The World Wide War on Drugs #10 - Dag ter Bestrijding van Drugs

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Mexico kidnap victim's wife: 'Your mother for my husband' - BBC News

Vigilantes in a Mexican village have seized the mother of a local gang leader and proposed swapping her for a kidnap victim taken on Monday.

After seizing alleged collaborators of the gang, including the mother of the leader "El Tequilero", the locals have recorded video messages for the gang.

"In return for my husband's life, I will deliver your mother," says the kidnap victim's wife in one video, which has been broadcast on local TV.

Police have been sent to the village.

"We have your mother here, mister known as El Tequilero," says Yadira Guillermo Garcia, whose husband, an engineer, was seized by the gang, addressing the gang leader.

"I request an exchange.... I want him safe and sound."

In another video, residents of San Miguel Totolapan, carrying guns, explain that they have suffered for too long from the violence and intimidation meted out by El Tequilero and his gang, which is feared for carrying out mass kidnappings.

"They have humiliated us, they have killed our families and we won't let it happen again," one of them says.

Police have been trying to track down El Tequilero, whose real name is Raybel Jacobo de Almonte, for weeks now.

At the end of November, police used helicopters to search the mountainous area in Guerrero state where he is believed to be hiding but failed to catch him.

The governor of Guerrero state, Arturo Astudillo, said more than 200 police officers and soldiers had been sent to San Miguel Totolapan to defuse the stand-off.

He said the villagers had released five of the people they were holding but that El Tequilero's mother was not among them.

Guerrero state officials said that a team had been set up to negotiate between the vigilantes and the gang.

"The goal of the team is to ensure that no injury is done to the missing person, nor to the mother of the head of the Tequileros gang, who has apparently been taken by the self-defence forces," a statement read.

Guerrero state is a hotbed of gangs and violent crime, where local gangs fight for control of the opium trade, and disappearances and kidnapping for ransom are common.

In a number of towns and villages, residents have created vigilante groups in response, but human rights groups say these have only further contributed to the spiral of violence.

Bron: www.bbc.com

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Honderden kilo's cocaïne gevonden in Rotterdamse haven | NOS

In de haven van Rotterdam zijn in de afgelopen dagen meerdere drugsvangsten gedaan. Het zou om honderden kilo's cocaïne gaan. Ook zijn er minstens tien mensen aangehouden. Dat gebeurde na de grote drugsactie en extra controles van 150 containers met fruit, meldt RTV Rijnmond.

Er is onder andere een auto met 300 kilo cocaïne gevonden. De drie inzittenden zijn aangehouden.

Volgens het OM in Rotterdam zijn er bij een bedrijf zeker honderd containers doorzocht. Bij andere bedrijven zouden nog eens vijftig containers zijn bekeken. In totaal werd 25 kilo cocaïne gevonden.

Truckers hebben vanochtend en de afgelopen dagen douaniers met kogelwerende vesten en drugshonden gezien. De truckers moesten langer wachten door de controles van de politie en de douane.

De extra controles werden gedaan nadat er bij containers insluipers waren gesignaleerd. Daarop zijn de containers apart gezet en onderzocht met drugshonden.

Bron: nos.nl

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Philippines: Duterte confirms he personally killed three men

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He said: "I killed about three of them... I don't know how many bullets from my gun went inside their bodies. It happened and I cannot lie about it."

His statement came hours after his spokesman denied that Mr Duterte had personally killed anyone.

The recent controversy began on Wednesday at the president's palace.

He told a group of business leaders gathered there: "In Davao I used to do it [kill] personally. Just to show to the guys [police] that if I can do it why can't you.

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Mr Duterte denied that he was a drug addict himself, despite using the powerful pain killer Fentanyl.

"I'm not an addict," he said. "Only when it is prescribed. Addiction is only with regularity, my friend."

Mr Duterte has admitted to using the drug, saying he had migraines and issues with his spine.

Mr Andanar dismissed claims that the president was suffering from the side effects of Fentanyl, which can cause confusion, anxiety and even hallucinations.

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Senator's Solution To The Opioid Crisis Is To 'Declare A War On Drugs' -- Seriously | The Huffington Post

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) says that a new “war on drugs” is needed to combat the opioid crisis ravaging his home state ― a reference to a policy boondoggle that has spanned four decades and cost the U.S. more than $1 trillion, while destroying millions of lives and cementing America’s position as the world’s leading jailer.

“We need to declare a war on drugs, on illicit drugs,” Manchin told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead” when asked what President-elect Donald Trump should do to address the opioid epidemic.

West Virginia has been hit especially hard by substance abuse and addiction. A recent report by West Virginia’s Charleston Gazette-Mail detailed how drug companies have poured 780 million opioid painkillers into the state and cashed in while ignoring warning signs that the opioid epidemic was spreading as overdoses spiked.

But the drug war, first declared by President Richard Nixon in 1971 when he characterized illicit substance use as “public enemy number one,” has in recent years become widely derided as a public policy failure.

The U.S. spends about $51 billion a year enforcing the war on drugs, and arrests nearly 1.5 million people for drug violations, according to Drug Policy Alliance, a drug policy reform group. The U.S. is now home to nearly 25 percent of the world’s prisoners, despite having less than 5 percent of its population. Harsh and lengthy sentences for nonviolent drug possession or distribution crimes have helped bolster that figure. Meanwhile, as drug control spending has ballooned over the decades, addiction rates have remained relatively steady.

The public’s attitude has also shifted dramatically on drug policy since the drug war’s inception. About two-thirds of Americans believe illegal drug use should be met with treatment instead of incarceration, according to a 2014 Pew study.

In an attempt to explain how drug users in his state got addicted to opioids, Manchin told Tapper that they “started out as a kid, smoking what we call recreational marijuana. Then from there that led to prescriptions ... and before you know it ... they were just hooked. Then heroin comes on. Now we have fentanyl coming on. It’s just been unbelievable.”

Manchin is discussing what’s known as the “gateway” theory, a widely debunked criticism of marijuana use that suggests drug users begin with marijuana before graduating to harder drugs over time. The Gazette story also suggests that Manchin is drastically oversimplifying the causes of the epidemic. This catastrophe was driven in large part by corporate greed. (Manchin’s daughter, Heather Bresch, is chief executive of Mylan, a large pharmaceutical company that makes generic versions of off-patent opioids, as well as other drugs.)

With the opioid crisis devastating communities across the nation, leading to a drastic increase in overdose deaths in recent years, the U.S. needs real solutions, multiple drug policy experts told HuffPost. But it shouldn’t consider doubling down on failed drug policy, they said.

“A drug war is not the answer,” said John Hudak, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who writes extensively on drug policy. “Empty rhetoric that is insensitive to historical drug policy realities is not the answer. Comprehensive, thoughtful, public health-driven national reforms are the answer.”

Lindsay LaSalle, senior staff attorney for Drug Policy Alliance said a new drug war would only “doom the residents” Manchin represents to further death and despair.

“Indeed, criminalization actually amplifies the risk of fatal overdoses and diseases, increases stigma and marginalization, and drives people away from needed treatment, health, and harm reduction services,” LaSalle said. “Forty years of failed prohibitionist policies have taught us this much.”

LaSalle said that what West Virginians struggling with opioid addiction really need is increased access to the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone, medication-assisted treatment to help with recovery, and syringe exchange programs to prevent the spread of intravenous disease.

“Focusing on arrests and incarceration has made the U.S. the world’s leading incarcerator, and it didn’t stop what’s happened with opioids,” said David Borden, executive director of StoptheDrugWar.org. “Instead, Sen. Manchin should call for a public health approach.”

Bron: www.huffingtonpost.com

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Tien jaar cel voor drugsbestrijder die hasj smokkelde | NOS

Een oud-chef van de drugspolitie in de Finse hoofdstad Helsinki moet tien jaar de gevangenis in. De man heeft 900 kilo hasj uit Nederland zijn land binnengesmokkeld.

Volgens de rechtbank heeft de vroegere politiebaas zijn positie misbruikt en het vertrouwen in de politie ondermijnd. De man werd twee jaar geleden gearresteerd, maar hij ontkent dat hij drugs heeft geïmporteerd.

De zaak is uniek, want Finland is een van de landen met de minste corruptie.

Bron: nos.nl

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Philippines Duterte: I threw suspect from helicopter

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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to throw corrupt officials from helicopters mid-air, saying he has done it before.


"If you are corrupt, I will fetch you using a helicopter to Manila and I will throw you out," said Mr Duterte, who is waging war on corruption and drugs.

It's the latest claim by the president that he has personally carried out extra-judicial killings.

His spokesman played down the remarks, which he described as "urban legend".

Earlier this month another spokesman Martin Andanar said his blunt-speaking boss should be taken "seriously but not literally" when he said he had shot dead three men while mayor of Davao.

Mr Duterte made his latest comments in a speech to victims of a typhoon in the central Philippines on Tuesday. A video clip of his remarks was posted by his office.

He threatened the helicopter punishment for anyone who might steal the financial aid he was promising.

"I have done this before, why would I not do it again?" he said to applause.

He suggested his victim or victims were kidnappers who had murdered a hostage. It is not clear when or where the incident took place.

On Thursday, the president appeared to distance himself from his earlier remarks.

"Helicopter to throw a person? And if that is true, I will not admit it," he said in an interview with ABS-CBN news.

The president has made a similar claims in the past - and has a history of contradicting himself.

On 16 December he told the BBC he had shot dead three criminal suspects while he was mayor of Davao.

"I killed about three of them... I don't know how many bullets from my gun went inside their bodies. It happened and I cannot lie about it."

He made a similar claim to business leaders in Manila a few days earlier, when he said he used to cruise Davao on a motorbike "looking for a confrontation so I could kill."

Mr Duterte was mayor of the southern city of Davao for two decades, presiding over a big fall in crime but also being accused of sponsoring death squads.

As president he has pledged to root out drugs and corruption in the Philippines, at the cost of millions of lives if necessary.

Nearly 6,000 people are said to have been killed by police, vigilantes and mercenaries in the Philippines since Mr Duterte launched a war on drugs after being elected in May.

Opposition politicians and human rights groups have called for his impeachment, but he remains very popular with voters who want him to clean up the country.

Last week the Philippines independent human rights watchdog said it would investigate President Duterte's claims that he personally killed drug suspects.

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The Enemy Within: Bribes Bore a Hole in the U.S. Border

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It was not an isolated case. A review by The New York Times of thousands of court records and internal agency documents showed that over the last 10 years almost 200 employees and contract workers of the Department of Homeland Security have taken nearly $15 million in bribes while being paid to protect the nation’s borders and enforce immigration laws.

These employees have looked the other way as tons of drugs and thousands of undocumented immigrants were smuggled into the United States, the records show. They have illegally sold green cards and other immigration documents, have entered law enforcement databases and given sensitive information to drug cartels. In one case, the information was used to arrange the attempted murder of an informant.

The Times’s findings most likely undercount the amount of bribes because in many cases court records do not give a tally. The findings also do not include gifts, trips or money stolen by Homeland Security employees.

