The Drug Update

The city council of Belmont, CA unamimously voted to draft legislation that would outlaw cigarette smoking everywhere in the city other than in private, single-family homes. The law, which was agreed upon in principle, but is awaiting a final draft to be voted on, would become the strictest smoking policy anywhere in the US. The news comes a month after Zogby International released a poll in which "45 percent of Americans polled would support a federal ban on cigarettes within the next five to ten years."

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Portugal, following the lead of Switzerland, Germany, The Netherlands, and Vancouver, announced last week that it would begin setting up supervised sites for heroin addicts to inject. The new legislation also increases the availability of methadone treatment for opiate addicts and for prisons to start needle-exchange programs to prevent the spread of disease. This is an expansion of Portugal's liberal drug policies, which included decriminalizing drug use in 2000.

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The use of Khat, a stimulant wiith wide acceptance in Eastern Africa, has landed 14 Somali users with DEA charges after a Seattle-area sting. Khat's stimulant effects are attributed to Cathinone, which exhibits chemical similarities to amphetamine. One prominent Somali described the bust as a "classic cultural clash," complaining that the users were not even aware that they were breaking the law by ingesting a stimulant common in their homeland.

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California's Prop. 36 was amended by state legislators and approved by Governor Schwarzenegger. The changes now allow judges to incarcerate offenders who are eligible for treatment (rather than incarceration) if they violate probation, including a relapse. Soon after the governor signed the bill, the DPA filed a suit to have it stricken down as unconstitutional on the grounds that voters approved Prop. 36 by a 61% approval.

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The House rejected the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment by a vote of 259 to 163. The amendment would have prohibited the Justice Department from prosecuting medical marijuana users in the 11 states that allow medical marijuana by state law.

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The Michigan Supreme Court ruled against a man arrested for DUI. The defendent had admitted to smoking marijuana when pulled over for a traffick stop. A blood test, however, revealed only trace amounts of a THC metabolite that can remain in the body for up to a month. The Court ruled that the THC metabolite was still a controlled substance and under the state's "zero tolerance" policy, driving with it is considered DUI.

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In a June 1st press release, the ONDCP announced the White House's first-ever synthetic drug control policy. The strategy outlines the White House's plan with the goal of reducing methamphetamine usage by 15% and domestic meth production by 25% in the next three years. The strategy has a three-pronged approach that consists of "effective implementation of the Combat Meth Act, signed into law by President Bush this March, which sets a national standard for restricting the retail sale of precursor chemicals within the United States; and strengthening law enforcement and border control activities, particularly with Mexico."

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A new Alaskan law prohibits the possession of small amounts of marijuana, ending Alaska's period of decriminalized marijauna. This law extends even into the privacy of the home, which had previously been a reason for overturning a similar law in the 1970s. The Alaskan Supreme Court had ruled that the right to privacy was much more important than the harm caused by marijuana. The current supporters of the law claim that marijuana is more potent now than it was in the 1970s, and thus it poses a greater threat. The ACLU is planning on challenging the law in the courts immediately. However, the second half of this law, methamphetamine restrictions, has received support. This portion of the law concerns the sale of the meth ingredient ephedrine. It requires that anyone buying products that include ephedrine sign into a logbook and be at least 16 years old.

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A 1991 policy for Zurich's heroin addicts appears to have "changed the image of heroin use as a rebellious act to an illness that needs therapy," according to researchers Carlos Nordt and Rudolf Stohler. The policy allowed for insurance covered methadone maintenance and safe places for addicts to use heroin. Researchers suggest that "Heroin seems to have become a `loser drug,' with its attractiveness fading for young people." This apparent success has led some to call for similar policies in the United Kingdom, where fatality rates from illicit drug use have outpaced all other European nations in the past decade.

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A Sonora newspaper reports that nonviolent drug offenders eligible for treatment under California’s Proposition 36 have recently begun opting, instead, for incarceration. The overcrowded Calaveras jail has been unable to accommodate growing populations, having to release less serious offenders. Some parties, realizing this, chance curtailed sentences for potentially more time-consuming treatment programs.

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The Eighth Circuit upheld the conviction of two Sioux men, Alex and Percy White Plume, for growing industrial hemp on federal trust land in spite of a Tribal penal code section that declared the activities legal. The court's ruling placed the burden for change on congress, explaining that the contentions favoring the allowance of industrial hemp cultivation are "policy arguments better suited for the congressional hearing room than the courtroom. Today we fulfill our role to interpret and apply the statute as written by Congress." The men did not procure a DEA certificate for hemp growth.

Thanks to the Drug Law Blog for the story.

