Drug War Facts Podcast #7 Is Online

The new Drug War Facts podcast is now online! Released on Dec. 25th, this is #7 in the series. Listen and download to all our podcasts, and also subscribe, from here as well.

Correcting NIDA Director Nora Volkow

The new Monitoring the Future Survey results for 2013 were released recently.

In discussing the new data in a video released on YouTube, Dr. Nora Volkow, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said this: “If we compare the numbers that were, for example, in 2000 regular users, and now in 2013, we have seen increases in those numbers. But in 2000, at the 2000 level of 9 THC was at least half of the levels that we observe now, at least half. So that means that not just were there less kids taking the drug regularly, but even those that were taking it regularly were taking a much less potent drug.”

It almost sounded like she was asserting that THC levels have doubled but that's not what she said. She did definitely assert that in 2000, cannabis was much less potent.

The short version of this report is, she was wrong. Way wrong. And this isn't just some political hack, or an uninformed blogger. She's the director of the government's National Institute on Drug Abuse, she's supposed to be the science person on drugs. That's not acceptable.

Here's how badly she got it wrong. Let's look at what's known. I make these data available through my website at drugwarfacts.org, in the marijuana section, where you can find a table of average THC levels of seized samples of cannabis as reported by the University of Mississippi's Potency Monitoring Project.

These are the only data on this, they're the same data Nora Volkow has. The Project stopped testing domestic samples a few years ago, the last domestic cannabis data are from 2010. Samples of non-domestic cannabis – imports from Mexico, Jamaica, Canada, and so many other countries – continue to be tested, but only preliminary data for 2012 are currently available.

Average THC potencies are given for two grades of cannabis: low-end commercial grade – what they call simply “marijuana” - and high-end sinsemilla-type cannabis. The overall combined average they report includes a few samples of ditchweed, so let's just stick with specific data for those two types, and since 2010 is the last year with domestic data, let's use it for comparison.

In 2000, non-domestic commercial grade marijuana averaged 5.10% THC. The non-domestic sinsemilla type averaged 12.87%. Domestic commercial grade marijuana averaged 3.96% THC, and domestic sinsemilla type averaged 12.72%.

In 2010, non-domestic commercial grade marijuana averaged 6.69% THC. Non-domestic sinsemilla type averaged 12.81% THC. Domestic commercial grade marijuana averaged 2.79% THC, and domestic sinsemilla type averaged 11.84%.

So only one category shows an increase in average potency from 2000 to 2010 is for non-domestic commercial grade cannabis – an increase of 31%, going from 5.1 to 6.69% THC. The others all show decreases, in fact the average THC of domestic commercial grade dropped by 29.5%.

Sure, there are fluctuations: In 2011, the average THC in non-domestic commercial marijuana was down to 5.6%, the average for non-domestic sinsemilla type was 13.47%. They stopped testing domestic samples in 2010, remember, and for what it's worth those numbers were much lower in 2009, when domestic commercial averaged 2.43% THC and domestic sinsemilla type averaged only 7.37%.

So, Nora Volkow's statement? Maybe not a flatout lie, but inaccurate and misleading at best.

Eventually, hopefully, we'll get complete data for 2012, and when that's available, you'll find it at drugwarfacts.org.

Drug Policy Facts Podcast #6 Now Online!

Gil Kerlikowske on #DrugPolicyReform, @SanhoTree on the GOP's sphincter strategy: it's the new #DrugWar Facts podcast http://www.podcastgarden.com/episode/drug-policy-facts-6_8014

New Drug Policy Facts Podcast!

The new Drug Policy Facts podcast is online! Listen and subscribe at http://www.podcastgarden.com/podcast/drugwarfacts. Today’s podcast features audio from the White House’s conference on drug policy recorded earlier in the day.

New Podcast!

I have a new podcast! Check it out and subscribe, even. Here's the URL: http://www.podcastgarden.com/episode/drug-policy-facts-ep-1-s-1-110413_5911 Thanks!

What's New At Drug War Facts - Vol. 3, No. 8, September 2013

The new edition of the Drug War Facts newsletter is now available at:
What's New At Drug War Facts - Vol. 3, No. 8, September 2013 and also copied below. Enjoy.

What's New At Drug War Facts - Vol. 3, No. 8, September 2013

Issue In Focus: Marijuana Legalization

Senate Judiciary Committee to Discuss Marijuana Legalization Sept. 10

US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sen. Leahy has scheduled a hearing on "Conflicts between State and Federal Marijuana Laws" for Sept. 10, 2013. The witness list and other details are available via the Committee website at:
http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/hearing.cfm?id=094c28995d1f5bc4fe11d832f90218f9

This hearing comes on the heels of the release of an official guidance memo from the Department of Justice to US Attorneys around the country clarifying the DOJ's position on successful marijuana legalization initiatives in Colorado and Washington as well as legalization efforts in other states. The news release announcing the memo is at
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2013/August/13-opa-974.html

The guidance memo itself is available from
http://www.justice.gov/iso/opa/resources/3052013829132756857467.pdf

While the real impact of the DOJ's memo has yet to be seen, the fact that they have chosen to not interfere with or stop the implementation of marijuana regulation programs in Colorado and Washington is seen by most as a positive step toward real reform and an end to prohibition.

Basic data and other information regarding marijuana generally can be found at
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Marijuana

Basic data and other information regarding medical marijuana can be found at
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Medicinal_Cannabis

Issue In Focus 2: Drug Policies and HIV in the Russian Federation

The Russian Federation recently announced that it hopes to put billions of additional dollars into drug treatment. The publication Russia Beyond The Headlines reported on July 5, 2013:

"The Federal Narcotics Turnover Control Service (FSKN) has admitted that the state is facing an uphill battle against drug addiction and is planning to enlist help from private rehab centers. FSKN has requested a record 180 billion rubles ($5.4 billion) for the program.
"Russia’s state-owned, specialized rehabilitation clinics have only 1,730 beds. Meanwhile, FSKN statistics put the number of the nation’s drug addicts at 7-8 million, of whom some 600,000 are officially registered.
"The central idea behind the national rehabilitation system is to involve private institutions in treating addicts, because the state lacks the requisite resources. Almost 180 billion rubles ($5.4 billion) has been requested for the program.
"Around 500 organizations capable of accepting up to 20,000 patients can count on public cash, including faith-based centers, private clinics providing paid services, and public organizations.
"The money is supposed to reach addicts via special rehabilitation certificates. To obtain one, a potential program participant will have to sign a contract with an FSKN-certified rehab center and a state authority responsible for patronage (such as a social service agency or the police)

http://rbth.ru/society/2013/07/05/russia_to_spend_billions_to_help_recovering_addicts_27785.html

Beyond the question of whether the requested funds will ever be made available, or whether the numbers are valid, the problem is that not all drug treatment is the same. Some methods are less successful than others, and the Russian Federation is notorious for its backward, ineffective approaches to drug treatment. The problems go well beyond the fact that substitution treatment with methadone or buprenorphine is banned in Russia. The Russian approach to drug treatment, called "Narcology," is brutal and harsh. The Eurasian Harm Reduction Network pointed out in 2012 that:

