The NTA report said that legal highs being available on the market means that new drugs are continuing to be produced, and new drugs come with new concerns about their harmful effects. The report said that data suggest that people have sought treatment for these new drugs, and it could take some time for people using these drugs to develop symptoms that require treatment.

Peter Kelsey, team leader for Lifelide Redcar and Cleveland, a charity that helps drug addicts dealing with poverty, illness, and distress, said that people think these drugs are safe because they are legal, but they are anything but safe. He added that his charity has seen a rise in people seeking treatment for these kinds of drugs, which could be due to the poor quality of cocaine and the fact that the drugs aren’t yet illegal.

Source: The Press Association, Legal Highs Chosen Over Cocaine, October 7, 2010

Experts are blaming the Scottish Government for failing to make policies on drug abuse and failing to handle the issue of substance abuse. Professor Graeme Pearson, former head of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, said the situation is negatively affecting the economy, as business investors won’t want to come to an area with a high rate of drug abuse.

Afghanistan (where most of the world’s heroin is cultivated), Iran, Costa Rica, Russia, and Mauritius were the only nations with drug abuse rates higher than Scotland. Ecstasy use is one-third higher in Scotland than in England and Wales, with the rate almost doubling in the last six years.

Drug users spend an average of £1.4 billion a year on drugs, and there are about 50,000 heroin users and 750,000 cocaine users in the nation. Scotland also has more drug-related deaths than any other country. 1981, the death rate was 12 percent higher in Scotland than in England and Wales, and the figure increased to 15 percent in 2001.

In 2008, researchers estimated that about 32% of deaths in Scotland were attributed to drug use. Scotland’s crime rate is also more than double the rate in England and Wales, and six times the worldwide average.

Sources: Top News, Rasik Sharma, Drug Abuse Highest in Scotland: UN Survey, August 3, 2010

Herald Scotland, Helen McArdle, Scotland Among World’s Worst for Drug Abuse, August 3, 2010

According to a report in the Winnipeg Free Press, the research was conducted by two Vancouver-based groups who argue that there is a significant disconnect between scientific evidence and policy.

Both research groups have demonstrated support for the Vienna Declaration, which is the official document of the International AIDS Conference. This document is laying blame on governments for ignoring research that demonstrates harm-reduction programs are helping to reverse the spread of HIV.

These programs include safe-injection sites and needle exchanges, which research suggests are much more effective at offsetting the negative aspects of the illegal drug trade, including the ongoing spread of diseases such as HIV.

The document also suggests that prosecuting those addicted to drugs only pushes their habits underground. In this environment, needles are shared, sex is generally unprotected and users are out of the reach of health-care workers or treatment for addiction.

It is also being argued that a focus on crime and punishment in drug addicts produces policy displacement. In other words, as more money and resources are poured into the war on drugs, there is less available to provide the help addicts actually need to overcome their addictions.

Canada, considered to be a conservative government, has recently been strengthening its drug laws as part of its agenda to be tough on crime. With this agenda comes harsher mandatory sentencing and attempts to close a safe injection site.
 

The evidence from DAWN’s latest data points to a rising problem among the U.S. population: suicide has become the third leading cause of death among adolescents ages 12 to 17 as well as young adults ages 18 to 24. According to SAMHSA, 34,598 suicides took place in the U.S. in 2007–almost twice as many homicides that year nationwide (18,361). Suicide attempts are considered to be a prominent risk factor for subsequent successful suicide; among U.S. young adults, an average of 3,500 successful suicides takes place each year, with one death occurring per 100 to 200 suicide attempts. Now more than ever, younger adults and adolescents who attempt suicide are resorting to pharmaceutical abuse. For 2008, SAMHSA estimates that 604,808 drug-related visits to emergency departments (ED) were made by U.S. young adults ages 18–24. Of this amount, 38,036 drug-related ED visits–or 6.3%–were suicide attempts using one or more substances. On average, almost one in fifteen drug-related incidents involving a young adult in the U.S. was a suicide attempt, most of which are made by females.

Even worse, SAMHSA’s statistics revealed that drug-related suicide attempts made by adolescents (under the age of 18) was 8.8% (almost one in every twelve ED visits), doubling the rate of those seen among adults ages 25 and older (4.4%). According to national ED data, an overwhelming 72.3% of adolescent suicide attempts involving drug intoxication were made by females. The majority of drug-related suicide attempts within other age groups were also caused by females, though not as significantly prominent: 57.6% of young adult suicide attempts and 57.7% of adult suicide attempts involving drug intoxication were made by females.

