New Study: 40 Years Of The “War On Drugs” Has Produced Cheaper, More Potent Drugs

A new Canadian study of the world wide drug trade was recently published in the medical journal BMJ Open, giving the public their first “global snapshot” 40 years after the misguided “War on Drugs” was first cultivated. The results were not surprising. America’s sad and expensive experiment has been an utter failure. Their findings should cause concern for anyone still thinking prohibition is the cure for drug addiction; purity of heroin and cocaine up 60%. Marijuana potency up 161%. And its not just that party drugs  are cleaner than they were 40 years ago, they’re also considerably cheaper. Cocaine cost has fallen about 80% from its early 90′s high, heroin is also down about 81%, with weeds value dropping by 86%.

After wasting hundreds of billions of tax payer dollars on a perpetually flawed policy – there’s never been a better time to get high!

“By every metric, the war on drugs — which is estimated to have cost North Americans over the last 40 years over a trillion dollars — has really been hugely ineffective,” says Wood, who is also the founder of the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy. “Drugs are more freely and easily available in our society than they’ve ever been.”

While the new Canadian drug war study merrily establishes what most have known all along, imprisoning drug addicts is beyond pointless. The real “elephant in the room” question is more about demand, and how to mitigate its unwanted social fall-out. Advancing treatment for drug addiction as a medical condition — rather than as a moral shortcoming.

Abstract

Objectives 

Illegal drug use continues to be a major threat to community health and safety. We used international drug surveillance databases to assess the relationship between multiple long-term estimates of illegal drug price and purity.

Design 

We systematically searched for longitudinal measures of illegal drug supply indicators to assess the long-term impact of enforcement-based supply reduction interventions.

Setting 

Data from identified illegal drug surveillance systems were analyzed using an a priori defined protocol in which we sought to present annual estimates beginning in 1990. Data were then subjected to trend analyses.

Main outcome measures 

Data were obtained from government surveillance systems assessing price, purity and/or seizure quantities of illegal drugs; systems with at least 10 years of longitudinal data assessing price, purity/potency or seizures were included.

Results 

We identified seven regional/international metasurveillance systems with longitudinal measures of price or purity/potency that met eligibility criteria. In the USA, the average inflation-adjusted and purity-adjusted prices of heroin, cocaine and cannabis decreased by 81%, 80% and 86%, respectively, between 1990 and 2007, whereas average purity increased by 60%, 11% and 161%, respectively. Similar trends were observed in Europe, where during the same period the average inflation-adjusted price of opiates and cocaine decreased by 74% and 51%, respectively. In Australia, the average inflation-adjusted price of cocaine decreased 14%, while the inflation-adjusted price of heroin and cannabis both decreased 49% between 2000 and 2010. During this time, seizures of these drugs in major production regions and major domestic markets generally increased.

Conclusions 

With few exceptions and despite increasing investments in enforcement-based supply reduction efforts aimed at disrupting global drug supply, illegal drug prices have generally decreased while drug purity has generally increased since 1990. These findings suggest that expanding efforts at controlling the global illegal drug market through law enforcement are failing.

Source: http://www.marijuana.com/news/2013/10/new-study-40-years-of-the-war-on-drugs-has-produced-cheaper-more-potent-drugs/

Poll Finds Texans Ready To Legalize Marijuana

Voters in Texas are among the latest to hop on board the marijuana legalization bandwagon, according to a poll released this week. The Public Policy Polling survey had support for marijuana legalization at 58%, support for medical marijuana at 58%, and support for decriminalizing small-time possession at 61%.

The poll was commissioned by the Marijuana Policy Project. The survey of 860 randomly selected Texas voters was conducted September 27-29 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3%.

“Marijuana prohibition has been just as big a failure as alcohol prohibition,” said MPP executive director Rob Kampia, a part-time Austin resident. “Most Texans agree that marijuana sales should be conducted by legitimate businesses instead of drug cartels in the underground market.”

The poll’s legalization question — “Would you support or oppose changing Texas law to regulate and tax marijuana similarly to alcohol, where stores would be licensed to sell marijuana to adults 21 and older?” — was the only question that allowed respondents to qualify their support as “strongly support” or “somewhat support.” Some 41% strongly supported legalization, with another 17% somewhat supporting it.

Unusually, support for legalization was stronger among women (59%) than among men (56%). Also going against the grain, support was stronger among blacks (61%) and Latinos (60%) than Anglos (56%). In most polls across the country, men and whites are more likely to support legalization than women, blacks, or Latinos.

By political affiliation, legalization won strong majority support among Democrats (70%) and independents (57%), while even nearly half of Republicans (48%) also favored it. Legalization also won majority support across all age groups, with even those 65 and older coming in at 52%.

The poll also found that 61% of state voters support removing criminal penalties for possession of up to one ounce of marijuana and replacing them with a civil offense punishable by a fine of up to $100 with no possibility of jail time. Only 30% said they were opposed to that. Under current Texas law, it is a criminal offense for a person to possess a small amount of marijuana, and he or she can be sentenced to up to a year in jail and fined up to $2,000.

