On June 28, 2013, a project run by the State Interdepartmental Program (“Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Re-socialization of Consumers of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances”) was presented. The Russian Federal Drug Control Service, which is a law enforcement agency, drafted the document and is responsible for the execution of the program.

The purpose of the state-run program is to reduce the demand for drugs, develop rehabilitation resources and provide access to social and rehabilitative care for all those who want to stop using drugs.

According to the Federal Drug Control Service there are currently around 500 non-medical rehabilitation and re-socialization centers that have been created by nongovernmental organizations in the Russian Federation. Up to 20,000 drug addicts undergo rehabilitation in these centers annually.

It is assumed that the state will select and create a unified database of private rehabilitation centers and, by means of using a non-cash payment method, pay for rehabilitation services for every citizen of Russia who wants to get rid of his or her drug addiction. The program is scheduled to run in 2013–2020, with total funding at 179 billion rubles (nearly U.S. $ 5.5 billion).

On paper, it looks great — rehabilitation, care, employment, social services, etc. However, “the devil is in the details.” Nonetheless, according to the Federal Drug Control Service project, a person is supposed to be referred to rehabilitation even in the case of a single (!) use of a narcotic and psychotropic drug without a doctor’s prescription. That is, a person who is not ill is supposed to be treated prematurely.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

State-run rehabilitation programmes in Russia need more work

Canadian provinces have jurisdiction over policing and the administration of justice (drug laws are a federal matter only in Canada). BC has the responsibility of funding the police, and setting police priorities.

All police in BC are under the authority of the Police Act, an act of the BC Legislature. This includes both RCMP (federal police force under contract to provide services in some areas of BC) and municipal police. Sensible BC proposes an amendment to British Columbia’s Police Act, instructing police not to spend any time, money or resources on cases of simple possession of cannabis. This change, called the Sensible Policing Act, would effectively decriminalize the possession of cannabis in BC, while leaving the rest of the laws in place. Sensible BC will need to collect over 400,000 signatures from all across BC between September 9 and December 5, to force a

BC referendum to decriminalize marijuana possession in 2014. Campaigners are currently going door-to-door to collect signatures.

Sensible BC (British Columbia) begins campaign to decriminalise cannabis

On 17th September 2013, the European Commission proposed to strengthen the European Union’s ability to respond to ‘legal highs’ – new psychoactive substances used as alternatives to illicit drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy. Under the rules proposed by the Commission, harmful psychoactive substances will be withdrawn quickly from the market, without jeopardising their various legitimate industrial and commercial uses. The proposals follow warnings from the EU's Drugs Agency (the EMCDDA) and Europol about the scale of the problem and a 2011 report which found that the EU’s current mechanism for tackling new psychoactive substances needed bolstering (IP/11/1236).

The proposal was presented by Vice-President Reding, in association with Vice-President Tajani and Commissioner Borg.

"'Legal highs are a growing problem in Europe and it is young people who are most at risk. With a borderless internal market, we need common EU rules to tackle this problem," said Vice-President Viviane Reding, the EU’s Justice Commissioner. "Today we are proposing strong EU legislation on new psychoactive substances so that the EU can provide a faster and more effective response, including the ability to immediately remove harmful substances from the market on a temporary basis."

New psychoactive substances are a growing problem. The number of new psychoactive substances detected in the EU has tripled between 2009 and 2012. So far in 2013, more than one new substance has been reported every week. It is a problem that requires a European response. The substances are increasingly available over the internet and rapidly spread between EU countries: 80% of new psychoactive substances are detected in more than one EU country.

The young generation is most at risk: a 2011 Eurobarometer on "Youth attitudes on drugs" shows that on average 5% of young people in the EU have used such substances at least once in their life, with a peak of 16% in Ireland, and close to 10% in Poland, Latvia and the UK. These substances pose major risks to public health and to society as a whole (see Annex 2).

Consuming new psychoactive substances can be fatal. For instance, the substance 5-IT reportedly killed 24 people in four EU countries, in just five months, between April and August 2012. 4-MA, a substance which imitates amphetamine, was associated with 21 deaths in four EU countries in 2010-2012 alone.

