Drug Watch International

DRUG WATCH WORLD NEWS

THE AGONY OF ECSTASY
By:  William M. Bennett, M.D.
Co-Chair, International Drug Strategy Institute
Northwest Renal Clinic, Medical Director, Solid Organ and Cellular Transplantation
Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital
Professor of Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology (Retired), Oregon Health Sciences University

Methylenedioxymethamphetamine or MDMA is commonly known as Ecstasy.  This drug, which was popularized in the 1960s and 1970s because of its ability to produce hallucinations and psychedelic effects, has become popular again as an adjunct to RAVE parties where individuals dance all night and undergo strenuous physical exertion seemingly without becoming tired.  Although there have been testimonials about incredible self-insights obtained under the influence of this drug, which has become extremely popular with high school and college age individuals, there are no medical studies to suggest it is beneficial for any medical or psychological purpose.  While it has many acute effects such as rapid heartbeat, jaw clenching, muscle aches, visual hallucinations, panic attacks, agitation, and a marked increase in body temperature, it has not been until recently that its long-term side effects have been recognized.  Animal experiments show that MDMA produces degeneration of those nerve cells that are responsible for serotonin release.  Serotonin is a potent neurotransmitter that has to do with behavior.  Low serotonin levels are associated with profound depression and inability to function.

In the United States, where rare or unusual reactions to therapeutic drugs trigger concern and panic among the public, particularly those interested in medical and environmental safety, it is ironic that Ecstasy, which produces predictable toxic side effects and has no known usefulness except for its psychoactive properties, is popularized by the media.  There have been campaigns against low-level lead exposure, sprays on apples and even fluoridation, yet the agony frequently suffered by Ecstasy users is largely unreported.  A review of the medical literature on Ecstasy, from 1999 to the present, more than 250 studies, revealed significant adverse events, including the following:

Table 1
Adverse effects from Ecstasy

Additionally, with little regard for the serious social problems of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV and HVC, youthful users say that Ecstasy enhances their sexual experiences.  In that regard, one study has associated prolonged penile erection (priapisim), under the influence of Ecstasy, with permanent loss of penile structure.

For pharmacologic agents in medicine, there is a risk-benefit ratio that makes a medication worth taking for its potential benefits.  In the case of MDMA, there is no benefit and the risks, as indicated above, can be catastrophic.

Parkinson’s disease is another serious side effect of Ecstasy use, which turns up years later.

Individuals who used the drug in the 1960s and 1970s and are now in their 40s and 50s are exhibiting signs of Parkinson's, a disease once found only in the elderly segment of the population.

DRUG WATCH EYE OPENERS — This is your brain on pot!
By:   Sheila Fuller

Drug Watch International Co-Founder Joan Bellm really shook them up at Cannabisnews.com with her letter to the editor of The Washington Times that was published on April 14, 2001.

The marijuana chatrooms were abuzz with insubstantial ramblings aimed at discrediting Ms. Bellm and everyone else who is trying to prevent drug abuse.  Some of the chatters claimed that they had been smoking marijuana for years, but it had not affected them in the least.  However, the comments made by the marijuana cyber-talking heads suggest otherwise.  Here’s a sampling:

One toker mentioned that many truckers had given up driving because of drug testing.  Another started his/her own business rather than submit to “piss” tests but finds that business is slow.  Apparently it’s more important to hold onto your drugs than your job.

Because of her letter to the editor, many of the pot.com contributors assumed that Joan Bellm lives in Washington, D.C. and is employed by The Washington Times.  Neither is true.  She lives in the Midwest and is a 100 percent volunteer drug preventionist.  For those drug chatters who plan to go into journalism, we feel we should point out that people who write letters to the editor are writing TO the newspaper, not FOR it.

An especially lathered up contributor made incoherent remarks suggesting that NASCAR racing was killing many more people than pot, and that marijuana eased racial tension and provided money for inner city teens.  Apparently potheads think it’s racist to believe that ghetto teens can earn money without selling drugs.  Of course, it’s exactly the opposite.  It’s racist to believe that city kids can’t earn money honestly.  They certainly can, and many do a very fine job of it.

Several chatters accused Ms. Bellm of having no science to back up her statements about the harms of marijuana and no courage to debate the issue.  While there were no studies mentioned by the potheads, Ms. Bellm can cite hundreds of published scientific studies to support her statements to The Washington Times.  Just read the “Briefs” section of the Drug Watch World News that she edits.  Furthermore, Drug Watch International Board Members and Delegates debate the issue constantly, orally and in print, in the United States, Europe, South America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.  Many pay their own way to fly themselves to venues for the purpose of debating and relish the opportunity!

Although we’ve tweaked the pot chatters in this column, there is a serious point to be made.  People who enter chatrooms to rant and rave about drugs are usually using drugs.  Because they often reveal their ages or their school levels, it’s clear that many of the pro-drug contributors are children who have bought into a message that the functioning, working establishment is evil, and the drug culture is their friend.  They are being drawn into an environment where their goals, their dreams, and their parents’ expectations for them will slowly die.  As a society, we need to help them see the light.  We can begin by exposing the lie of drug legalization as Joan Bellm did so eloquently in her letter to the editor of The Washington Times.

