De War on Drugs in Mexico #4 - Hoe lossen we de oorlog op?

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Op dinsdag 21 februari 2012 00:23 schreef Elvislives het volgende:
Die gasten hebben ook echt geen geweten he...

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Mexican scientists successfully test vaccine that could cut heroin addiction

Vaccine makes the body resistant to the pleasure effect of the drug and is now being prepared for tests on humans

A group of Mexican scientists is working on a vaccine that could reduce addiction to one of the world's most notorious narcotics: heroin.

Researchers at the country's National Institute of Psychiatry say they have successfully tested the vaccine on mice and are preparing to test it on humans.

The vaccine, which has been patented in the US, makes the body resistant to the effects of heroin, so users would no longer get a rush of pleasure when they smoked or injected it.

"It would be a vaccine for people who are serious addicts, who have not had success with other treatments and decide to use this application to get away from drugs," the institute's director Maria Elena Medina said on Thursday.

Scientists worldwide have been searching for drug addiction vaccines for several years, but none have yet been fully developed. A group at the US National Institute on Drug Abuse has reported significant progress in a vaccine for cocaine.

However, the Mexican scientists appear to be close to making a breakthrough on a heroin vaccine and have received funds from the US institute as well as the Mexican government.

During the tests, mice were given access to deposits of heroin over an extended period of time. Those given the vaccine showed a huge drop in heroin consumption, giving the institute hope that it could also work on people, Medina said.

Kim Janda, a scientist working on his own narcotics vaccines at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, said that the Mexican vaccine could function but with some shortcomings.

"It could be reasonably effective, but maybe too general and affect too many different types of opioids as well as heroin," Janda said.

Mexico has a growing drug addiction problem. Health secretary Jose Cordoba recently said the country now has about 450,000 hard drug addicts, particularly along the trafficking corridors of the US-Mexico border.

Mexican gangsters grow opium poppies in the Sierra Madre mountains and convert them into heroin known as Black Tar and Mexican Mud, which are smuggled over the Rio Grande.

Every year, the heroin trade provides billions of dollars to gangs such as the Sinaloa Cartel and the Zetas. Since 2006, cartel violence has claimed the lives of over 47,000 people in Mexico.

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Wietplantage moet dorp redden

Het Catalaanse dorp Rasquera (934 inwoners) heeft een opmerkelijk plan om de crisis te bestrijden. Een cannabisclub uit Barcelona mag er zeven hectare grond gaan pachten voor een eigen wietplantage. De gemeente wil hiermee haar schuldenlast van 1,3 miljoen euro terugdringen.

De handel in marihuana is illegaal in Spanje. Evenals het verbouwen van meer dan vijf planten. Wiet-activisten hebben echter al jaren een maas in de wet ontdekt. Zij omzeilen het verbod door zich als medicinale gebruikers in stichting te organiseren. Ze verbouwen samen wiet en roken dit in besloten verband. De autoriteiten staan dit doorgaans oogluikend toe.

Rasquera, dat bestuurd wordt door de ultralinkse, regionationalistische partij ERC, stemde gisteravond in met het plan. Volgens de burgemeester zijn er geen juridische obstakels. Hij legde ook uit dat de cannabisclub niet alleen wiet komt verbouwen om op te roken, maar ook om zaadjes te produceren die weer verkocht kunnen worden aan ‘growshops’. Volgens hem is er reeds interesse uit binnen- én buitenland voor deze ‘crisisaanpak’.

De Catalaanse krant La Vanguardia ging kijken in het dorp en maakte dit filmpje. Veel van de (bejaarde) inwoners toonden zich enthousiast (,,We moeten ergens van leven”). Een vrouw is echter bezorgd (,,Dit maakt onze kleinkinderen tot junks”).

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Nederlander in Spanje veroordeeld voor hasjsmokkel

Laatste update: 2 maart 2012 06:50 infoBekijk op de kaart.

AMSTERDAM - Een Nederlander is maandag op het Spaanse eiland Ibiza veroordeeld tot 3,5 jaar cel en vier miljoen euro boete voor de smokkel van twee ton hasj.

Foto: ANP2

Dat melden Spaanse media.

De man werd op 15 januari op een tien meter lange boot voor de kust van Almeria in Zuid-Spanje aangehouden. De drugs die de douane en de politie op de boot vonden waren bestemd voor Ibiza. De bijna tweeduizend kilo hasj zat verpakt in 66 pakketten

Op het schip was ook een Belg aanwezig. Hij is tot dezelfde straf veroordeeld.