Throughout his campaign, President-elect Donald J. Trump said border security would be one of his highest priorities. As he prepares to take office, he will find that many of the problems seem to come from within.

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The Answer to the 2016 Spike in Cop Deaths is Ending the Drug War

Police officers across the country are on high alert following the latest disturbing report from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund which showed that 136 officers tragically lost their lives in the line of duty this year. The figures also show the number grew 10 percent from 2015’s figure of 123. Not a huge spike, but enough to grab the attention of the nation’s cops.

Contrary to what some readers of The Free Thought Project have expressed in comments and messages, TFTP is not anti-cop, anti-police, or anti-law-and-order. On the contrary, while we focus on police corruption, police brutality, badge abuse, and policies which enable such actions and behaviors, we grieve with the families of those who’ve lost their lives in the line of duty. At the same time, we realize our work is to highlight the reasons we believe police officers’ lives are in jeopardy on a daily basis, and why the system works against their safety.

As Matt Agorist of TFTP explained reflecting on the summer of 2016’s killing of eight police officers by domestic terrorists, “these attacks do nothing to stop police violence against citizens. In fact, it has the exact opposite effect. Now, when cops needlessly kill someone, their actions will be under less scrutiny from the public. All the police have to say now is ‘Dallas’ or ‘Baton Rouge.'”

Tragically, while 136 souls perished in the line of duty in 2016, it could be worse, and historically speaking, has been much worse. In 1930, the population of the United States was a third of what it is today. In that year, 324 police officers lost their lives in the line of duty. To put it into perspective, if the same percentage of police officers who lost their lives in 1930, had lost their lives in the line of duty in 2016, the number of police officers killed would have exceeded 850. One might be tempted to ask why so many officers of the law perished in 1930. The answer is found in one simple word; prohibition.

According to History, “The ratification of the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution–which banned the manufacture, transportation and sale of intoxicating liquors–ushered in a period in American history known as Prohibition,” a time in U.S. history when alcohol was completely banned. The reasons for prohibition were many.

According to PBS, after the civil war, the country had experienced an influx of immigration, many of whom brought their hard-drinking customs with them. “The brewing business boomed as German-American entrepreneurs scaled up production to provide the new immigrants with millions of gallons of beer.” Heavy drinking gave way to, “distraught wives and mothers whose lives had been ruined by the excesses of the saloon.” Those wives and mothers then joined hand in hand to fight the evil they believed alcohol represented. “Thousands of women began to protest and organize politically for the cause of temperance. Their organization, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), became a force to be reckoned with.”

The birth of the “widespread temperance movement during the first decade of the 20th century” enabled lobbyists to demand that the federal government outlaw alcohol. But soon, problems emerged. “Prohibition was difficult to enforce,” yet lawmen were undaunted by threats against their lives from those who profited from the illegal production, distribution, and sale of booze. “The increase

“The increase of the illegal production and sale of liquor (known as ‘bootlegging’), the proliferation of speakeasies (illegal drinking spots) and the accompanying rise in gang violence,” all flourished under prohibition. But by the end of the roaring 20’s and at the start of the 1930’s, Americans had enough of prohibition and in 1933, “Congress adopted a resolution proposing a 21st Amendment to the Constitution that would repeal the 18th. It was ratified by the end of that year, bringing the Prohibition era to a close.”

The loss of police officer lives was inextricably connected with the prohibition of alcohol. In fact, the percentage of police officers killed in the line of duty was greater during prohibition than at any other time in U.S. history. All of which brings this current discussion to the failed War on Drugs. The

The number of Americans being held in prison has skyrocketed since President Richard Nixon declared an official War on Drugs — which not coincidentally was the second deadliest year for police in American during which 200 cops lost their lives at the onset of the drug war. In 1930, only 100 out of every 100,000 Americans were incarcerated. In 2016, after a forty-five-year war against drug users and dealers, that number now hovers around 1,000 per 100,000 citizens.

To put these numbers into perspective, nine out of every 100 Americans are incarcerated in the “prison industrial complex,” a new industry born out of mass incarcerations. And that may be the only reason why the number of police officer deaths are so low, compared to the percentage from 1930. These state-manufactured criminals who are most angry at the police are often behind bars, the casualties of the failed war on drugs.

Those who are comfortable with nearly 10 percent of their fellow citizens being behind bars may need to ask themselves if it could be better. The answer is that it has been better. Kidnapping, caging, and killing offenders does not appear to be the way forward. The United States represents only 5 percent of the world’s population but houses 25 percent of the world’s inmates.

Something has to change, and we at TFTP believe there’s a direct correlation between the growing number of prisons and prisoners with the prohibition of drugs like marijuana and police deaths. The United States cannot jail its way out of drug use and abuse. It cannot penalize enough people to end the nearly 50,000 deaths by opiates, heroin, and other drugs every year. Even while mortality statistics show that almost no one dies from using marijuana, the justice system in the United States continues to focus on marijuana users for punishment. As TFTP has reported on numerous occasions, “police made more arrests for simple marijuana possession than for all violent crimes combined.”

In 1930, police attempted to ban a substance. In 2016, police attempt (along with the substances) to ban a group of people, drug users. In 1930, prohibition resulted in violence, gang activity, and police officer murders. In 2016, drug prohibition has resulted in violence, gang activity, police officer murders and the mass incarceration of millions of Americans involved in the illegal drug trade — as well as a slew of innocent civilians caught in the middle of this deadly drug war.

It took a brave Congress to repeal prohibition. It will take a brave Congress to end the War on Drugs. Only after Congress repealed the 18th amendment was law and order restored. Only after Congress disbands the DEA, ends mandatory sentencing for drug possession and distribution, and allows states to decide how they will deal with drug abuse — will law and order be restored.

The eyes of millions Americans are being opened to the health benefits of natural medicine, which also includes marijuana, cbd, and kratom. Only when Americans are unafraid of law enforcement do fewer officers lose their lives in the line of duty. With that in mind, we are calling on President-elect Donald Trump, and his pick for Attorney General Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), following 28 U.S. States, to end marijuana prohibition at the federal level, decriminalize marijuana possession nationwide, release non-violent drug offenders system-wide, terminate the DEA, and focus the attention of the justice department on solving violent crimes, and crimes against children.

These actions, as proven in other countries who’ve already ended their drug wars, diminish the prison population, lead to fewer assaults on police officers, fewer officer-involved shootings, and reestablish trust between police and the public, and lead to a more tolerant society.

As Dionne Wilson, wife of slain California officer Nels “Dan” Niemi, bravely said, “I don’t think that anyone can tell me that had we invested in people over prisons, my husband wouldn’t be here today.”

Instead of focusing on why people “reenter” the prison system, Wilson advocates for the revolutionary policy of “no entry.” Wilson now pushes the radical but logical idea “that people never enter the system, that we stop feeding this system of mass incarceration. Stop punishing people for self-medicating trauma with drugs and alcohol, stop punishing people for mental illness. These policies don’t work. The promise of public safety has not helped.”

Bron: thefreethoughtproject.com

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Hollywood heel even 'Hollyweed' | NOS



Bewoners van Hollywood in Los Angeles waren vandaag heel even inwoners van Hollyweed. Onbekenden hebben vannacht de twee o's van het beroemde bord op de bergen ten noorden van het stadsdeel met doeken omgetoverd tot twee e's.

Volgens lokale media willen de mensen achter de actie de nieuwe legalisering van marihuana in Californië vieren. De politie beschouwt het als vandalisme en zoekt de daders.

De onbekenden hebben zich waarschijnlijk laten inspireren door eenzelfde soort grap in 1976. Toen werden de letters ook al veranderd in Hollyweed nadat de wet over het gebruik van cannabis in de staat was versoepeld.

De letters zien er inmiddels weer normaal uit.

Bron: nos.nl

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Meisjes in Zwanenburg ziek na opeten drugs die op straat lagen | NOS

In het Noord-Hollandse Zwanenburg zijn twee meisjes vanavond onwel geworden nadat ze drugs hadden geslikt die ze op straat zouden hebben gevonden. Het zijn meisjes van 11 en 12 jaar.

"Een van hen is er slecht aan toe en is naar het ziekenhuis gebracht", zegt een politiewoordvoerder. "Het andere meisje is wat warrig."

Welke soort drugs ze hebben gegeten, is nog niet bekend. De gekleurde pilletjes zaten in een zakje en lagen in de buurt van de Domineeslaan.

"Het lijken net snoepjes", zegt de politie. "We zoeken met politiemensen en honden of er meer van die rotzooi genotsmiddelen op straat ligt."

Bron: nos.nl

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Legal Weed is Killing Cartels and Corporate Media Is Trying to Say that’s a Bad Thing

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The legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado has led to some interesting developments in the war on drugs. According to a video segment on Fox News, seizures of marijuana flowing out of Colorado into neighboring states has risen from 58 in 2008, to 394 in 2015. This indicates Colorado has unwittingly become an exporter of legal weed, found to be illegal in many adjoining states.

Sitting in for Fox News’ Shepherd Smith, Gregg Jarrett asked FNC reporter Alicia Acuna if neighboring states were fighting a losing battle. Acuna responded by saying 8 states already have recreational marijuana, and another couple dozen states have some form of medical marijuana at work. Mason Tvert, of the Marijuana Policy Project, told FNC, “If anything, what’s happening is no different than it was before. People are still using marijuana, it’s just that they’re more likely to be using marijuana that didn’t come from a Mexican drug cartel.”

According to FNC and University of San Diego professor David Shirk, that fact has now been confirmed. It seems, as marijuana proponents asserted, the Mexican cartels are getting out of the illegal marijuana trade. Shirk says the cartels are turning their backs on marijuana in favor of other “more predatory criminal activities” such as, “kidnapping, extortion, larceny…stealing petroleum from petroleum lines,” Shirk stated.

FNC reported what proponents have been saying for years. If you make marijuana legal, the illegal, criminal elements, such as Mexican drug cartels, will find other means to sustain their income. However, it is important to note that the reason these cartels exist in the first place is because of the drug war. Attempting to claim we need the war on drugs to keep the cartels from kidnapping people is like saying we need people to murder each other so police can have a job to do.

Had drugs not been illegal in the US, the cartels would have been extremely hard pressed to amass the money and power they now have. Rest assured, however, that kidnapping and larceny are not nearly as sustainable as the drug industry as it is much easier for politicians to look the other way on drug smuggling than it is for them to ignore children being stolen from parents. That's why, rather than kidnap people, the Mexican cartels are still capitalizing on the American drug war.

One such way the Mexican drug cartels have reportedly upped the ante is to produce a drug which is much more addictive than just heroin alone. They mix heroin with Carfentanil, which "is a synthetic opioid so strong that just a few granules the size of grains of table salt can be lethal. Since mid-August, roughly 300 people in at least four states have overdosed on heroin linked to Carfentanil and the less powerful compound fentanyl," Time reports.

If heroin were decriminalized in the US, overdoses would plummet and so would its use. This is not an assertion, it is fact.

