The World Wide War on Drugs #12 - Legalize not criminalize

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‘War on drugs’ belabberd: ‘Kali-team’ Antwerpen valt uiteen

Niet alleen voert de politie een ‘war on drugs’ uit, ook onderling wordt er flink gevochten, zo blijkt. En deze politie-oorlog heeft een nieuwe dimensie erbij gekregen. Het ‘Kali-team’, die allerlei diensten verenigde in één ‘task-force’ in Antwerpen en de strijd moest aangaan met de ‘mocromaffia’ – het amalgaam van vooral cocaïnebende Marokkaanse drugbendes – is uiteengevallen. De federale speurders willen niet meer met hun lokale collega’s werken. Volgens Het Laatste Nieuws deed het onafgesproken oprollen van de ‘Noodle-bende’ – door de lokale politie – de emmer van ontevredenheid overlopen.

Het Kali-team werd vorig jaar in leven geroepen. Op het Antwerpse Kiel werkten zo’n 35 lokale politiespeurders samen met 40 agenten van de federale gerechtelijke politie. Dit op een speciaal ingerichte en beveiligde verdieping in het Digipolis-gebouw. Maar de samenwerking verliep al snel stroef. Informatie werd niet altijd even vlot gedeeld, wat leidde tot spanningen. De raid op het ‘Noodle-netwerk’ twee weken geleden deed de emmer overlopen.

Slechts een handvol federale flikken blijven op Kali-hoofdkwartier in Digipolis

Twee weken geleden viel de lokale politie namelijk binnen op containerterminal 1742. Met groot vertoon rolden de lokale flikken toen de Noodle-bende op. Alleen: de bedoeling was dat het federale team die operatie zou uitvoeren. In de dagen na de arrestaties lieten de federale agenten zich nog amper zien in het Kali-hoofdkwartier. Via mail werd geïnformeerd dat de federale agenten opnieuw vanuit hun kantoren aan de Noordersingel werken. De lokale agenten blijven wel het Kali-kantoor gebruiken: “Het stadsbestuur heeft 600.000 euro geïnvesteerd in dit speciale kantoor met alle mogelijke informatica”, zo luidt het ginder via HLN. “Dit gooien wij niet zomaar weg. Wij willen met de nieuwe Antwerpse procureur bekijken hoe het verder moet met het Kali-team en met het Stroomplan.”

Stanny De Vlieger van de federale politie, die in 2018 ook werd aangesteld als baas over het Kali-team, ontkent dat alle federale speurders weg zijn uit Digipolis, alwaar het Kali-team opereerde/opereert. “Die bewering mist elke nuance. Onze mensen werken zowel vanuit Digipolis als vanuit de Noordersingel. Het hangt af van het soort werk.” Er zijn inderdaad nog enkele federale speurders actief bij Kali. Het gaat om een klein financieel-economisch team die verdachte handelszaken onderzoekt en met wie de andere diensten wel vlot samenwerken.

Burgemeester Bart De Wever (N-VA) is alleszins niet te spreken over het opstappen van het gros van de federale speurders en noemt het een blamage voor de werking van het gerecht en de veiligheidsdiensten. De Wever wil nu “een serieuze uitleg” van de justitieminister Koen Geens (CD&V) en binnenlandminister Pieter De Crem (CD&V).

Mocro-maffia kwelt Antwerpen

De Noodle-bende is/was een Marokkaanse drugsbende gecentreerd rond twee families. De naam is afkomstig van een restaurant genaamd ‘Mr. Noodles’, dat door bendelid Moraad E.M. werd uitgebaat. Het restaurant was het doelwit van één van de 60 onopgeloste aanslagen die verband houden met de ‘mocro-oorlog’ in Antwerpen.

Cocaïne is een groot probleem in Antwerpen. Berichten over tonnen onderschepte cocaïne halen geregeld de media. In 2016 werd Antwerpen nog betiteld als de ‘grootste cocaïnehaven van Europa’ is. Dat is ook niet toevallig want in Rotterdam – de belangrijkste haven van Nederland – worden voornamelijk vloeibare goederen toegeleverd, terwijl er in Antwerpen vooral containers toekomen. Die containers lenen zich uitstekend tot het binnensmokkelen van grote hoeveelheden drugs.

Criminele bendes met Marokkaanse wortels – in Nederland betiteld als ‘mocromaffia’ – zoals ‘de Turtles’ en ‘de Mixers’ domineren de lucratieve en clandestiene cocaïnehandel. Eerder bleek tevens dat de mocromaffia hecht verweven is met verschillende islamitische gebedshuizen. Maar het milieu heeft ook een flinke voet in het onderwijsveld, alwaar men leerlingen – veelal van allochtone afkomst – van kindsbeen af in de drugswereld trekt. De conflicten tussen de bendes leiden tot gewelddadige afrekeningen met bommen en schietpartijen. Er worden zelfs geregeld handgranaten gegooid naar gebouwen.

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De Spaanse douane onderschept cocaïne in Vigo, begin deze maand AFP EU overspoeld door cocaïne, recordhoeveelheid onderschept

De hoeveelheid cocaïne die jaarlijks in de Europese Unie in beslag wordt genomen, stijgt razendsnel. Uit een rapport van het Europees Waarnemingscentrum voor drugs en drugsverslaving (EMCDDA) blijkt dat de onderschepte hoeveelheid van ruim 70 ton in 2016 verdubbelde naar ruim 140 ton het jaar erop.

Volgens het onderzoekscentrum heeft de cocaïne ook de hoogste zuiverheid in tien jaar. Dat wijst volgens de onderzoekers op een toegenomen beschikbaarheid van de drugs. Hoewel de coke steeds puurder wordt, valt dat aan de prijzen nauwelijks af te zien. De gemiddelde straatwaarde van een gram cocaïne in Europa ligt vrij stabiel tussen de 55 en 82 euro.

Een mogelijke verklaring die het EMCDDA geeft voor het groeiende aanbod, is de innovatie in de cocaïnemarkt. Zo is het voor aanbieders makkelijker om hun coke te slijten, door middel van bijvoorbeeld marktplaatsen op het darknet en via sociale media. Het agentschap spreekt van de "Uberisatie" van de cocaïnehandel, vanwege de handel via apps op smartphones.

Smokkel

De meeste cocaïne, 45 ton, werd in beslag genomen in België. Daarna volgt Spanje, met 41 ton. In Nederland werd 14,6 ton onderschept. Vooral de smokkel via containers in havens zou moeilijk te stoppen zijn. Dat geldt ook voor de smokkel in synthetische opiaten. Die zijn over het algemeen effectiever dan de natuurlijke varianten, waardoor ze in kleinere hoeveelheden gesmokkeld worden.

Vlak buiten de EU valt ook de rol van Turkije in de drugshandel op. Hoewel Turkije er niet uit springt op het gebied van cocaïnehandel werd er wel meer mdma en amfetamine onderschept dan in alle Europese landen samen.

Dat de cocaïnehandel de laatste jaren welig tiert in Europa, was al wel bekend. Verschillende politie- en opsporingsdiensten maakten de afgelopen tijd melding van grootschalige smokkel, bijvoorbeeld in Europese havens. Ook worden regelmatig drugsmarkten op het darknet opgerold door de politie.

Gevolgen voor gezondheid

Volgens het EMCDDA is het moeilijk in te schatten wat de gevolgen van het toegenomen cocaïnegebruik zijn voor de volksgezondheid. Dat komt vooral doordat de meeste methoden waarmee die inschattingen worden gemaakt zijn gericht op het gebruik van opiaten, zoals heroïne. Het gebruik van die drugs nam de afgelopen jaren juist af.

Wel is duidelijk dat meer mensen zich laten behandelen voor cocaïneproblemen. Opvallend is ook dat de onderzoekers er rekening mee houden dat het gebruik van crack in opmars is. Die coke, die wordt gerookt, wordt veel vaker in verband gebracht met problematisch gebruik.

De meest gebruikte drug binnen de Europese Unie is nog altijd cannabis. Volgens het rapport gebruikten in 2017 bijna 25 miljoen mensen in Europa cannabis. Cocaïne werd door 3,9 miljoen Europeanen gebruikt en partydrug mdma, dat in Nederland populair is, werd door 2,6 miljoen mensen gebruikt.

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Michael Gove says drug admission will not lead to US travel ban

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Michael Gove has said his use of cocaine in the past will not lead to him being banned from entering US, as he struggled to get his Tory leadership campaign back on track.

Gove dismissed as “foolish” the idea that American authorities could ban a prime minister from entering their country, even though some UK citizens have been stopped from going to the US after admitting to having taken drugs.

He acknowledged he was “fortunate” not to have been sent to prison for using the class-A drug while a journalist about 20 years ago but said it was unlikely to lead to a travel ban.

Pressed on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show about whether he had ever lied about his drug use to US immigration authorities, Gove said: “I don’t believe that I have ever, on any occasion, failed to tell the truth about this when asked directly.” He said he was not asked about drug use when he became a government minister.

The environment secretary has had to confront a series of difficult questions after his drug use while in his 30s was revealed in a new book by a journalist, Owen Bennett.

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Drugs expert barred from policy panel after criticising Home Office

Minister vetoed appointment of woman who called Home Office drug policy ‘utter BS’

A government minister vetoed the appointment of an expert to a public body after vetting found she had criticised the Home Office and called for drug policy reform, it has emerged.

Documents released under a subject access request also reveal that candidates for public bodies now have their social media profiles scrutinised by ministers, including posts regarding the “PM/government”, Windrush, Brexit and anything “diversity-related”.

An online search by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) secretariat found that Niamh Eastwood, the director of Release, the UK’s centre on drugs and drug laws, had described a Home Office policy position as “utter BS” and claimed it was “just making s**t up” in a tweet.
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Eastwood had been deemed appointable to the ACMD, which makes drug policy recommendations to government, by a Home Office advisory assessment panel.

Although it was recognised that her “contribution could enrich the group”, there was concern that she “may use the appointment as an inappropriate lobbying opportunity”.

It was suggested that Eastwood’s “clear views on drugs liberalisation” might impede her ability to be “impartial, and provide unbiased views”. When asked for comment, the Home Office claimed that the decision was made “on the basis of expertise”.

Vetting candidates for such appointments has been tightened following Toby Young’s brief time at the Office for Students after he came under scrutiny for a number of offensive tweets.

In a subsequent report, the Commissioner for Public Appointments highlighted a “possible lack of due diligence by the recruiting department” and there are now checks on “relevant social media content”.

Eastwood said during her interview that she was a critic of the government’s drug policy. The Home Office secretariat later flagged a number of critical tweets, including one posted in April 2018 which said:

^{The @ukhomeoffice provides a further response to the ACMD on #DCRS & it is UTTER BS! https://assets.publishing(...)Atkins_MP_to_OBJ.pdf … - misrepresentation of the evidence & just making s**t up!}

She was referring to a letter regarding drug consumption rooms (DCRs) sent by Victoria Atkins, the minister for crime, following a report on how to reduce opioid-related deaths in the UK.

The letter omitted to mention that DCRs have public health benefits and that there has never been an overdose within one of the facilities, instead focusing on the “implied acceptance of criminality” that their introduction – which Nicola Sturgeon has called for – could bring.

In the internal correspondence, the council’s secretariat said: “Having a different view to the Home Office is not a barrier to appointment, but the language and tone used identifies a concern that the candidate would find it hard to work alongside government and may use the appointment as an inappropriate lobbying opportunity.”

An email from the minister for crime’s office read: “The minister is content with the recommendations, apart from N Eastwood as a candidate.”

Atkins, who is the government’s spokesperson on drug policy, “voluntarily recused herself” from policies and decisions relating to cannabis last year after British Sugar began growing substantial amounts of the controlled substance under a Home Office licence to sell for medicinal purposes. Her husband, Paul Kenward, is the company’s managing director.

Corey Stoughton, Liberty’s advocacy director, said: “Rather than creating an echo chamber of ‘yes people’, the Home Office should be open to the sort of honest feedback and genuine scrutiny that comes with recruiting the best people available.

“Preserving the independence of these important advisory and oversight bodies is critical to stop damaging policies and bad practice from becoming entrenched. As a ministry that has produced more than its fair share of scandal and criticism, we should be particularly concerned about this practice from the Home Office.”

Eastwood, who sits on a number of other advisory groups, said people were dying from drug misuse in record numbers and she stood by her remarks.

“The Home Office has repeatedly presented the evidence on drug consumption rooms inaccurately and have refused to consider introducing these life-saving initiatives,” she said. “The fact that I do not agree with the Home Office’s position should not bar me from being on an independent advisory board; in fact it smacks of political interference and a fear of diverse views.”

She added: “It is shocking the Home Office is routinely checking whether applicants have commented on Windrush or Brexit, regardless of whether they have or not.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Ministers are responsible for appointing members to public bodies in line with the governance code on public appointments. They are provided with a choice of appointable candidates for each competition and will make the appointment objectively and on the basis of expertise.”

The department would not confirm whether any candidates had been vetoed by ministers in relation to criticism over Windrush.

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Turks-Nederlandse 'koning van heroïne' opgepakt in Spanje

In de Spaanse regio Galicië is een netwerk van drugssmokkelaars opgerold waar een Turks-Nederlandse heroïnehandelaar de grote leverancier voor was. Het gaat volgens Spaanse media om Sadullah U., betiteld als "koning van heroïne". Hij zou eerder deze week zijn opgepakt zijn met zeven kilo heroïne in zijn auto. Naast hem werden de afgelopen dagen nog 16 andere mensen gearresteerd.

U. wordt gezien als een van de grootste heroïnehandelaars van Europa. Naar verluidt woonde hij praktisch in zijn Audi A3, waarmee hij dagelijks grote afstanden aflegde. Ook wordt gemeld dat U. nooit mobiele telefoons gebruikte.