Most of the drug-related suicide attempts in 2008 had involved the combination of multiple substances. In total, drug-related suicide attempt cases involved an average of 2.2 substances per ED visit. Also, pharmaceutical drugs were the most common type of substance to be used in suicide attempt; 95.4% of adolescent drug-related suicide attempts and 92.8% of young adult drug-related suicide attempts were caused by pharmaceutical drugs. Despite this prominence of pharmaceutical abuse, the type of pharmaceuticals used in suicide attempts varied among gender and age groups.

Males were more likely to consume multiple substances than females in their attempts, but females were more likely to attempt suicide by drug use. Adolescent males were three times more likely than adolescent females to have used antipsychotic medications in their suicide attempts (14.3% of male cases vs. 4.3% of female cases). Female adolescents were most likely to have used acetaminophen products in drug-related suicide attempts (28.5% of these cases). Adult females ages 25 and older were most likely to have used anti-anxiety medications in their attempts (49.9% of these cases).

Surprisingly, SAMHSA found significant disparities in the type of aftercare administered to ED admissions involved in a suicide attempt based upon which drugs were used as well as the age of the patient. For example, 83.1% of adolescents who has used alcohol in their suicide attempt received aftercare treatment, while only 59.4% of adults ages 25 or older who had used alcohol were referred to aftercare. Over 90.2% of adolescent patients who had used antidepressants in their suicide attempts received aftercare treatment, but only 52.4% of adolescent patients were referred to aftercare treatment if their suicide attempt involved ibuprofen.

Not only do these numbers reveal which groups are most vulnerable to drug use and drug-related suicide attempts, but it also shows which substances are being used by the most vulnerable groups in their attempts. Pharmaceutical abuse continues to escalate in the U.S. and is common among all age groups, yet adolescents were the most likely group to resort to pharmaceuticals when attempting suicide. They were also more likely to experience suicidal ideation than any other group. Furthermore, the quality of aftercare that these suicidal patients received may very well affect the likelihood of them refraining or re-attempting suicide in the future. SAMHSA recommends the need for better aftercare to improve treatment for such critical situations as suicidal ideation and attempts.

SAMHSA’s complete series of drug-related suicides in emergency department visits nationwide can be accessed on SAMHSA’s website at www.samhsa.gov.

Since former President Nixon officially declared ‘war on drugs’ in 1970, the drug lords of Mexico have had little to slow them down from overtaking and amplifying the American drug market. With $1 trillion having been spent on combating drug cartels, drug smuggling, and gang violence since Nixon’s time, the U.S.’s War on Drugs has conceptually failed. After fighting Columbian cocaine distribution during the 1990s, cocaine production, smuggling, and violence transferred to Mexican territory where trans-border importation is more easily attained. Today, seven prominent Mexican drug cartels exist throughout the country’s 31 states. Mexico remains the world’s largest cocaine distributor, and the U.S.’s largest supplier of methamphetamines and marijuana. Thanks to its 1,952 mile-long border with the U.S., and both western and eastern cartel-controlled maritime ports, Mexico is a leading thoroughfare for cocaine, heroin, and stimulant distribution for international importation and U.S. exportation.

In December 2006, Mexican President Calderon declared a war on drugs and his nation’s feared drug cartels. Calderon has deployed a total of 45,000 troops and 5,000 federal agents to 18 of Mexico’s states in one of the world’s bloodiest battles today. Since 2007, an estimated 22,700 people have died as a result of drug-related violence. During his presidency, President Obama has held over a dozen meetings with President Calderon in both the U.S. and Mexico to discuss the progress of the campaign against illegal drug trade and the U.S. support of Mexican militia training and supplies. Since formation of the Merida Initiative—U.S.’s $1.4 billion security co-operation with Mexico and other Central American nations for military training and equipment for the purpose of combating drug trafficking and intercontinental crime—Mexico and the U.S. have failed to curtail the success of the lucrative drug trafficking business.

