the international community needed to work together to continue stemming the use of illicit drugs.

The multilateral drug control regime had contained illicit drug use to less than 5 percent of the world adult population, and hardcore problem drug users to less than 1 percent, he said.

“There has been considerable reduction over recent decades in the consumption of opiates, the most problematic of drugs, and opium cultivation and production has been limited to just one or two countries in the main.” However, he said containment did not mean the problem had been solved and consequently a thriving criminal black market in drugs had emerged.

“It also appears we have created a system where those who fall into the web of addiction find themselves excluded and marginalised, tainted with a moral stigma, and often unable to find treatment even when they want it.”

Mr Chawla said the international community must renew its commitment to existing conventions and work together on reforms based on empirical evidence rather than ideology, and that public health, the first principle of drug control, must be brought back to centre stage.

The symposium is being held as a precursor to a March meeting of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna where the direction of global drug policy for the next 10 years will be set.
Source: http://www.3news.co.nz/News/NationalNews/No-relaxation-on-cannabis-laws- Wed, 18 Feb 2009

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Tuesday 03 March 2009
The tax on alcohol should be doubled to discourage under-age drinking, according to a group of experts in Tuesday’s AD. The move would also save billions of euros as the damage caused by drunken teenagers declined, says the paper.
The call comes from the alcohol prevention foundation Stap, criminologist Jan van Dijk and paediatrician Nico van der Lely, who say it is time for drastic measures. They say the soft approach of the past 20 years has not worked and the only option is to raise the price of alcohol.
The Netherlands has been wrestling the problem of teenage drinking in recent years. Last December new figures from the national statistics office CBS showed that Dutch teenagers are now drinking less. The number of teens who use alcohol fell from 85% in 2003 to 79% in 2007. This is ‘probably’ due to the need to prove you are at least 16 when buying alcohol, said CBS researcher Jan Latten.
Source: Daily Dose 4th March 2009

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Minister of State for Community Affairs John Curran has expressed “grave concern” that people addicted to drugs “seem to be on methadone for an extended period of time”.
He said “not everybody who uses methadone uses it exclusively” and it appeared to be taken with a combination of other drugs. “I may not be in my position long enough, but I would like to see the hard evidence to show progression” and an “active methadone-reduction programme”.
The Minister was answering questions about Health Research Board figures which revealed 2,442 drug-related deaths in the eight-year period from 1998-2005.
Labour spokesman Jack Wall expressed concern that 60 deaths in 2005 involved the use of methadone. If drug addicts were getting access to methadone from more than one source “instead of curing themselves, addicts are creating more problems for themselves” with addiction to methadone. Mr Curran said the HSE “is in the process of implementing a national overdose-prevention strategy which would address the issue of benzodiazepines, prescription drugs and methadone”.
Referring to the figures for 2005, the Minister said of the 400 drug-related deaths “cocaine was implicated in 100 deaths”, while 25 per cent of deaths from poisoning were “the result of alcohol in conjunction with another drug”.
He said while illegal drugs were involved in many cases, “prescribed drugs and over-the-counter medication, such as anti-anxiety drugs like valium, antidepressants and pain-killers, are frequently involved in such deaths, either alone or in conjunction with illegal drugs”.
Catherine Byrne (FG, Dublin South Central) expressed concern about service cutbacks in drugs task force areas. “I will not criticise the Minister, whose heart is in the right place,” she said.
However, she warned that crime was greatly linked to drugs, and the Government had to “take the drugs issue seriously if we are to get anything done”. She said the local Inchicore drugs team had to reduce its budget by €30,000, and other services in Wexford and Tipperary had being asked to reduce their budgets by 14 per cent.
Mr Curran said while the funding in 2008 was €34.776 million, it was €34.6 million for 2009, a slight reduction. However, spending had increased significantly over the years.
Source, Marie O’Halloran, The Irish Times,05/03/2009

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While treatment is an important component in many people’s recovery, its effect becomes less and less pronounced the further away you get from the treatment episode. As William White, the recovery researcher and historian says, the further away you get from treatment, the more important is the post-treatment environment.
Aftercare and mutual aid are evidence-based components of the post-treatment environment. We know that those who come out of treatment who take up aftercare and mutual aid do better than those who don’t.
In Scotland, we have a long tradition of mutual aid groups and they form an important part of the recovery community. In the USA, there are much better developed recovery communities in many areas. We need to nurture recovery communities locally here.
On Friday 17th July, in Edinburgh, there will be the first of several ‘Recovery Cafes’ this summer. This one will be held at Old St. Paul’s in Jeffrey Street and will run from 6.00pm to midnight.
The cafe has been developed by those in recovery and those who support recovery and will offer a safe and sober meeting place for those in recovery to gather. If these cafe nights are successful then dedicated premises will be sought and Edinburgh will have a permanent facility to support and nurture the recovery community.
If you are in the city on Friday and you are in recovery or support those who are, check it out! Like Wired In, this is a valuable resource and recovery tool. It’s also another piece of evidence of how recovery is here in Edinburgh and growing.
Source: Wired In July 2009

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The number of babies being referred for temporary foster care in Edinburgh because of parental drug misuse has doubled in the last year.
Edinburgh City Council said the statistics showed that the capital was in “desperate need” of more carers. An appeal has been launched to encourage more people to help care for vulnerable babies.
The plea was made at the launch of a training DVD to help people looking after vulnerable babies. Some 99 babies under six months old were referred for foster placement in 2008, double the number in the previous year.
Fifty of those babies were referred before they were born and two thirds of all the babies were suffering from the effects of alcohol or drug addiction as a result of the mother’s addiction problems.
Growing demand
Those babies often suffer from a range of physical, cognitive and emotional problems and need extra care. Councillor Marilyne MacLaren, Edinburgh City Council’s leader for children and young people, said: “The city’s foster carers are dedicated people but the problem we have now is that there aren’t enough carers to meet the growing demand.
“We want the people of Edinburgh to know that a wide range of people can be foster carers. Whether you are in your 20s or your 50s, in a couple or single, you can apply as long as you’re committed and are willing to help a child who has had a tough start in life.”
Ms MacLaren said the increasing number of cases meant social workers were stretched and services could not be sustained or improved without adequate investment.
“It’s a vicious cycle. If we don’t have the resources to tackle the problem at its source then we will see more vulnerable babies,” she added. I’ll be approaching the Scottish Government to ask them to revisit the issue and to take action because if things don’t change, the lives of vulnerable children will get even harder.”
Source: BBC NEWS: go2009/03/26
http://news.bbc.co.uk/ /pr/fr/-/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7965526.stm

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Brandon Muir was only 23 months old when he was killed by the boyfriend of his drug-addicted mother.
BBC Scotland’s home affairs correspondent Reevel Alderson reports on the children who are living with drugs. The statistics are shocking and bleak – and they reveal the human consequences of Scotland’s drugs epidemic.
Glasgow University has estimated that between 40,000 and 50,000 children live with at least one drug-addicted parent.
The number of children removed from their own home because they are being neglected is rising.
And, according to a report seen by BBC Scotland, 30% of those taken into emergency care in Edinburgh are newly born.
The report, produced by Scotland’s Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) but not published outside the organisation, examined the cases of children in Edinburgh made the subject of a Place of Safety Warrant – an emergency removal from their own home.
In 2006-07, just over 60% were under 24 weeks old, and a further 30% were newly born. Warrants were issued by a Children’s Hearing because, in 80% of cases, the baby was feared to be in danger of neglect.

Sadly, this is a familiar picture for social workers across Scotland. Ruth Stark, spokesperson for the British Association of Social Workers, says her colleagues must make an assessment about whether a child can not safely remain at home.
“For young mothers and fathers who are already addicted to drugs, often we find ourselves having to go into a situation where this is a key issue that is interfering with their ability to look after their children. In some circumstances, we have to take drastic action,” she said.
A Place of Safety Warrant follows a Children’s Hearing called to address emergency or high-risk situations, and allows measures to be put into place immediately to protect a vulnerable child.
They only last three weeks – although after investigation children can be placed in care away from the family home.
The Principal Reporter of the SCRA, Netta MacIver, said drug-dependency was not by itself a ground for concern.

But she added: “If there’s a degree of chaos in the household, then the basics of feeding, changing, cleaning – the repetitiveness of a lot of that is quite often challenging, so you can have ancillary supports.
“But if there are behaviours within the parents which aren’t moderated, then the risks will continue.”
Brandon Muir is the latest in a series of tragic cases in which drugs, alcohol or the chaotic lives of adults have led to the death of a young child.
There are a number of projects around Scotland which aim to help parents to better care for their children, while also coping with their own problems.
Andrew Horne, director of Addaction in Linthouse in Glasgow, said it was vital that drug or alcohol-dependent parents were given help – not just for them, but for all of us.

“People don’t see that this has a huge impact both on our resources in terms of our taxpayers, but also on our communities.
“If we can help children stay safe and happy, and in families, then we are not paying for children to be in care systems, to be in foster care, being involved in social work.”
There are controversial solutions to this problem. Duncan McNeil, Labour MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, has suggested administering contraception with addicts’ methadone to prevent them having children.
A new inquiry, under the former chief constable of Fife, Peter Wilson, is now to be held to learn lessons from the Brandon Muir case.
Perhaps the real question to be asked is how does society cope with children brought up in the midst of Scotland’s drugs epidemic?

Source: BBC News Channel 3 March 2009

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Alcohol was officially recognised by the Government today as a gateway drug that can lead users to other addictive substances. The Cabinet decided to re-designate the issue of problem drinking with anti-drugs initiatives as part of a new national strategy.

Minister John Curran, who has responsibility for the National Drugs Strategy, said alcohol abuse is causing huge levels of public concern around the country. Mr Curran said a combined strategy will facilitate a more coherent approach to the issues and consequences of alcohol and illicit drug use, including addictive behaviours.

“We cannot continue to look at these problems in isolation. The time has come for more joined-up thinking,” he said. Mr Curran and Health Minister Mary Harney brought the issue to today’s Cabinet meeting, where it was approved.

Mr Curran said: “Alcohol is seen, for many, as a gateway to illicit drug use and poly-drug use, often including alcohol, is now the norm among illicit drug users. “People also have serious concerns in relation to the high level of alcohol consumption in Ireland, the pattern of drinking, especially binge drinking among young people and in the community generally, and the wider social harms which are associated with the misuse of alcohol.”

The minister is preparing a new National Drugs Strategy for the period 2009/16. Discussions will be held around a new National Substance Misuse Strategy in coming days. Meanwhile, Ms Harney announced today she is banning the stimulant drug BZP, which is available in so-called “head shops”. Possessing or selling the substance is now an offence under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977.

She said: “This will now make the possession of BZP illegal and make sure that BZP is no longer available for sale in ’head shops’ around the country, which has been an issue of concern to my Department and the wider public.”
SOURCE: WWW.IRISHNEWS.COM THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2009

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The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has praised Sweden for pioneering the most successful illicit drug policy in all Europe, reports David Perrin.

Sweden’s illicit drug use is lower than any other European country. The UN has praised the Swedish policy of wanting a drug-free society and has endorsed its program of increasingly strong laws against drugs as the reason for its success.

In 2003, lifetime prevalence of drug use among 15-16 year olds in Europe was 22 per cent. In Sweden, by comparison, it was only 8 per cent. In 2006, Swedish teenage drug use had fallen to 6 per cent.

Illicit drug use in Sweden has declined in recent years, whereas it has increased in other European countries. Sweden has low levels of HIV/AIDS infections resulting from injecting drug use. Its laws require the country’s small number of syringe exchange programs to divert users into detoxification and rehabilitation programs.

Measuring success

Sweden regularly polls its citizens to determine whether drug use is increasing or decreasing. Surveys are made of teenagers (15-16), the general population (18-64) and military conscripts. The surveys look at drug use in the past month, the past year and over a lifetime. These surveys are important not only to determine drug use trends, but to see which policies are working.

Sweden has enjoyed a broad political consensus over the direction of drug policy with changes in government not leading to changes in drug policy. One of the key planks of Swedish drug policy is the courts’ powers to divert users into detoxification and rehabilitation.

Sweden targets its drug policies at teenagers to stop them trying drugs and, if they get hooked, to get them off drugs quickly and permanently. Sweden’s experience is that if a young person has not taken an illicit drug by age 20, he or she is highly unlikely to use illicit drugs later in life.

Australia has high levels of illicit drug use, similar to most of Europe. We have adopted permissive “harm minimisation” policies which have led to high levels of demand for illicit drugs, with new drugs such as “ice” (methamphetamines) coming on the scene.

Ice is known to cause mental illness, psychosis, violent behaviour and even death in those who try it. The drug is highly addictive with few known methods of rehabilitation.

Sweden has succeeded in its drug policy because it has reduced the number of drug-users, and hence the demand for illicit drugs. This is a lesson Australia has yet to learn. Sweden is not on a known drug route, so drug crime syndicates avoid trafficking to Sweden because of the difficulty involved. High prices, few outlets and strong drug policies deter the supply of drugs.

Like Sweden, Australia is not on a known drug supply route; but we have weak policies, low drug prices and a permissive culture that accepts the use of drugs. None of the strong drug policies of Sweden, as outlined here, are present in Australia, so, like Europe, we continue to suffer high drug usage.

In Canberra, the House of Representatives’ standing committee on family and human services is looking at the impact of illicit drugs on families and is due to report before the federal election.

This committee could perform no better service to our nation than study the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime report, Sweden’s Successful Drug Policy: A Review of the Evidence (September 2006) – obtainable at its website www.unodc.org – and use the findings to replace Australia’s failed drug policy with the successful Swedish approach.

With a federal election due later this year, political parties have an opportunity to offer the Australian public a proven strategy to combat illicit drug use.

Source: Article by David Perrin of the Australian Family Association reported in
Drugwatch International 30th April 2009.