One positive coming out of Colorado's legalization of marijuana is the fact that the drug task forces which were previously engaged in going after marijuana, can now turn their attentions to going after the organized criminal element such as the cartels, which have no regard for the patient seeking medicine for whatever ails them.

FNC concluded their marijuana segment by saying President-elect Donald Trump doesn't seem to have a problem with medicinal marijuana but added he does not approve of recreational marijuana. Whether or not Trump will allow the continuation of progress in the legalization of marijuana is yet to be seen. Certainly, Colorado will put up a fight if the newly named Attorney General Jeff Sessions seeks to overturn CO's legal weed business as it's now providing millions of dollars to help fund the educational system in that state.

The FNC segment confirms what TFTP has been saying for months now, legal weed does more to stop the cartels than the official war on drugs. As we reported to you in March, "in the past seven years (seizures of marijuana at the Mexican-American border have dropped) from 4 million pounds in 2009, to just 1.5 million pounds last year."

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Strijd tegen drugscriminaliteit in Zuid-Nederland 'logistieke nachtmerrie'

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Hij verwijt het Openbaar Ministerie en ook de politie een afwachtende houding. 'Het structurele karakter van dit probleem komt niet op tafel.

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Bos ervaart de privacywetgeving als een ramp. Ze zegt: 'Ik ben continu de mist in gegaan met die privacyregels.'

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Politici willen opheldering over informant 'Paul'

Tweede Kamerleden willen opheldering van de minister over de verklaringen van drugscrimineel ‘Paul’, afgelopen vrijdag in EenVandaag. De Amsterdamse crimineel zegt dat grote hoeveelheden cocaïne met medeweten van de politie het land in worden gesmokkeld.

'Paul' (een schuilnaam die hij kreeg van Team Criminele Inlichtingen, kortweg TCI) woont in Colombia. Daar is hij gelieerd aan een groot drugskartel in Medellin. Tegelijkertijd geeft hij al jaren gedetailleerde tips aan de geheime politie TCI over containers met coke die vanuit Zuid-Amerika naar Nederland worden vervoerd. Hoogleraar criminologie Toine Spapens reageert in EenVandaag op het dossier.

Kameraden Kees Verhoeven (D66), Gert-Jan Segers (ChristenUnie) en Michiel van Nispen (SP) willen opheldering van de minister en dienen kamervragen in. “Veel vragen zijn nog niet beantwoorden, maar zoals het er nu naar uitziet heeft de politie onrechtmatig gehandeld. Ik wil alle details boven water om zeker te weten dat de politie niet zijn boekje te buiten is gegaan,” aldus van Nispen.

Informant 'Paul' duikt in december op in het megaproces rond de corrupte douanier Gerrit G. en een aantal drugsbazen. Volgens Paul moeten de Rotterdamse smokkelaars die zaken hebben gedaan met de platte douanier nog schulden betalen aan het kartel in Colombia waar hij voor werkt. Het totale bedrag dat nog open staat is 21 miljoen euro.

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stonedsociety twitterde op dinsdag 10-01-2017 om 16:12:20 Trump on Drugs. From the @MiamiHerald, 1990. Source: https://t.co/dlGuqaMaOU via @DCMJ2014 #LegalizeIt #WarOnDrugs https://t.co/JkaqeDTsXc reageer retweet

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Canada vreest "Fentanyl-epidemie" | NOS

De Canadese autoriteiten bereiden zich voor op een flinke toename van het aantal doden door een overdosis Fentanyl. De minister van Gezondheid spreekt zelfs van een epidemie. Fentanyl is een pijnstiller die de ademhaling verzwakt of helemaal kan stilzetten.

In Canada zijn in 2015 bijna 700 mensen overleden na inname van de drug. Dat is 70 procent meer dan in 2014. De cijfers over vorig jaar zijn nog niet beschikbaar, maar vermoedelijk liggen die nog veel hoger.

In Vancouver rukken de hulpdiensten 20 tot 30 keer per avond uit voor gebruikers die buiten bewustzijn zijn geraakt. De belastingen zijn zelfs met een half procent omhoog gegaan om de hulp te bekostigen, volgens het radioprogramma Bureau Buitenland op NPO radio 1.

Ook in de VS is het gebruik van Fentanyl een groot probleem. Daar is het aantal doden onder gebruikers het afgelopen jaar verdubbeld. Ook zanger Prince overleed na inname van het middel.

De Canadese minister van Gezondheid overweegt om gebruikersplekken in te richten, waar medisch personeel de drug gecontroleerd kan toedienen. De politie is een campagne begonnen om te waarschuwen voor de gevaren.

Fentanyl wordt medisch gebruikt als pijnstiller, onder meer bij de behandeling van kanker en bij narcose. Dat gebeurt alleen in combinatie met een tegengif, waardoor de ademhaling geen gevaar loopt. In meerdere steden in Canada wordt het tegengif al gratis verstrekt op straat aan gebruikers van Fentanyl.

Het spul is vijftig tot tachtig keer sterker dan morfine en is net zo verslavend als heroïne. Het merendeel van de gebruikers is verslaafd geraakt na een medische behandeling of na inname als partydrug. In het illegale circuit is Fentanyl voornamelijk verkrijgbaar als pil en als poeder.

Bron: nos.nl

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Mismoedige rechercheur stopt onderzoek: het is water naar de zee dragen | NOS

Een rechercheur had het precies uitgevogeld: wie er achter hennepkwekerijen zat, hoe de criminele organisatie was opgebouwd, hoe de winst werd weggesluisd naar het buitenland. Toch werd er geen onderzoek opgestart. Te weinig mensen en de zaak had geen prioriteit. De rechercheur: "Uiteindelijk ben ik maar gestopt met het opmaken van dit soort rapportages. Het is water naar de zee dragen."

De anekdote staat in een vertrouwelijk rapport van de top van de politie en het Openbaar Ministerie, dat vandaag uitlekte. In het stuk wordt een beeld geschetst van onmachtige opsporingsautoriteiten, die de strijd tegen criminelen dreigen te verliezen.

Volgens officiële cijfers daalt de criminaliteit in Nederland. Maar de politie, het OM en gemeenten hebben een ander beeld. Volgens hen neemt de misdaad helemaal niet af. Zij zeggen dat er op een groot deel van de criminaliteit gewoon geen zicht is.

Vaak gaat het om kleine delicten, zoals vandalisme of een fietsendiefstal. De politie heeft er geen weet van omdat er geen aangifte van wordt gedaan. Dat geldt ook voor digitale criminaliteit, zoals phishing of oplichting via Marktplaats.

Maar ook zwaardere vormen van criminaliteit blijven buiten beeld, omdat niemand er naar zoekt. Daarbij valt te denken aan fraude, corruptie en drugshandel. De greep van de georganiseerde misdaad op bepaalde gemeenten is groot, bleek eerder deze week nog.

Toch hebben politie en justitie te weinig capaciteit en expertise om diepgravend onderzoek te doen naar netwerken en geldstromen. In plaats daarvan proberen ze vooral te 'scoren' in eenvoudiger onderzoeken.

Mogelijk miljoenen delicten. Het rapport stelt dat slechts een op de vijf misdrijven officieel geregistreerd wordt. In 2015 waren er bijna een miljoen aangiften. Dat verhoudt zich niet tot het aantal mensen dat zegt slachtoffer van criminaliteit te zijn geweest. Volgens het rapport ligt dat – omgerekend – op zo’n 4,5 miljoen mensen.

Dan zijn er ook nog zaken waar de politie wel van op de hoogte is, maar die niet worden opgepakt. Het kan gaan om vermoedens van het downloaden van kinderporno, sporenonderzoek naar een inbraak of het opnieuw nalopen van een cold case.

In de regel wel. Maar de politie heeft het razend druk gekregen. De afgelopen tijd waren agenten druk met de vluchtelingenstroom en de maatschappelijke onrust die daarmee gepaard ging. Spanningen waren er bijvoorbeeld ook na de coup in Turkije, waarbij de politie ook in Nederland demonstraties in goede banen moest leiden.

Verder slokten verwarde personen veel kostbare tijd op en was de politie volop bezig met jihadisten. Rechercheurs moesten soms letterlijk al hun andere zaken loslaten om zich acuut bezig te houden met onderzoeken naar mogelijk terrorisme.

Ook hier schetst de notitie geen rooskleurig beeld. Van alle aangiften wordt meer dan de helft meteen terzijde geschoven. De politie ziet geen reden voor nader onderzoek. Er is dan bijvoorbeeld geen enkel aanknopingspunt om de zaak op te lossen. Mogelijk is dat in enkele tienduizenden zaken ten onrechte, stelt het rapport.

Uiteindelijk leidt een op de vijf aangiften daadwerkelijk tot vervolging van een verdachte. Opvallend detail: vooral als het gaat om oplichting via internet worden bijna alle zaken direct afgewezen door het Openbaar Ministerie. Een verklaring geeft het rapport daarvoor niet.

Heel erg, volgens het rapport. Het risico is dat mensen hun vertrouwen verliezen in het strafrecht. Wat bij criminelen het gevoel versterkt dat ze ongestraft hun gang kunnen gaan.

De grotere boeven verschuilen zich ook nog eens achter ingewikkelde financiële constructies in het buitenland en doen hun duistere zaken online, ver buiten het bereik van de Nederlandse opsporingsdiensten. Worst case scenario: politie en OM verliezen definitief de strijd tegen de misdaad.

Bron: nos.nl

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Colombia Restarts Controversial Glyphosate Fumigation of Coca | News | teleSUR English

In 2015, Colombia became the last country in the world to suspend the fumigation of crops with glyphosate, after 15 years of use.

Colombia started fumigating crops with glyphosate again, the government announced Wednesday, after the technique was suspended in 2015 over health and environmental concerns.

The fumigations began on Jan. 2, said Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas at a press conference, adding the fumigation of the controversial Monsanto-produced herbicide was focused in the northern province of Catatumbo and the southeastern provinces of Nariño and Putumayo. Unlike previous fumigation, which was aerial, the new coca erradication plan consists of manual, land-based spraying.

Launched in 1994, the spraying program was long treated as sacrosanct by Colombian officials, who gladly accepted billions of dollars in funding from Washington to fumigate farmland throughout the countryside, often spraying all crops, leaving campesinos with no livelihood.

But after the World Health Organization warned in March 2015 that glyphosate was "probably carcinogenic," Santos' Cabinet suspended the air fumigations. Colombia became the last country in the world to suspend aerial fumigations of glyphosate, after 15 years of use.

But right-wing sectors, which are also opposed to peace with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, have been pressuring the government to renew the practice since it was suspended.

Critics of aerial fumigation argue that Monsanto's product is not only dangerous to the health of residents, contaminating sources of water and neighboring crops, but also useless to limit the expansion of coca crops in the long term.

ANALYSIS:
Plan Colombia Has Been a Nightmare for Women

Colombia's Attorney General Nestor Humberto Martinez sparked a national controversy in September by urging the government to resume aerial fumigation of coca crops, arguing that the reemergence of illicit crops had doubled in the past four years.