DRUGS IN FINLAND — THE HOMELAND OF FATHER CHRISTMAS
By:  Botho Simolin

Historically, drug use has been modest in Finland.  The first drug wave started in 1966 when police first confiscated cannabis products.  Finland’s chief physician, Leif Ginman, stated that “Marijuana is the gate to misery, and at a later stage the user will not be satisfied by this drug, and he/she will change over to true narcotic substances.”  At this time the THC content was still below one percent!  Dr. Ginman was the first in Finland to present the gateway theory, confirmed a few years later.  The law enforcement drug squad in Helsinki was founded in 1967.

During the 1970s, drug use grew rapidly in Scandinavian countries.  Although drug use in Finland increased rapidly until 1973, the situation then calmed down and even decreased.   The drop was due to a decrease in supply, an increase in price, and effective prevention amongst teenagers.  In 1982, the second drug wave began and has shown no signs of stabilizing.  We have very difficult years ahead.

1990 was a crucial year.  Organized crime took over drug trafficking in Finland.  Foreigners stepped into the picture — Russians followed by Estonians.  Amphetamine, Ecstasy, heroin, and hashish started flowing through Estonia.  Since 1995, all major drug offenses have been connected to the East-Mafia.  Presently the most active are Estonians.

Cannabis, mainly hashish, is the most common drug.  Amphetamine is a cleaNo. 2.  MDMA is becoming very popular.  Heroin use is growing, much of it strong, cheap white heroin from Russia.  St. Petersburg, with a much lower living standard and a population equal to all of Finland, is only 200 miles from Helsinki. 

A recent study (1996-2000) of Finnish schoolchildren between 14 and 18 years old revealed that four percent of the non-smoking youth v. 49 percent of daily cigarette smokers had experimented with hashish.  Of those who tried hash once, ten percent also tried another drug.  Of those who smoked hashish four times, 43 percent tried other drugs.

Excessive use of alcohol is a problem in Finland.  Of Finnish students who are drunk twice a month, 40 percent have illicit drug experiences.  Of those drunk every weekend, the figure climbs to 65 percent.  An essential feature in Finnish alcohol and drug abuse is mixing different drugs, the most popular being alcohol mixed with sedatives.  Even once pure amphetamine users now also consume heroin and sedatives. 

According to the latest figures, drug offenses grow 15 percent annually in Finland.  Last year 11,500 people were prosecuted for drug trafficking.  Although drug use is illegal, users have not been prosecuted unless they have been involved in drug trafficking, primarily due to limited law enforcement resources.  With a Finnish population of only 5.2 million people, there are an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 severe addicts.  Official statistics give the lower figure; the higher statistic is that of the chief physician of Jarvenpaa social hospital, specializing in taking care of drug abusers.  Experts claim that the growing trend of drug use will continue for another 10 years before it stabilizes. 

The treatment of addicts in Finland is not satisfactory.  The best results have been achieved in long-term residential drug-free treatment based on the Minnesota model; however, treatment generally consists only of a two-week detoxification with no further care of the patient.  Furthermore, authorities seem to prefer treatment of opiate addicts with drugs, i.e., buprenorphine and methadone. 

The financial depression of the 1990s led to reduced social benefits, impacting the care of drug addicts.  Last summer, a new treatment was introduced to all healthcare centers in Finland mandating the distribution of methadone to all opiate dependent patients.  However, doctors and nurses are not trained to handle these patients.  Finland has a long way to go before drug addiction is completely understood, even by the healthcare personnel.

There are several voluntary organizations in Finland working in the area of drug prevention.  Free From Drugs is the oldest and was founded in 1984 by a few parents who got tired of the official attitude of neglecting drug addicts.  In 1985, Free From Drugs was one of the founders of NMN, the Nordic Countries Against Drugs.  Volunteers are continuously trained, and Free From Drugs presently has over 500 people active in 22 cities around the country, making it the largest organization of its kind in Finland.  Our main activities include a helpline telephone service, preventive work, and counseling family members as well as substance abusers.  Free From Drugs lobbies for a restrictive drug policy in Finland.  The official drug policy in Finland is restrictive, but unfortunately there are signs that some of our authorities are considering the foolish liberal drug policies of the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Botho Simolin is a retired vice president in the chemical industry and has been active in voluntary work amongst the young for a longer period.  He has been vice chairman of Free From Drugs since 1997, and he acted as chairman for Nordic Countries Against Drugs from 1998 - 2000.

HARM REDUCTION GOES GLOBAL
By:  Sheila Fuller

By now Drug Watch World News readers are aware of the policy of Harm Reduction, an approach to the drug problem conceived by known drug users.  Publicly, harm reductionists proclaim that theirs is a more humane solution to the drug problem, while privately they admit that their ultimate goal is to legalize illicit drugs.

