• Drug Policy - Hot Off The 'Net - International

    Drug decriminalization pays off in Portugal as US weighs its options

    By The Associated Press
    Monday, December 27th, 2010

    LISBON, Portugal (AP) — These days, Casal Ventoso is an ordinary blue-collar community – mothers push baby strollers, men smoke outside cafes, buses chug up and down the cobbled main street.

    Ten years ago, the Lisbon neighborhood was a hellhole, a “drug supermarket” where some 5,000 users lined up every day to buy heroin and sneaked into a hillside honeycomb of derelict housing to shoot up. In dark, stinking corners, addicts – some with maggots squirming under track marks – staggered between the occasional corpse, scavenging used, bloody needles.

    Full story Here

  • Drug Policy - Question of the Week

    Which are the most harmful drugs?

    Drug Policy Question of the Week – 12-18-10

    As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 12-18-10. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3189

    Question of the Week: Which are the most harmful drugs?

    Title 21, Chapter 13, Section 812 of the U.S. Code contains the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 that established five drug “schedules” presumably based on harm. Schedule I are said to the most dangerous. The other four schedules suggest gradually less harm. The United Kingdom has a similar classification system using the letters A, B, and C. Neither includes alcohol or tobacco.

    Several studies have compared the harms of various drugs. A famous New York Times article from 1994 looked at nicotine, heroin, cocaine, alcohol, cocaine, and marijuana and found heroin to be the most dangerous, followed closely by alcohol. Cannabis and caffeine were deemed to be least dangerous.

    The American Scientist magazine analyzed drug dependence and concluded,

    “Heroin and methamphetamine are the most addictive … Cocaine, pentobarbital, nicotine and alcohol are next, followed by marijuana and possibly caffeine. Some hallucinogens—notably LSD, mescaline and psilocybin—have little or no potential for creating dependence.”

    A similar analysis recently appeared in the British medical journal, The Lancet that found,

    “… heroin, crack cocaine, and metamfetamine were the most harmful drugs to individuals, whereas alcohol, heroin, and crack cocaine were the most harmful to others.”

    A table from another Lancet analysis now appears on Drug War Facts. This study ranked 20 drugs by physical-, dependence-, and socially-related harms. The table also shows their legal classifications in the U.K. and U.S.

    Of the top five drugs rated as most harmful, only one – heroin – is a Schedule I drug in the U.S. Of the nine drugs that had ranking among the least harmful, four including cannabis are Schedule I.

    These facts and others like them can be found in the Crime and Addictive Properties of Drugs chapters of Drug War Facts at http://www.drugwarfacts.org.

    Questions concerning these or other facts concerning drug policy can be e-mailed to [email protected]

    These facts and others like them can be found in the Crime and Addictive Properties of Popular Drugs chapters of Drug War Facts at www.drugwarfacts.org.
    Drug Rankings by Harm
    Substance Physical Harm Dependence Social Harm UK Class US Schedule
    Heroin 2.78 3.00 2.54 A I
    Cocaine 2.33 2.39 2.17 A II
    Barbiturates 2.23 2.01 2.00 B III
    Street Methadone 1.86 2.08 1.87 A II
    Alcohol 1.40 1.93 2.21 n/s n/s
    Ketamine 2.00 1.54 1.69 C III
    Benzodiazepines 1.63 1.83 1.65 C IV
    Amphetamine 1.81 1.67 1.50 A II
    Tobacco 1.24 2.21 1.42 n/s n/s
    Buprenorphine 1.60 1.64 1.49 C III
    Cannabis 0.99 1.51 1.50 B I
    Solvents 1.28 1.01 1.52 n/s n/s
    4-MTA 1.44 1.30 1.06 A n/s
    LSD 1.13 1.23 1.32 A I
    Methylphenidate 1.32 1.25 0.97 B II
    Anabolic steroids 1.45 0.88 1.13 C III
    GHB 0.86 1.19 1.30 C I
    Ecstasy 1.05 1.13 1.09 A I
    Alkyl nitrites 0.93 0.87 0.97 n/s n/s
    Khat 0.50 1.04 0.85 C I


    Notes:
    – United Kingdom drug classes were initially assigned based on Table 2 in The Lancet report. However, since then, two drugs have been reclassified:
    – Methamphetamine was moved from class B to class A in 2006.
    – Although Cannabis was downgraded from class B to class C in 2004, it was subsequently upgraded to class B in 2009.
    – “n/s” = no scheduling

    A printer-ready “From the Chapters of Drug War Facts” fact sheet in PDF format can be found at: http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/files/Drug-Rankings-by-Harm.pdf

  • Drug Policy - Question of the Week

    What is Harm Reduction?

