• Home Office gives green light to first drug testing clinic

    ‘Life-saving’ scheme, licensed by the government, launched amid rising concern over potentially toxic substances
    The Observer (UK)
    Sunday, February 24, 2019

    drug checkingThe first drug-checking service licensed by the Home Office will allow users to have their illicit substances tested without fear of being arrested in a move that could be rolled out nationally if it is shown to save lives. The year-long pilot project will allow anyone over the age of 18 to take their drugs to the clinic, run by the charity Addaction. Testing the content will take about 10 minutes, during which time the user will complete a short questionnaire to allow harm reduction advice to be tailored to them. The launch of the service comes amid rising concerns that users are buying drugs which contain other potentially toxic or more potent substances. Cocaine laced with the synthetic opioid fentanyl has been linked to a number of deaths.

  • Tens of thousands of Americans die each year from opioid overdoses

    The federal response remains sluggish and inadequate
    The Economist (UK)
    Saturday, February 23, 2019

    Drugs now kill about 70,000 Americans every year—more than car crashes or guns (both 39,000), more than AIDS did at the height of its epidemic (42,000), and more than all the American soldiers killed in the entire Vietnam war (58,000). In 2017 about 47,600 of those deaths were caused by opioid overdose – a fivefold increase since 2000. Only 32% of those opioid deaths involved prescription pills; the rest were from illegal heroin and fentanyl. But three out of four heroin users first became addicted to pills. What started as a problem of abused prescription drugs has been transformed by corporate greed, a failure of the health system and a lack of political will into a social disaster.

  • Doubts on pot use linger over amended drug law

    Groups which support alternative medical treatments should be given clear assurances that they can continue growing the plants without legal hindrances
    The Bangkok Post (Thailand)
    Friday, February 22, 2019

    Experts are saying that both users and producers of marijuana-based drugs for medical purposes will face numerous restrictions under the amended Narcotics Act, despite the fact the government had just legalised the medical use of marijuana. Several academics argued that under the newly-passed Narcotics Act, users and producers are subjected to rules that effectively serve to limit the use and production of marijuana-based drugs to the point where the production of such medication is no longer viable. Even the government's plan to pardon patients and researchers convicted of violating the 1979 Narcotics Act promises no happy ending.

  • St Kitts-Nevis joins 'ganja train' Gov't accepts recommendations on use of marijuana in federation

    The penalty for possession of less than 15 grams of cannabis should be reduced to a ticketable offence without a criminal record
    Jamaica Observer (Jamaica)
    Friday, February 22, 2019

    The St Kitts-Nevis Government says it will consider and consult further on creating the framework for the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes after a national commission submitted a number of recommendations. Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris told Parliament that the National Marijuana Commission, which had been appointed to consult with the public and enquire into the wide-ranging issues surrounding marijuana use, had issued 13 recommendations for consideration. Harris said that the commission had recommended that the Drugs Act be amended given the blanket criminalisation of cannabis has been overtaken by passage of time and regional and international developments. (See also: St Kitts & Nevis moves to decriminalise marijuana for medical use)

  • Sell regulated heroin to drug users to reduce overdose deaths: B.C. group

    The heroin would be sold to users at compassion clubs under tight regulations to help combat B.C.'s opioid overdose crisis
    Vancouver Sun (Canada)
    Thursday, February 21, 2019

    Heroin addicts should be granted access to a clean supply of the drug provided through “compassion clubs” similar to those that provide medical marijuana, recommends a new report from the B.C. Centre on Substance Use. Such clubs will save lives lost to overdoses through heroin tainted by fentanyl, “disrupt” profits for drug dealers from organized crime gangs, eliminate an avenue for money laundering and thereby make housing more affordable. But the model faces a number of challenges before being implemented, including the province seeking permission from Health Canada to forward the idea. (See also: Canada drug experts want regulated heroin supply to cut overdoses | Heroin buyers clubs proposed by researchers to reduce overdose)