"The inaccessibility and poor quality of services pertaining to the treatment of drug dependence in Russia have been extensively documented. Treatment methods reported include flogging, beatings, punishment by starvation, long-term handcuffing to bed frames, 'coding' (hypnotherapy aimed at persuading the patient that drug use leads to death), electric shock, burying patients in the ground and xenoimplantation of guinea pig brains⁶². The practice and acceptance of such methods clearly indicate that the government’s approach does not correspond to international drug treatment guidelines.
"Such methods are not only cruel but ineffective. As the Russian Federal Drug Control Service has acknowledged, over 90% of drug treatment patients return to using illegal drugs within one year⁶³. As a result of the ineffective government approach to drug treatment and care, Russia has one of the largest numbers of people who use drugs—government estimate reaches 5 million⁶⁴, while UNODC’s 2009 World Drug Report estimated that 1.6 million people use opiates⁶⁵. Meanwhile, the number of people living with HIV in Russia continues to rise; in 2010 alone, a total of 58,633 new HIV cases were officially registered in the country⁶⁶. Injecting drug use has long been the predominant risk factor, with around 80% of all HIV cases registered in the country from 1987 to 2008 associated with the use of injecting drugs⁶⁷. The government’s refusal to respond adequately to the main transmission risk means that most of the funding goes to the management of the consequences rather than prevention of new infections. It is clear that 3% of the entire budget cannot possibly reach the most vulnerable population in an effective manner, and even the 3% spent on prevention is spent inefficiently."
Source: Merkinaite, S. A war against people who use drugs: the costs. Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN), Vilnius: 2012, pp. 21-22.
- See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/1245#sthash.cFLKW1xu.dpuf

As the US slowly begins to embrace harm reduction and drug policy reform we must keep sight of the fact that other nations may not be as advanced, so reformers need to work even harder to spread knowledge and get out the facts.

Notable New Facts

(Prevalence of Current Illicit Drug Use in the US, 2012)
"• In 2012, an estimated 23.9 million Americans aged 12 or older were current (past month) illicit drug users, meaning they had used an illicit drug during the month prior to the survey interview. This estimate represents 9.2 percent of the population aged 12 or older. Illicit drugs include marijuana/hashish, cocaine (including crack), heroin, hallucinogens, inhalants, or prescription-type psychotherapeutics (pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants, and sedatives) used nonmedically.
"• The rate of current illicit drug use among persons aged 12 or older increased from 8.1 percent
in 2008 to 9.2 percent in 2012. The rate in 2012 was similar to the rates in 2009 to 2011
(ranging from 8.7 to 8.9 percent), but it was higher than the rates in the years from 2002 to
2008 (ranging from 7.9 to 8.3 percent)."
Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Results from the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings, NSDUH Series H-46, HHS Publication No. (SMA) 13-4795. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2013, p. 1.
- See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/2593#sthash.uNPHiJSE.dpuf

(Prevalence of Injection Drug Use in Russia, 2012) "Russia has the largest population of injecting drug users (IDUs) in the world — an estimated 1·8 million people. More than a third have HIV; in some regions, the proportion is nearer to three-quarters. Astonishingly, an estimated 90% of Russian IDUs have hepatitis C, and most patients co-infected with HIV and tuberculosis in Russia are drug-dependent."
Source: Talha Burki, "Russia’s drug policy fuels infectious disease epidemics," The Lancet, Vol. 12, April 2012, p. 275.
- See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/3425#sthash.UV7UqfBU.dpuf

(Russian Antidrug Strategy) "In June 2012, the government launched the 'State Counternarcotics Strategy until 2020' that calls all agencies and all levels of government to join in the fight against illicit drugs. The Strategy urges improvements in supply and demand reduction, and outlines new legislation aimed at deterring drug trafficking. An important development in implementing the Strategy in 2012 was the signing in March by then-President Medvedev of a law stipulating life sentences for trafficking large quantities of drugs. Previously, the maximum sentence was 20 years. The law also allows for the confiscation of property and money obtained by drug dealing."
Source: United States Department of State Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, "International Narcotics Control Strategy Report: Volume I: Drug and Chemical Control (Washington, DC: March 2013), p. 277.
- See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/3013#sthash.ROXjtzpR.dpuf

(Russian Policing Practices Violate Health and Individual Rights) "In the three Russian cities participating in this study, we found policing practices targeting injecting drug users (IDUs) to violate health, as well as individual rights. The brutality of police practices violate health directly, but also indirectly through the reproduction of day-to-day social suffering, which in turn can be internalized as self-blame, lack of self-worth, and fatalism regarding risk. These findings illustrate how law enforcement practices, particularly extrajudicial practices, generate an atmosphere of fear and terror, which shapes everyday practices of risk avoidance and survival among IDUs. Policing practices contribute to the reproduction and experience of stigma, and linked to this, a sense of fatalistic acceptance of risk, which may become crucial in shaping health behaviour, including HIV prevention. Yet we also identify nonconforming cases of resistance to such oppression, characterised by strategies to preserve dignity and hope. This leads us to consider how hope for change provides an important resource of risk reduction as well as escape, if only temporarily, from the pervasiveness of social suffering."
Source: Sarang, Anya, Rhodes, Tim, Sheon, Nicolas, and Page, Kimberly, "Policing Drug Users in Russia: Risk, Fear, and Structural Violence." Subst Use Misuse. 2010 May; 45(6): 813–864. doi: 10.3109/10826081003590938
- See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/1245#sthash.6TGwMdM1.dpuf

(Deficiencies in Russian Demand Reduction and Treatment Services) "The Russian government addresses demand reduction and drug abuse prevention in the State Counternarcotics Strategy. The Strategy outlines ongoing deficiencies in the demand reduction system, including insufficient medical treatment and social rehabilitation services, a shortage of specialized workers (doctors and social workers) and a shortage of centers serving drug abusers. At present, there exist only four state-run and 70 non-governmental organization (NGO) centers for rehabilitation of drug addicts. The few government-supported drug addiction treatment programs that do exist are generally ineffective, with high rates of recidivism. Most drug replacement therapies, such as methadone, are illegal in Russia, although treatment centers in St. Petersburg and Orenburg are implementing a few new models of cognitive therapy which expand the breadth of substance abuse programs and rehabilitation. A new medication-assisted therapy study on Naltrexone abuse, supported by the United States and Russian governments, is ready for publication. The Russian Orthodox Church continues to operate approximately 40 faith-based rehabilitation centers."
Source: United States Department of State Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, "International Narcotics Control Strategy Report: Volume I: Drug and Chemical Control (Washington, DC: March 2013), p. 278.
- See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/1245#sthash.6TGwMdM1.dpuf

(Legal and Policy Barriers to Harm Reduction and Disease Prevention Services in Russia) "The main reasons cited for restricting the opportunity of drug users to obtain medical and social aid, including prevention services, are the legislative barriers and official policy course that emphasizes reducing supply through law enforcement and reducing demand by promotion of 'healthy lifestyle'. The Strategy of the Anti-Narcotic Policy of the Russian Federation until 202061 and the plan to implement the strategy reaffirmed that approach. The 10-year plan restricts all activities and advocacy associated with harm reduction and other evidence-based services for people who use drugs. OST [Opioid Substitution Treatment] and NSPs [Needle and Syringe Exchange Programs] are considered antithetical to the strategy because they are 'attempts to legalize substitution therapy with use of narcotic drugs and promotion of drug use under pretext of syringe replacement'. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are prohibited from providing information on OST and other treatment and prevention measures opposed by the government. Such restrictive policies clearly indicate that the punishment and social isolation of people who inject drugs is the basis of state’s strategic approach to drug demand reduction. These policies have high financial and social costs."
Source: Merkinaite, S. A war against people who use drugs: the costs. Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN), Vilnius: 2012, p. 21.
- See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/1245#sthash.OBIf3hne.dpuf

