December 20, 2005

Cocaine plants to be legalised by the first home-grown President. Seńor Morales, who used to lead a coca-growers’ union, has promised to legalise the cultivation of coca, the primary ingredient in cocaine — to the horror of the US, which has pursued a big coca eradication effort in Bolivia in recent years. Bolivia is the world’s third largest producer of cocaine. From Tom Hennigan in La Paz
Leftist Morales Claims Victory in Bolivia  By FIONA SMITH

Special Report: The Federal Response to Methamphetamine
Comprehensive Meth Bill Passes House as Part of Patriot Act

November 1, 2005

Leave the Dopers Alone. Sometimes people in law enforcement will hear it whispered that I'm a former cop who favors decriminalization of marijuana laws, and they'll approach me the way they might a traitor or snitch. So let me set the record straight.

Yes, I was a cop for 34 years, the last six of which I spent as chief of Seattle's police department.

But no, I don't favor decriminalization. I favor legalization, and not just of pot but of all drugs, including heroin, cocaine, meth, psychotropics, mushrooms and LSD. By Norm Stamper

August 9, 2005

America's Most Dangerous Drug. It creates a potent, long-lasting high—until the user crashes and, too often, literally burns. How meth quietly marched across the country and up the socioeconomic ladder—and the wreckage it leaves in its wake. By David J. Jefferson
Meth Madness at Newsweek. This is your magazine on drugs. By Jack Shafer
RSS: Google Search: meth DPA

Why Is The DEA Hounding This Doctor? The feds are cracking down on pain specialists, and doctors--and their patients--are crying foul. By MARGOT ROOSEVELT

July 17, 2005

U.S. Warns of Dangers From Patch Used for Pain. The patches, containing the narcotic fentanyl, are marketed under the name Duragesic by Janssen, a company owned by Johnson & Johnson. A generic version was put on the market in February by Mylan Laboratories. Duragesic had sales of more than $2 billion in 2004...Only those already tolerant of narcotics, as some cancer patients are, should use the patches...An overdose can cause a person to stop breathing; taking off the patch will not reverse the effects because the drug has already built up in the person's system and may continue to be absorbed from the skin for 17 hours or more. By DENISE GRADY
FDA Public Health Advisory Safety Warnings Regarding Use of Fentanyl Transdermal (Skin) Patches
Prescription pain patch abuse blamed for increase in deaths

Brain-boost drugs 'to be common'. The think-tank Foresight, outlined the scenario in an independent report looking at potential developments over the next 20 years. -BBC

RSS/XML: MAP, Meth, Alcohol/Addiction/Illegal Drugs News, Drug Reporter

July 8, 2005

Meth Abuse Cited as Top Drug Problem for Law Enforcement Agencies. EVANSVILLE, Ind., July 5 -- The crippling reach of methamphetamine abuse has become the nation's leading drug problem affecting local law enforcement agencies, according to a survey of 500 sheriff's departments in 45 states...The report comes soon after the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy restated its stance that marijuana remains the nation's most substantial drug problem. Federal estimates show there are 15 million marijuana users compared with the 1 million that may use meth. -AP
Counties Want Federal Help to Fight 'Meth'

Harsh truths about the crystal meth ‘epidemic’. Truth is always the first casualty of war. So it is with the war on drugs. First, face the facts. Then fight the problem. -Steve Weinstein

Drug addicts to face criminal charges in China. BEIJING, June 23 -- A new narcotic control law is being mapped out as part of China's efforts to combat drug use, production and trafficking...Although existing laws acknowledge the illegal possession of drugs, they fail to classify drug taking as a crime.

Hospitals wage a different war: Against addiction. BAGHDAD — Iraqi and American medical experts say they have noticed a rise in drug abuse and trafficking in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. By Mona Mahmoud and Melanie Eversley

June 18, 2005

War on drugs. 06/17/2005 By A.IKEDA and K.INOUE The Asahi Shimbun. When you take pharmaceuticals designed to cure legitimate ailments out of the equation, the term "legal drugs" can be baffling. Stimulants, aphrodisiacs, hallucinogens ... there's a long list. They are all designed to provide people, especially the young, with a high that is pretty much on a par with outlawed drugs like speed or LSD.

Crystal meth users clog up courts. Barb Pacholik Saskatchewan News Network; Regina Leader-Post. Thursday, June 16, 2005. Today's story is the fourth part of a six-day series in a joint project among the four Saskatchewan daily newspapers and the two provincial Global TV stations.

The 'after-meth' of Patel calamity. ATLANTA DIARY | Meeta Chaitanya. June 14, 2005 Over the last few days, about 45 Indian American convenience store owners have been arrested for allegedly selling over the counter drugs containing components used in the manufacture of methamphetamine...

National Coalition Objects to Anti-Consumer Provisions in Meth Bill
FAIRFAX, Va., June 14 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Today 14 state-based and national public policy organizations, small business and taxpayer groups sent a letter to Capitol Hill concerning what they call an "ineffective" and "anti-consumer" provision in a federal bill designed to combat methamphetamine use.