Topics

National Drug Threat Assessment 2009 The Wall Street Journal Market Watch Dec. 15, 2008 http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Nati...9433AABC470A%7D WASHINGTON, Dec 15, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC), a component of the Department of Justice and the nation's principal center for strategic drug intelligence, has released the National Drug Threat Assessment 2009, detailing drug trafficking and abuse trends within the United States. The assessment identifies the primary drug threats to the nation, tracks drug availability throughout the country, and analyzes trafficking and distribution patterns of illicit drugs wit…

NZ's worst drug 15 December 2008 The Nelson Mail http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/nelsonmail/4793670a23218.html It is difficult to argue with the logic in a call over the weekend by Wellington doctors for tough and urgent action over the nation's main problem drug - alcohol, the Nelson Mail said in an editorial on Monday. However, more than logic will be required to prompt even greater efforts to combat a situation which is essentially of epidemic proportions. As with dealing with any problem, the first step is in recognising it exists. The evidence against booze is overwhelming. Researchers say on average, around three people a day die of alcohol-related illnesses or a…

Grow your own hemp industry By Andy Parks
andyp@echonews.com The Northern Rivers Echo http://www.echonews.com/index.php?page=New...4&issue=375 Hemp researchers and growers Keith Bolton (pictured with a trial hemp crop) and Klara Marosszeky (pictured with bricks made from hemp masonry) are excited about the potential for a hemp industry on the Northern Rivers. China’s insatiable demand for iron ore has been the basis for Western Australia’s booming export industry, but another natural resource has been making its way to the East. According to Nimbin-based hemp researcher and grower Klara Marosszeky, a Western Australian hemp grower is exporting all of his crop to…

Alcohol major cause of drug rehab admissions, again DANNY ROSE, MEDICAL WRITER 15/12/2008 1:23:00 PM Independent Weekly http://www.independentweekly.com.au/news/l...in/1386569.aspx Alcohol has again topped harder drugs like ice and heroin as the addiction which drives the most Australians into crisis rehab. Seventy per cent of people admitted to the major not-for-profit rehab centre Odyssey House, based in Sydney, in the past financial year listed alcohol as among their reasons for seeking treatment. For almost one in three (29 per cent), alcohol was their primary addiction - up from 28 per cent in 2006-07 and 20 per cent in 2005-06. Amphetamines such as speed, ecst…

New Jersey Senate committee to consider legalizing medical marijuana By BEN LEACH Staff Writer December 15, 2008 pressofAtlanticCity.com http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/186/story/346387.html A state Senate committee will discuss legislation today that would make New Jersey the 14th state to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. If Senate Bill 119 eventually is signed into law, patients with debilitating illnesses, including cancer, AIDS, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis, would have access to marijuana to relieve their pain if prescribed by a doctor. The bill is sponsored by state Sens. Nicholas P. Scutari, D-Union, Somerset, Middlesex, and Jim Whelan, D-A…

Dagga farmer loses case Zelda Venter December 15 2008 http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&am...55356615C925003 The Pretoria High Court has ruled that the police were justified in arresting a Kameeldrift cannabis farmer for dealing in drugs as he could not provide a permit. Russell de Beer instituted a R620 000 damages claim against the minister of safety and security, claiming that he was unlawfully arrested and detained on drug charges while he had a permit for the 1.2 tons of dagga in his possession. De Beer, 37, was arrested for drug trafficking in February 2004 when the police raided his farm. He was kept in police cells for a night and subsequently …

Hey all, I'm about to head up from Victoria to NSW over Christmas and am just wondering how widespread roadside drug testing is up there? I know you've got it there, but am not sure if it's every single booze bus like it is down here now? Also they say it only detects THC for 'several hours following administration' but I dunno... is 24 hours enough room to leave? Anyone have any experience with this? Thanks, any info much appreciated!