In Spanje zitten volgens het ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken 209 Nederlanders vast voor een drugsdelict

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Op vrijdag 2 maart 2012 08:25 schreef Basp1 het volgende:

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Maar 3.5 jaar voor 2 ton hash.

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Op vrijdag 2 maart 2012 08:33 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

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Ja, het buitenland mag ons wel eens gaan helpen met onze War on Drugs!!!!

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Op vrijdag 2 maart 2012 08:36 schreef Basp1 het volgende:

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Gelukkig kwam deze hash niet naar nederland want daar komt nu niets meer naar toe omdat onze politici het verboden hebben.

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Commission on Narcotic Drugs opens in Vienna with call for stronger networks to confront illicit drugs

12 March 2012 ­- Stronger regional networks are vital in confronting the threat of illicit drugs, said Yury Fedotov, UNODC Executive Director, at the opening of the fifty-fifth session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, which is meeting in Vienna from 12 to 16 March. "We face a transnational threat of extraordinary proportions that amounts to $320 billion or some 0.5 per cent of global GDP", he stressed.

Ministers and counter-narcotics officials from the 53 member States of the Commission will consider issues of concern, including the availability of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances for medical and scientific purposes and prevention of the diversion of chemicals for use in the manufacture of illicit drugs. The Commission is the central policymaking body within the United Nations system dealing with illicit drugs.

President Evo Morales of the Plurinational State of Bolivia explained that his Government was vigorously combating cocaine trafficking and had destroyed tons of that drug. He said his country needed more international assistance to combat the scourge, particularly in the form of equipment and technology. However, Bolivia had decided to withdraw from the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 to "correct a historical error" concerning the indigenous uses of the coca leaf. Bolivia would reaccede to the Convention if it could make a reservation allowing the traditional consumption of coca leaf to continue, he said.

The Executive Director urged States to intensify health strategies as part of a comprehensive response to drug demand, supply and trafficking. "At present, the balance between our work on the supply and demand sides stays firmly in favour of the supply side. We must restore the balance. Prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, reintegration and health have to be recognized as key elements in our strategy", he said. "Overall, our work on the treatment side must be considered as part of the normal clinical work undertaken when responding to any other disease in the health system."

Given that 2012 marks the centenary of the signing of the International Opium Convention in 1912, the first legal instrument on drug control, the Executive Director said that it was important to recognize the gains made over the past hundred years, but that more needed to be done. He stressed the importance of human rights: "Our commitment is founded on the drug conventions. They form part of a continuum based on human rights and the rule of law that flows directly from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international standards and norms to our delivery of practical actions."

Mr. Fedotov highlighted the regional initiatives being spearheaded by UNODC in the context of shared responsibility among drug-consuming and drug-producing nations to combat the security threats posed by drug flows. UNODC recently launched a regional programme for Afghanistan and neighbouring countries to help to create a broad international coalition to combat opium poppy cultivation and opiate trafficking and production. Networks such as the triangular initiative between Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan and the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Centre are being strengthened. The Office will soon launch a new regional programme for South-Eastern Europe that will focus on the "Balkan route" used for heroin trafficking.

Mr Fedotov also emphasized the importance of enhanced support for Central America: "Countries in Central America, especially in the "Northern Triangle", face dramatic challenges. States have called for a strong UNODC presence in the region. This is why we have created a regional hub for Central America and the Caribbean in Panama to be linked with a re-profiled office in Mexico and other countries in the region."

Important as those initiatives are, tackling supply only was not the solution, according to the Executive Director. "Let me be clear: there can be no reduction in drug supply without a reduction in drug demand, " he said.

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Angel Raich, Cancer Patient, Kicked Out Of Hospital For Using Medical Marijuana

Angel Raich is busy dying. The famous marijuana activist -- who took the federal government to the Supreme Court of the United States for the right to use medical cannabis -- was, earlier this year diagnosed with an inoperable terminal brain tumor, a condition that causes frequent seizures as well as constant pain and headaches.

Told by her doctors at the University of California-San Francisco that she should prepare to die, that's what Raich, 46, is doing, one day at a time -- with purpose as well as dignity.

