Last week Nato defence ministers met in Seville to review the coming spring offensive in Afghanistan. It was like Great War generals dining in Versailles to discuss the trenches. The new Nato commander, US General John Craddock, asked for 2,000 more troops. Just one more push and the Taliban would be defeated, the Afghan army readied to fight, the opium dealers arrested and more aid committed to reconstruction. It was as simple as that. Anyone for paella? How does this strategy look from the other place in the world where it is being tried, Colombia? This month Washington is redeploying one of its star diplomats, William Wood, from Bogota to Kabul with the enthusiastic blessing of the Pentagon. Wood has been overseeing Plan Colombia, President Clinton's eight-year effort to fight the cocaine cartels and left-wing insurgents and make Latin America safe for pro-Americanism. [continues 1239 words]
A CAMPAIGN of enforced crop-spraying to destroy the opium poppy fields will get under way in southern Afghanistan in the next few weeks, despite fears that it will undermine attempts to win the battle for hearts and minds with the Taliban. British defence and diplomatic sources claim the campaign is the result of "US political interference" and is throwing Nato plans into turmoil. Coupled with the imminent replacement of the British general commanding Nato troops with an American, the sources predict a breakdown in security. [continues 573 words]
THE number of gardai assigned to combat drug dealing and smuggling is fewer than 340, according to a confidential security memo seen by The Sunday Times. It indicates that almost every drugs unit in Ireland is underresourced, contradicting claims by Michael McDowell, the justice minister, that gardai have more resources than ever. The Garda National Drugs Unit -- an elite squad -- has fewer than 50 staff, including administration, split between four shifts. Other national units, including Special Branch and the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, have in excess of 100 officers each. [continues 606 words]
A young American friend last week visited Camden Lock, north London, and returned amazed. In a hundred yards he was offered brazenly in the street just about every drug he could imagine. It was easier to buy cannabis or cocaine than a cigarette or a can of beer. The experience could have been repeated in any city centre in Britain. The drug market is totally unregulated and as a result totally dangerous. Welcome to 10 years of Tony Blair's "war on drugs". [continues 1348 words]
THOUSANDS of Germans have been stuffing euro notes up their noses -- and destroying not only their health but also the currency, police believe. They say that the mystery of why euro notes have been falling apart since the summer -- many look moth-eaten after only a day in the pocket -- is down to an increasing use of crystal methamphetamine. In Germany this drug is fast replacing cocaine as the illegal party substance of choice. The main variant used in nightclubs is white and goes by the names of "tweak", "tina" or "ice". [continues 265 words]
SNIFFER dogs are to be sent into schools across Scotland to tackle spiralling drug abuse among pupils. Dealers and users have already been caught in a series of unannounced raids at schools in Dumfries and Galloway, the Borders and Highlands. Now, the police dogs will be used to carry out random checks at schools across Scotland amid mounting evidence that cannabis is replacing tobacco as the drug of choice behind the bike sheds. According to a recent survey, a third of 15-year-olds have used cannabis and almost one in eight has tried drugs such as cocaine, speed and ecstasy. Among 13-year-olds, more than one in 10 claims to have used drugs. Last year there were about 250 drug-related incidents involving pupils at primary and secondary schools. [continues 472 words]
A SUBSIDIARY of Barclays Bank has been used to launder drugs money, according to findings of an undercover "sting" operation by law enforcement agencies in America and Canada. At one stage in the investigation the British government froze $54m (UKP28.5m) held with Barclays Private Bank (BPB) at the request of the United States. Internal BPB memos seen by The Sunday Times show that one of the bank's officers who expressed concern over the source of the money was overruled. [continues 995 words]
THE number of people using crack cocaine and heroin has risen by more than a third over the past two years, according to a Home Office report, writes Daniel Foggo. The study shows that more than 90,000 extra people are taking the drugs in England, which now has 340,000 crack and heroin users. The report, by scientists at the Centre for Drug Misuse Research in Glasgow, which has yet to be published, has stunned drug-care professionals. It has also provoked debate about whether the new figures reflect a recent steep rise in drug use, or whether they point to a high level of usage that had previously gone undetected. [continues 138 words]
