You ask (leading article, 30 September) how "die-hard supporters of the status quo" will react to the latest call for weaker drug laws, from the Chief Constable of Durham. The question itself and the absurd claim that drug liberalisers are "silenced" by derision show a curious lack of knowledge or observation. Liberalisers are in fact guaranteed a prominent and uncritical hearing in most of the British media. Politicians, it is true, noisily proclaim their supposed toughness on the subject to gullible media. But the status quo - as any police officer should know - is that informal decriminalisation of drugs has been under way in this country for more than 40 years, and many of the ills that we now see are the results of that. [continues 84 words]
A senior police officer says making drugs legal - but controlling supply - would stop the flow of money to gangs and destroy their power Have we not learned from history? The Mob's sinister rise in the US was funded through the supply of a prohibited drug As a police officer for nearly 34 years, I have witnessed the worsening problems of drug addiction whether it's to controlled substances or legal drugs, such as alcohol. The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 has prevailed throughout my time of service, but it would appear not to have had the impact that optimistic legislators planned. [continues 927 words]
LONDON (AP) - Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug used worldwide, but addictions to popular painkillers like Vicodin, Oxycontin and codeine kill the most people, according to the first global survey of illicit drug abuse. In addition to cannabis and opioid painkillers, scientists analyzed abuse of cocaine and amphetamines in 2010, largely based on previous studies. The researchers found that for all the drugs studied, men in their 20s had the highest rates of abuse. The worst-hit countries were Australia, Britain, Russia and the U.S. [continues 134 words]
LONDON (AP) - Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug used worldwide, but addictions to popular painkillers like Vicodin, Oxycontin and codeine kill the most people, according to the first-ever global survey of illicit drug abuse. In addition to cannabis and opioid painkillers, scientists analyzed abuse of cocaine and amphetamines in 2010, largely based on previous studies. Ecstasy and hallucinogens weren't included, because there weren't enough data. The researchers found that for all the drugs studied, men in their 20s had the highest rates of abuse. The worst-hit countries were Australia, Britain, Russia and the U.S. The study was published online Thursday in the journal, Lancet. [continues 158 words]
But Global Survey Shows Prescription Painkillers Kill the Most LONDON - Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug used worldwide, but addictions to popular painkillers like Vicodin, Oxycontin and codeine kill the most people, according to the first global survey of illicit drug abuse. In addition to cannabis and opioid painkillers, scientists analyzed abuse of cocaine and amphetamines in 2010, largely based on previous studies. Ecstasy and hallucinogens weren't included because there wasn't enough data. The researchers found that for all the drugs studied, men in their 20s had the highest rates of abuse. The countries with the highest rates of abuse were Australia, Britain, Russia and the United States. The study was published online Thursday in the journal Lancet. [continues 232 words]
LONDON (AP) - Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug used worldwide, but addictions to popular painkillers like Vicodin, Oxycontin and codeine kill the most people, according to the first-ever global survey of illicit drug abuse. In addition to cannabis and opioid painkillers, scientists analyzed abuse of cocaine and amphetamines in 2010, largely based on previous studies. Ecstasy and hallucinogens weren't included, because there weren't enough data. The researchers found that for all the drugs studied, men in their 20s had the highest rates of abuse. The worst-hit countries were Australia, Britain, Russia and the U.S. The study was published online Thursday in the journal Lancet. [continues 233 words]
LONDON - Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug used worldwide, but addictions to popular painkillers like Vicodin, Oxycontin and codeine kill the most people, according to the first-ever global survey of illicit drug abuse. In addition to cannabis and opioid painkillers, scientists analyzed abuse of cocaine and amphetamines in 2010, largely based on previous studies. Ecstasy and hallucinogens weren't included, because there weren't enough data. The researchers found that for all the drugs studied, men in their 20s had the highest rates of abuse. The worst hit countries were Australia, Britain, Russia and the U. S. The study was published online Thursday in the journal Lancet. [continues 216 words]
It is mid-morning on a recent Friday in West Baltimore, and there is a long line snaking down the street and around the corner. Why? Vendors are dispensing free heroin samples. In other areas of the city, buyers are risking arrest and drug contamination to illegally purchase buprenorphine. It is legal medication when given with a prescription. It is used to treat opioid addiction and facilitate recovery. So why buy it illegally? Not to get high as a substitute for heroin. They are using it to treat their heroin addiction. These purchasers can't afford or otherwise access this medication legally. Their only option is to buy it on the streets and self-treat. These purchasers are addicts who are so motivated to get clean that they are taking great risks to get it. [continues 540 words]
Newly published paper warns designing treatment around detoxification programs is ' dangerous' This is a chronic disease, something that is going to have to be fought day by day over a long period - potentially a lifetime. Addiction to heroin and other opioids is a long-term, chronic disease that cannot simply be fixed with a few weeks or months on methadone, a group of B. C.- based researchers argue in a newly released paper. Designing treatment based on the belief that most addicts can become drug-free quickly - or even at all - is ineffective and dangerous, the report warns. [continues 774 words]
British Columbia could serve as a model for effective treatment of opioid dependency for the United States, where opioid overdose is one of the leading causes of accidental death, according to a new report by Canadian and American researchers. The report calls for both countries to expand "evidence-based treatment" for dependency on opioids such as heroin and, increasingly, prescription opioids including Oxycontin, Percocet and Vicodin. "In the U.S., opioid related overdoses are now the second leading cause of accidental death behind only motor vehicle accidents," said Bohdan Nosyk, an associate professor of health economics at Simon Fraser University's Faculty of Health and lead author of the report. "It's become a really big problem and policy makers and treatment providers are scrambling to address it." [continues 614 words]