Except for Monday night, when she was summarily removed from the hospital at UCSF's Parnassus campus for using marijuana, according to NBC Bay Area -- which showed up for an interview that was cut short when Raich had a seizure and had to be rushed to a (different) hospital.

Now might be a good time to mention UCSF also happens to be one of the nation's teaching hospitals that researches marijuana's efficacy in treating cancer and pain.

Raich has lived with her brain tumor for some time, but earlier this year she was diagnosed with radiation necrosis, a complication from radiotherapy.

Details are scant, but it appears Raich was at UCSF for tests and was using marijuana via a vaporizer at the Parnassus campus when someone -- a doctor or a pharmacist -- took offense, and told Raich that they'd "call the Feds" unless she stopped using marijuana.

"The pharmacist said, you can't use cannabis in this hospital," Raich told the television station. "That's a death sentence."

Berkeley-based Dr. Frank Lucido, Raich's primary care physician, says that Raich needs to use marijuana every two waking hours, and denying her the drug amounts to "malpractice," according to a statement on Raich's website. "Angel will suffer imminent harm without access to cannabis."

Television viewers saw exactly what Lucido is talking about, as Raich suffered a seizure during her brief interview with NBC. Raich was then taken to St. Mary's Hospital on Stanyan Street, according to NBC.

In a statement, UCSF said that their hospital is "a smoke-free campus and this includes medical marijuana."

"Any particles from vapor and odor could have an impact on other patients and hospital employees," the statement read. "Under federal and state law, a physician is at legal risk related to any activity that could be construed as prescribing medical marijuana to a patient."

Raich gained national fame as the medical marijuana patient who took the federal government to the United States Supreme Court for the right to use medical marijuana. Her husband at the time, Oakland-based attorney Robert Raich, was one of the attorneys who argued that state law should supplant federal law, and that seriously ill Californians such as Raich have rights under the Constitution to use marijuana for medical purposes.

The Rehnquist Court disagreed, with the majority saying that the Commerce Clause gives Congress the right to ban marijuana for medical use, state law be damned. Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Clarence Thomas joined Rehnquist, who died later that year, in supporting Raich.

Raich sued the government after DEA agents raided in 2002 a Butte County residence that housed six pot plants that provided Raich with her medicine.

It's worth mentioning that Raich is currently involved in yet another Supreme Court case, though not one you might expect. Raich filed an amicus brief in support of the lawsuit filed by the state of Florida which seeks to overturn Obamacare. Oral arguments in that case, Florida v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, are scheduled to begin later this month.

Details on Raich's current condition, and exactly what happened at UCSF were not available as of Tuesday. We'll update this post as soon as we know more.

Take a look at a video report of Raich's situation below, courtesy of NBC Bay Area:

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Drug use: 20 things you might not know - animation

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Would you take a mystery white powder without knowing what it was? Would you drive after taking drugs? And if you got stopped by police carrying drugs in the US, would they be discovered? This animation explains some of the key findings from the UK and the US of the Guardian/Mixmag Global Drug Survey of over 15,000 people. Where do you fit in?

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Which drug do you take? US and the UK compared by the global drug survey

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'Hidden' drug users who won't be found burgling your home to fund their habit

These detailed new insights reveal that despite media hype around illicit substances, alcohol is the bigger problem

You probably know one or two of Britain's "hidden" drug users, and may even be one yourself. They are often young, highly educated, working, sociable and sporty. They feel healthy, happy in their relationships, and confident about the future. They take cannabis, cocaine, MDMA (ecstasy) and, lest we forget, a fair amount of tobacco and alcohol.

They are, by and large, the drug users you rarely hear or read about, at least not in the social affairs pages. You won't find them in a crack den or breaking into your home to fund their habit. Their use of illegal drugs is a lifestyle choice: it doesn't define or consume them like some heroin and crack addicts. They don't register as an alert on the public health radar, or as a headline on the law and order agenda.

It is easy to imagine many of them as smart, respectable, economically productive, holding down jobs in – or preparing to enter – the professions, business, banking, public service, the law, even politics. It's easy to think of these "happy" drug takers as unproblematic: as rational, self-regulating, middle-class "consumers", who are relatively discreet and (on the whole) discriminating in their drug use, and who tend to tidy up after themselves.