    Drug Policy Question of the Week – 12-6-10

    As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 12-6-10. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3175

    Harm Reduction is a term often mentioned in conjunction with drug policy. A recent report from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies entitled, “Out of Harm’s Way: injecting drug user and harm reduction,” defined Harm Reduction as:

    “… a range of pragmatic and evidence-based public health policies and practices aimed at reducing the negative consequences associated with drug use and other related risk factors such as HIV and AIDS. These interventions exemplify human rights in action by seeking to alleviate hazards faced by the injecting drug users, where needed, without distinction and without judgement.”

    The Red Cross concluded that,

    “Harm reduction is pragmatic, cost-effective and evidence-based. From a public health perspective, it safeguards the well-being of drug users by allowing them to minimize harm to themselves and others”

    It went on to say that,

    “Changing policies and reforming the justice system are central to harm reduction. Injecting drug use should not be seen as a criminal act but as a major public health issue.”

    Another recent report from the International Harm Reduction Association called, “Three cents a day is not enough: Resourcing HIV-related Harm Reduction on a global basis,” supports Red Cross, stating,

    “Prevention of HIV is also cheaper than treatment of HIV/AIDS. For example, in Asia it is estimated that the comprehensive package of HIV-related harm reduction interventions costs $39 per disability-adjusted life-year saved, whereas antiretroviral treatment costs approximately $2,000 per life-year saved. Such figures demonstrate that harm reduction is a low-cost, high-impact intervention.”

    The IHRA’s conclusion in this report was a simple one,

    “More money is needed for harm reduction, and it is needed now.”

    These facts and others like them can be found in the HIV/AIDS chapter of Drug War Facts at www.drugwarfacts.org.

    Questions concerning these or other facts concerning drug policy can be e-mailed to [email protected]

  • Drug Policy - Law Enforcement & Prisons - Question of the Week

    How large is the U.S. prison population?

    Drug Policy Question of the Week – 11-9-10

    As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 11-9-10. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3138

    Question of the Week: How large is the U.S. prison population?

    According to an April 2010 study from the Pew Center on the States,

    “Survey data … indicate that as of January 1, 2010, there were 1,404,053 persons under the jurisdiction of state prison authorities, 4,777 (0.3 percent) fewer than there were on December 31, 2008. This marks the first year-to-year drop in the state prison population since 1972.”

    However, the report goes on to say,

    “In this period, however, the nation’s total prison population increased by 2,061 people because of a jump in the number of inmates under the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The federal count rose by 6,838 prisoners, or 3.4 percent in 2009, to an all-time high of 208,118.”

    Added together, total state and federal prisoners now equal 1.6 million.

    The Pew Center then added local jail inmates to state and federal prisoners to conclude,

    “the overall incarcerated population [has] reached an all-time high, with 1 in 100 adults in the United States living behind bars.”

    A 2007 report from the International Center for Prison Studies compared prison ratios by country. It found that, excluding the U.S., countries with the highest incarceration rates included Russia (629 per 100,000), Rwanda (604 per 100,000), and Cuba (531 per 100,000).

    That report goes on to read,

    “The world population in 2008 is estimated at 6,750 million; set against a world prison population of 9.8 million this produces a world prison population rate of 145 per 100,000.”

    Recall that the comparative U.S. imprisonment rate is now 1,000 per 100,000.

    These facts and others like them can be found in the Prisons, Jails & Probation chapter of Drug War Facts at www.drugwarfacts.org.

