Being ‘tough on drugs’ is a case of easy politics, but lazy policy.
Drug abuse will never be eliminated, however, we can do better than we are now.
Tougher Drug Laws Only Scratch The Surface:
“New research appearing in the journal Addiction supports the growing evidence that cannabis can seriously damage mental health.”
Too how many?
and how does prohibition help?
Doh!
Too many drugs labelled Class A, experts say
15.03.06 1.00pm
Jim Anderton, the Minister in charge of drug strategy, is asking the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs to explain comments it made about use of Class A classification.
National Radio reported today that in minutes to a recent meeting the committee was concerned there was a ‘drift’ to include more and more drugs as Class A — and one member suggested capping it.
In its minutes the committee, made up of police, health experts and Customs representatives, said: ‘The committee discussed their concern there was a drift towards classifying substances as Class A. One member suggested there should be no more than 10 substances in Class A at any one time otherwise it’s validity was undermined.’
Penalties for Class A drugs are higher than for other categories.
Mr Anderton told National Radio the only drug that had recently been added to the Class A category was methamphetamine, or P. ‘There’s only been one single occasion in six years where a Class A recommendation has been made to me, I accepted it on methamphetamine it would have been a no-brainer not to, it’s a dangerous drug, and I’d hardly call that a drift towards substances of the Class A schedule.’
He said putting a cap on the classification did not make sense. There were 38 drugs in the classification at the moment which all met statutory criteria.
‘There’s a very clear set of criteria for judging whether a drug fits the Class A category.’
United Future MP Judy Turner added: ‘I think if the expert advisory committee keep discussing things in this vein they are going to lose their credibility.
‘There should never be a cap on a category of drug.’
Drug Foundation executive director Ross Bell suggested the committee was highlighting the importance of keeping only the most serious of drugs classified as Class A.
‘We shouldn’t take any knee-jerk approach to drug issues and try to put all substances higher up in the schedule. They are saying different drugs have different levels of risk.’
The committee had been meeting to discuss a review of LSD, which has become a less popular drug.
It will meet later in the month to consider a paper on LSD that compares and contrasts it to P.
Ms Turner said even if LSD was less widely used it was still as dangerous.
– NZPA
“Huge amounts of nitrogen and phosphorous were found in a hemp crop harvested recently in Canterbury – 400kg of nitrogen and 100kg of phosphorous per hectare”.
Gee, one local hemp activist told the Christchurch City Council this 6 years ago. With some 60 acres around the treatment plant and a multimillion dollar ‘resource consent’ to discharge waste water to the sea, we hobbled an opportunity to lead in waste treatment.and re-use. /Blair
The debate was cancelled the day before because they wanted to devote the time to talking about a dead guy...somebody named Melosovich or something...he was in jail and died in prison. I said, so ef'ing what? He's dead now. Let's take care of the living!
It'll be rescheduled in 2-3 wks we are told. / Mike Smithson (LEAP)
Can the War on Drugs Be Won?
What Do You Think of the Drug Laws in Your Country?
It’s estimated that five percent of the world’s adult population has used drugs over the last twelve months. The illegal trade is said to be worth as much as $400 billion per year.
This week, the Afghan government started to destroy fields of opium poppies, but a bumper harvest is still expected. Farmers say they need the income. Others say the drugs destroy lives and the profits can be used to fund terrorism.
There are signs in the U.S. that drug use is falling among teenagers, but illegal use of prescription drugs is on the increase.
What’s the best way to tackle drug supply and abuse? Is drug use becoming socially acceptable? Would legalization make the problem better or worse?
These questions will be addressed on the BBC program “Have Your Say” on Sunday, 12 March at 9 am EST, 8 am CST, 7 am MST 6 am PST in North America, or 2 pm (14:00 hours) UTC/GMT wherever you are. The program actually starts at five minutes after the hour immediately after the news break.
This is sure to be a lively and informative discussion between Antonio Marie Costa, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime; Danny Kushlick of Transform Drug Policy Foundation, the United Kingdom’s leading drug policy reform organization; and Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Executive Director, Jack Cole.
The show is broadcast on both radio and TV to 65 countries and over the internet. For details, see
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/talking_point_programme/default.stm
To find out how you can listen to the program please go to Radio Schedules at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/worldservice/psims/ScheduleSDT.cgi
Please check your local cable/satellite TV listings to see if you may watch the show.
To get involved in the discussion before and during the show, go to the BBC website at
http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=1261&start=0&&&edition=2&ttl=20060311055416
Please consider writing at least one short question and submitting it to the producers prior to the show. Also consider writing a follow up note after the broadcast to BBC with your perceptions of the event.
You may use this form to provide the BBC with feedback
http://www.bbcworld.com/content/template_customer_feedback.asp?pageid=2011
To learn more about Law Enforcement Against Prohibition visit the LEAP website http://www.leap.cc
For more information about Transform please visit their website http://www.tdpf.org.uk/
Thanks for your effort and support. It’s not what others do it’s what YOU do
Additional suggestions for increasing media coverage of drug policy reform issues can be found at our Media Activism Center:
http://www.mapinc.org/resource/Or contact MAP Media Activism Facilitator Steve Heath for personal tips on how to write LTEs that get printed and how to increase your local newspaper, radio and television coverage of drug policy reform. mailto:heath@mapinc.org
Prepared by: Stephen Heath, MAP Media Activism Facilitator
DrugSense provides many services at no charge, but they are not free to produce. Your contributions make DrugSense and its Media Awareness Project (MAP) happen. Please donate today. Our secure Web server at http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm accepts credit cards.
