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.

Heroin treatment the answer for hardcore opiate addiction?

Following is a piece I recorded on Supervised Injectable Heroin Treatment which airs on the Drug Truth Network's 420 News segment May 6, 2012. The audio file can be downloaded from here.

The federal government and several state Attorneys General are sounding the alarm over heroin use and prescription painkiller addiction. Their approach is more of the same: more law enforcement, more drug testing, and more propaganda. Outside the US, more enlightened approaches are proving effective. The research overall shows substitution treatment with methadone or buprenorphine to be highly effective for those dependent on opiates. Availability of Methadone Maintenance Treatment must be expanded. Still, there are hardcore addicts for whom even methadone fails. What do we do about them? One possible answer: Supervised Injectable Heroin treatment. It's controversial, yet the evidence of its effectiveness in all areas continues to mount. The European Union's drug agency, the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction, recently published a review of the literature around heroin treatment. Overall, they concluded: Quote: “Over the past 15 years, six Randomized Controlled Trials have been conducted involving more than 1500 patients, and they provide strong evidence, both individually and collectively, in support of the efficacy of treatment with fully supervised self-administered injectable heroin, when compared with oral Methadone Maintenance Treatment, for long-term refractory heroin-dependent individuals.” End quote. Among other things they found that, quote: “Across the trials, major reductions in the continued use of ‘street’ heroin occurred in those receiving Supervised Injectable Heroin compared with control groups (most often receiving active Methadone Maintenance Treatment).” End quote. And, quote: “Reductions in the criminal activity of Supervised Injectable Heroin patients were evident and were substantially greater when compared with patients under control conditions.” End quote. Most importantly, quote: “Finally, countries that have conducted longer term (up to six years) follow-up studies have seen a high retention in Supervised Injectable Heroin (55 % at two years and 40 % at six years), with patients sustaining gains in reduced ‘street’ heroin use and marked improvements in social functioning (e.g. stable housing, drug-free social contacts and increased rate of employment).” End quote. In the US, where methadone is still considered controversial in some communities and treatment availability is thus quite limited, Supervised Injectable Heroin treatment will seem like a radical approach – yet it works. The question is, how long do we keep doing more of the same, and failing, before we try a different way? For the Drug Truth Network, this is Doug McVay with Common Sense for Drug Policy.

Berkeley pot dispensary biggest casualty of federal crackdown | California Watch

I'm quoted accurately in this story. The reporters have much more info which they have yet to report - I save all kinds of paper, email, IMs, texts, etc. Just saying, they really should have let me take time off to take care of my dying mother back in Iowa. Not that I'm bitter .......

Berkeley pot dispensary biggest casualty of federal crackdown | California Watch

Audio File for 'Pain, Malingering, and the Real Question'

The audio file for my piece "Pain, Malingering, and the Real Question" from the Drug Truth Network's 420 Newsbriefs is available here.

Pain, Malingering, and The Real Question

Following is the text of an audio piece I just put completed for the Drug Truth Network. I'll post a link to the audio file when it's aired.

Throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

The federal government continues its assault on medical cannabis with recent DEA raids in Oakland, threatening letters sent to landlords in Oregon, and indictments in Montana. A candidate for state Attorney General in Oregon makes criticism of the state's medical marijuana program part of his campaign rhetoric, calling it a quote “train wreck” end quote, because so many patients in the program have only chronic serious pain as their qualifying condition.

On another front, the federal government is warning of an epidemic of painkiller addiction, threatening doctors for prescribing adequate medication for their patients and pushing some pain sufferers into illicit drug use, treatment, or prison.

These drug control policy stories aren't only about drug policies. Ultimately this is about pain, and the question of whether pain is real. Pain is regarded by many as a legitimate treatable condition, by others as a subjective and difficult to measure symptom, yet it is viewed by some as an illusory complaint used by the weak and the lazy to excuse their lack of will.

Most of us would regard that latter opinion as unthinking and cruel, though inhuman and barbaric are clean enough for radio and probably cleave closer to the mark.

Yet, the fact is that some people do malinger. Research on how many people try to fake illness, injury, pain or disability has yielded mixed results. Estimates of malingering range from as low as 1-10% to as high as 20-40%. As with so many tough questions, reality may lie somewhere inbetween.

But if you think those sound like big numbers, check these out: According to the federal Institute of Medicine, quote “chronic pain affects about 100 million American adults – more than the total affected by heart disease, cancer, and diabetes combined. Pain also costs the nation up to $635 billion each year in medical treatment and lost productivity.” End quote. That 100 million estimate leaves out those who suffer short-term serious acute pain for example because of injury or a sudden serious illness such as cancer.

A few cases may be exaggerated, some go untreated, and yet all of them are targeted by federal and corporate bureaucracies which view pain as a moral failing and a sin against business. It's time for change.

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

Consequences - New Audio for the Drug Truth Network

This is a segment I recorded for the Drug Truth Network. It's being broadcast on March 20, 2012, and is available here.

Consequences Erica Dinerman is project manager for Natick Together for Youth, a substance abuse prevention project of Natick, MA Public Schools. The MetroWest Daily News on March 15 published a letter from her office urging voters to oppose a medical marijuana legalization initiative which has not yet made it to the November 2012 general election ballot. Ms. Dinerman began her letter by noting that her program was the recipient of a new Drug Free Communities Grant of $625,000 over a five-year period. That's 125,000 of our tax dollars each year for the next five years. Ms. Dinerman made clear that the focus of those tax dollars in the first year was opposing a medical marijuana initiative in Massachusetts. According to ONDCP, state and local agencies – like Natick Public Schools – and their officers and employees – like Ms. Dinerman - must abide by the same Hatch Act restrictions against political involvement which federal employees must obey. Unfortunately, the Hatch Act does not restrict involvement in initiative and referenda campaigns, in fact they are specifically exempted. So it's legal. The Hatch Act concern is merely a technicality, however. Let's get to the real meat of the story. According to ONDCP, Drug Free Community grants are for the purpose of preventing youth substance use. On her website, Ms. Dinerman asserts that medical marijuana laws mean increased youth use. It's not true, though young people and adults are more likely to admit using marijuana once penalties are reduced because they feel less afraid of admitting the truth, but nuances seem lost on Ms. Dinerman. To Ms. Dinerman, concerns like alcohol, tobacco, inhalants, and prescription drugs – the youth drug use concerns which most schools face – seem to pale in significance compared with adult use of medical marijuana by physician-authorized patients. Is this what the parents in the Natick Public School system consider their biggest threat? It's certainly not what real prevention professionals would call effective use of very limited federal funds. Some people might even call it sleazy and unethical. At the end of the day the ones who will suffer most are the students in Natick Public School system. Ms. Dinerman does seem to be concerned with consequences. She used the word four times in her 290 word letter. One can only hope Ms. Dinerman will learn the consequences for misusing limited federal resources in this way – if not in real court, then at least in the court of public opinion. For the Drug Truth Network, this is Doug McVay, Common Sense for Drug Policy.

Audio file posted for If someone you love can't sleep, drug 'em

As promised below (If someone you love can't sleep, drug 'em) here's a link to the audio file of an item I recently put together for the Drug Truth Network about veterans, PTSD, and pain meds. It's being used in the 4:20 news segment on March 12.