The World Wide War on Drugs #6 -Is de zinloze "oorlog" over?

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Op zaterdag 9 november 2013 21:54 schreef Bushalte het volgende:
Is het niet zo dat het hier voor 90% een oorlog is tegen Heroïne en Cocaïne? De 2 drugs die echt wel een verbod verdienen.

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Crimineel Whitey Bulger krijgt levenslange gevangenisstraf

De bejaarde Amerikaanse maffiabaas James 'Whitey' Bulger is donderdag tot tweemaal levenslang plus vijf jaar veroordeeld voor elf moorden en een reeks andere misdaden, van afpersing tot witwassen.

De 84-jarige Bulger, die tientallen jaren voortvluchtig was, werd afgelopen zomer al schuldig bevonden.

Bulger, die zijn bijnaam Whitey te danken heeft aan zijn spierwitte haar, groeide op in een ruige wijk in het zuiden van Boston.

Hij leidde samen met Stephen 'The Rifleman' Flemmi de gewelddadige Winter Hill Gang, een grotendeels Ierse bende die in Boston in drugs handelde en een grote vinger in de pap had in de gokwereld. Volgens justitie was het tweetal verantwoordelijk voor een twintigjarig 'schrikbewind dat bol stond van intimidatie en moord'.

FBI
'Whitey' sloeg in 1995 op de vlucht, na een tip van een FBI-agent dat vervolging aanstaande was. Bulger was zelf in die tijd een informant voor de FBI, die hij inlichtingen verstrekte over zijn rivalen van de New England Mob.

De FBI-agent die uit de school klapte werd in 2002 veroordeeld wegens gangsterpraktijken en het beschermen van Bulger en Flemmi. Tijdens de rechtszaak raakte de FBI in ernstige verlegenheid, omdat die aan het licht bracht dat de federale politie innige banden onderhield met Bulger en zijn trawanten.

Na zijn verdwijning werd Bulger een van de meest gezochte misdadigers in de VS. Zijn foto stond naast die van Osama bin Laden op de Most Wanted List van de FBI. Maar in het Ierse arbeidersmilieu van Boston en ook elders stond hij te boek als een ruwe bolster met een blanke pit.

Hij zou zich hebben bekommerd om de armen, deelde feestkalkoenen uit voor Thanksgiving en hield zijn wijk drugsvrij. Justitie maakte met gruwelijke bijzonderheden van de moorden van Bulger kerfstok korte metten met die Robin Hood-reputatie.

Bulger was het onderwerp van meerdere boeken. Ook stond hij model voor de capo in The Departed, de veelbekroonde film van Martin Scorsese.

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DUNSA war on drugs debate in Amsterdam with Tom Blickman

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On Monday 11 November, the Dutch United Nations Student Association (DUNSA) organised a War on Drugs debate at the Crea Theatre in Amsterdam. The guest of honour for the evening was Tom Blickman from the Transnational Institute and the focus was on recent developments in South America. Two associates from Sensi Seeds also attended.

DUNSA Chair Evaluna Mohrmann opened the evening, after which the floor was given to moderator Piter Pals. To set the tone, a clip from the documentary ‘Cocaine Unwrapped’ was shown. The clip, which can be viewed above, illustrates that the War on Drugs is failing to counter drug use and drug-related criminality. This was followed by an interview with Mr Blickman, who shared his perspective in relation to the international situation in general, and South America in particular.

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Co-operative Bank's former chairman 'seeking help' after drugs admission

Methodist minister Paul Flowers seen in video counting out money to buy substances, while texts discuss drug taking

The Co-operative Bank's former chairman Paul Flowers has apologised for his "stupid and wrong" behaviour and said he is seeking professional help after a video was published showing the Methodist minister handing over money to buy hard drugs.

The footage showed Flowers counting out £300 in cash and asking if he could also get hold of ketamine. The Mail on Sunday said a friend of Flowers handed over the footage, purportedly recorded days after the former Co-operative Bank chairman gave testimony to the Treasury select committee over the bank's £700m in losses and its abandoned bid to buy branches of the bailed-out Lloyds Bank.