But both the health and justice ministries rejected the measure at the time.

Justice Minister Jorge Londoño Ulloa told reporters that 2007 was the year with the largest amount of illicit coca crops, despite continuous aerial fumigations.

He also highlighted that it would be juridically impossible to implement the measure again, given that Colombia's constitutional court backed the government's decision in a historic ruling.

Moreover, the suspension of aerial fumigation was a central point of the peace negotiations between the FARC and the government, which also outlines crop susbstitution programs to help farmers move away from illicit crops to legal production.

Nevertheless, the Colombian government has resumed the fumigation, while the U.S. continues to apply pressure, being a strong supporter of aerial fumigation both for political and economic reasons.

Bron: www.telesurtv.net

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Met je gezin voor twee planten op straat gezet. En meer uitwassen van de strijd tegen wiet

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Er moeten veel meer slachtoffers vallen in de Nederlandse strijd tegen cannabis. De vijf verhalen die ik vond, laten heel duidelijk zien wat er mis is met de Nederlandse strijd tegen wiet.

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Hoe vaak mensen landelijk om minder dan vijf planten uit huis worden gezet, wordt niet bijgehouden. Wat wel bekend is, is dat tussen 2011 en 2013 - recentere cijfers zijn niet openbaar - de politie minimaal 581 keer een 'hennepplantage' heeft opgerold van vijf planten. Als het een huurhuis betrof, kreeg de verhuurder het te horen. Ging het om een woningcorporatie, dan is dat huishouden vrijwel zeker op straat gezet.

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Recordjaar drugsvangsten in Rotterdamse haven | NOS

In de Rotterdamse haven is vorig jaar een recordhoeveelheid van 13.312 kilo cocaïne onderschept. Het oude record uit 2013 stond op 9800 kilo cocaïne. Opvallend is dat het aantal drugsvangsten niet is toegenomen, maar de omvang ervan wel.

Het speciale HARC-team dat de drugssmokkel in de Rotterdamse haven bestrijdt, onderschepte in 2016 ook 720 kilo marihuana en 406 kilo heroïne. Er zijn veertig verdachten aangehouden.

De onderschepte partijen cocaïne variëren van anderhalf tot bijna vierduizend kilo. De laatste partij zat verstopt tussen ananassen uit Costa Rica. Volgens het OM zijn er aanwijzingen dat vanuit Zuid-Amerika grote partijen drugs worden gedumpt op de markt.

Hoeveel drugs de grenzen onontdekt passeert, blijft moeilijk in te schatten. Volgens bronnen in het criminele milieu wordt één op de vijf of zes partijen drugs onderschept. Dat zou betekenen dat vorig jaar tienduizenden kilo's cocaïne met succes het land in zijn gesmokkeld. Een indicatie dat er inderdaad grote partijen cocaïne Nederland inkomen, is de sterk gedaalde marktprijs van cocaïne.

Het OM, de politie en de gemeente Rotterdam luidden vorig jaar de alarmklok over de capaciteit bij de douane om de drugssmokkel in de haven aan te pakken. Ze reageerden daarmee op plannen van minister van Financiën Dijsselbloem om het aantal douaniers te verminderen.

Bron: nos.nl

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Waterzuivering Baarle-Nassau ontregeld door drugsafval | NOS

De rioolwaterzuivering in Baarle-Naussau in Brabant is de hele week ontregeld geweest omdat de toevoer was vervuild door drugsafval. Politieonderzoek leidde naar een drugslab in Baarle. De 42-jarige eigenaar van de schuur is aangehouden.

Waarschijnlijk zijn de chemicaliën direct in het riool geloosd. De vervuiling van het water werd maandag ontdekt. De zuurgraad van het water was zo hoog dat de bacteriën die gebruikt worden om het water te zuiveren dood gingen. De installatie werd stilgelegd omdat die moest worden gereinigd. Dat duurde een paar dagen.

Het rioolwater moest daarom even ergens anders worden gezuiverd. Tankwagens reden heen en weer naar een andere waterzuivering. De riolering functioneerde de afgelopen dagen normaal. Mensen konden gewoon douchen en hun wc gebruiken.

Bron: nos.nl

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Patiënten boos: 'Tegenstrijdig beleid' medicinale wiet

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Patiënten die al jarenlang medicinale wiet gebruiken zitten met de handen in het haar. Vanaf dit jaar vergoeden de meeste zorgverzekeraars de cannabis die ze via de apotheek krijgen niet meer.

Er zou onvoldoende wetenschappelijk bewijs zijn dat wiet als medicijn werkt. Terwijl patiënten met bijvoorbeeld MS, reuma, kanker of hiv zeggen er veel baat bij te hebben. De wiet vermindert hun klachten. Ze moeten het nu zelf betalen en dat kan oplopen tot honderden euro’s per maand.

Opvallend is dat het Zorginstituut Nederland - dat minister Schippers van Volksgezondheid adviseert over vergoedingen - zegt dat er geen wetenschappelijk bewijs is voor de werking van medicinale cannabis.

Dit is in tegenstelling tot wat het Bureau Medicinale Cannabis beweert. Dat is de overheidsorganisatie verantwoordelijk voor de productie van cannabis voor medische doeleinden. Dit bureau stelt in hun informatiefolder dat medicinale wiet wel degelijk werkt.

Daarnaast exporteert de Nederlandse overheid steeds meer medicinale wiet naar Duitsland. Bij de oosterburen is het zo populair dat het parlement daar afgelopen week het gebruik van medicinale wiet heeft gelegaliseerd en zorgverzekeraars het moeten vergoeden voor zwaar zieke patiënten.

Duitsland maakt zelf te weinig wiet om aan de grote vraag te voldoen. De Nederlandse overheid heeft als regel dat het maximaal 100 kilo wiet per jaar per land mag exporteren. Maar op verzoek van de Duitsers maakt minister Schippers nu een uitzondering: zij mogen de komende jaren 700 kilo wiet afnemen, zeven keer zoveel. Dat zegt ze in een Kamerbrief.

‘Tegenstrijdig beleid’ zeggen gedupeerde patiënten in Nederland. EenVandaag spreekt met Lilian Flanderijn, een MS-patiënt die aan het afbouwen is, omdat ze de wiet zelf niet kan betalen. Ook zijn we bij Marian Hutten en Serge de Bruijn van de patiëntenvereniging Medicinale Cannabis Gebruikers. Zij hebben het voordeel dat ze in Tilburg wonen, waar de burgemeester toestaat dat ze - onder voorwaarden - zelf wietplantjes voor medicinaal gebruik kweken.

Zorgverzekeraar ONVZ reageert ook op alle commotie.

Minister Schippers heeft in antwoord op vragen van EenVandaag laten weten dat ze het Zorginstituut zal vragen om opnieuw advies uit te brengen over medicinale cannabis op basis van nieuwe en internationale onderzoeken.

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Drugsoorlog in Brazilië, bendes steken gevangenis in brand | NOS

Ruim 150 gevangenen van een half open inrichting in de Braziliaanse stad Bauru zijn ontsnapt. Ze maakten gebruik van de chaos die uitbrak nadat opstandige gevangenen brand hadden gesticht in de gevangenis. Het merendeel van de ontsnapten is inmiddels weer opgepakt, enkele tientallen zijn nog voortvluchtig.

Urenlang was er paniek in Bauru, in de Braziliaanse deelstaat São Paulo. In de wijken rond de gevangenis beroofden voortvluchtige gevangenen mensen van hun auto. De politie raadde omwonenden aan binnen te blijven.

Het is de jongste gevangenisopstand in Brazilië in een reeks. Eerder deze maand kwamen al 138 gevangenen om het leven bij gewelddadige opstanden. De situatie in Braziliaanse gevangenissen is gespannen, vanwege een oorlog tussen de twee grootste bendes van het land. De opstand in Bauru bleef relatief vreedzaam: er vielen voor zover bekend geen doden of gewonden.

Dat is een groot verschil met de opstand in de Alcaçus-gevangenis in Natal, in het noord-oosten van het land. Daar lijkt na bijna twee weken de opstand eindelijk onder controle. Op 14 januari braken er gevechten uit tussen rivaliserende bendeleden. Zeker 26 mensen kwamen om het leven.

Er komen steeds meer gruwelijke details naar buiten van de opstand in de Alcaçus-gevangenis. Er circuleren bijvoorbeeld beelden op internet van gewapende gevangenen die beweren dat ze stukken vlees van een vermoorde medegevangene roosteren. Het is voorlopig nauwelijks te verifiëren, omdat de politie pas sinds gisteren de controle over de gevangenis lijkt te hebben.

Urenlang kamden gewone agenten en leden van de oproerpolitie de cellencomplexen uit, op zoek naar wapens. Om de rivaliserende bendes uit elkaar te houden, werd een metershoge muur gebouwd van containers.

Het geweld in de Braziliaanse gevangenissen maakt pijnlijk duidelijk hoe groot de problemen zijn. Brazilië telt ruim 600.000 gedetineerden; het is daarmee na de VS, China en Rusland het land met de meeste gevangenen. Maar hoewel het aantal gedetineerden de afgelopen jaren alleen maar is toegenomen, werden er weinig nieuwe gevangenissen gebouwd. Bestaande inrichtingen zijn vaak oud, er zijn te weinig bewakers en er is veel corruptie.

Daardoor is de rol van de cipiers meestal beperkt tot het voorkomen van ontsnappingen.

Binnen de gevangenismuren hebben bendes het voor het zeggen. De twee grootste criminele organisaties van het land ontstonden in de gevangenis: het Rode Commando (CV) uit Rio de Janeiro en de machtigste bende van het land, het Eerste Commando van de Hoofdstad (PCC) uit São Paulo.

De twee drugsorganisaties waren jarenlang bondgenoten van elkaar, maar vorig jaar brak er oorlog uit. Die wordt voor een groot deel uitgevochten in de gevangenissen.

Waarom de bendes hun jarenlange samenwerking hebben verbroken is niet zeker, maar heeft vermoedelijk te maken met pogingen van de PCC om de belangrijkste drugsroutes te domineren. Brazilië is de laatste jaren een belangrijk doorvoerland geworden voor cocaïne uit de buurlanden, bestemd voor de Europese markt.

Bron: nos.nl

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How Santos’ New Peace Deal Aggravated Colombia’s Drug War | Americas Quarterly

Despite a tumultuous 2016, Colombia ended the year on a hopeful note. On Dec. 10, President Juan Manuel Santos accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to broker peace with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country’s largest rebel group. In his acceptance speech, Santos said that “the impossible had become possible” – after more than 50 years of fighting, conflict with the FARC was officially over.

Implementing that peace will put Santos’ words to the test. Just days before his speech in Oslo, Congress approved a revised peace deal after an earlier version had been rejected by voters in a plebiscite in October. In order to get the new deal passed, Santos was forced to make concessions to opponents of the original agreement – even on the points seemingly most important to him. That meant revisiting provisions for land reform, transitional justice and, of particular relevance to Santos’ Nobel Prize speech, drug policy.