This view, the Guardian/Mixmag survey reveals, is implicitly shared by the police. The status, and perhaps age and skin colour, of our "hidden" drug users means they are not a target – unlike, say black, inner-city youth. They do get stopped and searched, sometimes busted for possession. But the survey suggests the law is pragmatically uninterested, on the whole, in criminalising their misdemeanours.

It also confirms truths that often get lost in the hysterical media discourse around drugs and public health: that taking drugs is, for many ordinary people, as normal and pleasurable a part of their lives as drinking or smoking.

They balance their desire for drug experiences with the demands of work, study and relationships. They see drug use as a choice, with desirable consequences, as well as risks.

This year's survey, conducted by Global Drug Survey, is the biggest of current UK drug use ever carried out, completed by 7,700 UK drug users and 15,500 worldwide, including 3,300 in the US. Its crowd-sourced snapshot of the real-life experiences of a large group of users, male and female, gay and straight, clubbers and non-clubbers, is unique in the scale and detail of its insight into current drug trends, attitudes, practices, risks and harms.

There are detailed, fresh and important insights into drug use and consequences: the unexpectedly high prevalence among drug users of legally prescribed medication – Ritalin, sleeping pills and so on – acquired through the "grey market" of friends and dealers; the reckless use of "mystery white powders" by young hedonists; the consumer backlash against much-hyped drugs such as mephedrone and synthetic cannabis; warning signs of physical harms connected to use of ketamine, for example.

Of course, pleasurable drug use can easily slide into pain: for all that respondents feel happy and in control, most know of at least one friend whose drug use they fear is spinning out of control with all the toxic consequences for their health, relationships and careers. When this happens, it seems conventional help – whether GPs or government-funded drug advice websites – is rarely regarded as trustworthy or helpful.

It's worth noting that while respondents say they block out messages saying "don't take drugs", they would lap up practical, personalised information about dangers and safety tips that enable them to regulate and benchmark their drug intake – the kind of information that Global Drug Survey's Drugs Meter app seeks to provide.

The question for policymakers is how to use this kind of detailed user intelligence data to design and implement appropriate public health responses, based on the evidence of what drugs people take, how and why they consume them, and what consequences they report.

The first policy stop might be that most potent of legal substances, alcohol. Over half of the survey respondents reported drinking at levels that the World Health Organisation would class as harmful (though some of this group believed they were only drinking "average" amounts). Asked which drug they would most like to cut down on, 36% of respondents said alcohol (a figure only exceeded by the 64% who wanted to cut down on tobacco).

When it comes to drugs, we are fascinated and horrified by the fashionable, illicit and notorious. But the deeply mundane finding of our survey is that the most prevalent, damaging and antisocial drug of all – and the one most users want help to kick – is still the one in your fridge and supermarket trolley: booze.

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Guardian/Mixmag drug survey reveals a generation happy to chance it

Data shows predominantly white, educated and relatively healthy users willing to take significant risks with their health

"My daily life is sensible, regimented and very stressful, so at the weekend I want the complete opposite," explained James, a financial broker. "When I go out, the last thing I want is to think about work and responsibilities. I just want to lose myself for a few hours."

The 25-year-old, who is at his desk in the City by 6.30am every day, takes a mix of MDMA, cocaine and the anaesthetic ketamine almost every weekend. He insists it does not affect his work and says the fallout from a weekend drug bender is little worse than a bad hangover.

"I just personally enjoy it," he said. "It's not sitting alone in a room shooting up heroin, it's a social and enjoyable experience that I can balance with my working life."

Respondents to the Guardian/Mixmag drug survey – for which 15,500 regular users such as James revealed everything from their drug of choice to the amount they pay for a gram of cocaine – do not easily conform to drug user stereotypes. Predominantly white, educated, relatively healthy people with an average age of 28, they are neither in rehab nor prison and rarely touch heroin or crack.

But the survey exposes a generation of drug-users willing to take significant risks with their health. Many respondents admitted to taking cocktails of drugs, mixing drugs with alcohol, and taking "mystery" white powder with little or no knowledge of its content.

And while a significant majority – 76% – said they didn't need drugs for a good night out, a higher proportion – 86% – thought drugs could make a good night better.

"I think most people view drug-users as dependent or weaker in some way," said Luke, 20, who works for a removals and storage business. "In fact, the users that I regularly spend time with – myself included – are hard-working and socially functional people, just like many non-users."

