At the end of September 2012, the EMCDDA and Europol examined the available information on a new psychoactive substance 5-(2-aminopropyl)indole (commonly known by the abbreviation ‘5-IT’), through a joint assessment.

According to reports provided to Europol there is no information available to suggest the involvement of organised crime, or criminal groups, in the production, distribution and trafficking of 5-(2-aminopropyl)indole. The substance has been seized at the border of four EU Member States and Norway. In one case this involved a seizure of 20.5 kilograms.

5-(2-Aminopropyl)indole is currently not under assessment and has not been under assessment by the United Nations system.

The health and social risks caused by the manufacture, trafficking and use of 5-(2-aminopropyl) indole, as well as the involvement of organised crime and possible consequences of control measures, could be thoroughly assessed through a risk assessment procedure as foreseen by Article 6 of Council Decision 2005/387/JHA.

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EMCDDA–Europol joint teport on 5-(2-aminopropyl)indole

This is the first of the three annual work programmes required to implement the activities and commitments set out in the EMCDDA’s new strategy for the 2013–15 period. The central challenge for the EMCDDA is to continue to deliver high-quality analyses on established topics at the same time as extending its work in less developed but strategically important areas. As the European drug problem evolves, the EMCDDA must also ensure that its tools and approaches keep pace with developments and remain fit for purpose.

EMCDDA Work programme 2013

The global “war on drugs” has been fought for 50 years, without preventing the long-term trend of increasing drug supply and use. Beyond this failure, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has identified many serious negative “unintended consequences” of the drug war – including the creation of a lucrative criminal market.

This criminal market has a range of economic implications, and stems from taking a punitive, enforcement-led approach that, by its nature, criminalises many users and places organised crime in control of the trade.

The war on drugs: Wasting billions and undermining economies

This study ensued from clinical observations based on spontaneous accounts by crack abusers undergoing their first psychiatric assessment, where they reported using cannabis in an attempt to ease their own withdrawal symptoms.

Throughout a period of nine months, the researchers followed up on 25 male patients aged 16 to 28 who were strongly addicted to crack. Most of the subjects (68%, or 17 individuals) ceased to use crack and reported that the use of cannabis had reduced their craving symptoms, and produced subjective and concrete changes in their behavior, helping them to overcome crack addiction. The authors discuss some psychological, pharmacological and cultural aspects of these findings.

Therapeutic use of cannabis by crack addicts in Brazil

The aim of this report is to provide a summary of approaches for the election process of CCM members representing the non-governmental sector. It also highlights related problems in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) whilst reviewing potentially effective practices of non-governmental constituencies (NGC) engagement in CCM activities and offering recommendations for improvement.

The information in this report could help civil society groups to better understand their rights in relation to effective participation in CCM activities and procedures. It will also outline rules for new members representing various non-governmental constituencies so as they can be legitimately selected to CCMs, and act in a transparent and accountable manner which is clear for those who voted for them.

The report may also be a useful tool for current CCM members, including those from international and governmental agencies, as well as the staff of the Global Fund Secretariat. Existing CCM NGC members could become more aware of their own rights and responsibilities, including those towards the constituencies that they represent in CCMs.

The report ends with a tangible set of recommendations for CCMs, non-governmental actors and staff of the Global Fund Secretariat.

The recommendations and practices discussed in the report could also be useful in future when building a country dialogue process in order to develop a proposal concept note within NFM.

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Theory and practice of involving NGOs in CCM activities

The EU drug markets report is the first comprehensive overview of illicit drug markets in the European Union. It covers issues such as production, consumer markets, trafficking, organised crime and policy responses, along with a review of the markets for heroin, cocaine, cannabis, amphetamine, methamphetamine, ecstasy and new psychoactive substances. It concludes with concrete action points for the areas where the current EU response to the drug market and its consequent harms may be improved.

An essential reference tool for law enforcement professionals, policymakers, the academic community and the general public, the report combines Europol’s strategic and operational understanding of trends and developments in organised crime with the EMCDDA’s ongoing monitoring and analysis of the drug phenomenon in Europe and beyond.

 EU drug markets report: a strategic analysis

Since 2011, WOLA staff have carried out research in six different zones of the U.S.-Mexican border, meeting with U.S. law enforcement officials, human rights and humanitarian groups, and journalists, as well as with Mexican officials and representatives of civil society and migrant shelters in Mexico.

As part of this ongoing work, the authors spent the week of November 26-30, 2012 in south Texas, looking at security and migration trends along this section of the U.S.-Mexico border. Specifically, we visited Laredo, McAllen, and Brownsville, Texas, and Matamoros, Mexico.

 Border security and migration: A report from South Texas   

In October 2010 the Minister Responsible for Drugs asked the ACMD to review khat by considering the available evidence and to advise the government as to the current situation in the UK: the harms caused to individuals and the societal harms in the affected UK's Somali, Yemeni and Ethiopian communities.