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THE effectiveness of the country’s main drugs education programme for schools has been seriously questioned in the new National Drugs Strategy (NDS).
The NDS 2009-2016 said the design and concept of the Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) programme was in line with best international practice.

“However, its effectiveness at second level was consistently questioned during the NDS consultation process, in particular by school-goers themselves.”

According to the national strategy, the aim of the SPHE is to build the esteem and confidence of young people by developing their life skills and substance misuse is regarded as “an integral” part of the curriculum.

The Walk Tall programme and On My Own Two Feet are key parts of the SPHE curricula at primary and post- primary level respectively.

The NDS said one of the “key concerns” was the level of commitment given to the programme by individual schools and the supports available to teachers.

The report said an external evaluation by NUI Galway found a number of limitations with the programme:

* Support services were crucial for school and teachers that find it difficult to implement SPHE.

* There is little engagement with parents in the planning and development of the programme.

* Curriculum overload, timetable pressures and lack of status for SPHE affect its provision in schools.

The NDS concluded: “School-based education programmes, on which the NDS places particular emphasis, were considered to be very uneven in their delivery and, therefore, in their overall impact.

“The impact fundamentally depends on the commitment of individual schools and the confidence and competence of individual teachers. Young people consulted were highly critical of their experiences of the delivery of SPHE.”

The strategy called for improved delivery of SPHE in primary and secondary levels, taking into account the views of the evaluation.

The NDS said only 72% of schools responded to a Department of Education survey as to whether they had substance misuse policies. Of those, 71% of primary schools and 75% of post-primary schools had policies.

The strategy said the provision of drug education in non-school settings remained “fragmented and uncoordinated”.

It said that the provision of alternative recreational facilities for young people was also “underdeveloped”.

That was despite the provision of facilities under the Young People’s Facilities and Services Fund, which had provided e127.5 million between 2002 and 2007 to 500 services and facilities.

The strategy said the Office for the Minister for Children was currently examining the issue of youth cafes.

“During the consultation phase for the new strategy, the need to ensure late night and weekend opening of such facilities was highlighted,” it said.

The NDS regards a stabilisation in recent (last year) drug use among young people and a reduction in current (last month) usage as a key performance indicator in the area of prevention.
Source: Irish Examiner Tuesday, June 02, 2009

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An examination into the €140 million spent by State agencies on drug treatment services has found a very small proportion of heroin-users on methadone maintenance ever get off the drug.
About 8,000 people in the greater Dublin area are on methadone maintenance, the main form of treatment for heroin addiction, according to a special report by the Comptroller Auditor General. However, it is estimated annually that about 1.25 per cent progress to detoxification treatment or follow-on rehabilitation.
The report says there are no national targets for treatment progression and calls on health authorities to set objectives to help provide better planning. However, it acknowledges that long-term methadone treatment is likely to be the best outcome that can be achieved for a significant proportion of heroin users.
It is one of a series of often critical findings in a report which raises questions about how effectively the Government’s National Drugs Strategy is being implemented. Other key findings in the report are:
* About 460 people were waiting over a year for methadone treatment in April 2008. The official target is to provide treatment within a month of assessment.
* Cannabis and cocaine use is increasing, but there has not been a proportional increase in the number of cases treated for problem-use of these drugs.
* Non-opiate drug users in the capital are less likely to get treatment than elsewhere in the country, possibly due to the heavy focus on opiate drug treatment services in Dublin.
* Drug treatment courts – where drug use may be a contributory factor in offending – handled just 22 cases a year, rather than about the 100 originally envisaged. The completion rate of this programme is just 17 per cent.
Responding to the report yesterday, Fine Gael’s community affairs spokesman Michael Ring TD described the drug problem as a “national crisis” and said Government spending cutbacks on treatment services would create massive problems in the future.
“We have a drugs time bomb, just when the Government is cutting back on treatment services,” he said. “The budgets for local drugs task forces have been slashed by 20 per cent, while funding for the Government’s own drugs advisory board has been slashed by 23 per cent.”
The report itself raises questions about whether the aims of the National Drugs Strategy – which is aimed at improving and co-ordinating the delivery of treatment of preventative services – are being reached.
The strategy, for example, envisaged that treatment would be based on a “continuum of care” model, which would co-ordinate services and provide for a better transition between different phases of care.
However, it says health authorities have still not put in place a national framework for care planning and management across the State. This would play a key role in providing wider social support – such as accommodation, education and training – to people with drug use problems.
The report also says it is important for local drugs projects to be governed by service level agreements that specify the services to be provided and the standards to be met. In addition, it calls for greater transparency on the cost of treatment and rehabilitation services, and says responsible agencies must provide more information on the effects of their actions or services.
The report says that more research is needed to continue evaluating the effectiveness of drug treatment services. While it says good and informative work has been done in the past, it is important to do follow-up studies to identify long-term outcomes for those in receipt of treatment.
Source:IrishTimes.com 6th June 2009

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MAASTRICHT — About 30 cannabis-vending coffee shops in the south of the Netherlands announced Tuesday they would become private members’ clubs at the start of next year to keep out foreign drug tourists.
“We will transform the coffee shops from open establishments, accessible by all, to closed establishments of which clients need to be members,” Maastricht’s Mayor Gerd Leers told a press conference in the border town.
In the latest move away from the traditionally liberal Dutch approach to such issues as soft drugs and prostitution, coffee shops in the province of Limburg said they would start issuing membership cards.
The application procedure would take several days, in effect preventing short-term tourists from buying marijuana. The move is backed by the national government, and is seen as a pilot project for possible expansion to other areas.
Some four million foreigners travel to Limburg every year to buy cannabis, according to a municipal official.
The measure, to be applied uniformly by all coffee shops in the province which borders Belgium and Germany, would seek to “discourage the majority of drug tourists,” said Leers. “We have been fighting for years against the nuisance brought here by the Belgians, the French and the Germans,” he added. These included damage to city property, heavy road traffic, a rising trade in hard drugs and other criminal activities.
From January 1 next year, the province will limit the sale of cannabis in its coffee shops to three grams per person per day. Each buyer would have to present a membership card that would work on the basis of a fingerprint, iris or some similar identification system. Purchases will only be possible by bank card or credit transfer.
Dutch law allows the consumption and possession of up to five grams of cannabis per individual, but prohibits the cultivation and mass retail of the soft drug. Some 700 so-called coffee shops nationwide have special licenses to sell marijuana but are allowed to keep no more than 500 grams on site.
Home Affairs Minister Guusje ter Horst told Tuesday’s launch that the new project was the first step in a “harder approach to illegality” by Dutch law enforcement. Also, the Dutch Council of State, which advises the government on legislation, had asked the European Court of Justice to weigh the legality of limiting access to Dutch coffee shops to Dutch citizen. An answer is expected in about 18 months.
Several Dutch municipalities have recently announced plans to close all or part of the coffee shops within their borders, partly to discourage crime and drug tourism.
But Leers said closing coffee shops was not a viable alternative, as this risked “chasing clients into illegality”.
Source: Agence France-Presse 05/13/2009

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Limit the sale of cannabis to local users, reconsider the distinction between hard and soft drugs, raise the legal age for drinking alcohol from 16 to 18 and appoint a drug czar to overlook policies. These are the most striking recommendations published on Thursday by a committee chaired by Christian democrat Wim van de Donk.
The Dutch government had asked the committee to lay the groundwork for a new memorandum on Dutch drug policies to be drafted this fall. The report is in line with repressive measures already taken in recent years, but the committee explicitly says it does not want to end the so-called ‘gedoogbeleid’ (tolerance policy), nor does it want to legalise the cannabis trade completely.
The three parties in the Dutch coalition government – Christian democrats, Labour and ChristenUnie (orthodox Christian) – agree that the present drugs policy needs to be revised. The country has seen a dramatic increase in drug tourism and exports of Dutch-grown cannabis have soared. That is not just causing problems at home, it also gives offence to other EU member states unhappy with the Dutch policy.
But the coalition parties don’t see eye to eye on which direction to take.
The current drugs policy is ambiguous at best: cannabis users are not prosecuted and coffee shops are licensed, but the cultivation and wholesale of cannabis are still prohibited. The Labour party has advocated including the production and wholesale of cannabis in the tolerance policy, but the Christian democrats favour complete prohibition.
Original purpose
Despite its international reputation as a Mecca for legal drugs, the use or possession of weed or hash is in fact still a misdemeanour in the Netherlands. But since a 1976 revision of the Opium Law separated hard drugs (e.g. cocaine, xtc) and soft drugs (cannabis), personal use of the latter is no longer prosecuted and the cafes that sell them are tolerated as well.
Dutch tolerance
# The use, possession or sale of cannabis have never been legalised in the Netherlands. Possession and production for personal use are considered misdeameanours. However, possesion of cannabis for personal use is not prosecuted up to five grammes or five cannabis plants.
# Coffee shops are allowed to stock a maximum of 500 grammes of cannabis.
# Large-scale production, export or import of cannabis are illegal, and should always prosecuted.
# In other words: coffee shop owners can legally sell cannabis but they cannot legally buy it.
The Van de Donk committee now wants the coffee shops to go back to their original purpose: they should be limited in number and size and cater to registered local users rather than the “large-scale facilities that supply consumers from neighbouring countries” they have become. This should reduce the nuisance caused by tourists who cross the German and Belgian borders to buy drugs.
Part of the motivation for the Dutch tolerance policy was to take soft drugs out of the criminal sphere by separating them from hard drugs. But as law professor Cyrille Fijnaut, a member of the Van de Donk committee, noted in an article published last March, this has never happened. Even if coffeeshops are legal, the production and trade are still in the hands of criminals, if only because supplying the coffeeshops is by definition illegal.
Experiment
The Van de Donk committee doesn’t propose changing that equation. It does suggest a limited experiment with regulating the supply line for coffee shops. It also wants to raise the maximum amount of cannabis a coffee shop owner can legally have in stock; it is currently capped at 500 grammes.The committee also questions the wisdom of the distinction between soft and drugs, and suggest that more research needs to be done on the subject.
The criminal character of a large part of the cannabis trade and the high values of the psychiactive ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) found in Dutch weed, could be reasons to revise the distinction, the committee said. However, experts have said that THC levels have gone down again in the past four years and research suggest that users adjust the amounts they smoke to the strength of the weed.
Committee suggestions
# limit the sale of cannabis to local users
# experiment with legal production and supply of members-only coffee shops
# order more research, possibly rethink distinction between soft and hard drugs
# appoint a drug czar to coordinate all initiatives
A substantial part of the report is dedicated to young people and how to protect them from the harmful effects of drugs and alcohol . Van de Donk wants to raise the legal age for drinking alcohol from 16 to 18, which is also the legal age for smoking cannabis.
Statistics actually show a decline in the number of Dutch teenagers using soft drugs, from 14 percent in 1996 to 10 percent today. Of the Dutch population between 15 and 64 less than 5 percent smokes drugs on a regular basis.
Drug czar
It is unclear if this is a result of the tougher approach recently taken to soft drugs. Although no drastic measures have been taken at the national level – apart from a ban on hallucinogenic ‘magic’ mushrooms last year – local authorities have clamped down on the cultivation, sale and use of soft drugs.
In Amsterdam and Rotterdam, coffee shops are banned within a 250 meters radius of high schools. Border towns Bergen op Zoom and Roosendaal closed all their eight coffee shops to put a stop to the flood of Belgian drug tourists crossing the border to buy supplies. The largest coffee shop in the country, in the town of Terneuzen, was shut down in 2008 because it exceeded the allowed amounts of marijuana bought and sold. Its owner is being prosecuted for running a criminal organisation. The southern city of Maastricht is transforming its coffee shops in to members-only clubs.
Between 1997 and 2007 the number of coffee shops went down from 846 to 702.
The diversity of local initiatives calls for a clear national direction, the Van de Donk report says. Too many authorities are currently involved in developing and enforcing policies, which are related to issues of justice, health care, public safety, education and even foreign policy. The report calls for one drug czar to overlook all these areas. “The problem justifies a more binding ambition, based on political leadership, which also extends to connect us with our neighbours and the US”, according to Van de Donk.
Source: DailyDose. July 16th 2009

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A new ordinance in Milan bans alcohol for those under 16 in an effort to curb drinking problems among youth. The ordinance calls for fines of up to €500 for younger teens caught drinking and for those who give or sell them alcohol. Italy has no minimum drinking age – only a rarely enforced ban on serving alcohol in public to those under 16. According to the article, “In Milan, 34 per cent of 11-year-olds have had problems with alcohol…. Overall, 22.4 per cent of boys aged 11-18 and 13 per cent of girls in Italy have drinking habits that pose a health risk, according to the National Observatory for Alcohol.”
Source: Associated Press 20 July 2009 published in New Zealand Herald

