Scientists who advise the Government will be expected to develop a "shared position" with ministers on controversial topics, under guidelines issued after the row over the sacking of David Nutt, the government chief drugs adviser. While a statement of principles for scientific advisers, published yesterday, recognises their right to dissent publicly from government policy, they will also be required to avoid "undermining mutual trust". The principles were drawn up by Lord Drayson, the Science Minister, after Alan Johnson's dismissal of Professor Nutt as chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs because of his criticism of classification decisions on cannabis and Ecstasy. Five other members of the council also resigned in protest. [continues 481 words]
Three members of the Government's drugs advisory panel resigned last night after Alan Johnson failed to persuade them to stay on after his sacking of David Nutt as the body's chairman. A source close to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) named the three advisers as Simon Campbell, Dr Ian Ragan and John Marsden. Two other members of the committee, Les King and Marion Walker, resigned last weekend in protest at the Home Secretary's dismissal of Professor Nutt for questioning government policy on the classification of Ecstasy and cannabis. [continues 636 words]
Divisions in the Government over the sacking of its chief drug adviser deepened yesterday when its most senior scientist backed Professor David Nutt for saying that cannabis was less harmful than alcohol. Professor John Beddington, the Chief Scientific Adviser, said research showing the drug to be less dangerous than alcohol and cigarettes was "absolutely clear cut", though he stopped short of criticising Alan Johnson's decision to dismiss him. Professor Beddington's intervention came as it emerged that Lord Drayson, the Science and Innovation Minister, e-mailed No 10 at the weekend to say that he was "pretty appalled" by the Home Secretary's move, which had the scientific community "up in arms". [continues 839 words]
This Government is fond of promoting its decisions as "evidence-based policy", grounded in the findings of research. Civil servants and scientists, however, like to joke that what it really values is something rather different: policy-based evidence that justifies a course of action that has been decided on for political reasons. Ministers, of course, are perfectly entitled to do this. They are democratically elected; expert advisers are not. While scientists might prefer politicians to do as they are told, their view is often just one of many factors to consider. [continues 390 words]
Josie Green, 66, showed up Saturday at a Hempstead Village forum on reforming the state's drug laws because she is tired of the fallout from the drug trade in her community. "I've seen families fall apart, mothers sent away and grandmothers left to care for kids, and young people given unjustly long sentences," said Green, who lives in the village. "It's a bad situation, and to this day, it isn't any better." The forum was part of the "Drop the Rock" campaign, a statewide effort to repeal the Rockefeller drug laws. Along with about 50 others -- community organizers, residents and pastors -- Green called Saturday for the repeal of the drug laws, among the toughest in the country. [continues 273 words]
Every time Harold Humdy Sr. leaves his Hempstead apartment complex for work or for a trip to the store, he walks past the spot where his only son and namesake was gunned down. Known as "Hen-Rock" around the neighborhood, Harold Humdy Jr., 23, was a convicted drug dealer known to treat kids on Terrace Avenue to ice cream on hot summer days. In April 2004, he was shot once in the back during an afternoon robbery as he stood on the corner. [continues 2432 words]
A chemical found in cannabis could be used to treat schizophrenia with fewer side-effects than existing antipsychotic drugs, research suggests. Though cannabis can provoke psychotic symptoms, these effects appear to be caused chiefly by one of its components; and another compound that damps down its effects has potential as a medicine, scientists said. The findings, to be announced at a conference that opens in London today, offer a possible explanation for anecdotal reports of increasing cases of psychosis and schizophrenia triggered by the drug. [continues 524 words]
MARIJUANA would be prescribed by doctors in South Australia for medicinal purposes under planned legislation. Democrats MP Sandra Kanck today said legislation was being drafted to allow the practice. Australian Medical Association state president Chris Cain said he supported to move but only if the doses were in a standardised form. "The active agents need to be separated in standardised doses and prescribed in a more conventional manner," he said. Opposition health spokeswoman Vickie Chapman said she would not support the legislation. [continues 110 words]
A substance believed to be crystal methamphetamine was found in both a Brandon elementary school and a Brandon high school last week. Dr. Donna Michaels, superintendent of the Brandon School Division, said that Waverly Park School and Vincent Massey High School were searched with a drug dog last Tuesday evening. The search turned up a few grams of a substance believed to be crystal methamphetamine (or crystal meth as it's commonly referred to) in common areas in the schools, not in individual lockers. [continues 227 words]
Science Is No Czar Fashionable opinion has long held that cannabis is a soft drug with few risks to health. Its use has become so commonplace that even those who have not tried it usually have friends and relatives who have done so without ill effects. Such widespread personal experience did much to drive the successful campaign to downgrade it from a class B drug to class C. There is, however, significant scientific evidence that cannabis is not always benign. A study from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden this week found that when rats were exposed to THC -- its main psychoactive ingredient -- during the equivalent of adolescence, their brains became more sensitive to heroin. In subsequent experiments, animals with experience of THC took much more heroin. [continues 513 words]
The provincial government is increasing the number of police members in Brandon by two. Brandon West MLA Scott Smith announced further funding of $160,000 to the Brandon Police Service for an additional school resource officer, to work in K-8 schools, and a criminal investigations officer. "It's great for Brandon. The province is funding seven police officers now in the City of Brandon. These two positions are those that the chief has said are very important in this community," Smith said. [continues 222 words]