“Law enforcement officials’ time would be better spent addressing violent crimes instead of adults simply possessing marijuana,” Kampia said. “No adult should face potentially life-altering criminal penalties for using a product that is significantly less harmful than alcohol.”

Most Texas voters (58%) support changing state law to allow seriously and terminally ill patients to use medical marijuana if their doctors recommend it. Just 31% said they are opposed.

“There is ample research demonstrating the medical benefits of marijuana in the treatment of several debilitating conditions,” Kampia said. “People suffering from cancer and multiple sclerosis should not face the threat of arrest for using medical marijuana if their doctors believe it will help ease their suffering.”

Article From http://www.stopthedrugwar.org/

Source: http://www.theweedblog.com/poll-finds-texans-ready-to-legalize-marijuana/

WA Proposal To Defelonize Personal Drug Possession Gets Eight Legislative Sponsors

A recently announced proposal to remove felony charges for personal drug possession has garnered eight legislative sponsors in both the House and Senate. The bill will be prefiled in December.

Sponsors of this measure include Representative Jamie Pederson (Chair of the House Judiciary Committee), Senator Jeannie Kohl-Welles, Representative Sherry Appleton, Representative Jim Moeller (Speaker Pro Tempore), Representative Luis Moscoso, Represenative Joe Fitzgibbon, Representative Chris Reykdal and Representative Jessyn Farrell.

Representative Roger Goodman, Chair of the House Public Safety Committee (the first committee the bill will be assigned to in the House), has confirmed that he will give the proposal a public hearing.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy, an international nonprofit reform group, has officially endorsed the proposal, and will be working to get it approved into law.

Under Washington State law the possession of any amount of a controlled substance, or over 40 grams of cannabis, is a felony charge with a potential five year prison sentence. Advocates contend that this is a failed policy which leads to an overcrowding of prisons at taxpayer expense. The proposed law would reduce these charges to misdemeanors, without altering any penalties for distribution or manufacturing of an illegal substance. Minor laws would also remain unchanged.

The nonprofit organization Sensible Washington, the group behind the effort, plans to continue garnering public and legislative support in the coming months leading up to the start of the legislative session.

Source: Sensible Washington

Source: http://www.theweedblog.com/wa-proposal-to-defelonize-personal-drug-possession-gets-eight-legislative-sponsors/

US Supreme Court Rejects Marijuana Reclassification Appeal

The US Supreme Court Monday declined to hear an appeal from medical marijuana advocacy groups who had challenged the DEA's decision to maintain marijuana's status as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, the category reserved for the most dangerous substances.

The court denied in summary order a petition for a writ of certiorari from the groups, led by Americans for Safe Access, which had sought Supreme Court review of a DC Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding the DEA's ruling that a change in marijuana's classification required the Food and Drug Administration's recognition of acceptable medical uses for the drugs.

Advocates of rescheduling marijuana have been trying to do so for more than four decades, but have been thwarted by DEA delays and intransigence. This was the third formal rescheduling effort to be blocked by DEA decision making.

Schedule I drugs are deemed to have no acceptable medical uses and a high potential for abuse. Other Schedule I drugs include LSD, MDMA, and heroin. Despite the fact that there is an ever-increasing mountain of research detailing marijuana medicinal effects and despite the fact that 20 states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana, the DEA continues to insist that it cannot be down-scheduled.

Joe Elford, lead attorney on the case for Americans for Safe Access, told Law360 that the Supreme Court's denial of certiorari was in line with its reluctance to overturn lower courts and administrative decisions on medical marijuana.

"It's disappointing, but not altogether surprising," he said.

A fourth effort to reclassify marijuana led by the governors of the medical marijuana states of Rhode Island and Washington was filed in 2011 and is still awaiting action.

Source: http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2013/oct/07/us_supreme_court_rejects_marijua

Dope New Poll: California Marijuana Legalization Support Continues to Grow

Tired of hypocrisy, duplicity, and feeling as though they’ve been left in the dust, more than half of the ‘Golden States’ voters are fired up and ready to show their support for the legalization of marijuana, per a new statewide poll from the Public Policy Institute of California.

As California’s frustration with marijuana prohibition and runaway state debt hits an annoying crescendo, the germination efforts to author a constructive 2014 ballot initiative has already taken root. With marijuana legalization inevitable, many of the state’s residents are curious to know… If marijuana were legalized, who would smoke it – and what type of revenue increase would they actually realize?

The dope new survey, initiated by PPIC (public policy Institute of California) and financially backed by the James Irvine Foundation, demonstrated that currently 52% of the state’s registered voters (and 60% of likely voters) are down with marijuana legalization. Demonstrating marijuana legalization’s fast-growing support, it was just last year that the same polling group identified a disappointing 45% support for relaxed pot laws.