De Spaanse politie ontdekte in januari dat een drugshandelaar in de stad Ourense veel heroïne begon te verhandelen en startte een onderzoek dat tot de arrestaties van gisteren heeft geleid. Rechercheurs namen naast de heroïne ook 66 kilo speed en duizenden euro's in cash in beslag.

U. werd twee keer eerder gearresteerd. De laatste keer was in 2008 toen de Spaanse politie de grootste heroïnevangst ooit in Spanje deed. Toen werd meer dan 300 kilo drugs op een jacht bij Barcelona ontdekt. In 1994 belandde U. in de de gevangenis na de vondst van 118 kilo heroïne in Madrid.

Heel groot nieuws is dit niet in Spanje, zegt correspondent Rop Zoutberg. Galicië staat bekend als een van de grote invoerhavens van Zuid-Amerikaanse drugs. Vanuit de deelstaat worden grote delen van West-Europa voorzien van cocaïne en heroïne.

Zoutberg: "De drugsbendes waren vooral eind jaren negentig zeer berucht, ook door de drugsproblemen die ze in Galicië veroorzaakten. Tegenwoordig lijken de drugsbaronnen beter gecontroleerd, al zijn er zeker aanhouding als deze van tijd tot tijd."

Ohio attorney general blasts Cincinnati's new marijuana law

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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost blasts Cincinnati's new marijuana ordinance

He claims councilmembers were pandering for votes

CINCINNATI -- Ohio's attorney general blasted Cincinnati's new marijuana ordinance as useless Friday, saying councilmembers were pandering for votes and showed "disrespect" and "arrogance" for state law.

Attorney General Dave Yost rebuked the City Council's majority vote Friday in an interview with WCPO Anchor Craig McKee for WCPO's weekly Sunday news program, "This Week in Cincinnati."

City Council voted 5-3 Thursday to decriminalize possession of up to 100 grams. And there is no age limit on possession. The law takes effect 30 days after the vote.

Yost said state law doesn't allow anybody to be arrested for possession of up to 100 grams anyway, and the maximum fine for that having amount is $150.

"These laws are symbolic. They're not going to create any new cause of action," Yost said. "But it shows a disrespect for the law and an arrogance on the part of legislators in a city that want to wrest away from the state the responsibly for making laws. "

Councilmember Jeff Pastor, who co-sponsored the ordinance with Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman, said he respects Yost but disagrees with his claim that passing the law was just for votes.

"We're certainly not pandering for any votes," Pastor said in a statement to WCPO. "This is a human issue. This is righting a wrong."

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Op maandag 17 juni 2019 10:22 schreef Zomaar-een-Chinees het volgende:
Als een overheid al die cash vindt bij deze criminelen wat gebeurt er dan mee?

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Colombia leader hits out at 'hypocrisy' of middle-class cocaine users

Iván Duque decries social acceptability of drug that inflicts environmental and social damage on producers

Middle-class cocaine users are inconsistent hypocrites if they fail to recognise the environmental and social damage their drug use is inflicting on producer countries, the Colombian president has said during a visit to London.

In an interview with the Guardian on Monday, Iván Duque said that cocaine’s social acceptability had to end. “There are many people who present themselves as environmentalists, and if they want to be coherent, they must understand all the environmental damage that is caused by the production of cocaine – not just destroying tropical forests, [but] spreading chemicals in protected areas and destroying human capital,” he said.

Duque said that cocaine production leads to the destruction of thousands of hectares of tropical forest. “It’s not just big social damage, but environmental damage. How can you present yourself as a defender of the environment when you are creating so much harm? There needs to be an end to hypocrisy and inconsistency,” he said.

Asked what he thought of admissions by prominent British politicians – including the Conservative leadership candidates Michael Gove and Boris Johnson – that they have used cocaine, Duque said: “The issue with illegal drugs is, they not only have a bad effect on your health, but potentially on third parties. It’s not advice to candidates. Its advice to human beings.”

However, Duque also pledged to relaunch the aerial spraying of coca crops with herbicides within weeks – a process that has been widely criticised by farmers for devastating legal crops alongside illicit plantations.

Colombia suspended the aerial fumigation of coca, the raw ingredient in cocaine, in 2015 after the World Health Organization linked the herbicide glyphosate to cancer. The decision was later backed by the country’s constitutional court.

The US, frustrated by surging cocaine exports, has pressured Duque to resume aerial spraying and threatened to decertify Columbia as a partner in its war on drugs.

Duque said he was considering tougher measures against coca growers – not to please any third country, but because it was his country’s “moral responsibility to act”.

Colombia remains the world’s largest producer of cocaine exports, and a recent UN report said the total acreage under production was an estimated 17% higher in 2017 than 2016.

The drug trade has flourished despite the 2016 peace deal with the guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc). That accord was supposed to usher in a peaceful new chapter, but violence still rages as dissident rebel factions and rightwing paramilitaries battle for control of coca-growing territory once controlled by Farc.

Activists and social leaders have been targeted at unprecedented levels: 702 have been murdered since the peace deal was signed, while 135 ex-combatants have also been killed.

As Duque met potential investors in the City of London, protesters nearby laid the names of hundreds of murdered social leaders, human rights defenders and trade unionists along the pavement of Threadneedle Street.

Miriam Ojeda, originally from Cali, Colombia, who now lives in Denmark Hill, said Duque had betrayed the terms of the peace deal with the Farc. “All the institutions for peace have been sabotaged systematically,” she said.

“The government is telling the business community that everything is good in Colombia, but in fact these people have been killed since the peace agreement has been signed … Communities in Colombia are facing violence on a daily basis.”

Duque was relatively unknown until he won the presidency in Colombia last year after spending most of his adult life in Washington DC, working at the Inter-American Development Bank.

A rightwinger naturally allied to Washington, Duque has played a prominent role in the international effort to oust Nicolás Maduro, as the deepening crisis in neighbouring Venezuela has sent at least a million migrants across the border between the two countries.

Duque was one of the first Latin American leaders to recognise the opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who declared himself Venezuela’s rightful ruler in January. In March Duque declared that Maduro was “facing his last days”, but since then the opposition campaign has faltered.

“The current dictatorship has been in power for almost two decades and will not end overnight, but I think this time the diplomatic blockade has made the dictatorship the weakest it has ever been,” he said on Monday.

“It could take a day, a week, a month. [Maduro’s] military forces are broken, and day by day more of the military want to be on the right side of history. He is surrounded by people that any moment can turn their back on him. The three conditions are clear. We need an end to the dictatorship, a transitional government, and free and fair elections.”

Donald Trump and his hawkish national security adviser, John Bolton, have repeatedly warned that military intervention remains an option in Venezuela, but Duque warned against such measures. “A foreign military option [would be] very costly and very complex. The only viable way to put pressure on Maduro to step down and end this is for the military to put itself on the right side of history,” he said.

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Drugs met waarde van 1 miljard dollar gevonden in haven Philadelphia

Op een containerschip in de haven van Philadelphia hebben de Amerikaanse autoriteiten een partij cocaïne onderschept van 15.000 kilo.

Het gaat volgens het Openbaar Ministerie om een van de grootste drugsvondsten in de geschiedenis van de Verenigde Staten.

De partij drugs vertegenwoordigt een straatwaarde van zo'n 1 miljard dollar. De bemanning van het schip is aangehouden.

Verdere details zijn niet bekendgemaakt.

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Feds seize more than 16 tons of cocaine at Philadelphia terminal

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"This amount of cocaine could kill millions -- MILLIONS -- of people," US Attorney William M. McSwain said in a tweet.

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USAttyMcSwain twitterde op dinsdag 18-06-2019 om 20:16:37 This is one of the largest drug seizures in United States history. This amount of cocaine could kill millions - MILLIONS - of people. My Office is committed to keeping our borders secure and streets safe from deadly narcotics. https://t.co/nWPfgpGqYa reageer retweet

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Op woensdag 19 juni 2019 13:27 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

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USAttyMcSwain twitterde op dinsdag 18-06-2019 om 20:16:37 This is one of the largest drug seizures in United States history. This amount of cocaine could kill millions - MILLIONS - of people. My Office is committed to keeping our borders secure and streets safe from deadly narcotics. https://t.co/nWPfgpGqYa reageer retweet

Die reacties

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Op donderdag 20 juni 2019 07:42 schreef theunderdog het volgende:

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Het is echt wachten tot die boomers en bejaarde dood gaan. Dan kan er eindelijk gezond, rationeel beleid komen.

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Families of people killed by drugs to march on parliament to demand decriminalisation

‘I’m walking for my son, so his existence isn’t meaningless, so that minds can be changed and attitudes altered’

Families of people killed in drug-related deaths will next week start a six-day walk to parliament to raise awareness of the harms of current drug policy.

The walk, organised by Anyone’s Child, a collective of families affected by drugs who are campaigning for legal control and regulation of the drugs trade, will start on 20 June and end with families sharing their stories outside parliament.

The group are calling on MPs to regulate drugs, putting doctors, pharmacists and licensed vendors in charge of the illegal narcotics market, which they say will save lives.

“I’m walking for my son Jake, so his existence isn’t meaningless, so that 22 years of loving is not wasted, so that minds can be changed and attitudes altered,” Chris Evans, who lost her son to a drug overdose, said.

“I’m walking 55 miles of the Thames Path for my dead sons Jake and Roland. Along the way we want to raise awareness and funding for our campaign,” said Rose Humphries, who lost two sons to overdoses.

Anne-Marie Cockburn, who co-founded Anyone’s Child, and who lost her 15-year-old daughter Martha to an overdose, said: “As I stand by my child’s grave, what more evidence do I need that things must change? I believe that my daughter would still be alive today had she taken something that was legally regulated.”

In the UK, 70 people die in drug-related deaths every week, according to research by the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).

James Nicholls, chief executive of the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, told The Independent: “This campaign wants to see a radical change to drug policy. All drugs can be harmful, but the law as it stands makes them much more dangerous. We want to see drugs legally regulated, as is the case for alcohol and tobacco.

“At the moment, people have no idea what they are buying and we see countless deaths every year from accidental overdose or poisoning. The amount of violence linked to supply is also spiralling. These families have experienced the tragic consequences of all this, which is why they’re calling for the government to bring the drug trade under control.”

Jane Slater, Anyone’s Child coordinator, told The Independent: “Our drug laws can harm anyone’s child. Keeping drugs illegal isn’t keeping our children safe, it’s putting them in danger. Our voices must be heard and our politicians must listen.”

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Op donderdag 20 juni 2019 19:19 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

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Er zijn al wat ouders met gezond verstand.
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Op donderdag 20 juni 2019 19:22 schreef theunderdog het volgende:

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Ja, jawel. Maar het is over het algemeen wel echt een boomer dingetje.

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Catastrophic failure of the war on drugs

This vast unethical trade is co-created by politicians, including President Duque of Colombia, who back a policy of global prohibition, writes Danny Kushlick

In time-honoured fashion we see the tired trope of cocaine users’ responsibility for violence in Colombia (Colombian president says middle-class cocaine users are hypocrites, 18 June). It is 10 years since the UK and Colombian governments launched their “Shared Responsibility” campaign to highlight links between users and the criminal trade. It was dropped because it was ineffective in reducing demand. This most recent call will have little or no effect on demand, but does serve politicians’ need to distract citizens from the catastrophic failure of the so-called “war on drugs”.

Anyone who buys illegal drugs does contribute to the criminal market. However, this vast unethical trade is co-created by politicians, including President Duque of Colombia, who back a policy of global prohibition. Duque’s predecessor, President Santos, said he would consider legalising cocaine in 2011, and is now a member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, which collectively supports the legal regulation of drug markets. Unless and until policymakers begin to seriously engage with the issue of who controls the international drug trade, we cannot make progress in reducing opportunities for organised crime and improving international development and security.

Danny Kushlick
Head of external affairs, Transform

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Congress Votes YES to Protect Legal Marijuana

For the first time ever, the House of Representatives just voted to restrict the Department of Justice from interfering with the states that have legalized adult-use marijuana.

The importance of this 267 to 165 bipartisan vote on the Blumenauer amendment cannot be overstated. Today, nearly one in four Americans reside in a jurisdiction where the adult use of cannabis is legal under state statute.

Today’s action by Congress highlights the growing power of our movement and the work of NORML leaders all around the country.

“It’s past time we protect all cannabis programs,” said Rep. Earl Blumenauer, co-founder of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus and lead sponsor of the amendment. “We have much more work to do. The federal government is out of touch and our cannabis laws are out of date. I’m pleased that the House agrees and we are able to move forward.”

Now, we must shift our focus to the Senate and ensure that they do not move to strip out these hard-fought protections.

Make a contribution to our Senate Education Fund right now so we can do a full-court-press and cure those Senators who are suffering from Reefer Madness!

Never in modern history has there existed greater public support for ending the nation’s nearly century-long failed experiment with marijuana prohibition. Now is our time to make our voices heard in the halls of Congress.

Together, we’re going to win this vote, and ultimately end marijuana prohibition from sea to shining sea. Together, we will legalize America.

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Cocaine user spared jail on Michael Gove plea

A class A drug user walked free from court yesterday after the judge ruled he should “suffer no more for dabbling in cocaine” than Michael Gove.

Judge Owen Davies QC upheld a legal argument with the defence that he should not be punished any more than the former Lord Chancellor.

Gove, who is still in the running to become the next Prime Minister, has admitted to taking the drug at parties twenty years ago.

Those caught in possession of a class A drug can be sentenced to up to seven years in prison, which Gove himself admitted he was “fortunate” to avoid.

But the defendant, who has not been named, was given a conditional discharge after suggesting “he should suffer no more for dabbling in cocaine than should a former Lord Chancellor.”