The police and political response to the murder of the journalist and mother Veronica Guerin - whose 10th anniversary falls tomorrow - resulted in only limited success. Despite a vast investigation, only one of the many involved was convicted, and even that single conviction may be overturned. Although a raft of legislation was passed in the immediate aftermath of the journalist's death, the number of so-called gangland murders has since increased, and the amount of illegal drugs sold and consumed has multiplied. [continues 1336 words]
Police Allege There Was A Cover-Up Of An Accident About Which The Congressman Can Remember Nothing PATRICK KENNEDY, a US congressman and the son of Senator Ted Kennedy, pledged last night to seek treatment for addiction to prescribed drugs after a mysterious car accident that he said he could not remember. Mr Kennedy, 38, who claimed that he was befuddled by medication, crashed into a concrete barrier near Congress early on Thursday. Policemen on the scene later said that they had been ordered not to breathalyse the politician. [continues 534 words]
DRUG-RELATED admissions to Ireland's psychiatric hospitals have more than doubled since 1990, according to a new report on psychiatric services. While approximately 105 patients were admitted to psychiatric hospitals with drug-related disorders 16 years ago, this had increased to more than 294 in 2001. The stabilisation of admissions since has been credited to an increase in the community services that treat drug addiction. "It's simply mirroring what's going on in the community," said Dermot Walsh, one of the authors of Activities of Irish Psychiatric Services 2004, published by the Health Research Board. "There's been an increase in illegal drug use." [continues 306 words]
ELEVEN teenagers have been taken to hospital after apparently overdosing on amphetamines at a high school north of Brisbane. A spokesman for Queensland Ambulance Service said the children, aged about 13 or 14, were taken ill at the Narangba Valley State High School shortly after lunch. "Some are nauseous and they all have an increased heart rate," an ambulance spokesman said. They were all taken to Caboolture Hospital for treatment but there was no immediate word on their condition. [end]
CHILDREN as young as 10 will be shown bongs at school as part of a push to educate them about drugs. The drug and alcohol teaching resources, which will be launched in WA schools in July for Years 4 to 7, will focus on the dangers of cannabis. Previous programs have only touched on the subject. Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich has given the project the thumbs-up. "I don't think it would be unusual for 10 and 11-year-olds to be asking their mother and father what is marijuana or (to have) heard it mentioned within a context by another child," she said. [continues 315 words]
DRUG cartels and suppliers are increasingly using the postal system to smuggle their narcotics into Britain, according to investigators. Gangs are circumventing tighter Customs checks at traditional ports of entry by transporting heroin, cocaine and ecstasy by post, which is less effectively screened. There has also been a growth in illegal internet pharmacies in Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand that sell and post restricted medicines, including the sedative diazepam. Once delivered in Britain, they are consumed as recreational drugs. The growth in the trade has prompted calls by drugs experts for tougher penalties and more resources to be devoted to postal screening. [continues 541 words]
A WEALTHY music producer has spoken about the dangers of cannabis after being viciously assaulted in her home by a family friend who had been made psychotic by the drug. Lisa Voice, one of Britain's richest women, has had to undergo 11 operations to reconstruct her face after the unprovoked attack last June. Voice's lawyers hope that her decision to go public about her trauma will encourage the government, police and courts to rethink their approach to cannabis misuse. They say that her experience calls into question the government's decision to lower the classification of cannabis, despite medical warnings that it can lead to psychosis among some users. [continues 1160 words]
DES MOINES -- In the seven months since Iowa passed a law restricting the sale of cold medicines used to make methamphetamine, seizures of homemade methamphetamine laboratories have dropped to just 20 a month from 120. People once terrified about the neighbor's house blowing up now walk up to the state's drug policy director, Marvin Van Haaften, at his local Wal-Mart to thank him for making them safer. But Mr. Van Haaften, like officials in other states with similar restrictions, is now worried about a new problem: the drop in home-cooked methamphetamine has been met by a new flood of crystal methamphetamine coming largely from Mexico. [continues 1541 words]