Khat is a herbal product consisting of the leaves and shoots of the shrub Catha edulis. It is chewed to obtain a mild stimulant effect and is a less potent stimulant than other commonly used drugs, such as amphetamine or cocaine.

Khat is not controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and is currently imported and used legally in the UK.

Khat is imported into the UK from the main khat growing regions of Kenya, Ethiopia and Yemen.

Generally, khat chewing is a social event which takes place within family homes, community parties and at khat cafes. Traditionally khat has been used as a medicine and was widely perceived to be a food, not a drug.

Khat: A review of its potential harms to the individual and communities in the UK

A hepatite C é possivelmente a doença grave que mais combina prevalência generalizada com desconhecimento generalizado. De acordo com a Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS), esse problema de saúde pública urgente mata 350.000 pessoas por ano e 150 milhões têm a forma crônica do vírus da hepatite C (VHC). A incidência de novas infecções simplesmente não é conhecida em nível mundial. No entanto, o VHC é totalmente evitável e curável na maioria dos casos.

Com o propósito de investigar a extensão do desafio de saúde representado pelo VHC, a Economist Intelligence Unit, em nome da Janssen, realizou 16 entrevistas detalhadas com especialistas, incluindo autoridades de saúde nacionais e internacionais, ativistas, pesquisadores e pessoal médico, bem como uma extensa pesquisa documental.

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A pandemia silenciosa: Combatendo a hepatite C com politicas inovadoras

Governments across the world will have to face up to the challenges posed by the hepatitis C (HCV) pandemic or experience spiralling healthcare costs, says the Economist Intelligence Unit in its report 

The silent pandemic: Tackling hepatitis C with policy innovation

The report, made possible as a result of an educational grant from Janssen, challenges countries to use co-ordinated strategies to tackle HCV but warns that this will not be easy because few countries understand the magnitude of the disease. The report finds that in the European Union, only the Netherlands has the kind of epidemiological data robust enough to inform policy.

What the report highlights is that because levels of awareness are so low, many people only receive an HCV diagnosis when diagnosed with its end-stage conditions such as cirrhosis or liver cancer. Poor healthcare practices, such as failing to screen donated blood and the use of unsterilised medical equipment, are the cause of millions of cases in the developing world.

The report concludes that countries need to improve the data they have in order to introduce a comprehensive approach to tackling HCV. This will include raising awareness about the disease, taking preventative measures, especially within health services, and making a real effort to reach vulnerable patient groups with available treatments treatments before end-stage conditions develop.

 The silent pandemic: Tackling hepatitis C with policy innovation

The HAARP program aims to promote evidence-based interventions for people who inject drugs (PWID) and their partners in the greater Mekong sub-region. In collaboration with government and non-government partners, HAARP supports HIV prevention, care and treatment programs. While much has been achieved in terms of the volume of harm reduction programming in the region, and support for it, there is a desire to enhance community led advocacy and the meaningful involvement of people who use drugs (MIPUD) in HAARP programming and governance.

HAARP has as a key underlying principle “Nothing about us without us” and has made attempts at including community voice in both the design of, and implementation of the program. In the remaining three years of HAARP, as it transitions to country ownership of interventions, a focus on community engagement will be strengthened. A more proactive and systematic engagement with relevant community networks would contribute towards improved reach of service delivery, treatment access and greater chance of harm reduction sustainability in the GMS sub region.

In line with the focus of greater community involvement HAARP hosted a consultation with key representatives from community based organisations and networks in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Viet Nam and regional networks of people who use drugs and people living with HIV, from 29th – 30th November in Bangkok, Thailand.

HIV/AIDS Asia Regional Program (HAARP) - Community consultation

This is a revision of the 2009 Technical Guide, which provides technical guidance to countries on monitoring efforts to prevent and treat HIV infection among people who inject drugs (PWID) and for setting ambitious but achievable national targets for scaling up towards universal access.

This tool has been developed collaboratively by three United Nations (UN) agencies—the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)—and through a process of consultation with international experts in the field.

a comprehensive package of interventions for the prevention, treatment and care of HIV infection among people who inject drugs, which has not changed from the 2009 version of this guidance;

a set of indicators to monitor and evaluate the implementation and impact of these interventions;

advice on setting targets for scale-up, to maximize the impact of HIV prevention and care among people who inject drugs;

examples of data sources and useful tools to assist with programme development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

This Technical Guide is intended to assist government agencies, non-government organizations (NGOs), communities and service providers involved in developing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating HIV prevention, treatment and care programmes for people who inject drugs (PWID). The framework proposed can be applied at regional, national, sub-national and service-delivery levels.

WHO, UNODC, UNAIDS Technical Guide for countries to set targets for universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care for injecting drug users - 2012 Revision