(Global Burden of Disease, Mental Health, and Substance Use Disorders) "In 2010, mental and substance use disorders accounted for 183·9 million DALYs [Disability-Adjusted Life Years] (95% UI 153·5 million–216·7 million), or 7·4% (6·2–8·6) of all DALYs worldwide. Such disorders accounted for 8·6 million YLLs [Years of Life Lost] (6∙5 million–12∙1 million; 0·5% [0·4–0·7] of all YLLs) and 175∙3 million YLDs [Years Lived with Disability] (144∙5 million–207∙8 million; 22·9% [18·6–27·2] of all YLDs). Mental and substance use disorders were the leading cause of YLDs worldwide. Depressive disorders accounted for 40·5% (31·7–49·2) of DALYs caused by mental and substance use disorders, with anxiety disorders accounting for 14·6% (11·2–18·4), illicit drug use disorders for 10·9% (8·9–13·2), alcohol use disorders for 9·6% (7·7–11·8), schizophrenia for 7·4% (5·0–9·8), bipolar disorder for 7·0% (4·4–10·3), pervasive developmental disorders for 4·2% (3·2–5·3), childhood behavioural disorders for 3·4% (2·2–4·7), and eating disorders for 1·2% (0·9–1·5). DALYs varied by age and sex, with the highest proportion of total DALYs occurring in people aged 10–29 years. The burden of mental and substance use disorders increased by 37·6% between 1990 and 2010, which for most disorders was driven by population growth and ageing."
Source: Harvey A Whiteford, Louisa Degenhardt, Jürgen Rehm, Amanda J Baxter, Alize J Ferrari, Holly E Erskine, Fiona J Charlson, Rosana E Norman, Abraham D Flaxman, Nicole Johns, Roy Burstein, Christopher JL Murray, and Theo Vos, "Global burden of disease attributable to mental and substance use disorders: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010," The Lancet, 29 August 2013(Article in Press DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61611-6).
- See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/3458#sthash.pBuFdwcq.dpuf

Notable New Sources

Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Results from the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings, NSDUH Series H-46, HHS Publication No. (SMA) 13-4795. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2013.

Talha Burki, "Russia’s drug policy fuels infectious disease epidemics," The Lancet, Vol. 12, April 2012.

Sarang, Anya, Rhodes, Tim, Sheon, Nicolas, and Page, Kimberly, "Policing Drug Users in Russia: Risk, Fear, and Structural Violence." Subst Use Misuse. 2010 May; 45(6): 813–864. doi: 10.3109/10826081003590938.

Merkinaite, S. A war against people who use drugs: the costs. Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN), Vilnius: 2012.

Harvey A Whiteford, Louisa Degenhardt, Jürgen Rehm, Amanda J Baxter, Alize J Ferrari, Holly E Erskine, Fiona J Charlson, Rosana E Norman, Abraham D Flaxman, Nicole Johns, Roy Burstein, Christopher JL Murray, Theo Vos, "Global burden of disease attributable to mental and substance use disorders: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010," The Lancet, 29 August 2013 (Article in Press DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61611-6).

Media

Drug Truth Media: DWF Editor Doug McVay wrote and produced video and audio segments for DrugTruth Network this past month:
Audio:
Century Of Lies show, Aug 25, 2013 - Hempfest Special written and produced by Doug McVay
http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/4481
420 Drug News, September 3, 2013 - Commentary on DOJ's guidance memo regarding marijuana legalization by states http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/4512
Video:
Unvarnished Truth #17: http://youtu.be/gPeJC6Amym8?t=55m23s

Doug McVay was also quoted in this article from Huffingtonpost: War On Drugs Failure Gives Way To Treatment In States, Cities, Aug 22, 2013
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/22/war-on-drugs-treatment_n_3792445.html

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What's New At Drug War Facts - Vol. 3, No. 6, July 2013

The new Drug War Facts newsletter is now available! This month's Issue In Focus: New Psychoactive Substances. Check it out at:
What's New At Drug War Facts - Vol. 3, No. 6, July 2013 | Drug War Facts

Who Is Really Smuggling Drugs From Mexico Into The US? [AUDIO]

Following is the transcript of an audio news story written and produced by Drug War Facts Editor Doug McVay for the Drug Truth Network. It was broadcast as a 420 Drug War News segment on April 13, 2013.

What you find depends on who you're looking for.
A new report has been released by the Center for Investigative Reporting on smuggling over the US's southwestern border with Mexico. According to the CIR, quote:
“Nearly half of the 81,261 seizures don’t have suspect information available, because the drug loads were abandoned and no one was caught. In the remaining busts – more than 40,000 drug seizures – at least one U.S. citizen was involved 80 percent of the time.” End quote. In fact, the report notes, four out of five of those busted for drugs at the southwest border were US citizens.
Unfortunately there is a widespread perception, certainly among law enforcement, that smuggling of drugs from Mexico mostly involves Mexican nationals and people without proper documentation. As the CIR noted, quote:
“Of nearly 2,000 press releases from the Border Patrol and its parent agency, Customs and Border Protection, between 2005 and 2011 that mentioned a drug-trafficking suspect, 38 percent noted a Mexican national had been arrested. U.S. citizens, meanwhile, were mentioned roughly 30 percent of the time, even though they represent a much higher percentage of those busted, according to the analysis. The remaining one-third of press releases did not include information on the nationality of those caught with drugs.” End quote.
First, some history. In the 1980s, the east coast's Interstate 95 corridor was notorious for cocaine smuggling. I-95 runs from Miami up through DC, Baltimore, Philly, New York City, and the Boston area. Law enforcement claimed to use drug courier profiles to determine who to stop and possibly search on the highways. Activists and civil rights groups were able to show that police were actually stopping a disproportionate number of African-Americans and people of Hispanic descent without stopping significant amounts of drugs. The manner in which the drug laws were investigated and enforced was part of the reason for their failure.
Successful smuggling operations play on those prejudices and biases which afflict border agents and others in law enforcement. We've made progress, but the fact is US law enforcement – the entire criminal justice system really – still suffers from systemic biases based on race, ethnicity, nationality, and socioeconomic status. It was much worse in the 1980s, which is when I first got involved in drug policy reform, but it still exists, and it cripples effective law enforcement. Dealers, brokers, cartels – they know this and they adapted. There's no shortage of American citizens desperate for a pay day – citizens who look middle-aged, middle-class, and respectable because they are – so there's a sizable pool of willing candidates out there looking for the work.
The authorities on the other hand? It's sad. The fact that Customs and Border Protection Agency spokesman William Brooks, with no data, could assert to the CIR reporters that, quote “Anecdotally, we have U.S. citizens who smuggle drugs, in large amounts sometimes. The majority of people involved in smuggling drugs are citizens of Mexico.” end quote, shows we have a long way to go. Hopefully, this report will help get all of us – law enforcement, policy makers, prohibitionists and reformers – to reconsider how we think about Mexico and how we view its people, as well as what we think of those involved in the illegal drug trade.
For the Drug Truth Network, this is Doug McVay with Common Sense for Drug Policy and Drug War Facts.