“Our state has for many years lived with medical marijuana – not to say it isn’t controversial in locations, but it’s generally accepted,” PPIC president Mark Baldassare told a Sacramento newspaper. “It’s really now a different political context for having discussions about where does California go with legalization.”

Receiving an overwhelming 60% support from both non-Hispanic Caucasians and African Americans, and a disappointing 36% from our residence hailing from south of the border. While California’s Asian population only managed to cultivate 48% support. Bridging the gap from 18 – 55+, recreational pot legalization currently stands at about 50%.

Lynne Lyman, the California state director of the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), a national non-profit that advocates for drug law reform, attributes the shift to a more informed public. “There’s a consensus that marijuana is less harmful than tobacco or alcohol,” she says.

The DPA director claims that if a ballot initiative legalizing recreational weed consumption were to pass in California in 2014 or 2016, the state would have to “develop a regulatory infrastructure from scratch,” but she wouldn’t foresee it being challenged in the way that, for example, Proposition 8 was challenged in the context of same-sex marriages. And for now, she says, the Department of Justice is allowing Washington and Colorado to implement their recent legalization of marijuana, though the DOJ could decide to change its approach in the future.

Ms. Lyman then concluded that marijuana legalization would result in “tremendous tax revenue” for the state; claiming that California could raise $1.4 billion annually by taxing and regulating marijuana sales.

Source: http://www.marijuana.com/news/2013/10/dope-new-poll-california-marijuana-legalization-support-continues-to-grows/

Romania Legalizes Medical Marijuana, Becomes 10th EU Country To Permit Therapeutic Use

Authorized medical patients in Romania may now use marijuana to allay their pain under new provisions in two of the country's narcotic laws. Romania legalized medical marijuana this week, becoming the 10th member of the European Union to do so, according to local reports.

Currently, possession of marijuana is outlawed throughout the country. Though recreational marijuana use is still be prohibited, derivatives of the plant can now be used to treat certain medical conditions, such as epilepsy, cancer and sclerosis.

Manufacturers will also be able to apply to the National Agency for Medicines for approval to market drugs that contain marijuana by-products like resins or plant fragments.

The Czech Republic, France and the Netherlands are among the countries in the European Union that have legalized the use of medical marijuana products.

Earlier this week, Switzerland relaxed its laws governing marijuana use by decriminalizing the drug. While marijuana is still not legal, authorities will not prosecute residents caught with 10 grams or less.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/05/romania-medical-marijuana-legal_n_4049658.html

Switzerland changes law to decriminalise marijuana possession

Anyone caught with up to 10 grams of the drug will be let off with a CHF100 (€81) fine and it will not go on their criminal record.

A change to the law in Switzerland has decriminalised marijuana, making possession of the drug a minor misdemeanour that will not go on a person’s criminal record.

From the start of this month, anyone found with up to 10 grams of the substance will be able to avoid all formal legal proceedings, instead paying an on-the-spot fine of CHF 100 (around €81).

The relaxation of the law comes after a lengthy process of debate and disagreement in the Swiss parliament, which finally approved the move a year ago.

According to reports in the state-run Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), the government in Switzerland says the move should bring unity to legal practices which until now varied wildly from one local system to another.

It is also expected to save money, avoiding the average of 30,000 cases for smoking marijuana that appear before the courts each year.

Corine Kibora, a spokeswoman for Addiction Switzerland, told SBC: “Police resources should be freed up to pursue drug trafficking.”

The changes are conversely designed to clamp down on cannabis smoking among children.

A report by Unicef into the welfare of children from 29 developed countries found that Switzerland had the second-highest rate of cannabis use amongst those surveyed, behind only Canada.

Around 24 per cent of all children aged 11, 13 and 15 reported having used cannabis in the last 12 months in the country.

And while the revision does not apply to anyone under 18, against whom legal proceedings can still be brought alongside judge-imposed fines, Ms Kibora explained there are new measures in place to better protect them.

Dealers selling to young people will be more strictly punished and children with problematic cannabis use should be able to get expert help more easily, she said.

Not everyone is happy with the change. Opponents say decriminalisation is happening too quickly and at odds with the will of the Swiss public, given the fact that five years ago they voted against a government proposal for legalisation, and four years before that parliament wouldn’t even debate the issue.

Others think that measures could have gone further – Jean-Félix Savary, secretary-general of Grea, a group studying drug addiction in French-speaking Switzerland, told SBC: “It's not a revolution – overall the approach remains hesitant and conservative. Considerable police resources will still be used to ensure this ban is respected.”

Switzerland’s approach to cannabis is considerably more lenient than the UK’s – where it is a Class B drug, possession of which is punishable by a maximum of five years in prison. In practice, official written warnings tend to be used for first and second offences.

But it is not the most relaxed in Europe - in 2001 Portugal became the first country in the world to decriminalise all drugs, as long as the amount possessed is no more than an estimated 10 days' supply.

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/switzerland-changes-law-to-decriminalise-marijuana-possession-8856308.html