Under close scrutiny, the agenda of Harm Reduction exposes their goal of legalization because every item on it has been shown to encourage illicit drug use rather than discourage it.  Harm Reductionists would loosely recommend smoked marijuana as “medicine” for cancer and a variety of lesser ailments, a proposal that is, in fact, giving carcinogens to cancer patients and other sick people — not exactly humane.   In practice, so-called “medicinal” marijuana clubs are for the most part marijuana speakeasies, and the sale of marijuana seeds to grow your own medicine is largely a joke.

Harm Reductionists also advocate growing marijuana hemp (must be marijuana, can’t be sisal or jute) for a host of products nobody wants.  Another key agenda item is the establishment of needle giveaway programs to curb AIDS despite mounting evidence that the programs actually increase the incidence of the disease as well as other diseases such as Hepatitis.  Harm Reductionists’ heroin distribution programs, which were set up to control abusers’ drug use, are woefully out of control.

In addition, Harm Reductionists would like to release first-time drug offenders from prison, never mind that their crime was assault and robbery or trucking a ton of cocaine over the border.  Finally, there is the relatively new agenda item of teaching schoolchildren “responsible” use of drugs rather than no use.  Anyone with a teenager can give you a dozen reasons why teaching teens to use drugs “responsibly” is a dumb idea.

Although we are aware of the existence of Harm Reduction, how many of us truly comprehend the alarming reach of this growing movement and the reasons for its spread?

Perhaps the sheer number of those using drugs (including some people in important positions) explains the appeal of Harm Reduction’s foolhardy proposals.  Perhaps parents trying to shield their drug-using children from punishment and exposure are too quick to embrace legalization.  Or maybe money pouring into the movement from wealthy advocates has, through public relations and media campaigns, successfully spun the agenda to make it sound attractive.  Or Harm Reduction’s success could be fueled by apathy on the part of drug-free people who tune out when drug issues are discussed.  The movement’s support probably comes from a combination of the above, not to mention the promise of money to be made by legitimate businesses and taxing governments if illicit drugs were legal.

Whatever the reason, the Harm Reduction/drug legalization movement is now a global threat.  Its minions are swarming across Europe, North America, South America, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Asia and Africa.  Entertainers, politicians, health ministers, and bureaucrats, even some physicians and educators, energetically support Harm Reduction’s misguided agenda.  All are working to change attitudes, and those who can are pushing to alter law and policy as well.

Musicians toke, shoot up heroin, and sing songs encouraging drug use.  Rave organizers hire bands, and the lax attitudes facilitate drug selling and Ecstasy use.  Pundits debate the efficacy of Harm Reduction, and moviemakers glamorize drug use or, at best, tell us to accept it because there’s nothing we can do about it.  Politicians introduce bills to decriminalize marijuana, allow farmers to grow hemp, and establish heroin distribution programs.  Public health personnel lobby for “medical” marijuana research and needle giveaway programs.  Some doctors recommend marijuana cigarettes for the smallest complaints, and educators have actually been caught doing drugs with students and in some cases selling to students.

Harm Reductionists like to tell us that the drug war is lost.  The truth is that in the decade of the 1990s, people in many places stopped fighting and capitulated to the drug culture. The promise of an easier and better way to stop the spread of drug addiction was so seductive that people failed to notice that the concept was half-baked.  The truth is that Harm Reduction has created uninhabitable and ungovernable city neighborhoods where crime, trafficking, disease, and squalor rule and encroach on the lives of law-abiding residents. 

The worst consequence of the flawed Harm Reduction model is that it has simultaneously increased the availability of illicit drugs while decreasing the perception of harm of drug use, thus doubling use among children. Convinced that the fuss over drug abuse is without substance and buoyed by easy access, 1990s youth began toking, sniffing, shooting up, and popping pills at twice the rate that they had been in the 1980s.   This increase was true from Los Angeles to Boston to Amsterdam to Sydney to Honolulu to Rio and many points in between.  

The cover article of this newsletter demonstrates the inroads Harm Reduction has made in Finland.  In future articles, Drug Watch World News will chronicle Harm Reduction’s influence in countries around the globe.

Sheila Fuller is the author of “The Parents’ Pipeline Guide.”  She is past President of The Greenwich, Conn. Council on Youth and Drugs, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) representative to the United Nations, and presently is a Drug Watch International delegate.  She is an editor of Drug Watch World News and writes its Eye-Openers column.  

IRELAND'S DRUG EPIDEMIC
By:  Grainne Kenny, Drug Watch International Delegate from Ireland

There is an old saying in Ireland, “When England sneezes, Ireland catches cold,” proven true by our current drug epidemic.  In the 1950s, the British government introduced Europe's first “Harm Reduction” initiative, the “medicalisation” of heroin use, which failed and was later overturned.

At that time, Ireland's economy was at an all-time low.  Young people from socially deprived backgrounds, mostly early school leavers with no skills and little prospect of employment, sought a better life in England.  Streetwise emigrants advised them to register as heroin addicts and receive a doctor’s prescription for heroin pills that could be sold for an easy profit.  Gradually, people began returning to Ireland and selling their drugs in the tenement complexes in Dublin's inner city.  Thus, Ireland became infected with England’s drug epidemic.