A source close to Judge Davies explained yesterday that he made the remark during legal argument with the defence, and not during sentencing.

“I think the judge was trying to make a joke rather than a political point,” the source told the Telegraph.

Tim Kiely, who represented the defendant in court, tweeted: “Who says humour and justice don’t mix?”

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The new drug highway: Pacific islands at centre of cocaine trafficking boom

Explosion in number of boats carrying cocaine and meth from Latin America to Australia is causing havoc for islands on the way

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It is the drug route you’ve never heard of: a multibillion-dollar operation involving cocaine and methamphetamines being packed into the hulls of sailing boats in the US and Latin America and transported to Australia via South Pacific islands more often thought of as holiday destinations than narcotics hubs.

In the past five years there has been an explosion in the number of boats, sometimes carrying more than a tonne of cocaine, making the journey across the Pacific Ocean to feed Australia’s growing and very lucrative drug habit.

Caught in the middle are countries such as Fiji, which the Guardian visited as part of a series investigating the Pacific drug highway. Other countries affected include Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and New Caledonia, whose waters and beaches are being used as storage grounds for billions of dollars worth of illicit drugs.

Hundreds of kilograms of cocaine have washed up on remote Pacific beaches, ships laden with drugs have run aground on far-flung coral reefs, and locals have discovered huge caches of drugs stored in underwater nets attached to GPS beacons.

“Draw a direct line between Bogotá and Canberra and it goes straight through the islands,” says Dr Andreas Schloenhardt, professor of criminal law at the University of Queensland.

The Pacific has been a transit point in the drug route for decades, but law enforcement and security analysts told the Guardian the use of the route appears to have increased dramatically in the past five years. Since 2014, Australian federal police have been involved in the seizure of about 7.5 tonnes of cocaine shipped in small vessels such as yachts through the region and intended for Australia.

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Some of the larger Pacific nations are starting to see serious cocaine and methamphetamine addiction, as well as associated gang violence, crime and police corruption.

Superintendent Brett Kidner, who served as senior liaison officer for the AFP in the Pacific region from 2016 to the beginning of 2019, said during his time based in Suva he noticed a “shift in attitudes” toward illicit drugs among Pacific nations.

“Whereas initially they considered it predominantly a problem for Australia and New Zealand, and they were merely transit points, at the end there they were starting to see a significant increase in their domestic use … I definitely saw an increase in use in Fiji, Tonga, Samoa.”

The transnational shipment of drugs through the Pacific is not the only cause of Fiji’s burgeoning domestic drug problem, says the country’s police commissioner, Sitiveni Qiliho, who spoke to the Guardian on a police boat during a patrol along the west coast of Fiji’s main island. A booming tourism industry and increasing wealth in the country also play a part.

“When [traffickers] get in drugs, normally they drop off a few kilos for payment and that is what goes into the market, so that increases the usage,” Qiliho says.

Ian Collingwood, who has lived in Fiji for most of his life and has fallen into drug addiction, told the Guardian that the nation’s drug problem could no longer be described as emerging but as “well-emerged and sizeable”.

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Home Office refuses to defend UK Government drugs policy

The Home Office has refused invitations from the Scottish Affairs Committee to give evidence on the UK’s drugs policy, despite rising numbers of drug-related deaths in Scotland.

Following requests to give evidence defending the UK’s current drugs policy and its impact on Scotland, Minister for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability, Victoria Atkins MP has told the Scottish Affairs Committee she will not appear in front of the Committee.

Review of UK drugs policy needed

During the Committee’s ongoing inquiry into Problem Drug Use in Scotland, the Committee has heard evidence that UK drug policy should be reviewed to better support the recovery of drug users. The Committee’s evidence suggests that the Misuse of Drugs Act is restricting the Scottish Government’s ability to address the rising number of drug-related deaths in Scotland, for example by preventing the opening of Safe Consumption Rooms, meaning urgent reform of UK Government policy is required.

No appearance before Committee

The Committee has asked the Minister to appear in front of the Committee on numerous occasions to account for the UK Government’s drugs policy and has been told in the most recent communication that the Minister “is not offering any dates for her appearance”.

Chair's comments

Commenting on the Home Office’s refusal to account for its policy, Committee Chair Pete Wishart MP said:


.. “When hundreds of people are dying each year from drugs in Scotland, it is reprehensible that the Minister will not come to the Scottish Affairs Committee to answer some important questions about the UK’s drug policy.

.. If the Government is confident that it is taking the right approach to tackling drug misuse it should be willing to appear before my Committee to defend its position.”

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Italiaanse ‘Cocaïnekoning' ontsnapt via het dak uit gevangenis in Uruguay

De Italiaanse maffiabaas Rocco Morabito (52) is ontsnapt uit de gevangenis in de Uruguayaanse hoofdstad Montevideo. Via een gat in het dak konden hij en drie andere gedetineerden uit de gevangenis vluchten, zegt het ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken in Uruguay.

Na de ontsnapping beroofden de gedetineerden een vrouw in de omgeving van de gevangenis. De groep is nog steeds voortvluchtig.

Morabito is volgens de Italiaanse autoriteiten een topfiguur binnen de beruchte maffiafamilie 'ndrangheta. De maffiafamilie die oorspronkelijk uit Napels komt is wereldwijd actief, ook in Nederland. In december vorig jaar hield de Nederlandse politie een grootschalige actie tegen de maffiaclan, onder andere in Limburg waren er invallen. De bijnaam van Morabito is de 'Cocaïnekoning van Milaan'.

Salvini: 'Ontsnapping is schandalig'

Het maffialid was sinds 1994 op de vlucht. In 2017 werd Morabito gearresteerd in Uruguay. Hij zat sindsdien in de gevangenis, in afwachting van zijn uitlevering aan Italië. In dat land moet hij nog een gevangenisstraf uitzitten van dertig jaar, onder meer voor drugshandel en lidmaatschap van een criminele organisatie.

De Italiaanse minister van Binnenlandse Zaken Matteo Salvini noemt de ontsnapping op Twitter schandalig. Hij wil dat de autoriteiten in Montevideo ophelderen hoe Morabito de benen kon nemen. Salvini zei dat hij op Morabito zal blijven jagen.

De drie andere mannen die ontsnapten met Morabito zouden worden uitgeleverd aan Brazilië en Argentinië.

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Illegal drug classifications are based on politics not science – report

Global Commission on Drug Policy calls for a reclassification of drugs including cocaine, heroin and cannabis

Illegal drugs including cocaine, heroin and cannabis should be reclassified to reflect a scientific assessment of harm, according to a report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy.

The commission, which includes 14 former heads of states from countries such as Colombia, Mexico, Portugal and New Zealand, said the international classification system underpinning drug control is “biased and inconsistent”.

A “deep-lying imbalance” between controlling substances and allowing access for medicinal purposes had caused “collateral damage”, it said. Such damage included patients in low- and middle-income countries forced to undergo surgery without anaesthetic, to go without essential medicines and to die in unnecessary pain due to lack of opioid pain relief.

Other negative consequences were the spread of infectious diseases, higher mortality and the global prison overcrowding crisis, the report said.

“The international system to classify drugs is at the core of the drug control regime – and unfortunately the core is rotten,” said Ruth Dreifuss, former president of Switzerland and chair of the commission. She called for a “critical review” of the classification system, prioritising the role of the World Health Organization (WHO) and scientific research in setting criteria based on harms and benefits.

Restrictions on milder, less harmful drugs should also be loosened, the commission said, to include “other legitimate uses”, including traditional, religious or social use.

Some illegal drugs, including cocaine, heroin, cannabis and cannabis resin, were evaluated up to 30 years ago or have never been evaluated, Dreifuss said, which seriously undermines their international control.

Asked whether these drugs should be reclassified, Juan Manuel Santos, the former president of Colombia, replied “yes”. “The scientific basis is non-existent,” Santos told journalists at an online briefing to discuss the commission’s report.

“It was a political decision. According to the studies we’ve seen over past years, substances like cannabis are less harmful than alcohol,” he said. “I come from Colombia, probably the country that has paid the highest price for the war on drugs.”

After 50 years, the war on drugs has not been won, Santos said. It had caused “more damage, more harm” to the world than a practical approach that would regulate the sale and consumption of drugs in a “good way”.

The WHO estimated in 2011 that 83% of the world’s population lived in countries with low or non-existent access to opioid pain relief.

The commission’s recent report looks into how “biased” historical classification of substances, with its emphasis on prohibition, has contributed to the world drug problem. Under the current system, in place since 1961, decisions on classifying drugs are taken by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), a body of UN member states established by the UN Economic and Social Council. The WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence provides recommendations to the CND. However, the recommendations are then voted on by the CND members, leaving them open to political decisions.

Helen Clark, the former prime minister of New Zealand, said the WHO should make decisions on drug classification based on health and wellbeing. More harmful drugs would require a higher level of intervention, she said.

“The international community should recognise that the system is broken,” said Clark. “They should recognise the inconsistencies and it should trigger a review.”

Risk thresholds, such as those used for alcohol, should be used for illegal drugs rather than the “absolute precautionary principle”, she said.

The commission called on the international community to move towards the legal regulation and use of drugs. In January, the WHO recognised the medical benefits of cannabis and recommended it be reclassified worldwide.

Michel Kazatchkine, French physician and former executive director of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, said that 75-80% of the global population do not have access to medicines and “all of the reasons are linked to repression and prohibition-based control systems”.

“These restrictive policies under international control have been impeding and are continuing to impede medicines that are not only needed, but are on the WHO list of essential medicines.”

He said a “crisis of regulation” in the US had led to the “dreadful consequences” of the opioid crisis, as a result of which 72,000 people died in 2017.

“We need to think of these things with a fresh outlook,” said Anand Grover, the former special UN rapporteur for health, India. “We can’t go with the cultural biases of the west.”

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Wat als ‘narcostaat’ Nederland belasting heft op drugs?

Door het gedoogbeleid hoeven de vele illegale wietkwekers die ons land telt niet te vrezen voor straffen, maar als ze gepakt worden wel voor een naheffing van de fiscus. Maar wat als er standaard belasting zou worden geheven op de productie van cannabis? En hoe zit dat met xtc en cocaïne? "Het enige waar criminelen voor vrezen is regulering."

Het is vandaag 'internationale antidrugsdag' en dus laait ook het debat over het Nederlandse drugsbeleid nog maar eens op. Het verbieden van middelen lost weinig op: het gebruik daalt niet en de illegale drugshandel floreert als nooit te voren.

War on drugs is mislukking

Sterker nog, de gehele War on Drugs is in vijftig jaar tijd uitgelopen op een dure mislukking en dus moeten overheden de verkoop en consumptie van illegale drugs gaan reguleren, zo stelt de Global Commission on Drug Policy (GCDP), een denktank vol staatshoofden onder wie oud-presidenten van Colombia, Mexico, Brazilië en Portugal, in een nieuw rapport waarin ook de huidige, gedateerde classificatie van drugs wordt bekritiseert.


Op de Dam in Amsterdam werd daarom vandaag gedemonstreerd tegen het averechtse beleid middels een 'yogasnuifsessie'. "Een ludieke actie om de hypocrisie omtrent drugs aan te kaarten", vertelt initiatiefnemer Machteld Busz, tevens directeur van Stichting Mainline dat onder meer gezondheidsvoorlichting geeft.

Busz: "In het publieke debat wordt vooral met de vinger gewezen naar de gebruiker. Die heeft natuurlijk ook verantwoordelijkheid, maar wij roepen op tot een rationeel debat zonder emotionele en morele ondertoon. Daarbij is het tijd om serieus te kijken naar regulering van het drugsprobleem dat vooral aan de productiekant ligt."


Amerika loopt voorop

Als onderdeel van die regulatie is ook het heffen van belasting een optie. Zo heffen inmiddels zeven Amerikaanse staten belastingen op het kweken en verkopen van recreatieve marihuana die mogelijk is na de volledige legalisering.

"In Nederland betalen coffeeshophouders omzetbelasting, maar producenten niet", zegt Ton Nabben, drugsonderzoeker aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam. "Maar als de staat de regie overneemt bij de regulering van middelen, behoort ook een belasting voor producenten zeker tot de mogelijkheden."


Drugsbelasting in maatschappij investeren

Wat zou dat opleveren? In de VS werd alleen al in 2018 tot wel 319 miljoen dollar per staat opgehaald met wietbelastingen. Geld dat terugvloeit in de maatschappij en wordt besteed aan onder meer voorlichting over drugsmisbruik en medisch onderzoek.

Busz ziet dit ook voor ons land wel zitten. "Wij hebben geen blauwdruk hoe dat eruit moet zien. Maar als je gaat reguleren, kun je ook belasting heffen en die gelden gebruiken voor de gezondheidszorg."


Cannabis meest gebruikt

Nederland, dat in in het buitenland intussen bekend staat als narcostaat, staat volgens Nabben wat betreft het gebruik van wiet en hasj in de middenmoot. Van de volwassenen rookte 4,6 procent in 2018 de afgelopen maand een joint. Daarmee is cannabis veruit de meest gebruikte drugs. Bij het gebruik van andere middelen ging het om 1,9 procent, blijkt uit cijfers van het Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu.

Nabben: "We springen er als land niet bovenuit qua consumptie. Er wordt meer geblowd in landen waar geen coffeeshops zijn. Wel is er een brede feestcultuur in Nederland met bovengemiddeld veel festivals waar xtc gebruikt wordt."


Miljarden aan synthetische drugs

En omdat ons land een grote rol speelt in de illegale productie van xtc, liggen de kosten voor een pilletje hier laag. Maar omdat ons land een grootexporteur is van met name synthetische drugs, wordt er jaarlijks miljarden euro's verdiend aan de illegale productie. Nederlandse drugscriminelen produceerden vorig jaar voor een straatwaarde van minstens 18,9 miljard euro aan xtc en amfetamine.