This piece and many more news items are available to listen and download from the Drug Truth Network website.

Is The US The World's Biggest Jailer? [AUDIO]

Following is the transcript of an audio news story written and produced by Drug War Facts Editor Doug McVay for the Drug Truth Network. It was broadcast on April 6, 2013, as a 420 Drug War News segment.

Everyone by now has heard that the US is the world's biggest jailer, with more people behind bars than any other country.
We've all heard it. Is it true?
The International Centre for Prison Studies, a partner of the University of Essex in the UK, researches global incarceration and regularly publishes the results. Their website at prisonstudies dot org even has a handy tool to make international comparisons easy.
The ICPS reports that in 2011, the US had a prison population of 2,239,751 – enough prisoners to put our nation at the top of the list. Next comes China, with a reported 1,640,000 prisoners. Seems pretty straightforward – except it's not as simple as that.
First, let's unpack the US data. The ICPS is actually lumping prisoners – that is, inmates serving time in prisons – with jail inmates. In the US, we report those numbers separately. That's how a prohibitionist can get away with claiming that few people are ever sent to prison for simple possession of marijuana. People serving time for that offense typically get put in jail, not prison. They're still incarcerated, behind bars, just technically they're not in prison.
Take away the 735,601 held in US jails in 2011, and the remaining US prison population is 1,504,150.
Now let's take a closer look at China.
The ICPS figure of 1,640,000 only represents sentenced prisoners in Chinese Ministry of Justice prisons. It does not include pre-trial detainees, nor does it include people held in administrative detention. In 2009, ICPS reports, the Chinese government admitted to holding more than 650,000 people in detention centers. If that figure held steady through 2012, that would mean a total of 2,300,000 behind bars in China.
So technically, China may actually be number one in terms of sheer numbers.
As far as incarceration rates are concerned however, the US does seem to be way on top. The ICPS web tool also allows comparison of incarceration rates. The US, at 716 inmates per 100,000 population, is well ahead of the next country on the list – the Caribbean islands of St. Kitts and Nevis, with an incarceration rate of 649 per 100,000. China, because of its massive population, has an official incarceration rate of only 121 per 100,000. Adding in those held in administrative detention raises the figure significantly yet it's still nowhere near the US rate.
So the answer is basically Yes. Yet really, it all depends on how you define terms and who you count.
At Drug War Facts dot org, we provide up to date data from the US and around the world, fully cited, with links to the original source material for most of the items. Knowledge is power, so get the facts.
For the Drug Truth Network, this is Doug McVay with Common Sense for Drug Policy and Drug War Facts.

This audio news story as well as many others are available through the Drug Truth Network's website, DrugTruth.net

More African-American Men In College Than Behind Bars

Following is a report I wrote and produced for the Drug Truth Network. It was broadcast as a 420 Drug War News item on March 24, 2013. You can listen to the full audio via the Drug Truth Network website.

Everything changes.
In 2002, the Justice Policy Institute issued a report titled “Cellblocks or Classrooms.”
That report's Finding Number 3 was: “Nearly a third More African American Men Are Incarcerated than in Higher Education.” Often shortened to the more media-friendly “more black men are in prison than college,” JPI has come under fire for that statement in recent years – most notably in the 2012 film by Janks Morton, Hoodwinked, but also by people such as Professor Ivory Toldson of Howard University. In his April 20, 2011 piece in Empower Magazine, “Cellblock vs. College: A Million Reasons There Are More Black Men In College Than In Prison And Why More Work Needs To Be Done,” Professor Toldson writes, quote:
“When reviewing Cellblocks or Classrooms, there’s no evidence that the authors intended to sensationalize problems facing black men in the United States. More meaningful and palatable lines like “choose classrooms over cellblocks” were written with more prominence. Today, the widespread and contentious notion that “there are more black men in jail than in college” is not the fault of the Justice Policy Institute. Rather, it is the fault of journalists looking for a sound bite, politicians trying to arouse a crowd, program managers and researchers who would rather assert the need to exist than to demonstrate the efficacy of their techniques, and the list goes on of people who feel the need to be intentionally provocative. Lost in the feedback are young black men who are trying to reconcile such an ominous conclusion with their reality.”
End quote.
Here then are the numbers.
A search through the Education Department's National Center for Education Statistics' Integrated Post‐Secondary Education Data System, IPEDS, finds that in the 2009-2010 school year, there were 1,347,485 Black or African-American male students enrolled in Title IV 2- and 4-year colleges. This includes public as well as private, for-profit and nonprofit schools. This is also only how many were enrolled that year.
The Drug War Facts section on Race and Prison actually has newer data, so looking back at “Prisoners in 2010,” the report by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics, we see that in 2010 there were a reported 561,400 non-Hispanic Black males under state and federal jurisdiction. The BJS also reports that there were 283,200 Black/African-American inmates of either gender in local jails that year. So there were a maximum of 844,600 Black/African-American men behind bars that year – many fewer than were in college.
Whether or not JPI was right in making that assertion back in 2002 is in many ways moot. The point is that today, that trite soundbyte is not true.
Things change. If you're an activist, or you engage at all in policy debate, it's important to keep up with these changes and stay current. Up-to-date fact items are always to be found on the Drug War Facts website at Drug War Facts dot org. Be sure to check back from time to time. You can keep track of new fact items as they're added by subscribing to our RSS feed, and also to our newsletter.
Knowledge is power. Get the facts.

http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/4278

Policing By The Clock [AUDIO] | Common Sense for Drug Policy

Drug War Facts Editor Doug McVay reports for the Drug Truth Network and puts into context new research showing the amount of police time spent enforcing marijuana possession laws.

This 4:20 News report was first broadcast on March 24, 2013, as a segment on the syndicated weekly radio program Cultural Baggage produced in Houston, TX for KPFT-FM.

Research data used in this segment are available at
Drug War Facts, particularly the chapter on Crime. DWF fact items include full citations and where possible a link to the original source materials.

Following is the script. To listen to or download the full audio, please visit the Drug Truth Network.

It's all in the timing.

According to new research, it takes an average of about two-and-a-half hours of police time to make one simple pot possession arrest in New York City. New York is a decriminalized state, so people in NY don't necessarily go to jail just because they got caught in possession - especially if they're a State Assemblyman, but that's another story.

On average, people who get popped for pot in New York City do spend a great deal of time in custody: an average of at least 12 hours, according to this new research by Professor Harry Levine of Queens College, City University of New York. The report was recently released by the Drug Policy Alliance and the Marijuana Arrest Research Project.

Professor Levine found that from 2002 through 2012, the NYPD made a total of 439,056 low-level marijuana possession arrests. They estimated that given an average of 2.5 hours for each arrest – a conservative, low-ball estimate – that comes to 1,097,640 hours of police time over that period, or as it's put in the report, quote:
“That is the equivalent of having 31 police officers working eight hours a day, 365 days a year, for 11 years, making only marijuana possession arrests.” End quote.

That's just New York City, of course. Marijuana is decriminalized in New York state. In many other states, marijuana possession is still considered a real crime.

It's not only the police whose time is taken up by low-level marijuana arrests, there's also the time and resources of the prosecutor, the court, and possibly the jail or probation system.

In 2011, there were 663,032 arrests for simple possession in the entire US. If the rest of the country were like New York City, at just 2.5 hours per arrest, that would work out to 1,657,580 hours of police time in 2011 alone. The report's hypothetical 31 police officers would work the equivalent of eight hours per day, 365 days a year, for more than 18 years to make that many marijuana arrests.