Santos’ lecture in Oslo constituted a landmark rebuke of the global approach to the so-called war on drugs. He forcefully reiterated earlier calls for the world to “urgently rethink” the way it addresses the global drug trade, noting the high price that Colombia had paid in “deaths and sacrifices” in those efforts.

“We (Colombians) have a moral authority to state that, after decades of fighting against drug trafficking, the world has still been unable to control this scourge that fuels violence and corruption throughout our global community,” Santos said.

The chapter devoted to “solving the drug problem” in the first version of Santos’ peace agreement was far from perfect. But it was the first time that a peace accord had included a section that addressed all aspects of the illicit drug phenomenon. The initial version also provided for methods such as voluntary eradication of coca crops, a consultation process with peasant communities to jointly define with the government a substitution plan, and the decriminalization of drug use.

The new agreement, by contrast, attempted to appease some early opponents by reintroducing the option of forced eradication of coca and limiting the consultation process with coca-growing communities. Even more worrying is the additional mention of faith-based therapeutic communities, though not scientifically proven, as legitimate effective recovery programs. This measure opens the door for Evangelicals to make enormous profits and exert abuses upon drug users in the name of treatment.

The potential limits to Santos’ re-imagining of the war on drugs don’t end there. Just two days after his Oslo speech, Colombia's National Council on Narcotics, headed by the justice ministry, announced it would reinstate the manual forced eradication of coca crops using the spray-chemical glyphosate, an herbicide that was listed in 2015 by the World Health Organization as potentially carcinogenic. This use of the chemical has not only proven costly and ineffective, but also of great risk to the eradicators themselves due to exposure to the herbicide and the risk of stepping on landmines planted to protect coca crops.

One has to hope that the moral authority bestowed upon Santos through the Nobel Peace Prize – and even other forms of recognition of the country’s efforts at peace, such as The Economist’s decision to name Colombia it’s “country of the year” for 2016 – would help foster more productive approaches to control the global drug trade. This is especially true when that prize-winner is a sitting president who ended a half-century long conflict partially fueled by the illegal production and trade of drugs.

But there is also a risk that talk of rethinking the war on drugs becomes limited to elegant prose aimed at a global elite – while the compromise of peacebuilding simply reinforces the status quo. At the international level, Santos has suggested in his speech and elsewhere that a precondition of peace is the need to address the drug trade in a new way. But the concessions he has made domestically would continue to suppress the supply of drugs using the same outdated and ineffective tactics of the “war on drugs.” It seems that even a deserving Nobel Prize winner can have trouble translating a call to action into actual motion.

--


Bron: americasquarterly.org

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Georgia eases draconian law on cannabis use

Until recently, anyone caught with cannabis twice in 12 months in Georgia faced up to 14 years behind bars. Today you can carry enough for more than 200 joints, after the constitutional court in effect decriminalised possession of the drug.

The landmark ruling follows the case of 27-year-old Beka Tsikarishvili, who was arrested in 2013 with 65 grams of cannabis, which he said was for his own use. Facing a long sentence, he argued imprisonment was unlawful because it infringed his human dignity.

Surprisingly, the judges agreed and in October scrapped the incarceration law for buying, smoking, and carrying small amounts of marijuana, calling the law itself “unconstitutional.”

While possession of drugs with intent to sell still comes with a heavy penalty, the court declared that people who had previously been locked up for smoking marijuana could not be arrested again for using the drug. Activists say that more than 100 people imprisoned for possession have had their sentences commuted.

Most of the cannabis smoked in the country is homegrown and those who grow it still face lengthy sentences, but on Wednesday a court will open proceedings to decide if these punishments are also too harsh. A final verdict is expected to take at least two months.

“Public pressure was a major factor behind the court’s ruling,” said David Subeliani, the leader of White Noise, a regional group campaigning for the decriminalisation of all narcotics.

He is optimistic about the relaxation of the penalty for growing cannabis and hopes prison as a punishment will be declared unconstitutional.

White Noise estimates that the authorities’ zero tolerance to drugs has seen more than 300,000 people – almost 10% of Georgia’s 3.7 million population – forced to take urine tests over the past seven years. In 2015, 56-year-old Levan Abzianidize died after officers allegedly made him take diuretic pills for a test, fuelling violent protests in the capital, Tbilisi.

Despite the apparent decriminalisation, people still face a fine of 500 lari (£150) if they are found with THC – the active chemical in cannabis –in their urine. Subeliani said fewer forced urine tests had been carried out since the court ruling.

On New Year’s Eve 2016 police officers visited the offices of Georgia’s liberal party, the New Centre – Girchi, after its members potted 84 cannabis seeds as part of their campaign to decriminalise drugs and legalise weed. Officers confiscated the plants but party’s leader, Zurad Japaridze, and his colleagues are yet to be charged with a criminal offence.

Japaridze argues that smoking cannabis is not only a human right, it’s also an answer to his homeland’s financial woes – in the final quarter of 2016 the economy grew by just 2.3%. Using the US state of Colorado, which legalised cannabis in 2014, as a model Girchi claims legalisation could raise $1.6bn in GDP (10% of Georgia’s budget) and $63m through tourism and taxing growers.

“We have some other economic reforms but they will only bring change in four, five, 10 years. Marijuana reform is the only thing we can do now in 2017... I definitely imagine a number of weed cafes in Tbilisi,” said Japaridze.

The politician also holds up Portugal as an example of how legalising drugs can help improve public health. “Half the number of people there are now dying from heroin overdoses since the country decriminalised all drugs in 2001,” he said. “Diseases passed by intravenous drug users have also dropped dramatically. ”

Despite the court ruling Girchi still faces stiff opposition, not only from the ruling centre-left Georgian Dream coalition, which vehemently contests liberal ideas, but also the Orthodox church.

“This is an issue of principle, and we are obliged to realise its deplorable consequences,” said Irakli Garibashvili, who recently resigned as prime minister. “I am personally, completely, categorically against it.”

Though the moves to decriminalise cannabis have been welcomed by cannabis smokers, legalisation campaigners and liberal politicians, deep-rooted conservatism in the country means the “Amsterdam of the former Soviet Union” title may be further away than some hope.

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DEA 'Chief Propagandist' Says Agency Knows Pot is Safe, Keeps it Illegal for Profit

A former “chief propagandist” for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), now turned cannabis advocate, made startling comments at the recent Marijuana for Medical Professionals Conference in Denver, Colorado. There, Belita Nelson described what many of us suspected – the DEA is corrupt to the bone and full of lies.

“Marijuana is safe, we know it is safe. It’s our cash cow and we will never give up,” Nelson said to the audience of doctors and nurses, describing the modus operandi of the DEA.

Illegally Healed reports:

“Nelson represented the DEA in the international media from 1998 to 2004. She did regular appearances on the talk show circuit, including the Oprah Winfrey show and Nightline, espousing the dangers of cannabis. Today she advocates for its medical use, specifically in the treatment of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in professional football players through an organization she founded: The Gridiron Cannabis Foundation.”

It didn’t take long for Nelson to realize that cannabis has medical benefits. In 2000, she was watching her close friend suffer from late-stage cancer, losing more than 50% of his weight and no longer being able to eat or sleep.

Being aware of cannabis’ ability to treat these symptoms, Nelson procured some for her friend, who, along with a better diet, was able to live nine more years. Nelson even grew the cannabis herself, knowing that black market products were potentially unsafe.

In 2004, Nelson was investigating a heroin epidemic in Plano, Texas and discovered that some addicts were kicking their opioid addictions by turning to cannabis. At this point she could no longer continue pushing propaganda for the DEA when it was clear to her cannabis was a life-saving plant.

Nelson resigned in 2004, and went out with a bang.

“[When they hired me] they forgot to get me to sign a confidentiality agreement—and boy did I know the dirt. They called me in and said ‘name your price, $10,000 a month? $20,000? What do you want Belita?’”

She said she left the office screaming, “You know this is safe and you are keeping it from people who are sick! I am not taking your money and you better worry about what I am going to say!”

Sure enough, Nelson turned her passion into something positive. She moved to Colorado and began advocating for medical cannabis. In 2014, she focused her energy on using cannabis to help treat CTE, setting up a holistic clinic with former Denver Broncos player Rick Upchurch.

CTE, a degenerative brain disease caused by repeated head trauma, kills many former football players. The Gridiron Cannabis Foundation hopes to convince the NFL to allow players to use medical cannabis to counter the onset of CTE.

Regarding her time at the DEA, Nelson has a succinct way to describe the agency.

The DEA refused to reschedule cannabis from a Schedule 1 drug last year when it had the opportunity, somehow concluding that ‘more research is needed’ to show cannabis has medical benefits. The only explanation for maintaining the absurd classification for this miraculous healing plant is to protect Big Pharma, which knows cannabis is a threat to their profits.

As we reported recently, DEA continues to tell 25 lies on its website about the purported dangers of cannabis, even though they refuted these very lies in 2016. This willful deception is in violation a federal law called the Information Quality Act.

The DEA is the biggest obstacle standing in the way of freedom and health. It is abundantly clear that corruption and lies – not the interest of the American people – is what drives this agency to continue its tyranny.

Bron: thefreethoughtproject.com

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Philippines to suspend drug war to clean up 'corrupt' police - BBC News

Philippine police are suspending their controversial war on drugs until after the "corrupt" police force has been "cleansed".

Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa said on Monday that anti-drug units would be dissolved.

It comes after the murder of a South Korean businessman inside police headquarters. He had been kidnapped and killed by anti-drug police.

More than 7,000 people have been killed since the crackdown on drugs began.

The death toll and President Rodrigo Duterte's hardline stance against drugs have attracted intense criticism from human rights groups and Western countries, although the president continues to enjoy a high level of support among Filipinos.

Speaking on Monday, Mr Dela Rosa said Mr Duterte "told us to clean the organisation first".

"We will cleanse our ranks... then maybe after that, we can resume our war on drugs."

Mr Duterte has made tackling drug use in the Philippines a central part of his presidency.

He had initially promised to eradicate the problem by December, then extended the deadline to March this year.

But he told reporters at a press conference late on Sunday: "I will extend it to the last day of my term... March no longer applies." Mr Duterte's term ends in 2022.

He said he had underestimated the depth of the drug problem.

For eight months President Duterte has been unrepentant as the death toll from his drug war has risen. He has repeatedly promised to support, even pardon, any police officers accused of unlawful killing, and been unmoved even by the clear evidence of police involvement in the drug trade, and the murder of important drug suspects in police custody.

But the shocking murder of South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo last October has forced Mr Duterte to acknowledge that the Philippines National Police are too tainted to continue running the anti-drugs campaign.

Mr Duterte now accuses the police force of being "corrupt to the core". He has ordered all tainted officers to be sent to front-line duty in the conflict-wracked southern Philippines.

Even if this happens, though, it will not necessarily bring the drug killings to an end. More than 4,000 of the deaths are blamed on unidentified hit squads, although many of those are believed to be run by the police. And the president's promise to extend the anti-drug campaign to the end of his term of office suggests he may try to revive it once the fuss about the murdered South Korean dies down.