Accijnzen

Ondertussen heeft de overheid nauwelijks controle. Wat betreft verslavende middelen worden er wel accijnzen gerekend op tabak (2,7 miljard euro in 2018), bier (457 miljoen euro), wijn (348 miljoen) en overige alcohol (342 miljoen). Maar dus niet bij de lucratieve wietmarkt. Volgens de laatste schatting van Bureau Intraval in opdracht van dagblad Trouw wordt er jaarlijks ongeveer 1 miljard euro omgezet in legale coffeeshops.

De omvang van de illegale economie is vele malen groter: 4,8 miljard euro, zo schat het CBS. Volgens Nabben zijn criminelen gebaat bij illegaliteit. "Het enige waar criminelen voor vrezen is regulering".


Tijd voor beter beleid

Busz vindt dat vooral de controle moet worden teruggepakt. "Er is nu geen grip vanuit de overheid op illegale netwerken. We hebben in Nederland eerder een drugsprobleem gehad met heroïne in de jaren 80 en dat onconventioneel opgelost. Nu is het opnieuw tijd voor een beter drugsbeleid."

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Grootste partij drugsafval ooit gevonden in Voorthuizen

In een loods aan de Garderbroekweg in Voorthuizen heeft de politie een enorme hoeveelheid drugsafval gevonden. Het gaat om bijna 45.000 liter en het is een unieke vondst.

"We hebben weleens grote partijen, die meestal in de openbare ruimte bij een sloot of weg terecht komen. Nu dus in een loods en het is echt een grote partij. Zo groot hebben wij het nog nooit gezien", zegt politiewoordvoerder Simen Klok tegen Omroep Gelderland. "Je kunt afvalstoffen niet zomaar wegdoen, dus het werd opgeslagen in deze loods."

De vaten staan rijen dik tegen elkaar aan. Het afval komt waarschijnlijk uit een drugslaboratorium waar synthetische drugs gemaakt worden, zoals xtc en mdma.

Verdachte busjes

Rechercheurs deden uitgebreid onderzoek en ook de Landelijke Faciliteit Ontmantelen (LFO) van de politie kwam naar de loods. Het is nog niet duidelijk waar het afval vandaan komt. De politie vraagt om informatie over verdachte busjes en vrachtwagens in de buurt.

Woordvoerder Klok zegt dat de politie een tip kreeg en toen is gaan kijken. Er is geen milieuschade, maar het zal veel geld gaan kosten om alles op te ruimen.

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Marching Orders: Carnival of Cocaine Cancelled at the G20

Brazilian exports to Japan, already quite low, have dropped further this year.

While en route to the G20 summit in Osaka, a member of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s security detail, Sergeant Silva Rodrigues, was stopped in Spain with 39 kgs – yes, thirty-nine kilos – of cocaine. This is an enormous stash for one person to try to shift on an aeroplane, even (or especially) a military one. It has an approximate street value of £4 million in the UK, and likely a lot more given that it was probably uncut.

Spain, though, is probably the worst place in Europe to try to transit with large amounts of drugs. The country regularly intercepts multi-tonne cargos of illicit narcotics, due to the fact that it has substantial domestic consumption and it is also the only continental gateway where two of the main global trafficking routes converge into Europe (namely, a West African one via Morocco, and one of the more southerly direct channels from Latin America across the Atlantic).

This in turn raises a number of serious questions. Given that someone so close to the Brazilian President felt able to move so much cocaine – 39 kgs would have represented a major haul in many European countries, and generally would only be discovered on a boat, in a port – suggests that he had very much crossed the line. Did he assume that the diplomatic immunity conferred by travelling in a G20 delegation meant that he would be neither searched, nor his contraband ultimately discovered?

Perhaps even more troubling is what this episode says about the Bolsonaro government. It is – or should be – remarkable that someone so close to the President can be corrupted, using the state security umbrella to traffic drugs. It is perhaps even more astonishing that someone working within the military might seek to do so without being discovered before provoking a major international incident. Was he a single ‘bad apple’, or does this suggest a wider culture of impunity within the Bolsonaro administration itself? If the latter, how high does the corruption go?

Many more amusing questions also come to mind. How did the man squeeze so much into his 23 kgs baggage allowance? Was the coke intended to travel all the way to Japan? If it was, who was it intended for: just those ‘below stairs’, or the delegates themselves? There is obviously nobody better to host a summit after-party than the Brazilians, but what happens now it’s no longer snowing in Osaka? Will it just be sake and sushi, instead of supernova caipirinhas? Can we expect a degree of diplomatic blow-back in the Brazil-Spain bilaterals? Are the Brazilians now desperately asking the British delegation for the numbers of local dealers, as well as expressing their disappointment to lame-duck Prime Minister Theresa May at dead-duck Michael Gove’s failure to make the final round in the Conservative leadership race and be here shadowing her at this year’s summit?

Jokes aside, there is something both strangely compelling and absolutely infuriating in the spectacle of supposedly whiter-than-white politicians who have come to power espousing moralistic crusading agendas demonstrating, whether through their own deliberate – and deliberately concealed – actions, or by failing to uphold standards in their staff, rank hypocrisy when it comes to drugs. In the UK, parliament itself is absolutely teeming with traces of cocaine, yet politicians continue to spout disingenuous nonsense while actively undermining inconvenient expert knowledge on the subject that flies in the face of successful and exciting developments in legal change elsewhere in the world. Some even have breathtaking conflicts of interest: Victoria Atkins, the minister responsible for regulating drugs in the UK has taken a continually hard line on the prohibition of recreational cannabis while her husband actively builds a licit medical cannabis empire largely free from competition (due to a paucity of licences) behind what are effectively legal trade barriers over which his wife has a substantial degree of influence.

Recent weeks have brought a succession of old, white, male British politicians who are generally wealthy, usually aristocratic and were educated in the country’s dangerously anachronistic elite public schools – which exist largely to train reactionaries to run an empire which no longer exists – reflecting on their drug use while at university. This nearly always took place at Oxford, a place that continues to incestuously spew out a constantly self-reproducing caste of “overconfident and intellectually shallow” chancers that is the Tory party elite. Their admissions about previous recreational drug use have involved relentless lying, both in terms of downplaying the frequency and extent of their recreational experimentation, and always solemnly declaring it “a mistake” that they “regret”.

This – unless Conservative politicians with leadership aspirations are freakishly unique as a sample of the general drug-consuming population, which is perhaps not impossible given the above – sits entirely askance from the experience of most people, who, in general, and unless they are part of the small fraction with a serious addiction problem, have a good time psychoactively altering their state of mind. Unless, we imagine, they had the misfortune to be sat next to a coked-up, gurning Michael Gove at an afterparty droning on about his ambitions to privatise schools and force kids to give up critical thinking in favour of rote-learning historical dates, rendering them more prone to deteriorating mental health. David Cameron is believed to have spent time raving, and even hosted an “Ibiza-style party” once at Chequers. There is literally no way he did not have a good time doing any of this.

This “lie of repentance” is malicious: it permits politicians to actively continue the failed “war on drugs” and thus deliberately expose less powerful people – often minorities – to the kind of unfair, unnecessary, arbitrary and intrusive surveillance, with all the inhumane repercussions that ensue from convictions that they have never had to fear themselves. Indeed, the only reason the war continues is to police the poor and marginalised. In power, the likes of Gove have even hypocritically sought to end the careers of teachers for engaging in exactly the kind of behaviour that he himself enjoyed with impunity. Why, if the views of converts to the drug warrior cause like Gove and others are sincerely held, are they not advocating “stop and search” in Oxford colleges, such is the apparent scale of criminality there?

The curious case of this week’s Brazilian scandal is even more grotesquely fascinating. Bolsonaro’s proto-Trumpian comments are well-publicised, and have comprised making it easier to shoot those involved in the drug trade, including torturing dealers. Recently, he has enacted much tougher sentencing for traffickers, and engaged in militarised crackdowns against gangs and other criminal actors. In the broader hemisphere, his government has continually railed against the “narco-dictatorship” that has flourished in Venezuela during the late Maduro era, and has even apparently sought to play a key role in potentially toppling the regime in Caracas.

Of course, there is no serious suggestion that Bolsonaro himself is involved in this cocaine fiasco: Rodrigues was in an advance party laying the ground for the President’s arrival, and he was instantly turned over to the Spanish authorities. So, at present, it seems that this is primarily embarrassing for Bolsonaro, rather than a decisive blow to his international credibility.

Perhaps the traffickers should have asked another famous South American with a predilection for the white stuff about how to get it airborne and across the world to a major international gathering successfully: this is something Diego knows how to do in style!

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Lading drugs gevonden op marinebasis Curaçao

Op marinebasis Parera op Curaçao is gisteren een lading cocaïne gevonden in een container, die klaarstond voor transport naar Nederland. De drugs werden gevonden tijdens een doorzoeking door de marechaussee, meldt het ministerie van Defensie.

Het is niet bekend hoeveel kilo cocaïne is aangetroffen, of er aanhoudingen zijn verricht en voor wie de container bestemd was. Het onderzoek wordt gedaan door het Openbaar Ministerie op Curaçao, maar dat was niet bereikbaar voor commentaar.

De basis ligt in een baai bij de hoofdstad Willemstad. Op de basis is ook het Operatiecentrum van de marine gevestigd. Dat stuurt alle anti-drugsoperaties in het Caribisch gebied aan.

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The great Australian methamphetamine flood

Statistics show that Australia is losing its war on methamphetamines, so perhaps it's time to rethink our strategy, writes Dr John Jiggens.

THE ILLICIT DRUG DATA REPORT (IDDR) is the annual summary of the “progress” of Austalia’s endless war on drugs.

Produced by the Australian Crime Intelligence Commission (ACIC), Australia’s national criminal agency, their most recent snapshot of the drug war, IDDR 2016/17, records that the 154,650 Australian drug arrests that year was enough to fill AAMI stadium three times.

A record 27 tonnes of illicit drugs were seized that year, too — twice the weight of a QE2 anchor, the IDDR boasts. The rampaging illicit drug market has grown so huge, it can comfortably drag this staggering weight of seizures in its wake. If only our Government could “grow” other industries so well.

In his preface, ACIC CEO Michael Phelan reports that the drug markets in Australia remain ‘resilient’, though the enormous numbers of drug arrests suggest that “rampant” would be a more accurate characterisation.

In another carefully measured euphemism, he calls Australia’s methamphetamine market ‘large and intractable’, but, as the graph below shows, “going gang-busters” is a far more accurate assessment. This graph of amphetamine seizures at the border over the most recent decade exhibits the unambiguous profile of a methamphetamine flood.



The graph illustrates the weight (and number) of amphetamines seizures at the Australian border in each financial year for the decade before 2016/17. The period between 2011 and the present is what I call the “great Australian methamphetamine flood” when enormous amphetamine seizures from overseas criminal gangs began to be detected at the Australian border, which turned rapidly into the present unprecedented flood. The cause of this flood, ironically, was the war on ice, itself and the extraordinarily high price of ice caused by the war.

The war on ice

Now into its tenth year, the war on ice is portrayed as an outstanding success by the media and Government. Under this tough-on-drugs, lock-all-users-up approach, Australia has spent tens of billions on law enforcement while spending relatively little on treatment, trying to arrest our way out of the problem.

The policy has proved counter-productive because the anti-ice propaganda (remember those sensationalist “Ice Kills” ads?) is dismissed by users, despite their appeal to non-users. Most users are not having problems and when they do, being demonised makes recovery difficult because it cuts their support from family and friends.

Unlike Portugal, which treats drugs as a health problem and pours its money into treatment, we try to solve the problem using police, courts and prisons, with shock tactics, with military-style assaults, believing that we will win the war through shock and awe. As drug offences skyrocket, the cost of drug law enforcement – the amount of Government money spent on the police, prisons and courts securing these drug arrests – increases proportionally.



During these six years, we spent over $10 billion on drug law enforcement and received the methamphetamine flood as an unexpected consequence. While total drug arrests almost doubled because of the “tough on drugs” policy – increasing from 84,757 to 154,600 between 2010/11 and 2016/17 – the number of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) arrests in Australia almost quadrupled from 12,897 to 47,531 as the police in Australia unleashed the war on meth.

All that police attention that the war on ice brought should have caused the price of ice to rise, but after an initial spike the price of ice remained puzzling stable, nonchalantly navigating the crackdown because Australia now had the highest-priced ice in the world.

For the police and Government media departments, these were glory days. Record-breaking seizure followed record-breaking seizure; with every massive seizure, premiers and police commissioners, prime ministers and Border Force ministers claimed victory. But no matter how big the seizure was or how many stunning victories they announced, they never had any effect. The methamphetamine market wasn’t a market any more. It was an unprecedented flood.

Since May 2011, the Australian record for methamphetamine seizures has increased sevenfold, going from a then-record seizure of 240 kilograms that month to a new record of 306 kilos in July 2012, to a newer record of 585 kilos in November 2012, to another record ice seizure of 849 kilos in November 2014. In turn, this was surpassed by a new record seizure of 903 kilos in early 2017 which was again topped by a seizure of 1.2 tonnes in Geraldton later that year.

This brings us to the massive seizures of 2019 — the tsunamis. The first of these, the so-called “tsunami of ice”, was 1.7 tonnes of meth that was discovered in California en route to Victoria in January 2019. This can’t be counted as an Australian record; rather it is included because it is the largest ever meth seizure in the USA, giving Australia the U.S. record ice seizure as well. The latest Australian record – the Australian tsunami – is 1.6 tonnes of methamphetamine discovered in a consignment of stereo speakers in Melbourne in June 2019. These twin meth tsunamis were both valued at $1.3 billion.