Europe's response needs to be strong and decisive. The current system, established In 2005, of detecting and banning these new drugs is no longer fit for purpose. The Commission's proposal will enhance and speed up the Union's ability to fight new psychoactive substances by providing for:

 At present it takes a minimum of two years to ban a substance in the EU. In the future, the Union will be able to act within just 10 months (see Annex 1). In particularly serious cases, the procedure will be shorter still as it will also be possible to withdraw substances immediately from the market for one year. This measure will make sure the substance is no longer available to consumers while a full risk assessment is being carried out. Under the current system, no temporary measures are possible and the Commission needs to wait for a full risk assessment report to be completed before making a proposal to restrict a substance.

 The new system will allow for a graduated approach where substances posing a moderate risk will be subject to consumer market restrictions and substances posing a high risk to full market restrictions. Only the most harmful substances, posing severe risks to consumers' health, will be submitted to criminal law provisions, as in the case of illicit drugs. Under the current system, the Union's options are binary - either taking no action at EU level or imposing full market restrictions and criminal sanctions. This lack of options means that, at present, the Union does not take action in relation to some harmful substances. With the new system, the Union will be able to tackle more cases and deal with them more proportionately, by tailoring its response to the risks involved and taking into account the legitimate commercial and industrial uses.

The Commission proposals now need to be adopted by the European Parliament and by Member States in the Council of the European Union in order to become law.

The EU Drugs Strategy for 2013-2020 set out priorities for EU drugs policy. It identifies the emergence and rapid spread of new psychoactive substances as a new challenge which needs to be vigorously addressed, including through the strengthening of existing EU legislation.

In recent years, on average one new psychoactive substance was detected every week in the EU, and the numbers are expected to increase in the coming years. Since 1997, Member States have detected more than 300 substances and their number tripled between 2009 and 2012 (from 24 in 2009 to 73 in 2012).

Under the existing EU instrument, Council Decision 2005/387/JHA, the Commission can propose to Member States that new drugs be subjected to criminal measures. Thanks to this mechanism, 9 substances have been submitted to restriction measures and criminal sanctions. Most recently, in 2010, the Commission proposed and achieved an EU-wide ban on the ecstasy-like drug mephedrone (MEMO/10/646) and in early 2013 on the amphetamine-like drug 4-MA (IP/13/75). In June 2013 the Commission also proposed to ban the synthetic '5-IT' drug (IP/13/604).

A 2011 report found that the current system has struggled to keep up with the large numbers of new substances emerging on the market. It takes two years to submit a single substance to restrictive measures. Criminals can then circumvent the control measures through limited changes to the chemical structure of the substance which do not mitigate its serious harmful effects. In addition, the binary nature of the current system, criminal measures or no action, hinders the Union's ability to act. It lacks a range of effective options for control measures which allows swift, targeted action.

The proposals respond to persistent warnings from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and Europol. They also respond to calls from the European Parliament and Member States (see 2011 Council conclusions) to update Council Decision 2005/387.

European Commission – Drug control policy:

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/anti-drugs/index_en.htm

2011 Eurobarometer on "Youth attitudes on drugs”

http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_330_en.pdf

European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction 'European Drug Report' 2013:

Homepage of Viviane Reding, Vice-President of the European Commission and EU Justice Commissioner:

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

European Commission takes decisive action on legal highs

The German newspaper “Die Tageszeitung” (taz) states that illegal drug dealing, especially involving cannabis, has for a long time been a problem in Görlitzer Park. Additionally, ongoing violence between drug dealers, or between them and their clients, is another reason for weekly police raids and related arrests. Monika Herrmann – since the 1st of August the borough mayor of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, and a member of the Green Party (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) – claims that the drug dealing cannot currently be controlled and neither public health, nor the safety of young people, can be guaranteed, by means of an enforcement-led approach to the problem.

For this reason, it is hoped that regulated provision of cannabis in a coffee shop at Görlitzer Park - a proposal mooted by the previous borough mayor, Franz Schulz - will improve the situation. His successor is now trying to put the proposal into practice.