Unknown substances

Despite a commonly professed happiness with their relationships and standard of living, there is evidence that younger drug-takers in particular are taking serious risks with their health.

Those under 25 were twice as likely to have taken a "mystery white powder" as older respondents, with 19% admitting to snorting or ingesting a substance without knowing what it was. Of the overall 14.6% of respondents who had taken an unknown white powder, a third took it from a stranger and 80% were already intoxicated when they took it.

Dr Adam Winstock, founder of Global Drug Survey, which analysed the Guardian/Mixmag data, said that while the majority of drug users were "not stupid", many were putting themselves in dangerous situations.

"What worries me is that people's judgment is already impaired when they are taking a substance they don't know," Winstock said. "You are much more likely to run into trouble if you mix drugs, or mix drugs with alcohol – and if you are taking a drug you don't know from someone you don't know, that is really upping the risk."

Tanya, a 29-year-old who lives in Glasgow and works in the media, said the illicit nature of the drug scene made people more likely to take risks.

"I think half the reason people are taking mystery powder is because of all this cloak and dagger stuff. If someone offers you something in a club, it's not like you can shout out and ask what it is, or how much you should take – you just lick your finger and stick it in."

Tanya described snorting what she thought was cocaine at a house party, only to be told it was ketamine.

"Ketamine is a horse-tranquiliser and, to be honest, it makes you feel like a tranquilised horse," she said. "That was a bit of a wake-up call. The next day we all sat around saying: 'We are educated, sensible people – what were we playing at?'"

James had a more extreme reaction after taking a drug he believed was ketamine on a night out for his birthday. Unable to contact his usual drug dealer, he bought what he thought were pills and ketamine from someone he had not used before. "We took the stuff in the club and everyone went insane. It was horrendous – we were like complete zombies, just dribbling," he said. "We found ourselves out on the street a couple of hours later when we came around."

Yet James said that the group then went back to his house and, thinking the reaction had come from "dodgy pills", took more of the ketamine.

"We did a load more and went into freakout mode; no one could breathe and we didn't know how it was going to end," he said.

James later discovered his group had been sold methoxetamine – also known as MXE, Mexxy or Roflcoptr – a "legal high", ketamine-style chemical that has been tried by 5% of the survey's respondents. "It really put me off buying from a 'random'," said James. "Basically they can sell you anything and what are you going to do? You are never going to report a dealer."

MXE is in line to become the first drug to be made subject to a temporary class drug order, which would ban the substance for 12 months while further investigations are carried out – part of the government's attempts to stem a wave of new drugs available.

The survey reveals that 20% of respondents have taken legal highs in the past 12 months, with 35% buying them from friend, 45% online, 42% from a shop and 22.5% from a dealer.

"The research chemicals available in the UK are diverse and fascinating," said David, a 21-year-old student . A self-confessed "enthusiast", he admitted using legal highs, including the psychedelic AMT, the stimulant 6-APB (benfamine) and MXE. Despite describing one experience on ketamine as "very oppressive – like dying and coming back to life", David said he had no qualms about trying out new chemical compounds.

"It's not for everyone, but it is actually quite hard to kill yourself," he said. "Of course there are risks, but you negate them by learning about the drugs – in the same way you wear a seat belt in a car. And for me, the risks are very much worth it."

John Ramsey, a toxicologist at St George's medical school in London, contrasted the increasing number of "legal" drugs on the market with the dearth of research into their short- and long-term effects. "It is amazing that so many people take mystery white powders," he said. "The truth is nobody knows what the risks of legal highs are, and it is patently dangerous to take untested drugs."

The debate about how to tackle legal highs rages on. There have been high-profile deaths linked to legal highs – such as the BZP-linked death of the 22-year-old mortgage broker Daniel Backhouse, who is thought to have also taken ecstasy – yet critics accuse the government of bowing to a media frenzy.

Maryon Stewart, whose 21-year-old daughter, Hester, died in April 2009 after taking the club drug GBL in combination with alcohol, warns that the risks of legal highs are real. "Young people are playing russian roulette with their lives and wellbeing," she said. "There are risks when you know what you are taking, which are multiplied when you don't know what you are throwing down your throat."

Legal highs

Stewart set up the Angelus Foundation, which aims to educate users of the risks of taking legal highs and other drugs, and she says that simply banning new drugs is not the answer. "The prime minister has said he will stamp out legal highs, but how? All the government is doing is banning them one by one, which is pretty much a waste of time. For young people, raising awareness and education is key," she said.