Each year, the FBI reports that US law enforcement manages to clear just under 50% of reported violent crimes and less than 20% of reported property crimes. Those are just the ones that get reported, mind you, and clearance doesn't mean that anyone has been found guilty, only that someone has been indicted.

As legalizers and policy reformers, we're accustomed to being accused by opponents of being soft on crime. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Law enforcement resources are strained, so the question is being asked: Are we using those resources effectively, or is it time for major changes?

For the Drug Truth Network, this is Doug McVay with Common Sense for Drug Policy and Drug War Facts.

Mark Kleiman, Noted Drug Policy Researcher, Expected To Land WA State Marijuana Consulting Contract

I just added this to the Common Sense for Drug Policy blog:
News agencies are reporting that the state of Washington is expected to name Botec Analysis Corp. as its new marijuana consultant. According to the Associated Press on March 18, 2013:

The Washington State Liquor Control Board scheduled an announcement on the award of the contract for Tuesday morning, but it sent an email to losing bidders Monday letting them know who won. A copy of the email was provided to The Associated Press.
Botec is headed by Mark Kleiman, a professor of public policy at UCLA. Kleiman declined to comment Monday afternoon, saying he did not want to pre-empt the board’s public announcement.
Washington and Colorado last year became the first states to pass laws legalizing the recreational use of marijuana and setting up systems of state-licensed growers, processors and retail stores where adults over 21 can walk in and buy up to an ounce of heavily taxed cannabis. Sales are expected to begin at the end of the year at the earliest.
The votes left state officials with a daunting task: figuring out how to build a huge pot industry from scratch. The state’s Liquor Control Board must determine how many growers and stores there should be, how much pot should be produced, how it should be packaged, and how it should be tested to ensure people don’t get sick.

AP further reported:

All the while, marijuana remains illegal under federal law, and the Justice Department still has not announced whether it will sue in an effort to block the licensing schemes from taking effect.
Kleiman has previously argued that states can’t legalize the recreational use of marijuana because the federal government would never stand for it.
"Pot dealers nationwide — and from Canada, for that matter — would flock to California to stock up," he wrote in an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times in 2010, when california was considering legalizing marijuana. "There’s no way on earth the federal government is going to tolerate that. Instead, we'd see massive federal busts of California growers and retail dealers, no matter how legal their activity was under state law."
Some drug reform advocates were quick to question his team’s selection.
"You might ask him if he’s either changed his mind or if he intends to advise the state on undermining the will of the voters," Tom Angell, chairman of Marijuana Majority, wrote in an email.
The board has advertised for consulting services in four categories. The first is "product and industry knowledge" and requires "at least three years of consulting experience relating to the knowledge of the cannabis industry, including but not limited to product growth, harvesting, packaging, product infusion and product safety."
Other categories cover quality testing, including how to test for levels of THC, the compound that gets marijuana users high; statistical analysis of how much marijuana the state’s licensed growers should produce; and the development of regulations, a category that requires a "strong understanding of state, local or federal government processes," with a law degree preferred.
Botec, founded in the mid-1980s, has previously performed a variety of work with government agencies. It studied the results of an effort to crack down on heroin dealers in Lynn, Mass., and in the early 1990s advised the Office of National Drug Control Policy on drug-demand reduction programs.
Kleiman has written several books on drug policy and crime, including "Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know."

Read more at http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2013/03/18/wash-picks-mass-firm-for-pot-consultant-contract/rZaUYJsPlKoGkJg9ZblMoM/story.html.

NY Assemblyman Who Voted Against Medical Marijuana Arrested - For Marijuana | Common Sense for Drug Policy

New York State Assemblyman Stephen Katz was arrested for possession of marijuana after being stopped for speeding just south of Albany. The <a href=http://www.lohud.com/article/20130315/NEWS/303150112/Assemblyman-Steve-Katz-ticketed-marijuana-speeding?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage&nclick_check=1">Journal News reported on March 15, 2013</a>, that:

<blockquote><i>
Katz, 59, who was first elected to the state Assembly in 2010, was pulled over for allegedly driving 80 mph in a 65 mph zone at about 10 a.m. Thursday, State Police told Gannett’s Albany Bureau.

He was stopped headed northbound on the Thruway in Coeymans, just south of Albany. The Legislature was in session on Thursday.

When an officer approached the vehicle, the state trooper smelled marijuana, police said. Katz turned over a small bag of what appeared to be marijuana, said State Police spokeswoman Darcy Wells.

“He was alone and cooperative,” Wells said, reading from the police report.

Katz was charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and speeding, police said. He was issued an appearance ticket for local court on March 28 at 9 a.m., police said.
</i></blockquote>

Katz's short career in the Assembly includes this notable vote relating to drug policy, again from the Journal News:

<blockquote><i>
Last year, Katz voted against the legalization of medical marijuana in during an Assembly vote on June 13. It passed 91-52, with most Republicans voting against it.
</i></blockquote>

Regulation of Marijuana in Colorado: Task Force Issues Final Report on Implementation of A64 | Common Sense for Drug Policy

Colorado's Task Force on Implementation of Amendment 64 has issued its final report on Regulation of Marijuana in Colorado. Following is from the Executive Summary:

The Task Force recommends that the adult-use marijuana industry be required to have common ownership from seed to sale. This “Vertical Integration” model means that cultivation, processing and manufacturing, and retail sales must be a common enterprise under common ownership. The medical marijuana industry, law enforcement, and state and local regulators all advocated for the Vertical Integration model, to ease implementation and enforcement and to demonstrate to the federal government that Colorado is sticking with a regulatory model that has worked. In embracing the Vertical Integration model, the Task Force attempted to strike a balance between those urging state-owned and operated retail stores to sell marijuana and those endorsing a more entrepreneurial, free market model. The Task Force also recommends that for the first year of licensing, only entities with valid medical marijuana licenses, and those who applied for medical marijuana licenses before December 10, 2012 when Amendment 64 was proclaimed as law, should able to obtain licenses to grow, process and sell adult-use marijuana. The Task Force further recommends that this regulatory framework be revisited after three years to determine if it is the appropriate model for the continued regulation of adult-use marijuana.
Tax and funding recommendations are faithful to the language of Amendment 64 by endorsing a TABOR-referred measure to approve a 15% excise tax, with the first $40 million raised annually dedicated to the state’s school capital construction fund. And yet the Task Force, cognizant of Washington State’s 75% excise tax scheme and the need here in Colorado for an additional funding source to cover the costs of regulating this new industry, implementing consumer safeguards, and establishing youth prevention and treatment programs, also recommends that the Colorado General Assembly consider sending a marijuana sales tax to the ballot for voter approval. In endorsing these two taxes on adult-use marijuana, Task Force members acknowledge the need to keep taxes low enough so as not to encourage a persistent black market in marijuana.

The Task Force's work is completed, yet there is much left to be done. As the report notes:

The Task Force’s recommendations now need to be perfected and implemented by the Colorado General Assembly and the Governor through legislation, by the Attorney General giving guidance to law enforcement and state departments, by the Colorado Department of Revenue (DOR), the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), and the Colorado Department of Agriculture through administrative rulemakings and by Colorado’s local governments enacting time, place, and manner regulations and ordinances.

