Synthetic Cannabis Has 'Devastating Impact' On Jails, Says Chief Inspector Synthetic cannabis is having a "devastating impact" in British prisons and making it difficult for normal life to continue in some facilities, the chief inspector of prisons has warned. Sold as "spice" and "black mamba", synthetic cannabis has been blamed for deaths, serious illness and episodes of self-harm among prisoners. Some prison officers have reported falling ill from exposure to the fumes. High demand for the compound has fuelled more severe problems in the prison system than officers have faced from any other drug, with prisoners racking up greater debts and suffering worse bullying and violence, Peter Clarke told the Guardian. "Prison staff have told me that the effect on individuals and prisons as a whole is unlike anything they have seen before," said Clarke, who took up the post in February. [continues 674 words]
UN Meeting to Discuss Growing Drugs Problem Up to Quarter of Psychosis Cases Could Be Prevented The risks of heavy cannabis use for mental health are serious enough to warrant global public health campaigns, according to international drugs experts who said young people were particularly vulnerable. The warning from scientists in the UK, US, Europe and Australia reflects a growing consensus that frequent use of the drug can increase the risk of psychosis in vulnerable people, and comes as the UN prepares to convene the first special session on the global drugs problem since 1998. The meeting in New York next week aims to unify countries in their efforts to tackle issues around illicit drug use. [continues 1160 words]
Ministers risk alienating their science advisers by dragging them into public rows over politically sensitive policy decisions, the government's chief scientist has warned. Leading academics will be discouraged from working with government if they fear being reprimanded for expressing their views, says Prof John Beddington, who took over the post from Sir David King last year. Government relies heavily on independent advice from academics, but is in danger of eroding the relationship and squandering their expertise, Beddington told ministers. The situation is particularly fraught when eminent scientists are asked to advise on politically sensitive issues, such as the government's drug policy. A debate over the risks of recreational drugs erupted into a public row in February when the former home secretary, Jacqui Smith, vetoed recommendations from her own drug advisers to downgrade ecstasy from its class A status. [continues 675 words]
Government plans to overrule its own drug advisers and reclassify cannabis as a more dangerous substance are attacked by leading scientists and MPs in a letter to the Guardian today. The home secretary, Jacqui Smith, intends to move cannabis from class C to class B, where it will sit alongside amphetamines, such as speed, and barbiturates. The move comes despite repeated recommendations from the government's drug advisers that its classification should not be upgraded. The proposal, which is due to be voted on by peers today, is described as "extremely damaging" in the letter, whose signatories include two former chief scientists, Sir David King and Lord May; Professor Colin Blakemore, former head of the Medical Research Council; and Sir Gabriel Horn, chair of the Academy of Medical Science's working group on brain science, addiction and drugs. [continues 323 words]
It has become commonplace for people who are overweight to attribute their waistline to their DNA. Now, celebrities caught snorting cocaine might also be able to blame their parents. Scientists reported yesterday the discovery of a gene that increases the chances of becoming hooked on the drug. Addicts were 25% more likely to carry the gene variant than people who did not use cocaine, a study found. The discovery is unlikely to lead to a treatment for cocaine addicts, but scientists hope it could be used to screen for those most likely to have problems kicking the habit if they ever try the drug. [continues 257 words]
Cannabis smokers are exposed to more toxic chemicals in each puff than those who smoke only tobacco, scientists have found. Earlier research shows cannabis smokers are more prone to lung damage than cigarette smokers. In tests, directly inhaled cannabis smoke contained 20 times more ammonia than cigarette smoke, five times more hydrogen cyanide and five times the concentration of nitrogen oxides, which affect circulation and the immune system. Researchers led by David Moir at Health Canada investigated after noting there are 4,000 chemicals and toxins listed for tobacco smoke but no such list for cannabis. [continues 190 words]
