LONDON - The normal bustle of London's financial district has been quieted by the latest national lockdown, with businesses shuttered and work shifted to home.

But the sudden lull and the unexpected vacating of prime real estate has seen at least one venture (albeit an illegal one) thrive: an indoor weed farm.

That ended this past week when police officers discovered the criminal operation, which they called a "cannabis factory," in a basement equipped with wired lighting and ventilation tubes in a commercial building not far from the Bank of England.

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GLASGOW - Every Friday for the past two months, Peter Krykant has parked his white van on Parnie Street in central Glasgow, around the corner from a games shop and several art galleries, and waited for people to come by and inject illegal drugs.

Inside the van are two seats and two tables, each with a stainless steel tray and hypodermic needles, as well as several biohazard trash cans. The van is also equipped with naloxone, the medication used to reverse an opioid overdose, and a defibrillator. (There are Covid-19 safety precautions, too: hand sanitizer and a box of masks.)

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LONDON - Homeless drug users in Scotland will be allowed to inject pharmaceutical-grade heroin twice a day under the supervision of medical officials as part of a new program intended to reduce drug deaths and H.I.V. infection.

From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week, a $1.5 million facility in Glasgow that opened on Tuesday will allow a handful of drug users to receive doses of the drug alongside other treatment for their physical and psychological health, according to Glasgow City Council.

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LONDON - Cannabis-based medicines were approved on Monday for use by the National Health Service in England and Wales, a milestone decision that could change the lives of thousands of patients.

Three treatments using medicinal cannabis were authorized by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, a public body that provides guidance on health care practices. The decision comes a year after Sajid Javid, then the British home secretary, said that some doctors could legally prescribe the drug in special cases.

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Drug laws should be designed to minimise damage. This might sound obvious. But the UK's drug laws - along with those of most other countries - arguably do not have this effect. Indeed there is a strong argument that in many respects the blanket prohibition, under criminal statutes, of substances from cannabis to heroin along with the myriad synthetic substances now widely used to mimic their effects, does more harm than good.

This is not a novel point of view. Drug experts in the UK and around the world have been pointing out the flaws and inconsistencies in current policies for ages, with former Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos, among those who have argued for a new approach focused on human rights and public health. In the UK, polls show a majority supports liberalisation of the law on cannabis, following the example of countries including Portugal. But since this shift in public attitudes has so far been ignored by the Home Office, which instead brought in a sweeping ban on so-called "legal highs"=9D in 2016, this week's call for reform by a cross-party trio of MPs is refreshing.

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New trials have shown the drug psilocybin to be highly effective in treating depression, with Oakland the latest US city to in effect decriminalise it last week. Some researchers say it could become 'indefensible' to ignore the evidence - but how would it work as a reliable treatment?

Lying on a bed in London's Hammersmith hospital ingesting capsules of psilocybin, the active ingredient of magic mushrooms, Michael had little idea what would happen next. The 56-year-old part-time website developer from County Durham in northern England had battled depression for 30 years and had tried talking therapies and many types of antidepressant with no success. His mother's death from cancer, followed by a friend's suicide, had left him at one of his lowest points yet. Searching online to see if mushrooms sprouting in his yard were the hallucinogenic variety, he had come across a pioneering medical trial at Imperial College London.

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A teenage law student from Britain died while on holiday in Ibiza after five bags of ecstasy exploded in her stomach, an inquest heard.

Rebecca Brock, 18, was discovered with a pool of blood next to her head in a hotel room after traveling to the party island for a friend's birthday.

Nottingham Coroners' Court heard staff found the "academically gifted" student unresponsive in her room at the Hotel Marco Polo on Sept. 28, 2015.

Spanish police began an investigation after the amount of the class-A drug in her system was "double the level" of a normal fatal dose.

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Taking party drug ecstasy may help boozers break their addiction to alcohol.

Scientists are set to carry out the first ever trial to see whether the controlled substance can help treat heavy drinkers.

A group of patients from England will be given two doses of MDMA -- another name for ecstasy -- over the course of two months.

The trial has just received approval from regulators in the United Kingdom.

It is the first in the world to use ecstasy to treat alcohol addiction.

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Meth is not good -- and a community in Montana, US, used a young woman who looked oddly like Elsa from Frozen to remind its citizens.

An anti-drug campaign called the Montana Meth Project (MMP) erected some billboards and signs calling on people to "just let it go" -- "it" being meth, an illegal substance that causes misery around the world.

On the boards was a blonde girl, visibly blighted by drug abuse, with a tired face and jumbled hair. She was shackled, too, apparently caught for possession by police.

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Duterte tells civilians 'don't get yourselves kidnapped' as he orders troops to BOMB hostage-takers and threatens to declare martial law as part of Philippines' drug war

* President Rodrigo Duterte say kidnap victims may become 'collateral damage'

* Abu Sayyaf, which is linked to al-Qaeda, earns millions kidnapping for ransom

* Duterte also threatened to bring in martial law in his campaign against drugs

* His government also acted at the weekend to ban Filipinos watching Pornhub

President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the military to 'blast' Islamist militants who have been on a kidnap-for-ransom spree in the Philippines, even if hostages would also be killed.

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I've only just started! Filipino President Duterte's bloody war on drugs has claimed 6,000 lives and seen 900,000 addicts surrender in just six months -- as he claims his country is now safer for normal people

* The Philippines government has claimed it is winning the war on drugs after a brutal crackdown on dealing

* 6,000 people have been killed by police or vigilantes in a six month campaign ordered by President Duterte

* The Filipino government has said that thanks to the crackdown, the country is now a safer place for residents

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Foreign governments are keeping noticeably quiet as the Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte is leading one of the world's bloodiest anti-drug campaigns

[photo] Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte salutes with other military officers during an anniversary celebration of the Armed Forces. Photograph: Erik de Castro/Reuters

Even the most adamant supporters of the war on drugs agree that it is failing. At a major UN summit on drug policy earlier this year, many member states argued forcefully for a more balanced and humane approach. But there's one anti-drug crusader who refuses to face the facts. For the past six months Rodrigo Duterte, president of the Philippines has waged one of the world's most vicious counter-narcotics campaigns.

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