Brandon's Addictions Awareness Week board is planning on highlighting the dangers of crystal meth during the week, which runs from Nov. 20-26. The Brandon Friendship Centre will host a luncheon and a crystal meth presentation on Wednesday, Nov. 23. The speaker will then also visit Harrison Middle School the same day. "We're really trying to reach more people with this presentation -- kids, adults, business people," said Yolanda Ducharme, Addictions Awareness board member. This year's theme for Addictions Awareness Week is "It's OK to say no to drugs." The board will be giving out awareness posters and bracelets that say "High on Life," during the week. To get tickets for the Nov. 23 luncheon, call Yolanda Ducharme at 728- 8520 or Robin. [end]
Behind the veneer of a petite young woman with a gracious smile and soft voice, Grace Jeter must display characteristics of steel. In the line of work she's chosen, that's a given. Jeter is Covington County's newest prosecutor, working for the District Attorney in the 22nd Judicial Circuit. "The reason I went into the legal system was because my mother is a lawyer," the local prosecutor explained. "She went to law school when I was three years old. She is my hero." [continues 1006 words]
ONE in four people carries genes that increases vulnerability to psychotic illnesses if he or she smokes cannabis as a teenager, scientists have found. A common genetic profile that makes cannabis five times more likely to trigger schizophrenia and similar disorders has been identified, increasing pressure on the Government to reverse the drug's reclassification from Class B to Class C. The increased risk applies to people who inherit variants of a gene named COMT who also smoked cannabis as teenagers. About a quarter of the population have this genetic make-up, and up to 15 per cent of the group are likely to develop psychotic conditions if exposed to the drug early in life. [continues 686 words]
A matter of life or death. That's what a lack of education about the dangers of drugs and drug use could literally lead to, explained Hannah Merrell, executive director of the Covington County Children's Policy Council. The council, for the second year, will sponsor a program for parents and community members entitled Operation Save Teens. "Being uneducated about drug use can be a matter of life or death when it comes to our children and that is why we are urging Covington County citizens to come out and better equip themselves with the knowledge to help battle our county's drug problem," Merrell commented. [continues 883 words]
Rush Limbaugh, ordinarily not one of my favorite people, is to be congratulated on his frank admission of a drug problem and announcing his intention to seek treatment. Unfortunately, media commentary on the situation has used the rather nonspecific term "addiction" without clarification. When the cause of chronic pain is not amendable to cure and pain remains chronic in spite of alternative methods of treatment, various narcotics are the appropriate treatment. Most chronic pain patients use the medications as directed and do not require constantly increasing doses to obtain relief. [continues 214 words]
Instead of having a childhood, Kelly Brown, 23, grew up with responsibility, worry and fear. "I was the oldest," she said, "so the majority of the time when I was growing up, I had to look after the family." Ms. Brown did not have much help in those days. She did not meet her natural father until she was 8, and has rarely seen him since then, because he lives in California. And the man her mother settled down with and eventually married? He pulled her mother away from her family and into a party lifestyle. [continues 810 words]
COCAINE addicts may benefit from research in Switzerland which found that a mutant strain of mice was unaffected by the drug. The researchers have shown that the mutant mice, which lack a particular type of receptor in their brains, always fail a standard test of ability to become addicted to cocaine. Normal mice given a drug that interferes with the receptor's function showed a lower response to cocaine than usual. The findings, by a team at GlaxoSmithKline's laboratory in Lausanne, suggest that it may be possible to develop a drug that targets the receptor, known as mGluR5, and lessens or blocks the effect that a user gets from cocaine. That could be a potential therapy for cocaine addicts, researchers said. Details of the study are published today in the journal Nature Neuroscience. "These findings suggest that mGluR5 is critical to the behavioural effects and rewarding properties of cocaine, and suggest that this receptor system may be a promising target for addiction research," the scientists concluded. [end]
A Washoe District Court judge has ruled that a law charging a couple with possession of methamphetamine ingredients is unconstitutional because it is vague and would outlaw such items as matches and cold medicine. Law enforcement authorities said Wednesday that Judge Jim Hardesty's ruling will not hamper efforts to stem methamphetamine sales. "As far as the Consolidated Narcotics Unit is concerned, it's business as usual," said Reno police Lt. Doug Cardwell, who heads the multiagency Consolidated Narcotics Unit. "There are usually several other charges that can apply in the case of a methamphetamine lab. It's up to the district attorney's office to decide which ones are the best." [continues 300 words]
A Nevada Supreme Court commission is recommending that possession of small amounts of marijuana be reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor citation. But Washoe District Attorney Dick Gammick said Monday that he opposes the recommendation, calling marijuana the "gateway to other drugs" and a first step toward other crimes. Possession of even a marijuana seed or a single marijuana cigarette is a felony in Nevada, making its drug laws among the toughest in the nation. The Supreme Court's Judicial Assessment Commission, appointed and chaired by Chief Justice Bob Rose, has urged that possession of less than an ounce of marijuana be a misdemeanor and handled by issuing a citation. Possession of one to four ounces would be a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail. If more than four ounces of marijuana were involved, the charge would remain a felony punishable by one to six years in prison. [continues 338 words]
