The World Wide War on Drugs #9 - Legal Highs are Go!

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As States Legalize Marijuana, Teen Use Plummets

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Researchers examined 12 years of data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Instances of cannabis use fell by 10 percent, while “the number of adolescents who had problems related to marijuana — such as becoming dependent on the drug or having trouble in school and in relationships — declined by 24 percent…”

This raised an important point. While responsible adult cannabis use is far less harmful than “legal drug” use, the abuse of any drug—including cannabis—is detrimental to one’s health, especially on the developing adolescent brain. Cannabis has legitimate therapeutic benefits, but like any drug can exacerbate problems that kids have in dealing with school or troubling facets of their life.

“We were surprised to see substantial declines in marijuana use and abuse,” said study author Richard A. Grucza. “We don’t know how legalization is affecting young marijuana users, but it could be that many kids with behavioral problems are more likely to get treatment earlier in childhood, making them less likely to turn to pot during adolescence. But whatever is happening with these behavioral issues, it seems to be outweighing any effects of marijuana decriminalization.”

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Online verkoop van drugs groeit fors (want het is zo simpel) - rtlz.nl

Een jaar geleden bestelde ik bij een online drugsdealer een gram cocaïne. Het poeder werd verstopt in een leeg dvd-hoesje en verstuurd via de normale briefpost, helemaal vanuit de VS. Uit een zuurtest van verslavingsinstelling Jellinek bleek dat het witte poeder inderdaad cocaïne is.

Nog nooit bestelden zo veel mensen hun drugs via digitale zwarte markten, zo blijkt uit een onderzoek van Global Drugs Survey. Zo'n 8 procent van de ondervraagden had wel eens via een illegale website - alleen te bezoeken via het dark web - drugs besteld of laten bestellen. De verwachting is dat dit aantal de komende jaren blijft groeien.

Het dark web is te bereiken met de gratis Tor-browser. Met deze browser surf je anoniem op het 'normale internet', maar het biedt ook toegang tot het Tor-netwerk dat ook wel het dark web wordt genoemd. Het dark web is vergelijkbaar met het normale internet, maar dan anoniem en versleuteld. Websites zijn te bezoeken via een zogeheten .onion-adres, dat alleen via Tor kan worden bezocht. Het .onion-adres van bijvoorbeeld Facebook is facebookcorewwwi.onion.

De Tor-browser versleutelt jouw internetverbinding en sluist de data door meestal drie servers om je locatie te verhullen. De eerste server weet de herkomst maar niet het eindpunt, de tweede server stuurt de verbinding veilig door naar de derde server, die alleen het eindpunt weet en niet de herkomst. Op deze manier kun je anoniem internetten, omdat websites niet weten wie je bent of waar je vandaan komt.

Op het dark web zijn tientallen verschillende digitale zwarten markten. Je kunt er allerlei producten en diensten kopen, variërend van drugs (een gram cocaïne kost ongeveer 40 euro) en wapens (een revolver gaat voor paar honderd euro over de toonbank) tot gestolen creditcards (enkele euro's per pas) en neppaspoorten (100 euro voor een Nederlands neppaspoort).

Ook bieden mensen diensten via de websites aan. Denk aan het inhuren van een hacker (200 euro voor het hacken van een Facebook-account), spion (300 euro voor de bevestiging of je ex een nieuwe partner heeft) of huurmoordenaar (10.000 euro voor een moord op een Europese inwoner - geen politici of kinderen).

De websites zien eruit zoals webshops er vaker uitzien. Denk aan Marktplaats, Ebay en Etsy. De meeste digitale zwarte markten werken met een beoordelingssysteem, net zoals Ebay. Zo kun je zien wie er regelmatig succesvol producten of diensten heeft geleverd. Een verkoper die succesvol cocaïne levert (en de drugs is ook nog van goede kwaliteit), krijgt veel positieve beoordelingen. Kopers bestellen dan sneller bij deze verkoper.

De meeste verkopers richten zich op een paar drugssoorten: zo verkoopt de één cocaïne en amfetamine (ook wel speed genoemd, meestal in poedervorm), de ander xtc-pillen en MDMA (de grondstof van xtc, wordt verkocht in kristallen) en weer een ander benzodiazepinen (kalmeringsmiddel) en GBL (de grondstof van GHB, waarvan de verkoop enkele jaren geleden in Nederland is verboden).

Bij digitale zwarte markten betaal je met de digitale valuta bitcoin. Ondanks dat bitcoin als 'anoniem' wordt gezien, is het betaalmiddel verre van anoniem. Het betaalverkeer van bitcoin is inzichtelijk en als een koper of verkoper met zijn persoonlijke informatie bitcoins koopt of laat uitkeren, is de transactiegeschiedenis gemakkelijk na te gaan.

Daarom zijn veel zwarte markten op het dark web begonnen met een speciale technologie waarbij bitcoins worden gehusseld. Bij dit proces, dat ook wel 'tumbling' wordt genoemd, worden bitcoins gehusseld met andere bitcoins, waardoor de koop of verkoop niet meer naar een specifiek bitcoin-adres kan worden herleid. Normaal gesproken schakel je een tumbling-dienst in, maar veel illegale webwinkels bieden deze technologie sinds kort standaard aan gebruikers aan.