Today, there is not a city, town, or village that has not been affected by drugs.  Heroin is mainly a Dublin phenomenon, although this drug is speedily taking hold across the country.  Our drug-using population is getting younger and younger.  Kids as young as 12 have been known to try heroin in the socially deprived parts of Dublin.  According to the European Drug Monitoring Centre in Lisbon, Ireland and England are the top two countries in Europe for use of alcohol, cannabis, and Ecstasy among 15- and 16-year-olds – 40 percent compared to about five percent in Portugal and Finland.  The Netherlands has the third-highest use.

Until the mid-1980s, Irish politicians took little interest in drugs.  They believed that drug issues would not gain votes, because people from socially deprived areas didn't vote.  It was only when young people began to die, and HIV and AIDS took hold, that parents from those deprived places took to the streets and demanded action.

Now, drugs top every political party's agenda.  Legalisation or decriminalisation is firmly ruled out, but worryingly “Harm Reduction” is very evident, especially along the east coast, which incorporates Ireland's capital city, Dublin.  Needle exchange and methadone clinics have become a priority for Health Board officials, who look to the Dutch for guidance.

Methadone handout buses have been introduced in Dublin that, according to officials, are supposed to “engage” with drug addicts, as if a drug addict will be enticed to stop using drugs if drugs are offered freely.  “Safe dancing” is also a goal, with officials visiting Holland and the United Kingdom.  There is little evidence that the restrictive drug policies of America or Sweden are of any interest.

Many communities that previously called for methadone giveaways now reject them and are demanding more comprehensive treatment. Neighbourhoods are refusing to allow methadone clinics in their areas because of the robberies and the fear of used needles.  In fact, the problem of syringes being used as weapons in robberies has become so serious that the Minister for Justice introduced a law making it a charge of attempted murder to attack a person with a syringe.  However, the government did not consider outlawing these dangerous weapons.

Cannabis and Ecstasy are the most abused drugs (after alcohol) throughout Ireland, and the use of smokeable heroin is rife among young people.  Many young cannabis and Ecstasy addicts use cocaine to reach that initial high and smoke heroin to come back down.  Abstinence-based treatment is very much preferred, and these youth should not be exposed to methadone clinics, but realistically there is little else.  Parents are advised to seek family protection orders through the courts in order to force the state to intervene, a very tough course of action.  The Swedish Model of care, although sadly in decline through political inertia, is the one to which all countries should aspire. 

Ireland’s pro-legalisation lobby is very vocal, among them a high-profile Church-sponsored treatment centre.  This clinic asserts that they would prefer to see people drug free, but they are calling for injecting rooms and heroin maintenance.  "Permit needles for injectors who are under 18 years" is their cry.  They point to the questionable Swiss heroin trials and the liberal Dutch drug policies as models of success.  Yet the World Federation of Therapeutic Communities accepts them as members.

There is little evidence of drug education in our schools.  Real prevention and early intervention programs are not in evidence.

Despite excellent work by police and customs, drugs are cheap and easy to obtain.  Abuse is on the increase among monied 20 and older people who are looking for kicks.  While crack is not yet a problem, it is beginning to appear, and polyabuse is common.

The official line is that heroin use is dropping, and new government strategies are proclaimed.  A lot of money is being poured into the drug industry, and so-called experts are making good careers for themselves by trying to control addiction instead of preventing or treating it.

The present government is sincere in its approach, but its naivety shows through in its new seven-year plan that intends to give drug abusers a range of options in each Health Board Area by 2002. 

Surely the only option for a drug abuser is to become drug free.

Grainne Kenny was instrumental in the founding of the Irish National Federation of Community Action on Drugs in 1978 and served as chairman until 1985.  She was appointed to the Irish Government’s Coordinating Committee on Drugs, and she has served as patron of Body Positive, an HIV and AIDS Support Group. She is the International President of EURAD (Europe Against Drugs), an independent voluntary organisation without religious or political affiliations.  EURAD has consultative status with the Council of Europe and is a member of the Non-Governmental Organizations Committee on Narcotics in Vienna.  Among her International Honours are the Woman of Europe Award, Médaille du Maire de Strasbourg, Médaille du Maire de Paris, Swedish Parent' s Award, and the Dublin Lord Mayor's Award.

Notice of Denial of Petition to Reschedule Marijuana
Re:  Federal Register, Vol. 66, No. 75/Wednesday, April 18, 2001/Notices

In 1995, the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration was petitioned by John Gettman of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a pro marijuana lobby group).  The petition was to reschedule marijuana, including some of its constituents, from a schedule I to schedule III drug.^(*)  The petition was referred to Health & Human Services (HHS) for a scientific and medical evaluation and a scheduling recommendation.    The report stated that, in making such a determination, the Administrator must consider eight factors:

1. The drug’s actual or relative potential for abuse;
2. Scientific evidence of its pharmacological effect, if known;
3. The state of current scientific knowledge regarding the drug;
4. Its history and current pattern of abuse;
5. The scope, duration, and significance of abuse;
6. What, if any, risk there is to the public health;
7. The drug’s psychic or physiological dependence liability; and
8. Whether the drug is an immediate precursor of a substance already controlled under the Controlled Substance Act.