Stuart Davies handed over the video and a series of incriminating text messages after becoming "disgusted by the hypocrisy" of a man who had chaired the anti-drugs charity Lifeline and written columns about the evils of drug use, the Mail on Sunday said.

After being confronted with the material, Flowers, 63, referred to the pressures of his job and dealing with a family bereavement.

"This year has been incredibly difficult, with a death in the family and the pressures of my role with the Co-operative Bank," he said. "At the lowest point in this terrible period I did things that were stupid and wrong. I am sorry for this and I am seeking professional help and apologise to all I have hurt or failed by my actions."

Davies also handed over text messages purporting to be from Flowers. One said: "I was 'grilled' by the Treasury select committee yesterday and afterwards came to Manchester to get wasted with friends." In others he said he was on "ket" and had the club drug GHB. Davies said he smoked cannabis with Flowers and witnessed him smoking crack cocaine.

The Co-operative Bank said it had no comment, while the Methodist church said a thorough investigation would take place.

"We expect high standards of our ministers and we have procedures in place for when ministers fail to meet those standards.

"Paul is suspended from duties for a period of three weeks, pending investigations, and will not be available to carry out any ministerial work. We will also work with the police if they feel a crime has been committed."

On 7 November, Flowers tried to spread the blame for the bank's woes, telling the select committee that politicians had actively encouraged the Co-op Bank's expansion spree involving an ill-fated attempt to buy 631 branches from the Lloyds Banking Group.

The bank also disastrously took over the Britannia building society, a deal that brought with it a raft of bad loans.

Flowers said he had resigned as chairman in June 2013 to take responsibility for a £1.5bn capital shortfall that left the Co-op group having to demutualise the 100-year-old bank and hand a 70% share in the British institution to a group of bondholders involving US hedge funds.

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Uruguay's likely cannabis law could set tone for war on drugs in Latin America

State control of marijuana market should be seen as part of long and pragmatic tradition of market intervention and nationalisation

Inhaling deeply from a large joint of unadulterated cannabis, Marcelo Vasquez grins at the imminent prospect of his outlawed passion becoming Uruguay's newest state-sanctioned industry.

This week, the country's senate is expected to pass the world's most far-reaching drug legalisation, which should transform Vasquez from a petty criminal into a registered user, grower and ultimately, he hopes, a respected contributor to society.

That would be quite a change. After a police raid earlier this year, Vasquez – whose home doubles as a marijuana nursery – was jailed and 70 of his plants were confiscated. But the court case that followed now looks likely to go down as one of the last cannabis trials in his country's history.

The marijuana regulation bill, which has been passed by the lower house of the Uruguayan parliament, will allow registered users to buy up to 40g a month from a chemist's, registered growers to keep up to six plants, and cannabis clubs to have up to 45 members and cultivate as many as 99 plants.

Vasquez, who smokes four joints a day, is delighted. "It's a great step forward that couldn't happen anywhere but here," he says. "There's a lot more to marijuana than smoking and getting high."

This is not just the spliff talking. With the new law, Uruguay will go further than any other nation in exploring the potential benefits and risks of marijuana. The government is designing a new set of legal, commercial and bureaucratic tools to supplant a violent illegal market in narcotics, improve public health, protect individual rights, raise tax revenues and research the medical potential of the world's most widely used contraband drug.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that there are 162 million cannabis users – 4% of the world's adult population (pdf). Most countries have followed a policy of prohibition for decades, but there are signs of change.

Amsterdam's coffee shops still offer cannabis on their menus despite a recent tightening of the rules in the Netherlands. Dozens of US states have decriminalised or ceased penalising users of the drug. Washington and Colorado recently introduced a cannabis tax and California has steadily blurred the line between medical and recreational use. In the UK, the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, has ordered a review of existing drug policies and is expected to recommend that Britain relaxes its controls.

But no government has put in place a structure as all-encompassing and supportive as that envisaged in Uruguay.

"We'll be the first country to have a regulatory framework for marijuana production, distribution, sale, consumption and medical research," says Julio Bango, one of the legislators who drafted the bill. "This is an experiment without a doubt and it will have a demonstrable effect. That could be important for the world because it could be the start of a new paradigm."