  • Legalize pot? Amid opioid crisis, some New Hampshire leaders say no way

    Opioid addiction has ravaged communities in New Hampshire
    The New York Times (US)
    Wednesday, February 20, 2019

    The push to legalize recreational marijuana is sweeping the Northeast: Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine have done it, and the governors of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey say they want their states to do it, too.But in New Hampshire, Gov. Chris Sununu and some other state leaders are opposed. The problem, they say, is not just about pot. It’s about opioids — drugs that have ripped across this state, devastating thousands of residents and leaving New Hampshire in recent years with one of the highest per capita death rates from opioid-related overdoses. But supporters of legalizing recreational marijuana are trying to flip the argument on its head. They say legal marijuana could actually help solve the crisis, by helping people get off opioids.

  • From the Philippines to Indonesia and Afghanistan, Asia’s brutal drug policies have failed

    Ten years of heavy-handed drug policy has not lowered use but it has increased the misery for addicts and for those who enter the trade out of economic necessity. It’s time for a new strategy
    South China Morning Post (China)
    Wednesday, February 20, 2019

    The so-called “war on drugs” has persisted without an honest assessment by governments of its effectiveness, nor its impacts, despite UN reports showing ever-increasing drug markets year on year, as well as many harmful consequences. In a report on the past decade of drug policy in Asia, the International Drug Policy Consortium presents a comprehensive assessment that portrays a grim reality. In the face of this damning report card, it is not surprising that governments are reluctant to evaluate whether progress has been made. This March, at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, it will be a serious neglect of duty if Asian governments do not openly acknowledge that violent law enforcement strategies and harsh punishments have failed.

  • Rodrigo Duterte: Philippines president suggests deadly war on drug dealers will get even ‘bloodier’

    Controversial leader pledges harsher crackdown to eradicate drugs
    The Independent (UK)
    Wednesday, February 20, 2019

    Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte warned his signature anti-narcotics campaign will be even harsher in the future, signalling no let-up in a bloody crackdown that has alarmed the international community. Mr Duterte won the presidency by a wide margin in 2016 on promises of eradicating drugs and crime, and recent opinion polls indicate broad support for him and for the crackdown. The support has maintained despite widespread allegations of police cover-ups and summary killings resulting from weak intelligence. Critics, including the Catholic Church, say the campaign has overwhelmingly targeted the urban poor and left drug kingpins largely untouched.

  • Two former weed farmers tell us why Aceh's marijuana industry isn't going anywhere

    Marijuana is still big business in Indonesia's Aceh province, despite a decades-long drug war
    Vice (Indonesia)
    Tuesday, February 21, 2019

    indonesia cannabis burning acehMarijuana has a long history in Aceh, so much so that it's still totally common for locals to offer some to visitors. But the province's associations with weed have also been something of an open secret in Indonesia, home to some of the harshest anti-drug laws on Earth. The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) now claims to have decreased the number of marijuana plantations in Aceh significantly. But it seems like the claim is not entirely accurate, since BNN agents continue to find new plantations in Aceh, including the country's biggest yet last October. For the past three years, the BNN has continued to implement a program called the Grand Design Alternative Development (GDAD) that aims to persuade farmers in Aceh to stop planting weed and switch to corn, and other and supposedly more superior commodities

  • Tough cannabis policies do not deter young people – study

    Analysis of more than 100,000 teenagers found no link between liberal policies and higher use
    The Guardian (UK)
    Monday, February 18, 2019

    There is no evidence that tough policies deter young people from using cannabis, a study has found. Analysing data about cannabis use among more than 100,000 teenagers in 38 countries, including the UK, USA, Russia, France, Germany and Canada, the University of Kent study found no association between more liberal policies on cannabis use and higher rates of teenage cannabis use. “My new study joins several others which show no evidence of a link between tougher penalties and lower cannabis use,” said Prof Alex Stevens, from the University of Kent’s school for social policy, sociology and social research.

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