In the Administrator’s March 20, 2001, response to Gettman, which addressed only marijuana, Gettman was advised that “Based on the HHS evaluation and all other relevant data, DEA has concluded that there is no substantial evidence that marijuana should be removed from Schedule I,” and his petition was denied.

The full 38-page report, which includes more than 250 references, can be accessed on the Internet at: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/pdf/fedreg041801.pdf

PARENTS MUST LEARN THE FACTS!
By:  Robert B. Charles

Some parents talk to their kids about drugs, but most don’t.  Most don’t have the information, and some who do are conflicted by their own drug use.  One recent survey indicated that only 25% of parents speak to their kids much about drugs. 

Last year, 15,973 kids lost their lives to drugs, a record.  That’s just overdoses.  An overdose is a lung edema that can involve bleeding from every orifice of the body. 

The truth is stark… In the past 10 years, heroin purity levels nationwide have risen from between 4 and ten percent to between 70 and 90 percent, according to the DEA.  Using heroin is not like falling asleep in a poppy field.  Cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana purities have all spiked.  Marijuana can be up to 25 times more pure than it was in the late 1970s and is often laced with PCP.  Crack use, which creates an intense 20-minute high, often resulting in violent behavior, is down.  But meth use, which creates a similarly violent ten-hour high, is up.

A TIME Magazine article that ran on June 5, 2000, minimized the risks of Ecstasy.  Rather ironically, that same weekend, I got a call from a midwestern sheriff.  He apologized for not calling back sooner.  He explained that he’d been pulling an 18-year-old girl out of her car after she had taken three Ecstasy tablets.  She had overdosed.  She was dead.

These aren’t fun facts.  But they are real.  Just like the fact that more than 300 metric tons of cocaine was shipped into the United States from Mexico last year, along with 12 metric tons of heroin and 150 metric tons of methamphetamine.

Too often, parents don’t know these facts, or how at-risk their own kids really are.  There was recently an explosion of LSD in a major Indiana city.   The number of hits seized in a single year jumped from double digits to more than a thousand.   And I asked, shortly after that, if the DEA would show us the LSD stamps that were being seized nationwide.  So they did.  Do you know what they had on them, in bright colors?  The Lion King and Mickey Mouse.   I don’t think the drug traffickers are marketing the Lion King to 16-year-olds!    

Is it any wonder, then, that nearly 80 percent of kids see drugs as the main threat to their educational environment?  Is it any wonder that kids are hungry for good information?   And that parents need it just as badly as kids?

We know that if we can reach these kids early, and if there is a swell in parental knowledge and involvement, we can drive the drug use numbers down.  And if they fall, so will the emergency-room incidents, which hit a record last year — so will addiction health care costs, drug-related accidents and gun shot wounds, crack baby care, AIDs, HIV, the impact on education, worker productivity, and the family.

So if this is the unspoken reality, what’s the answer?  I used to think that the biggest part of it was stopping the rising supply, and that’s certainly still one part of the equation.  But the truth is that drug prevention information needs to go into the schools, the homes, the hands of parents, teachers, employers, and — ultimately — kids.

Robert B. Charles was Chief Counsel to the U.S. House National Security Subcommittee (1995-1999), chief staffer to Speaker Hastert’s Task Force on a Drug Free America (1997-1999), teaches at Harvard University and is President of Direct Impact, L.L.C.

SUPREME COURT RULES:  Marijuana Is Not Medicine
By:  Representative Bob Barr

People must quit confusing the weed marijuana with THC, one of its chemicals that is already available by prescription.  Marijuana is an illicit psychoactive drug with over 350 different chemicals.  On May 14, 2001, the U. S. Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, voted that marijuana has no currently accepted medical use at all, and marijuana products may not be given or sold as medicine.  The significance of this ruling for our future and for our children cannot be overstated.

Congressman Bob Barr stated, “Directly defying our efforts as a Congress and a nation, a small group of well-funded activists engaged in deceptive, back-door, efforts to legalize drugs that are already banned under federal law. Proponents hide behind the myth of the so-called “medical” use of marijuana, despite the fact that there is no scientific proof that this mind-altering substance provides any real medical relief.

“From a purely political standpoint, the medicinal strategy has worked rather well for the legalizers. Backed by a handful of wealthy patrons like George Soros, in a few short years legalization advocates have transformed themselves from socially unacceptable pariahs into the darlings of the national media.

“Increasingly, however, they have abandoned even this pretense, and made clear that their goal is the legalization or decriminalization of narcotic drugs. One activist called it the ‘leaky bucket strategy ..... Legalize it in one area, and sooner or later it will trickle down into the others.’ The bucket is now leaking faster than ever.

