BERLIN - The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) called Tuesday for cigarettes and other tobacco products to be regulated like pharmaceuticals. Gro Harlem Brundtland told an international conference in Berlin the content of cigarettes should be subject to the same controls as those applied to food products and drugs. ``The time has now come for concerted regulation of tobacco products,'' she said in the text of her speech issued in Geneva. Brundtland, a former Norwegian prime minister, said agencies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration should have tobacco products within their remit. [continues 182 words]
DECRIMINALISATION OF DRUGS REJECTED - EXPERTS PLEAD FOR REFORM OF THE DRUG LAWS Hannover/Magdeburg (dpa) - Jost Leune, the executive director of the Hannover based professional association of drug and addiction specialists, categorically rejects decriminalsiation of soft drugs. "That would reduce criminality but would do nothing to fight the addiction problem," he said. At the same time he would like to see a reform of the drug laws. "One way would be to set up drug courts as we have young people’s courts which could be functioning in a very short time. The members of the association are meeting in Magdeburg on Monday for a three day national congress. [continues 87 words]
The Frankfurter Neue Presse http://www.rhein-main.net/ for 14 April 99 carried the following brief but significant report: Other Towns, Same Concerns: Criminality and Drugs Frankfurt - Criminality and drugs are also a big problem in Oslo. A delegation from Oslo's capital city led by Mayor Fritz Huitfeld and Police Vice-President Roger Andresen is here to find out more on the methods adopted to solve Frankfurt's criminality and drug problems. In numerous conversations, amongst others with Police President Wolfhard Hoffmann, the measures adopted by Frankfurt to deal with big city crime, above all with drug crime problems, were explained to the guests. Yesterday evening Mayor Petra Roth (CDU) entertained her opposite number from Oslo. In the course of these talks it transpired that Oslo also has the same besetting problems with drug related crime committed by foreigners as well as by 'strolling players'. Frankfurter Neue Presse 1999 [end]
The 'Stuttgarter Zeitung' (http://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de) was one of a number of German, Austrian and Swiss papers which carried reports of Germany's health minister speaking in Bonn last Monday, (March 22, 1999) on the subject of 'Marihuana as Medicine'. BONN Germany’s drug czar, Christa Nickels (Greens), considers it sensible to use Cannabis products such as marihuana and hashish for therapeutic purposes in medicine. Speaking exclusively of marihuana as a natural herb, she said it had shown itself to be "a potentially successful therapy in the treatment of AIDS, MS and cancer sufferers" and is "more cost effective than synthetic substitutes". "Marihuana as a freely accessible drug is a different question," she said. A professional association of doctors also announced the call for "Cannabis as medicine," and protested the denial of marihuana prescription rights to doctors. [end]
BONN, - The number of deaths from illegal drug use in Germany in 1998 rose nearly 12 percent to 1,674 people, a report from the government's narcotics agency said on Monday. The numbers of Germans using hard drugs increased last year, with the numbers of first-time users up 1.7 percent at 20,943. "There was also an increase in the number of first-time users of hard drugs," said Christa Nickels, state secretary responsible for drug- related issues. [continues 167 words]
The Stuttgarter Nachrichten, (http://www.stuttgarter-nachrichten.de) whilst acknowledging the slight decrease in the number of drug related fatalities, points to the fact that every fourth victim was previously a member of a methadone subsititute program. Instead of the ‘golden shot’, the use of medication and alcohol is the chief cause of death amongst drug addicts. The number of emergency interventions in Stuttgart rose to 113 in 1998 and the number of fatalities from 15 to 25. ………… The Frankfurter Neue Presse (http://www.rhein-main.net) comments on the figures recently released by the federal health ministry which show that more than a quarter of all those aged 18-24 have tried marihuana. That makes it, according to Wolfgang Schmidt, executive secretary of the state office for drug consultation, the ‘most widely used illegal drug’. In the introduction to a new info-brochure titled "Is Marihuana a Sin Then?" he acknowledges that horror stories don’t work. We are trying to reach people with informaation which "will enable them to assess the degree of risk associated with the use of illegal drugs." [continues 85 words]
