Drug Policy Question of the Week – 6-5-12

As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 6-5-12. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3903

Question of the Week: When did people start using drugs?

According to a 2009 historical overview by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime,

“The use of psychoactive substances has occurred since ancient times …”

Reviewing just opium, cannabis and coca, the UNODC goes on to say,

“The use of opium for medicinal and recreational use is documented in antiquity. The Sumerians referred to it as ‘Gil Hul’ or ‘joy plant’ as early as 3000 B.C. Techniques of opium production were passed to the Babylonians from where it spread to other countries in the Near and Middle East. Opium production shifted from Mesopotamia to Egypt around 1500 B.C., to Persia probably around 900 B.C, and to Asia Minor around 500 B.C.”

The UNODC also traces cannabis use to

“as early as 4000 B.C. in Central Asia and north-western China, with written evidence going back to 2700 B.C. in the pharmacopeia of emperor Chen-Nong. It then gradually spread across the globe, to India (some 1500 B.C., also mentioned in Altharva Veda, one of four holy books about 1400 B.C.1), the Near and Middle East (some 900 B.C.),
Europe (some 800 B.C.), various parts of South-East Asia (2nd century A.D.), Africa (as of the 11th century A.D.) to the Americas (19th century) and the rest of the world.”

Regarding coca, the non-profit Acción Andina states that,

“Archaeological evidence has confirmed that the coca leaf has been  cultivated and used by the indigenous people of the Andes region for at least 4,000-5,000 years while other estimates put this as far back as 20,000 years.”

Thus the short answer to the question of when people started using drugs is a very, very long time ago!

Drug Policy Question of the Week – 6-2-12

As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 6-2-12.  http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3892

Question of the Week: How much is the global illicit market worth?

The last Drug Truth Network segment covered Transnational Organized Crime, a relatively new term that was the focus of a 2011 report by Global Financial Integrity. It concluded,

“Whether it is drugs, human kidneys, human beings, illegally harvested timber, weapons, or rhinoceros horns, as long as someone is willing to buy it, someone will be willing to sell it.”

Understanding profit as a driving force, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime computed a “macro” estimate of global illicit trade in 2009, finding

“The overall best estimates of [its] criminal proceeds are close to US$2.1 trillion in 2009 … About half of these proceeds were linked to trafficking in drugs.”

The “micro” components of these criminal proceeds can be found in a new Drug War Facts table based on Global Financial Integrity’s estimates. This table also includes dollar values from the UNODC for cannabis, cocaine, opiates and amphetamine stimulants.

This table shows that the $321 billion illicit drug trade clearly dominated the illicit international trade, representing almost half of its total estimated $646 billion value in 2005. The only other market to come close was “Counterfeiting” at $250 billion. In contrast, the “Small arms and Light Weapons” market had a “mere” value of only $650 million or 0.1% of the total.

At $141 billion, cannabis and cannabis resin combined were estimated to have a global retail value equal to twice the sum of these ten “smaller” illicit markets combined.

Hence, removing just cannabis and cannabis resin from the illicit market place could reduce the proceeds available to transnational organized crime by almost one quarter.

Drug Policy Question of the Week – 5-21-12

As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 5-21-12. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3876

Question of the Week: What is transnational organized crime?

According the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime,

“‘organized crime'” is any serious offence committed by a group of three or more people with the aim of making money.”

Transnational extends organized crime across the globe.

The Office of the President of the United States defined transnational organized crime as,

“self-perpetuating associations of individuals who operate transnationally for the purpose of obtaining power, influence, monetary and/or commercial gains, wholly or in part by illegal means, while protecting their activities through a pattern of corruption and/or violence, or while protecting their illegal activities through a transnational organizational structure.”

There is some inconsistency concerning which markets comprise this illicit trade.

Citing the U.S. government’s International Crime Threat Assessment, which was completed in 2000 under the direction of National Security Council, the Congressional Research Service listed:

“the largest international crime threats, in terms of their potential impact, [to] include smuggling of nuclear materials and technology; drug trafficking; trafficking in persons; intellectual property crimes; and money laundering.”

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC) counted these threats in its 2010 “Transnational Organized Crime Threat Assessment”:

trafficking in persons, smuggling of migrants, cocaine, heroin, firearms, environmental resources, counterfeit products, maritime piracy and cybercrimes.

Global Financial Integrity reviewed

“the scale, flow, profit distribution, and impact of 12 different types of illicit trade: drugs, humans, wildlife, counterfeit goods and currency, human organs, small arms, diamonds and colored gemstones, oil, timber, fish, art and cultural property, and gold.”

Included in this review were the illegal drug markets for cannabis, cocaine, opiates and amphetamine stimulants.

Taken together, “drugs” represent about one half of the illicit market value controlled by transnational organized crime.

Drug Policy Question of the Week – 5-17-12

As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 5-17-12. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3871

Question of the Week: Which drugs impair driving?