    Questions concerning these or other facts concerning drug policy can be e-mailed to [email protected]

  • Drug Policy - Hot Off The 'Net

    Northern Illinois U. Finally Recognizes Students for Sensible Drug Policy

    DEKALB, Ill., Dec. 10, 2010—Northern Illinois University (NIU) has finally given full recognition to NIU Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) after the Student Association Senate twice denied the group any recognition, which had prevented SSDP from meeting or posting flyers on campus. But Senate policy still denies funding to all “political” and “religious” student organizations. This arbitrary standard classifies Christian, Muslim, and Jewish organizations as “religious” and therefore ineligible for funding, while the campus Baha’i Club is funded as a “cultural” group. Similarly, groups such as Model United Nations are considered “political” while many “social justice” or “advocacy” groups—including student pro-life, pro-choice, antiwar, women’s rights, vegetarian, and victims’ rights groups—are fully recognized. SSDP came to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) for help.

  • Drug Policy - Question of the Week

    Is drug classification accurate?

    Drug Policy Question of the Week – 11-17-10

    As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 11-17-10. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3151

    Question of the Week: Is drug classification accurate?

    The National Institute on Drug Abuse has named this week, November 8th through November 14th, National Drug Facts Week.

    NIDA “encourage(s) teens to get factual answers from scientific experts about drugs and drug abuse.”

    NIDA’s publication for this event entitled, “Drugs: Shatter the Myths,” contains “Facts” for marijuana, tobacco, methamphetamine, prescription drugs, and “huffing.” A search of it for “alcohol” finds no fact for this substance that is used monthly by 10 million American teens aged 12-20. This publication also omitted facts concerning heroin, cocaine, and crack.

    Last week, the prestigious medical journal, The Lancet, published an article entitled, “Drug harms in the UK: a multicriteria decision analysis.” A panel of experts used this analysis technique to rate 20 different drugs on 16 total criteria of harm to the individual and harm to others.

    This study found alcohol to be the most harmful drug. Its harm to others was rated as almost twice that for heroin and crack cocaine that placed second and third in this category. Heroin, crack cocaine, and methamphetamine were scored as most harmful to the individual. Still, alcohol’s overall harm score was 50% higher than that for runners up heroin and cocaine, dwarfing the scores of the seventeen other drugs evaluated.

    It appears that the three drugs deemed to be most harmful in one of the most prestigious scientific journals — alcohol, crack cocaine, and heroin — were overlooked in NIDA’s official publication for National Drug Facts Week.

    The Lancet article sums up this omission concluding,

    “the present drug classification systems have little relation to the evidence of harm.”

    These facts and others like them can be found in the Drug Usage and Addictive Properties of Drugs chapters of Drug War Facts at www.drugwarfacts.org.

    Questions concerning these or other facts concerning drug policy can be e-mailed to [email protected]

  • Drug Policy - Hot Off The 'Net - International

    IV drug policy fails HIV patients: Red Cross

    The spread of HIV and AIDS among millions of people could be slowed if addicts who inject drugs were treated as medical patients rather than as criminals, the International Federation of the Red Cross said Friday.

    More than 80 per cent of the world’s governments “are inclined to artificial realities, impervious to the evidence that treating people who inject drugs as criminals is a failed policy that contributes to the spread of HIV,” the Red Cross said.

    An estimated 16 million people worldwide inject drugs, mainly because it delivers the fastest, most intense high, in what has become a growing trend on every continent, according to the Red Cross.

    The launch of the International Federation of the Red Cross’ 24-page report — essentially to promote a new strategy for nations to stop the spread of the virus among injecting drug users — comes in the week before World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.

  • Drug Policy - Hot Off The 'Net

    Obama’s Pick for Top Drug War Enforcer Needs to Answer Some Tough Questions

    By Paul Armentano, The Hill

    This Wednesday, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee will be considering Michele Leonhart for the position of director of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Several organizations that lobby on drug policy issues have voiced serious concerns regarding Ms. Leonhart’s nomination.

    As Interim DEA director, Ms. Leonhart has overseen dozens of federal raids on medical marijuana providers, producers, and laboratory facilities that engage in the testing of cannabis potency and quality. These actions took place in states that have enacted laws allowing for the production and distribution of marijuana for medical purposes, and they are inconsistent with an October 19, 2009 Department of Justice memo recommending federal officials no longer “focus … resources … on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana.”