Her foundation has launched a petition to encourage people to lobby the government to bring drug education on to the national curriculum.

Dr Les King, a chemist and former head of the drugs intelligence unit in the forensic science service, agreed. "The government wants to be seen to be doing something – but using the Misuse of Drugs Act to ban these substances is not the way forward," he said. "There are so many of them that we need a different approach."

The government banned mephedrone in March 2010 after reports linking the drug to deaths in the UK, such as 14-year-old schoolgirl Gabrielle Price in Brighton, although police later said she died from bronchopneumonia. And despite reports claiming mephedrone is more popular among clubbers than before it was banned, results from the Guardian/Mixmag survey suggest the ban could have had an impact. Usage has dropped among survey respondents in the past year – from 51% to 19.5%. Among regular clubbers it was down to 30%.

According to King, the "huff and puff" around banning drugs was obscuring the bigger problem: dependence on alcohol and tobacco. "Alcohol and tobacco are never put in the same league as drugs, but from a scientific point of view they should be," he said.

His concerns appear to be backed up by respondents' concerns – 36% said they would like to consume less alcohol, compared with 64% who wanted to cut down on tobacco, 17% who wanted to cut down on cocaine and 8% on MDMA, while 40% said that their friends' alcohol consumption caused them the most worry. As one regular drug user put it: "It seems everyone in the country drinks like a fish, from the Queen down, so I think drugs are the least of our worries."

The survey also suggests that many respondents are relatively unconcerned about breaking the law – 9.4% had been stopped and searched in the previous 12 months and 60% reported having drugs on them on at least one occasion when stopped. Of those that had been searched, 65% said police had failed to find the drugs they were carrying on at least one occasion. Of those found with MDMA, 37% were let off with only a telling off, as were 40% of those with cocaine and 49% of those with cannabis.

For many of the survey's respondents, there appears to be no pressing need to stop taking drugs. Tanya, who has never been in trouble with the police, is not worried about leaving drugs behind. "I used to say I'd give up when I was 30," said the 29-year-old. "I'm now thinking I might put that back to 40."

For James, the prospect of giving up drugs lies some way in the future. "My drug-taking and partying is a choice. I assume that one day I'll grow bored of it or not be able to balance it with other commitments I may have. But for as long as I continue to enjoy myself, I'll probably continue."

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Decriminalising drugs in the Western hemisphere

In a break with his past positions, Guatemala's president recently suggested decriminalising illegal drugs.

Scranton, PA - United States Vice President Joseph Biden recently travelled to Mexico and Honduras in the midst of growing frustration with the US war on drugs. In Mexico, Biden met with current President Felipe Calderón as well as several contenders in the country's presidential election this July.

From there, Biden flew to Honduras for a meeting of the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) during which he met with the presidents of Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and El Salvador, and Panama, and others. While Biden's Central America visit was initially designed to discuss regional security more broadly, debate mainly revolved around Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina's suggestion that the region consider decriminalising the use and transportation of drugs.

Central America and Mexico are situated between the major drug-producing nations of South America (Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia) and the world's largest consumer of illegal drugs, the United States. Ninety per cent of the cocaine destined for the US passes through the region. While the US has moved to restrict the flow of drugs moving into the country via the Caribbean and air routes, violence in Mexico and Central America has increased as rival drug trafficking organisations fight over access to the lucrative drug market in the United States.

The Northern Triangle of Central America is now comprised of three of the most violent countries in the world in terms of homicides per 100,000 people. Honduras (86 homicides per 100,000) and El Salvador (70) had the two highest homicide rates in the world in 2011 and Guatemala (39), while far behind, still ranked among the most violent. Homicide rates in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Mexico have also seen sharp increases over the last few years. While there are no solid numbers as to what percentage of homicides have been caused by drug trafficking, it is clear to all parties that the drug trade is fuelling, in one way or another, much of the region's violence.

President Otto Perez Molina's call to discuss decriminalising drugs was welcomed by many, but it is still unclear why he suggested that the region consider decriminalising illegal drug use and transportation at this moment in time. It is quite possible that Perez has come to the same conclusion that many others have - that the US-directed war on drugs has failed. For all the billions of dollars spent and lives lost in the war on drugs, there's very little positive to show for it. The only way for the region to reduce the violence associated with drug trafficking between its South American source and North American destination is to decriminalise its production, transportation, and consumption.