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and other sources, many do. Let’s take a look:

Alcohol “reduces the ability to see distant objects … Blurred and double vision can also occur. Alcohol may also create a sense of overconfidence, with the result that people are prepared to take greater risks.”

Amphetamines “have been associated … with driving impairment both in the stimulation and withdrawal stages; in the latter case especially as the drug interacts with fatigue.”

Antidepressants “can cause impairment, especially in circumstances where extremely high blood concentrations are measured … There is also an additional risk of impairment associated with combined use with alcohol.”

Antihistamines, “such as diphenhydramine, cause sedation, [which is] distinguished as … drowsiness.”

Barbiturates “are associated with delayed reaction times and possibly loss of concentration.”

Benzodiazepines (such as Valium® or Xanax®) “… desired/therapeutic effect … is sedation, which would obviously have a detrimental effect on driving.”

Methadone, “a narcotic analgesic, … may have differential performance effects in naive or recreational users versus tolerant therapeutic users …”

Opiates are “narcotic analgesics … [that] after an initial rush, … act as CNS depressants and certainly could have performance-decreasing effects.”

Sleep aids, such as Ambien®, “cause drowsiness and may cause dizziness. If consumed with alcohol, there is an increased likelihood of these symptoms. Sleep aids alone or in combination with alcohol could have a detrimental effect on driving ability.”

Cannabinoids “experimental and epidemiologic evidence [of their] … effects on driving are mixed. When marijuana is found in drivers, … it is often in conjunction with alcohol, where an impairing effect is more likely.”

Quite a long list for a simple question.

[Editor’s Note: Unless linked to other sources, the “Impairment by Drug” descriptions above come from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This list can be found under “Impairment” in the Drug Testing Chapter of Drug War Facts.]

Drug Policy Question of the Week – 4-26-12

As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 4-26-12. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3842

Question of the Week: How much does the U.S. spend on drug control?

A guestimate of this number can be gleaned from the annual budgets for the National Drug Control Strategy.

A 2011 Congressional Research Service report states that

“The director of [Office of National Drug Control Policy] ONDCP has primary responsibilities of developing a comprehensive National Drug Control Strategy to direct the nation’s anti-drug efforts; [and] developing a National Drug Control Budget to implement the Strategy,”

The report says that this budget

“can be thought of as funding two broad categories of demand-reduction and supply reduction activities.”

The Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics defines “demand reduction” as

“programs and research related to drug abuse treatment, education, rehabilitation, and prevention that are designed to reduce the demand for drugs.”

It calls “supply reduction,” a

“wide scope of law enforcement-related activities designed to reduce the supply of drugs in the United States and abroad.”

A new Drug War Facts table and graph adapted from the Sourcebook shows federal drug control budgets from 2004 to 2012.

The ONDCP recently wrote,

“The President’s Fiscal Year 2012 National Drug Control Budget requests $26.2 billion … This represents an increase of $322.6 million (1.2 percent) over the FY 2010 enacted level of $25.9 billion.”

What isn’t mentioned is that since 2004, the 2012 Budget has grown by over one third. From 2004 to 2012, the Demand Reduction budget expanded by about one quarter, while supply reduction swelled by almost half.

Added together, drug control budget spending 2004 to 2012 equaled almost one-quarter of a trillion dollars.

As of today April 20, the outstanding public debt stands at $15.7 trillion.

Drug Policy Question of the Week – 4-21-12

As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 4-21-12. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3837

Question of the Week: How much does the U.S. Corrections system cost taxpayers?

With April 15^th upon us, this is a reasonable question, considering that there are over 7 million Americans currently under the control of the U.S. Corrections system. Their “price tag” includes:

• Total 2008 spending in the U.S. on corrections: $75 billion
• Spending in 2010 on state corrections: $51 billion
• 2009 spending on the 767,000 inmates in local jails: $20 billion
• The 2011 budget for the federal Bureau of Prisons: $6.8 billion
• 2009 spending on the 242,000 inmates in state prison with a drug conviction as their most serious offense: $6.3 billion
• 2009 spending on the 4.2 million individuals on probation: $5.5 billion
• Spending in 2009 on 171,000 inmates in federal prison: $4.3 billion
• 2009 spending on the 95,000 federal inmates for whom a drug conviction is their most serious offense: $2.4 billion

Unfortunately, these staggering billion dollar “price tags” take a snapshot of only one year. Over the decades, their financial burden on taxpayers has increased exponentially.

The Center for Economic and Policy Research, points to a solution:

“… a 50 percent reduction in non-violent-offender inmates would save the federal government about $2.1 billion per year, state governments about $7.6 billion per year, and local governments about $7.2 billion per year … these savings total $16.9 billion or about 22.8 percent of the total national spending on corrections.”

Non-violent offenders basically mean drug offenders.

Ending drug war would clearly reduce the cost of corrections and ultimately the “price tag” borne by taxpayers.