De bestelde drugs gaat op de post, meestal in enveloppen. Dat komt omdat de meesten drugs voor privégebruik bestellen, dat gemakkelijk in een kleine envelop past. "Super handig", aldus een anonieme gebruiker die wel eens drugs via digitale zwarte markten bestelt. "Ik heb onder andere xtc-pillen, cocaïne en benzodiazepinen gekocht. Eén keer kreeg ik de drugs in een envelop van een niet-bestaande elektronicawinkel in Eindhoven. Er zat zelfs een bonnetje bij. Ik had schijnbaar 'lichtgevoelige led-lampjes' gekocht."

Het gebruik van Tor en het betalen met bitcoin kan ook 'te veel gedoe' zijn: "Een appje sturen en binnen drie kwartier staat er een jongen met zijn scooter voor je deur. In de praktijk is dat veel gemakkelijker."

Een andere anonieme drugsgebruiker beaamt dat: "Ik heb vaak zin in drugs als ik wat heb gedronken, en dan stuur ik mijn dealer een berichtje. Lekker spontaan. De paar keer dat ik via een website drugs heb besteld, was het drugs die lastig te koop is, zoals LSD en morfine. Dan zijn dit soort websites echt een uitkomst."

PostNL verwerkt dagelijks zo'n 11 miljoen poststukken. De douane controleert de post, bijvoorbeeld door post te scannen of een drugshond in te zetten. Maar lang niet alle post wordt gecontroleerd, waardoor - gezien de vele positieve reacties op de sites - veel drugspost arriveert.

Volgens een woordvoerder van de politie ben je strafbaar als je drugs via het internet koopt, maar moet onderzoek uitwijzen of jij ook daadwerkelijk de drugs hebt besteld voordat je wordt veroordeeld.

Bron: www.rtlz.nl

Zangeres Zonder Naam - Mexico

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Georganiseerde misdaad Zuid-Nederland erger dan gedacht | NOS

De georganiseerde criminaliteit in het zuiden van Nederland is erger en dieper in de samenleving geworteld dan tot nu toe werd gedacht. Dat schrijft minister Van der Steur aan de Tweede Kamer. Hij verlengt daarom de intensieve aanpak die afgelopen jaren van kracht was.

De Taskforce Brabant Zeeland, die de afgelopen jaren jacht maakte op de criminele bendes, zou dit jaar worden opgeheven. De minister laat weten dat de 125 medewerkers van de landelijke politie-eenheid en 15 van het OM ook de komende jaren beschikbaar blijven.

Van der Steur vindt dat de aanpak positief heeft gewerkt. Ook is helder geworden dat het probleem groter is dan gedacht. "De aanpak heeft scherper zichtbaar gemaakt wat tientallen jaren onzichtbaar is gebleven: er is sprake van een complex probleem dat ernstiger is en dieper in de samenleving is geworteld dan bij aanvang werd vermoed."

Binnen de Taskforce werken gemeenten, politie, OM, belastingdienst en marechaussee samen. Van der Steur wil dat de aandacht de komende jaren vooral gericht is op het afpakken van crimineel vermogen.

Vorig jaar legde de Taskforce in de strijd tegen drugscriminelen beslag op goederen met een waarde van 36 miljoen euro. 1277 hennepkwekerijen werden opgerold en 25 hennepstekkerijen, die de kwekerijen voorzagen van jonge plantjes, werden gesloten. Ook moesten meer dan 70 growshops dicht.

In april werden op één ochtend op zo'n 100 plekken invallen gedaan in een groot onderzoek naar synthetische drugs, zoals xtc. Aan de actie onder de naam Operatie Trefpunt deden zo'n 1500 mensen mee. Daarbij werden 4000 liter chemicaliën, 50 kilo harddrugs, 20 vuurwapens, 26 auto's, twee boten en twee Harley-Davidsons in beslag genomen. 6 xtc-laboratoria werden gesloten en tientallen mensen werden gearresteerd.

Bron: nos.nl

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Ecstasy warning after pills found with double or triple doses in UK

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Drugs harm reduction campaigners are warning about high-strength ecstasy pills on the market in Britain after an analysis of drugs at a Manchester festival found some that contained double or even triple doses.

Fiona Measham, a member of the government’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) and founder of The Loop, a charity which tests drugs found or handed in at festivals, said she and her colleagues found ecstasy pills at the Parklife festival containing as much as 250mg of MDMA, the active ingredient. That makes them significantly stronger than the pills available during ecstasy’s previous hey-day in the late 90s, when average pills contained about 100mg of MDMA.

After a string of recent deaths attributed to MDMA poisoning, particularly among young women, she is calling on clubbers in the north-west to beware of red Mastercard and yellow Mickey Mouse pills, which were found to contain doses that could prove harmful or even lethal to some users.

There are particular concerns that irregularly shaped tablets, often with no score lines to easily split them, are confounding harm reduction advice that tells users to test their reaction to a half or even a quarter of a pill rather than swallowing the whole thing.

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Public health bodies call for decriminalisation of drugs | Politics | The Guardian

Report from Royal Society for Public Health and Faculty of Public Health says misuse of drugs should be a health issue, not a criminal one

The UK’s two leading public health bodies, representing thousands of doctors and other professionals, are making an unprecedented call for the personal possession and use of drugs to be decriminalised.

The war on drugs has done more harm than good, say the Royal Society for Public Health and the Faculty of Public Health. They argue that drug misuse should be a health issue, not a matter for the courts and prisons, which have not succeeded in deterring people from taking drugs. More people than ever before are being harmed by drugs and then harmed again by the punishment meted out, instead of being helped to kick or contain the habit, they say.