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For years, Germany has been famous for its tolerant stance toward public drinking. Now many communities are finding that drunken youths are a public nuisance and a danger both to others and themselves. Although several approaches have been taken to solve the problem, few have worked.
The teenager should be home by now but, instead, he’s lying here passed out on the grass next to a pool of his own vomit. His friend says the boy is 15 — and that he actually laid off things a bit tonight. He only had a couple of beers and a few swigs from a bottle — “something sweet with vodka” — being passed around. And then he suddenly just fell down.
German municipalities are battling an epidemic of youths whose drunken rowdiness is upsetting local residents and spawning a number of tough legal countermeasures.
For Ingrid Friedrich and Dirk Geist, both public safety officials in the southwestern German city of Heidelberg, this is the first completely intoxicated teenager they will have to attend to tonight — but he certainly won’t be the last. The weather is good, it’s summer, and it’s just past 10 p.m. Hundreds of drinking youths have taken their usual places in Heidelberg’s Neckarwiese Park.
It’s Geist and Friedrich’s job to patrol the area until 2 a.m. and make sure things don’t get too far out of hand. They’ll hand out fines to people who urinate on trees or in house entryways. They’ll summon an ambulance for those who collapse, like the boy here on the grass. And they’ll call in the police if drunk people start fighting or jumping into the Neckar River.
Battling the Boozing
Scenes like this have become commonplace throughout Germany. All over the country, police, public safety officials and private citizens have been complaining about excessive drinking in public. Their complaints stem from garbage left in parks, the stench of urine and techno music blaring until late at night. But they’re also about the rioting and violence that drinking unleashes in these young people.
The state can’t make these teens grow up. But it can try to bring their drinking under control through laws and new regulations. Or it can use another strategy — offering them healthier and less disruptive leisure-time activities, such as beach volleyball instead of sunset boozing, or youth clubs instead city bus stops, where they party, make out and fight.
The past few weeks have shown that blanket bans are hard to enforce. For example, an administrative court in the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg recently decided in favor of a law student from Freiburg who felt that the nighttime ban imposed early last year on alcohol consumption in that city’s old town was an unacceptable restriction on the freedom of people who don’t necessarily destroy park benches after enjoying a beer or two in the evening sun. The court’s reasoning drew parallels with how swimming bans aren’t imposed on lakes just because someone has drowned in them.
Nevertheless, Germany’s towns and states are still trying to find ways — including some that are used in the United States — to effectively prevent public beer and liquor consumption in certain squares, streets and parks. Following the ruling related to Freiburg, Heribert Rech, Baden-Württemberg’s interior minister, announced that he now wants to amend relevant police laws. “I won’t leave the towns in the lurch,” he says.
Berlin has already imposed an alcohol ban in its famous Alexanderplatz, where “Friday get-togethers” used to draw around 500 young people a week. The gatherings frightened tourists away, annoyed local residents and put a strain on the city’s garbage-disposal service, which had to cart off truckloads of bottles and cans each week after the party was over.
What particularly upsets the residents is the mountain of waste left behind by careless revelers. In 2008 alone, Berlin’s poison control hotline recorded 260 cases of small children who swallowed cigarette butts they had found in parks or playgrounds. And in Berlin’s hip, young district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, a recent citizens’ clean-up day collected 3,100 bottle caps left in grassy areas and bushes. Resentment toward young drinkers in the neighborhood has gotten so strong that some people have even thrown water balloons on them from several flights up.
Priggish Party Poopers?
City officials and residents in Hamburg are also losing patience with the level of chaos there in Europe’s most famous nightlife district, the Reeperbahn. The behavior exhibited by some drinking teens has “changed dramatically,” says Ulrich Wagner, head of the local Davidwache police station. The proportion of crimes committed under the influence of alcohol in the St. Pauli area, which encompasses the Reeperbahn, lies at 42 percent — or three times the citywide average for Hamburg. Since drunks have been known to strike passersby with bottles, the city’s senate has now banned glasses and bottles from the Reeperbahn at night.
Rainer Thomasius, a physician specializing in addiction research at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, considers it an “absolutely reasonable approach” to make the area surrounding the Reeperbahn at least partially dry. Germany makes it much too easy, he says, for minors to get drunk any time and anywhere. Thomasius also thinks that it is “utterly wrong” that a six-pack of beer sometimes costs less than €2 ($2.90). He says these give-away prices are partly responsible for the fact that more and more young people are finding wild drinking binges that ultimately bring them to his clinic.
Throughout Germany’s cities and states, there is a wide range of ideas being bandied about, but they all relate to the same thing: how to spoil the fun for these pedestrian-zone partiers. Baden-Württemberg wants to cut off their access to more supplies by forbidding gas stations and newsstands from selling alcohol between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Police there also started conducting checks last week on teenagers carrying soft drink bottles to see if they had spiked them with vodka.
The state of Lower Saxony, on the other hand, has started sending young mystery shoppers to sniff out supermarkets that sell beer and liquor to 13-, 14- and 15-year-olds. And Sabine Bätzing, the federal government’s chief anti-drug official, is using a two-pronged positive approach of using “attractive leisure-time activities and informational campaigns” to lure minors away from drinking.
Moving Targets
Wolf-Egbert Rosenzweig is the mayor of Neu Wulmstorf, a town of 20,000 just outside Hamburg. He has already tried just such a positive approach. He hired social workers to counsel teens on the streets, and he gave the local youth center more funding. But even after months of funding and counseling, no one succeeded in winning the teens’ trust. Unimpressed by the government’s efforts, the first young drinkers still turned up in the town’s marketplace in the early afternoon to get plastered on cheap beer bought at a nearby discount shop.
Still, word had already gotten out that Neu Wulmstorf was a happening place, and more teens started showing up on its streets. Pedestrians felt threatened by the young drinkers, sales at retail shops and restaurants took a nosedive, and residents of a nearby retirement home complained about garbage and dirty benches.
The town decided to take a tougher approach, but it’s been hard to implement. There simply aren’t enough police officers and public safety officials to constantly keep their eyes on what’s happening and pinpoint individual wrongdoers each time while staying within their legal boundaries.
Ultimately, after a 15-year-old girl was found unconscious and covered in vomit on the edge of the marketplace, Rosenzweig and the town council threw all caution to the wind — and imposed an alcohol ban. Now drinking is only allowed in the town’s marketplace under one set of circumstances — when newlywed couples want to have a champagne toast after their marriage ceremony.
In the beginning, local teens demonstrated against the ban and demanded that it be at least partly lifted. But Rosenzweig didn’t budge.
The teens eventually gave up their protests, but the mayor still hasn’t gotten rid of the real problem. The owner of a local gas station recently complained to him that the drunken youths were back, only this time they were on his property.
Source: Spiegel Online International 3rd August 2009

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THE United Kingdom is the cocaine capital of Europe, with more than a million regular users taking the drug, according to a new report.
And one of Scotland’s top drug experts said yesterday that given the biggest per capita consumption was north of the Border, the country was probably Europe’s capital of the class A substance.The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said the UK was Europe’s largest cocaine market. But its report said the quality of the drug had declined dramatically in recent years. The report said a crackdown on traffickers had pushed cocaine prices up and led to dealers diluting the drug even more.

Some seizures by police revealed that substances being passed off as cocaine that were only 5 per cent pure. The UN found dealers mixing their product with cutting agents such as dental and veterinary anaesthetics, which mimic the effects of cocaine but are much cheaper.

There are estimated to be 860,000 cocaine users in England and Wales and about 140,000 in Northern Ireland and Scotland combined. The World Drug Report 2009 revealed that cocaine use had increased dramatically in the UK from the mid-1990s, but remained stable over the past two years.

Data given to the UN by the UK’s Serious Organised Crime Agency shows that wholesale prices have risen to record levels. The cost of a kilogram of cocaine has increased by 50 per cent – from £30,000 to £45,000 – since 2007. The report says: “The UK thus continues to be – in absolute numbers – Europe’s largest cocaine market, with its second highest cocaine use prevalence rate.”

Professor Neil McKeganey, director of the Centre for Drug Misuse Research at Glasgow University, said he was not surprised at the UN’s conclusions. “A few years ago I said that in due course cocaine would overtake heroin, and I think that’s what we’re going to see. Heroin use may have plateaued at quite a high level, but cocaine use has been rising quite dramatically.” He added: “Scotland typically is the highest centre of drug consumption in the UK anyway, so it could well be that it is the cocaine capital of Europe.”

Source: The Scotsman 25th June 2009

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The breakdown shows health boards and councils forked out £77 million on drug services in 2007 and just under £26 million on alcohol services.
Drug and alcohol abuse is costing Scotland nearly £5billion a year, according a report by the watchdog Audit Scotland. The breakdown shows health boards and councils forked out £77million on drug services in 2007 and just under £26million on alcohol services.
The report said spending patterns did not always reflect national priorities or need, and funding arrangements are often “complex and fragmented”.
Death rates for alcohol and drug abuse in Scotland are amongst the highest in Europe and have doubled in the last 15 years. This is while rates decrase in other parts of Europe. The number of alcohol-related deaths in 2007 was 1,399 – compared to 455 drugs-related deaths.
The report has called for a more co-ordinated approach to services.
Auditor General Robert Black said: “The range of services for people in need of help can depend on where they live and there is not enough information about the effectiveness of these services.”
Scottish ministers have not set out minimum national standards that victims and their families can expect from drug and alcohol services. The report says ministers need to work with the NHS, councils and others to ensure they all know their responsibilities. While recent Scottish Government strategies have a focus on prevention, only 6 per cent of direct spending was on preventive activities.
Scottish Conservative leader Annabel Goldie said: “This report came about as a result of Scottish Conservative pressure in the 2008 budget. We suspected there was chaos in how funding streams were directed towards addressing addiction. The horrific truth has now been exposed and I am shocked at the sheer scale of the drugs and alcohol problem in Scotland.”
Labour’s Cathy Jamieson added: “I am particularly concerned that Audit Scotland’s report states that the Scottish Government is not funding services in the most effective way as they have no way of measuring performance. This is completely unacceptable and must change.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said the Government had asked for the report and welcomed its findings. He added: “It details the system we inherited from the previous administration.” The spokesman also said spending on drug and alcohol services had increased.

Source: www.stv.tv 26 March 2009

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The cost of providing methadone to drug addicts has almost doubled in the past five years to nearly £17million.
The total bill for dispensing the heroin substitute north of the Border rose by 84% – from £9,049,792 in 2003/4 to £16,637,636 in 2009.
Annabel Goldie, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said the figures were evidence that current drug treatment methods are failing. Drug misuse experts believe addicts should have a maximum of two years on methadone, which is prescribed to an estimated 22,000 people as an alternative to heroin.
Professor Neil McKeganey, director of the Centre for Drugs Misuse Research at Glasgow University, said millions of pounds were being wasted on methadone prescriptions.
The Scottish Government announced a new drugs strategy in 2008. The document promised a change in treatment methods but failed to set targets for cutting methadone use.
Reacting to the latest revelations, Ms Goldie said: “Even in the past year alone the cost of prescribing methadone has risen by over 10 per cent. Under eight years of Labour and the Lib Dems, Scotland’s drug dependency became a methadone dependency.
“The SNP must not make the same mistake. “Methadone must stop being the treatment of first resort. A new political will and a new national strategy were the first steps but now it’s time for action.”
There are an estimated 50,000 “problem” drug users in Scotland. A United Nations report last week showed Scots had the second-highest rate of heroin use in Europe.
Prof McKeganey added: “We have got to move away from it and politicians have to be determined and show leadership, because otherwise the costs of the methadone programme will rise and they will strangle the development of alternative treatments. “You can’t spend that much money on a single treatment and not make other possible treatments suffer as a result.”
However, a Scottish government spokesman insisted its drugs strategy would open up access to alternative treatment methods. He continued: “We want a much wider range of services to be available for drug users. We are transforming the delivery of drug services to ensure that help is available when people need it most. The new target to reduce waiting times will help ensure this happens.”
Source: http://www.stv.tv. 05 July 2009

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One of Scotland’s leading drugs experts says there is a big question mark over the size of the country’s methadone programme. Professor Neil McKeganey’s research found many people on the heroin substitute were still taking heroin as well.
22,000 adults in Scotland are on methadone, and that costs at least £25 million a year.
The report from Glasgow university’s centre for drug misuse research says the programme is “gargantuan in size and scale.”
The study, which looked at the behaviour of 400 drug users, found there was no significant difference between those on methadone and others when it came to not using heroin. It also found no significant difference between the groups in terms of committing crimes to pay for drugs.
The Scottish Government says there is evidence methadone can help stabilise those with chaotic lifestyles. It says the drugs strategy launched earlier this year recognises the need to move people on from methadone, but adds the challenge is to make sure the right support is available rather than promoting one type of treatment over others.
Source: www.stv.tv 14 December 2008

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“What do we mean by recovery? We mean a process through which an individual is enabled to move on from their problem drug use, towards a drug-free life as an active and contributing member of society.
Furthermore, it incorporates the principle that recovery is most effective when service users’ needs and aspirations are placed at the centre of their care and treatment. In short, an aspirational, person-centred process.”
This has recovery as a process, not an event. It has the concept of moving on, sets a drug free life as the goal and has the issue of becoming a contributing member of society at its heart.
Measurement:
How many people achieve the recovery goals on their care plan?
How many people move into education, training and employment?
How many report positive developments in their lives rather than just the absence of pathology?
How many achieve full citizenship? How many drug free?
How many move on to manage their own recoveries?
The government in Scotland have taken a courageous view. When we aim this high and believe it can happen, many more people will get there.

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Extract from the Annual Report of the International Narcotics Control Board Focuses on Relationship between Drug Abuse, Crime and Violence at Community Level

 VIENNA, 27 February (UN Information Service) — The impact of drug abuse on crime and violence at the community level is the main focus of the 2003 Annual Report of the Vienna-based International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), released on 3 March 2004.

The macro level political and security implications of transnational organized crime syndicates dealing in drugs has been recognized by the international community for some time. In this year’s Report, the Vienna-based INCB — an independent quasi-judicial body of thirteen experts monitoring compliance with the international drug control treaties — also urges Governments to give special attention to micro-trafficking — i.e. community level drug abuse and related crime.

“At this level, drug abuse is often linked with antisocial behaviour such as delinquency, crime, and violence and has negative consequences for individuals, families, neighbourhoods and communities that need to be addressed by the international community and individual governments,” INCB President Philip O. Emafo points out.

While the Board clarifies that most crime related to drug abuse is non-violent and petty, it stresses that the impact of illicit drugs, crime and violence is highly damaging to local communities at the micro-social level.

“The very fabric of society is challenged by the continued presence in communities of drug-related crime. Communities that suffer disproportionate levels of violent drug-related crime also suffer from higher levels of other criminality and the disruption to civil society associated with it,” says the Board.

The relationship between violence and illicit drug abuse is highly complex and has to be examined keeping a range of factors in mind. The Report maintains that a demonstrable link to violence and crime exists in that some drug addicts resort to violence either to fund their habits or indeed as a result of the psycho-pharmacological impact of some illicit drugs. However, based on controlled laboratory-based experiments, INCB stresses that it is very difficult and misleading to suggest a direct causal link between violence and illicit drug ingestion. This link has to be examined with reference to culturally and socially situated factors, that, in turn, influence an individual’s behaviour.