Senator Leila De Lima, Mr Duterte's most vocal critic, said the president and the police chief "should categorically give the order to end the killings".

She said the dismantling of the police anti-narcotics operation meant "they are aware that the very men involved in anti-drug operations... are involved in illegal activities under the guise of the so-called war on drugs," she told ANC television.

Mr Duterte also railed against the police force on Sunday and vowed to "cleanse" it, in response to the killing of Jee Ick-joo.

Jee Ick-joo was seized from his home in Angeles city, near Manila, under the pretence of a drug raid, the Department of Justice said. After strangling him, his killers pretended he was still alive in order to collect a ransom from his family.

"You policemen are the most corrupt. You are corrupt to the core. It's in your system," Mr Duterte said, adding that he thought up to 40% of policemen were used to corruption.

Mr Duterte had sanctioned extra-judicial killings previously, saying he would pardon policemen who kill criminals and civilians in the line of duty.

"When I said I'll protect the police, I'll protect the police. But I won't protect lying," he said.
Bron: www.bbc.com

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War On Drugs Causes Human Rights Violations In Worldwide Scale, Study Says : Science : iTech Post

A study suggests that the war on drugs causes major human rights violations and public health disturbance across the world. Researchers reveal that many people suffer in inhumane facilities and harsh treatments. They added that mass incarceration of drug users had devastating effects in the justice system. Meanwhile, the strict drug laws prevent the medicinal use of some drugs to relieve pain.

War on drugs is an American term which defines the government's efforts to prohibit illegal drugs using strict laws or military intervention. The term was popularized in 1971 after former US President Richard Nixon declared drug abuse as public enemy number one. The term has since been adopted in other countries which utilized tough drug enforcement laws.

BMJ released three researches explaining the devastating effects of war on drugs. UN special rapporteur on the right to health Dainius Puras, revealed that harsh drug laws undermine human health. He said some people were identified as drug users without due process which left them suffering in facilities with inhumane conditions. The drug war has overburdened the justice system, as a result, it failed to eliminate drug use and trafficking.

On the other hand, Katherine Pettus of the International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care argued that the harsh law of drugs has prevented the medicinal use of drug. Eighty percent of the population has limited or no access to drugs used as pain killers such as morphine. This leads to a "pandemic of untreated cancer pain," she said according to Science Daily.

Pettus said that some countries are trying to adapt using these types of pain medicine but the change is too slow. She added that the safe distribution of drugs for clinical needs has been distorted by the war on drugs. Lastly, Michel Kazatchkine, UN secretary general special envoy on HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, revealed that drug users deny evidence-based treatments due to strict drug enforcement laws.

Bron: www.itechpost.com

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Op maandag 30 januari 2017 13:11 schreef maily het volgende:
Telt Bergen op Zoom ook mee "worldwide" ?

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Massive Price Hike for Lifesaving Opioid Overdose Antidote

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First came Martin Shkreli, the brash young pharmaceutical entrepreneur who raised the price for an AIDS treatment by 5,000 percent. Then, Heather Bresch, the CEO of Mylan, who oversaw the price hike for its signature Epi-Pen to more than $600 for a twin-pack, though its active ingredient costs pennies by comparison.

Now a small Virginia company called Kaleo is joining their ranks. It makes an injector device that is suddenly in demand because of the nation’s epidemic use of opioids, a class of drugs that includes heavy painkillers and heroin.

Called Evzio, it is used to deliver naloxone, a life-saving antidote to overdoses of opioids. More than 33,000 people are believed to have died from such overdoses in 2015. And as demand for Kaleo’s product has grown, the privately held firm has raised its twin-pack price to $4,500, from $690 in 2014.

Founded by twin brothers Eric and Evan Edwards, 36, the company first sought to develop an Epi-Pen competitor, thanks to their own food allergies.

Now, they’ve taken that model and marketed it for a major public health crisis. It’s another auto-injector that delivers an inexpensive medicine.

One difference, though, is that Evzio talks users through the process as they inject naloxone. The company says the talking device is worth the price because it can guide anyone to jab an overdose victim correctly, leave the needle in for the right amount of time and potentially save his or her life.

According to Food and Drug Administration estimates, the Kaleo product, which won federal approval in 2014, accounted for nearly 20 percent of the naloxone dispensed through retail outlets between 2015 and 2016, and for nearly half of all naloxone products prescribed to patients between ages 40 and 64—the group that comprises the bulk of naloxone users.

And the cost of generic, injectable naloxone—which has been on the market since 1971—has been climbing. A 10-mililiter vial sold by one of the dominant vendors costs close to $150, more than double its price from even a few years ago, and far beyond the production costs of the naloxone chemical, researchers say. The other common injectable, which comes in a smaller but more potent dose, costs closer to $40, still about double its 2009 cost.

Still, experts say the device’s price surge is way out of step with production costs, and a needless drain on health-care resources.

“There’s absolutely nothing that warrants them charging what they’re charging,” said Leo Beletsky, an associate professor of law and health sciences at Northeastern University in Boston.

Kaleo, which is trying to blunt the pricing backlash and turn Evzio into the trusted brand, is dispensing its device for free—to cities, first responders and drug treatment programs. Such donations were also essential to the Epi-Pen’s business strategy.

The device has been invaluable to patients, said Eliza Wheeler of San Francisco’s Harm Reduction Coalition, a nonprofit that works to combat overdoses and has received donations of Evzio. But at $4,500 a package?

“I might have $10,000 to spend on naloxone for a year, to supply a whole city,” Wheeler said. “If I have 10 grand to spend, I certainly can’t buy two Evzios.”

Mark Herzog, Kaleo’s vice president of corporate affairs, said in an email that most earlier naloxone devices were “developed, designed and intended” for use in medically-supervised settings.

Prior kits contained a pre-filled syringe. The Evzio was the first to help laypeople dispense the drug. And competition is limited: One of the few consumer-friendly alternatives to Evzio is a nasal spray device for naloxone.

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Boswachter maakt zich kwaad om zoveelste drugsdumping | NOS

Boswachter Erik de Jonge kan het niet geloven. In het bos bij Bergen op Zoom is voor de vierde keer in een week tijd drugsafval gedumpt. De boze boswachter plaatste op Twitter een filmpje, waar hij langs een spoor met drugsafval rijdt:

twitter:

BoswachterEdJ twitterde op maandag 06-02-2017 om 09:59:55 Check dit even mensen! Bizar toch? En dit is maar de helft van dit spoor... #Drugscriminaliteit en #afvaldumping HO… https://t.co/yRhCP10AbZ reageer retweet

Naast het drugsafval worden er ook andere dingen gedumpt in het bos, zoals tapijten en huisafval. Omdat het Brabants Landschap eigenaar is van de grond, moeten ze het zelf opruimen.

Dat gebeurt ook, zegt boswachter Erik tegen Omroep Brabant, maar niet alles. "De organische materialen blijven liggen in de berm. Dat verstoort de bermflora, helaas, maar het is simpelweg te duur om bijvoorbeeld ook nog alle potgrond op te ruimen."

De Jonge kan het gedrag van de dumpers niet geloven. Er lag volgens hem wel drie kilometer aan afval aan de weg. "Mensen gooien hun onzin gewoon uit een rijdend busje of een vrachtwagen. Wat volgt zijn bizarre beelden van kilometerslange sporen aan afval. Wat mankeert zulke mensen toch?"

Bron: nos.nl

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Op maandag 6 februari 2017 16:16 schreef maily het volgende:

[..]

[..]


Los van de "legalize"-discussie; wat bezielt mensen om hun zooi uit de auto te gooien?
Dit zijn dezelfde kansloze lui die hun bankstellen in het bos dumpen

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100 Filipijnse agenten ontslagen om drugsgebruik | NOS

In de Filipijnen zijn sinds begin dit jaar bijna 100 politieagenten ontslagen vanwege drugsgebruik. Dat heeft de chef Interne Zaken van de politie bekendgemaakt.

De Filipijnse president Duterte heeft na zijn aanstelling vorige zomer een strijd tegen drugs ontketend, met meer dan 7700 doden tot gevolg. Ten minste 2500 mensen zijn bij politie-operaties omgekomen, van de rest loopt het onderzoek nog.

De politie leidde die oorlog, maar Duterte droeg die taak eind januari over aan het leger, omdat hij ervan overtuigd is dat de politie door en door corrupt is. Duterte werd ernstig in verlegenheid gebracht toen eind vorig jaar een Zuid-Koreaanse zakenman werd gedood door agenten.

Gisteren werd een neef van Duterte op heterdaad betrapt bij het verhandelen van drugs. Duterte zei dat hij zich schaamde voor zijn neefje en dat hij trots is op de drugseenheid van de Filipijnse politie, omdat ze geen gunst verleende aan iemand met goede contacten.

Eerdere deze week moesten 228 agenten bij Duterte persoonlijk op het matje komen, vanwege allerlei overtredingen. Op de nationale televisie werd uitgezonden hoe hij ze uitschold en hen dreigde naar een Filipijnse eiland te sturen om de strijd aan te gaan met militanten die erom bekendstaan hun gevangenen te onthoofden.

Bron: nos.nl

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'Drugslabs verplaatsen zich naar Zeeland' | NOS

Burgemeester Verhulst van Goes is bezorgd over de vondst afgelopen week van twee vrachtwagens in Zeeland met grondstoffen voor de productie van synthetische drugs.

In Rilland werden in een vrachtwagen grondstoffen voor de productie van 1 miljard xtc-pillen gevonden. Later vond de politie een vrachtauto in Kloetinge, ook met grondstoffen voor drugs.

"In Zeeland werd altijd voornamelijk cocaïne verhandeld. In Brabant zat de handel in synthetische drugs. Het lijkt erop dat dat nu aan het verschuiven is", aldus Verhulst.

Dat betekent volgens de burgemeester dat er laboratoria of fabriekjes in Zeeland moeten zijn om het spul te verwerken tot partydrugs. Hij zei bij Omroep Zeeland "dat je geen honderden kilometers gaat rijden met die grondstoffen".

De ontwikkeling baart Verhulst zorgen. "Het heeft zeker de aandacht. Ook in ons contact met politie en justitie. Ze hebben nu in ieder geval ook wat sporen ontdekt waarmee ze weer verder onderzoek kunnen doen."

"In eerste instantie gaat het natuurlijk om een gezamenlijke aanpak", stelt de burgemeester. "Samen met Brabant, samen met politie en justitie. Maar ook wij als gemeente kunnen op verschillende fronten waakzaam zijn. Denk aan onze buitengewone opsporingsambtenaren of medewerkers van de bouwafdeling. Ook zij kunnen extra opletten."

Bron: nos.nl

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Brabantse steden pleiten voor 'deltaplan' drugscriminaliteit | NOS

Er moet een 'deltaplan' komen tegen de georganiseerde drugscriminaliteit.