Each of these massive seizures was hailed by politicians and journalists as proof that the war on ice was a great success because the police were taking billions of dollars of drugs off the street, but these figures were a clever way to lie with statistics, inflating the actual value many hundreds of time because they were based on a street value of about $1 million per kilo and not cost of methamphetamine production of a few thousand dollars per kilo.

The big picture was not one of continuing police success, as police spun the story, but one of a country swimming in illicit drugs because of its counter-productive prohibitionist drug policy.

When the Australian Federal Police (AFP) conducted the first of these enormous seizures on 4 May 2011, it earned breathless praise from Matt Doran, reporting for Ten News, who exhausted his superlatives describing how this massive bust had delivered “a monster blow to those who organise the traffic in deadly and illegal drugs”. It was, Doran continued, “an extraordinary 240 kilograms of ice with a street value in excess of $50 million, the biggest bust in Australian history”. He declared it had “dealt a major, major blow to organised crime in Australia”.

But this “major, major blow” had no effect at all. As the graph of seizures shows, it was the first small wave of the approaching flood. In 2011, a 200-kilo seizure was extraordinary. Since then, they have become almost commonplace.

In the eight years since, the market has been in flood and the seizures have been huge and growing in size — the scale of the flood is unprecedented.

Since 2014, the police have claimed several seizures each with a street value greater than a billion dollars. The two most recent, the record U.S. and Australian methamphetamine seizures, were valued at $1.2 billion.

In 2011, Matt Doran called a $50 million seizure a “major, major blow”. Eight years later, the market is many times larger and the big seizures – the tsunamis – are valued at over $1 billion. Of course, this is “street value” — real production cost would be only a few million dollars, but with the potential to become billions of dollars once they are successfully smuggled into Australia, so the incentive to continue the flood is staggering.

The enormous increase in price from the production cost of a few thousand dollars per kilo in countries like Thailand and Mexico to an Australian street value of a million dollars per kilo is entirely due to the huge amounts of money we spend on drug law enforcement, on policing, prisons and courts.

What the drug war warriors won’t admit is that the cause of Australia’s ice flood is the war on ice itself and the blowback from the police attempt to arrest their way out of the problem.

Before the flood, amphetamine-type stimulants were largely manufactured in Australia. In their 2012 annual report, the International Narcotics Control Board suggested that the recent crackdown on precursor chemicals in Australia caused the price of amphetamine-type stimulants to rise, which has, in turn, attracted the attention of foreign traffickers seeking to take advantage of the potential for profits.

The initial police crackdown on home-bake and precursors shifted the balance of the methamphetamine market toward importation and this is the reason for the record seizures at the border. Since the shortage caused by local law enforcement only drove prices higher, Australia became a focus for overseas gangs because it was the most profitable methamphetamine market in the world. Australia’s methamphetamine market was globalised and outsourced to the global amphetamine industry: the Mexican cartels, the Southeast Asian triads and the outlaw motorcycle gangs of Canada and the U.S. who found the Australian ice market very attractive. The great Australian methamphetamine flood rolled in.

By giving Australia the highest-priced methamphetamine in the world, the war on ice made Australia the target for these gangs and unleashed an unprecedented methamphetamine flood. As a result of the flood, seizures have increased sevenfold and amphetamine arrests have quadrupled while the price has remained stable.

Our prohibitionist policies criminalise all drug use when our aim should be to treat drug abuse. While 90 per cent of Australia’s illicit drug budget goes into law enforcement, the Portuguese turned this on its head by decriminalising and diverting the money going to police into health and treating drug addiction as a health problem. Arresting your way out of the problem doesn’t work.

_{* Sources: Illicit drug arrest figures are from IDDR (2016-17). COST DLE for 2010/11 is based on estimates in Jiggens (2013) and Ritter et al (2013). These papers estimate the cost of drug law enforcement that year as approximately $1,200 million, giving an average cost per drug arrest of about $14,000 for 2010/11. This is adjusted for inflation to give an average cost per drug offence for succeeding years, which is used to estimate Cost DLE for these years, using the equation, Cost DLE = average cost/drug arrest x number of drug arrests.}

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War on Drugs Has Done Far More Harm Than Illegal Drugs, Major Report Finds

(TMU) — Illegal drugs including cocaine, ecstasy and opiates can potentially be less harmful than tobacco or alcohol yet are seen as dangerous narcotics due to cultural biases and politics rather than actual science, according to a report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy.

Calling for a comprehensive review of the international system that classifies drugs, the commission—comprised of 14 former heads of states from countries including Mexico, Colombia, Portugal and New Zealand—blasted the “incoherence and inconsistencies” of laws that cherry-pick the harmful effects of certain substances using “unreliable and scientifically dubious” methods.

The group also described how the scheduling system has propped up a global drug control regime that imposes major costs on society in the form of “collateral damage,” with some substances facing strict controls and others allowed for medical purposes. This has entailed patients in low-to-middle income countries facing surgery without anesthetics, a lack of crucial medicines, and excruciating and painful deaths that were wholly unnecessary and a result of a ban on opioid pain treatment.

In 2011, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 83 percent of the global population resides in countries where access to opioid pain relief is either inadequate or nonexistent.

Michel Kazatchkine, a French physician and former head of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, said that 75 to 80 percent of the global population lacks access to medicines and “all of the reasons are linked to repression and prohibition-based control systems,” according to the Guardian.

Other consequences include the spread of infectious diseases, higher mortality rates and prisons around the globe that are filled to the brim with drug users.

The group wrote:

. “Such drug control policies have resulted in social and economic problems not only for people who use drugs but also for the general population, including health epidemics, prison overcrowding and arbitrary enforcement of drug laws.”

Continuing to criticize the arbitrary and biased application of drug laws, the group wrote:

. “This de facto prohibition is arbitrary. the current distinction between legal and illegal substances is not unequivocally based on pharmacological research but in large part on historical and cultural precedents.

. It is also distorted by and feeds into morally charged perceptions about a presumed ‘good and evil’ distinction between legal and illegal drugs.”

Ruth Dreifuss, former president of Switzerland and commission chair, blasted the classification while calling for a “critical review” that centers the WHO, modern scientific research and a criteria that sufficiently takes into account the harm and benefit of substances. Dreifuss said:

. “The international system to classify drugs is at the core of the drug control regime – and unfortunately the core is rotten.”

Dreifuss also noted how some illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroin, cannabis and hashish haven’t been seriously evaluated in 30 years or weren’t evaluated at all, seriously undercutting the legitimacy of prohibitionist approaches.

Former president of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos similarly affirmed that drugs should be reclassified. Speaking to journalists in an online briefing on the report, Santos noted that “the scientific basis [of classification] is non-existent.”

Continuing, the former president explained:

. Instead, the country has been saddled for over 50 years with an unwinnable drug war that causes “more damage, more harm” to the world than practical approaches to regulating the sale and consumption of drugs in a “good way,” he added.

The Global Commission added the “only responsible answer to this complex topic is to regulate the market of illegal drugs, starting by establishing regulations and a new scheduling system adapted to the dangerousness of each drug and based on solid scientific assessments,” in line with the same criteria used for food, medications, and other products that could potentially pose risks to consumer health.

The group added:

. “While the international community continues to struggle to find a new consensus, countries should move forward with designing and implementing a more rational policy of scheduling, controlling and regulating psychoactive drugs.”

The group also recommended that milder and less harmful drugs should have restrictions loosened, especially to include “other legitimate uses” such as traditional, religious or social use.

Anand Grover, the former special U.N. rapporteur for health, India, said:

. “We need to think of these things with a fresh outlook. We can’t go with the cultural biases of the west.”

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Middlesbrough: Where heroin is cheaper than cigarettes

In Middlesbrough, a bag of heroin can cost as little as £5. It is not the only town in England to see problems with the drug and homelessness. BBC Tees reporter Adam Clarkson spent an evening on the streets with people who wanted to tell their stories.

"You want hardcore? I'll show you hardcore."

Longshank is 46 years old. That's not his real name but how he wants to be referred to. He's homeless and has promised to "show me the ropes". About five years ago, he found himself sleeping rough. He had struggled with alcohol addiction for years, but said it was the death of his wife that saw his life spiral out of control.

"She was my partner in crime, the best thing that ever happened to me. I was with her 31 years. It broke my heart," he said.

He's drinking a two-litre bottle of cider when we meet. He drinks at least one every day.

"I get wrecked just to get numb. I can't face the music," he adds, "But life has to go on."

He describes his life as "horrendous".

Two days ago, somebody threw a bucket of urine at him.

"It was in the middle of Linthorpe Road. I was just sat there. They swilled me. You wouldn't believe it. I've never been so humiliated."

We walk to the same spot when a drunk man, who is known to Longshank, becomes aggressive towards me. Things become heated, but calm down as the man bursts into tears. He says he and his partner recently lost a baby, and are facing the prospect of becoming homeless.

I am told that arguments and violence "come with the territory".

Longshank then shows me "the bedroom department" - a sheltered car park behind a restaurant, where many rough sleepers congregate. This is where I meet a 22-year-old who introduces himself as Little Man. Little Man says he has been using heroin since the age of 12.

"It's upsetting. I didn't have to go down this route. It breaks my heart, I could do more with my life. There's guaranteed to be a drug dealer within 100ft," Little Man says.

watch as Little Man, Longshank and a number of others pass around a bag of heroin. The powder is melted, mixed with vinegar and put into a syringe.

One man injects himself in his groin.

Tom Le Ruez, Middlesbrough Council's drug-related deaths co-ordinator, says mixing vinegar is "not a particularly good idea".

"It isn't advised that people inject at all, but injecting in environments like dark alleys increases the risk that people will damage their veins."

A bag of heroin costs as little as £5, I am told. Little Man says it's very easy to find. A member of staff comes out of the back door of the restaurant. She tells me Longshank is "no bother", but other people are known to start fires and defecate behind their bins.

Three men arrive and ask if anybody wants to buy drugs. The atmosphere becomes tense when they realise I'm a journalist. Longshank says we need to leave, so we go back to Linthorpe Road. Longshank tells me he was given a flat by the local authority, but it was taken off him when he chose to sleep rough instead.

"I had appointments the next morning at the other side of town. I couldn't walk all that way to walk back again; there's no method in the madness."

I ask Longshank if he's using that as an excuse. He tells me it's possible he is.

"I'd miss all of these guys. It's not all doom and gloom, you know? We have a giggle. The streets are addictive, it is an addiction. It's worse than a drug."

In 2018, the North East saw the second biggest rise in rough sleepers, with a 29% increase. Despite this, the wider region has had the lowest number of rough sleepers in the country since the government began collecting data with an "annual single-night snapshot" in 2010. But Tracy Guy from Shelter said the true scale of homelessness in the North East is "largely hidden from view" as people are "trapped in temporary accommodation or sofa-surfing with friends and family".

According to Middlesbrough Council, there are 11 rough sleepers in the town. That number has risen every year since 2016.

The town has seen drug-related mental health hospital admissions rise from 16 per 100,000 people in 2013-14 to 43 in 2016-17.

Debbie Cochrane, Middlesbrough Council's homeless lead, says help is offered to them every week.

"If they say no, that's fine," she says, "but it doesn't mean we're going to stop trying because one week they might say 'I don't want to live like this any more' and that's when they would be welcomed with open arms.

"That's their life and we're not here to judge. It's not up to us to say 'that's wrong'. If that's how they want to live then that's fine, but the opportunity is there to break away - if that's what they want to do."

Longshank and I part ways. I go home, and he continues the cycle of begging, buying drugs and using them.

"Every day, it's the same" he says. "It's like space invaders. It's a game."

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The cannabis-psychosis debate is being driven by fear mongering, not facts

_{Kira London-Nadeau is the chair of Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy and a masters student at the University of Montreal studying cannabis and mental health. Jenna Valleriani is the CEO of the National Institute for Cannabis Health and Education, and executive director of Hope for Health Canada. Caroline MacCallum is an internal medicine specialist with expertise in complex pain and cannabis, a clinical instructor in the Department of Medicine at UBC, and medical director at Greenleaf Medical Clinic.}

As the legalization of recreational cannabis gains traction across North America, one of the most-debated health concerns is psychosis and cannabis use, particularly for young people.

Frustratingly, both sides often resort to cherry picking data or conflating correlation with causation. Anecdotes, not science, often prop up these arguments.

We’ve all heard it: “Consuming cannabis can lead to psychosis and even schizophrenia.” While this is partially true, it reflects only a restricted, conveniently framed piece of the picture. Others dismiss the association completely, which is also not productive to evidence-informed conversation. For the most part, we’re getting the conversation wrong, and doing a disservice to young people, caregivers, people experiencing psychosis, and those at risk.

Stating that cannabis may contribute to symptoms of schizophrenia-like psychosis is an easy narrative because it’s been perpetuated for so long. What’s more difficult is employing rigorous science and the nuances required to have an evidence-informed discussion on this topic.

While a link exists, it exists mostly for people who are heavy users of THC products and who have a predisposition to psychosis. In fact, one recent study suggests that genetics could account for about 69 per cent to 84 per cent of the link between cannabis and psychosis. It also bears mentioning that a majority of cannabis consumers experience neither psychosis nor go on to develop schizophrenia.

Further, from self-report surveys, we know that only 19 per cent of adult cannabis users were daily or near-daily users – i.e,, those at the highest risk. This means that a majority of individuals who use cannabis are not doing so in ways that would potentially put them at risk for these commonly discussed, severe health issues.

The narrative around psychosis and cannabis often ignores the importance of the varying social and structural factors that we know shape health outcomes. We’ve essentially disregarded these factors in this wider conversation around risk – things such as poverty or childhood trauma and abuse – many of which also increase levels of stress, a known risk factor for psychosis.

