The Archives

Europe, People
A deadly secret
05.31.06 | Permalink | Comment?

With her nursing background Jean Foley had probably been involved in several attempts over the years to resuscitate a dying person. But nothing could possibly have prepared her for Christmas Eve of last year when she found her 36-year-old son, Richard, lying motionless on the floor of his bedroom after arriving home that afternoon after a night out with his mates. She tried to revive him by administering CPR. Paramedics later declared him dead. He had stopped breathing after suffering a heart attack.

Richard Foley died after taking an overdose of heroin according to a forensic scientist who examined him. He had been a heroin user for 14 years, having tried a few times, unsuccessfully, to quit. An inquest into his death, undertaken in his home county of Berkshire, southern England, revealed that he had cut down his usage of late and that a reduced tolerance for the drug may have resulted in him taking more than he could handle.
Africa, Smuggling
Portion of cocaine seized in Ghana later disappears
05.31.06 | Permalink | Comment?

Around the same time as six men appeared in court in Accra, Ghana, on charges of smuggling 30 kilograms of cocaine on a Ghana-registered ship, a three-member committee has been created by the Ministry of the Interior into the disappearance of five kilograms of the drugs seized.

The six crew men, three of them Ghanaian, two from China and one from South Korea, faced court earlier this week on charges of “importing narcotic drugs without a licence from the Ministry of Health, possessing narcotic drugs and engaging in criminal conspiracy”.
Oceania, People
Ruzana Zubir to set up legal fund and write a book
05.31.06 | Permalink | Comment?

It cost between 650,000 and 700,000 Malaysian ringgits (US$180,000 – US$194,000) to defend Ruzana Zubir on charges of smuggling five kilograms of opium resin into Australia last year and it was only thanks to donations was she able to afford the legal fees. Zubir, who had been fooled into carrying the package in her suitcase during her flight into Sydney by a newly made acquaintance, was eventually acquitted on the charges last month. And pending permission being given by the donors who contributed to her legal fund, the remaining balance will be set up as a trust fund for other Malaysians in trouble with the law overseas. While her lawyer, Muhammad Shafee, hasn’t disclosed how much of her fighting fund is actually left, it is known that most of the initial funds raised before the trial began earlier this year were spent. However, some cheques were received afterwards. She also plans to write a book about her experiences, with her lawyer as a co-author.
Asia, Studies
HIV Epidemic in Russia Driven by Drug Use
05.30.06 | Permalink | Comment?

The Itar-Tass News Agency is reporting that Russia now officially has the largest HIV / AIDS epidemic in Europe with almost a million infected Russians in 2005.

The main driving factor behind the staggering rate of infection is the use of intravenous drugs according to the report with almost 30% of St Petersburg addicts infected with HIV and alarming rates of sexual transmission.
Asia
Pakistan: Poppy Free?
05.30.06 | Permalink | Comment?

In a rather bizarre press release, Ghaus Buksh Mahar, Pakistan’s Minister for Anti-Narcotics, last Friday reaffirmed his intent to maintain the country’s status as a “poppy free country.”

According to the release, the UN had awarded the country with a certificate affiming this status.

The release goes on to promote Pakistan’s credentials of having scanning machines installed in many seaports and airports though there seems to be a major oversight as no scanning machine appears to have been installed at the Pakistani end of the Khyber Pass – one of the world’s oldest smuggling routes.
Asia
China’s Lesson on Drug Control
05.30.06 | Permalink | Comment?

China’s experience with drugs has demonstrated that the only potentially successful option for dealing with drugs is to repress them in a totalitarian way or to legalise them – at least that’s the basic argument in piece by Jonathan Power for Al Jazeerah entitled, “Controlling Drugs: China’s Lesson for the World.”
Latin America, War on Drugs
U.S. Congressman calls for testing of fungus to kill off coca plant
05.30.06 | Permalink | Comment?

U.S. Congressman Mark Souder of Indiana, one of the more audible proponents of the War on Drugs, wants the U.S. Federal government to test and then utilise a fungus that he says could kill coca plants. According to Souder, if Fusarium oxysporum can kill off just the offending plant, it should be used in Colombia. The proposal, which is not new and dates back at least to Bill Clinton’s time in the White House – the idea was eventually dropped – is now getting some opposition from a most unlikely source, the Drug Czar.
Europe
Heroin overdose medicine to be given to addicts in trials
05.30.06 | Permalink | Comment?

Reaction has been mixed in Scotland to the news that Naloxone, an antidote for heroin overdose, may be given out to addicts as well as their families and friends on a trial basis. Supporters of the scheme include the Scottish Network of Families Affected by Drugs and the Scottish Drugs Forum. Detractors include some members of the Scottish parliament, like Bill Aitken of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party.
Asia, Middle East, Smuggling
Central Asia Accounts for 25% of Afghan Drug Traffic
05.30.06 | Permalink | Comment?

A study has revealed that up to 25% of illicit drugs produced in Afghanistan are passing through Central Asia.

The study, produced in Uzbekistan by the country’s National Analytical Center for Drug Control, reveals that up to 150 tons of Afghan heroin is smuggled through Central Asia each year and almost 30 tons of raw opium.

Of that full amount, 75% of it makes it beyond Central Asia through to Russia and Western Europe.
Asia, War on Drugs
Think tank critical of Afghan government’s opium policy told to leave
05.30.06 | Permalink | Comment?

The Senlis Council, a European think tank sharply critical of the international war on drugs including the manner in which opium production has been dealt with in Afghanistan, is wanted out of the country by the Afghan government, although their country manager has not of yet been officially notified. Formed in 2002 in the French town that bears its name, it has been proposing and lobbying for the licensing of Afghan opium for the production of medicines such as morphine and codeine, in order to substantially reduce the illegal trade in opium.

However, according to an announcement on the weekend by the Counternarcotics Minister after a meeting of the upper house of the Afghan parliament last week, the production and use of opium, apparently even for medicinal reasons, is invalid on constitutional and religious grounds. The destruction of poppy crops and the concomitant â€œencouragementâ€ of farmers to grow other (less remunerative) crops thus remain in Afghanistan, while Senlis may not.