All the recommendations, and the Task Force's reasoning, are in the final report which is available at www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?c=Page&cid=1251640551979&p=1251640551979&pagename=GovHickenlooper%2FCBONLayout

UN Human Rights Council's Special Rapporteur Reports On Abusive Drug Treatment

The UN Human Rights Council has released a "Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Juan E. Méndez" which examines the use of forced treatment and similar psychosocial interventions for drug users. As explained in the summary:

The present report focuses on certain forms of abuses in health-care settings that may cross a threshold of mistreatment that is tantamount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. It identifies the policies that promote these practices and existing protection gaps.

The thrust is that drug users should be treated not as subhumans, not as criminals, nor even as unwilling patients, but rather as human beings with dignity, respecting their rights. Forced interventions need to be weighed carefully against the innate human rights of people. As the report states:

The mandate continues to receive reports of the systematic use of forced interventions worldwide. Both this mandate and United Nations treaty bodies have established that involuntary treatment and other psychiatric interventions in health-care facilities are forms of torture and ill-treatment.⁷⁹ Forced interventions, often wrongfully justified by theories of incapacity and therapeutic necessity inconsistent with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, are legitimized under national laws, and may enjoy wide public support as being in the alleged “best interest” of the person concerned. Nevertheless, to the extent that they inflict severe pain and suffering, they violate the absolute prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment (A/63/175, paras. 38, 40, 41). Concern for the autonomy and dignity of persons with disabilities leads the Special Rapporteur to urge revision of domestic legislation allowing for forced interventions.

A copy of the Special Rapporteur's report can be downloaded from http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/RegularSession/Session22/A.HRC.22.53_English.pdf

What's New At Drug War Facts - March 2013

The latest issue of the Drug War Facts Newsletter is now available at
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/3146
and also below.
Subscribe to the DWF Newsletter and stay up to date on the latest drug control policy research, data, and statistics! It's easy - here's the link:
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/subscriptions

--------------------------------------------

What's New At Drug War Facts
Volume 3, Issue No. 2
March 2013

Current data. New research. Evolving policies.

The one constant in life is change. In the policy world, keeping up to date is important. Using outdated data can get you in trouble, certainly damage your credibility.

For example, on Feb. 16, 2013, a Rhode Island legislator was called out by PolitiFact Rhode Island, a partnership of PolitiFact.com (the Pulitzer Prize-winning Web site of the Tampa Bay Times) and the Providence Journal for making the claim that young people find marijuana easier to get than alcohol.
"Rhode Island State Rep. Edith Ajello says studies indicate minors find it easier to get marijuana than alcohol," http://www.politifact.com/rhode-island/statements/2013/feb/16/edith-ajello/rhode-island-state-rep-edith-ajello-says-studies-i/

As Politifact put it, “If she’d referred to how easily young people could purchase one or the other, and she’d said it in 2009, there would be more support. But all the most recent, credible, national studies we found showed that teenagers report it’s easier to get alcohol than marijuana.”

Why 2009? For years, researchers with the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) found that young people reported it was easier to buy marijuana than to buy beer, “buy” being the operative verb. In 2010, CASA changed the wording of its survey question. Rather than ask “Which is easier to buy?” as they had done for years, CASA began asking instead “Which is easier to get?”
CASA, “National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse XVII: Teens,” August 2012.
http://www.casacolumbia.org/upload/2012/20120822teensurvey.pdf

Figure 7.H on page 29 of that CASA report shows that in 2009, 14% of youth reported beer was easier to buy. This was similar to previous years: 2006, 14%; 2007, 17%, and 2008, 15%. In 2010, after the wording was changed, 26% reported beer was easier to “get.” That beer figure has remained fairly static since: 23% in 2011 and 24% in 2012.

The percentage responding that marijuana is easiest to get took a big dive in 2010 to 15% from 26% the year before (when CASA asked about buying), then went up to 22% in 2011, then down to 19% in 2012 – which are close to the figures for earlier years (21% in 2006, 19% in 2007, 23% in 2008, and 26% in 2009 reporting marijuana was easier to "buy").

The number reporting that cigarettes are easiest to get or to buy has changed very little over the time period; no changes due to the change in the question are noticeable (28% in 2006, 26% in 2007, 25% in 2008, 26% in 2009, 27% in 2010, 26% in 2011, and 27% in 2012.

Here's another example: In 2002, the Justice Policy Institute issued a report titled “Cellblocks or Classrooms.”
http://www.justicepolicy.org/images/upload/02-09_REP_CellblocksClassrooms_BB-AC.pdf

The title of that report's Finding Number 3 was: “Nearly a third More African American Men Are Incarcerated than in Higher Education.”

JPI has come under fire for that statement in recent years – most notably in the film Hoodwinked
Release: JPI Stands by Data in 2002 on Education and Incarceration, Oct. 3, 2012
http://www.justicepolicy.org/news/4458
but also by people such as Professor Ivory Toldson of Howard University. In his April 20, 2011 piece in Empower Magazine, “Cellblock vs. College: A Million Reasons There Are More Black Men In College Than In Prison And Why More Work Needs To Be Done,”
http://www.empowermagazine.com/cellblock-vs-college/
Professor Toldson writes:
“When reviewing Cellblocks or Classrooms, there’s no evidence that the authors intended to sensationalize problems facing black men in the United States. More meaningful and palatable lines like “choose classrooms over cellblocks” were written with more prominence. Today, the widespread and contentious notion that “there are more black men in jail than in college” is not the fault of the Justice Policy Institute. Rather, it is the fault of journalists looking for a sound bite, politicians trying to arouse a crowd, program managers and researchers who would rather assert the need to exist than to demonstrate the efficacy of their techniques, and the list goes on of people who feel the need to be intentionally provocative. Lost in the feedback are young black men who are trying to reconcile such an ominous conclusion with their reality.”

Here then are the numbers, which support what Professor Toldson wrote.

A search through the Education Department's National Center for Education Statistics' Integrated Post‐Secondary Education Data System (IPEDS) finds that in the 2009-2010 school year, there were 1,347,485 Black or African-American male students enrolled in Title IV 2- and 4-year colleges (including public as well as private for- and nonprofit schools).
http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/datacenter/
http://nces.ed.gov/datalab/tableslibrary/viewtable.aspx?tableid=8531

The Drug War Facts section on Race and Prison
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Race_and_Prison
actually has newer data, so looking back at “Prisoners in 2010,” a report by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=2230
we see that in 2010 there were a reported 561,400 non-Hispanic Blacks under state and federal jurisdiction. In addition, according to BJS's publication “Jail Inmates at Midyear 2010 – Statistical Tables”
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/jim10st.pdf
there were 283,200 Black/African-American inmates of either gender in local jails. So there were a maximum of 844,600 Black/African-American men behind bars that year – many fewer than were in college.