Calderon’s administration has influenced major shifts in power amongst the drug cartels as leaders are arrested or killed in police combat. The changing balance of power inside the cartel families, as well as cartel-related disputes over Mexican territory, has modified operations and alliances amongst cartels and added to the level of violence. Cartel lieutenants and their troops have attacked and slaughtered thousands of their opponents, Mexican forces, and Mexican citizens in their ongoing battles to control profitable drug-trafficking routes to the U.S. Guns are bought in the U.S. and smuggled into Mexico where violence has become magnified in the last 3 years. In his speech at the White House, President Calderon asked Congress to renew its ban on assault weapons to help aid his efforts against the drug cartels. Many of these weapons that make their way to Mexico, Calderon stated, end up in the hands of cartel members who kill thousands each year.

In addition, President Calderon stated that the growing success of drug trafficking is fueled by America’s steadfast addiction to drugs. President Obama has repeatedly acknowledged that U.S. drug consumption is part of the problem in the war on drugs. Today, an estimated 25 million Americans have a substance abuse disorder. After 40 years of ‘War on Drugs,’ the number of American drug addicts has increased by 10 million. The U.S., the world’s largest drug consumer, has made Mexico the world’s leading drug supplier and distributor. U.S. efforts to infiltrate drug trafficking, such as $49 billion spent on law enforcement, $121 billion spent on the criminal justice system, and $350 billion spent on federal incarceration, have actually made the illegal drug trade a more successful business. Inside and outside of prison, drug lords continue to operate their trafficking business, and investigative teams have trouble gathering evidence or making it stick since informants, witnesses, and agents are more often intimidated, threatened, tortured, or killed. Only 75% of U.S. arrests related to drug trafficking are able to be processed, and thousands of cases are acquitted each year. The drug industry is too profitable of a business that others are more than willing to replace drug leaders as they die off. Fighting violence with violence, it seems, has not given the U.S. an advantage over drug consumption.

In his historic 2011 $15.5 billion drug control policy, President Obama is pledging only $5.6 billion be spent on prevention and treatment programs in the U.S. Although law enforcement remains the top priority under this plan, as it did under the Bush administration, drug czar Gil Kerlikowski warns that noticeable change in the drug war effort will take much progress. The level of violence in Mexico is still too high and living situations for innocent Mexican citizens in cartel territory are too dangerous to abandon. Obama’s plan emphasizes law enforcement such as border patrol agents, police, and military to combat the continuing drug war rather than treating drug consumption as a public health mandate.

Preventative measures and substance abuse treatment have time and again proven to be the most lasting and successful solution to substance abuse in statistical and medical research. Drug users are less likely to return to their habits and criminals are less likely to recidivate after receiving substance abuse treatment and counseling. However, without treatment, these individuals are most likely to relapse and return to jail, where their drug habits continue. Unless the cycle is broken, drug cartels and their violent business will continue to prosper at America’s demise.

References

http://www.knx1070.com/Mexican-President-Slams-AZ-Immigration-Law-at-Whit/7104616

http://projects.latimes.com/mexico-drug-war/#/its-a-war

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-failed-drug-war,0,1805606.story?page=1

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126890893

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/national/stories/052010dnnatassaultweapons.223cfb36.html
 

“We wish the MPs would cooperate with us hope they do not think this bill was politically motivated,” he said.

A number of participants at the workshop expressed concern about the difficulty they had reaching MPs. Adam said MPs had not even attended meetings to discuss the bill despite numerous invitations.

Among the NGOs represented at the workshop were Journey, Hand to Hand, Maldivian Detainee Network and Transparency Maldives.

Adam, a recovered drug addict, spoke briefly about the history of drug use in the Maldives.

Historical documents that reveal travelers who visited to the Maldives in the 16th century observed opium being used inside the palace, he said.

Moreover, in the 18th century, Indian traders introduced cannabis to the country.
“In 1972, with the advent of tourism in the country, most people started smoking grass,” he said.

The government was only alerted to what was happening much later, he added.
Adam said “brown sugar,” the low-grade heroin that is prevalent in the country, was introduced after the mass arrests of marijuana users in the early 90s.

A drug centre was established for the first time in the Maldives in 1997.

The discussions at the workshop focused on both the reasons why people get hooked on drugs and methods of prevention.

NGOs were divided into four groups and together discussed the drug epidemic and ways to solve it.

Among the factors identified that drove people to drug use were parental neglect, congestion and lack of privacy and space at home that draws children out to streets, peer pressure, lifestyle decisions, as well as lack of job opportunities and proper role models.

The NGOs argued in favor of categorization of drugs in the bill and called for the introduction of different methods and models for treatment apart from the existing therapeutic community (TC) model.