Uruguay is trying to bring the cannabis market under state control by undercutting and outlawing the traffickers. If the bill is passed, the government will arrange for a high-quality, legal product to be sold in a safe environment at a price that competes with that offered by illegal dealers.

"If one gram costs $1 in the black market, then we'll sell the legal product for $1. If they drop the price to 75 cents, then we'll put it at that level," says Julio Calzada, a presidential adviser and the head of the National Secretariat on Drugs.

Most cannabis sold in Uruguay is of poor quality and smuggled in from Paraguay. In future, the government will license firms to produce local products grown in monitored conditions, which will then be sold to registered users through pharmacies. As in the case of tobacco, cannabis suppliers will not be allowed to advertise their product. Following moves to legalise same-sex marriage and abortion, this measure is likely to reinforce Uruguay's growing reputation as a bastion of tolerance and progressiveness in Latin America. But President José Mujica dismisses talk of liberality. A reluctant advocate of marijuana regulation, he says that this is the only way to stem the tide of the illegal drug trade, which has had dire consequences for individuals and wider society across Latin America.

"This is not about being free and open. It's a logical step. We want to take users away from clandestine business," Mujica tells the Guardian. "We don't defend marijuana or any other addiction. But worse than any drug is trafficking."

Rather than liberalism, Uruguay's actions are better explained by a long and pragmatic tradition of market intervention and nationalisation. The state controls core energy and telecoms industries, it fixes prices for essentials such as milk and water, and it pioneered some of the tightest controls on tobacco in the world.

This small country also boasts an impressive record for drug seizures, with an estimated 10% of the total market intercepted by law enforcement authorities, compared with a world average of less than 5%. Until recently, Uruguay had avoided the epidemic levels of illegal narcotic trafficking that are far more pronounced in Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Mexico.

The country is winning individual battles, says Mujica – but systematically losing the war.

The growing popularity of pasta base – a highly addictive, crack-like drug – and an increase in drug-related murders has prompted him to act against the dealers by destroying their competitiveness in the biggest illegal market: marijuana.

This is the heart of the drug problem, says Calzada.

"Ninety per cent of drug users in Uruguay and the world only use marijuana so illegal markets are structured around that even though there are other drugs with a better yield, such as cocaine and LSD. It's like an off-licence that earns its highest profits from selling whiskey, but makes much more money by selling beer because there are 100 beer sales for every one bottle of whiskey."

Marijuana also has the advantage of being less harmful, not accounting for even one of the 80 registered deaths linked to drug trafficking in Uruguay last year.

By opening the door to regulation of cannabis, Calzada says the government has an alternative to the "war on drugs" approach, which has created more problems than it has solved.

"For 50 years, we have tried to tackle the drug problem with only one tool – penalisation – and that has failed. As a result, we now have more consumers, bigger criminal organisations, money laundering, arms trafficking and collateral damage. As a control model, we're convinced that it is more harmful than the drugs themselves."

But critics say that Uruguay is taking a huge risk that could result in a wave of new addictions.

"If legalisation goes ahead, I think the social damage will be enormous," says Nancy Alonso, who runs the Manantiales Foundation, a private addiction treatment centre. "Marijuana may seem innocent, but it is addictive, 15 times more carcinogenic than tobacco and produces psychological disorders including depression, anxiety and occasionally schizophrenia."More importantly, she says cannabis is a gateway drug that leads users to harder narcotics. Juvenile residents at the treatment centre say their experience backs up such claims.

"I started with marijuana when I was 13 or 14 and then moved on to cocaine because I wanted something stronger," said Helen, a 15 year old. "If drugs are legalised, more people will consume them."

The public too have yet to be convinced. A Factum poll in October showed 29% approved of legalisation. Although sharply up from the 3% support levels of 10 years ago, this means the policy is still a potential vote loser.