THE senior police officer who launched a pioneering scheme to relax enforcement of the cannabis law now says that the drug should not have been downgraded. Brian Paddick, a deputy assistant commissioner at Scotland Yard, describes the decision by David Blunkett, the former home secretary, to downgrade cannabis to a class C drug as "all pain and no gain". Paddick was a borough commander in Lambeth, south London, in 2001 when he set up a pilot scheme in nearby Brixton whereby anyone caught with a small amount of cannabis was warned rather than arrested. [continues 147 words]
Poor Charles Kennedy is not alone in his unhappy struggle with the demon drink; Britons lead the way in drinking themselves to death, according to the headlines on Friday. In more sober language, figures published in The Lancet last week showed a steep recent rise in Britain in deaths from cirrhosis of the liver (commonly caused by drinking too much), whereas the rate is falling fast in most other European countries. In the 1950s England and Wales had by far the lowest rates of liver cirrhosis deaths in western Europe and Scotland's rate, although higher, was still relatively low. That has changed completely; in the 1980s the death rate went up fast and in the 1990s it rose by two-thirds in England and Wales and doubled in Scotland. These alarming increases affect both men and women across all age groups and are accelerating. [continues 910 words]
SCIENTISTS have shown for the first time that the damage to brains from smoking cannabis is the same as that in schizophrenia sufferers. Images taken using a new scanning technique provide evidence that cannabis disrupts the brain's electrical signals in the same way as in schizophrenia. The findings add to growing evidence the drug may be a significant cause of mental illness in adolescents and a possible trigger for schizophrenia in those who are genetically vulnerable. Previous studies have examined patients' behaviour and medical histories. This is the first time direct evidence of a link has been found inside the brain. [continues 463 words]
ECSTASY dealers are using rooms at Gold Coast hotels favoured by schoolies as drug dens, young revellers claim. As the Herald Sun saw more than 100 drug-affected youths in the Surfers Paradise schoolies precinct early yesterday, a group of teenagers said schoolies did not need to leave the hotels to get the drug. Schoolies are buying tablets for as little as $25 each from dealers operating out of hotels and from beach-trawling drug pushers. Gold Coast police said ecstasy had never been more popular. [continues 418 words]
CANNABIS is to keep its listing as a low-risk drug. The Home Office downgraded the drug to class C in 2004, meaning it has a low risk of addiction and few long-term health hazards. The government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs found that although there was evidence linking cannabis and mental illness, it was not strong enough to justify raising its classification. [end]
JAKARTA - An Australian model has apologised and appealed for mercy from an Indonesian court trying her for possession of two ecstasy pills, her lawyer said. Leslie told a court on the resort island of Bali that a friend gave her the pills and told her they were medicine for stress that would replace Ritalin, a drug prescribed by her Australian doctor, lawyer Christo Imanuel Dugis said. "A day before she was arrested, she ran out of Ritalin. Her friend gave her a drug which she said had similar effects. She didn't exactly know what it was until she was arrested," Dugis said. [continues 246 words]
"We know of no spectacle so ridiculous," Lord Macaulay famously said, "as the British public in one of its periodical fits of morality." We seem to be in the middle of a particularly absurd one right now. Although there are many hugely important questions in public life generally, and even a few in the Conservative leadership struggle, what obsesses the media is the attempt to force David Cameron into some sort of confession about drugs. It is ludicrous and shameful. Cameron has said quite enough about this to satisfy anyone with a proper interest in his past and quite as much as any public figure could be expected to disclose, yet he has been hounded for days. Goaded yet again on Thursday on BBC1's Question Time, he admitted that like many people he had done things in his youth that he should not have done. [continues 958 words]
POLICE are to carry out trials of a roadside detector to combat the growing menace of drug-driving. Government scientists are developing a portable device capable of screening motorists for traces of all illegal substances. Trials of the electronic "drugalyser" could take place before next summer, paving the way for one of the biggest clampdowns on dangerous driving since alcohol breath tests were introduced in the 1960s. More than one in seven drivers stopped during a recent road safety campaign later tested positive for drugs - twice as many as those who were found to be drinking. [continues 336 words]