“We have taken the view that it is time for endorsing a different approach,” said Shirley Cramer, chief executive of the Royal Society. “We have gone to our stakeholders and asked the public and tried to gain some consensus from our community and the public, because that is very important.”

The society commissioned a poll of more than 2,000 UK adults and found that more than half – 56% – agreed that drug users in their local area ought to be referred for treatment, rather than charged with a criminal offence. Fewer than a quarter – 23% – disagreed.

The public health specialists, whose work involves preventing disease through measures such as helping people to quit smoking, say there should be no leniency for those who sell drugs. “We think that people who are dealing drugs and the producers and suppliers absolutely should be prosecuted,” said Cramer. “But for people who have got a drug problem, why treat them differently from someone who has an alcohol problem or an obesity problem?”

The society has produced a report, Taking a New Line on Drugs, which the faculty has endorsed. A key recommendation is that all children and young people learn about drugs in school through personal, social, health and economic education (PHSE). “One of the things that strikes us in public health is how important the education piece is – and that we are missing,” said Cramer. Where there is provision, she said, “it is patchy; it depends on the school”.

The experts also want lead responsibility for drug policy to be moved from the Home Office to the Department of Health, where it should be aligned more closely with alcohol and tobacco strategies. Drugs should be better classified according to the harm they do, the bodies argue, adding that the current classification confuses the public.

Alcohol tops the society’s list of the 10 most harmful drugs, with heroin second and crack cocaine third. Tobacco is in sixth place, while cannabis is eighth.

The report is being published before the anticipated release of the government’s drug strategy, which is expected some time after the referendum. It admires the Portuguese model, in which drug possession is still illegal, but users are referred to treatment and support programmes, rather than being prosecuted. It argues that prosecution and jail sentences cause further harm, including greater exposure to drugs in prison and the severing of family relationships. They are also barriers to education and employment, the report says.

Professor John Middleton, president of the faculty, said: “We need a new, people-centred approach to drug policy, rooted in public health and the best available evidence. This report is an important part of a growing, powerful evidence base that sets out what that approach should look like.

“The time for reframing the global approach to illicit drugs is long overdue. The imbalance between criminal justice and health approaches to illicit drugs is counterproductive. Criminalisation and incarceration for minor, non-violent offences worsen problems linked to illicit drug use, such as social inequality, violence and infection. Possession and use should be decriminalised and health approaches prioritised.”

Professor David Nutt, who heads the Centre for Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, said: “I fully support the recommendations in this report. The current government approach of blindly prosecuting drug users, rather than trying to reduce the rising tide of drug harms, particularly deaths from alcohol, heroin and cocaine, in fact leads to more damage to individuals and society – and more costs to the taxpayer.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “The UK’s approach on drugs remains clear - we must prevent drug use in our communities and support people dependent on drugs through treatment and recovery.

“At the same time, we have to stop the supply of illegal drugs and tackle the organised crime behind the drugs trade.”

He said there had been a drop in drug misuse over the last decade and more people are recovering from dependency now than in 2009/10.

Bron: www.theguardian.com

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Van der Steur legt onderzoek regulering wietteelt naast zich neer

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Van der Steur ziet echter de nodige haken en ogen aan het onderzoek. Hij stelt dat het niet bewezen is dat de criminaliteit ook daadwerkelijk zal afnemen.

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AnnajoyDavid twitterde op donderdag 16-06-2016 om 11:20:46 Brilliant stuff. #decriminalize. Public Health not Criminal Justice is the way to go. #warondrugs https://t.co/YjsdKVnTDT reageer retweet

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The Times also says the government should see decriminalisation as a first step towards legal regulation of drugs

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The Times calls for decriminalisation of all illegal drugs | Media | The Guardian


Newspaper breaks new ground by declaring itself in favour of treating drug use and possession as a health issue rather than a crime

The Times has boldly gone where few newspapers - and very, very few politicians - have ever dared to go before by declaring itself in favour of legalising drugs in Britain.

In a leading article, "Breaking Good", the paper has supported a call on the government by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) to decriminalise both the possession and use of all illegal drugs.

Accepting that it "is radical advice", the Times thought it "sound" and urged ministers to "give it serious consideration".

Newspapers have usually shied away from adopting such a stance. In 1997, the Independent on Sunday, then edited by Rosie Boycott, came out in favour of decriminalising cannabis. The following year, thousands gathered in London's Hyde Park in support of her campaign to change the law.

But 10 years later, long after Boycott had departed, the paper changed its mind. It argued that new strains of cannabis, notably skunk, were dangerous, causing disorders such as psychosis and schizophrenia.

Although the Observer and the Guardian have raised questions about potential changes of laws within countries that produce drugs neither have advocated decriminalisation in Britain.

The Observer noted in 2011 that the war on drugs had failed and argued that "when policies fail it is incumbent on our leaders to look for new ones."

The Times has adopted the logic of that position. Even so, its initiative, especially going beyond cannabis to embrace all illegal drugs, is something of a first.

Its front page news story reported on the "landmark intervention" by the RSPH and the Faculty of Public Health as "the first leading medical organisations to come out in favour of radical drugs reform."

Both bodies believe that addiction to all drugs - ranging from heroin and cocaine to cannabis and so-called legal highs - should be regarded as a health problem rather than a crime.