Supporters of the measure hope hard data will win over the doubters. Once the marijuana business moves out of the shadows, its size will be clearer, monitoring will be easier and taxes can be levied and used to fund treatment of addicts and a more focused crackdown on harder drugs. Although the government is prepared to lose money to out-bid the traffickers in the initial stage, once the state has a monopoly, the potential revenues are considerable. The authorities estimate that 10% of adult Uruguayans – 115,000 people – smoke cannabis. Existing law permits consumption of "reasonable" amounts of marijuana, but forbids sales. The new law should clear up this legal contradiction.

The government will set up a Cannabis Research Institute, which will monitor the programme, handle approvals of seeds, establish policies for research and regulate the industry.

The market in Uruguay is estimated to be worth $30m a year, according to Martin Fernández, a lawyer working for the Association of Cannabis Studies, who says one in five Uruguayans have tried marijuana. But he admits the numbers are sketchy.

"It is hard to measure the illegal market, just as it is with human and illegal arms trafficking," he says. "But with legalisation, we should get a clear idea of the situation."

Many are eying new business opportunities. At street level, the passage of the bill is likely to boost shops selling growing kits. In downtown Montevideo, one such store, UruGrow, is already seeing a sharp rise in demand for soil, grow tents, fertiliser and other products.

"We're expanding fast," said one of the founders, Juan Andrés "Guano" Palese. "Six months ago, we sold 200 litres of soil a week, now it's more than 1,000 litres. Soon we'll need to move into bigger premises."

But the big money is more likely to come from the pharmaceutical industry, which will be freer to develop and test marijuana painkillers and other treatments in Uruguay than in any other country. According to Bango, several big international laboratories have visited Montevideo to discuss possible collaborations or investments.

"We have opportunities in the hemp industry and the spread of biotech and marijuana farming, I've just returned from a US conference on this subject. There are lots of potential products – creams, oils, sweets, capsules and products to treat multiple sclerosis and cancer. They all need scientific research to be validated. In other countries that is limited. We don't have that inconvenience," said Bango. "I think it will be a new industry for the economy."

Dope tourists could also be lured by cheap, legal, high-quality marijuana, but the authorities are adamant that they last thing they want is for Uruguay to end up as the "Amsterdam of Latin America". Only residents will be entitled to buy cannabis. Re-sales are prohibited. Coffee shop that put Indica, Sativa or Hash Browns on their menu will be closed down. "We are trying to learn from the mistakes made by other countries," Fernandez says.

Juan Vaz, a marijuana grower and long-time legalisation campaigner, hopes the regulation strategy can be applied to other narcotics.

"It would make a big health impact if we could do the same for cocaine, crack and other drugs so users could avoid accidental overdoses. That would also make a lot of profit for the government."

So far, however, Uruguayan officials have dismissed suggestions that they might use the same approach for harder drugs. They say the health risks posed by cocaine and heroin are far greater than those associated with marijuana so they require a different strategy.

Nonetheless if the senate passes the cannabis bill as expected, it won't only be the country's smokers who are delighted. Several Latin American leaders have also called for a shift from the current prohibition approach as the war on drugs takes a rising death toll with no sign of victory. Uruguay, once again, looks set to take the first step for the region.

Vaz, who spent 11 months in prison for marijuana growing, says he now feels responsible for making the policy a success. "I will celebrate. It will be a victory. For many years we have been asking for this. Now we can ask nothing more," he says. "Now it is up to us to make it work."

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Mexico Decriminalizes Cocaine, Heroin, Meth, Marijuana and LSD

MEXICO CITY — Mexico decriminalized small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and heroin on Friday — a move that prosecutors say makes sense even in the midst of the government’s grueling battle against drug traffickers. Prosecutors said the new law sets clear limits that keep Mexico’s corruption-prone police from shaking down casual users and offers addicts free drug treatment to keep growing domestic drug use in check.

“This is not legalization, this is regulating the issue and giving citizens greater legal certainty,” said Bernardo Espino del Castillo of the attorney general’s office.

The new law sets out maximum “personal use” amounts for drugs, also including LSD and methamphetamine. People detained with those quantities no longer face criminal prosecution.

Espino del Castillo says, in practice, small users almost never did face charges anyway. Under the previous law, the possession of any amount of drugs was punishable by stiff jail sentences, but there was leeway for addicts caught with smaller amounts.