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New Zealand's associate health minister proposed new warnings that would cover between 50 and 60 percent of cigarette packages. The law would require graphic images of damage from tobacco use, including throat cancer, gangrenous feet, and rotting teeth. Some speculate that while long term smokers would not be affected, teenagers at risk of picking up the habit might be put off.

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The Office of National Drug Control Policy released two statements regarding Mexico on May 2nd and 4th. The first statement is an overview of Mexico's drug crop eradication numbers for 2005. The second statement concerns Mexico's latest drug legislation changes. The statement explains that Mexican president Vicente Fox will introduce amendments that ensure that drug use and possession in Mexico will still be crimes. The second statement also reiterates some crop eradication numbers from the first statement.

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Mexico's President Fox has stated that he will not sign the decriminalization bill in its current form. Fox would like "to make it absolutely clear that in our country the possession of drugs and their consumption are and continue to be crimes." The original bill was meant to strengthen the drug laws by defining the upper limits of legal possesion by addicts, and also by allowing the the state and local police to enforce the drug laws, which under the current law is only a federal crime. The bill was not meant as a relaxation of the drug laws. Fox will send the bill back to congress to make changes to the bill.

Posted by Eric Gorin-Regan at 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Various news sources have been abuzz with reports of Mexico's new decriminalization bill, but with varying interpretations. Drug control policy expert Mark Kleiman tries to cut through the thick of the fog with a bit of well informed analysis; read on for his take, or simply go to his blog.

Continue reading "Clearing the Fog on Mexico's New Drug Laws" »

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A bill passed on Friday in Mexico legalizes possession of small amounts of drugs and requires treatment for addicts. Small amounts of heroin, marijuana, cocaine, LSD, mushrooms, amphetamines and peyote have all been legalized. The law allows judges to decide punishments on a case by case basis, with the intent of increasing the fairness of sentencing. The law also allows the prosecution of drug dealers by local instead of federal officials. If a user is caught with lower than the legal amount of drugs, they must go before a judge, prove that they have an addiction, and then enter treatment.

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In a 4-3 ruling, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled favorably for two men who had been denied disability benefits as a result of afflictions such as alcoholism and drug addiction. The men had waited two years only to face a denial of benefits, and when they appealed, it was turned down on the basis that the men suffered from alcoholism alone. The ruling overrides Canadian federal appeals code, which states that those suffering from drug addiction are not eligible for disability benefits.

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Governor Jon Corzine of New Jersey is pushing his state legislature to lift the state's ban on needle exchange programs by passing a bill through the Assembly and the Senate. New Jersey currently ranks fifth among the nation in HIV infection rates, and "more than half its cases can be linked to injection drug use." Currently, New Jersey is one of only two states (the other is Delaware) that doesn't allow needle exchange programs or sale of syringes.

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The ONDCP posted a press release today that claims a 2/3 decline in Ecstacy use since 2001. In 2001, domestic seizures had reached 11 million, but have dropped to lower than 3 million tablets in the past 2 years. Drug Czar John Walters claims that the data shows how "balanced strategies against our drug threats make the drug problem smaller."

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Montana and Illinois have both authorized construction of new "meth prisons," which are meant to treat those who commit crimes to feed their addiction, as well as drug dealers and even manufacturers. The prisons will keep addicts seperate from the traditional prison crowd in order to cut down on soaring recidivism rates. When placed into regular prisons, addicts often learn new criminal tricks of the trade from other prisoners; the article cited check forging as an example. The new facilities serve the dual goal of keeping addicts seperate from these influences while better managing and healing their addiction through treatment.

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Since the terrorist attacks on 9/11, the FBI has refocused its resources from white-collar crimes and drugs to anti-terrorism efforts. As a result, the total number of cases where the FBI was lead investigator have dropped 25% in the past five years. One former federal public defender hailed the statistics as representative of a "healthy step," by moving the U.S. "away from the federalization of (lesser) crimes and toward a focus on the truly big ones." Even so, while there has been a four-fold increase in terrorist cases, the Government Accountability Office reported in early 2003 that of 174 terrorism cases studied, three-fourths were inappropriately labeled. After evaluating the Justice Department's figures, a former federal prosecutor suspects that the Department could be designating low-level violations like immigration as terrorism cases.

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The Justice Police Institute released a report on drug free zones that shows how these zones exceedingly punish non-whites and produce massive racial discrepancies in prisons. In New Jersey, for example, 96 percent of all those imprisoned under drug free zone laws are Latino or African American, while those ethnic groups only make up 27% of the state's population. Connecticut and Massachusetts had similar incarceration breakdowns. This article discusses some implications of the report.