The Times's editorial, while agreeing that decriminalisation would put Britain in the company of a small group of countries that have made such a policy switch, supported that change of direction.

It is not "to be taken lightly", it said, "yet the logic behind it and evidence from elsewhere are persuasive". It added:

"The government should be encouraged to think of decriminalisation not as an end in itself but as a first step towards legalising and regulating drugs as it already regulates alcohol and tobacco."

It pointed to the situation in Portugal, where drug decriminalisation has existed for 15 years. Possession there "does not earn the user a criminal record" and "the country's drug-related death rate was three per million citizens compared with 10 per million in the Netherlands and 44.6 in Britain."

The Times said: "Recreational drug use [in Portugal] has not soared, as critics of decriminalisation had feared. HIV infection rates have fallen and the use of so-called legal highs is, according to a study last year, lower than in any other European country."

It contended: "It may be politic not to rush discussion of full legalisation but that should still be the ultimate goal. In the long term it is not tenable to decriminalise possession of a substance while preserving the profit motive of the criminal gangs that supply it."

And the paper concluded, again like the Observer, that international drug wars have "proved unwinnable". Instead, it urged the government "to move gradually towards legalised supply chains such as those allowed for cannabis in Uruguay and a minority of US states."

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Bron: www.theguardian.com

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Microsoft high: stapt in software voor tracken wietteelt - rtlz.nl

Microsoft raakt in hogere sferen en levert cloudtechnologie aan een startup die overheden helpt om de legale wietteelt te monitoren. Dat is booming business in de VS.

Microsoft is een samenwerking aangegaan met de Amerikaanse startup Kind Financial, dat gericht is op overheidstoezicht op de legale wietteelt en cannabishandel. Microsofts Azure-cloudtechnologie moet helpen bij het volgen van de wietplantjes en het toezicht op de verkoop van zaden. Overheidsdiensten in staten waar cannabis is gelegaliseerd kunnen de software gebruiken.

Kind Financial biedt systemen waarmee overheden de legale cannabisverkoop in de gaten houden. Zo kan voorkomen worden dat cannabiszaden op de zwarte markt belanden. Enkele lokale overheden gebruiken het systeem al. Microsoft wil zijn cloudsoftware voor dit doeleinde de komende tijd gaan promoten onder overheden en mogelijk ook tijdens cannabis-evenementen.

Staten als Colorado, Alaska en Washington (niet te verwarren met de hoofdstad Washington DC) hebben recreatief en medisch gebruik van cannabis al gelegaliseerd. De verwachting is dat veel meer Amerikaanse staten dat voorbeeld zullen volgen.

Bron: www.rtlz.nl

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The evidence against the 'war on drugs' is so overwhelming it cannot be ignored | Editorials | Voices | The Independent

In the final editorial of our print edition in March, this column pointed out that over the lifetime of the newspaper, we had made friends of heresies and watched with glee as they became common sense. Perhaps no issue has moved in this direction so far, and so fast, as the debate around the legal status of drugs.

Yesterday, two of the most august public health bodies in Britain added their considerable weight to the growing body of opinion in this country that accepts the catastrophic, murderous stupidity of the so-called “war on drugs” must be reversed.

In a historic intervention, the Royal Society for Public Health and the Faculty of Public Health have made explicit their view that the law as it presently stands is a grim litany of failure. The first British medical bodies to publicly favour radical reform in this way, they argue that drug use should be regarded as a health matter, like consumption of tobacco and alcohol, rather than a crime.

No lefty, liberal conspiracy this: both organisations have looked hard at the evidence, and seen the horror caused by our current laws. They favour decriminalisation of consumption, but not – yet – supply, arguing that it would lead to lower incarceration rates.

Prison is the worst possible way, they note, to address drug use: the widespread availability of drugs in prison increases consumption and endangers addicts; the vast cost of keeping prisoners behind bars diverts precious funds to unproductive, counter-effective uses; and the devastating impact of prison – which damages morale, destroys families, and is antithetical to career and educational opportunities – is the very last thing that addicts need.

This harm principle, best articulated by John Stuart Mill in On Liberty, illustrates precisely why our drug laws are so absurd: at present they vastly increase the harm caused to other citizens. The principal effect of drug laws is to inflate the salaries of the nastiest barons and gangsters on earth, funding organised crime and corruption, and fuelling the self-immolation of whole nations, from Mexico to Albania and Afghanistan.

That is why we would go further than these two bodies, in arguing for full legalisation. This differs from decriminalisation in the essential respect that the latter still leaves control of supply in the hands of organised crime syndicates. We wouldn’t ask them to control the supply of our tobacco or alcohol, so why heroin and cocaine?

What prompts these two health bodies to intervene now, however, is the undeniable evidence from countries that have adopted a more liberal approach. These reforms have been astonishingly effective.

Counterintuitively, the evidence is emphatic that drug use has actually come down in Portugal since that country decriminalised hard drugs in 2001. And, amazingly, drug-related deaths have fallen by 80 per cent – yes, 80 per cent – over the same period, while HIV infection rates have also fallen.

In any other area of policy, such remarkably impressive results from radical reform would be seen as a blueprint for the rest of the world to follow.

For the Royal Society of Public Health and the Faculty of Public Health – bodies whose members proceed by a calm appraisal of the evidence available, rather than in accordance with moral fervour or ideology – it is blatantly obvious that current drug laws are so stupid they could have been devised by a bunch of addled smack addicts. Obviously our political class it too stuffed with cowards and prisoners of religious and superstitious thinking for such reform to happen in the short term.