“We couldn’t charge somebody who was in possession of a dose of a drug, there was no way … because the person would claim they were an addict,” he said.

Despite the provisions, police sometimes hauled in suspects and demanded bribes, threatening long jail sentences if people did not pay.

“The bad thing was that it was left up to the discretion of the detective, and it could open the door to corruption or extortion,” Espino del Castillo said.

Anyone caught with drug amounts under the new personal-use limit will be encouraged to seek treatment, and for those caught a third time treatment is mandatory.

The maximum amount of marijuana for “personal use” under the new law is 5 grams — the equivalent of about four joints. The limit is a half gram for cocaine, the equivalent of about 4 “lines.” For other drugs, the limits are 50 milligrams of heroin, 40 milligrams for methamphetamine and 0.015 milligrams for LSD.

Mexico has emphasized the need to differentiate drug addicts and casual users from the violent traffickers whose turf battles have contributed to the deaths of more than 11,000 people since President Felipe Calderon took office in late 2006.

But one expert saw potential for conflict under the new law.

Javier Oliva, a political scientist at Mexico’s National Autonomous University, said the new law posed “a serious contradiction” for the Calderon administration.

“If they decriminalize drugs it could lead the army, which has been given the task of combating this, to say ‘What are we doing’?” he said.

Officials said the legal changes could help the government focus more on big-time traffickers.

Espino del Castillo said since Calderon took office, there have been over 15,000 police searches related to small-scale drug dealing or possession, with 95,000 people detained — but only 12 to 15 percent of whom were ever charged with anything.

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'De Mexicaanse oorlog tegen drugs is een grote leugen'

Een afgehakte geitenkop en een paar dode kippen bij de voordeur. Welkom in het leven van Anabel Hernández. De 42-jarige Mexicaanse journaliste kreeg deze boodschap afgelopen juni nadat ze weer eens een kritisch artikel had geschreven over de Mexicaanse drugsoorlog en de rol van overheid daarin.

Sinds het verschijnen van haar boek Los Señores del Narco in 2010 (in het Engels verschenen onder de titel Narcoland: The Mexican Drug Lords And Their Godfathers) wordt Hernández 24 uur per dag beveiligd. Zelf zegt de alleenstaande moeder van twee kinderen bewijs te hebben dat niet de Mexicaanse drugsbendes maar de federale overheid achter de bedreigingen aan haar adres zit. 'Ik ben banger voor de politie dan voor de drugsbendes.'

Mexico is een van de gevaarlijkste landen ter wereld voor journalisten. Alleen dit kalenderjaar al werden zes journalisten op gruwelijke wijze vermoord nadat ze hadden bericht over de drugsoorlog. Hangend aan een brug, naakt, gewurgd, vastgebonden, doorzeefd met kogels of geboeid werden hun lijken teruggevonden. Niemand werd voor deze misdaden gearresteerd. 'Ze proberen ons stil te krijgen', zegt Hernández, die op uitnodiging van Free Press Unlimited een bezoek aan Nederland brengt.

Wie denkt dat de Mexicaanse overheid er alles aan doet om de drugsbendes te stoppen, heeft het volgens haar mis. De Mexicaanse onderzoeksjournaliste beweert dat de vorige twee regeringen, die van Vicente Fox (2000-2006) en die van de vorig jaar afgetreden Felipe Calderón (2006-2012), heulden met een van de grootste drugsorganisaties van het land: het Sinaloakartel. Volgens Hernández, die zich beroept op anonieme informanten, vochten zij onder het mom van 'de oorlog tegen drugs' gezamenlijk tegen de zeven andere grote drugbendes van het land.

'Hoe is het anders te verklaren dat de beruchte leider van het Sinaloa-kartel, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, beter bekend als El Chapo, nog geen maand na het aantreden van president Fox in 2001 op miraculeuze wijze uit de zwaarst beveiligde gevangenis van Mexico wist te ontsnappen?' Van de officiële versie van die gebeurtenis - dat Mexico's meest gezochte crimineel zich in een wasmand verstopte en zo uit de gevangenis kon worden gesmokkeld - gelooft de Mexicaanse onderzoeksjournalist geen woord.

