Consumers Number About 246 Million, With the U.S. Leading the Way and Cannabis the Top Narcotic. As leaders from around the world gather in New York for what many are calling the most important summit on illegal drugs in two decades, one thing is clear: The world has a serious drug problem. Worldwide, about 246 million people use illicit drugs, and 1 in 10 of these users suffer from disorders related to drug use. Of the estimated 12 million people who inject drugs, at least 1.6 million are also living with HIV, while slightly more than half suffer from hepatitis C. Each year, 200,000 people suffer drug-related deaths, such as overdoses. [continues 785 words]
A U. N. Special Session Will Examine the Effects of the Hard- Line Approach and Will Study Alternatives. At what is being billed as the most significant high-level gathering on global drug policy in two decades, the stage will be set for world leaders to discuss what would have once been unthinkable - reversing course in the war on drugs. The United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem, which begins Tuesday in New York, will bring together government, human rights and health leaders to discuss whether the hard-line tactics of combating drug trafficking and money laundering have failed. [continues 800 words]
Opponents of the Nov. 2 Initiative Say They Are Unfazed by the Stars' Actions. Proposition 19, the California initiative that would legalize marijuana, got a boost Thursday from several Hollywood celebrities who announced they were throwing their support behind the measure. Rock singer Melissa Etheridge joined actors Danny Glover and Hal Sparks, former LAPD Deputy Chief Steve Downing, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson and activist Sarah Lovering at a news conference at Cafe Was in Hollywood to announce their support for Proposition 19. [continues 468 words]
Surveillance Cameras, Random Drug Checks and More Are Planned to Ease Residents' Concerns After a String of Slayings. NEW ORLEANS -- Responding to residents' outrage over a sharp increase in crime that claimed nine lives in the first eight days of 2007, Mayor C. Ray Nagin announced a slate of crime-fighting initiatives Tuesday, two days before a planned residents' march on City Hall. "We are drawing a line in the sand and saying we've had it," Nagin told reporters at a briefing held at the site of the year's first slaying -- that of a man who was shot in the head on the evening of Jan. 1. [continues 695 words]
Initiatives in some cities include a bid to ease limits on the growing of medical marijuana and an effort to keep giant dairies out of town. Along with deciding conventional ballot issues Tuesday, such as public safety, governance and taxes, voters in some California cities will consider initiatives dealing with sex, drugs and the fate of a 43-foot-tall cross. Some voters will even weigh in on the future of movie theaters. And cows. These are just a handful of the local ballot measures that will be seeking the blessing of voters, who experts say have mastered the art of using citizen initiatives to show their political clout and underscore their local autonomy. [continues 1021 words]