The application states that the project is designed to counteract "the negative consequences of prohibition and the consequential black market." It is recommended that local councils should at first initiate a round table discussion with residents and local groups, as well with drug and addiction experts, the police, and politicians with special expertise in relevant subjects.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the

Will Berlin soon have its first coffee shop?

Doctors for Healthier Drug Policies (IDHDP) invites medical doctors from all over the world to unite in calling for drug policy to be underpinned by the following four key principles:

Protect society and the individual from drug-related death and disease

Public health instead of criminal justice

Expand access to evidence based treatment

Call for members: Physicians unite on drug policy

Amidst figures showing a sharp rise in the number of reported new psychoactive substances (NPS), international experts met last week to address this growing challenge. Over the past 12 months, the number of NPS reported to UNODC rose by 41 per cent, from 251 to 354, while countries reporting detection of these substances climbed from 70 to 90.

Marketed as 'legal highs' or 'designer drugs' and sold openly, including via the internet, NPS formulations are outpacing efforts to impose international control. Criminals have been quick to tap into this lucrative market. Uncontrolled and therefore not tested for safety, their potential for harm is far greater than that of traditional drugs.

During the meeting in Vienna, Austria, experts acknowledged that while the current international drug conventions have all the necessary tools to address NPS, keeping track and controlling these substances is still a challenge. The World Health Organization, which recommends the scheduling of potentially harmful new substances under the drug conventions, committed to prioritize substances to be evaluated and to align their review process with the meetings of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs for a faster response.

UNODC early warning system records rapid increase in legal highs in 2013

The IAS and the Towards an HIV Cure Stakeholder’s Advisory Board are now fully dedicated to ensuring significant roll-out of the Global Scientific Strategy and plan to coordinate future developments in collaborations and in advocating the benefits of an HIV cure. Following the seminal work of the International Scientific Working Group in the establishment of the Global Scientific Strategy, the IAS has facilitated the creation of a number of smaller topics pecific working groups.

The aim of the initiative is to contribute both to maximizing resources and strategic investment in the most promising strategies in search of a cure, and to the establishment of an international research alliance and/or expansion and global collaboration of existing consortia.

The Towards an HIV Cure initiative is committed to recruiting and sustaining skilled, effective, diverse and gender-balanced working groups, and to the greater involvement of PLHIV. The HIV Cure initiative is requesting nominations from PLHIV for participation in the following working groups and to facilitate trainings.

Call for nomination of community representative in working groups of the International AIDS Society "towards an HIV cure initiative"

In 136 small-type pages, Colorado this week became the first state in the country to adopt final rules for recreational marijuana businesses.

The rules, released 9th of September, cover everything from cannabis shop licensing to inventory tracking to marijuana packaging to advertising. They also represent the most comprehensive effort to date to take the once all-illegal marijuana market and harness it into what supporters say will be controlled, refined legitimacy.

Applications to open a recreational marijuana store can be filed starting in October. The first stores are expected to open around January 2014.

Colorado: first state in country to finalise rules for recreational cannabis

Tieniti aggiornato con gli sviluppi politici di droga mediante la sottoscrizione di AlertIDPC mensile.

Droghe: La legalizzazione illustrata agli adulti

Addiction Prevention within Roma and Sinti Communities (2009-2011)

: Dolce association (IT), HESED (BG), Parada (RO), Fundación Secretariado Gitano (ES), Assicoation Hors la Rue (FR), Comune di Venezia (IT), Efus, RPC Kupate (BG), RIC Novo Mesto (SI), Rette Cita Sane (IT), University of Bologna (IT), Servizio Sanitario Regionale Emilia-Romagna (IT)

The use and abuse of legal and illegal drugs is widespread among young Roma/Sinti. It affects the whole of society but it has a deeper effect on these communities because of their social exclusion, marginalisation and poverty. The negative effects also spread in the areas and cities where they live, in terms of social prejudices, difficulties of integration, social security. Understanding and efficiently acting against the use and abuse of drugs in Roma and Sinti communities requires a combination of various competences and skills.