However, stress isn’t the only risk factor. Psychosis can be induced by a number of things, including air contaminants, fatigue and other medications and drugs, including alcohol. In fact, psychoses induced by alcohol actually occur much more frequently than those induced by cannabis, in part due to the larger number of people who drink alcohol.

Ignoring the range of risk factors and how broader social and structural factors shape this relationship ultimately serves to preserve the stigma around cannabis and conveniently obscures other known and important relationships between substance use and health. By ignoring these important contexts, we are framing the onset of mental-health issues as a result of someone’s personal choices, and thereby further perpetuating stigma around these conditions for individuals experiencing psychosis or with schizophrenia.

While these ailments are difficult and can be scary, using them to scare people away from consuming cannabis paints a dismal picture of people with these ailments, and completely overshadows their resiliency and individual experiences.

There is some new, but limited, evidence around the utility of CBD (a non-intoxicating cannabinoid found in cannabis) as an effective adjunct therapy for people living with schizophrenia. Many patients also report using cannabis to deal with many other mental- health issues, most often anxiety and depression.

Despite more research needed to continue exploring this area, it may be important to consider how this narrative could shape access to cannabis medical applications.

Ultimately, conversations around cannabis and psychosis are not clear cut. We see them as having two parts: prevention efforts that include identifying actual risks in ways that resonate with the evidence we have; and supporting those who experience psychosis, which must also include support for those who consume cannabis.

We have to resist narratives that attempt to blanket a complicated relationship with absolutes, and this conversation must be anchored by a focus on individual experiences, mental-health supports, and their intersections – both good and bad – with a range of substances.

We cannot ignore the multitude of experiences that deserve better than to be represented under a punchline.

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Op zondag 30 juni 2019 00:24 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

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Militair opgepakt voor drugssmokkel op Curaçao

De marechaussee heeft een Limburgse militair gearresteerd voor drugssmokkel. De 33-jarige man wordt ervan verdacht dat hij cocaïne smokkelde van Curaçao naar Nederland.

De marechaussee was de militair op het spoor gekomen na een onderzoek naar mogelijke drugssmokkel via de militaire logistieke lijnen.

Vorige week vrijdag werd een partij cocaïne ontdekt op marinebasis Parera op Curaçao. De drugs lagen in een container die klaarstond om naar Nederland te worden vervoerd. Een dag later is de militair uit de gemeente Peel en Maas aangehouden. Morgen wordt hij voorgeleid aan de rechter-commissaris.

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Rodrigo Duterte's drug war is 'large-scale murdering enterprise' says Amnesty

New report details systematic killing of poor and calls for UN investigation into crimes against humanity

The president of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte is carrying out a “large-scale murdering enterprise” and should be investigated by the UN for crimes against humanity, according to a new Amnesty report into his so-called war on drugs.

It has been three years since Duterte pledged to wipe out drug abuse in the Philippines by giving police unprecedented powers and near total impunity to kill any suspected drug addicts or dealers. Amnesty’s new report detailed how the systematic killing of the urban poor has continued on such a scale it now amounts to crimes against humanity.

The report told of nightly incidents where police would shoot defenceless suspects, or abduct them and take them to other locations where they would be shot. It found crime scenes were tampered with, evidence fabricated or planted and there was no accountability for the killing of suspects.

According to the report, local officials were put under huge pressure by police to come up with vast numbers of names to put on the “drugs watch list” without needing to provide any evidence they were using or selling drugs and without any legal process.

Interviews by Amnesty told harrowing stories of figures such as Jovan Magtanong, a 30-year-old father of three, who was shot and killed by police when he was sleeping next to his children. Police had been looking for another man. Officers later claimed he had drugs and a gun on him, which witnesses refuted. “They killed him like an animal”, a family member told Amnesty.

The Amnesty report also highlighted how Bulacan province, in the central Luzon area, had overtaken the capital Metro Manila as the “the country’s bloodiest killing field” in the drugs war.

This recent geographical shift was highlighted in recent analysis by the armed conflict location and event data project, which found that the highest proportion of this year’s civilian drug war deaths deaths – almost 25% of the 490 people killed – had happened in the Central Luzon area. This has been attributed to a shift in focus, and police personnel, to the region and a subsequent rise in violent drug raids.

Amnesty called on the UN Human Rights Council to open an independent inquiry to “put an end to these crimes, and to provide justice and reparations for countless families and victims”. It followed a draft resolution drawn up last week by more than a dozen countries formally calling on the United Nations human rights council to open an investigation into the war on drugs.

Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty International’s regional director for east and southeast Asia, described the war on drugs over the past three years as “nothing but a large-scale murdering enterprise for which the poor continue to pay the highest price,” pointing out that it took nothing but a rumour of association with drugs for people in poor communities to be shot and killed by police without impunity.

“Fear has now spread deep into the social fabric of society,” said Bequelin. “It is time for the United Nations, starting with its Human Rights Council, to act decisively to hold President Duterte and his government accountable.”

The international criminal court (ICC) is currently carrying out its own preliminary inquiry into whether the deaths in Duterte’s drug war, beginning when he was mayor of the Philippine city of Davao in 1988, constitute crimes against humanity, the first investigation the court has done into a southeast Asian country.

The ICC defines crimes against humanity as “serious violations committed as part of a large-scale attack against any civilian population”.

The announcement of the inquiry enraged Duterte so much that he withdrew the Philippines from the Rome Statute, which gives the ICC jurisdiction over the country, but the court is still continuing its investigations.

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Drug reform impact lost in war of words

Analysis: The Health Select Committee has failed to agree on the future of the most significant piece of drug reform since the 1970s. Laura Walters reports.

A war of words is raging over the war on drugs, as the Health Select Committee reports back on the most significant piece of drug reform legislation in 40 years.

The parties are divided over a single, but significant, clause in the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill, which enshrines police discretion over prosecution, and prioritises therapeutic options when dealing with possession and personal use of controlled drugs.

It is the same approach Portugal took when changing its drug laws in 2001.

In recent months, there has been a back and forth between National, Labour and the Green Party over whether the proposed legislation will effectively decriminalise drugs.

Labour, including the Prime Minister and the Health Minister, have pushed back on National’s categorisation that this bill creates “de facto decriminalisation by stealth”, saying it doesn't take away the power to prosecute, and police would do so when needed.

Instead, Labour and New Zealand First have been trying to draw attention to the tougher measures against suppliers of synthetics that the bill contains.

When Health Minister David Clark and Police Minister Stuart Nash announced the draft legislation in December, the press release boasted the headline: “Crackdown on synthetic drug dealers”.

There is a disconnect between the Government’s messaging around the bill, the actual effects of the legislation, and what the Government signed up to in both its confidence and supply agreement with the Green Party, and its commitments following the national Mental Health and Addiction Inquiry.

Select Committee Divided

The National members of the health committee have produced a minority report on the bill, opposing what the party refers to as the de facto decriminalisation.

National said it supported the intent of the majority of the bill, including the ability to temporarily classify substances as controlled drugs and classify the two most prevalent chemicals used in synthetics as Class A drugs.

However, the party’s opposition to de facto decriminalisation, through the discretion clause, means National refused to support the bill overall.

The Labour and New Zealand First members recommended one minor and technical change to the discretion clause, leaving the majority of the bill, and its intent, intact.

The significant clause stated police officers have a discretion to prosecute, and a prosecution should not be brought unless it was required in the public interest.

“When considering whether a prosecution is required in the public interest, in addition to any other relevant matters, consideration should be given to whether a health-centred or therapeutic approach would be more beneficial,” it says.

Police would create their own operational prosecution guidelines in relation to the bill, and data collection procedures.

National Party health spokesperson Michael Woodhouse sits on the health committee and was there when the NZ Drug Foundation, Police Association, psychiatrists and lawyers agreed the bill would essentially decriminalise personal possession and use – regardless of what the Prime Minister says.

In his submission to the committee, Police Association head Chris Cahill referred to it as “compulsory discretion”.

Meanwhile, Rotorua lawyer Chris Macklin, representing the Law Society, said he could not think of a single case where police could argue they should prosecute someone for possession of a drug for personal use, under proposed legislation.

No-one who came before the select committee said there could be a case made for a criminal prosecution over a therapeutic approach – regardless of what services were available, Woodhouse said.

If the Government was decriminalising the use of controlled substances, which included meth, synthetics and heroin, there needed to be a wider public debate, rather than slipping it through in this piece of legislation, he said.

Living up to the rhetoric

But the person behind the discretion clause – Green drug reform spokesperson Chlöe Swarbrick – said the Government wasn’t being secretive about its commitment to effectively decriminalise personal use and possession.

“I don’t think there’s anything stealthy about a bill going through the entire select committee process and having submitters on it who are saying, quite explicitly, what the effect of it will be.”

More than that, the Government has made numerous, high-level public commitments to stop criminalising drug users and drug addicts.

Jacinda Ardern stood on the world stage, during UN leaders’ week last year, and refused to sign up to Donald Trump’s war on drugs action plan.

The Prime Minister said New Zealand would take a health-based approach to drugs, rooted in evidence.

This is a key Government commitment under the Labour-Green Party confidence and supply agreement, where the parties vow to “increase funding for alcohol and drug addiction services and ensure drug use is treated as a health issue”.

This is often overlooked, as it is contained in the same clause where the parties agree to have a referendum on legalising the personal use of cannabis at, or by, the 2020 general election.

The Government also accepted 38 out of 40 recommendations of the Mental Health and Addiction Inquiry, including: replacing criminal sanctions for the possession for personal use of controlled drugs with civil responses, such as a referral to a drug awareness or treatment programme, or a fine; and committing to support the replacement of criminal sanctions with a full range of treatment and detox services.

Despite those high-level commitments, it wasn’t easy for Swarbrick to convince Cabinet to move from a criminal approach to a therapeutic approach, due to the political realities everyone was in.

“I’m on record multiple times saying politicians are some of the most risk averse people that I’ve ever met,” she said.

In the end, Cabinet agreed to stop penalising those “caught in the web of addiction”.

“We simply, genuinely, could not have the inconsistency of our Prime Minister going over to the UN and saying we would not sign up to the war on drugs, then simultaneously continuing to criminalise people. Let alone ratcheting up penalties.

“So I see this as us actually living up to the rhetoric.”

Shadow-boxing for too long

A full reform of New Zealand drug law, including repealing and replacing the act with a law administered by the Ministry of Health, was also recommended by the Law Commission in 2011 - a position the Green Party also holds.

While there was yet no official commitment to repeal and replace the Misuse of Drugs Act, there had been substantive discussions between Government parties.

In the meantime, the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill was a significant step towards that health-centred approach.

The change would put New Zealand in line with Portugal's decriminalisation approach, introduced in 2001. The only difference is New Zealand did not have Portugal's Dissuasion Commission.

“This is huge. This is the largest change we’ve seen to drug law in this country, actually in Australasia, in over 40 years," Swarbrick said.

“But because of awful politics, it’s not picked up."

The Green Party has been clear and consistent in its position against criminal sanctions for drug users. But all parliamentarians started from a place of wanting to protect communities, protect kids, and reduce the harmful effects of drugs, Swarbrick said.

While no-one would say it, Te Ara Oranga– the Northland meth demand reduction programme started under National – was essentially decriminalising meth use in the north.

MPs across different parties wanted to try new approaches in order to reduce drug harm, and Swarbrick said she would continue to invite National to join her cross-party group on drug harm reduction – something she had been doing for about a year.

“Unfortunately, what is happening is that moral panic, and strongman, ironically strawman arguments keep popping up...

“We’re stuck in a very ineffectual back and forth of unnecessary political point-scoring for sake of baseless rhetoric.”

In order to make a difference, the country had to stop peddling the war on drugs, increasing penalties, “and just shadow boxing and not making a slight dent in the problem”.

Doing the same thing the country had done for the past 40, would lead to the same results, she said.

Health Minister David Clark was not available to comment on the bill, as he had not yet read the select committee report when contacted by Newsroom on Friday. The committee reported back on July 1.

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'War on drugs' makes Philippines fourth most dangerous country – report

Duterte’s violent anti-drugs operations are responsible for 75% of civilian deaths this year

President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of a “war on drugs” has made the Philippines the fourth most dangerous place in the world for civilian-targeted violence, according to a report that places the country behind conflict-ridden Yemen.

The report by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (Acled) identifies India as the most dangerous country, with 1,385 violent events that targeted civilians. Second place is Syria with 1,160, followed by Yemen with 500, and the Philippines with 345. It supports comments made recently by Michelle Bachelet, UN high commissioner for human rights, who voiced concerns over ongoing human rights abuses in the Philippines and the “extraordinarily high number of deaths – and persistent reports of extrajudicial killings – in the context of campaigns against drug use”.

On Monday Amnesty accused Duterte of carrying out a “large-scale murdering enterprise”, and said he should be investigated by the UN for crimes against humanity.

The confirmed death toll of suspects killed in anti-drugs operations currently stands at 5,425 since July 2016, something that Bachelet described as “a matter of most serious concern for any country”.

“Acled’s findings are consistent with our findings and are an affirmation of the need for the international community, the UN Human Rights Council and the International Criminal Court to take action,” said Carlos Conde, Philippines researcher for Human Rights Watch.

The statistics reveal that efforts to clean up the Philippines have resulted in more than 450 direct anti-civilian violent attacks, causing 490 deaths since January 2019. The most targeted regions are Central Luzon and Calabarzon, which accounted for 23% and 22% of fatalities, respectively. The National Capital Region, which includes the capital Manila, reported 10% of the fatalities.

Political officer at the Philippine embassy in London, Kristine Salle, dismissed the claims, stating: “The suggestion that the Philippines is the fourth most dangerous country in the world is not only unfair, but also false, considering that there are probably more dangerous places in the world.”