DAVID DAVIS'S key financial backer, Lord Kalms, has intensified the pressure on David Cameron in the Tory leadership race by insisting that he should declare publicly whether he has taken drugs. Kalms, the Tory party donor and founder of the Dixons store chain, brushed aside attempts by Cameron to close down the controversy, saying: "David Cameron must state the facts. "A small peccadillo by a student shouldn't ruin a man's career, absolutely. But the hard drugs. I think if it's a serious hard drug then it's a different matter entirely." [continues 535 words]
The number of children treated for mental disorders caused by smoking cannabis has quadrupled since the government downgraded the legal status of the drug, according to a leading drug charity. Since April last year, three months after police stopped arresting anyone found in possession of small amounts of the drug, the overall number of users treated for such conditions rose 42%, according to data from Addaction. But it is the figure for children that will cause the greatest alarm. Addaction treated 1,575 cannabis users for psychotic problems between April 2004 and April 2005, of whom 181 were aged 15 or below -- a rise of 136 on the previous year. [continues 353 words]
Mo Mowlam's unerring ability to cause controversy has survived her. The Northern Ireland secretary and cabinet enforcer has left behind a book, to be published next year, in which she advocates the legalisation of all drugs, including heroin and cocaine. Such a legacy from a government minister, once given responsibility for the international war on drugs, may provide Tony Blair with a rueful reminder of the controversy she sparked with her admission while in office that she had smoked cannabis at university. [continues 522 words]
Melissa Younger, Schapelle Corby's Perth cousin, spoke yesterday of the family's horror and frustration at the 20-year sentence. But she said the Corby family was "calmer" and ready to continue the battle for Corby's freedom. Weekend jail restrictions at Bali's Kerobokan Prison mean the family is unable to see her until tomorrow. Ms Younger, 33, of Fremantle, said there was a funeral-like atmosphere when the Corbys gathered at a secret location after Schapelle was found guilty of drug trafficking. [continues 417 words]
PERTH silks Tom Percy and Mark Trowell have been contacted by Schapelle Corby's family to aid her appeal. Mr Percy QC was approached by Corby's cousin Melissa Younger after Friday's verdict. The Sunday Times can exclusively reveal that after her sentencing, Australian consular officials visited Corby in her cell and urged her to take up the offer of assistance from the respected lawyers, who were asked to help by Attorney-General Philip Ruddock. "We have still had no contact from any lawyer representing Schapelle Corby, but I have been contacted by her family," Mr Percy said yesterday in Bali. [continues 412 words]
GOVERNMENT advisers are likely to reject a tougher line on cannabis despite mounting concerns about the drug's potential dangers and reservations by Tony Blair and the home secretary. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs will meet this week to decide whether to review new evidence suggesting cannabis can cause mental illness. Before the election Charles Clarke asked the committee to reassess the government's decision 16 months ago to downgrade crimes involving cannabis. Both Clarke and Tony Blair are understood to regret the decision, which coincided with an influx of stronger strains of the drug to Britain. [continues 382 words]
SOME long-distance truckies are using CB radios to dodge Victoria's drug-driving tests. They pull over at rest stops along highways after being alerted to the new police drug bus. The Transport Workers Union said some drivers would be trying to outsmart the system, and that the tests were nabbing one in every 60 truck drivers. As when avoiding speed cameras and highway patrol cars, truckies use their radios to alert other drivers when the drug bus is in the area. [continues 261 words]
Schapelle Corby's Indonesian lawyer is pessimistic about her client's chances of being acquitted on drug-smuggling charges, saying the evidence heard at her trial might not be hard enough to clear the Gold Coast woman. "She has big hopes (of being released) but I believe all of the evidence we have brought to the court could only get a slighter punishment for her," Lely Sri Rahayu Lubis said. "In the prosecutor's mind the drugs were in her bag. She admitted it (the bag) was hers and the claim tag was under her name, so it is clear (for the prosecutors that) she committed the crime. [continues 554 words]
A BRITISH drug firm is carrying out clinical research trials in Ireland to determine the effectiveness of a cannabis extract in controlling severe cancer-related pain. GW Pharmaceuticals, a market leader in pioneering the use of medicines containing cannabis extract, has received a licence from the Irish Medicines Board under the Control of Clinical Trials Acts 1987 and 1990. The board refused to make any comment on the trials, saying the information was "commercially sensitive". Cannabis is a schedule one controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act and is subject to tight restrictions in its prescription and use similar to narcotics such as heroin and morphine. [continues 217 words]