First of all it is very difficult to correctly analyse and quantify addiction among Roma and Sinti. However we notice similar characteristics in Europe:

the drug abuse affects the European Roma and Sinti community in a strong way due to the large proportion of young people (in Spain, for example, it is estimated that 65% of the total Roma population is under the age of 25);

they start to use drugs and other substances 2 or 3 years before the general population. They are more vulnerable to drugs because they are more confused about their identity and culture and they experience difficulties of integration;

the diffusion of drugs contributes to the deterioration of their cultural and social organisation;

they do not easily accept care and treatment or get involved in harm reduction programmes because of a lack of trust among them, a lack of information and a lack of specific competences and strategies of social and health services;

they do not benefit a great deal from policies and programmes of primary and secondary prevention: their life expectancy is lower than that of the non-Roma population in the same area; thus the abuse and its effects spread;

the enlargment of the EU, increasing migration in Europe and the traditional mobility of the beneficiaries ‘move’ and deepen the problem in Europe.

The problem has a European dimension as it can be observed in most Roma communities in Europe.

The project aims to reduce the harm of the use and abuse of drugs,to reduce and to prevent their consumption among the young European Roma and Sinti population. We will achieve this aim by increasing and sharing knowledge and research on this problem, facilitating access to the regional resources and organisations by young Roma and Sinti people to better include them, improving their access to social and health services and creating a Europe-wide community of organisations on Roma and Sinti people and drugs.

The beneficiaries of the project are: young Roma and Sinti between the ages of 15 to 24 approximately; the health and social services dealing with the issue of drugs; the local communities that host Roma and Sinti.
The project will try to bridge the gap between providers and beneficiaries of social and health services. The project will develop, test, evaluate and validate a participatory intervention approach; it will be flexible, transferable and exchangeable between countries, regardless of their different social, cultural and political contexts and structures.

The partnership covers most countries where Roma and Sinti communities live, so it will provide a good comparison of the various forms and characteristics of the problem.

It offers a good combination of skills and experiences: public authorities with direct responsibilities for intervention; public and private health and social organisations. The construction of the partnership has therefore been coherent with the multidisciplinary (health and social) approach of the project and will allow it to achieve its aim.

Addiction prevention within Roma and Sinti communities 

While the public debate on drug control and regulation of marijuana in Mexico City continues to grow, particularly following the Forum organized by the Legislative Assembly of the Federal District, citizens now expect concrete proposals from legislators.

However, as we await these proposals, reality does not stop and all types of substances, legal or illegal, continue to be used in our society as the lack of institutional resources for drug users increases.

To address this issue, CuPIHD conducted a workshop on risk and harm reduction, with a focus on the chemical analysis of substances. The workshop was supported by the Human Rights Commission of the Federal District and facilitated by the Catalan organization, EnergyControl, which has been a pioneer of these strategies in Europe and throughout the world.

The workshop began with an explanation of the European experience in drug use, but also touched on our own reality, recognizing that, regardless of the moral and legal positions, drugs are consumed and there is a need to act to reduce the risks and harms that consumption can cause in our societies.

The intention of the workshop was not to reduce consumption in and of itself, but rather to inform users, primarily those who use in party environments, on the quality of the drugs and the best strategies to reduce their risks and harms. The goal of conducting chemical analysis is to detect the level of adulteration of illegal substances and thus open a space for dialogue and information with other users with the sole purpose of protecting their health and that of the surrounding community.

For over 15 years, EnergyControl has focused on this issue and realized that 95% of users who use this service, tend to moderate and control their consumption due to reliable and useful information, rather than the judgment which often occurs. By informing and encouraging responsible consumption, rather than the usual repressive policy, users begin to reduce the potential risks and harms.

Analysing substances: Harm and risk reduction

On September 10th, the first ever U.S. Senate Hearing on marijuana legalization was held to review the growing tensions between state and federal law on marijuana. In the light of U.S. Attorney General Eric Hold’s directives to state prosecutors to them not to interfere with state marijuana laws – as long as a number of situations are adhered to. As the U.S. based Drug Policy Alliance notes, More than 750,000 people were arrested for marijuana in the U.S. in 2011, the last year for which data is available.

Of those arrests, 87% were for mere possession. Polls show that a majority of Americans support legalizing and regulating marijuana like alcohol, and support is rising across the political spectrum. It is likely that more states will legalize marijuana between now and November 2016.

News