Statistics suggest that Duterte’s strategy may not be totally to blame for the country’s fourth place ranking. The government is said to have carried out 60% of civilian-targeted events since the start of 2019. Unidentified or anonymous armed groups are deemed responsible for 27% and anti-drug vigilantes for 8%.

But for the man who came to power vowing to clean up the nation’s troubles, Duterte’s use of force in the “war on drugs” now appears to be building towards a legacy of political violence. Statistics reveal that extrajudicial killings, to which Duterte has admitted giving his “sinful” support , have continued year on year since his reign began in 2016 and continues to rise in 2019 with two-thirds of all political violence focused against civilians.

In respect of targeted attacks, state forces continue to be the “primary perpetrators”, with drug suspects accounting for almost 360 reported civilian deaths so far this year, 75% of the total number.

The killing of 90 former and current government officials accounted for 18% of reported fatalities in the same period, and the report claims that such victims tend to be targeted by unidentified armed groups motivated by political rivalry. Twenty of these officials were labelled as drug suspects. There was also a notable increase in attacks during May’s midterm elections with members of political parties, leftist organisations, land activists, farmers, lawyers and judges all targeted.

“The killings in the context of the ‘drug war’ are targeting the most vulnerable section of the Philippines’ population – the urban poor, the most marginalised and voiceless people with least access to justice and redress,” said Conte.

Responding to the Acled findings, Salle provided official statistics on the campaign showing that from July 2016 to 30 April 2019, 129,500 anti-drug operations resulted in 1.3m seizures, 185,401 arrests and 5,425 drug suspects killed during operations.

"The Philippine leadership is serious in ensuring zero tolerance for abuses and human rights violations by state actors. The Philippine National Police's (PNP) clear-up rate has improved by 20% between 2015 and 2018. It is intensifying efforts to cleanse its ranks of erring personnel," said Salle, referring to 655 government workers arrested over corruption, including 305 government employees, 274 elected officials and 75 uniformed personnel.

All arrests relating to the campaign are subject to investigation, but where suspects have been killed, she said, the PNP have conducted 4,583 investigations of which 3,619 have been recommended for disciplinary proceedings hearings, 352 are undergoing pre-charge investigation and 588 have been closed. The PNP have also reported that there are 14,724 complaints of misconduct filed against PNP officers and personnel.

Stressing that the anti-drug campaign had "significantly improved" the peace and stability of the Philippines, Salle said the strategy had reduced crime by 30% since Duterte came to power, making streets and communities safer. To improve transparency, the government publishes results on social mediawith the hashtag #RealNumbersPH.

"The Philippines has a long tradition of human rights and is a signatory to eight core human rights treaties. It has therefore committed to respect, protect, and fulfil its human rights treaty obligations," she said.

"The anti-drug campaign has a strong public health dimension, which has prioritised community health services supported by investment of $120m (£95m), to be used for prevention, education, early detection, intervention, voluntary treatment and rehabilitation.

"It is unfortunate that the development and human rights-oriented dimensions of the campaign have been overlooked by media coverage which has been overly focused on the law enforcement aspects and a number of sensational cases," said Salle.

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Philippines threatens U.N. countries hitting drug war

Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr warns 18 countries, including Australia and the United Kingdom: 'There will be consequences, far-reaching ones'

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – The Philippines threatened 18 countries, including Australia and the United Kingdom, that voted to adopt a United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution urging action against drug war killings in the Southeast Asian country.

"The Philippines rejects this resolution. It cannot, in good conscience, abide by it. We will not accept a politically partisan and one-sided resolution so detached from the truth on the ground," Foreign Secretary Teodoro "Teddyboy" Locsin Jr said.

Locsin said the Philippines' foreign policy is "friend to friends, enemy to enemies, and a worse enemy to false friends," and no longer "friend to all, enemy to none."

"We renew our solidarity with our true friends who have stood by us in this farce. But we will not tolerate any form of disrespect or acts of bad faith. There will be consequences, far-reaching ones," Locsin said.

This comes after 18 out of 47 member-countries backed an Iceland-proposed resolution that asked UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet to write a comprehensive report on the Philippine situation and present it to the UN rights council.

The following countries voted to adopt the resolution:

Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahamas
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Fiji
Iceland
Italy
Mexico
Peru
Slovakia
Spain
Ukraine
United Kingdom
Uruguay

The resolution also urged the Philippine government to "take all necessary measures to prevent extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, to carry out impartial investigations and to hold perpetrators accountable, in accordance with international norms and standards, including on due process and the rule of law."

Locsin, however, pointed out that the UN resolution "was not universally adopted," and "therefore its validity is highly questionable."

He said that the resolution "was pushed with the arrogance that developing countries must not stand up" to Western countries "even if we can and as we hereby do."

"They sought to bring a people and a country, with an unblemished human rights record, down to the level of authors of atrocities the world must not forget," the Philippines' top diplomat added.

In a statement, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said matters of foreign affairs were beyond its authority to address, but that it would "remain vigilant" to prevent the occurrence of crime.

It said police would continue to enforce the law "following established operational procedures" with the "utmost respect for human rights."

The PNP has been the administration's main weapon in what President Rodrigo Duterte said would be a "relentless" and "chilling" operation.

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U.S. Lawmakers Hold Historic Hearing to Discuss Cannabis Legalization

The U.S. House Judiciary Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee held a hearing on July 10th to discuss various legislative proposals to allow states to set their own cannabis policies without fear of federal interference. Titled “Marijuana Laws in America: Racial Justice and the Need for Reform,” the hearing was the first in congressional history to explore the prospect of ending federal cannabis prohibition.

“Two-thirds of all the states have now adopted legalization or medical cannabis policies, and it’s time for Congress to finally address the conflicts between state and federal law,” said Steve Hawkins, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, a political organization that has played a central role in enacting over half of these state-level policies. “This hearing, which recognizes the racist effects of prohibition, is a positive step forward, and we hope it serves as a starting point for real legislative action this year.”

The hearing is expected to lay the groundwork for future legislative markups by the full House Judiciary Committee on legislation such as the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States Act (STATES Act), the Marijuana Justice Act, the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act, and the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act.

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Minister Grapperhaus (Justitie en Veiligheid) pleit in zijn strijd tegen drugscriminaliteit voor minder festivals in Nederland, waar vooral XTC rijkelijk wordt geconsumeerd. Volgens de minister kan de politie het grote aantal feesten niet aan, zegt hij in een interview met De Telegraaf.

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VVD wil lachgas verbieden tijdens uitgaan in Enschede

ENSCHEDE - Het gebruik van lachgas onder bezoekers van horeca, evenementen en festivals in Enschede moet afgelopen zijn, vindt de VVD.

De fractie dient maandagavond 13 mei een motie in om het gebruik van de partydrug in horecagebieden te verbieden.

Korte roes

Lachgas is een verdovingsmiddel, maar is ook in slagroomspuiten verwerkt. Onder jongeren zijn ballonnetjes gevuld met lachgas populair bij het uitgaan. Het inademen veroorzaakt een korte roes.

Omdat doorsnee gebruik niet gevaarlijk wordt geacht, zijn de gaspatronen legaal te krijgen. Ook in Enschede zijn er horecazaken die lachgasballonnen verkopen.

Oncontroleerbaar gedrag

Malkis Jajan wijst op mogelijke schadelijke effecten van lachgas. In combinatie met een grote hoeveelheid alcohol zijn er directe gezondheidsrisico’s. Gebruik van lachgas leidt volgens hem tot hallucinatie en oncontroleerbaar gedrag.

De VVD roept maandag op om in gebieden waar al een verbod op drugsgebruik geldt (zoals de binnenstad) ook het gebruik van lachgas te verbieden. Ook op festival en evenementen zou de partydrug niet gebruikt mogen worden. Coalitiepartner Burgerbelangen zal het voorstel in ieder geval steunen.

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'Enschede wil als eerste stad lachgas helemaal verbieden'

Enschede stelt een permanent verbod in op het gebruik van lachgas in de binnenstad. Het gemeentebestuur werkt aan aanpassing van de regels, meldt de regionale krant De Stentor.


Het verbod zou er komen op verzoek van de politie, die stelt in de krant dat het gebruik van lachgas leidt tot agressie in het uitgaansleven.Enschede zou de eerste stad in Nederland zijn die zo concreet werkt aan een verbod.

Landelijk verbod

Enkele maanden geleden werd bekend dat ook landelijk onderzocht wordt of lachgas aan banden kan worden gelegd. Staatssecretaris van Volksgezondheid Paul Blokhuis stelde in mei te onderzoeken of de verkoop kan worden verboden. Het plan van Enschede gaat nog verder: de gemeente wil dus ook het gebruik verbieden.


Partydrug

Lachgas is de laatste jaren enorm in opkomst als partydrug. Het geeft voor weinig geld een korte, maar hevige roes. Het is bovendien legaal verkrijgbaar, zelfs voor jongeren die nog niet eens alcohol mogen kopen. De gezondheidseffecten op lange termijn zijn niet bekend.

Met Koningsdag werden in Amsterdam tientallen mensen onwel na het gebruik van lachgas.

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Op zaterdag 29 juni 2019 14:45 schreef broodjepindakaashagelslag het volgende:

[..]

[..]

Wat een struisvogel gedrag, dit is gewoon een prestige project voor Grapperhaus.

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Komen er ook echt strengere drugscontroles op festivals?

De afgelopen week domineerde minister van Justitie Grapperhaus het nieuws met zijn uitspraken over drugs. Hij riep op tot minder festivals en kondigde aan dat je "met een pilletje het festivalterrein niet meer opkomt". Maar wat houden de stevige woorden van de minister in de praktijk in? NOS op 3 confronteerde de minister met zijn uitspraken.

Check hier wat er allemaal terechtkomt van de uitspraken over drugs en festivals van Grapperhaus.

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Cocaine production in Colombia is at historic highs

There is not much the government can do about it

ON HIS FARM in Uribe, a district in central Colombia, Efraín Silva, a 50-year-old farmer, points at a solitary coca bush still on his land. “This one must have been left by a lazy soldier,” he laughs. The rest of the six hectares (15 acres) on which Mr Silva used to grow the cocaine-producing plant was torn up by the army in 2017, as part of a voluntary agreement he struck with the government in the wake of Colombia’s peace deal. He proudly shows off the crops that have replaced it: cocoa, some avocados, plantains as well.

Until the end of 2016 Uribe was mostly controlled by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a Marxist guerrilla movement with a sideline in drug trafficking. Its fields, chopped from the forest over the past few decades, produced plentiful coca. Now most of the local farmers are like Mr Silva, trying to move on from drug production. When Colombia’s government signed a peace deal with the group, the local militants disarmed. The government, working with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, stepped in to pay farmers as much as 1m Colombian pesos ($312) a month to grow something else.

But though coca production has collapsed in Uribe, elsewhere in Colombia it has soared. The crop of 2017 was the largest ever. On June 26th the White House published American estimates which showed that coca production in Colombia last year fell only slightly from that peak. Colombia provides 70% of the world’s nose powder. “Alternative development”, as the projects like the one benefiting Mr Silva are known, are hardly working better than the more militarised war on drugs did. By February, of 99,000 families involved, 41,000 had not received a payment. The coca boom creates huge problems for Colombia’s conservative president, Iván Duque. Cocaine use is rising in rich countries once again. Donald Trump is desperate to reduce the supply.

At Mr Silva’s farm, the first profitable legal crop seems a long way off. His land is at the end of a long dirt track that few vehicles can travel on, about six hours’ drive from the nearest tarmac road. When growing coca, that was not a problem. “The narcos taught us how to industrialise it,” he says. By processing it with petrol and then sulphuric acid, he could turn a hectare-worth of coca leaves into a kilogram of cocaine paste, which could be carried into town in a backpack. Avocados sadly are not so easy to transport. Of all of his legal activities, only the cattle make any money, says Mr Silva, because they have legs.

Farmers in Uribe all say that they do not want to go back to growing coca. But soon the government subsidies will run out, and the new businesses that are meant to replace drugs are scarcely viable. Mr Silva, who grew coca for 30 years, says that he would rather that the government fulfils its promises to give him a better livelihood. But if it does not, he points out, a kilo of coca paste is selling for 3m pesos. “This is a test. If the government fails, we may have to go back,” he says. Perversely, the peace deal may even have boosted the crop in recent years, as farmers grew coca in the hope of later being paid to stop.



The trouble in places like Uribe, says Adam Isacson, of the Washington Office on Latin America, an advocacy organisation, is that although the FARC have disarmed, the conditions that allowed them to survive so long have not changed. “The coca and the armed groups are symptoms of the same problem,” he says. State services—not just roads but also electricity, water and the like—are all but absent. Almost nobody has a title to their land. Much coca production now happens deep in national parks or other remote places. In some new villages cut out of the rainforest, people use coca paste as currency instead of pesos. When the FARC disarmed, new armed groups quickly took over the trade.

For Mr Duque’s government, there are few options for reducing production. Aerial spraying of crops with glyphosate, a herbicide, is what America would like. In early June Mike Pompeo, America’s secretary of state, told the Senate that spraying “is an important tool they need”. And Mr Duque does not want to upset America more (see article). Speaking to The Economist last month, he used the same phrase as Mr Pompeo. He argues that cutting coca production is the only way to stop the drug from financing armed groups and so wrecking Colombia’s fragile peace.

However, aerial spraying was banned after a ruling by the constitutional court in 2015, because of concerns that it causes cancer. The government may be able to persuade the court that it can spray safely, complying with its ruling. But, says Isabel Pereira of Dejusticia, a think-tank, that is a dangerous strategy. Even if the court allows some spraying, the government could still find itself liable for damages. To reduce production by the equivalent of one hectare, 32 must be sprayed, at a cost of as much as $25,000. Ms Pereira thinks the best thing is to focus on reducing violence, not the coca crop. Countries like the Netherlands produce lots of illegal drugs without suffering from insurgencies. But, she says, it is easier for politicians to get public opinion on side by targeting coca farmers.

