• The Ketamine Connection

    From Far East karaoke bars to an unlikely English city - the story of how a worrying new drug trade is made in China
    BBC News (UK)
    Friday, July 10, 2015

    For decades, ketamine was only manufactured by pharmaceutical companies. Technically, it was too complicated to be made by amateur chemists. But in the past five years, that has changed. Chinese drug gangs have cracked the code, figuring out how to manufacture large batches of cheap ketamine. Drug traffickers don't bother to steal ketamine from legal sources anymore. Instead, they're making their own. It's largely a Chinese breakthrough.

  • Marijuana study counters 'gateway' theory

    It says specific reasons teens try pot are better predictors of future drug use
    Health Day (US)
    Friday, July 10, 2015

    Marijuana may not be the "gateway drug" some believe it to be, a new study contends. Instead, teens smoke pot for very specific reasons, and it is those reasons that appear to prompt their decision to try other drugs, researchers report. For example, kids who use marijuana because they are bored are more likely to also use cocaine, while kids using pot to achieve insight or understanding are more likely to try magic mushrooms, according to findings published recently in the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse.

  • High Court ruling deals blow to cannabis clubs

    Court sources told the newspaper that the ruling may not necessarily apply to other cannabis clubs
    The Local (Spain)
    Thursday, July 9, 2015

    Spain's highest court has declared a cannabis club in Bilbao in violation of public health - the court’s first ruling on such clubs - which could set precedent for smoking collectives in the future. The Supreme Court decision was the first time the court had ruled on the subject of marijuana collectives. The court said that the club in Bilbao had committed a crime against public health because the group’s "structure and functioning exceeded the philosophy" of shared consumption.

  • Chile takes step toward cannabis decriminalisation

    Lower house of congress votes to decriminalise drug for personal use
    The Guardian (UK)
    Tuesday, July 7, 2015

    marcha-marihuana-chileChile has taken a step forward in decriminalising the use of cannabis after the lower house of congress approved by a wide margin a bill that seeks to change the law. The bill would allow the possession of up to 10 grammes of cannabis and the growing of up to six plants. Up to now, planting, selling and transporting marijuana has been punishable by up to 15 years in prison. But it still has some way to go to become law. A health committee will study the bill before the lower house votes again on each of the specific elements. It then passes to the senate.

  • Majority of Spaniards oppose new "gag law"

    The law has brought in a series of fines for public order offences
    The Local (Spain)
    Monday, July 6, 2015

    Three quarters of Spaniards oppose the country's new "gag law", which has brought in a series of measures opponents say hark back to the dark days of dictator Francisco Franco. It puts an end to the laissez faire attitude that has seen Spain become a nation with one of the largest potsmoking populations in Europe. But from now on lighting up a joint in bars or on public transport could result in a fine of between €600 and €30,000.

  • Call to make ecstasy legal and sell it at pharmacies

    Most of bad consequences from use are due to impurities in illicitly manufactured drug and it being illegal, expert says
    The Age (Australia)
    Sunday, July 5, 2015

    ecstasyAustralians should be able to buy a pure form of ecstasy from their local pharmacy to curtail the harm caused by contaminated blackmarket pills. Melbourne pharmacist Joshua Donelly and leading doctor Professor David Penington say many Australians taking the drug were probably swallowing contaminated versions that put them at greater risk of harm. In the Journal of Law and Medicine, Donelly said although no drug was completely risk-free, compared to other drugs MDMA caused "negligible" harm to users and people around them.

  • None but ourselves can 'free' the weed

    The issue of landownership is intimately tied to the ability of farmers to participate in the supply chain for the burgeoning medical ganja sector
    Vicky Hanson
    Jamaica Observer (Jamaica)
    Sunday, July 5, 2015

    jamaica-ganjaTraditional small ganja farmers in Jamaica, accustomed to clandestinely working their fields, will now have to adhere to strict regulations in order to supply research institutions that have been granted licences. They will be required to invest heavily in the technology necessary such as for tracking outputs. This will require substantial financial outlay and is likely to prevent farmers from taking advantage. Powerful private sector interests are hovering in the background to displace the potential development of the small traditional ganja businesses.

  • EU report: Oslo lacks drug strategy

    Oslo has a serious drug problem, with an open and visible drug scene
    The Local (Norway)
    Saturday, July 4, 2015

    A new EU report has found that Oslo, a city that for many years has topped the heroin overdose ranking, still lacks a comprehensive strategy to combat drug use. The report also reveals that Oslo has a very high number of addicts who inject rather than smoke heroine, a fact that may explain the number of drug related deaths. The Oslo needle exchange programme gives out 1.9 million needles a year, compared to 600,000 in Madrid and 145,000 in Amsterdam.

  • London is now the global money-laundering centre for the drug trade, says crime expert

    London’s inflated property prices are fuelled by dirty money
    The Independent (UK)
    Saturday, July 4, 2015

    The City of London is the money-laundering centre of the world's drug trade. UK banks and financial services have ignored so-called "know your customer" rules designed to curb criminals’ abilities to launder the proceeds of crime. A National Crime Agency (NCA) threat assessment stated: "We assess that hundreds of billions of US dollars of criminal money almost certainly continue to be laundered through UK banks, including their subsidiaries, each year." (See also: UK still a safe haven for dirty money, study finds)

  • Public to have say on legality of drugs

    The creation of a medically supervised injecting centre is also considered
    Irish Examiner (Ireland)
    Saturday, July 4, 2015

    The Irish public is being invited to have a say in what is thought to be the country’s first official examination of the decriminalisation of drugs for personal use. The Justice Committee is seeking submissions from people and organisations on alternatives to the current model of criminalisation. It comes on the back of a committee trip to Portugal, where a delegation studied its model of decriminalisation of the possession of drugs.

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