'De oorlog tegen de drugs is een grote leugen', zegt Hernández terwijl ze met haar ranke vingers door haar korte haar woelt. Het is wel een oorlog die al aan meer dan 80 duizend mensen het leven heeft gekost, en waarvan het einde nog niet in zicht is. De situatie kan het best worden vergeleken met een gevecht tegen een zevenkoppig monster. Lijkt het ene gebied onder controle, dan bloeit het geweld in een andere regio net zo hard weer op.

Hoe nu verder? In de jaren tachtig bestond er een soort verbond tussen regering en drugsbendes - wij laten jullie met rust, als jullie ons niet lastig vallen - maar van deze pax mafiosi is weinig over. 'Zelfs al zou de regering een dergelijke overeenkomst willen sluiten, is het niet aan haar om de regels te bepalen.' De werkelijke bazen in Mexico zijn de narcos. 'De overheid is hun loonslaaf.'

Dat mechaniek ziet ze niet veranderen. Ook niet met de vorig jaar aangetreden president Enrique Peña Nieto. 'Hij heeft niet eens een strategie.' In haar ogen kan alleen met een vrije pers daadwerkelijk iets veranderen: mensen moeten weten hoe het zit.

Ondanks de illegale praktijken, het geweld en de enorme bedragen die erin omgaan, ziet Hernández de drugsorganisaties niet als Mexico's grootste probleem. 'Dat is de corruptie en de daarbij horende straffeloosheid.'

Iedere dag beseft de journaliste dat ze eigenlijk allang dood had moeten zijn. Maar de bedreigingen stoppen haar niet. 'Ik betaal een hoge prijs', zegt ze met een hapering in haar stem. Een van haar kinderen heeft sinds het voorval met de dode kippen en de geitenkop moeite om te slapen. 'Maar ze zullen me niet het zwijgen opleggen.'

Zelfs nu de Mexicaanse overheid dreigt haar niet langer te beschermen, houdt Hernández vol. 'Als wij journalisten onze mond niet langer opentrekken, wie doet het dan wel?'

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Leaked paper reveals UN split over war on drugs

Latin American nations call for treatment strategy, claiming UN's prohibition stance plays into hands of paramilitary groups

Major international divisions over the global "war on drugs" have been revealed in a leaked draft of a UN document setting out the organisation's long-term strategy for combating illicit narcotics.

The draft, written in September and seen by the Observer, shows there are serious and entrenched divisions over the longstanding US-led policy promoting prohibition as an exclusive solution to the problem.

Instead, a number of countries are pushing for the "war on drugs" to be seen in a different light, which places greater emphasis on treating drug consumption as a public health problem, rather than a criminal justice matter.

It is rare for such a document to leak. Normally only the final agreed version is published once all differences between UN member states have been removed.

The divisions highlighted in the draft are potentially important. The document will form the basis of a joint "high-level" statement on drugs to be published in the spring, setting out the UN's thinking. This will then pave the way for a general assembly review, an event that occurs every 10 years, and, in 2016, will confirm the UN's position for the next decade. "The idea that there is a global consensus on drugs policy is fake," said Damon Barrett, deputy director of the charity Harm Reduction International. "The differences have been there for a long time, but you rarely get to see them. It all gets whittled down to the lowest common denominator, when all you see is agreement. But it's interesting to see now what they are arguing about."

The current review, taking place in Vienna at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, comes after South American countries threw down the gauntlet to the US at this year's Organisation of American States summit meeting, when they argued that alternatives to prohibition must be considered.

Countries such as Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico have become increasingly critical of the UN's prohibition stance, claiming that maintaining the status quo plays into the hands of the cartels and paramilitary groups.

The draft reveals that Ecuador is pushing the UN to include a statement that recognises that the world needs to look beyond prohibition. Its submission claims there is "a need for more effective results in addressing the world drug problem" that will encourage "deliberations on different approaches that could be more efficient and effective".

Venezuela is pushing for the draft to include a new understanding of "the economic implications of the current dominating health and law enforcement approach in tackling the world drug problem", arguing that the current policy fails to recognise the "dynamics of the drug criminal market".