The INCB calls on Governments to implement comprehensive, community-based drug demand reduction policies, paying special attention to drug abuse prevention in combination with a range of social, economic and law enforcement measures. These should include: creating a local environment that is not conducive to drug dealing and micro-trafficking; supporting local efforts at employment and licit income generation; educational programmes targeting socially marginalized groups; and integrated as well as targeted intervention work with risk groups. The Board also notes that programmes need to be sustainable in the long term in order to generate the desired impact.

Harm Reduction

Harm reduction policies have previously been addressed by the Board. In the current Annual Report the Board once again “calls on Governments which intend to include “harm reduction” measures into their demand reduction strategy, to carefully analyse the overall impact of such measures. These may sometimes be positive for an individual or for a local community while having far-reaching negative consequences at the national and international levels.”

In reaction to specific harm reduction measures such as the establishment and/or operation of drug injection rooms the Board points out that “the operation of such facilities remains a source of grave concern” and “reiterates that they violate the provisions of the international drug control conventions.”

Regional Highlights

Despite the armed intervention and the political change in Afghanistan and the fight against terror, illicit cultivation of and trafficking in opiates has grown which may result in more political instability. Opium cultivation in Afghanistan continued on an even larger scale in 2003.

As a result of two years of bumper crops of opium poppy in Afghanistan, it is expected that heroin trafficking along the Balkan route and through Eastern Europe will continue to increase — this may also lead to the reversal of the declining trends in the abuse of heroin in Western Europe.

More widespread cultivation and abuse of cannabis in Europe combined with a relaxation of controls might counteract required efforts to eradicate illicit cultivation and combat trafficking in Europe and elsewhere in the world.

For further information please contact: INCB Tel: 00-43-1-26060-4163 Web address: www.incb.org

 

Source: ????????? 

 

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Ibiza’s famed dance-till-dawn club nights will be lacking many of the drugs that fuel them this summer: the Spanish police say they have made their biggest seizure of the stuff that makes ecstasy. The raw material for at least 200,000 ecstasy tablets was found on its way from Holland as the island filled up for the summer with clubbers from Britain and the rest of Europe. Nine kilos of almost pure MDMA, the basic chemical ingredient of ecstasy tablets, was found being prepared for shipment in a house on the outskirts of Madrid. Nine people from Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Puerto Rico and the US were arrested during Operation Garage, the police said. “We have saved the lives of many young people,” Antonio Camacho, the secretary of state for security, said.

The operation was preceded by the arrest in the past two weeks of a dozen drug dealers who were selling ecstasy in the San Antonio district of Ibiza, the haunt of many young British visitors, where the police had recently installed closed circuit television cameras. Ibiza clubs such as Privilege, which is described as “the world’s biggest club”, Amnesia, Es Paradis, Eden, Pacha and Space attract thousands of young British clubbers during the summer, often with special nights hosted by British DJs or clubs. Drugs are formally banned by most clubs but ecstasy is considered to be the Ibiza clubber’s favourite drug.

The island’s drug scene has been linked to the March 11 train bombings in Madrid, which killed 191 people. The mainly Moroccan Islamist bombers who blew up four morning commuter trains financed their operations and the purchase of dynamite with drug money. One of them was Jamal Ahmidan, a known drug trafficker who blew himself up, together with a police officer and six other radical Islamists, when they were surrounded by the police a few weeks after the attacks. Ahmidan had travelled to Ibiza the week before the attacks, apparently to close a trafficking deal. One of his contacts in Ibiza was recently arrested by the judge investigating the Madrid bombings.

The British magazine Mixmag, which is devoted to clubs and dance, reported in a recent edition that Ibiza was coming under pressure from underworld gangs. “If you take drugs in Ibiza this summer, you deserve to know what your money is paying for,” the article said. “More club tourists means more gangsters to supply their drugs, more drug-related crime and more clubbers going to jail than ever.”

Several years ago the British vice-consul on the island, Michael Birkett, resigned, claiming he was increasingly being forced to deal with British “degenerates”. An estimated half a million British people visit Ibiza every year. Some of the local drug trade is reported to be in the hands of British groups.

Source Giles Tremlett The Guardian Friday July 30, 2004 

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By TOBY STERLING Associated Press Writer

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — A broad coalition of political parties unveiled a pilot program Friday to regulate marijuana farming on the model of tobacco, which opponents say would be tantamount to legalizing growing the drug.

Under the test program, to be conducted in the southern city of Maastricht, existing health and safety standards will apply to growers, but they would no longer be the target of police raids or prosecution.

Coffee shops permitted to sell marijuana would be required to provide consumers with information about the health hazards of smoking – similar to tobacco companies – and the chemical content of the marijuana. The shops would also have to say where they bought the marijuana they sell, which proponents say will deter growers from operating dangerous underground greenhouses.

Under current Dutch policy, marijuana and hashish are illegal but police don’t prosecute for possession of less than one ounce. Authorities also look the other way regarding the open sale of cannabis in designated coffee shops.

But commercial growing is outlawed, giving rise to a contradictory system in which shop owners have no legal way to purchase their best-selling product.

Dutch mayors along the country’s borders have lobbied hardest for the change, which they say would make it more difficult for German and Belgian drug tourists to smuggle large quantities of marijuana out of the country.

“It will be possible to trace where cannabis is grown, and where it’s sold,” said conservative lawmaker Frans Weekers.

Opponents, however, have argued that regulation could open the door to outright legalization of marijuana in a country that already has some of Europe’s most lenient drug laws. Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende and his ruling Christian Democrat Party said regulating marijuana cultivation would set the Netherlands another step apart from the rest of the continent.

“This experiment would be at odds with Dutch law, and there’s a legal problem” internationally, as well, Balkenende said.

The Justice Ministry has ordered an investigation into whether the plan would violate international law. The findings are expected within several days.

Weekers said, however, that the current policy is “leading to increasing problems.”

“There comes a moment when you say, ‘Now we have to take the next step,'” he said. “If this pilot program works, and we can show to everyone that it’s an improvement, then you have a good argument to take to foreign governments.”

The coalition of parties gave Balkenende until Dec. 14 to implement the testing program, after which lawmakers said they will introduce a bill in parliament to do it. They said about two-thirds of parliament members support the plan.

Source: TheTownTalk.online. Dec. 2005
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Aboard the Mississippi Boat, moored off the banks of the Maas river, the management has suddenly come over publicity-shy. “No interviews in here,” says a burly, long-haired man propping up the bar, “we don’t have anything to do with journalists.”

One of Holland’s most popular, cannabis-selling coffee shops, the Mississippi Boat serves several hundred thousand people each year making its stream of customers the envy of many a Dutch retailer.

But Holland’s famously liberal drug policy is about to confront its biggest challenge in decades. The council in Maastricht plans to make it technically illegal to serve foreigners in the city’s 16 coffee shops, a move that could drive many of them out of business. If the policy is upheld in the courts, it could, eventually, be extended nationwide. The idea is just one of three controversial – and contradictory – schemes designed to curb the social problems produced by Holland’s unique drug laws. Their fate is likely to determine the future of Dutch policy towards cannabis.

The fact that these experiments are taking place in this, historic, city is no coincidence. Within easy driving distance of Belgium, Germany and France, Maastricht has proved a magnet for smokers eager to take advantage of liberal laws. In their wake a trade in illicit cannabis and harder drugs has grown up, accompanied by a rise in crime.

Spurred on by complaints from police and residents, the Mayor of Maastricht, Geerd Leers, has decided that enough is enough. If Mr Leers gets his way, a new by-law will soon require all those who visit coffee shops to show identity cards proving that they are residents. Initially, the law will be enforced only in one coffee shop which will, if necessary, take the case all the way to the European Court of Justice. But, if it loses, foreigners could be banned for all 750 coffee shops in the Netherlands.

In Maastricht’s sprawling modern, municipal, headquarters they have been debating for years how to deal with the special effects of the country’s drugs policy on a border city. Though they still support the principle of legalising limited use of cannabis, they believe bold steps are needed to tackle its unwelcome consequences here.

Ramona Horbach, one of the Mayor’s two drug advisers, argues: “People who visit Maastricht are responsible for a lot of problems, from parking problems to urinating in the streets. There is intimidation, there are efforts to persuade people to buy [hard] drugs. They are trying to sell cocaine, ecstasy or heroin.” Most of the coffee shops are to be found in the relatively small, historic, centre of the city, concentrating the problems in one, compact and highly visible zone.

But a small number are in other neighbourhoods, provoking local opposition.

Ms Horbach’s colleague, Jasperina de Jonge, adds: “Many tourists come to try to buy soft drugs here in the Netherlands that you cannot buy in Germany, France or Belgium.

“Too many people are visiting. Sometimes there is rowdy behaviour. Some of the coffee shops are in residential areas and people no longer like living there.” Parents of young children feel particularly threatened by the combination of rising traffic and a reduced sense of security.

Naturally it was not meant to be like this; the whole point of coffee shops was to bring the use of soft drugs out of the sphere of influence of the criminal gangs.

Though several nations have relaxed their laws on soft drugs, the Netherlands leads the way in regulating their sale. Coffee shops are licensed and no alcohol can be sold or consumed in them. According to the government’s own guide, the policy is a success. “Use of cannabis in the Netherlands is comparable to that in other European countries, whereas in the United States it is substantially higher,” it says.
But this has been achieved through a contradictory law. Technically all drugs are illegal in the Netherlands though coffee shops are permitted to sell a maximum of five grammes of cannabis without facing prosecution.

While it is an offence to produce, possess, sell, import or export hard drugs or cannabis, it is not illegal to use drugs.

That means it is legal for a customer to buy five grammes of cannabis in a coffee shop, but it is illegal for the shop to acquire the stock to sell.

While the law has decriminalised those who use cannabis in small quantities it has not done the same for those who grow it or buy it into their coffee shops.

Maastricht is in the front line because of the massive demand from German, Belgian and French day-trippers. According to the police, the south Limburg region of the Netherlands has an estimated 1.2 million drugs tourists every year.

Peter Tans, head of communications for the Maastricht police, says that, of the estimated 21,000 people charged with crimes this year in south Limburg, 4,500 will be foreigners.

To supply the demand at coffee shops – inflated by foreigners – Maastricht now supports a massive, subterranean cannabis-producing industry.

In the city this year 78kg of cannabis has been seized and 43,000 adult cannabis plants destroyed. Much of this had been farmed out to low-income households under the supervision of gangs. Police raid homes around the city when alerted by the power companies of electricity surges of the type required to run the lamps for cannabis plants (usually power supplies are diverted illegally). According to police calculations, a producer can make €97,640 (£67,000) profit a year by cultivating 18sqm of cannabis plants.

More alarmingly, the police fear that this subculture is making Maastricht fertile territory for gangs dealing in hard drugs. Between January and October 2005, police in the city made 193 arrests in 23 raids, seizing 10kg of heroin, 1.5kg of cocaine, 12,000 ecstasy tablets, €171,000 in cash and 11 firearms.

Mr Tans says: “It can’t go on like it has been for several years now. We hope that [the city’s] experiment will be successful because the problems here give us a huge workload. It means 100,000 man-hours every year if 100 policemen are needed just to deal with the drugs problem.” Prompted by mounting complaints, the city authorities, which have extensive powers under Dutch law, have taken several initiatives. The first was to clamp down gradually on the number of coffee shops.

Each one must be licensed and Maastricht has refused new approvals so that, when owners leave or die, their businesses close. In the early to mid-1990s Maastricht boasted 30 coffee shops; it now has just over half that number.

But with that failing to solve the problem, the city is adopting two, radically different, policies in addition to the effort to stop foreigners being served in coffee shops. The Mayor is leading a push to shift some of the coffee shops out of the city centre. Mr Leers wants to create three drive-in centres on main roads away from the heart of Maastricht and from residential areas to service the demand from drug tourists.

Nicknamed “weed boulevard” or “McDope”, this project directly contradicts the policy of barring foreigners from coffee shops because it is designed to serve that non-Dutch demand but keep it away from the city centre.

Nevertheless, the authorities know their residents-only policy on cannabis will not be enforced for at least two years because of the time the legal test case will take.

Moreover they want to start straight away on the drive-in plans in case the bar on non-residents proves to be against European law preventing discrimination against EU citizens.

Finally, and most controversially, the city would like to see a liberal measure adopted to regulate the so-called “back door” coffee shop trade.

Maastricht has offered to host an experiment in cultivating cannabis under strict supervision to supply local coffee shops and put criminal gangs out of business. Though the logic of their policies suggests that the Netherlands should allow legal production of cannabis, ministers have always shrunk from such a step, knowing it would provoke an international storm. Ms De Jonge says: “The problem of the back door has to be solved.

Local government recognises that fact but national government has to see that that is the next step.”

For the coffee shop-owners the city’s policies present an unprecedented challenge. Marc Josemans, who runs the Easy Going coffee shop, accepts that there are difficulties in the city, but says that “the only people who bring problems are the criminals who are being attracted by the stream of cannabis clients on our streets.” Mr Josemans, who is president of the society of official coffee shops in Maastricht, is a fierce opponent of the city’s efforts to bar foreigners and has agreed to be prosecuted so he can contest the case.

He wants to work with the city council to agree a plan for moving some of the coffee shops out of the city. However he points out that persuading owners to relocate is impossible if their shops might later be banned from serving non-residents.

“As long as this pilot [project to ban foreigners] remains in the air it is very hard to persuade people to spread out of the city,” he says, “we hope the city will postpone it by two or three years.” One area of consensus is over the city’s desire to cultivate cannabis legally. Because of the tough police line, “the good growers stop growing”, says Mr Josemans, “they say it is too dangerous for them. Organised crime has big nurseries where they grow lower quality for higher prices. The idealism of our growers has gone. The guys we used to work with for 25 years are drawing back more and more.”

