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People
Karzai Getting Touchy
08.22.06 | Permalink | Comment?

With the steady but sure re-emergence of the Taliban in the south of Afghanistan and the world’s attention turned to other hotspots in the Middle East, Harmid Karzai, the leader of Afghanistan has continued to push the drugs issue as a way of re-entering the spotlight.

“Once, we thought terrorism was Afghanistan’s biggest enemy,” Karzai told a counter-narcotics conference in Kabul this week. “Poppy, its cultivation and drugs are Afghanistan’s major enemy,” he said.
Legislation, North America, War on Drugs
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
08.21.06 | Permalink | Comment?

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) is an organisation made up of current and former members of the police force and judiciary who want an end to drug prohibition and for it to be replaced by a regime of drug regulation. LEAP argues the former would address the crime problem associated with the black market for illicit drugs, while the latter could help address the drug problem itself. Check out their promotional video below:

via The Agitator
Europe, Kids and Drugs, People
Emma Kelly
08.19.06 | Permalink | Comment?

Emma Kelly, a 31-year-old mother from East Sussex, England, has just been sentenced to nine years in prison for supplying heroin and crack to her son when he was between the ages of nine and 11, as well as on two counts of cruelty to a child.

Her son - who for legal reasons has not been named - began using her drugs, which he found around the house. After she discovered what he was up to and didn’t take any steps to stop him, she proceeded to go ahead and supply them to him, even driving around Sussex and London with him to score.
Kids and Drugs, North America, Studies
Parents the “anti drug”? Not as likely as you think.
08.18.06 | Permalink | Comment?

Parents being the “anti drug” has been a multi media campaign here in the US for some time now. It runs on the theory that the more involved you are in your children lives and the more you coax them into communicating with you, as parents, the less likely they are to experiment and try illicit drugs, smoke, or drink alcohol. While on the surface this seems to be a most logical assumption a recent study shows that first parents need to get clued into what their children’s reality is first before they can make any difference at all.
Asia, Smuggling
Japan Seizures Plummet After N. Korean Bust
08.18.06 | Permalink | Comment?

Japanese newspapers are reporting that the amount of drug seizures in the country has fallen drastically due to the siezure of a North Korean drug smuggling vessel in May.

According to the National Police Agency, there has been over an 85% drop in drug seizures compared to the same time last year.

There are however a few things that should be mentioned here.

For starters, it is no particular secret that the government of North Korea makes some serious coin from drug smuggling - usually heroin. Drug shipments have been intercepted on their way to China, Japan and even Australia where a North Korean official was even arrested on the drug vessel. Being so strapped means that Kim Jong Il and the boys have to get a little inventive with their cash flow situation and smuggling helps fill the gap.
Oceania
Harm Reduction is Soft on Drugs?
08.16.06 | Permalink | 3 Comments

In a perfect example of why I hate politicians, the Australian health Minister, Tony Abbott has accused the Labor opposition of being “soft on drugs” due mainly to their support for heroin injecting room trials.

He went even further in accusing the (Labor run) states of coniving with criminals by supporting injecting rooms - “I can certainly assure the House that as long as the Howard government has breath in its body, we will try to oppose any state and territory which is conniving with law breaking in this way,” Mr Abbott said.
Entertainment, North America
Half Nelson
08.15.06 | Permalink | Comment?

A white high-school teacher, political by day and a crack addict by night, tries to help a black 13-year-old student from Brooklyn whose family deals drugs. Oh the contradictions. Gets decent reviews, though. Variety assesses the results and here’s the official website.
People
Drug Sub Found in Spain
08.15.06 | Permalink | Comment?

The BBC are reporting that a submarine found floating off the coast of Spain is suspected to have belonged to drug smugglers.

The 10 meter sub was found by members of the public abandoned and afloat off the northwest coast of Spain in the province of Galacia.

According to the BBC’s journalist, Galacia is one of the main entry points for drugs into Spain and Europe, leading to speculation that the odd discovery was a tool of drug traders.
North America, The Media, War on Drugs
Is technology key in the Drug War?
08.15.06 | Permalink | Comment?

Business Week recently had a photo series that focused on the technologies that both law enforcement and drug-producers are using to prevent and enhance, respectively, the production and consumption of illicit drugs.

While I’m not sure if it was Alex Halperin, the author of the text that precedes and accompanies the slide show, who came up with the title and preamble of

In This War, Technology Is Key

Who is more tech-savvy—drug traffickers or federal agents? The answer may determine who wins the war on drugs

but the content that followed failed to convince me that the right question was being asked.
Oceania
Hunger Leads to Drugs for Aboriginal Australians says Waniwa Lester
08.14.06 | Permalink | Comment?

Waniwa Lester, an Aboriginal elder from Anangu Pitjantjatjarra Yunkatjatjarra (APY) lands in South Australia, says that hunger is leading Aboriginal children to turn to drugs to satiate hunger pains.

The statements came yesterday as Lester called for federal help in instituting children and women’s shelters on the Aboriginal area of South Australia.

Now, the first reaction to the claim that drugs are being taken in lieu of food is that either the claim is wrong, drugs are damn cheap or food is damn expensive - the latter two of which are usually quite unlikely. However, when you realise that a piece of fruit in some Aboriginal areas of South Australia costs as much as $3 a piece, then it starts to become plausable.