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Blair Anderson
Techno Junk and Grey Matter
50 Wainoni Road.
Christchurch, New Zealand 8006
ph (++643) 389 4065 cell/TXT 027 2657219 car-phone 025 2105080
NZ transport logistics reports:
SOLID Energy is investigating the feasibility of converting Southland lignite to transport fuels and believes the economics stack up when oil prices are above $US40 a barrel. Solid Energy CEO Don Elder says the technology is already available to convert coal to a range of transport fuels such as diesel, petrol and aviation fuel. It’s simply a matter of when it becomes economically viable for NZ to invest in a coal-to-liquids plant, which would cost upwards of $1bn to build. Elder believes the time has come, with oil prices now around $US60 a barrel and long-term forecasts for oil to go above $US100 a barrel. He says Solid Energy could have a coal-to-liquids plant operating in Southland by 2012, assuming the Govt and business gets behind such a project.
Long-Term Implications. Elder believes NZ needs to take a serious look at the long-term implications for the country of higher oil prices, given our heavy dependence on fuel for transport, industry and farming. Rather than importing increasingly expensive fuel from overseas, he believes NZ should look to become more self-sufficient. He says Solid Energy has six lignite fields in Southland, which would be ideally suited for a coal-to-liquids plant. From an economic viewpoint, it would make sense to build such a plant near the lignite source and Solid Energy already has a possible site in mind, although he can’t disclose it.
Off-Shore Success. Elder points out South Africa has been successfully converting coal to transport fuel for more than 30 years, since its isolation during the Apartheid era, and there are moves to develop coal-to-liquids projects in China, India, the US and elsewhere. He believes it’s a technology whose time has come worldwide, given escalating oil prices. He acknowledges potential opposition from environmentalists but believes this would be mainly over CO2 emissions from such a plant, rather than any adverse impact it would have on the surrounding environment. Solid Energy is looking at using carbon capture technology to stop greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere. Meanwhile, mining company L&M Group is also investigating the feasibility of turning Southland lignite into diesel and other fuels and an Aust company is also understood to be interested in a similar project.
— ends —
Blair Anderson
http://mildgreens.com
Advocates of decriminalization or legalization of marijuana are hallucinating if they think their vision would mean less law enforcement, says renowned cannabis and psychosis expert Dr. David Fergusson.
‘If you think about tobacco and alcohol, there are huge regulatory behaviours and procedures that need to be put in place,’ the New Zealand professor told a cannabis and mental-health seminar at Simon Fraser University Harbourside yesterday.
Fegusson said a cannabis-legalization framework would have to deal with a way to ensure product quality, advertising regulations, package warnings/labeling, under-age prohibitions like those on tobacco and alcohol, impaired driving/boating/flying standards, smoking-in-public rules, criminal-code punishments, designated growing and retail outlets and control of products entering Canada.
Increased research budgets would be needed to study long-term mental and physical effects, as well as more health-care capacity to treat psychosis or lung-damage cases, he said.
Fergusson said there is a clear connection between heavy marijuana use — at least one joint per day — and psychosis. ‘We estimate if all cannabis use was eliminated, probably in the region of 10 per cent of psychosis cases would disappear,’ he said.
Benedikt Fischer, incoming head of an illicit-drug policy and public-health unit at the University of Victoria, said the doubling of Canada’s marijuana users in the past 20 years shows the current approach is ‘not very effective.’
“There were no structured national educational programmes specifically dealing with P, and no compulsory national curriculum within the education system on drug education and drug-related harm.”
Because, the required conversations haven’t been had! Drug by Drug Ed is flawed!
/Blair
P battle continues in form of education
09 March 2006
The society – the Methamphetamine Prevention National Education and Resource Unit –- hopes to become the leading provider of education resources on P, and to provide other services to people waging war against the drug.
Its chief executive and chairman is former Hamilton man Pat Norris, whose P-using son, Dean, drowned in the Waikato River last year after running from police. The unit, which should be up and running by June, plans a nationwide education programme, with advertisements on TV, radio and in print media.
It will also deliver presentations to schools, businesses and community gatherings. Mr Norris said that though it was a national project, they would concentrate on the upper North Island first. “While the task ahead of us is huge, it is very much one step at a time. We have to identify and approach the easiest and most accessible groups first with this prevention programme.
“Given that 90 per cent of the population is Taupo north, our efforts will concentrate on establishing our prevention initiatives first in this territory.” The unit had been set up because of shortcomings in drug education, Mr Norris said.
There were no structured national educational programmes specifically dealing with P, and no compulsory national curriculum within the education system on drug education and drug-related harm.
RedOrbit – Health – War on Drugs: Elusive Victory, Disputed Statistics: “Anne Patterson, who heads the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, was asked to explain how ever-larger seizures and crop spraying programs squared with the fact that drugs were still readily available.
‘If we weren’t doing these programs,’ she said, ‘the situation would be very dramatically worse.'”
The question is, could it get worse? /Blair
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