Experts said the level of disagreement showed fault lines were opening up in the globally agreed position on drug control. "Heavy reliance on law enforcement for controlling drugs is yielding a poor return on investment and leading to all kinds of terrible human rights abuses," said Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch, director of the Open Society Global Drug Policy Program. "The withdrawal from the most repressive parts of the drug war has begun – locally, nationally and globally."

Attacking the status quo is not confined to South American countries, however. Norway wants the draft to pose "questions related to decriminalisation and a critical assessment of the approach represented by the so-called war on drugs". Switzerland wants the draft to recognise the consequences of the current policy on public health issues. It wants it to include the observation that member states "note with concern that consumption prevalence has not been reduced significantly and that the consumption of new psychoactive substances has increased in most regions of the world". It also wants the draft to "express concern that according to UNAids, the UN programme on HIV/Aids, the global goal of reducing HIV infections among people who inject drugs by 50% by 2015 will not be reached, and that drug-related transmission is driving the expansion of the epidemic in many countries".

The EU is also pushing hard for the draft to emphasise the need for drug-dependence treatment and care options for offenders as an alternative to incarceration.

"Drug users should be entitled to access to treatment, essential medicines, care and related support services," the EU's submission suggests. "Programmes related to recovery and social reintegration should also be encouraged."

Ann Fordham, executive director of the International Drug Policy Consortium, said the draft revealed there was growing tension over the global drugs policy. "We are starting to see member states break with the consensus about how we should control drugs in the world. Punishment hasn't worked. All the money spent on crop eradication hasn't had the impact we would like to see."

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Mass. activists push to fully legalize marijuana

BOSTON —
Pro-marijuana activists in Massachusetts have already succeeded in paving the way for dozens of medical marijuana dispensaries and decriminalizing possession of small amounts of the drug.

Now many of those same activists have set their sights on the full legalization of marijuana for adults, effectively putting the drug on a par with alcohol and cigarettes.

And those activists — as they have in the past — are again hoping to make their case directly to voters.

The group Bay State Repeal says it’s planning to put the proposal on the state’s 2016 ballot.

The group is first planning to test different versions of the measure by placing nonbinding referendum questions on next year’s ballot in about a dozen state representative districts.

Those nonbinding questions are intended to gauge voter support for possible variations of the final, binding question.

Bill Downing, a member of Bay State Repeal, said the state should legalize marijuana for many reasons, especially since the use of marijuana no longer carries the stigma it once did and many people smoke the drug despite laws against it.

“That’s the problem with the marijuana laws,” Downing said. “There’s no moral impact anymore because the laws don’t reflect our common values.”

The activists have some reason to be hopeful. Not only have Massachusetts voters twice supported past efforts to ease restrictions on marijuana, but other states and cities have also recently moved toward lifting prohibitions on the drug.

Last year, voters made Washington and Colorado the first states to legalize the sale of taxed marijuana to adults over 21 at state-licensed stores.

This month, voters in Portland, Maine, overwhelmingly passed a question making it legal for adults 21 and over to possess up to 2½ ounces of pot but not purchase, sell or use it in public.

In 2008, Massachusetts voters approved a ballot question decriminalizing possession of up to an ounce of pot, making it instead a civil offense punishable by a $100 fine. Some Massachusetts towns have given up trying to enforce the law, however, saying it has too many loopholes.

Not everyone thinks legalizing marijuana is a good idea.

Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett says marijuana use can lead young people to harder drugs and other harmful behaviors.

“I’m not saying everyone who tries marijuana becomes a heroin addict, but the medical information is irrefutable that kids who start smoking marijuana are more likely to have substance abuse problems as adults,” said Blodgett, who also serves as president of the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association.

Blodgett said one unintended consequence of the decriminalization law in Massachusetts is that it’s harder to get young people into treatment and diversion programs because they can’t be arrested for possession of the drug. He said many private health insurance plans don’t cover drug treatment.

“Unless and until we have treatment-on-demand, we shouldn’t be talking about legalizing marijuana or any other drugs,” Blodgett said.