But while local government and the coffee shops agree that this is at the root of their problems, power to permit such an experiment rests in The Hague. Maastricht’s plan to legalise the “backdoor” looks likely to be blocked by national government. And that will leave the city trying to manage the consequences of a flawed drug law with two, contradictory, policies. It will start creating coffee shops for foreigners outside the city centre, while putting in place a law that could ban them from buying.

Just a few yards from the Mississippi Boat at Smoky’s floating coffee shop, half a dozen people are sitting, smoking, sipping soft drinks and listening to loud rock music. Cannabis is on sale for between €4.50 and €15 a gram and there is little support for any crackdown on the trade.

Most of the allegations against the coffee shops are false, says one client, adding: “You’ve heard about bar fights but no one’s ever heard of a coffee shop fight”.

Smoky’s sells less than 8 per cent to clients from Maastricht and places like this know the new law could drive them out of business. The man behind the bar has one word for the city’s plans: “stupid”.

Source: http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article335069.ece

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Drug abuse is increasing across the EU, with cocaine and ecstasy becoming the drug of choice for new users, an EU report shows.

“Europe remains a major market for stimulant drugs, and indicators suggest that the trend in amphetamine, ecstasy and cocaine use continues to be upwards,” the 2005 annual study from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) states.

The report is based on data provided by the 25 EU countries, plus Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and Norway.

Cocaine is popular with around 9 million Europeans – or 3% of all adults – having used the drug.

Between 3 and 3.5 million are likely to have taken cocaine in the last year, while around 1.5 million are so-called current users, having used it in the last month, the report shows.

Spain, a smugglers’ gateway to the European cocaine market, and Great Britain show the highest numbers of cocaine users with roughly 4% of adult citizens having tried it in the last year

“It is time to realize that cocaine has turned into a simple street drug.

It is no longer a substance for the elite,” said Wolfgang Goetz, director of the EMCDDA while presenting the report in the European Parliament on Thursday (24 November).

Amphetamine-based drug ecstasy ranked second among drugs of choice in several of the participating countries.

Consumption was particularly high in Britain, Spain, France and the Czech Republic.

Joints outclass other drugs

Cannabis is by far the most common drug among the EU’s 460 million citizens, however.

More than 62 million Europeans have smoked cannabis at one point or another in their lives, with consumption growing dramatically since the mid 1990s.

An average of 12% of Europeans used cannabis in 2004, while the rate was 23% among Czechs, 19% among the French and British and 17% among Spaniards, the report said.

Drug-intolerant countries Sweden and Greece showed the lowest numbers in Europe on cannabis use.

Source: – By Teresa Küchler EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS 25.11.2005

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A group of politicians and drugs experts is making a new attempt at decriminalising cannabis in Switzerland.

Eighteen months after parliament threw out a similar plan the committee has collected enough signatures to force a nationwide vote on the issue.

“Our aim is to decriminalise cannabis consumption under strict rules, and encourage parliament to draft its own compromise solution,” parliamentarian Ursula Wyss told swissinfo.

She says it makes no sense to treat the estimated 500,000 regular or occasional pot smokers – from all walks of life – like criminals.

The proposal foresees setting age limits for cannabis consumers or a licensing system for shops selling psychoactive hemp.

The people’s initiative with more than 105,000 signatures was handed in to the federal authorities in Bern on Friday.

Wyss said it was not calling for the outright legalisation of the cannabis trade, which is prohibited under an international agreement.

Effective checks and controls of the trade were an essential element to be able to crack down on illegal dealers, Wyss added.

Young consumers

Wyss said it wasn’t possible to say whether a possible liberalisation would have an impact on the number of cannabis consumers.

But she is concerned about recent statistics which show that Switzerland has one of the highest rates of young pot consumers in Europe and that the drug increased in popularity in the 1990s.

“I think very restrictive rules have to be set to protect children and youth. It must be clear that the measures are enforced, for cannabis and alcohol alike.”

Wyss, a member of the centre-left Social Democratic Party, is confident that a broad alliance with the centre-right Radicals and Christian Democrats could clear the air for a viable political compromise.

In June 2004 the House of Representatives refused to follow the Senate in discussing proposed amendments to the law on narcotics.

The Swiss Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Abuse has declined to comment on the details on the latest initiative, but it has come out in favour of decriminalising cannabis in principle.

“It also makes it easier to treat addicted pot smokers and the patients in turn don’t face major obstacles when they’re looking for help,” said spokeswoman Janine Messerli.

Hardline

Unimpressed by the overtures from other quarters, the rightwing Swiss People’s Party is standing by its hardline stance on drugs.

“We’re against liberalising cannabis. There is ample scientific proof gathered over the past 40 years to show that pot smoking is not conducive to your health,” said party spokesman Roman Jäggi.

He believes the attitude in society towards drugs has changed in the recent past and people are keen to see more discipline in place.

“Switzerland has been too liberal in its drugs policy. We welcome increased police efforts to close illegal hemp shops. But clearly more needs to be done to stop children as young as 12 smoking cannabis.”

Pioneer

It is likely to take more than two years before the initiative will come to a nationwide ballot.

If it were to win voters’ acceptance Switzerland would become the first country in the world to decriminalise the purchase, possession and consumption of cannabis.

Proponents hope that Switzerland, which is not a member of the European Union, would act as a model for other countries.

Switzerland became notorious for its liberal narcotics policy, notably the public drug scenes in the country’s major cities in the 1980s and 1990s.

In response the government implemented its four-pillar strategy of repression, prevention, therapy and harm reduction. swissinfo, Urs Geiser

Source: NZZ Online 14 Jan 2006


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Filed under: Europe :

Lausanne, June 12, 2006. The French-Swiss Anti-drug Association (Association romande contre Ia drogue, ARCD) vigorously protests at the scandalous interpretation of a study conducted by two Zurich researchers in connection with the evolution of heroin consumption. Contrary to what is misleadingly stated, the reduction in the number of heroin addicts is not due to the “liberal drug policy” applied in Switzerland; actually, the situation has not improved, but it is the narcotic products used that have changed. Less heroin but much more cocaine, such is the disturbing reality of the evolution of drug consumption, not forgetting the ravages of strongly dosed cannabis.

In 1991, the Platzspitz. the first large ‘open drug scene” in Zurich was about to be closed. Although the number of heroin addicts has actually dropped since then, as pointed out by Carlos Nordt and Rudolf Stohler in a study concerning the methadone and heroin substitution treatments administered in Zurich (The Lance, 2 June 2006), it has certainly not been thanks to a “liberal drug policy”. It is simply that the drug consumers switched their preference to cocaine and highly-dosed cannabis rather than heroin, considered a “looser” drug, with the damning results that we see today:

The ARCD would like to point out some facts concerning the prescription of heroin, which went from the testing stage (1994-1996) to that of a treatment claiming to be therapeutic (1999) and refunded by the health insurance companies (2002). To date. 2,903 drug addicts have gone through the heroin prescription programmes. Some of them (over 200?) have died. The sticking rate of participants in the programmes is barely 50 to 70% according to the duration of the treatment. It is the most marginalized. and hence those who constitute the prime target audience, who drop out of the programmes for lack of support. Of those who remain, rare are those who go for a therapy aimed at abstinence. The 2005 annual report of the Koda heroin prescription centre, in Bern. indicates that 3 drug addicts out of 195, last year. managed to detox. That means that 98% of the participants continue to consume opiates, often in combination with other illegal products. So this approach has contributed to maintaining their dependence.

The social costs related to the consumption oldrugs in Switzerland are evaluated at more than 4 billion francs a year. Over time, the costs of an abstinence-centred treatment appear much less than those of the substitution programmes. With heroin prescription, the taxpayers and persons insured with health insurance companies arc made to assume expenditure which could be avoided.

The ARCD is calling forthe introduction of a new policy to combat illicit drugs based on prevention worthy of the name, a reinforcement of the medical care services, with abstinence as the therapeutic goal. and an appropriate legal response to all infringements, with a firm and systematic repression of narcotic trafficking.

Contact: Claude Ruey, member of the Swiss Federal Parliament, phone 0041 31 311 64 16, e-mail: ciaudertmeva)arl.ch Jean-Philippe Chenaux, phone 0041 21 796 33 00, e-mail: jpçenaux@centrepatronal.ch

Filed under: Europe :

European Union Group Urges Censorship of Pro-Cannabis Web Sites, Activists Plot Counter-attack

A European Union (EU) working group on drug policy has issued a draft resolution identifying marijuana as European drug problem number one and recommending, among other things, that governments move to censor or criminalize Internet sites that provide information on cannabis cultivation or promote its use. The European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies (http://www.encod.org), an umbrella organization of drug reform groups that seeks to influence EU drug policy, was working this week to formulate a response.

Meeting on July 6, the EU’s Horizontal Drug Group approved the Draft Council Resolution on Cannabis. It will now be presented to the European Council for approval as the EU works toward completing its continental drug strategy. Noting its concern about the rising popularity of cannabis (marijuana), the high potency of some marijuana, possible ill health effects, and the role of organized crime in the cannabis trade, the drug group called for more international law enforcement cooperation against trafficking, “alternative development” for cannabis producing regions, demand reduction at home, no marijuana in prison, and more research.

But it was the drug group draft’s 21st paragraph that was the attention-getter. It encouraged “Member States in accordance with national legislation to consider taking measures against Internet sites providing information on cultivation and promoting the use of cannabis.”

“This is nothing less then a direct attack against many organizations, groups of people, and individuals, who are active on the Internet giving information on cannabis cultivation and use,” said Joep Oomen, ENCOD coordinator. “If member states really adopt these measures, they could even address them to all sites that have a cannabis leaf on it,” he said. “If Western authorities start to limit the freedom of expression of their own citizens — and we are talking about 25-40 million cannabis consumers in the EU — we can be sure that something is really going wrong.”

“It is also a silly measure,” he told DRCNet. “Local and national authorities are well aware that allowing consumers to cultivate cannabis is not leading to massive health problems. On the contrary, if you persecute them, conditions for obtaining cannabis become harder, and all kinds of problems start to arise which had disappeared with depenalization,” he argued. “Cultivation of cannabis for own one’s consumption is depenalized in several EU countries, such as the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain, and in practice in all the EU — no one will get into trouble for cultivating some plants. So allowing them to cultivate but forcing them and others to keep their mouth shut about it is a ridiculous policy.”

ENCOD, which includes more than 75 different European drug reform organizations in its membership, is plotting a response, said Oomen. “After the European Union drug summit in Dublin in May (http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/338/dublin.shtml), we have a foot inside the door for the debate on the new EU drug strategy,” he said. “We were already preparing a proposal to organize a dialogue between civil society and policymakers on the new strategy, and we may use this issue as a good example to explain our main criticism to policymakers, namely that they are completely out of sync with reality. We will offer them our help to design and implement reality-based drug policies.”

Still, said Oomen, there may be less here than meets the eye. “It is a nonbinding resolution and is really meant as a symbolic measure, with which the national and supranational policymakers hope to strengthen the repressive trend in recent European drug policies,” he explained. “It comes just before the start of the discussion on a new EU Drug Strategy, and is meant to push this discussion in a certain direction.”

The resolution was the work of the governments of Sweden, probably Europe’s leading prohibitionist government, and Spain, but the conservative Spanish government of Prime Minister Felipe Aznar has since been replaced by the more reform-friendly Socialists. “It was presented in March by Sweden and Spain in an even more repressive form, but afterwards a lot of member states presented objections, but chose to agree on the final version as they did not want this discussion to be mixed up with the debate on the new EU Drug strategy that starts in September,” Oomen reported.

Support for the resolution is not strong, Oomen said. According to one government official who spoke to Oomen, “everybody, including the governments that presented it, prefers now to forget this resolution, and go on to the discussion on the EU Drug Strategy.” This official advised laying low, saying, “Don’t paint the devil on the wall — then it will appear in person.”

But ENCOD’s membership appears disinclined to simply watch and wait. “Perhaps everyone has forgotten about this already, but the main trend behind this resolution will not go away if we just sit and pray, so we definitely plan actions,” said Oomen. “First we want to see how far they allow us to go with the dialogue process, and if that is unsatisfactory, we have other ways to put pressure on them.”

Read the EU Horizontal Drug Group’s Draft Council Resolution on Cannabis online at: http://register.consilium.eu.int/pdf/en/04/st11/st11267.en04.pdf

Source:forwarded by email from Drug Watch International 2006
Filed under: Drug Specifics,Europe :

M. Daniel said children as young as 10 / 11 years are showing signs of abuse problems from cannabis use.

Cannnabis use among young adults has more than doubled since the easing up of drugs policies.

Drug related arrests in Holland are up over 40% in a 3 year period.

Holland has the largest market for manufacturing synthetic drugs.

In areas of Holland where youth misuse is greatest, rates of juvenile crime have skyrocketed. Rates of burglary is three times more than that in Switzerland or the USA.

In local towns referenda over 70% of Dutch people favour returning to a more restrictive drug policy.

Source:Taken from a report to Wisconsen State Dept of justice : July 1999
by William Walluks. (from Larry Collins Article)
Filed under: Europe :

Swiss schoolchildren leave most of their European counterparts lagging behind when it comes to extracurricular activities such as smoking cannabis and getting drunk.

According to a survey of 35 countries, they are the continent’s heaviest dope smokers and among the worst offenders for binge drinking.
 

Key Facts:

Figures for Swiss 13-year-olds:

8.5% smoke cigarettes daily.
More than 50% drink alcohol at least once a month.
20% have smoked a joint.

The European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs in Switzerland found that 80 per cent of 15-year-olds drank regularly – despite being underage. More than half of the 16-year-olds questioned said they went binge drinking at least once a month. While previous studies have shown that Swiss teenagers are big on dope smoking, the study’s authors said they were taken aback by some of the findings relating to alcohol consumption. 