AUSTRALIA'S oldest drug traffickers have failed in an appeal against their convictions for possessing cannabis estimated to have been worth up to $264,000. World War II veteran David William Sidney Davies, 81, and his wife Florence Gladys Davies, 77, now face the prospect of having their West Australian home seized under the state's tough proceeds of crime laws. The pair, who have been married for 58 years, last year received suspended sentences after a jury in the District Court found them guilty of two counts of possessing cannabis with intent to sell or supply. [continues 445 words]
A NEW report has undermined the credibility of the government's UKP7m methadone programme, claiming drug addicts are less likely to commit crime and more likely to find work if they are forced to go through "cold turkey" withdrawal. Research by Professor Neil McKeganey, one of Scotland's foremost experts on addiction, revealed that half of addicts who take methadone are likely to offend, compared with less than a third of those on abstinence programmes. It also found that those who went cold turkey were twice as likely to try to get a job. [continues 425 words]
Police Target Mainline Buses in Secret Operation Against Crime Couriers Police have revealed a secret operation targeting long-haul buses being used to courier drugs worth millions across South Africa. Operation Long Haul focused on Park Station in Johannesburg - the hub of long-distance travel - in May this year. Johannesburg is considered central to the illegal drug trade. During the six-day operation, drugs, cash and ammunition amounting to R2785840 were seized. The operation focused on Translux, Greyhound, Intercape and City to City mainline buses. [continues 632 words]
'The whole town was in a frenzy and everyone was looking for the paper. I didn't even have a copy myself' A PLAN by a group of men to stop publicity of a drug bust by buying 7000 copies of a Kimberley newspaper flopped when the mass purchase made even bigger headlines. The city's Diamond Fields Advertiser (DFA) was sold out as it hit the streets on Tuesday when the group bought every copy available. The DFA's managing editor, Johan du Plessis, said the men had spent about R16000 on 7000 to 8000 copies of the newspaper. [continues 351 words]
CANBERRA RAIDERS centre Jason Bulgarelli's football career is in ruins after he was sacked yesterday for allegedly being the intended recipient of a package mailed to club offices at Bruce which contained the drug ecstasy. The 28-year-old former Illawarra junior representative, who joined the Raiders in 2003 from Queensland Cup side Easts Tigers, still had a year to run on his contract. Bulgarelli's agent David Riolo told The Weekend Australian last night: "Jason is innocent and will prove it by having his name cleared through the ACT court system. He also has the right to take the case to the NRL appeals tribunal. [continues 233 words]
Survey Of Joburg And Pretoria Teens Presents Grim Picture 'Barriers against drug use are not that great. Illicit drugs are becoming more available in communities' ALMOST a quarter of Joburg's teenagers can easily get their hands on drugs such as mandrax, cocaine and heroine. More than 40% of teenagers have easy access to dagga, while more than seven out of 10 admit that alcohol is not hard to get. A total of 86% said they have no difficulty getting hold of cigarettes. [continues 345 words]
FOR eight years, businessman Kim Hough lobbied WA governments for approval of an estimated $1 billion-a-year industry that would boost local farming. The only problem was, it was illegal. Then, on May 19, the Industrial Hemp Act of WA came into effect. It allowed the cultivation and processing of industrial hemp with less than 0.35 per cent tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient of cannabis or marijuana. It should have been a sweet victory for Mr Hough, who has devoted much of his life to researching and promoting one of nature's most versatile if misunderstood plants. [continues 435 words]
Cocaine, the deadly party drug of the rich, is flooding Perth's streets. Welfare workers and users say they have never seen so much of the drug - -- which is known to cause heart attacks and strokes -- in the city before. Senior police are concerned about the huge injection of cocaine on to the local market. Police sources said the latest wave might be related to an international operation intercepted by Australian Federal Police in Albany last month. Police and the Australian Customs Service seized 100kg of cocaine, valued at $45 million, which would have sold as 227,000 street hits. [continues 387 words]
Harvest Time Provides Some Relief From Grinding Deprivation Johannesburg - WHEN Ntabankulu Mayor Phumzile Matshoba was arrested this week and charged with stealing R500 000 from the municipality, the people of the poorest town in South Africa cheered with delight. They resented him because he flaunted his wealth by wearing gold jewellery and drove around the Eastern Cape town in flashy cars when they had so little. This week, as Matshoba was released on R20 000 bail, the Human Sciences Research Council pronounced Ntabankulu municipality the poorest in the country. [continues 708 words]