TC was not adequate for all types of drug addicts, they insisted.

While drug smuggling could be prevented by imposing penalties on customs officials suspected of accepting bribes, higher penalties should be imposed on convicted drug dealers, they agreed.

Minivan News spoke anonymously to an individual who divulged information on drug trafficking in the Maldives.

He claimed that he sold drugs because he felt “pity for the sick people” [drug addicts] and did not want “to isolate them from society.” He added that he did not face “any trouble” in attracting customers.

“If we sell good quality stuff to one person, he will go and tell his friends that we have good stuff and they also will start buying from us,” he said.

He claimed to earn “at least Rf15,000 every day” (US $1,167) selling drugs, approximately Rf465,000 per month (US $36,186).

”Everyday one person will buy at least three to five packets, sometimes people from the islands come and buy 40 packets also,” he said, claiming that each 0.03 gram packet (of brown sugar) cost Rf100.

Almost one or two kilograms were smuggled into the country at a time, he explained.
The rise in crime was because drug addicts needed to feed their addiction, he said.

“All gangs are operated by people and money. Gangs earn money by selling drugs. If someone gets stabbed also the gangs would provide them with medication and financial assistance.”

Moreover, he said, “gangsters” would not have any source of income without dealing drugs.

“Real drug dealers” meanwhile, do not use drugs themselves, he said. The drug of choice for Maldivian youth was brown sugar, he added.

“There’s also hash oil, ‘white stuff,’ and Charas [resin from the hemp plant] also in the market.”

While more treatment facilities and job opportunities should be offered to combat drug addiction, he said,”drug dealers should be stopped first, but [the government] can never do that. Drug dealers are assisted by high-profile people in the country,” he said.
“First, they should figure out who they are and stop them, then come after the drug dealers. Then there will be no drug abusers in the country.”

The Montelongo family has well-known ties to gang activity and criminal arrests and Anthony has collected a set of five felony charges against him after the completion of an eight-month investigation into alleged sales of drugs and firearms to undercover police officers.

Montelongo will be charged as an adult with conspiracy to distribute and manufacture a controlled substance and possession of a handgun by a juvenile; possession of a dangerous weapon; and three counts of distribution of controlled substance. If he is convicted on even one of the distribution charges, he could find himself in prison for four to 12 years.

In late March, undercover officers arranged to buy cocaine from Montelongo and on three occasions, were able to buy a total of 1 ½ ounces of cocaine for $1,410. On April 13, officers agreed to meet him to buy another ounce of cocaine during his high school lunch hour around noon. He met the officer in a downtown parking lot and was arrested on site.

Montelongo became a father weeks ago and is noted for his longtime gang ties and criminal activity in Greeley. Two brothers are in Colorado prisons; his father is set to get out of community corrections next year; and one older brother is scheduled to be off parole by December 26.

Most Montelongo family members involved with the law have faced several charges through several years involving drugs, theft, domestic violence, burglary and traffic violations.
 

Since 2006, authorities in both Mexico and the United States have seized more than 400 drug planes and in February, a man was arrested, accused of managing the Sinaloa cartel’s air operations.

Even with this crackdown, Latin American drug smugglers are finding new ways to move their goods, including using jets to ship tons of cocaine to West Africa, ultralight crafts to get product across the U.S. border and satellite-tracking devices to drop and find drug shipments.

Before President Felipe Calderón’s 3-year-old crackdown on the drug cartels began, twin-engine planes could fly directly from Colombia to staging areas in northern Mexico. Now, such long-range flights raise too much suspicion on radar.

Cocaine shipments now arrive in Guatemala and are brought into Mexico by land or boat, according to the Mexican Attorney General’s Office. Small planes then move the drugs north to avoid army checkpoints that have been placed along Mexico’s highways. Pilots now have to land in more rugged areas as the government has destroyed 2,086 unregistered airfields since 2006.

While authorities are claiming progress in the grounding of drug planes in Mexico, the cartels are using aircraft to exploit new routes. According to the U.S. State Department, drug flights between South America and the Caribbean nations of Haiti and the Dominican Republic have been rising since 2006.

Smugglers are now crossing the Atlantic Ocean to move cocaine through Africa and into Europe. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration noted in an affidavit that pilots are paid $200,000 to $300, 000 per trip – making the job very lucrative.