“A lackadaisical attitude toward America's drug war cannot be tolerated because our children will be the real victims. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association last year, non-drug users who lived in households where drugs, including marijuana, are used are 11 times as likely to be killed as those living in drug-free households. …

“Marijuana was, and still is, a gateway drug; a dangerous mind-altering substance that leads to abuse of other drugs like heroin, LSD, cocaine, and most recently, Ecstasy, and similar so-called "designer drugs."  …  Ecstasy is a dangerous drug that can be lethal. …

All of us must work together and educate our young people of the dangers of "designer drugs." That begins by having a clear and unequivocal message that drug use is wrong.”

Congressman Barr’s statements are excerpts from his article of April 24, 2001, appearing at:
BB Website: http://hillsource.house.gov/barr/default.asp
Release Date: Washington, April 24, 2001

TRAFFIC — A MOVIE
By:  Eleaner Scott

The film “Traffic” is a movie about international drug trafficking, the tragedy of drug use and addiction, and the war on drugs. In a New York Times article, Academy and Golden Globe Award screenwriter, Stephen Gaghan, said that much of the screenplay came from his own real-life addiction.

A Mexican cartel in the movie is representative of the drug cartels throughout the world, illustrating the challenge and dangers of interdiction efforts to end the illegal drug trade. 

Real-life scenarios were portrayed in “Traffic,” a side of life some may not want to admit exists.  One of the most startling aspects of the film is the depiction of drug use.  Michael Douglas plays the recently appointed federal drug czar, who soon discovers his own 16-year-old daughter, a straight "A" honor student, has progressed from social drinking to marijuana, cocaine, and heroin.  Michael Douglas' character says, "It's hard to fight a war when the enemy is your own family."  His daughter was not necessarily the enemy, but a pawn of the enemy.  “Traffic” shows how drugs can impact lives regardless of social status.

This movie did get people's attention and create an awareness of the true reality of the drug crisis in the world today.  Some viewers saw the movie as hopeful, showing options and solutions, while many viewers said the movie didn't project hope that we could win the war on drugs.  People also may not want to admit the drug war is working, but drug prevention efforts do make a difference, and drug usage will escalate if such efforts don't continue.  Efforts to legalize drugs and harm reduction must be countered worldwide. 

Concerned parents and communities are trying to overcome the drug problem and its resulting impact on children.  There are parents who want to become educated and informed, while others deny their child could be using drugs or don't believe drugs are harmful.  In spite of the obstacles to touching and saving every child, anti-drug advocates are not going to throw up their hands and stop trying to make a difference.

To reduce the demand for illegal drugs, parents don't need to take their children to see “Traffic”; they need to be directly involved in their child's life.   All parts of the community need to get involved so our children get the same "no drug use" message in every aspect of their lives.  The frustration is with those who don't do their part in reducing demand by guiding children and families away from destroying their lives.  Rather than encourage our children to play in traffic, we put up directional signs and give them the information they need to play safely and cross streets safely.  Why would we encourage them to take drugs rather than teach them a healthy lifestyle?

(This article is a compilation of the impact, reactions, and implications for drug prevention by the CAAT community after viewing the movie “Traffic.”)

Eleaner Scott is a founder of Westminster Area Community Awareness Action Team (CAAT) in 1981 and is currently vice president.  The group has received the Colorado Governor's Outstanding Parent Program Award.  Eleaner is past recipient of Westminster Woman of the Year for community anti-drug efforts.  She is a member of Coloradans Against Legalizing Marijuana and is a Colorado delegate to Drug Watch International.

VIOLENCE TO YOUR CHILD
By:  Malcolm "Cap" Beyer

Most parents don't believe that their child is using drugs until the child is hooked. That is particularly true of school-age children. And yet, it is parents who bear the primary responsibility for the safety of their child and also for their actions. The danger to non-drug-using children by those students who use drugs cannot be overestimated. Drug-using children also interfere with education, the primary issue after child safety.

Consider the problems caused by drug-using children:
1. Violence to other children
2. Violence to teachers
3. Classroom disruption
4. Diversion of teacher from the task of teaching
5. Lowered teacher time with non-using students
6. Danger from intoxicated teenage drivers
7. Many good teachers move (at lower pay) to private schools, where discipline is maintained
8. Danger in athletics and shop
9. Danger in Driver's Education
10. Danger of providing free drugs to your child

Remember that we only got tough on smoking when nonsmokers realized that smokers were affecting them.   It is time for us to realize the danger to non-drug-using children caused by those children who use drugs. It's time to propose and enforce meaningful policies in our schools against any use of an illicit drug.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS BRIEFS
(2^nd  Quarter 2001)

References available on request.  Send self-addressed, stamped envelope to:
Drug Watch World News * P.O. Box 318 * Carlinville, Illinois  62626

        Since 1999, more than 250 scientific papers have been published on Ecstasy (MDMA) documenting that it is an extremely dangerous drug.  (PubMed, NCBI National Library of Medicine, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, 5/15/01)

        The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has recently characterized the increasing use of Ecstasy and other synthetic or “club drugs” as quickly becoming one of the most significant law enforcement and social issues facing our nation today. (William R. Walluks, Chief, Strategic Intelligence Section, Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Wisconsin Department of Justice.)