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A small study using the hallucinogen psilocybin has been conducted by Harbor-UCLA Medical Center to treat Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This study also helped at least one of its volunteers cope with imminent death. Yet, some fear that the use of hallucinogens will result in a repeat of the LSD wave of the 1960s. The possibilities for the medical community abound but the problems of misuse remain.

Posted by Eric Gorin-Regan at 05:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

Italy has set the amount of marijuana that qualifies a citizen as a trafficker at 5 grams, and the amount of cocaine at 1.6 grams. The new policy incorporated scientific analyses to avoid former arbitrary thresholds that would lead to much worse and undeserved punishments. For traffickers, jailtime can range from 6-20 years, and regular users risk the loss of their license or passport.

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The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries, in effect lifting the county's ban. The Board's decision to regulate is specific to the unicorporated areas of the county (the areas that fall only under only county laws, not city or local ordinances).

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The ACLU filed a lawsuit that challenges the Constitutionality of a federal law that prohibits college students with drug convictions from receiving financial aid. The main basis of the suit claims that the law is in violation of the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment since students have been punished already by the convicting court. The other complaint is that the rich are insulated from the law since they don't need the financial aid in the first place.

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An article exmaines the efficacy of random drug testing in reducing usage in light of two major studies. Random drug testing has become a hot topic as the government has asked for a doubling of the 2006 budget for such tests.

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The White House is urging more high school districts to implement mandatory random drug testing for students who participate in any voluntary after school activities. Since such testing was ruled legal by the Supreme Court in 2002, $8 million in federal aid has been given to schools to help pay for random testing. The White House hopes to spend $15 million in the next fiscal year to help more schools enact testing programs. The studies about the effectiveness of these programs are mixed, with some showing a decline in testing schools and some showing equal levels of drug use between schools that do and do not test.

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The Drug Policy Alliance released a report in which Prop 36, California's drug sentencing reform law, is examined for its effectiveness. Prop 36 allows for first- and second-time drug possession convictions to be sentenced with treatment, rather than incarceration. The DPA announces that "Prop. 36 has become the most significant piece of sentencing reform – in terms of the number of people diverted from prison and dollars saved – since the repeal of alcohol Prohibition in 1933." Within the first four years after the bill passed, more than 70,000 people entered treatment for the first time. The legislation also called for an independent research team at UCLA to release reports about the effectiveness of the policy--one of which can be found here.

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Australia's current regulations will deny an aspiring recruit from a position with the military if they admit to illegal drug usage, while those who lie are not rejected. The defense minister is considering altering this rule - which rewards dishonesty - to fill a shortfall in recruitment.

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After many states, especially in the Midwest, have passed legislature to restrict the meth ingredient pseudoephedrine, President Bush signs a similar bill for the nation. The new bill requires any medication containing the chemical to be sold behind the counter, puts a limit on the amount any one person can get, keeps track of who is getting how much, and gives $99 million per year for five years to local and state governments, as well as law enforcement agencies. Though this will help slow production of meth in the US, some fear increased importation to keep up with the demand. Officials have said that improvements in tracking and border enforcement should help control importation.

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The New England Journal of Medicine has published an article that evaluates the power of the supreme court to choose what is appropriate for doctors to prescribe and how theyshould practice. Examples range from abortion and assisted suicide legislation to prescription of steroids for body building or psychoactive drugs for recreational purposes. The article points out a trend of the supreme court deferring to the medical profession's understanding of its purposes, including "regard for ethical pronouncements by professional organizations when construing ambiguous legal terms, reliance on professional self-regulation (through licensing boards, second opinions, and peer review) to restrain errant practitioners, and dependence on individual doctors' clinical judgments to safeguard (and balance) patients' rights and government interests."

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The Royal Canadian Mounted Police's (RCMP) new Marijuana Grow Operations Enforcement Team concluded its first operation, targeting websites that sold marijuana seeds. The operation netted 200,000 cannibus seeds and seven were arrested. The Marijuana Grow Operations Enforcement Team is one of seven created in 2004 under the RCMP to combat marijuana in Canada.

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The new USA Patriot Act will prohibit the sale of cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine unless it is behind the counter. Pseudophedrine is a key ingredient in the production of meth, and cold medicine is a common way of acquiring the substance. The Patriot Act will restrict the amount of pseudoephedrine a person can buy each day and each month. Furthermore, customers will be required to sign a log book and show valid identification.