This is not an unreasonable position. Former presidents of Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia have criticised US drug policy and have called for some level of decriminalising illegal drugs.

I understand that Perez' justification for his policy reversal isn't the primary concern for those who seek a fundamental change in the region's drug policy, but it is an important question, and the Guatemalan people should know better how President Perez came to this decision. Before his victory in a November runoff, Perez had been campaigning for president ever since he founded the Patriotic Party in 2001. He ran on a mano dura ("strong fist") platform that he insisted was necessary to tackle rising crime before losing to Alvaro Colom in the 2007 presidential election. In 2011, Perez was again the mano dura candidate. His campaign rhetoric also addressed social and economic issues in greater detail compared to 2007.

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Op donderdag 15 maart 2012 13:56 schreef ComplexConjugate het volgende:
Alcohol en tabak zijn zonder meer de meest schadelijk drugs die er te vinden zijn, helaas zijn deze middelen gereguleerd maar ik zou er wel wat in zien als je via legale weg toegang zou kunnen krijgen tot een breed scala aan prettige substanties

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Op donderdag 15 maart 2012 14:03 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

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Het verbieden van drugs gaat over macht en geld, niet over een goede samenleving of volksgezondheid.

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New wrinkle in pot debate: stoned driving

Associated Press= DENVER (AP) — Angeline Chilton says she can't drive unless she smokes pot. The suburban Denver woman says she'd never get behind the wheel right after smoking, but she does use medical marijuana twice a day to ease tremors caused by multiple sclerosis that previously left her homebound.

"I don't drink and drive, and I don't smoke and drive," she said. "But my body is completely saturated with THC."

Her case underscores a problem that no one's sure how to solve: How do you tell if someone is too stoned to drive?

States that allow medical marijuana have grappled with determining impairment levels for years. And voters in Colorado and Washington state will decide this fall whether to legalize the drug for recreational use, bringing a new urgency to the issue.

A Denver marijuana advocate says officials are scrambling for limits in part because more drivers acknowledge using the drug.

"The explosion of medical marijuana patients has led to a lot of drivers sticking the (marijuana) card in law enforcement's face, saying, 'You can't do anything to me, I'm legal,'" said Sean McAllister, a lawyer who defends people charged with driving under the influence of marijuana.

It's not that simple. Driving while impaired by any drug is illegal in all states.

But it highlights the challenges law enforcement officers face using old tools to try to fix a new problem. Most convictions for drugged driving now are based on police observations, followed later by a blood test.

Authorities envision a legal threshold for pot that would be comparable to the blood-alcohol standard used to determine drunken driving.

But unlike alcohol, marijuana stays in the blood long after the high wears off a few hours after use, and there is no quick test to determine someone's level of impairment — not that scientists haven't been working on it.

Dr. Marilyn Huestis of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a government research lab, says that soon there will be a saliva test to detect recent marijuana use.

But government officials say that doesn't address the question of impairment.

"I'll be dead — and so will lots of other people — from old age, before we know the impairment levels" for marijuana and other drugs, said White House drug czar Gil Kerlikowske.

Authorities recognize the need for a solution. Marijuana causes dizziness, slowed reaction time and drivers are more likely to drift and swerve while they're high.

Dr. Bob DuPont, president of the Institute for Behavior and Health, a non-government institute that works to reduce drug abuse, says research proves "the terrible carnage out there on the roads caused by marijuana."

One recent review of several studies of pot smoking and car accidents suggested that driving after smoking marijuana might almost double the risk of being in a serious or fatal crash.

And a recent nationwide census of fatal traffic accidents showed that while deadly crashes have declined in recent years, the percentage of mortally wounded drivers who later tested positive for drugs rose 18 percent between 2005 and 2011.

DuPont, drug czar for Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, wrote a paper last year on drugged driving for the Obama administration, which has made the issue a priority.

Physicians say that while many tests can show whether someone has recently used pot, it's more difficult to pinpoint impairment at any certain time.

Urine and blood tests are better at showing whether someone used the drug in the past — which is why employers and probation officers use them. But determining current impairment is far trickier.

"There's no sure answer to that question," said Dr. Guohua Li, a Columbia University researcher who reviewed marijuana use and motor vehicle crashes last year.