        Researchers told the British Psychological Society conference in Glasgow that Ecstasy, thought to be taken by half a million people a week, has been found to damage the part of the brain that allows people to remember what they have to do next.  In some ways, users’ behaviour mimics the forgetfulness of old age or early dementia.  (Ecstasy-Electronic Telegraph Today, March 29, 2001)

        The U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy conducts annual interviews with law enforcement officials, epidemiologists, ethnographers, and treatment providers from selected sites.  Ecstasy was reported as the most available club drug by 90 percent of the respondents, and more than 80 percent reported that Ecstasy availability had increased between 1999 and 2000. (CESAR Fax, University of Maryland, 4/30/01)

        GHB and MDMA [Ecstasy] emergency department visits in the United States have increased significantly since 1994, according to data from the Drug Abuse Warning Network. (CESAR Fax, 4/23/01)

        Some Manhattan nightclubs have hired private ambulance companies to wait outside and to swiftly take revelers who overdose on drugs to hospital emergency rooms, bypassing the 911 system and the attention of the police. (New York Times, 4/20/01)

        A U.S. government survey released in early 2001 documented a 46 percent rise in past-year Ecstasy use among high school seniors.  Dr. Donald Vereen, deputy director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, told a Senate committee on Capitol Hill, “The sale and use of club drugs has expanded from nightclubs and raves to high schools, the streets, neighborhoods, and open venues.” (Vereen presentation to Senate, 3/28/01: DrugAlert, 4/2/01)

        A recent study co-authored by Konstantine Zakzanis, Ph.D., a professor with the University of Toronto’s Division of Life Sciences, found that long-term users of Ecstasy experience memory loss or impairment. (“Neurology,” the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology, 4/10/01)

        Greater frequency of use of marijuana was found to be associated with greater likelihood to commit weapons offenses, and this association was not found for any of the other drugs, except for alcohol.  Marijuana use was also found associated with the commission of attempted homicide/reckless endangerment offenses.  (Journal of Addictive Diseases, Vol 20, No 1, 2001, http://www.asam.org/jol/journal.htm)

        The Institute of Medicine report released in 1999 warned that smoke from the marijuana plant can make lungs more vulnerable to respiratory disease and cause cellular changes that can lead to cancer.  In Oxford, Miss., Dr. Mahmoud ElSohly is working on a THC suppository made from twice-purified derivatives of plants grown for authorized federal trials.  The suppository effectively treats nausea.  ElSohly’s intention is to devise a delivery method that meets industry standards and delivers a consistent, effective dose without side effects.  (New York Daily News, 5/8/01)

        Two new studies have linked prenatal tobacco exposure to negative behavior in toddlers and smoking experimentation by pre-adolescents.  Previous studies have supported a link between prenatal smoking exposure and behavioral problems in later childhood and adolescence. (NIDA Notes, March 2001)

        A recent study found evidence that combining disulfiram, a medication long used to treat alcohol addiction, with buprenorphine, a new opiate-addiction treatment medication awaiting approval by the FDA, can reduce cocaine abuse among the more than 50 percent of heroin-addicted individuals who also use cocaine.  Dr. Richard Schottenfeld of Yale University School of Medicine has begun enrolling patients in a clinical trial that is large enough to establish more definitively than previous studies whether disulfiram reduces cocaine abuse in opiate-addicted patients being treated with buprenorphine. (NIDA Notes, March 2001)

        In Sweden, a country with restrictive drug laws, public opinion polls show that 95 percent of the Swedish people demand even tougher measures against drug abuse.  Participants at the annual conference of the National Swedish Parents Anti-Narcotic Association agreed that the fight against drugs must be intensified.  (Gunilla Berg, President, National Swedish Parents Anti-Narcotic Association, Press Release, May 28, 2001)

        Some nutritional supplements on the commercial market are made with hemp byproducts, such as hemp seeds and hemp seed oil.  The ingestion of hemp seed oil or products made with hemp seed oil is now prohibited by Air Force Instruction 44-121, “Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment (ADAPT) Program.”  Failure to comply with this prohibition is a violation of Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.  Violation automatically places the member’s continued service in jeopardy. (Capt. Sean McKenna, Air Force Space Command Public Affairs, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., 4/17/01)

        Seventy percent of abused children come from homes where there is substance abuse. (Bill O’Reilly, The O’Reilly Factor, 5/20/01)

        The average amount of cannabis per incarceration in U.S. jails is 4,500 pounds; less than one in 1,000 are jailed for possession, including repeat offenders. (Peterson R E. “Drug Enforcement Works.” PAE Consultants. 1997.  Peter Stoker, Director, National Drug Prevention Alliance)  www.drugprevent.org.uk