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Daarvoor pleiten de burgemeesters van vijf steden in Noord-Brabant en de commissaris van de koning (CvdK). Volgens hen vermengt de onderwereld zich steeds meer met de bovenwereld en is het tijd voor rigoureuze maatregelen vanuit politiek Den Haag, waar de urgentie van het probleem onvoldoende erkend zou worden. Drugscriminaliteit is volgens de initiatiefnemers "een sluipmoordenaar van onze democratie".

De burgemeesters van Eindhoven, Breda, Helmond, Den Bosch en Tilburg en de Brabantse CvdK waarschuwen in een brandbrief dat de rechtsstaat wordt aangetast door de drugscriminaliteit. Ook voelen "professionals bij politie, Belastingdienst, OM en gemeente zich onvoldoende toegerust" om de problemen snel aan te pakken. De aanpak van ondermijning van drugscriminaliteit, zoals ze het verwoorden, moet in een nieuw regeerakkoord "echte urgentie" krijgen.

In hun brandbrief komen de burgemeesters en de CvdK tot meerdere voorstellen. De wetgeving moet bijvoorbeeld worden aangepast zodat rechtszaken tegen drugscriminelen niet onnodig lang worden gerekt en privacy minder zwaarwegend wordt.

Ook moet crimineel verkregen vermogen direct ingenomen kunnen worden, zodat het niet naar het buitenland verdwijnt. Geld dat in beslag genomen wordt, moet voor het grootste deel gestoken worden in de bestrijding van drugscriminelen.

Verder willen ze dat het voorarrest van verdachten gemakkelijker kan worden verlengd. Ook moet er een 'strijdkas' komen met daarin zo'n 150 miljoen euro per jaar, bedoeld voor de landelijke aanpak van drugscriminaliteit. Daarbij moeten, net als al in Brabant gebeurt, overheidsinstanties als gemeenten, politie, justitie en Belastingdienst nauwer samenwerken.

Burgemeester Ton Rombouts (CDA) van Den Bosch waarschuwt voor de gevolgen als er geen maatregelen volgen: "Als er nu niks gebeurt, leven we over tien jaar in een samenleving waarbij burgers permanent worden bedreigd en gemeenteraden geïnfiltreerd." Hij wijst onder meer op het gemeentehuis in Waalre, dat in 2012 in vlammen opging door brandstichting "omdat mensen de rechtsstaat niet accepteren".

Rombouts zegt dat er duizenden of zelfs tienduizenden agenten bij moeten komen de komende tien jaar. Ook moeten ze beter worden opgeleid. Zelf is hij al sinds 1996 burgemeester van Den Bosch: "Ik ben trots op wat we hebben bereikt qua veiligheidscijfers, maar dan praten we over winkel- en autodiefstal, over woninginbraken. Bekende criminaliteit die we kunnen zien, maar er is een sluipend fenomeen bij gekomen, de ondergrondse criminaliteit, cybercriminaliteit. Die vormen vragen om een andere politie, meer politie."

Volgens de burgemeesters worden hele woonwijken beïnvloed door de criminaliteit. "Als je aan het begin van je carrière staat, dan moet je wel verdomd sterk in je schoenen staan om de verleiding te weerstaan", zegt CvdK Wim van de Donk in de Volkskrant.

De burgemeesters noemen voorbeelden van hoe de bovenwereld signalen kan oppakken. Burgemeester Depla van Breda sprak met bouwmarkten, die hem vertelden dat midden in de winter veel isolatiemateriaal voor buitenzwembaden wordt verkocht, bedoeld voor de hennepteelt.

Burgemeester Elly Blanksma van Helmond noemt een ander voorbeeld: "Als bij mij in de straat tien kapperszaken komen en er zit nooit iemand in de stoel, dan kun je op je klompen aanvoelen dat het witwasfabrieken zijn."

Burgemeester John Jorritsma van Eindhoven mist met zijn collega's urgentie bij politiek Den Haag voor de problematiek. "Een beetje chargerend: we lopen in Nederland het risico om de komende honderd jaar één of twee keer natte voeten te krijgen. Moet je kijken hoeveel miljard we daarin pompen. Hier staan we elke dag tot onze knieën in het water en houdt het Rijk de hand op de knip."

Bron: nos.nl

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'Geen bewijs dat justitie drugstransporten doorliet' | NOS

Er is geen bewijs dat justitie drugstransporten bewust heeft doorgelaten. Volgens de rechter-commissaris is er geen steun voor de bewering van een voormalige informant van de politie dat containers met drugs expres niet werden gecontroleerd.

De informant uitte de beschuldigingen aan het adres van justitie in het proces tegen de van corruptie verdachte douanier Gerrit G. en enkele medeverdachten. Ook in dit onderzoek zijn volgens ‘Paul’ containers met drugs doorgelaten.

Volgens de advocaten van de verdachten heeft het Openbaar Ministerie daarmee de regels overtreden. Na de IRT-affaire in de jaren 90 is er immers een verbod gekomen op het doorlaten van drugs. De advocaten lijken aan te sturen op de niet-ontvankelijkheid van het OM in de corruptiezaak.

‘Paul’ is echter volgens de politie onbetrouwbaar. Hij was al eerder informant geweest, maar destijds door de inlichtingendienst (TCI) van de politie uitgeschreven. In juni van het vorig jaar meldde hij zich onder valse naam opnieuw bij de politie. Ondanks de ervaringen in het verleden werd besloten om opnieuw zaken met hem te doen omdat hij mogelijk belangrijke informatie in een lopend onderzoek kon geven.

Maar de informatie die ‘Paul’ gaf kwam grotendeels uit de krant en van internet, concludeerde de TCI. ‘Paul’ beloofde telkens aanvullende informatie over nummers van containers met drugs te geven maar kwam deze belofte niet na. Daarop heeft de TCI begin december ‘Paul’ geschrapt als informant en hem op de zwarte lijst geplaatst.

De politie stelt ook dat ‘Paul’ niet is ‘gestuurd’ bij het stiekem opnemen van gesprekken met de van corruptie verdachte douanier Gerrit G. Wel leverde de TCI de apparatuur waarmee ‘Paul’ de gesprekken opnam.

Tijdens de in het najaar opgenomen gesprekken gaf G., die in afwachting van zijn proces op vrije voeten was, allerlei tips voor het smokkelen van drugs. Nadat de gesprekken waren uitgelekt, werd G. opnieuw aangehouden.

Bron: nos.nl

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Nederlandse oplossing voor een Nederlands probleem

Een enkel woord maakt een wereld van verschil. Bleek gereguleerde wietteelt kansloos, gedoogde wietteelt is nu nabij.

Het land van de gedoogconstructie heeft er straks een nieuwe bij: het gedogen van wietteelt. Deze dinsdagavond tekent zich in het afsluitende debat waarschijnlijk een nipte Kamermeerderheid af voor een wetsvoorstel dat dit regelt. Als niemand de trein mist, is die nipte meerderheid er volgende week ook bij de stemming. En daarmee is een wet die ‘de achterdeur’ van de Nederlandse coffeeshop regelt dichterbij dan ooit.

Niet zo lang geleden leek zo’n wet nog vrijwel kansloos. In april 2015 nog nam de Tweede Kamer een motie van Peter Oskam (CDA) aan die het kabinet opriep „geen enkele ruimte” te bieden aan gemeenten die willen experimenteren met gereguleerde wietteelt. De Raad van State kraakte kort daarop een wetsvoorstel van D66 af om wietteelt te reguleren. En de kansen leken helemáál verkeken toen het enige Tweede Kamerlid dat zich hier nog sterk voor wilde maken, Magda Berndsen (D66), in september 2015 liet weten de politiek te verlaten.

„Daarna bleef het inderdaad even stil”, zegt Sidney Smeets. Hij is jurist bij Spong Advocaten. Dit kantoor verdedigt veel verdachten van wietteelt en voelt de ‘achterdeurproblematiek’ dagelijks. Samen met D66 probeert het al jaren een juridische oplossing te vinden.

Volgens Smeets kwam D66-Kamerlid Vera Bergkamp in september vorig jaar zelf met het wetsvoorstel dat nu kans van slagen heeft. Een gesloten coffeeshopketen waarin de wietteelt wordt gedóógd en niet – zoals bedacht in het kansloze wetsvoorstel – is gereguleerd. „Gereguleerd-gedoogd”, verduidelijkt Smeets.

Gedoogbeschikking

En nee, zegt hij, dat is niet alleen een semantisch verschil. Bij regulering zou de gemeente een vergunning moeten verlenen waarin staat dat de wietteler ontheven is van de Opiumwet en dus niet strafbaar is. Bij gedogen blijft de teler strafbaar, maar ontloopt hij vervolging als hij aan de voorwaarden van de gedoogbeschikking voldoet. „Het is dezelfde gedoogconstructie die al geldt aan de voordeur, dus daar kunnen partijen moeilijk op tegen zijn. Tenzij ze óók tegen gedogen van coffeeshops zijn.”

Ook andere ‘krachten’ hebben ervoor gezorgd dat zich nu een Kamermeerderheid aftekent voor ‘gereguleerd gedogen’. Burgemeesters spraken zich in juni 2016 op een congres van de Vereniging van Nederlandse Gemeenten massaal uit vóór experimenten met wietteelt. Intussen verruimden andere landen de cannabiswetgeving en schreven wetenschappers dat een vorm van wietteeltregulering volgens internationale verdragen misschien best mogelijk was – voorheen een belangrijk argument van tegenstanders.

Zeker ook in het voordeel van Bergkamp was dat ze het wetsvoorstel indiende met de Tweede Kamerverkiezingen in zicht. De PvdA begon al meer ruimte te nemen om zichzelf te profileren, terwijl het in de begindagen van dit kabinet – met minister Opstelten (Veiligheid en Justitie, VVD) als fel tegenstander van ruimer gedoogbeleid – voor de PvdA veel moeilijker zou zijn geweest hierin mee te gaan.

Belangrijk voor de meerderheid is de stem van Kamerleden Louis Bontes en Joram van Klaveren. Steunden de oud-PVV’ers de motie van Oskam (tegen experimenten met gereguleerde wietteelt) nog, een week later liet hun nieuwe partij Voor Nederland, onder leiding van ex-advocaat Bram Moszkowicz, weten wél voor legalisering te zijn.

Dit nieuwe standpunt kwam van hem, zegt Moszkowicz, „en daar was men het wel mee eens”. Na veel discussie? „De partij liet zich kenmerken door weinig principiële beslissingen.”

Van Klaveren ziet dat anders: „Toen ging de discussie vooral over experimenten met gemeentewiet en dáár zijn we altijd tegen geweest. Het huidige wetsvoorstel gaat over gedogen van wietteelt. Dat is heel iets anders.”