“There were many surprises,” said Gerhard Gmel, co-director for research at the Swiss Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Addiction, who led the study. “Imagine that about 50 per cent of 16-year-olds binge at least once a month. I found this was a very high prevalence.” “Another very surprising finding for us was that spirit and alcopop consumption seems to be very high among young people. We thought it was mainly beer and wine that were consumed by adolescents.” 

Tax on alcopops

Alarmed by the rise in binge drinking among teenagers, the government raised the tax on alcopops in February this year. Gmel said it was too early to say whether this was having any effect on drinking habits, but he stressed that other measures were needed.Among them was better enforcement of existing regulations banning the sale of alcohol to minors. 

According to previous studies, 90 per cent of 15-year-olds say it is either “very easy” or “relatively easy” to buy beer in Switzerland. Two-thirds of them say they have no problems getting their hands on spirits. “It’s too easy to get alcohol in Switzerland,” Gmel told swissinfo. “The fact that 80 per cent of young people drink has to do with our culture in Switzerland. It’s accepted to drink alcohol and I think the tolerance, even towards binge drinking, is too high in Switzerland.” “I think we have good measures and legal regulations but they are not enforced enough – that’s a problem.” 

7,000 questioned

Gmel and his team interviewed around 7,000 schoolchildren aged between 13 and 16.They found that cigarette smoking among teenagers was continuing to rise despite frequent prevention campaigns. Almost a quarter of 16-year-olds said they smoked every day.“There’s much international research going on about media campaigns, and they usually show that they are not very effective,” said Gmel. 

“Nevertheless these campaigns are needed to really change the attitudes of the population, but they are only fruitful if they are accompanied by structural measures such as regulations on the selling of alcohol and tobacco.” The Federal Health Office, which published the findings on Friday, said it was the first time Switzerland had participated in the Europe-wide survey. Spokeswoman Sandra Meier said the office intended to repeat the study in four years’ time as long as funds were available. 

Source: swissinfo, August 18th 2004Adam Beaumont
Filed under: Europe :

During a seminar on the future of Swedish drug policy, the first in a series of four taking place in Gothenburg, Umea, Stockholm and Malmo, the Swedish Minister of Health and Social Affairs, Mr Lars Engqvist, stated very clearly that “there will be no proposals for change of direction in Swedish drug policy: We will continue to maintain a restrictive drug policy.’ Speaking to the Swedish news agency TT, Mr Engqvist said “we want to make it clear to all actors in the field that we are not going to change direction  the goal is a drug free society.” On September 10 twelve Swedish NGOs issued a statement where they demanded comprehensive efforts against drugs.

In the statement the 12 NGOs declare, “Drug problems is no natural catastrophe. You cannot blame the European Union, lack of resources, parents not prepared to assume responsibility or the Russian Mafia. The truth is that Sweden faces the drug problems that we have created the necessary conditions for. Sweden is one of the few countries in the western world that has experience of an effective drug policy. Good preventive work, comprehensive treatment and ambitious police activities contributed to create a decrease in drug use during the 1980s. Weak political interest in drug—related issues during the 1990s resulted in reduced measures and, consequently, an increase in drug abuse. In its final report the Swedish Government’s Narcotic Commission has delivered an excellent analysis of the drug political development. We support a majority of the Comission’s proposals. However, proposals carry no weight without effective instruments of control….”

The demands of the twelve NGOs include the following aspects (summarised):

• Sweden should establish a central drug-political leadership. The Swedish Governments  Commission’s proposal to install a ‘drug czar’ is excellent.

• Local and national surveys on drug abuse should be conducted. The social services and other actors in the field should make sure the support and treatment reach those who need it urgently, and who have in spreading drugs.

• The school system must assume greater responsibility to make sure that education about drugs and life education become part of curriculum. Municipalities should increase activities for young people.

• Every drug user should have the right to treatment to get off drugs. Care and aftercare must be developed and made more effective. Drug users often deal drugs to young people. Consequently, effective treatment is a good preventive measure.

• Increased support to NGOs that work to counteract drug use and provide rehabilitation.

• As NGOs “we don’t love coercive measures.., but realise its necessity”. Coercive treatment should be developed and expanded to meet actual needs.

• The needs of the client should provide the basis for the choice of care and treatment. It’s absurd that municipal economy directs choice of treatment.

• As for control policy law enforcement agencies should be provided with further resources to be able to work effectively. Every county should have a drug squad. In larger cities there should be – street level drug squads and groups targeting young people.

• All proposals for decriminalisation of use of drugs must be rejected. We reject the classification of drugs in ‘soft drugs’ and ‘hard drugs’. Drug use can be discovered early and early discovery means that you prevent it earlier.

• It ought to be obvious that prisons should be drug free. There are several examples of successful interventions within the system for treatment of offenders. KRIS is an excellent example of what could be done to further development in this area.

• A comprehensive drug policy needs effective instruments of control. Experience tells us that laws/regulations in combination with government subsidy might be a successful way to reach the goals. State aid that is handed over to municipalities and county councils should be ‘earmarked’

Source: Hassela Nordic Network, Sept 2001.
Filed under: Europe :

French teenagers are among the biggest consumers of cannabis in Europe, smoking joints as often as they drink alcohol, an official study of thousands of students from 450 high schools released Wednesday showed.

By the age of 18, two boys in three and one of every two girls have tried the narcotic – illegal in France – the survey by the French Observatory of Drugs and Drug Use ( OFDT ) revealed.

“By the age of 16, regular consumption of cannabis reaches the level of regular consumption of alcohol,” the authors said.

Their questioning of 16,833 students last year showed that, by age 18, 21 percent of boys, and seven percent of girls, were smoking more than 10 joints a month.

The number of 16- and 17-year-olds using cannabis at least 10 times a year has tripled over the past decade, according to the study, which is to be incorporated into a Europe-wide report set for publication at the end of the year.
Source: Agence France-Presse Apr 2004)

Filed under: Alcohol,Europe,Youth :

The European “Schools Health Education Unit” survey questioned 15881 teenagers at 334 primary schools and found that 29% of 14 and 15-year old males had tried cannabis in 2001 compared to 19% in 1999. The proportion of 14 and 15-year-old girls who had smoked cannabis had also risen from 18% in 1999 to 25% in 2001. One of the leading causes for this sky-rocketing drug use was that the perception of harmfulness of cannabis (and drugs in general)is decreasing. The implementation of student drug testing in schools can give students a clear signal that illegal drug use is not tolerated in society and a reason to say ‘NO’.

Source: The study on Random Student Drug Testing was conducted by Dr.Ivan van Damme. Read more on this subject at: www.eurad.net/ options/Student%20drug%20testing.htm
Filed under: Europe,Youth :

Parents give support to school’s plans to introduce random drug testingColne Community School, in Brightlingsea, could now bring in the scheme in September after questionnaires were sent to parents last month. Principal Terry Creissen said more than 90 per cent of parents who responded were in favour of the proposed scheme, which would cost about £10,000 a year to run, with funding planned through sponsorship. Governors will make a final decision about whether to give the go-ahead later this month and, if so, the first drugs tests will be taken in September. Students will also be surveyed about the issue. [East Anglican Daily Times, 23 June]

 

Children at playschool in Austria are having their toys taken away

Children at playschool in Austria are having their toys taken away in the belief it will help them fight drug addiction and alcoholism later in life. Pilot tests have shown that taking away children’s toys encourages them to think more about how to entertain themselves. They become more social and even those on the outside of the group find a positive role. The campaign comes after recent studies in Austria found more and more children are growing up in families in which one or both parents drink too much alcohol and the number of teenagers developing problems with alcohol and drugs is growing. [Ananova, 24 June]

Research finds that young drug users can suffer brain damage similar to the early stages of Alzheimer’s

New research by scientists at Edinburgh University has found that young drug users can suffer brain damage similar to the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. The research claims that young injecting drug users are up to three times more likely to suffer brain damage than non-users. The studies suggest that intravenous use of heroin or methadone can be linked to premature ageing of the brain. It revealed that some drug users sustained a level of brain damage normally seen only seen in much older people and similar to the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. [The Scotsman, 22 June]

Doctors attack government drug strategy for failures on drinking and smoking

Doctors have attacked the government’s National Drug Strategy for failing to tackle drinking and smoking in early life. ‘[The strategy] was set up with crime-reduction on mind – and for that reason it’s designed to tackle illegal drug use only,’ Dr Vasco Fernandes, consultant physician in alcohol and drug addiction, told public health doctors at a British Medical Association conference. Delegates voted for the government to set up accessible addiction services for young people and to focus on smoking prevention. Most drug addicts did not progress straight to heroin or crack cocaine, but began with the ‘gateway drugs’, smoking and drinking – problems which the government was leaving to other agencies, according to Dr Fernandes. ‘If we are serious about preventing addiction to both legal and illegal drugs, we must have better services to tackle these problems among young people, and they must be co-ordinated into the national drug strategy,’ he said. To do otherwise was to spend time ‘locking the door after the horse has well and truly bolted’. The conference called for a review of 24-hour drinking, including public debate.

Heroin scripts

Heroin prescribing treatment has gained new backing by a research team from the University of Amsterdam. Revealing their findings in the British Medical Journal, researchers said the treatment was expensive – but that the cost to health services was offset by savings linked to reduced levels of crime. The study was based on 430 heroin addicts on methadone maintenance in the Netherlands

Scientist developing portable sensor that can identify and trace tiny particles of heroin and cocaine Yorkshire research scientist Dr Deborah Rathbone is developing a portable sensor device that can identify and trace tiny particles of heroin and cocaine by ‘hoovering’ the air around a suspect. Apart from hoovering people, Ms Rathbone said the device could also be used on cars at roadside checkpoints, suitcases at airports and container lorries. The detector will be much more sensitive than sniffer dogs, and since it is portable it could be used to catch drug smugglers at any border. [Yorkshire Evening Post, 8 June]

Researchers identify critical gene that appears to control craving and relapse behaviour in heroin addicts

By examining the neurons of heroin-hooked rats, Ivan Diamond and colleagues at CV Therapeutics in California found that the AGS3 gene can increase the output of pleasure and addiction signals from a region of the brain known as the nucleus accumbens. This region was already known to be important for pleasure and reward, and central to heroin addiction. The research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows exactly which gene triggers the pleasurable response. [The Guardian, 2 June]

Study into alcohol use in Blackpool reveals one in six people has been hospitalised through alcohol since 2000

A new study into alcohol use in Blackpool has revealed one in six people in the resort has been hospitalised through alcohol since 2000 and there are up to 90 preventable deaths a year through drink abuse. Problems are also gripping the emergency services – figures show more than a third of arrests made in Blackpool involve drunks. Director of Public Health for Blackpool Fylde and Wyre, Dr Andy Howe, said: ‘alcohol harm has become a priority due to the high levels of drink-related crime, injury and alcohol-related disease experienced in Blackpool’. [The Blackpool Gazette, 7 July]

Kids as young as 15 signing up for self-help meetings in a bid to kick their cocaine habits

Cocaine Anonymous Scotland has revealed how a growing number of youngsters are becoming addicted to the drug and they claim that cocaine abuse has reached ‘epidemic’ proportions. Experts blame the falling cost of the drug.

Profit margins for heroin traffickers into Britain

Profit margins for heroin traffickers into Britain are so high that they outstrip luxury goods companies such as Louis Vuitton and Gucci, according to half of a study that Downing Street has withheld from publication under freedom of information legislation. The report delivers a scathing verdict on efforts to disrupt the drugs supply chain and was leaked to the Guardian, which speculated on the government’s refusal to publish less than favourable news on the eve of the Live 8 concert. [The Guardian, 5 July]

Beer made with a caffeine additive to be launched in the UK

A beer made with a caffeine additive is to be launched in the UK – amid fears that it might fuel binge drinking. A spokesman for BE – Beer with Extra – which also contains guarana, and ginseng said ‘it will be marketed at people aged 18 to 34 who like drinking in bars and nightclubs’. Andrew McNeill, the director of the Institute of Alcohol Studies, said he was concerned that the caffeine content might encourage people to drink alcohol for longer periods. [The Scotsman, 4 July]

Source: DrugRelatedNews DDN July 05
Filed under: Alcohol,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Europe,Parents :

On August 1, the Dutch daily ‘Rotterdams Dagblad’ reported that youngsters get hooked on drugs at an ever-younger age. Youngsters are using especially cannabis increasingly in the age groups from 12 to 18 years.
Severely addicted youngsters have to deal with psychiatric problems and are increasingly admitted to special clinics to get rid of their addiction.

 
This is stated by the Dr. Kuno van Dijk Foundation in Groningen, the Netherlands, which receives young addicts. “We see that youngsters at the highest level of primary school in fact know all the different kinds of drugs”, said spokesman Rob van der Vloed, according to the paper. “That is still something different than use, but it is remarkable that experimenting with drugs starts at an ever younger age. This results in a group of youngsters that become addicted to it and suffers from severe psychiatric problems.”
The foundation in Groningen runs one of the few institutions in the Netherlands where it is possible to treat severely addicted youngsters. From the lst of January 2002 onwards it will be officially recognized as an addiction clinic. “This should be seen as a recognition of the problems that this target group suffers from. The Ministry of Health now indicates that these kind of clinics are necessary and gives us the money to combat the problems.”
Although the use of cannabis produces the biggest problems, the addiction care services also see a shift towards the use of other drugs. “We encounter  more and more so called poly-drug users. These are youngsters that take everything they come across and can pay for.”
The youngsters that are treated, show – apart from severe addiction problems – severe problematic behaviour and have psychiatric complaints. More than 40 percent of them have been diagnosed as having a psychiatric disturbance. Distorted family relations cause problems for a lot of youngsters.
The youngsters that are being admitted into the foundation’s clinic stay for a few months, up to one year. More than 40 percent of the youngsters admitted don’t complete the treatment.
                                                                                                      

Source: Dutch daily newspaper Rotterdam’s ‘Dagblad’ August 1st 2001

Filed under: Europe,Youth :

Very heavy use of cannabis could be a cause of psychosis, according to a leading psychiatrist who believes that society should think carefully about the potential consequences of its increasing use. Robin Murray, professor of psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry and consultant psychiatrist at the Maudsley hospital in London, says that in the last 18 months, there has been increasing evidence that cannabis causes serious mental illness. In particular, a Dutch study of 4,000 people from the general population found that those taking large amounts of cannabis were almost seven times more likely to have psychotic symptoms three years later.
“This research must not be ignored,” said Prof Murray, speaking at the annual general meeting of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Edinburgh. Writing in the Guardian last August, Prof Murray said he had been surprised that the discussion around cannabis had skirted around the issue of psychosis. Psychiatrists had known for 150 years that very heavy consumption of cannabis could cause hallucinations and delusions.
“This was thought to be very rare and transient until the 1980s when, as cannabis consumption rose across Europe and the USA, it became apparent that people with chronic psychotic illnesses were more likely to be regular daily consumers of cannabis than the general population.”