Downing rejected the notion that marijuana is a gateway to harder drugs and said the ballot question would restrict the sale of marijuana to adults.

“This isn’t about getting pot for kids,” he said. “No one on my side says we are getting marijuana for kids.”

When asked recently about the push to legalize marijuana in Massachusetts, Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick declined to offer an opinion.

There are potential legal troubles that come when states legalize marijuana, including the fact that state legalization doesn’t remove risk from an industry that still violates federal drug law.

Last year, Massachusetts overwhelmingly approved a ballot question allowing for up to 35 medical marijuana dispensaries around the state. State health officials last week released a list of the 100 applicants that are seeking dispensary licenses. They said they hope to award the licenses early next year.

Backers of that question benefited from the deep pockets of Ohio billionaire Peter Lewis, who has funded marijuana initiatives in states around the country and served as chairman of the board of the auto insurer Progressive Corp. Lewis, who almost entirely bankrolled the Massachusetts medical marijuana question, died Saturday at 80.

Read more: http://www.heraldnews.com(...)ijuana#ixzz2mRWXWtWh
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Uruguay marijuana decision 'breaks internationally endorsed treaty'

International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) says legalisation of drug contravenes the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs

Uruguay's decision to legalise marijuana is in violation of an international convention on drug control, a Vienna-based body set up to monitor government compliance with such treaties has said.

Uruguay became the first country to legalise the growing, sale and smoking of marijuana on Tuesday, in a pioneering experiment that will be closely watched by other nations debating drug liberalisation.

A government-sponsored bill approved in the senate provides for regulation of the cultivation, distribution and consumption of marijuana and is aimed at wresting the business from criminals in the small South American nation.

But the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) said the legislation contravenes the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, to which it said Uruguay is a party.

"Cannabis is controlled under the 1961 convention, which requires states parties to limit its use to medical and scientific purposes, due to its dependence-producing potential," INCB president Raymond Yans said in a statement.

He was surprised, the statement added, that Uruguay's legislature and government "knowingly decided to break the universally agreed and internationally endorsed legal provisions of the treaty".

The INCB describes itself as an independent, quasi-judicial body charged with promoting and monitoring compliance with the three international drug control conventions, including the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.

Uruguay's attempt to quell drug trafficking is being followed closely in Latin America, where the legalisation of some narcotics is being increasingly seen by regional leaders as a possible way to end the violence spawned by the cocaine trade.

Rich countries debating legalisation of cannabis are also watching the bill, which philanthropist George Soros has supported as an "experiment" that could provide an alternative to the failed US-led policies of the long "war on drugs".

Other countries have decriminalised marijuana possession and the Netherlands allows its sale in coffee shops, but Uruguay will be the first nation to legalise the whole chain from growing the plant to buying and selling its leaves.

Yans, the INCB president, said Uruguay's decision "fails to consider its negative impacts on health since scientific studies confirm that cannabis is an addictive substance with serious consequences for people's health".

"Cannabis is not only addictive but may also affect some fundamental brain functions, IQ potential, and academic and job performance and impair driving skills. Smoking cannabis is more carcinogenic than smoking tobacco," the INCB statement added

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Moms United Against the War on Drugs

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Mothers, family members, healthcare professionals and individuals in recovery are joining together to bring focus to our country's failed drug policies and the havoc they have wreaked on our families. Moms United to End the War on Drugs is a growing movement to stop the violence, mass incarceration and overdose deaths that are the result of current punitive and discriminatory drug policies. We are advocating for therapeutic drug policies that reduce the harms of drugs and current drug laws.

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Op zondag 15 december 2013 12:17 schreef LogiteX het volgende:
Cocaine minder schadelijk dan tabak of koffie? Dat betwijfel ik hevig.

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Uruguay 'land van het jaar' door homohuwelijk en legalisering wiet

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Uruguay is het land van het jaar, vindt The Economist. Het Britse blad heeft het Zuid-Amerikaanse land de eretitel donderdag toegekend, omdat het in 2013 het homohuwelijk heeft ingevoerd en besloten heeft de productie en verkoop van cannabis te legaliseren.