Over hoe dit gedogen er in de praktijk zal uitzien, is nog niet alles duidelijk. Het idee, aldus de toelichting op het wetsvoorstel: een burgemeester kan een coffeeshopondernemer een besluit verstrekken waarin staat dat alle noodzakelijke handelingen voor exploitatie van een coffeeshop zijn gedoogd – dus ook de teelt. Daarvoor moet de ondernemer aan voorschriften voldoen, zoals wiet en hasj uitsluitend inkopen bij eveneens officieel gedoogde bedrijfstelers, wier oogst onder controle van de Nederlandse Voedsel- en Warenautoriteit staat. De softdrugs worden uitsluitend verkocht in tevoren afgesloten verpakkingen. Daarop staat het percentage van de werkzame stoffen THC en CBD, en worden de gezondheidsrisico’s vermeld, zoals op sigarettenpakjes. De maximale handelsvoorraad van 500 gram wordt losgelaten; de burgemeester bepaalt per coffeeshop hoeveel die in voorraad mag hebben.

Zuidelijke VVD’ers

In de Eerste Kamer hebben de voorstanders van de wet nog geen meerderheid. Daar hoopt Bergkamp op de steun van de VVD, die de afgelopen jaren al flink is opgeschoven, vooral aangejaagd door zuidelijke VVD’ers en jongerenorganisatie JOVD.

Zo stond er in het concept-verkiezingsprogramma van de VVD niets over aanpassing van het beleid rond wietteelt. Maar op het partijcongres in november werd een motie aangenomen om het programma aan te passen. Nu staat erin dat de VVD een einde wil maken aan de „vreemde situatie” dat de verkoop van cannabis wél wordt gedoogd, en de inkoop niet. Dat, zegt de VVD, moeten we „slimmer reguleren”.

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Brazil Supreme Court Judge Calls for Marijuana Legalization

Now, South America’s largest country is beginning to take a new look at drug policy.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Roberto Barroso is a Yale graduate and constitutional law professor. He went on record last week saying that Brazil’s 50-year drug war has failed miserably. The judge added that the failure has constituted a clogged jail system that’s filled with small time dealers.

In an interview with Reuters, Justice Barroso commented that “unlike the United States and Europe where the problem lies in the impact drugs have on consumers, in Brazil, the problem lies in the power drug traffickers have over poor communities.”

The justice went on to add that it is only a matter of time before marijuana is legalized. He said they can do it now or in the future after Brazil has spent billions of dollars and incarcerated thousands of people. It should be noted that Brazil is a deeply conservative country and a decree of this nature from anyone in the justice system, let alone their Supreme Court, is quite rare.

Barroso believes that regulating the production, sale, and consumption of cannabis could be the first step in taking money and power away from the violent gangs. He cited Brazil’s neighbor Uruguay as a perfect example.

The justice then went further to add that if legalizing marijuana works for Brazil, the next step would be to legalize cocaine, a much larger problem in the South American country.

Barroso is one of three judges who voted in favor of the initiative. The challenge is that he is on a panel with 10 other judges; Barroso hopes to eventually pave the way for legalization.

According to Brazilian Justice Ministry data, currently, one in four male inmates have been convicted for drug trafficking of some kind. Barroso concluded poignantly saying “I’m not sure if my proposal for legalization will work, but I’m sure that the war on drugs has not.”

South America is a part of the world where drugs and violent organized crime have taken center stage for the last several decades. It’s refreshing to see so many countries taking control of the problem with a different approach. The famous saying rings true, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.”

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Venezuelan VP claims show there's no separation of drugs and state

Tareck El Aissami joins long list of politicians and public figures subjected to US sanctions over links to the drug trade

The allegations against Venezuela’s vice-president could not have been more serious. Announcing sanctions against Tareck El Aissami this week, the US Treasury Department described him as a “prominent drug trafficker” who had overseen and even partially owned narcotics shipments from Venezuela to the US.

As governor of Aragua state and minister of the interior, he allegedly oversaw or partially owned drug shipments of more than one tonne from Venezuela, and dealt directly with Mexico’s Zetas cartel and Colombian narco-boss Daniel El Loco Barrera. In January he was promoted to vice-president.

But as bad as that sounds, El Aissami is only the latest – if the most highly placed – in a long list of Venezuelan officials or people close to power who have been tied to drug trafficking.

In August last year, US federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment against retired generals Néstor Reverol and Edilberto José Molina of receiving bribes in exchange for notifying traffickers of upcoming police operations.

According to the indictment, they did so while they respectively held the positions of director and deputy director of Venezuela’s national counter-narcotics office between 2008 and 2010. Shortly after the indictment was announced, Venezuela’s presindent, Nicolás Maduro, appointed Reverol as minister of the interior.

In 2008, the US treasury sanctioned Hugo Armando Carvajal, a retired military officer and former head of military intelligence, who in 2012 served as president of the National Office Against Organised Crime. He was then named consul in Aruba.

Carvajal was accused along with Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, former interior minister under the late president Hugo Chávez, and Henry Rangel Silva, former defence minister and head of operations of the armed forces.

And in November, two nephews of Maduro’s wife were convicted of conspiring to import nearly a tonne of cocaine into the US after they were arrested in Haiti and extradited to the US.

President Maduro, who succeeded Venezuela’sfirebrand leader Hugo Chávez after he died from cancer in 2013, rejected the sanctions “as part of a systematic attack by the international right against the Bolivarian Revolution”.

He said that since 2005, when the office of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was pushed out of Venezuela, “the state increased its efficiency in the fight against drug trafficking by 60%”.

However, according to the US State Department, a quarter of the cocaine produced in Colombia travels through Venezuela: about 110 tonnes per year, which places it in one of the 22 countries with the highest traffic of drugs in the world.

During El Aissami’s time as minister of the interior and justice, Venezuelan organised crime has grown rapidly, said Jeremy McDermott, director of InSight Crime, a thinktank that studies organised crime in Latin America.

“There is no more money to rob from state coffers, so the wheels of corruption may need to turn to other sources of income, like drug trafficking,” he said.

Alejandro Rebolledo, a Venezuelan criminal lawyer specialising in organised crime, said: “In Venezuela there are a lot of laws but there is no political will to enforce them.”

Rebolledo added that prosecutors lack autonomy to pursue in-depth investigation when drug traffickers are arrested. “There is a voluntary blindness [towards] organised crime,” he said.

Luis Cedeño, sociologist and executive director of Paz Activa, a group that runs an organised crime observatory, said Venezuela has already gone beyond a narco-state. “It’s a mafia state where everything is handled like the Cosa Nostra,” he said, noting that other criminal economies have become entrenched, such as gasoline smuggling and contraband in basic goods.

Shortages of food and medicines, as well as inflation and a shrinking economy had led Venezuela’s opposition coalition, known as MUD, to press for a recall referendum to force Maduro from office.

Had the vote been held by the first weeks of this year, it would have meant calling new elections. But the actions of the US Treasury this week mean that the opposition now has much less reason to push for a referendum: since the deadline passed, a successful recall of Maduro would see El Aissami take over as Venezuela’s president.

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To Protect Marijuana from Monsanto Patenting, Company Begins Mapping Cannabis Genome

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A pioneering biotechnology startup has launched an online interactive guide that maps the genetic evolution of the cannabis genome, allowing for specific strains of marijuana that are already in the public domain a form of protection from patenting by large biotech firms such as Monsanto.

After two years of collecting samples, sequencing the plant’s DNA and developing the software to allow for a 3-D visualization of the collected data, the company was ready to unveil their long-awaited project.

“Sample collection was a huge part of this process,” Carolyn White, Sales and Marketing Manager at Phylos Bioscience told Willamette Week. “One side was a collaboration with growers, dispensaries and labs to collect modern samples, and the other a process of hunting down ancient landrace strains from all over the world.”

The Portland company, fittingly on 4/20, went online with its interactive guide, which the company calls Galaxy.

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The data could theoretically help protect the intellectual property rights of growers from potential big business interests, such as Monsanto, from gaining a patent foothold in the growing industry.

Due to the social media attention given to the subject, Monsanto has attempted to refute any interest in producing GMO cannabis, posting on their website that the companies reported interest in GMO marijuana is nothing more than “an Internet rumor.”

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Legalizing all drugs would be good for Canada, according to Toronto Liberal MP

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A Toronto-area MP is advocating the decriminalization and eventual legalization of all drugs, saying it should be a public health issue, not a criminal matter.

Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Liberal MP for Beaches-East York, said he believes in the health minister's view that "we should treat drug use and abuse as a health issue and not as a crime."

He added that if we follow the idea of a public health approach — the only logical conclusion is to regulate all drugs.

"There is evidence around the world that the war on drugs is an abject failure," Erskine-Smith told Matt Galloway on CBC's Metro Morning. The criminal prohibition and law enforcement approach empowers criminal organizations and doesn't actually do anything to dissuade addicts and users, he added.

Erskine-Smith says the criminal element of the war on drugs "stigmatizes the user and they're less likely to seek help."

Portugal as an example

In 2001, Portugal decriminalized small possession and use of all drugs. Erskine-Smith says the change led to a decrease in teen drug use, drug overdoses and deaths, and criminal penalties dropped by 60 per cent.

A 2014 policy paper by the Centre for Addition and Mental Health confirms Portugal has seen a decline in substance misuse, drug-related harm and a reduction in illicit drug use by adolescents — but it isn't known if trends are the direct result of decriminalization.

"MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith's argument with the prohibition of narcotics and his advocacy for a change in policy to one of harm reduction theory does not accurately recognize that the policy that has failed Canadians over the past 10 years," Pamela McColl of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) argues.

"It is possible to discuss a move to changes in the penalties without moving to full-scale commercialization, or legalization," she said. "But as with Portugal do not expect to see rates of use decline without massive public education."

Erskine-Smith isn't alone in advocating for decriminalization of all drugs. The Global Commission on Drug Policy — a global group, which includes Kofi Anan, Richard Branson, Louise Arbour and several former world leaders, has long promoted decriminalizing drugs and in 2014 it recommended governments legalize all drugs.

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Protest in Filipijnen tegen drugsbeleid Duterte | NOS

Duizenden katholieken zijn in de Filipijnse hoofdstad Manilla de straat op gegaan om te protesteren tegen het anti-drugsbeleid van president Duterte. Volgens de organisatoren van de protesttocht waren er 50.000 mensen aanwezig. De politie houdt het op 10.000 demonstranten.

Sinds president Duterte aan de macht is in de Filipijnen treedt de politie hard op tegen mensen die ervan worden beschuldigd drugsdealers- en gebruikers te zijn. Daarbij zijn meer dan 7700 mensen om het leven gekomen. Zeker 2500 mensen zijn bij politie-operaties gedood, van de rest loopt het onderzoek nog.

Duterte zelf herhaalde dit weekend dat de campagne wat hem betreft een groot succes is. Maar volgens aartsbisschop Socrates Villegas is het geweld dat wordt gebruikt niet de oplossing. "Het is verkeerd de mensen die moorden om te brengen. Het aantal moordenaars wordt daar alleen maar mee vergroot," aldus de aartsbisschop.

De Rooms-Katholieke Kerk heeft veel invloed in de Filipijnen. Een overgrote meerderheid van de bevolking is rooms-katholiek. Duterte heeft zich daar in het verleden weinig van aangetrokken. Zo noemde hij de kerk ooit "de meest hypocriete instelling".

Bron: nos.nl