Editor, It was a no-brainer for the Liberals to waste $2 billion trying to make criminals out of law biding citizens with their long gun registry. Now, Justin Trudeau supporting legalizing marijuana brings another era of Liberal folly. I support decriminalizing personal possession of marijuana and I support criminal charges for selling marijuana or driving stoned. I don't support the federal government or provinces becoming Canada's drug dealer selling marijuana. Canada legalized tobacco and alcohol it was extremely depressing to watch my father die of cancer. Every Finance minister in Canada is addicted to alcohol and tobacco taxes and revenues. Twenty-one per cent of Islanders smoke cigarettes, what percentage of the Canadian population is Justin Trudeau willing to allow to smoke marijuana? Provinces are suing the tobacco companies but are denying responsibility for the ill health of Canadians. [continues 154 words]
NEEDLE exchange for drug addicts. Shooting galleries. Drug substitution therapy. These are just some of the practices associated with the internationally controversial "harm reduction" philosophy, which has NGOs working with drug addicts angered over the possible damage implementing such a strategy could have on increasing drug dependency in the country. The National Drug Master Plan 2013-2017 was approved by the cabinet on June 26 this year, to be implemented with immediate effect by the Central Drug Authority (CDA). And harm reduction as well as supply-and-demand reduction is one of the strategies that will be applied. [continues 535 words]
There's been a sharp rise in medical-marijuana dispensaries, but the Conservative government plans to put them out of business. THERE'S A CONSTANT flow of low-income people through the basement lobby of the nonprofit Eden Medicinal Society at the corner of East Pender and Main streets. After flashing compassion-club membership cards at the receptionist, these Downtown Eastside residents wait patiently before being buzzed through a locked door and into a spotless medical-cannabis dispensary. There's not a whiff of marijuana in the air. [continues 1726 words]
The Toronto Board of Health's recent proposal for a legal injection site for drug addicts is a bad idea. It was also a bad idea last year, when a report by St. Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto recommended three drug injection sites for Toronto. Such facilities would require the approval of Ottawa and Queen's Park, neither of which support them, nor does Mayor Rob Ford or the Toronto police. They're right, and many of the reasons why can be found, ironically, in the report put out by St. Michael's Hospital and U of T in 2012, arguing for multiple injection sites in the city. [continues 381 words]
A report by the B. C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/ AIDS on harm reduction programs and Insite released last month is not science; it's public relations. Authors Drs. Julio Montaner, Thomas Kerr and Evan Wood have produced nearly two dozen papers on the use of Insite. They boast of good results in connecting addicts to treatment but convincing evidence is lacking. The current campaign reports significant reductions in drug overdoses, yet the Government of British Columbia Selected Vital Statistics and Health Status Indicators show that the number of deaths from drug overdose in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside has increased each year ( with one exception) since the site opened in 2003. [continues 576 words]
Local officials, prompted by a state report last week and a New Jersey Herald three-part series last month, have begun drafting and supporting legislation that puts them on the forefront of the fight against prescription drug and heroin abuse. State Assembly members Alison Littell McHose and Parker Space, as well as state Sen. Steven Oroho, are supporting several pieces of pending legislation that would include improving the state's Prescription Monitoring Program, toughening penalties for burglaries and changing the way certain drugs are measured. [continues 1247 words]
Despite the stereotypical image of drug addicts shooting up in Vancouver's grubby back alleys, there's good news that overall illicit drug use is declining. And it has nothing to do with drug law enforcement, the "war on drugs", or the federal government's National Anti-Drug Strategy. This encouraging trend is all about the expanding harm reduction programs. Last month, the Urban Health Research Initiative of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS released its report Drug Situation in Vancouver which detailed information on drug use, drug availability, HIV rates, and behaviours among the city's most vulnerable drug addicts. [continues 535 words]
Policy Tries to Balance Need to Help People With Addictions While Limiting Impact on Neighbourhoods KITCHENER - The City of London is way ahead of Kitchener when it comes to controlling and regulating methadone clinics. Eric Lalande, a policy planner in London, said the measures taken there have so far withstood an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board, a provincial tribunal that rules on land-use disputes. "It is a rising issue in the province of Ontario and it needs to be addressed," Lalande said. [continues 703 words]
Harm reduction program still discretely providing services Somebody walked into the W.G. Davies building on Wednesday morning, rang the buzzer on the door in the back left corner of the lobby and exchanged their used needles for new, clean ones. As many needles as they wanted. That was one of 55 monthly visits to the needle exchange program. "That could be repeat visits or it could be people getting for other people," said Joann Blazieko, communicable disease coordinator for Five Hills Health Region (FHHR) Public Health. [continues 453 words]
Medical Officer of Health Hypes Plan for Safe Injection Site It's an idea that's always proved too radioactive for council to touch, but Toronto Public Health believes it could save lives. In a report released Tuesday, July 2, the city health agency recommends seeking provincial funding to set up Toronto's first supervised drug consumption site. The report, authored by medical officer of health Dr. David McKeown, calls for a pilot project of the controversial practice. The proposal goes before the board next week. [continues 690 words]