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LA's District Attorney Steve Cooley threw his support to the effort to reform California's "Three Strikes" rule. The current law calls for a mandatory life-sentence when the third offense is a felony offense. The proposed reform would make only violent crimes count as the third strike. This has large consequences as many people have gotten life sentences for felony drug charges as a third stike. The reform was proposed before, but never passed because of the thousands of re-sentencing hearings that it would cause.

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Students at Florida State and the University of Texas have approved Safer Alternatives for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER) resolutions that set equal penalties for alcohol and marijuana use and possession on campus. While such resolutions are not necessarily definite policy changes, they do show the schools' administrators how the student body feels about the issue.

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Illinois' Sate Senate will vote on a bill to legalize marijuana for seriously ill patients. As it stands now, eleven states have legalized medical marijuana and eleven states (including Illinois) are currently considering such legislation. Of the eleven that already allow medical marijuana (Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington), eight are in the West. Part of the reason for this regional difference is that the West allows for measures to be put on the ballot by citizen petitions.

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Idaho's state Senate passed a bill (it's awaiting a vote in the Idaho House) that would allow pregnant women to be incarcerated for using meth. The goal is to reduce the number of children born who are addicted to meth, or have even been exposed to it before birth. Opponents of the bill say that the legislation will only make meth addicts less likely to seek prenatal care for fear of being arrested. They cite the fact that when South Carolina passed a similar law, there was an 80% drop in pregnant women seeking drug treatment programs.

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The latest CESAR Fax reports on the proposed FY 2007 Federal Drug Control budget, which namely gives more money to drug courts, national drug-free school programs, anti-drug media campaigns, and methamphetamine lab clean-up programs. Some programs have their funding reduced, including the High Density Drug Trafficking Areas program, which has been touted for its cost effectiveness in the past, while many state and local programs have been eliminated altogether. Programs eliminated from the budget include enforcement of underage drinking, Residential Substance Abuse Treatment, Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities State Grants, and Alcohol Abuse Reduction Programs.

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A review of scientific literature in the Drug Court Review concluded that marijuana detection times are actually shorter than previously thought. The review finds that the detection window for frequent users is less than 10 days, and 3-4 days for casual marijuana users. After these time periods, indicators of marijuana usage - which can disqualify users from a great number of jobs - disappear.

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Salvia has been cited as a leading cause for the suicide of a 17 year-old Delaware youth. Efforts to nationally outlaw the powerful hallucinogen in the United States have stalled because of salvia's importance to Native Americans.

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The great city of Lake Elsinore is considering banning medical marijuana dispensaries. Currently the city does not have a medical marijuana dispensary, but the city still wants to protect themselves from the "increased loitering around the dispensaries, as well as marijuana being smoked around them." Lake Elsinore is following the growing trend among California cities to ban medical marijuana dispensaries.

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A leftover West Virginia law from the prohibition era has been the focus of controversy lately. The law prohibits sale of beer that has a level of alcohol content that surpasses 6%, which essentially makes gourmet and microbrewed beers illegal. A consequence of this law is that residents travel out of state to acquire these specialty beers, and local businesses lose sales and income.

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An obscure religious sect in New Mexico was banned from drinking a tea made with the illicit hallucingen DMT. The case was appealed up to the Supreme Court, who ruled in favor of the religious sect called O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal, known as UDV. The opinion was based on the fact that the precendent has been set with Native Americans and their use of peyote (which contains the controlled substance mescaline).

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The Drug Policy Alliance reports on 49 convenience store owners and their clerks who were arrested in Georgia for selling the legal ingredients of methamphetamine production. A recently passed Georgia law mandates that stores display these ingredients behind the counter, and the state is trying to get clerks to recognize when not to sell them.

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Bolivia's President, Evo Morales, took office last month with a campaign pledge to eliminate restrictions on personal coca farming while clamping down on the illegal drug trade. In line with that policy, after a meeting with the United States Ambassador to Bolivia, Morales agreed to define coca growth in excess of 40 meters by 40 meters as "surplus," which must be eradicated. Personal coca growth is permitted by the Bolivian government. The U.S. provides aid to Bolivia in order to help combat the cocaine trade.

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This past Friday, North Dakota, Massachusetts, West Virginia, and Wisconsin presented the Drug Enforcement Agency with an argument for the allowance of industrially cultivated hemp. North Dakota's argicultural commissioner met with DEA officials for advice and assistance in carrying out the complicated task of legalizing industrial hemp production in accordance with state laws passed from 1999 through 2005. Industrially grown hemp would contain only trace amounts of the psychoactive ingredient present in marijuana, and can be used in the production of textiles, dyes, ropes, paper, and much more. The United States is the only industrialized nation to still have a ban on industrialized hemp production.

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