His survey linked pot use to crash risk, but pointed out wide research gaps. Scientists do not have conclusive data to link marijuana dosing to accident likelihood; whether it matters if the drug is smoked or eaten; or how pot interacts with other drugs.

The limited data has prompted a furious debate.

Proposed solutions include setting limits on the amount of the main psychoactive chemical in marijuana, THC, that drivers can have in their blood. But THC limits to determine impairment are not widely agreed upon.

Two states place the standard at 2 nanograms per milliliter of blood. Others have zero tolerance policies. And Colorado and Washington state are debating a threshold of 5 nanograms.

Such an attempt failed the Colorado Legislature last year, amid opposition from Republicans and Democrats. State officials then set up a task force to settle the question — and the panel couldn't agree.

This year, Colorado lawmakers are debating a similar measure, but its sponsors concede they don't know whether the "driving while high" bill will pass.

In Washington state, the ballot measure on marijuana legalization includes a 5 nanogram THC limit.

The measure's backers say polling indicates such a driving limit could be crucial to winning public support for legalization.

"Voters were very concerned about impaired driving," said Alison Holcomb, campaign director for Washington's legalization measure.

Holcomb also pointed to a failed marijuana legalization proposal in California two years ago that did not include a driving THC limit.

The White House, which has a goal of reducing drugged driving by 10 percent in the next three years, wants states to set a blood-level standard upon which to base convictions, but has not said what that limit should be.

Administration officials insist marijuana should remain illegal, and Kerlikowske called it a "bogus argument" to say any legal level of THC in a driver is safe.

But several factors can skew THC blood tests, including age, gender, weight and frequency of marijuana use. Also, THC can remain in the system weeks after a user sobers up, leading to the anxiety shared by many in the 16 medical marijuana states: They could be at risk for a positive test at any time, whether they had recently used the drug or not.

A Colorado state forensic toxicologist testified recently that "5 nanograms is more than fair" to determine intoxication. But, for now the blood test proposals remain politically fraught, with supporters and opponents of marijuana legalization hinging support on the issue.

Huestis, of the government-funded drug abuse institute, says an easy-to-use roadside saliva test that can determine recent marijuana use — as opposed to long-ago pot use — is in final testing stages and will be ready for police use soon.

Researchers envision a day when marijuana tests are as common in police cars as Breathalyzers.

Until then, lawmakers will consider measures such as Colorado's marijuana DUI proposal, which marijuana activists say imperils drivers who frequently use the drug such as Chilton, the multiple sclerosis patient.

She says that since she began using pot she has started driving again and for the first time in five years has landed a job.

Chilton worries Colorado's proposal jeopardizes her newfound freedom.

quote:

Mexican police killed after beheadings

Gunmen opened fire on a police convoy on a rural highway near Teloloapan, killing 12 officers and wounding 11 more

Twelve Mexican police were killed in a mountain highway ambush hours after the severed heads of 10 people were found in a small town in a key illegal drug-growing region.

Gunmen opened fire on a police convoy on Sunday evening, killing 12 officers and wounding 11 more, said Arturo Martinez, spokesman for the Guerrero state government.

The ambush took place on a rural highway near the town of Teloloapan, located in southern Mexico between the beach resort of Acapulco and Mexico City.

Earlier on Sunday, the severed heads of 10 people were lined along a street outside a slaughterhouse in the centre of Teloloapan.

The region has been long used by drug gangs to grow marijuana. Surrounding Guerrero state has seen a spike in violence since last year as several major gangs battle over trafficking routes.

The La Familia cartel and its offshoot, Los Caballeros Templarios (The Knights Templar), are among the gangs fighting for territory in the region. The heads had been left with a message threatening the La Familia gang, local media reported.

More than 50,000 people, including more than 2,500 police and soldiers, have died in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon launched an army-led crackdown on the cartels after taking office five years ago.

quote:

Op dinsdag 20 maart 2012 22:16 schreef VeX- het volgende:
Mexico is een doodlopend verhaal.

Gewoon de VS hele boel laten platbombarderen en van de grond af aan opnieuw beginnen.

quote:

Op dinsdag 20 maart 2012 22:16 schreef VeX- het volgende:
Mexico is een doodlopend verhaal.

Gewoon de VS hele boel laten platbombarderen en van de grond af aan opnieuw beginnen.