But if enough people keep making forceful arguments based on the available evidence, the heresy of reformed drug laws will graduate not just to common sense but prevailing wisdom soon enough.

Bron: www.independent.co.uk

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Ministerie van Justitie denkt in geheim over regulering cannabisteelt

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Soms word je aangenaam verrast door initiatieven van anderen die handig gebruik maken van de mogelijkheden die de wet biedt. Een journalist van Reporter deed een beroep op de Wet Openbaarheid van Bestuur om informatie te krijgen van het Ministerie van Veiligheid en Justitie over nut en noodzaak van de bestrijding van cannabisteelt. De resultaten werden deze week gepubliceerd.

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In de pogingen vorm te geven aan een oplossing voor een (deels) zelf gecreëerd probleem, speelt de toenemende druk van de rechterlijke macht een prominente rol. Rechters wijzen er immers op dat de overheid zelf debet is aan het ontstaan van criminele organisaties door de ogen te sluiten voor de noodzaak van teelt en bevoorrading van coffeeshops. Dit oordeel is hard aangekomen binnen de burelen van het Ministerie van Veiligheid en Justitie.

Langzamerhand ontstaat achter de schermen het politieke besef dat de redeloze en weerbarstige Opstelten-doctrine zijn langste tijd gehad heeft. Zelfs binnen de VVD neemt de roep om regulering toe. Tijdens het laatste VVD-congres deed de liberale achterban een oproep aan het partijbestuur om pleitbezorger te worden van regulering.

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Op ambtelijk niveau wordt serieus nagedacht om softdrugsteelt te reguleren. Dit blijkt het duidelijkst uit welgeteld één pagina in de stukken die dankzij Reporter gepubliceerd zijn. Deze stukken zijn afkomstig van de ‘Taskforce beleidsalternatieven’ van het Ministerie van Veiligheid en Justitie. Deze taskforce stelt voor de teelt van softdrugs toe te laten op basis van vergunningen onder strikte voorwaarden.

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Congresswoman Who Used To Receive Welfare Wants To Drug Test Rich People Who Get Tax Breaks | ThinkProgress

Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) has had enough of the growing movement to drug test poor people who need government assistance. So on Tuesday, she’s introducing a bill that she says will make things fairer.

Her “Top 1% Accountability Act” would require anyone claiming itemized tax deductions of over $150,000 in a given year to submit a clean drug test. If a filer doesn’t submit a clean test within three months of filing, he won’t be able to take advantage of tax deductions like the mortgage interest deduction or health insurance tax breaks. Instead he would have to make use of the standard deduction.

Her office has calculated that the people impacted will be those who make at least $500,000 a year. “By drug testing those with itemized deductions over $150,000, this bill will level the playing field for drug testing people who are the recipients of social programs,” a memo on her bill notes.

Moore has a personal stake in the fight. “I am a former welfare recipient,” she explained. “I’ve used food stamps, I’ve received Aid for Families with Dependent Children, Medicaid, Head Start for my kids, Title XX daycare [subsidies]. I’m truly grateful for the social safety net.”

Ten states require applicants to their cash welfare programs to undergo a drug test. States are currently barred from implementing drug testing for the food stamps program, but Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has sued the federal government to allow him to do so and has gotten some Congressional Republican support.

Moore has been frustrated to witness attempts to tie those who avail themselves of the safety net to drug use. “Republicans continue to criminalize poverty and to put forward the narrative, the false narrative in fact, that people who are poor and reliant upon the social safety net are drug users,” she said.

In fact, evidence from test results among states that test welfare recipients indicates that they are no more likely to use drugs than the general population — in fact, they may be less likely.

That didn’t stop House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) from using a drug rehab center as the backdrop while he unveiled his poverty plan last week. “I think this is what tipped me over the edge,” Moore said, “rolling out his poverty initiative in front of a drug treatment program to sort of drive that false narrative forward.”

Moore also wants to use her bill to question why some recipients of government aid are treated differently than others. “On the one hand, poor people…are entitled to things like Medicaid and SNAP [food stamps],” she said. “People who take tax deductions and particularly those in the top 1 percent…are not entitled to anything.” But they still benefit from a large pot of government money. The government loses about $900 billion in revenue to tax expenditures every year, which mostly flow to the wealthy.

When it comes to drug abuse, “There are no boundaries with regard to class or race,” she said. “If these poor people who are entitled to SNAP for survival are required to be drug tested, then certainly those people who claim $150,000 or more in tax deductions should be subjected to the same in order to receive this benefit from the government.”

Moore also thinks that while there is no evidence that drug testing welfare recipients saves states any money, drug tests for wealthy taxpayers could be different. “We would save a lot of money on this,” she said. “When you add up all of the tax expenditures, all the money we give really wealthy people, it really rivals the amount we spend on Defense, Social Security, Medicare.” The mortgage interest deduction, which overwhelmingly benefits people making more than $100,000, alone cost $70 billion in 2013, or 0.4 percent of GDP.

Her bill will also help illuminate this very fact: that so much is spent on tax expenditures, not just on direct aid programs like welfare and food stamps. “We think it’s important to engage in some transparency and accountability around tax deductions,” she said.

