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MARIJUANA MOVE
As
DDN
went to press, it was
announced that Uruguay’s House of
Representatives had passed a bill to
legalise marijuana. If approved by the
Senate, Uruguay will be the first country
to regulate the sale, production and
distribution of marijuana.
HIV WARNING
A ‘significant’ increase in injecting rates
among gay men could lead to sharp
rises in HIV levels, according to a report
from the National Aids Trust (NAT).
Earlier this year NAT wrote to London
councils warning of the ‘rapid rise’ in
the use of drugs like crystal meth and
mephedrone in parts of London’s gay
scene, coupled with high rates of
needle-sharing and lack of appropriate
services (
DDN
, April, page 6). ‘We need
drugs and sexual health services to
work together to meet the needs of gay
men,’ said NAT director of policy and
campaigns, Yusef Azad.
HIV and injecting
drug use at www.nat.org.uk
SEPARATE LIVES
The Netherlands’ approach to drug policy
helped to keep cannabis users separate
from ‘hard drug dealers’, according to a
report from the Open Society
Foundations (OSF). Just 14 per cent of
Dutch cannabis users reported being
able to obtain other drugs from their
suppliers, compared to more than 50 per
cent in Sweden, says
Coffee shops and
compromise: separated illicit drug
markets in the Netherlands
. ‘As other
countries and local jurisdictions consider
reforming their laws, it’s possible that
the Netherlands’ past offers a guide for
the future,’ said director of the OSF’s
global drug policy programme, Kasia
Malinowska-Sempruch.
Report at
www.opensocietyfoundations.org
WHAT IS RECOVERY?
Birmingham-based UK Recovery Radio
(
DDN
, March, page 17) has released its
second ‘Purple Bull’ podcast – What is
recovery? – which focuses on the role of
harm reduction.
Listen at
recoveryradio.blogspot.co.uk
ALL CHANGE AT CRI
CRI’s deputy chief executive David
Biddle will take the top job at the
charity on 1 October, following David
Royce’s decision to pursue a part-time
role in the voluntary sector.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Drugs agencies have reacted with concern to the number
of recent deaths thought to involve PMA, which can be
present in ecstasy tablets or pills being sold as ecstasy.
Deaths have been reported in England, Scotland and
Northern Ireland in recent weeks.
PMA can take longer to have an effect than ecstasy,
with the risk that people take repeat doses in the belief
that the drugs are not working. The Department of Health
has issued a health alert to NHS and public health
networks about ‘reports across regions in the UK of cases
of hospitalisations and sudden deaths linked to the use of
ecstasy-like pills. It has been reported that pills taken by
those affected have contained, either alone or in
combination, para-methoxyamphetamine (PMA), MDMA
(the usual active ingredient expected in “ecstasy” pills), or
other ecstasy-like stimulants.’
The pills reported in recent cases have ‘been described
with a variety of colours and with a variety of different
logos stamped on them’, says the document, with
warnings issued about ‘pink ecstasy’ tablets and, in
Scotland and Northern Ireland, ‘green Rolexes’.
‘With the festival season under way, those who are
using ecstasy need to be extra vigilant,’ said DrugScope
chief executive Martin Barnes. ‘There is no way of knowing
whether or not a pill contains PMA.’
Meanwhile, new figures from the Home Office have led
the government to claim that drug use in England and
Wales is at its ‘lowest level since records began’. Just over
8 per cent of adults are estimated to have used an illicit
drug in the last year, compared to more than 11 per cent in
1996, according to
Drug misuse: findings from the 2012/13
crime survey for England and Wales
. In 2012-2013, 2.8 per
cent of 16 to 59-year-olds were defined as frequent drug
users – based on having taken any illicit drug more than
once a month on average – down from 3.3 per cent in
2011-12.
The statistics are based on
Crime survey
interviews with
around 21,000 adults aged 16 to 59. Questions on use of
the legal drugs salvia and nitrous oxide were added for the
first time and revealed that more than 6 per cent of 16 to
24-year-olds had taken nitrous oxide in the last year and
more than 1 per cent had taken salvia.
‘It is worrying that the report shows there is a
disproportionate number of people aged between 16 and
24 taking these types of drugs, compared to the overall
number of 16 to 59-year-olds using legal highs,’ said
regional development manager at Swanswell, Jo Woods.
‘We welcome this report and are pleased to see the Home
Office recognising the developing problem.’
Report at www.gov.uk
August 2013 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| 5
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
News |
Round-up
PMA in ecstasy tablets warning
The government has published plans to make it easier to
prosecute people who drive under the influence of drugs.
A new offence of ‘driving with a specified controlled drug
in the body above the specified limit for that drug’ is to be
introduced, designed to ‘reduce the wasted time, effort
and expense’ of failed prosecutions.
The proposals are contained in a consultation
document, which also looks at penalties for driving when
impaired by certain prescribed drugs, although the
government has stressed that drivers who had taken
‘properly prescribed’ medicines would not be penalised.
The consultation sets out a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to
driving under the influence of cannabis, MDMA, cocaine,
ketamine, LSD, methamphetamine, benzoylecgonine,
heroin and diamorphine, with limits set at the ‘lowest
level at which a valid and reliable analytical level can be
obtained’ but designed to rule out ‘passive consumption’
or ‘accidental exposure’.
There will also be a limit for amphetamine, as yet to be
confirmed, along with limits for eight controlled drugs that
‘have recognised and widespread medical uses’ but which
can also affect the ability to drive, including methadone,
morphine, temazepam and diazepam. Penalties will include
an automatic driving ban of at least a year, as well as a
maximum fine of £5,000 and potential custodial sentences.
Although police will not be able to conduct random
tests, they will have the power to administer a preliminary
drug test if someone has been in an accident, committed a
traffic offence, or if the officer ‘suspects that a driver has a
drug in his body or is under the influence of some drug’.
Police will be allowed to administer up to three
preliminary saliva tests, to be followed by arrest and the
requirement for a blood test if positive.
‘Drug driving is a menace which devastates families
and ruins lives,’ said roads minister Stephen Hammond.
‘That is why we are proposing to take a zero tolerance
approach with those who drive under the influence of
illegal drugs and sending a clear message that this
behaviour will not be tolerated.’
The government has also launched a consultation on
the prescription drug tramadol, saying that it wants to
make it a class C drug while ensuring it remains ‘available
to those who need it as a prescription medicine’. The
announcement follows a recommendation by the Advisory
Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) that the painkiller
should be placed in Schedule 3 of the Misuse of Drugs
Regulations, which allows controlled substances to be
prescribed and legally possessed.
The ACMD had expressed concern at the misuse of
tramadol, with the number of deaths involving the drug
nearly doubling – from 83 to 154 – between 2008 and 2011.
Drug driving consultation at
www.gov.uk/government/consultations/drug-driving-
proposed-regulations, until 17 September.
Tramadol consultation at
www.gov.uk/government/consultations/scheduling-of-
tramadol-and-exemptions-for-temazepam-prescriptions,
until 11 October.
Government consults on proposals
for new drug-driving offences