A single cannabis joint may cause as much damage to the lungs as five chain-smoked cigarettes, research has found. Medical examinations of cannabis and cigarette smokers found the drug increased specific lung problems, including obstructed airways and hyperinflation, a condition where too much air remains in the lungs when a person exhales. Smoking one cannabis joint caused damage equivalent to smoking 2.5 to five cigarettes in rapid succession, researchers at the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand found. Doctors who carried out the study believe the damage is linked to the difference in the way cannabis is usually smoked, with users inhaling hard, holding their breath for longer and failing to use filters. [continues 263 words]
Plans to overhaul the 30-year-old scheme for classifying illegal drugs were ditched by the government yesterday, drawing condemnation from MPs and drugs charities. The scheme, which attaches higher penalties to class A drugs such as cocaine and heroin than less dangerous substances such as cannabis, a class C drug, was savaged in July in a report by MPs, who denounced it as "ad hoc", "not fit for purpose" and "riddled with anomalies". The report particularly criticised the classification of the dance drug ecstasy, quoting research by the thinktank Rand that the drug was several thousand times less dangerous than heroin, yet both are categorised as class A. [continues 338 words]
The Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, has paid thousands of pounds in compensation to servicemen after feeding them LSD in mind control experiments in the 1950s, it emerged this week. One of the men involved in the clandestine tests received the drug twice a week, and recalls lengthy hallucinations in which walls melted, cracks appeared in people's faces and eyes ran down cheeks. The hallucinations happen because the drug mimics a chemical messenger in the brain called serotonin. While serotonin is usually described as a "feelgood" chemical - it is the neurotransmitter released by the drug ecstasy - it also plays a number of other roles. [continues 194 words]
The mystery of the munchies, the craving for food experienced by cannabis users, has been unravelled. Neuroscientists hope that by piecing together the brain circuits involved in switching on the urge to eat they will be able to identify ways to block the craving with new anti-obesity drugs. David Talmage's team at Columbia University, New York, whose work appears in the journal Neuron, took slices from parts of the mouse brain called the lateral hypothalamus, known to regulate appetite. They then used ultra-slim electrodes to measure the electrical activity along single neurons. Cannabis produces a "high" thanks to an active ingredient called tetrahydrocannabinol, but a similar chemical or cannabinoid is also produced naturally in the body. The researchers found that when neurons were exposed to the natural cannabinoid they became more excitable. [continues 88 words]
Could Nanotechnology Scrub Drug Overdoses From Your Bloodstream? IT SOUNDS outlandish, but chemists reckon biodegradable nanotubes could one day save the lives of people who have overdosed on drugs. About 3000 people in Britain die each year from drug poisoning. Heroin is the biggest killer, followed by the painkiller paracetamol. Current treatments involve feeding the patient porous carbon to absorb the toxic substances from the stomach, or running blood through a carbon filter. But a new treatment could be on its way. At this week's American Chemical Society meeting in Orlando, Florida, Charles Martin and David Mitchell at the University of Florida in Gainesville described how an injection of nanotubes could detox patients. [continues 307 words]
James Bond's Q Would Be Proud Of The Toy US Coastguards Want For Christmas A rocket-propelled dragnet that slows drug smugglers' boats and subdues the crew with tear gas may sound like something out of a James Bond movie, but it's actually the latest idea from the US Navy. Tired of watching drug smugglers escape, the Navy and its coastguard colleagues want an effective non-lethal weapon. Since October, the US Coast Guard has seized over 5 tonnes of cocaine in US waters, but estimates suggest that may be only 10 per cent of what gets through. [continues 302 words]
A rocket-propelled dragnet that slows drug smugglers' boats and subdues the crew with tear gas may sound like something out of a James Bond movie, but it is actually the latest idea from the US Navy. How the rocket-propelled dragnet works Tired of watching drug smugglers escape, the Navy and its coastguard colleagues want an effective non-lethal weapon. Since October, the US Coast Guard has seized over five tonnes of cocaine in US waters, but estimates suggest that may be only 10 per cent of what gets through. [continues 305 words]