Moore is not the only lawmaker in Congress who has raised questions about unequal treatment between the poor who make use of government programs and everyone else who needs them. In February, Rep. Rosa DeLauro asked why only recipients of food stamps were being considered for drug testing but not the farmers who also make use of programs run by the Agriculture Department.

But Moore is very serious about pushing her bill forward. “I’m motivated,” she said. “I’m going to work on it very seriously. I’m going to try to get cosponsors.”

She also wants to “engage the wealthy in this poverty debate,” she said. “I would love to see some hedge fund manager on Wall Street who might be sniffing a little cocaine here and there to stay awake realize that he can’t get his $150,000 worth of deductions unless he submits to a drug test.”

Bron: thinkprogress.org

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Ohio Medical Marijuana Legalization Is Signed Into Law

Way to go Ohio.

You’re almost there. Governor and former presidential candidate John Kasich recently announced that he signed Ohio House Bill 523 into law.

The bill “authorizes the use of marijuana for medical purposes and establishes the Medical Marijuana Control Program,” his office stated.

Ohio has a love-hate relationship with medical pot though. So does Kasich.

The law will allow medical patients with a doctor’s recommendation to get weed on the black market or in other states starting around September.

The state’s own medical marijuana dispensaries won’t be up and running for at least another year.

And you’re not allowed to smoke in public. And you can’t grow it at home. And employees can still be fired for using cannabis, even if their doctors say it’s legitimate medicine.

Kasich has called recreational legalization a “terrible idea.”

Late last year he explained his stance to Stephen Colbert. “We don’t need to take the approach where we send a confusing and mixed message to our children” – where we say drugs are bad except for this one.

Colbert said we already do that with alcohol. True.

Ohio, by the way, is now the nation’s 25th medical pot state.

Bron: the420times.com

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Regime favours ending war on methamphetamine | Bangkok Post: news

Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya has proposed that ya ba (methamphetamines) be taken off the dangerous illicit narcotics list and put under the normal drugs category as current measures to suppress the drugs have failed.


However, if and when the drugs are to be taken off the list, all agencies will have to work out measures to ensure that the distribution, sale and use of the drugs are strictly controlled, Gen Paiboon said.

He made the proposal Wednesday at a meeting which discussed the results of the 2016 UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs (UNGASS), adapting the recommendations to deal with drug problems in Thailand. The Supreme Court president Veerapol Tungsuwan was a speaker at the meeting and he echoed Gen Paiboon's opinion.

Addressing the meeting, Gen Paiboon said the world has fought a war on drugs over the past 28 years, but achieved little. Several countries have now changed their approach to dealing with drugs and have considered how to adapt and live with drugs, instead of continuing the traditional approach.

Justice Minister Gen Paiboon Koomchaya shocked the country Wednesday with a proposal to stop criminalising methamphetamines. (Photo by Pattanapong Hirunard)

"The world has now surrendered to drugs, and has come to think of how to live with drugs. It is like a man suffering from cancer and having no cure and he has to live a happy life with the cancer," Gen Paiboon said.

Numerous countries have discussed solutions to the drug problem in terms of looking after drug users and safeguarding their rights, the minister said.

Gen Paiboon said Thailand is among several countries which supports the idea of a proportionate punishment for drug offences involving the use of amphetamine-type stimulants, as well as alternatives to imprisonment.

Many countries have adopted such ideas, but Thailand has failed to implement them because the country's drug laws still have certain limitations and need to be amended to accommodate these measures, Gen Paiboon said. A bill was drawn up to reform the system of drug laws and has received the endorsement of the cabinet. The bill will be tabled to the National Legislative Assembly for deliberation, Gen Paiboon said.

The bill would allow the courts of justice to determine whether a drug offender deserves punishments such as a jail term or a fine that is less severe than the minimum penalties stipulated by law. He said the status of methamphetamines or ya ba should be changed from a severe to a normal drug. Citing medical studies, Gen Paiboon said methamphetamines's effects on health are less harmful than those of alcohol and cigarettes.

The Justice Ministry will hold discussions with the Public Health Ministry, the courts of justice and prosecutors, and other agencies to amend the law and find ways to take methamphetamines off the narcotics list.

Mr Veerapol told the meeting that Thailand has failed in its bid to use harsh legal measures against drug abuse and drug trafficking. Despite the harsh measures, the drug problem has continued unabated. More than half of about 270,000 legal cases pending in court are drugs-related, Mr Veerapol said. The Supreme Court president also admitted that several agencies, including the courts of justice, have still failed to work together to address the drug problem.

Under the law, drug addicts are now treated as patients as part of a move to improve measures to deal with the problem, he said.

However, a drug user who possesses 15 methamphetamine pills or more is considered a drug dealer and is liable for the same punishment imposed on drug dealers, Mr Veerapol said.

Pol Lt Gen Rewat Klinkesorn, chief of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, said the police need to follow government policy.

Prateep Ungsongtham Hata, the Duang Prateep Foundation's secretary-general, warned that if methamphetamines are removed from the narcotics list and put in the normal drugs category, there will be an increase in the drug supply and an increase in demand.

Their prices may drop due to higher competition, said Ms Prateep, who has been battling illicit drugs in the Klong Toey slum community in Bangkok.

Ms Prateep, a 1978 Ramon Magsaysay Award winner, said she wanted to see Gen Paiboon come up with plans to educate Thais about the dangers of methamphetamine abuse.