In the UK, he said, people with schizophrenia are about twice as likely to smoke cannabis. The reason appears to be the effect that the drugs have on chemicals in the brain. “In schizophrenia the hallucinations and delusions result from an excess of a brain chemical called dopamine. All the drugs which are known to cause psychosis – amphetamine, cocaine and cannabis -increase the release of dopamine in the brain.” Cannabis had been the downfall of many a promising student, he suggested. “Like any practising psychiatrist, I have often listened to the distraught parents of a young man diagnosed with schizophrenia tell me that as a child their son was very bright and had no obvious psychological problems. Then in his mid-teens his grades began falling. He started complaining that his friends were against him and that people were talking about him behind his back.“After several years of increasingly bizarre behaviour he dropped out of school job or university; he was admitted to a psychiatric unit overwhelmed by paranoid fears and persecution by voices. The parents tell me that, at some point, their son was heavily dependent on cannabis.”
It used to be thought that the high numbers of psychotic patients taking cannabis could be explained because they used it to alleviate their symptoms. The recent studies, however have looked at large populations without mental illness and studied the numbers of cannabis takers within them who have developed psychosis.
Source: The Guardian July 2003

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Europe,Health :

Amsterdam’s coffee shops, where cannabis and alcohol top the menu, suffered a knockout blow on Wednesday when the city council announced the cafes will in future have to decide which ‘drug of choice’ to sell. In other cities and towns in the Netherlands, cannabis cafes are tolerated as long as they do not sell alcohol on the same premises. Cafes in the capital have an exemption from this regulation, but Amsterdam City Council said this privilege would be withdrawn in the next three years. From now until 2006, coffee shop owners in Amsterdam will be given the opportunity to continue business as an alcohol-free cafe or to stop selling soft drugs. The new plan is the latest in a string of blows to hit the Dutch cannabis industry. On 5 May, the Justice Ministry said it was considering imposing restrictions on the active THC content in locally produced cannabis. A few days before that, the Health Ministry seemed to put the future of all coffee shops at risk when it said they would have to provide a smoke-free environment for staff by the beginning of 2004.
Source: Dutch associated Press. June 2003

Filed under: Alcohol,Cannabis/Marijuana,Europe,Legal Sector :

For 10 years the national Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) program (recently renamed ADAM—Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring) has been reporting high drug-positive rates among arrestees tested for illicit drugs in major cities across the US. Earlier this year, researchers in England released the main findings of the first DUF/ADAM pilot program outside the U.S. Research was conducted in custody suites in 5 police force areas (Cambridge, London, Manchester, Nottingham, and Sunderland) over an 18-month period beginning in January 1996. Male and female arrestees were interviewed using a questionnaire based on those used in the DUF/ADAM program. Voluntary and anonymous urine specimens were also collected.
An average of 61% of English arrestees tested positive for at least one illicit drug. 46% of English arrestees tested positive for marijuana, outranking all other drugs including cocaine. This study demonstrates the feasibility of conducting DUF/ADAM studies outside of the U.S.

It’s findings also suggest the hypothesis that about 50% of criminals throughout the world are likely to be using illicit drugs.
Source: CESAR FAX, Sep 7.1998, Vol 7 Issue 36, Center for Substance Abuse Research ,University of Maryland.

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Europe,Legal Sector :

Dutch cannabis which contains over 10% of the active ingredient THC should be classed as a hard drug and banned, according to a Rotterdam police drugs expert and a Groningen toxicology professor. High THC concentrations can cause heart palpitations and high blood pressure, the experts claimed.
Source: Reported in Het Financieele Dagblad Nov 1999.

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Europe,Legal Sector :

The greatest cause of disease and death in every developed country and most developing countries is tobacco addiction. The World Health Organization estimates that tobacco addiction kills 5 million people worldwide each year, including more than 400,000 Americans. In effort to combat this worldwide plague, the World Health Organization (made up of 192 member countries) voted unanimously last week to adopt the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The Convention urges countries to eliminate tobacco advertising, establish bigger/stronger warning labels, raise cigarette prices, and adopt smoke free workplace laws.

France announced that it is raising cigarette prices by 25% and will continue to do so until prices reach 7 euros ($8.40) per pack. Currently, cigarettes cost about 4 euros ($4.80) per pack. The last price hike resulted in a 10% decline in youth smoking. In addition new cigarette warning labels have gone into effect in Europe covering 1/3 of both the front and back of a pack of cigarettes. Canada and Brazil have strong picture based warning labels. Ireland and Norway have announced that restaurants and bars will be smoke free next year. Finland currently has smoke free casinos.

In the U.S., four entire states— CA, DE, NY, and CT– have gone totally smoke free (including restaurants, bars, and casinos). Hundreds of cities have also gone totally smoke free, including four of the most popular tourist destinations— New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and San Francisco. Canada and Australia continue to lead the world in smoke free workplace legislation.

In Japan the densely populated Chiyoda Ward went smoke free outdoors last year in response to growing complaints from residents about sidewalks and roads littered with cigarette butts and clothes being burned by cigarettes. Mayor Masami Ishikawa himself a smoker backed the ordinance, saying he believes it is no longer possible to rely on smokers to voluntarily stop throwing cigarette trash on the street.

Although there is much to be done, it is obvious that the world is taking action to prevent another generation of tobacco addiction and disease. Five million deaths a year are simply too much to ignore.
Source: smoke Free Educational services, www.corpwatch.org, June 2003

Filed under: Canada,Europe,Nicotine,Others (International News),Social Affairs,USA :

Helsinki City has trained 40 drug addicts to assist their drug colleagues with supplying clean needles and giving first aid. This idea is from Belgium where it all started already in 1987. These addicts are called ‘jobist’ and their activities are funded by the support from the European Union. After their training. 5 evenings, they also get a small reward of abt US $200. The work is otherwise on a voluntary basis and they get 100 needles/day when looking for their friends. These jobists seem to be well motivated which is of course might be a first preliminary step towards seeking rehab. On the other hand it shows how cheap the society wants treat seriously ill people. This all seems again to fall under the popular theme of harm reduction.
The authorities are scared of next year when Estonia will join EU and the Estonians have a very serious HIV and Hepatitis problem. As you know the drug smuggling is taken care by the Estonians, who today even transport drugs to Finland via Sweden.

Souce: Botho Simolin, Drug Watch International delegate, Finland.

Filed under: Europe,HIV/Injecting-Drug-Users,Needle Exchange :

Cannabis doubles the risk of schizophrenia and other psyciatric conditions
Harald Wychgel,an expert at the Trimbos addiction Institute claimed that cannabis use leads to 200 additional cases of schizophrenia each year in the Netherlands. He said that about 400,000 young Dutch people regularly smoke cannabis and of these 400 fall victim to psychiatric difficulties or schizophrenia.About half of young Dutch mules come into contact with cannabis as do about 30 percent of young women, This group more frequently suffers from mental conditions due to daily cannabis use,Wychgel claimed

Source:Expatica news Oct 2003

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Europe,Health :

Smoking three cannabis joints will cause you to inhale the same amount of toxic chemicals as a whole packet of cigarettes, according to research published in France today.

Cannabis smoke contains seven times more tar and carbon monoxide, the French National Consumers’ Institute concluded in research published in the April edition of its monthly magazine.

The institute tested regular Marlboro cigarettes alongside 280 specially rolled joints of cannabis leaves and resin in an artificial smoking machine.

The tests examined the content of the smoke for tar and carbon monoxide, as well as for the toxic chemicals nicotine, benzene and toluene.

“Cannabis smoke contains seven times more tar and carbon monoxide than tobacco smoke,” the institute’s magazine “60 million consumers” said.

Someone smoking a joint of cannabis resin rolled with tobacco will inhale twice the amount of benzene and three times as much toluene as if they were smoking a regular cigarette, the study said.

Smokers of pure cannabis leaves will also inhale more of these chemicals than from a normal cigarette, though the amount varies depending on the quantities.

“Smoking three joints every day — which is becoming frequent — makes you run the same risks of cancer or cardio-vascular diseases as smoking a packet of cigarettes,” the magazine said.

Cannabis is “by far” the most popular illicit drug in France, it said. The number of cigarette smokers and people drinking alcohol fell in 2005, while the number of cannabis users has increased in France over the past five years.

Source: AFP, Australian Foreign Press March 27, 2006

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Europe,Nicotine :

Vancouver, British Columbia, a city unaccustomed to widespread crime, is facing a rise in gang-related violence stemming from drug dealing and local turf wars between young people of Indian descent, “They are Indo-Canadians killing Indo-Canadians,” said Kash Heed, commanding officer of the Third Police District in Vancouver. “Seventy-six murders mainly within one ethnic group. The cycle of violence, we’ve not cracked it yet.”

Immigrant community leaders blame inaction on the part of Vancouver police for the rise in gang violence. “Out here, it’s a slap on the hand,” said Amar Randhawa, co-founder of the Unified Network of Indo-Canadians for Togetherness and Education Through Discussion (UNITED). “Law enforcement can’t crack the lower hierarchy, let alone get to the top.”

But police officials said the cycle of murder and revenge has hampered their efforts. “One day suspect, and the next day victim,” said Heed. “One day you are the shooter. The next day you’re lying in your coffin.”

According to police, gangs deal in the potent variety of marijuana called B.C. bud, which is grown in the province. “It is often exchanged for cocaine, cash, or firearms. It is a deal between two criminal gangs, one on the south side of the border and one on the north side, guns for marijuana,” said constable Alex Borden of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. “If there is violence in our streets and firearms are involved, we are concerned the firearms come from across the border.”

According to Joe Giuliano, assistant chief at the local U.S. Border Patrol office in Blaine, Wash., 23 Canadian smugglers have been arrested on the U.S. side of the border so far this year. “Virtually all marijuana smuggling in the past fiscal year is either directly or indirectly tied back to the Indo-Canadian community,” he said.

According to officials, gang members are generally from upscale families. “Unlike in other countries, people involved in the gang activity here are not the poor or disadvantaged,” said Wallace Oppal, a justice of the Court of Appeal of British Columbia. “For the most part, kids involved here are people who come from middle-class and upper-class homes. They get involved for the glamour.”

Heed added that parents should get more involved in discouraging their children from joining gangs. “We’ve gone to notify people their son was killed and they have been in such denial they slammed the door in the police officer’s face,” Heed said. “They don’t want to believe their child is involved. They will ask the question to their dying day after their son is murdered why they didn’t do something.”

Source: the Washington Post reported July 22. 2004
Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Crime/Violence/Prison,Europe,Legal Sector,Others (International News),Parents,Youth :

Ben Mitchell argues that drugs should not be legalised.

In the UK, the social and economic costs of drug misuse account for between £10 billion and £18 billion a year. Around 250000 problematic drug users’ contribute to 99% of these costs.1 These addicts spend around £16,500 a year each to feed their habits, with most of this coming from the proceeds of crime2. Hard drug users, who indulge in heroin, crack cocaine and powder cocaine, are responsible for 50% of all crimes3.

On the one side, them are proponents of ‘harm reduction’. In the case of heroin, they want to see persistent users prescribed heroin under the NHS.

Opponents compare the Dutch and Swedish approach to drugs over the last 25 years, and point out that drug use in the Netherlands, which has adopted a policy of ‘harm reduction, has seen use of cannabis amongst the young more than double, with use of ecstasy and cocaine by l5 year olds rising significantly.

By contrast, in Sweden, the goal has been to create a ‘drugs free society,’ with everyone from the police to schools working towards such a strategy. As a result, overall lifetime prevalence of drug abuse, amongst 15-16 year-olds. is 8% in Sweden, compared to 29% in the Netherlands. In 1998, only 496kg of cannabis were seized in Sweden, compared to 118 in the Netherlands, now described as the drugs capital of Western Europe5 . This is because in Sweden drug use is seen as inimical to a civilised, tolerant society, whereas in the Netherlands drugs have been accepted as a ‘way of life’ and have contributed hugely to crime.

The UK’s approach to drugs is deeply flawed. with the government sending out confusing and misleading messages. Cannabis has been downgraded from a class B to class C drug; yet many people widely believe that cannabis has been decriminalised.

The ‘Lambeth Experiment’, which led the way to reclassification, caused an explosion in the number of drug dealers preying upon the area6. The experiment has to all intents and purposes ‘allowed’ people to smoke cannabis publicly. But, the moral and ethical question still remains: is it acceptable to tolerate something which is proven to damage both the health and judgement of individuals, and can also affect relationships with families, friends and the wider society?

There are now several experiments being conducted across Europe in an effort to contain heroin addiction. In Switzerland, since 1994, 1,000 of the country’s 33 heroin addicts have been prescribed pure heroin. The aim is to stabilise the health of addicts and prevent them from using heroin in public, thus taking their habit away from the black market.

Swiss officials claim that the experiment is working because crime is down, However, addicts are now becoming dependent on prescription heroin and hopes of weaning them off the substance have quickly faded.