Since a change of heart in the prohibition of narcotics seems unlikely, the government will instead resort to more manual eradication—sending soldiers in helicopters to tear out crops while others hold farmers back. The number of teams doing that has already increased from 23 when he came to office last year to over 100 now, says Mr Duque. According to Lilian Olarte Aranda, another former coca farmer in Uribe, when manual eradication was used there, it was “like a war between farmers and the army”. It seems that war may soon return.

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Teens less likely to use cannabis when it's legal, US study finds
9 July 2019

Teenagers are less likely to use cannabis in places where the drug has been legalised, a new study suggests.

Researchers at Montana State University looked at health surveys of US high school pupils between 1993 and 2017.

While overall use among US youth went up, the likelihood of teen use declined by nearly 10% in states where recreational use was legalised.

Some 33 states have legalised medical cannabis, while 10 states have also legalised recreational use.

Cannabis use remains illegal in all states for people under the age of 18.

Lead author of the study Mark Anderson told the Associated Press that the study, published in the medical journal Jama Paediatrics, "should help to quell some concerns that use among teens will actually go up".

His team analysed data on about 1.4 million teenagers in the US, taken from the Youth Risk Behaviour Surveys, an annual national survey carried out by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr Anderson said it was usually harder for teens to buy from licensed dispensaries - where proof of age is required - than from dealers, which could partly explain the drop. Cannabis sold in dispensaries is also often more expensive.

Dr Anderson said that the researchers did not find a change after medical cannabis was legalised - only when the drug was legalised for recreational purposes.

The results echo those of a previous study, published last December, that found cannabis use among teens in Washington dropped after the state legalised the drug in 2012.

But the results contradicted a 2018 study from Colorado which found that the number of high school pupils who said they used cannabis stayed the same after recreational use was legalised in that state in 2014.

Dr Anderson told the US broadcaster CNN that, because most states that have legalised cannabis did so recently, the team would need to continue to track the data and update their findings "in a few years".

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Eén drugsbaron minder betekent vrijwel niets in de War on Drugs

Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, alias 'El Chapo', gold jarenlang als een van 's werelds grootste drugsbazen. Vandaag is hij in New York veroordeeld tot levenslang. Maar dat één drugsbaas van het toneel verdwijnt, betekent vrijwel niets in de voortdurende strijd tegen de internationale drugshandel. Die strijd is grotendeels mislukt, zeggen verschillende drugsexperts tegen de NOS.

De cijfers lijken ze gelijk te geven: volgens het laatste World Drug Report van de Verenigde Naties neemt de wereldwijde productie van drugs jaar op jaar toe. Uit Colombia komt momenteel een recordaantal kilo's cocaïne. De productie van opium in Afghanistan, voor onder meer heroïne, was nooit eerder zo hoog.

Ook de afzetmarkt groeit. 271 miljoen mensen gebruikten drugs in 2016, het meest recente peiljaar, een stijging van 30 procent ten opzichte van 2009. Met name de vraag naar stimulerende middelen als amfetamines (o.m. speed) en pijnstillende opioïden (zoals oxycodon, fentanyl en tramadol) stijgt wereldwijd sterk, aldus de VN.

Kingpin-strategie

Het bestrijden van de internationale drugshandel wordt op allerlei fronten tegelijk uitgevoerd: van het arresteren van drugshandelaren, het controleren van passagiers op vliegvelden en het doorzoeken van zeecontainers tot het infiltreren van het dark web.

Het meest tot de verbeelding spreekt waarschijnlijk de Amerikaanse War on Drugs, die in 1971 werd uitgeroepen. Bij die strijd, die onder meer wordt uitgevochten in Colombia en Mexico, zijn al honderdduizenden doden gevallen. Centraal in die War on Drugs staat het opjagen en veroordelen van de grote bazen zoals El Chapo.

Dat opjagen van kopstukken, ook wel de 'kingpin-strategie' genoemd, wordt vooral toegepast door de Verenigde Staten en Mexico. "Het doel ervan is het opbreken van de drugskartels, en je zou kunnen zeggen dat het lukte in Colombia", zegt Sanho Tree, drugsexpert van het Amerikaanse Institute for Policy Studies. Hij doelt op de de strijd tegen Pablo Escobar. Zijn dood in 1993 betekende het einde van het ooit zo machtige Medellínkartel en vervolgens ook van het concurrerende Calikartel.

"Maar wat gebeurde er toen het ons lukte?", vervolgt Tree. "De twee grote monopolies werden vernietigd en er kwam ruimte voor talloze kleine operaties. Het waren er zoveel dat we ze niet eens meer allemaal konden tellen, laat staan infiltreren en verstoren. Het resultaat was dat meer cocaïne dan ooit uit Colombia kwam."

160.000 kilo

Het onderscheppen en vernietigen van drugstransporten is een andere manier waarop wordt geprobeerd drugskartels een slag toe te brengen. Dat gaat onder meer door het controleren van zeecontainers in Europese havens. Volgens onderzoekers van de Erasmus Universiteit komt er jaarlijks zo'n 160.000 kilo cocaïne aan in Europa, een kwart komt binnen via de Rotterdamse haven.

Het systeem achter de controle van zeecontainers is het terrein van Bob Van den Berghe. De Belg is technisch directeur van het Container Control Program, onderdeel van het VN-bureau voor drugs en criminaliteit dat ook het jaarlijkse World Drug Report uitgeeft.

"Er zijn jaarlijks 450 miljoen containerbewegingen. Minder dan 2 procent van deze vrachtcontainers worden gecontroleerd. Heel weinig dus", zegt Van den Berghe. "Het doel van ons programma is om de risico-containers te identificeren en deze bij voorkeur in de bronlanden tegen te houden."

Dat het programma effectief is, meet hij onder andere aan de hand van het aantal onderschepte tonnen cocaïne: "Dit jaar zitten we voor Rotterdam al op 10 ton en voor Antwerpen op 15 ton. Best een goede vangst."

Vraag en aanbod blijft bestaan

Maar Martin Jelsma, drugsexpert van denktank TNI in Amsterdam, ziet dat anders. "Als er één ding is dat ik in de afgelopen in decennia heb geleerd, dan is het dus juist niet werkt. De internationale markt van vraag en aanbod blijft gewoon bestaan, terwijl juist in die onderscheppingen de meeste moeite en financiering gaan zitten."

"Neem Colombia; meer dan de helft van de cocaïne wordt tegenwoordig in beslag genomen. Toch blijft de straatprijs in Europa nagenoeg stabiel en neemt de zuiverheid zelfs toe. Hoe kan dat? Het antwoord is simpel: de enorm toegenomen inbeslagnames worden gecompenseerd door meer te produceren", zegt Jelsma.

Volgens Sanho Tree is de jarenlange War on Drugs zelfs een aanjager geweest van drugshandel. "Door het zo streng te bestrijden, drijven we de prijs op en daarmee de winsten voor de kartels alleen maar op", zegt hij.

Maar Van Den Berghe is het daar niet mee eens. "Nee, mislukt wil ik de oorlog het niet noemen. We moeten die strijd gewoon voeren. Het is misschien geen oorlog die we gaan winnen, maar we moeten de controle houden."

Het is wel maar de vraag of we die controle nu hebben, erkent hij. "We moeten realistisch zijn, de productie is heel hard omhoog gegaan. Maar we zijn zeker op de goede weg met het aantal onderscheppingen. Het is een duidelijk teken richting de criminelen en de maatschappij dat we het gif van de markt halen."

Oplossingen?

Hoe nu verder met de War on Drugs? In het World Drug Report schrijft de VN dat politie en justitie een essentieel onderdeel van de oplossing zijn. Dat klinkt als verdergaan op de oude weg, maar het weerspiegelt ook de verschillende opvattingen van landen van de VN.

Sommige landen zijn voor hard optreden, zoals de Filipijnen, Rusland en China. Anderen, waaronder de VS en veel Europese landen bewegen meer naar legalisatie en regulering, zegt Tree. "Door het te legaliseren, haal je de productie uit het criminele circuit, de kartels verdienen er dan niets meer aan", zegt hij.

Uiteindelijk zijn legalisering en regulering volgens Martin Jelsma de enige echte oplossingen voor minder geweld en minder winst voor criminele organisaties. "Cannabis is met 80 procent de meest gebruikte drug wereldwijd. Op steeds meer plaatsen wordt dat gelegaliseerd en ik verwacht dat het veel navolging zal krijgen", zegt hij.

Dat dit werkt op kleine schaal, bewijst het heroïneverstrekkingsprogramma in Nederland, zegt Jelsma. "Het aantal diefstallen van gebruikers was chronisch in de jaren 70 en 80. Dankzij het programma, waarbij de meest problematische gebruikersgroep dagelijks op medisch voorschrift in hun behoefte worden voorzien, is die vorm van kleine criminaliteit vrijwel volledig verdwenen."

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Scotland has a drugs problem – and it’s called Westminster

A spike in deaths shows the failure of centralised policies. Holyrood should be allowed to try new methods

Scotland’s drug mortality rate cannot be shelved as just another misery statistic. It has risen by 27% in a year and is three times England and Wales’s rate, 50 times Portugal’s and higher even than that of the United States. Westminster is clearly deaf to this tragedy. There is only one solution. Declare it Scotland’s problem. Let Scotland decide what to do.

Every country in the developed world is now inquiring, experimenting, searching for how to tame the menace that modern narcotics pose. Every country, that is, except Britain, where for half a century a futile “war on drugs” has been delegated to the police, the courts and the NHS. The sole beneficiaries have been drug dealers and their political sponsor, Her Majesty’s Home Office, relieved of lifting a finger in response.

There is now little point in preaching the gospel of legalisation. Countless seminars, conferences and inquiries have tried to work out how best to tackle Britain’s booming drugs industry, legitimate and illicit. They never address the root of the trouble, the minds closed to the subject in Westminster and Whitehall. We can scream “look to the Netherlands, Portugal, Canada, California”, and MPs and officials clamp their hands to their ears.

These people and not the addicts or dealers are Britain’s drugs problem. It is their policies, dating from the antiquated 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act, that underpin the street corner sales, powder factories, shooting galleries and lightly dusted lavatory seats of what the act has turned into a multibillion-pound underground industry. It is an industry Whitehall refuses to regulate, let alone tax. Public servants who, in their home life, may be open to reason, at work become architects of cruelty, well-illustrated in the cynical handling of last year’s medical cannabis scandal, which is still unresolved. As in so many of areas of its responsibility, the Home Office displays the open-mindedness of a Spanish Inquisition.

Reform must search for weaknesses in the wall of reaction. Chief weakness is the frontline, where criminalisation is collapsing through sheer unenforcibility. Led by Durham, one force after another is refusing to arrest its way out of the drugs problem. London’s commissioner, Cressida Dick, says she would need “an army of 100,000 officers” to seek out and charge all the capital’s drug users. Anarchy may yet prove the most effective agent of change. But even an attempted shift from imprisonment to care and rehabilitation suffers from the steady closure of treatment centres under local authorities’ austerity. Like ever rising drug abuse in prisons, it is as if British government was seeking to aid an industry with which it claims to be at war.

Liberal Britain relieves its anti-Brexit fury by labelling Donald Trump’s US antediluvian. Yet even Trump is not enforcing federal bans on states that experiment with cannabis law reform. Thirty-three states have legalised medicinal or recreational use, as has Canada. An industry worth many billions of dollars is going legitimate, as did alcohol with the end of prohibition.

Visitors arriving at Los Angeles airport are greeted with an advertisement for California’s chief marijuana retailer, MedMen. It reads: “Welcome to the new normal.” Half of Oakland’s cannabis licences now go to formerly imprisoned dealers. Colorado, a state the same size as Scotland, reports revenue from its cannabis tax passing $1bn in five years of operation. Could Scotland not use such money? The American experience is not all roses. It has a huge “hard” drug abuse problem, partly due to the introduction of new opioids and other substances.

But slowly drugs are coming to be seen as a social, not a law-and-order issue, with control and legal regulation the sensible response. At least marijuana is being removed from the drugs cocktail. Research shows no rise in cannabis usage with legalisation, while California shows an 8% fall among teenage users.

Britain is light years adrift of such reform. The one hope might be Scotland. It already enjoys a degree of devolved power over crime and punishment. This spring it publicised its remarkable success in combating knife killings. It had halved the rate in 10 years, largely thanks to violence reduction schemes copied from Los Angeles and Boston. Likewise, a campaign against alcohol-related deaths exploited delegated powers to levy local taxes. A rise in minimum retail prices has driven Scottish alcohol consumption to an all-time low. Both these initiatives were classic examples of local discretion leading to reform, where central government policy was stuck in a political rut. Yet, ever since devolution, the Home Office has refused to allow Scotland power to vary the 1971 drugs act. With its antique schedules and ineffective punishments, this act echoes the days of stocks, thumbscrews and treadmills. To the Home Office it is holy writ.

Scotland has a desperate problem. Scenes of addicts on its streets will hardly attract investors, employers or tourists. Yet it has a mature administration with a proven readiness to search the world for solutions to its woes. Its police chiefs, law officers, academics and newspapers are pleading to be allowed to tackle the drugs crisis for themselves. Cannabis legalisation may be part of a solution. Prescription heroin and cocaine may be another. That should be for Scotland to decide.

Parliament can keep to its medieval taboos. It can sail blithely on through its dark night of reaction. But it has failed utterly to win the war on drugs in Scotland. The least it can do is set Scotland free.