Several papers report positively on the softening of the hitherto CDU hard line policy on state distribution of heroin to hard core addicts. The Austrian 'Der Standard' (http://derstandard.at) is one of several which give positive reviews of Austrian drug policy as reflected in the Health Minister's drug report. Minister Lore Hostasch, attributes the reduction in drug mortalities and other positive aspects of the report to the policy of emphasizing healing over punishment. ........ Joseph Schorn writing in the Salzburger Nachrichten: (http//www.salzburg.com/zeitung) comparing Austria's drug pollicies with those of the US, and some of the other European states, also takes a forward looking, positive view: [continues 509 words]
The Swiss edition of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (http://www.nzz.ch) reports as under on the "Expansion of Heroin Trial in Holland": The Netherlands parliament decided on Wednesday that the scientific experiment with the distribution of heroin to hard core addicts under strict medical supervision can be expanded. 50 addicts have been treated in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. It has since been established that the injection rooms presented no significant disturbance in the immediate area and will be expanded to include the Hague, Utrecht and Heerlen. The projected number of participants is now set at round 750. [continues 267 words]
Der Standard (Austria) (http://derstandard.at) speaks of two new political parties in Israel. Outside the new movements arising from the classical political base, there is also the 'Natural Law' party, which will loose a flood of 'gravitating yogis' to spread harmony through transcendental meditation. The only goal of the 'Green Leaf' party, on the other hand, is to achieve recognition of the right of coffee-shops to sell cannabis. .......... The Berlin Courier (http://www.berlinonline.de/aktuelles/berliner_kurier) speaks in positive terms of the 'last chance' for Berlin's 8,000 junkies: free heroin distribution to specially selected participants. Federal Health Minister Fischer sees it as a last hope for hard core heroin addicts who would otherwise die. Four teams with doctor, nurse, psychologist and social workers will look after the addicts' needs, supplying them with heroin twice a day and advice as requested. Cost to the state: round 50 Marks per person per day. [continues 550 words]
The Stuttgarter Zeitung (http://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de) is one of a number of newspapers which give reports on the reluctant softening of the CDU attitude: they will no longer set their faces against state controlled heroin injection rooms, provided they are run under ‘very tight supervision’. ………… In the Rheinische Post (http://www.rp-online.de), Goekcen Stenzel reports on the projected Duesseldorf injection rooms. These will be set up in the neighborhood of an emergency medical center where specialized help will be available. At a cost of 1.6 million Marks, a team of 7 psychiatric nursing aids, 6 social workers and one administrative assistant will be on-call. Under no circumstances will the injection of street heroin of uncertain strength and purity be allowed. The direction will follow closely the model of the methadone clinics with medical supervision capable of responding to any emergency. [continues 119 words]
DUSHANBE, January 17 (Itar-Tass) - Several thousand dollars worth of computers and other equipment were donated by the German federal criminal police to the Tajik commission on narcotic drugs. The donation was passed over to Tajikistan by ambassador Mathias Meyer on Saturday. The ambassador hopes that the equipment will help Tajik police officers to expose more drug peddlers. Other countries are ready to help the Tajik services on narcotic drugs as well. That was said by Director of the Central Asian Office of the U.N. Program on International Drug Control Bogdan Lisovic during his visit to Tajikistan. In his words, 1.5 million dollars were allocated to the Tajik commission on narcotic drugs last year to strengthen its material and technical base. This year, donors will give 8 million dollars to the United Nations to reinforce the Tajik-Afghan border and create the so-called safety belt. [end]
BONN -- Germany's main doctors' association rejected a suggestion by the nation's health minister to allow pharmacies to sell small amounts of soft recreational drugs. Andrea Fischer, health minister in the new center-left government, floated the idea this week, saying it could keep casual users from moving to more dangerous substances by "separating the markets for soft and hard drugs." Karsten Vilmar, head of the German Chamber of Doctors, disagreed. He called the proposal "a false liberalization" that would give a state stamp of approval to drug use and actually lead more young people into addiction. - --- Checked-by: Richard Lake [end]
BERLIN, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Sports doctor Bernd Pansold was convicted and fined by a Berlin court on Monday as the first trial to put former East Germany's doping policy under the spotlight came to an end. Pansold, the last of six officials of the swimming section of Berlin club SC Dynamo to be judged, was handed a 14,400 marks ($8,600) fine. Like the others on trial, the 56-year-old, who was the club's head doctor, stood accused of having caused bodily harm to female swimmers by giving them banned drugs in the 1970s and 1980s. [continues 202 words]