She also disputed Gen Paiboon's claim that methamphetamines are less harmful than alcohol and cigarettes.

Bron: www.bangkokpost.com

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Criminelen bestormen ziekenhuis in Rio de Janeiro | NOS

Een groep zwaarbewapende criminelen heeft een ziekenhuis in Rio de Janeiro bestormd. De groep bevrijdde een drugscrimineel die werd behandeld voor een schotwond. Bij het daaropvolgende vuurgevecht met de politie werd een patiënt doodgeschoten. Twee andere mensen raakten gewond.

"Het was een goed geplande aanval", zegt een woordvoerder van de Braziliaanse politie. "Het was een roekeloze actie die niet ongestraft zal blijven. Dit is onacceptabel."

Minstens vijf van de aanvallers gingen het ziekenhuis binnen, vijftien anderen hielden buiten de wacht. De man die bevrijd werd, heeft de bijnaam 'Fat Family'. Hij zou de leider zijn van een drugsbende in de stad. Hij lag in het ziekenhuis omdat hij bij een eerder vuurgevecht met de politie gewond was geraakt.

Het ziekenhuis is een van de vijf die buitenlanders mogen behandelen tijdens de Olympische Spelen in de Braziliaanse stad. Het is het dichtstbijzijnde ziekenhuis bij het Maracanã-stadion, waar op 5 augustus de openingsceremonie wordt gehouden.

Bron: nos.nl

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The U.S. Government And The Sinaloa Cartel - Business Insider

An investigation by El Universal found that between the years 2000 and 2012, the U.S. government had an arrangement with Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel that allowed the organization to smuggle billions of dollars of drugs while Sinaloa provided information on rival cartels.

Sinaloa, led by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, supplies 80% of the drugs entering the Chicago area and has a presence in cities across the U.S.

There have long been allegations that Guzman, considered to be "the world's most powerful drug trafficker," coordinates with American authorities.

But the El Universal investigation is the first to publish court documents that include corroborating testimony from a DEA agent and a Justice Department official.

The written statements were made to the U.S. District Court in Chicago in relation to the arrest of Jesus Vicente Zambada-Niebla, the son of Sinaloa leader Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and allegedly the Sinaloa cartel's "logistics coordinator."

Here's what DEA agent Manuel Castanon told the Chicago court:

"On March 17, 2009, I met for approximately 30 minutes in a hotel room in Mexico City with Vincente Zambada-Niebla and two other individuals - DEA agent David Herrod and a cooperating source [Sinaloa lawyer Loya Castro] with whom I had worked since 2005. ... I did all of the talking on behalf of [the] DEA."

A few hours later, Mexican Marines arrested Zambada-Niebla (a.k.a. "El Vicentillo") on charges of trafficking more than a billion dollars in cocaine and heroin. Castanon and three other agents then visited Zambada-Niebla in prison, where the Sinaloa officer "reiterated his desire to cooperate," according to Castanon.

El Universal, citing court documents, reports that DEA agents met with high-level Sinaloa officials such as Castro more than 50 times since 2000.

Then-Justice Department prosecutor Patrick Hearn told the Chicago court that, according to DEA special agent Steve Fraga, Castro "provided information leading to a 23-ton cocaine seizure, other seizures related to" various drug trafficking organizations, and that "El Mayo" Zambada wanted his son to cooperate with the U.S.

Screen Shot 2014 01 12 at 7.05.37 PM A screenshot from the documents published by El Universal. El Universal

"The DEA agents met with members of the cartel in Mexico to obtain information about their rivals and simultaneously built a network of informants who sign drug cooperation agreements, subject to results, to enable them to obtain future benefits, including cancellation of charges in the U.S.," reports El Universal, which also interviewed more than one hundred active and retired police officers as well as prisoners and experts.

Zambada-Niebla's lawyer claimed to the court that in the late 1990s, Castro struck a deal with U.S. agents in which Sinaloa would provide information about rival drug trafficking organizations while the U.S. would dismiss its case against the Sinaloa lawyer and refrain from interfering with Sinaloa drug trafficking activities or actively prosecuting Sinaloa leadership.

"The agents stated that this arrangement had been approved by high-ranking officials and federal prosecutors," Zambada-Niebla lawyer wrote.

After being extradited to Chicago in February 2010, Zambada-Niebla argued that he was also "immune from arrest or prosecution" because he actively provided information to U.S. federal agents.

Zambada-Niebla also alleged that Operation Fast and Furious was part of an agreement to finance and arm the cartel in exchange for information used to take down its rivals. (If true, that re-raises the issue regarding what Attorney General Eric Holder knew about the gun-running arrangements.)

A Mexican foreign service officer told Stratfor in April 2010 that the U.S. seemed to have sided with the Sinaloa cartel in an attempt to limit the violence in Mexico.

El Universal reported that the coordination between the U.S. and Sinaloa, as well as other cartels, peaked between 2006 and 2012, which is when drug traffickers consolidated their grip on Mexico. The paper concluded by saying that it is unclear whether the arrangements continue.

The DEA and other U.S. agencies declined to comment to El Universal.

[UPDATE 1/14] This post has caused many to interpret that the U.S. government is actively supporting Sinaloa. That has not been established, despite claims by Zambada-Niebla's lawyer and Stratfor's source. What El Universal's investigation and the newly published court documents reveal is that there was a strong correlation from 2005 and 2009 between the rise of the Sinaloa cartel and the DEA's relatively regular contact with a top Sinaloa lawyer.