South Africa was "winning the war" against drug abuse among the country's citizens, Safety and Security minister Charles Nqakula said on Monday. "We are winning the war because we have on our side good, law-abiding citizens," he said at a media briefing following a police raid earlier the day which netted 100,000 Mandrax tablets valued at approximately R3.5 million. One man, 33, was arrested. Nqakula said the raid, which followed a tip-off from members of the public, showed that as long as the "forces that represent the good" were more than those causing problems, the country would continue winning against criminality and criminals. [continues 465 words]
Headmistress Says Run-Down House Next To School Is Being Used As Base By Drug Dealers The headmistress of one of Joburg's poshest girls' schools is at her wits' end. Pat Brink, principal of Kingsmead College in Melrose where fees go up to R45 000 a year, is convinced the run-down house next door to the school is being used for drug dealing but is frustrated that she has been unable to put a stop to it. Police confirmed that they had raided the house, and found drugs. [continues 548 words]
Singer Promised To Leave Her Wild Ways - Then Went Home To Binge On Crack Cocaine On Sunday morning April 25, Brenda Fassie made a promise in front of a church congregation that she would give up her wild ways. Hours later she went on a massive drug binge that would cost her her life. Fassie told members of His Church Kingdom Ministries in Atholl, Johannesburg, that she would bring all the "things" she had been using to them so that they could destroy them, that she had done all the wrong things there were to be done, and that she was "tired of living like this". [continues 1315 words]
NEW cannabis laws which come into effect tomorrow will increase the risk of physical and mental health problems for young people, Opposition Leader Colin Barnett claims. Mr Barnett said the changes - making the possession of up to 30g of the drug and the cultivation of up to two plants punishable by fine or an education session - sent the worst possible message to the community that some cannabis was OK. "There is clear scientific evidence that cannabis use is linked with depression and anxiety in youths and an increased risk of psychotic disorders such as paranoia, manic depression and schizophrenia," he said. [continues 294 words]
The opening last week of a cannabis cafe in Edinburgh, in the shadow of the Scottish executive, attracted all the usual suspects, discovered Tom Lappin It's an unlikely place to start a revolution. But then it's an unlikely cause. The vociferous crowd gathering on a Leith street late on Thursday afternoon wasn't interested in storming any Bastilles, merely on finding a place where they could partake of a prohibited weed. Perhaps it's indicative of the current level of political engagement in Scottish society that the cravings of a small band of dedicated dope smokers could kick up such a heady cloud. [continues 1938 words]
The Home Office minister and former dope user Caroline Flint leaves Stuart Wavell gasping as she tries to defend the new soft line on cannabis It is no secret that the Home Office minister Caroline Flint is a tough nut. When she and her boyfriend found themselves in a bank hold-up in 1994, the duo tripped the fleeing gunman, hit him on the head and held him down until the police arrived. Last week she was experiencing a series of more bruising encounters as she tried to sell the convoluted logic of the government's plan to downgrade cannabis to the status of a drug no more dangerous than painkillers. [continues 1448 words]
A PURPLE haze descended on Downing Street yesterday over the topical question of which cabinet ministers have smoked cannabis. Charles Clarke, the education secretary, has admitted that he tried the drug "a couple of times in my late teens". Peter Hain, leader of the Commons and Welsh secretary, has described how someone once tried to put "a cannabis spliff or whatever you call them into my mouth, angry that I wasn't smoking it". He did not inhale. But what sent alarm bells ringing at No 10 this weekend was not these past revelations but a seemingly innocuous remark from Gordon Brown, the chancellor, that he had never tried the drug. [continues 626 words]
Alison Davies Meets the Man Who Created an Ecofriendly Property From Cannabis Hemp Ralph Carpenter and his wife, Jenny, live in Britain's first home built from wacky baccy or, as they prefer to call it, cannabis hemp. They have endured the builders' jokes of 'Isn't it going to go up in smoke?' and teenage jibes of 'Can we see the wall joints?' but now they're having the last laugh. Top-o'the-hill, near Sudbury in Suffolk, is warm, dry, stunningly good-looking and a test-bed for what Carpenter, an architect with the firm Modece, hopes will be the 'green' housing of the future. [continues 845 words]