BERLIN, Dec 6 (Reuters) - The first trial to put former East Germany's doping policy under the spotlight should come to an end with a verdict on Monday. Prosecutors have called for a 14,400 marks ($8,592) fine for Bernd Pansold, the last of six officials of the swimming section of Berlin club SC Dynamo to be judged. Pansold, 56, was the club's head doctor. Like the others on trial he is accused of having caused bodily harm to female swimmers by giving them banned drugs in the 1970s and 1980s. [continues 271 words]
Under the rubric of the "Lobby for the Addicted", doctors, judges, sociologists and spiritual advisers are again exerting pressure. On Wednesday, 11/25/98, a list of 600 signatures was handed in to the municipal council demanding medically necessary injection rooms and the distribution of prescribed heroin. The "Stuttgart Resolution" has cleared the way of obstacles for new drug policies. There is still opposition to be overcome, headed by federal social affairs minister Friedhelm Repnik(CDU). But, as addiction specialist Dr. Frank Matschinski confirmed, "Opiate distribution and injection will come, but not creeping in through the back door as was the case with synthetic drugs. [continues 67 words]
Experts Request The Legalisation Of Marihuana For The Chronically Ill Frankfurt - According to medical opinion, Hashish and marihuana in prescribed doses may help to improve the quality of life for the chronically ill and for those suffering from AIDS. They should be available on prescription just as the opiates are. This is what doctors attending the International 'Medical Marihuana' Congress in Frankfurt have requested. In most countries the prescription of cannabis products is forbidden . As Rainer Ullman, chairman of the German Society for Drug Addiction Therapy explained, the therapeutic effects of cannabis have been known for thousands of years. It is known to provide a measure of relief for MS patients who suffer from muscle cramps and spasticity; for cancer patients suffering from nausea and vomiting, and for the loss of appetite which is often one of the debillitating side-effects of cancer treatment. Cannabis has no such unpleasant side effects when prescribed in therapeutic doses. [continues 3 words]
Svenska Dagbladet, November 29. Germany who has for a long time been in the European forefront with a strict and inflexible drug policy is now turning toward a softer approach. Under its new government shall even heavy users of heroin be able to obtain the narcotic under prescription. "The German Government shall naturally not sell heroin. But we must realize that there are a small group of users that do not accept methadone. Those must have legal access to the real thing" says the Minister of Public Health, Environmentalist Andrea Fischer. [continues 354 words]
11 HIV Infected Every Minute Half of those infected with AIDS in 1998 are younger than 25 years old. The aids virus infects eleven new victims every 60 seconds. Half of the 5.8 million persons infected, according to the latest report from the UN AIDS Program, are between the ages of 15 and 24. The organisation will address the growing problem on Tuesday, designated 'World AIDS Day' 1998. "The problem is spreading like a bush-fire amongst the drug dependent youth of eastern Europe," says Bernhard Schwartlaender, UN AIDS Epidemiologist in Genf. Hardest hit is the Ukraine where the number of infected rose by 500 in the past year to 36,500. [continues 308 words]
Discussion To Be Uninhibited By `Ideological Blinkers' Bonn (AP). The federal drug czar, Christa Nickels, has asked for a debate on the acceptance of cannabis for use as a medicine. The discussion should be engaged without "ideological blinkers," she told the German Press Agency in Bonn on Sunday(11/29/98). "The suffering of patients with illnesses such as MS, Cancer or AIDS could be eased with cannabis," she said. "Cannabis is really a soft drug and has been classified as a prohibited substance along with the hard drugs. In past years its use as a medicine has not found broad acceptance because of the possibility of abuse." [continues 131 words]
But Senator Stahmer rejects setting up Injection Rooms BM Berlin - Berlin is looking forward to a change in drug policy: the controlled distribution of heroin to hard core addicts is no longer taboo. "I imagine Berlin will participate in a trial of such a model," Senator Ingrid Stahmer, (Socialist Party) told the Morning Post. This was her response to the offer made by the federal government Drug Czar, Christa Nickels (Green). According to the offer states will be able to set up controlled heroin distribution models. This was agreed to by the Red-Green Coalition. [continues 187 words]
Inside Germany