Bron: www.businessinsider.com

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Decriminalise all drugs says Junior Justice Minister

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As the former chair of the Oireachtas Justice Committee, the Cork East TD produced a report recommending that Ireland should follow the Portuguese legal system on possession drugs.

In Portugal, people caught in possession of certain small amounts of drugs, including cannabis, cocaine and heroin, are not prosecuted by the courts.

Instead, police have the discretion to send drug users for counselling or education on the dangers of drugs.

"When we went to Portugal, I was quite in impressed with the whole system from start to finish," Mr Stanton told the Sunday Independent.

"The police were very happy about it because it meant they weren't tied up in courts. If somebody had a small amount of stuff on them, the police chiefs had the discretion to send them to dissuasion centres where they had interaction with a social worker, counsellor and a legal person," he added.

The minister said his report on decriminalising drugs was submitted last year to Ms Fitzgerald and he believes she accepted the findings "positively".

Mr Stanton said he will be urging his colleagues, including new junior minister with responsibility for drugs policy, Catherine Byrne, to have "an open mind" to the possibility of decriminalising drugs.

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U.S. Gov’t Will Legalize Marijuana on August 01

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The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will reclassify marijuana as a “Schedule Two” drug on August 1, 2016, essentially legalizing medicinal cannabis in all 50 states with a doctor’s prescription, said a DEA lawyer with knowledge of the matter.

The DEA Lawyer had told the lawyer representing a DEA informant of the DEA’s plan to legalize medicinal cannibis nationwide on August 1, 2016. When questioned by our reporter, the DEA lawyer felt compelled to admit the truth to him as well.

“Whatever the law may be in California, Arizona or Utah or any other State, because of Federal preemption this will have the effect of making THC products legal with a prescription, in all 50 states,” the DEA attorney told the Observer. Federal Preemption is a legal doctrine that where the US Government regulates a particular field, State and local laws are overridden and of no effect.

He explained that “there are five DEA schedules. Nothing on Schedule One is ever legal, and that is where Cannabis is today. Schedule Two drugs are available with a prescription.”

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Buitenlandse drugstoeristen mijden Limburgse coffeeshops | NOS

Belgische drugstoeristen mijden steeds vaker de coffeeshops in Sittard en Geleen. Sinds 1 juni mogen in die plaatsen buitenlanders coffeeshops niet meer in.

De gemeente is positief over de ontwikkelingen sinds de invoering van de zogenoemde ingezetenen-criterium. "Het drugstoerisme is fors teruggelopen", zegt burgemeester Sjraar Cox. Het is niet duidelijk waar de toeristen nu heen gaan om drugs te kopen.

In Maastricht werden coffeeshops in 2012 afgesloten voor buitenlanders. Daardoor gingen Belgische drugstoeristen vaker naar Sittard-Geleen. Omdat daar steeds meer overlast werd ervaren, besloot burgemeester Cox het ingezeten-criterium in te voeren.

Begin deze maand nam het aantal straatdealers wel toe, schrijft 1Limburg. Volgens de gemeente zagen die kans om gebruik te maken van de nieuwe afzetmarkt. De politie heeft het aantal dealers in Sittard flink kunnen terugdringen, maar in Geleen gaat dat moeizamer.

Om de dealers ook uit de straten van Sittard te weren, worden extra agenten ingezet. Die worden geassisteerd door bijzondere opsporingsbeambten (boa's).

Bron: nos.nl

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Paraguay: Drug Czar Steps Down After Deadly Anti-Cannabis Operation | High Times

On Monday, Paraguay's top anti-drug official stepped down, two days after a botched anti-cannabis operation left a three-year-old girl dead at the hands of his troops.

Luis Rojas resigned as head of the National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD), under apparent pressure from President Horacio Cartes. The deadly operation took place in the Nueva Italia municipality, where SENAD troops searching for cannabis plantations apparently fired on a van—which proved to be carrying members of the Zanotti Cavazzoni family, owners of a local sugar plantation and mill. The girl's uncle was also wounded in the attack. The girl was the grand-daughter of Ulrico Zanotti Cavazzoni, local sugar oligarch and land-owner.

Paraguay has seen escalating gunplay in recent months, in an apparent struggle by rival gangs for control of the underground cannabis trade. Last week, a commando-style assassination of a local businessman occurred in the town of Pedro Juan Caballero, on the Brazilian border and a key transfer point for cannabis and other contraband. The "border businessman" Jorge Rafaat Toumani was killed in a road ambush by a team of at least 10 gunmen—armed not only with assault rifles but also a heavy machine-gun. This was apparently needed to penetrate Rafaat Toumani's personal armored vehicle. Another five were injured in the attack. Nine suspects have been apprehended. Authorities say they suspect First Capital Command (PCC), the Brazilian crime network which is said to control much of the cannabis trade in Paraguay.

Paraguay is by far South America's largest cannabis producer, having surpassed Colombia over the past decade. But in vivid contrast to nearby Uruguay, the traditionally conservative landlocked country continues to pursue a policy of hardline intransigence. Rojas had been a particularly outspoken opponent of Uruguay's new legalization program.

But dissent is growing. On Wednesday, members of the opposition Paraguay Pyahurâ Party (PPP) held a protest march in Asunción, the capital, against the "anti-popular and anti-national" drug policies of President Cartes.

Bron: hightimes.com