Things change. If you're an activist or engaged in policy debate, it's important to keep up with these changes, and stay current. Up-to-date fact items are always to be found on the Drug War Facts website. Be sure to check back from time to time. You can also keep track of new fact items as they're added by subscribing to our RSS feed at
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/tracker/1/feed

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Favorite new items:

“In 2010, there were 38,329 drug overdose deaths in the United States; most (22 134; 57.7%) involved pharmaceuticals; 9429 (24.6%) involved only unspecified drugs. Of the pharmaceutical-related overdose deaths, 16,451 (74.3%) were unintentional, 3780 (17.1%) were suicides, and 1868 (8.4%) were of undetermined intent. Opioids (16,651; 75.2%), benzodiazepines (6497; 29.4%), antidepressants (3889; 17.6%), and antiepileptic and antiparkinsonism drugs (1717; 7.8%) were the pharmaceuticals (alone or in combination with other drugs) most commonly involved in pharmaceutical overdose deaths. Among overdose deaths involving opioid analgesics, the pharmaceuticals most often also involved in these deaths were benzodiazepines (5017; 30.1%), antidepressants (2239; 13.4%), antiepileptic and antiparkinsonism drugs (1125; 6.8%), and antipsychotics and neuroleptics (783; 4.7%).”
Source: Christopher M. Jones, PharmD, Karin A. Mack, PhD, and Leonard J. Paulozzi, MD, "Pharmaceutical Overdose Deaths, United States, 2010," Journal of the American Medical Association, February 20, 2013, Vol 309, No. 7, p. 658.
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1653518
This item and more in Annual Causes of Death http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Causes_of_Death

“We identified cohorts of individuals hospitalized in California from 1990 to 2005 with ICD-9 diagnoses of methamphetamine- (n = 74,170), alcohol- (n = 592,406), opioids- (n = 68,066), cannabis- (n = 47,048), cocaine- (n = 48,949), or polydrug-related disorders (n = 411,175), and these groups were followed for up to 16 years. Age-, sex-, and race-adjusted standardized mortality rates (SMRs) for deaths due to MVAs were generated in relation to the California general population. Standardized MVA mortality ratios were elevated across all drug cohorts: alcohol (4.5, 95% CI, 4.1–4.9), cocaine (3.8, 95% CI, 2.3–5.3), opioids (2.8, 95% CI, 2.1–3.5), methamphetamine (2.6, 95% CI, 2–3.1), cannabis (2.3, 95% CI, 1.5–3.2) and polydrug (2.6, 95% CI, 2.4–2.9). Males and females had similar MVA SMRs.”
Source: Russell C. Callaghan, Jodi M. Gatley, Scott Veldhuizen, Shaul Lev-Ran, Robert Mann, and Mark Asbridge, "Alcohol- or Drug-Use Disorders and Motor Vehicle Accident Mortality: A Retrospective Cohort Study," Accident Analysis and Prevention, 53 (2013) 149–155, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2013.01.008.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23434842
This item and more in Drugged Driving http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/chapter/Drugged_Driving

“In December 2009, the GOC [Government of Colombia] approved a law that prohibited the possession and consumption of small, "personal," amounts of illegal drugs. However, in August 2011, the Colombian Supreme Court overturned this law, finding that Legislative Act No. 2, 2009, which banned the personal use of drugs, "implies the nullification of fundamental rights, and it represses and sanctions with the severest punishments (imprisonment) the personal decision to abandon one‘s personal health, a choice that corresponds to their own decision and does not infringe on the rights of other members of society." The Supreme Court then set the "personal amount" of drugs at 20 grams of marijuana and 1 gram of cocaine.”
Source: United States Department of State Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, "International Narcotics Control Strategy Report: Volume I: Drug and Chemical Control (Washington, DC: March 2012), p. 174.
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/187109.pdf
This item and more in Colombia www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/chapter/Colombia

New Research Material:

Russell C. Callaghan, Jodi M. Gatley, Scott Veldhuizen, Shaul Lev-Ran, Robert Mann, and Mark Asbridge, "Alcohol- or Drug-Use Disorders and Motor Vehicle Accident Mortality: A Retrospective Cohort Study," Accident Analysis and Prevention, 53 (2013) 149–155, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2013.01.008.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23434842

"Colombia: Evaluation of Progress in Drug Control 2007-2009." Organization of American States (OAS) Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM). Washington, DC: January 2011. OAS/Ser.L/XIV.2.48, CICAD/docx.1843/10, p. 34.
http://www.cicad.oas.org/mem/reports/5/Full_Eval/Colombia%20-%205th%20Rd%20-%20ENG.pdf

Johnston, L. D., O’Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. (2013). Monitoring the Future national results on adolescent drug use: Overview of key findings, 2012. Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan, p. 52, Table 2.
http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/pubs/monographs/mtf-overview2012.pdf

Christopher M. Jones, PharmD, Karin A. Mack, PhD, and Leonard J. Paulozzi, MD, "Pharmaceutical Overdose Deaths, United States, 2010," Journal of the American Medical Association, February 20, 2013, Vol 309, No. 7, p. 658.
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1653518

Media Appearances:

Drug Truth Network Radio segments:
Feb. 16, 2013: New Monitoring The Future Survey Report
http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/4231
Feb. 22, 2013: Fact-checking the Drug Czar
http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/4239
Feb. 24, 2013: GAO report on efforts to control methamphetamine production
http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/4241
March 10, 2013: Fact-checking the fact-checkers
http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/4260

DWF Editor/CSDP Board Member Doug McVay also appears regularly on the weekly half-hour news shows Cultural Baggage
http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/views/latest_cb
and Century of Lies
http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/views/latest_col

The Drug Truth Network has begun production of a video news show focused on the drug war, for which DWF Editor Doug McVay is creating content. The Unvarnished Truth is broadcast weekly via Houston's HMSTV, and is available to view online at
http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/unvarnished_truth

UK Home Secretary Orders Review of Drug Policies | Common Sense for Drug Policy

The UK's Home Office Minister, Theresa May, has ordered an " international "what works" study of drug laws, including Portugal's policy of scrapping criminal penalties for personal possession." Read more at http://www.csdp.org/cms/node/23#sthash.CyufklMW.dpbs

New Report Shows Drop in Heroin, Crack Use in England

The UK's National Treatment Agency has released a new report showing a dramatic drop in the use of heroin and crack cocaine in England, particularly among young people. On March 6, 2013, the NTA announced that:

According to the new estimates, the number of heroin and crack users fell to 298,752 in 2010-11, from a peak of 332,090 in 2005-06. The number of people injecting drugs has also fallen significantly, from 129,977 in 2005-06 to 93,401 in 2010-11. These reductions in use are mirrored by a fall in numbers entering treatment for dependency. The number of people starting a new treatment programme for addiction to heroin and/or crack fell from 64,288 in 2005-6 to 47,210 in 2011-12. However behind this positive picture, an older and vulnerable population of users poses major challenges for local treatment systems. While more and more people have been helped to recover from addiction to heroin and crack, thus contributing to the fall in numbers using these drugs, the proportion of over-35s in treatment has increased and these are more entrenched users who are harder to help. The annual increases in recovery rates seen since 2005-06 will become increasingly difficult to sustain in this environment.

Read more at http://www.nta.nhs.uk/news-2013-prevalence.aspx A copy of the full report as well as supporting data are available for download from http://www.nta.nhs.uk/facts-prevalence.aspx

UN Drug Body: Marijuana Legalization in CO, WA, Violates UN Treaties

Latest news from the Common Sense for Drug Policy blog: The International Narcotics Control Board is criticizing the decision by Colorado and Washington voters to regulate and control marijuana, saying that such a move violates international drug control agreements. As the Guardian reported on March 5, 2013:

Launching its annual report in London, Raymond Yans, the INCB president, said that the successful ballots in Colorado and Washington to legalise the use of cannabis for recreational purposes and the fact that Massachusetts had recently become the 18th state to allow the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes violate the international drug conventions. "They also undermine the humanitarian aims of the drug control system and are a threat to public health and wellbeing," said Yans. He claimed that so-called "medicinal use" initiatives were little more than "a back-door to legalisation for recreational use". The INCB has warned the US government that medical cannabis must be properly regulated. "In some US states they are being operated in a way that is completely inappropriate and outside of the conventions," the report says. Yans said the INCB had already been reassured by the US attorney-general that federal laws banning the cultivation and possession of cannabis would remain in force. The UN drug authorities are now waiting to see how Colorado and Washington implement their votes to legalise recreational use and what response is taken by the federal authorities.