        The Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine (CSAM), representing doctors across Canada specializing in treating marijuana, alcohol, and other addictions, released a statement 4/10/01 expressing concerns about federal Health Minister Allan Rock’s regulations allowing terminal patients, people with AIDS, multiple sclerosis, spinal-cord injuries, epilepsy, severe arthritis, and other serious conditions to use the drug if it eases their symptoms.  The society stated that there are, in each disease cited in the regulations, alternative therapies; that the regulations place most physicians in Canada in a serious ethical quandary; that no scientific literature supports the use of smoking marijuana as a method of delivering the active ingredients in the treatment of illness; and that there are significant ill effects for some users of cannabis.  The society’s policy states “that, overall there is more risk than benefit in the use of cannabis products for medicinal purposes.”   Dr. Bill Campbell, president of CSAM, said that smoking marijuana has not met the rigorous criteria required before a drug can be considered both safe and therapeutic. (Robert Walker, Calgary Herald, http://www.calgaryherald.com/ , 4/12/01)

        The respected University of St. Petersburg, Russia, together with European Cities Against Drugs (ECAD), will start drug education for civil servants, who are responsible for local drug political programmes. (ECAD newsletter, 3/15/01)

        Mayor Sakkers of Heerlen, Members of Parliament for PvdA and CDA are in favour of compulsory measures for drug addicts.  PvdA Member of Parliament, Van Heemst, was quoted as saying, “Self-determination is a wasted right for addicts as their own will does not function properly. … Our respect for privacy has gone too far.” (ECAD newsletter, 3/15/01)

        A recent study conducted by Dr. Alex H. Kral, from the University of California at San Francisco, and colleagues found that “researchers commonly concentrate on injection-related risk factors for [HIV seroconversion] and ignore sexual risk.”  The investigators note that the results of their study “show that the main risk factors for injection drug users are sexual behaviors.” (Lancet 2001;357:1397-1401)

        Australia has approved a facility for an estimated 150-200 injections of drugs every day.  The facility contains eight stainless steel cubicles, with two seats each, allowing 16 people to inject at any one time.  To facilitate drug use, drug addicts will be given a clean syringe, a spoon, water, and a swab to inject their drug.   (DrugAlert, 4/7/01)

        On a genetic level, Chinese people appear to be more susceptible to heroin addiction than Caucasians, African-Americans, and Hispanics, according to recent research from Hong Kong. (Dr. Alfreda Stadlin of the Dept. of Anatomy, Chinese University, Hong Kong, Reuters Health interview: DrugAlert, 4/2/01)

        Important differences have been identified between men and women in terms of how drug use begins, how it progresses, and effective methods of treatment.  Pharmacists and other health care professionals need to understand gender differences in the etiology and management of drug abuse and dependency and to develop the capacity to recognize and refer women who may be abusing or dependent on drugs. (J Am Pharm Assoc 41(1):78-90, 2001)

FROM THE DESK OF WAYNE ROQUES
President, Drug Watch International

DRUG USE: A VICTIMLESS CRIME?

One of the core tenets of the drug culture holds that drug use is a victimless crime, that whatever harm results from drug use accrues only to the user, and that no punishment should be meted out to the users.  This is a myopic view of the consequences of drug use.

The victims of drug users are myriad.  The harm and expense resulting from an adolescent choosing to use drugs fall heavily on their families.  Many studies associate adolescent drug use with unsafe sexual and criminal behavior, carrying weapons, reduced scholastic achievement, and a litany of other negatives consequences.

Drug use is a significant factor in the size of the prison population in the United States.  A 1998 study conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse found that of the 1.7 million prisoners held in U.S. prisons in 1996, 1.4 million were there for drug-related crime, the vast majority of whom had committed crimes while under the influence of drugs, or for trafficking or dealing illegal drugs.

Alcohol is legal, and dealing with crimes committed by those under its influence is the single most expensive expenditure of law enforcement.  It is estimated that from seven to 10 times as many Americans use alcohol as use illegal drugs.  If as many people were using marijuana and other illegal drugs as are using alcohol, the current rate of crime would pale by comparison.

An August 1997 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) indicated that non-drug using people who live with illegal drug users have an 11-times greater chance of being the victim of a homicide than if they lived in a drug free home (it was 1.8 times greater for homes with alcohol use}.  A May 1997 study of domestic violence reported in JAMA found that 92 percent of the assailants in the study reported using alcohol or other drugs on the day of the assault.

Studies have found that children are damaged by pre-natal drug use.  They are often abandoned, neglected, or physically, sexually, and psychologically abused by drug users.  Other studies correlate drug use with automobile accidents.  Workplace studies show that drug users are only two-thirds as productive as nonusers, have increased workplace accidents and worker's compensation claims, greater absenteeism and tardiness, thefts, and damaged equipment.

A recent report by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, stated, "Research has long shown that the abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs is the single most serious health problem in the United States, straining the health care system, burdening the economy, and contributing to the health problems and deaths of millions of Americans every year.  Today, substance abuse causes more deaths, illnesses, and disabilities than any other preventable health condition."

Victimless crime indeed! It is unlikely that there is a person in the United States that has not been negatively affected by the choice of some of their fellow citizens to use drugs.

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