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.