The Police Federation disputes that legalisation would cut crime. This assumes that the powerful international drug cartels would simply fade away into the night. More likely scenarios are that they would fight to maintain their lucrative street trading.

Notes
1. The Government Reply to the Third Report from the Home Affairs Committee Session 2001-02: The Government Drug Policy: Is it working?, p.5
2. Home Affairs Third Report: The Government Drug Policy. Is it working?, Illegal Drugs, Drugs-related property crime. no.36 3.The Government Reply to the Third Report from the Home Affairs Committee session 2001-02: The Government Drug Policy. Is it working?, p.5
4 .Home Affairs Select Committee Report: The Government Drug Policy. Is it Working? Memoranda of Evidence – no.16 (submitted by the Criminal Justice Association)
5. Risk of Legalising Cannabis Underestimated: A Comparison of Dutch and Swedish Drug Policy. Criminal Justice Association, February 2002
6. The Dealers Think They’re Untouchable Now’, The Observer, 24 February 2002 and ‘London’s Drug Crime Hotspots Revealed. Evening Standard. 28 May 2003
7. Better Ways’. The Economist, 26 July 2001
8. Quoted in Home Affairs Select Committee Third Report: The Government ‘s Drugs Policy. Is Working’., no.60

Source: CIVITAS; Institute for the Study of Civil Society
The Mezzanine, Elizabeth House, 39 York Road, London SEI 7NQ
Phone; +44 (0)20 7401 5470 Fax: +44(0)201401 5471
Email; info@civitas.org.uk

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Cocaine,Drug Specifics,Europe,Heroin/Methadone :

It looks like marijuana but users say its effect is more like LSD. According  to the Drug Enforcement Agency it’s use is growing in popularity among young adults. It’s called Salvia Divinorum and when smoked or chewed, it can pack a psychedelic wallop.

An herb grown in Mexico, Salvia is easily accessible on the internet or at several head shops around the metro area. Jeannette Grafeman, a clerk at a store that sells Salvia says you can buy it in many different forms. “You can smoke it or chew it. Some people buy it in liquid form and drop it on their regular tobacco,” says Grafeman.

Salvia is on the DEA’s watch list. They call it a drug of concern. And they were more than just concerned in St. Peters.

“We were having some problems at the malls with some assaults and some other juvenile issues and some of those issues had to do with kids that were using salvia,” says St. Peters police captain Jeff Finkelstein.

Captain Finklestein says he can’t say for sure that the assaults were as a result of the Salvia, but “The word to us was that kids were hallucinating. Anytime that you have anybody hallucinating especially kids under 18, it was something that really concerned us,” says Finkelstein.

So the Police took the problem to city officials who wanted to make the sale of Salvia illegal in St. Peters.

“But our city attorney informed us that this product is on the DEA’s watch list but has not been banned as an illegal substance. So the only thing the city could do was restrict the age with which the product can be sold” says St. Peters Alderman Jerry Hollingsworth.

In January of last year St. Peters became the first city in the nation to place a restriction on Salvia. It cannot be sold to anyone under the age of 18.

“The vote was unanimous as it always is when it comes to dealing with protecting children,” says Hollingsworth.

Since Salvia is legal elsewhere, it’s hard to know if the ordinance in St. Peters is having an affect but St. Peters police tell us they’re getting fewer complaints about Salvia users. Jerry Hollingsworth doesn’t want to stop there. He wants action on the state level and then on the Federal level.

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Europe,Nicotine,Others (International News),USA :

It is important to distinguish between experimental and problem drug use. While more than a third of 16 year old students in the UK say they have tried at least one illegal drug, only a very small percentage go on to develop problem drug use which is of most concern.

Key risk factors for problematic drug use are:

 

Key behavioural risk factors are:

Researchers and practitioners assign a crucial role to the family in the development or prevention of drug-related behaviours. The family is seen to exercise influence in a variety of ways:

Close family relationships. The closeness of the parent-child bond is found to protect against problem drug use by encouraging mutual parent-child trust, effective communication, positive self-perception and choice of friends who resist involvement in general anti-social behaviours, including drug use. Poor communication, poorly defined or stated expectations of behaviour and inconsistent or harsh discipline can all predict substance misuse. Parents have a very powerful influence as role models for their children, who tend to follow what their parents do rather than what they say. Parents, however, very often don’t realise the power of their influence, a situation which has potentially profound implications. This seems to be a key area in which parents need education.

Family management. Parents who lack effective management skills are less well equipped to deal with family crises, to reward or punish appropriately, to develop positive social behaviours in their children or to protect them from negative influences. Also parenting skills tend to be passed on down the generations. There are positive signs from research that with the right training, parents can provide an environment in which children can develop a whole range of abilities including self-confidence, self mastery and positive behaviours, all of which can offset negative peer influences.

Parental supervision. Parents knowing where their children are and what they are doing can delay or prevent the onset of drug use. Surrogate parent figures in after-school programmes or recreation activities can also be effective. The influence of this supervision can be direct in keeping children away from drugs, or indirect by reducing contact with drug-using peers. Parental monitoring can be improved through parent training programmes, but clearly parents need booster courses particularly during the child’s transition into adolescence.

Parent vs. peer influences. Parents and peers may be mutually influential and emphasising the power of peer pressure may lead parents to underestimate their own effect. Although parental influence does wane at particular stages of a child’s development, research indicates that they do affect the child’s behaviour in the long term. A debate continues on the relative influence on adolescent drug use of peer influence as opposed to peer selection. In summary, there are a lot of influences in a child’s life and family and parents are one bit of a jigsaw. However there is no doubt that families do have a very important role and that this offers valuable opportunities for drugs prevention. The latter part of the paper looks at the evaluations the team has carried out with five DPI parent projects and identifies key issues in their success. The research shows that almost every element of projects involving parents – building local credibility, recruiting parents, assessing needs, meeting some of these needs, and evaluating the impact on children – requires a considerable amount of time. Much of the success seen in the projects evaluated can be attributed to the efforts of project workers in establishing a trusting relationship with parents, with local schools and community agencies. The team’s research so far has identified the following strategies for success:

Build effective partnerships at the outset. Financial partnerships, profes-sional support, contact with parent groups are all crucial.
Be imaginative in recruiting parents through school. Build credibility, for example by getting an enthusiastic teacher to help, and use creative ways to involve parents, such as getting children to put on a performance built around drugs prevention activity.
Take plenty of time to establish the profile and credibility of your project when recruiting in the community.
Parents are more likely to get involved in projects with more general labels which avoid the potential stigma of drugs, such as “Living with Teenagers” or “Keeping your child happy, healthy and safe”

Conclusion: Children are exposed to a range of substance use behaviours from their parents, other adults, peers and the mass media. Perceptions of what is considered normal behaviour in the home may encourage or discourage young people from drug misuse.

Source: The authors – Richard Velleman, Willm Mistral and Lora Sanderling are all members of the University of Bath. Bath Mental Health Care NHS Trust Joint R&D unit. – Published in ‘Evaluating Effectiveness: Drugs Prevention Research Conference’

Filed under: Brain and Behaviour,Europe,Health,Parents,Social Affairs (Papers),Youth :

By tradition Sweden has had very restrictive drug policy, the exception being between 1965 and 1967 when a number of doctors were allowed to prescribe drugs to addicts: 200 were allowed to inject themselves with stimulants or opiates. There was an increase in drugs on the black market and in criminal activity among addicts. There was a return to the restrictive policy at the end of the 1960s and it has never been reinforced since then.

Cannabis has always been treated on the same level as other narcotics. No action has ever been taken to decriminalise cannabis. A sentence of several years in prison is the norm for a narcotics felony.

Surveys of l6 yr. olds and conscripts (18-19) have shown a decline in the proportion of young persons having ever tried drugs. In 1971 the percentage was 15% dropping to about 4% in 1991. 90% involved the use of cannabis.

Abuse of cannabis has now extended to the older age groups. as has abuse of opiates and stimulants. Conviction in the 25-39yr age group rose from 22% in 1975 to 56% in 1989. It appears that many of these addicts have carried their habits from the 1960s and 70s to treatment and rehabilitation.

The Swedish Addiction Perspective in Global Perspective was the first country in Europe to be affected by drug abuse of an epidemic type immediately after the Second World War. The intravenous injecting of amphetamines started in 1945 and was surveyed annually in Stockholm from 1965 to 1987 250000 arrests (for any offence) were examined for needle marks in their cubital regions.

The epidemiological study used an objective marker and from these results concluded that a permissive drugs policy leads to the rapid spread of drug use, a restrictive policy not only checks it but also reduces the rate of consumption. This restrictive policy was based on a general consensus of social refusal to tolerate illicit drug use, and strict law enforcement. It remains the most closely studied and documented drug epidemic.

Epidemics often spread very rapidly and show exponential growth. For example. in Sweden the number of users doubled every 13 months during the 20 years from 1946 to 1965; in England the number of heroin addicts doubled every 16 months from 1959 to 1968.

In 1946 a young Swede learned the techniques of intravenous injection in the USA and introduced it into a small ‘bohemian’ coterie in Stockholm. It had spread outside this circle in 1949 and to Gothenburg in 1956. to Finland in 1965. to Denmark in 1966, Norway in 1967 and to Germany in 1972.

The author of this report Prof. Nils Bejerot. an epidemiologist, assumed that injection into a vein, a breach of the normal mode of drug taking, was so extreme that it must co-exist with other criminal activity. He therefore instructed nurses to commence in. 1965 the inspection of the veins of all arrestees in Stockholm (practically all intravenous drug users turn up eventually). The investigation still continues. In the 3 years following the introduction in 1965 of the ultra-liberal drug policy the proportion of intravenous drug users among the arrested clientele had risen from 20% to 40% In 1969 with the extra-restrictive policy in place, the epidemic was checked for the first time: it culminated in 1972 when large syndicates were broken up. However, demand was still there and the introduction of heroin heralded a new phase of the drug-taking  epidemic. Finally, in 1976, when 60% of all arrestees were found to be drug-abusers the epidemic was stabilised. With some minor increases in the severity of drug legislation the figure appears to remain constant at 40%.

References
1. Swedish Drug Policy in General. In Cannabis Physiopathology. Epidemiology, Detection.’ Nahas G & Latour C (eds) CRC Press. 1993.
2. Bejerot N. Drug Abuse and Drug Policy. Acta Psychiatr. Scand. Suppl. 256. Copenhagen, 1975.
3. Narkotikaboken, Socialstyrelsen Redovisar 1988. National Board of Health and Welfare. Stockholm. 1988.
4. Report 91. ‘Trends in Alcohol and Drug Use in Sweden’. The Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol and Other Drugs (CAN). Stockholm 1991.
5. Bejerot N. The Swedish Addiction Epidemic in Global Perspective. In ‘Cannabis: Physiopathology, Epidemiology. Detection) Nahas G & Latour C (eds). CRC Press. 1993. Bejerot N. ‘Drogue et Societe. Massoa Paris 1990.

Filed under: Europe :

Italy has rescinded some ‘soft’ laws relaxing to possession and use of heroin following record addiction rates and overdose deaths.

Reference
1. Wall St Journal. January 22 1990

Filed under: Europe :

During the Franco era Spain had some of the harshest drug laws in Europe but in 1983 the Socialist government changed them to the most lenient. A spurt in heroin, cocaine and other drugs use and trafficking, with accompanying problems of crime and social disruption. still plagues the country.
Spain is a major trans-shipment point for drugs. Parents presented a drug report which shamed the government into enacting and strengthening the drug laws.

Reference
1. Wall St Journal. January 22 1990

Filed under: Europe :

By Christian Fraser

Under the new legislation, people found in possession of cannabis could risk having their passport and their driving licence suspended.

The government has forced through this new legislation with a confidence vote.

The move has been greeted mostly with dismay by opposition MPs and drug treatment professionals.

Under the new rules, dealing and trafficking in drugs – whether heroin, cocaine or cannabis – will be punished with jail sentences of between six and 20 years and a fine of up to 260,000 euros (£180,000).

People who ignore repeated warnings to stop using cannabis will face a driving ban and be forced to stay at home at night.

According to recent statistics, a third of teenagers in Italy have smoked marijuana at least once, and 10% of adults are said to smoke it on a regular basis.

On Wednesday more than 200 protesters and at least one opposition MP smoked cannabis joints in protest outside parliament.

Opposition leaders said it would be one of the first laws they abolish if they win power in April.


Source: BBC News, Rome Feb.2006

Filed under: Europe :

A new approach to tackling heroin addiction is about to be tried out in the United Kingdom.

Health authorities in Scotland are planning to phase out methadone treatment programmes for heroin addicts and offer instead alternative therapies and residential rehabilitation programmes.

The change in policy follows mounting evidence which has shown that methadone programmes, first introduced in the 1970s, have failed to reduce addiction rates or cut the number of drug-related deaths.

The shift in policy indicates a radical change in attitude from using the heroin substitute to wean addicts off heroin – to encouraging abstinence by offering support via a range of other treatment options.

Methadone is also an addictive opiate and costs the government around £12m a year and research suggests that five years after starting the treatment, 90% of addicts are still taking methadone.

Recent government figures show that drug-related deaths rose to a record high of 421 in 2006 and methadone was present in 97 of those recorded deaths, 25 more than in the previous year.

The new drug strategy, the first significant change in policy in almost a decade, will be unveiled in Scotland this week and is expected to include a multi-million-pound expansion in the range of alternatives to methadone to help addicts back into society.

These are expected to include psychological therapies, residential abstinence programmes, support for families and children and education and employment training – all designed to help addicts live a drug-free life.

A recent study by the Centre for Drug Misuse at Glasgow University revealed that whereas one in three heroin users who received residential treatment was drug free after three years, only 3 per cent of those who were placed on methadone were drug free after the same period.

Source:   www.Mews-Medical.Net  27th May 2008

Filed under: Europe :

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