APSAD A Pilot Study of Rimonabant for the Treatment of Cannabis Dependence Dr Mark Montebello, Ms Carolyn Mutch, Ms Rowan Mason, A/Prof James Bell, The Langton Centre, Surry Hills, Australia Objective: To assess acceptability and tolerability of rimonabant for treatment of cannabis dependent young people with psychiatric co-morbidity. Background: Rimonabant, a cannabinoid antagonist, has not been trialled in treatment of cannabis dependence. Method: Open label pilot study. Cannabis dependent patients seeking either to cease cannabis use, or to avoid relapse, were recruited from one psychiatric and three drug treatment centres. Participants were offered 20mg of …

Uh Oh, This Is Bound To Be Biased [just look at who's funding it!! ] The Characteristics of Cannabis in Australia NDARC Staff Wendy Swift (NDARC) and Paul Dillon (NCPIC) Other Investigators Steve Allsop (National Drug Research Institute) and Colin Priddis (Chemistry Centre of Western Australia) Rationale There is little detailed information about the Australian cannabis market, including the chemical characteristics of the locally available cannabis product. The collection of accurate and current data is crucial for providing appropriate, evidence-based information to the Australian public, to cannabis users and their families, and to health, law-enforcement an…

Aaaarrrrrgggghhh . . . this is what taxpayers money is being WASTED on? The research regarding Cannabis is most interesting, it will definately give Australians a VERY biased 'Reefer Madness' perspective for sure! NDARC Cannabis Cohort Research Consortium Clinical Guidelines for the Management of Cannabis Use Disorder

CannaZine.co.uk In the week its been announced Germany has joined forces with Belgium, Holland, Switzerland Spain and Portugal in implementing European medical cannabis programs, the British Cannabis Lobby has called for the UK government to follow suit, by removing patients who consume cannabis with their doctors knowledge, from the war on drugs. Recently a South Wales man who suffers from an incurable auto-immune condition called Hidradenitis Suppurativa, which sees the sufferer experiencing debilitating boils and lesions around the groin and genitals as well as under the arms and on the face, wrote to the office of Lib-Dem leader Nick Clegg, to ask if he supported …

NORML Blog President-Elect Obama, The People Have Spoken; Will You “Answer” Their Question? December 12th, 2008 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director Marijuana is #1. To follow up on yesterday’s post, change.gov (the website of President-Elect Obama’s transition team) has now closed the webpage “Open for Questions.” NORML wishes to thank all of you who took the time to visit the website and demanded the incoming administration to reform America’s marijuana laws. Your message got through loud and clear. After receiving nearly 100,000 total votes on more than 10,000 separate public policy issues, the most widely voted on question for Obama is: “Will you co…

Cannabis Embarrasment for United Nations Drug-Czar Costa - VIDEO 13 December 2008 PRCannazine News http://pr.cannazine.co.uk/content/view/789/1/ Antonio Maria Costa, the Italian Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, is seriously embarrassed because of a solo-action by Amsterdam psychiatrist Fredrick Polak. In an open letter published today, Polak demands an answer to a simple question. Despite earlier promises the global drug czar has been dodging the question for exactly one year. “How do you explain the low level of cannabis use in the Netherlands compared to surrounding countries, despite its free availability in coffeeshops?” Home-Grown …

NORML 11 December, 2008 Toulouse, France Marijuana use is not an independent predictor of delinquent behavior by young people, according to data to be published in the journal Addictive Behavior. Investigators at the French University de Toulouse-Le Mirail reviewed survey data from 312 high-school seniors. Researchers performed multiple regression analyses to investigate the potential contribution of cannabis use and other cofounding variables in delinquent behavior. Investigators concluded, “Cannabis use was no more a significant independent predictor of delinquent behaviors after adjustments for alcohol use and [other] variables.” Authors did cite an assoc…

AlterNet By Phillip S. Smith, Drug War Chronicle. Posted December 12, 2008 For more than 30 years under the policy of "gedoogbeleid," which could best be translated as "pragmatic tolerance," the Dutch have allowed the sale of personal amounts of marijuana through the coffee house system, even though doing so is technically illegal. But lately, especially for those of us on this side of the water, a black cloud appears to be hovering over the coffee shops. The number of coffee shops has contracted from about 1,500 in 1995 to 720 now, as successive governments have tightened the screws. The current national government is hostile, if somewhat divided on the issue, and re…