Read more from the article at http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/mar/05/relaxation-cannabis-laws-us-un Download a copy of the INCB's new annual report from http://www.incb.org/incb/en/publications/annual-reports/annual-report-2012.html

Federal Appeals Court Upholds Temporary Ban on Florida Plan to Drug-Test Welfare Recipients

From the article:

A federal appeals court upheld the temporary ban on Florida’s drug-testing for welfare recipients Tuesday, saying that a lawsuit challenging the program had a good chance of succeeding.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta sided with a lower court decision, stating that Florida failed to show that the drug testing plan was so critical that the Fourth Amendment, which bars unreasonable searches by the government, should be suspended.
The decision — which did not weigh in on the case’s ultimate constitutionality question — is the latest setback in Gov. Rick Scott’s controversial drug testing push. In 2011,Scott and the Florida Legislature instituted a program for drug-testing all recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Luis Lebron, a single-father and TANF applicant who refused to take the test on constitutional grounds, filed a lawsuit with help from the American Civil Liberties Union.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/02/26/3255553/temporary-ban-on-fla-welfare-drug.html#storylink=cpy

Read more at:
TALLAHASSEE: Temporary ban on Fla. welfare drug testing upheld - Florida - MiamiHerald.com

Suicide Over a Minor Pot Possession Charge?

This story comes from the North Wales Weekly News: 50p drugs case youth killed himself. From the article:

A teenage lacrosse star killed himself after he was summoned to court for possessing cannabis worth 50p, an inquest heard.
Ex-head boy Edward Thornber was found hanged on September 15, 2011, after being caught smoking the drug in Cornwall.
Two days earlier, the 17-year-old from Didsbury , Manchester, had received an order to appear in court - but a law firm acting on behalf of his family say the teenager should have only been given a warning.
A student at Loreto College in Hulme, Edward had been head boy at The Barlow RC High School in Didsbury and was hoping to coach lacrosse in America before going to university. However, he had been caught smoking cannabis with a friend earlier that summer while on holiday in Newquay. It was the second time he had been caught with the drug.

At the town's police station, he agreed to accept a "final warning", which he believed would not result in him having a criminal record - or jeopardise his chances of pursuing a lacrosse career in the US.

Read the rest at http://www.northwalesweeklynews.co.uk/conwy-county-news/uk-world-news/2013/02/23/50p-drugs-case-youth-killed-himself-55243-32867563/

Everything You Need To Know About Stoned Driving

My latest piece for CelebStoner has just been posted: Everything You Need To Know About Stoned Driving. From the story:

Drugged, or stoned, driving has been an issue of concern for several years. The Drug Czar's office and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) recently joined together to make passage of such laws, including per se limits for blood THC levels, a legislative priority. The success of marijuana legalization measures in Colorado and Washington has pushed concerns over drugged driving to the forefront for many. Washington's measure imposes a whole-blood THC limit of 5 nanograms per milliliter. Colorado's measure did not have such a provision but some legislators in the Mile High State have been working for years to enact such a limit and had already announced plans to reintroduce their bill before November's vote.

Read more at: http://www.celebstoner.com/blogs/doug-mcvay/everything-you-need-to-know-about-stoned-driving.html

New Ipsos MORI poll shows 53% of GB public want cannabis legalised or decriminalised

From the UK's Transform Drug Policy Foundation: New Ipsos MORI poll shows 53% of GB public want cannabis legalised or decriminalised

From the release:

A new poll by Ipsos MORI, commissioned by Transform Drug Policy Foundation, shows that over half of the public (53%) support cannabis legalisation (legal regulation of production and supply) or decriminalisation of possession of cannabis. Only 1 in 7 support heavier penalties and more being spent on enforcement for cannabis offences. In addition, the survey shows that around two thirds (67%) support a comprehensive independent review of all the possible policy options (from legal market regulation to tougher enforcement) for controlling drugs.

The findings indicate that 45% of mid-market newspaper readers (including Daily Mail and Express readers) support cannabis legalisation (legal regulation of production and supply) or decriminalisation of possession of cannabis, with less than one in five (17%) supporting heavier penalties and more being spent on enforcement for cannabis offences. For tabloid readers these figures are 47% and 20%. Around 65% of mid-market newspaper readers and 66% of tabloid readers support a full review of all drug policy options.

You can download a PDF of the full poll results directly or via the news release.

New piece on Drug Truth Network: UK Approves Oral Fluid Drug Testing Device for Police Use

My new audio news piece for the Drug Truth Network is online. It will be broadcast on Jan. 9. You can listen to/download the audio file from the link, and the script is below - enjoy :-)

Drugged driving has been an issue of concern for several years. The Drug Czar's office and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (or MADD) recently joined together to make passage of such laws, including per se limits for blood THC levels, a legislative priority. The recent passage of marijuana legalization measures in Colorado and Washington has pushed this concern to the forefront for many. Washington's measure, as many of you are already aware, imposes a whole-blood THC limit of 5 nanograms per milliliter. Colorado's measure did not have such a provision but some state legislators in Colorado have been working for years to enact such a limit, and a bill is slated to be reintroduced in the new legislative session. A primary concern with these laws as far as cannabis is concerned has been the limit itself and whether it's inappropriately low, though much of the research seems to back up the 5 nanogram limit. There's also the question of how quickly THC leaves the system, particularly for frequent heavy users. Another concern has been that blood testing is simply quite invasive, and most law enforcement officers aren't qualified or authorized to get a blood sample which means delays while a suspect is taken to a hospital for a blood draw. Oral fluid – saliva – testing has been suggested in the past as an alternative, but has not been used because of technical limitations. Until now. The UK government's Home Office announced on January 4th, 2013, that it has approved the Draeger DrugTest 5000 for use in police stations around the UK. According to the Home Office news release, quote: “Policing and criminal justice minister Damian Green approved the first drug-driving equipment sanctioned for police use after experts at the home office’s centre for applied science and technology (CAST) carried out extensive tests on its effectiveness. The testing kit is able to detect THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, and is now available to police forces. Work will continue at CAST to test more equipment capable of accurately identifying other substances.” End quote. The European Union's Project on Driving Under the Influence of Drugs, Alcohol and Medicines – the DRUID Project – also evaluated Draeger's device along with several others. In their report “Analytical Evaluation of Oral Fluid Screening Devices and Preceding Selection Procedures” issued at the end of March 2010, they conclude that of all the devices tested, quote: “The DrugTest 5000 had the best overall results. ” End quote. Drug War Facts has a new chapter on Drugged Driving, if you want more information, just go to the home page at www dot drug war facts dot org and click on the Drugged Driving link in the chapter list on the left-hand side of the page. For the Drug Truth Network, this is Doug McVay with Drug War Facts and Common Sense for Drug Policy.