Worldwide News

A recent study, The Involvement of Marijuana in California Fatal Motor Vehicle Crashes 1998-2008, by Al Crancer Jr. a retired research analyst for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has found that that passage of the upcoming California initiative this November "TC2010" as it is commonly known might triple the amount of traffic deaths of marijuana related deaths on California highways. No one is looking at the effect of the passage of this initiative on traffic deaths and injury, said Al Crancer, Jr. Everyone is focusing on the tax revenue benefit to the state of California.

Have you ever wondered how many American teenagers use alcohol and illicit drugs on an average day?

A new report from SAMHSA, A Day in the Life of American Adolescents: Substance Use Facts Update, presents information about teens’ use of cigarettes, alcohol, and illicit drugs “on an average day,” including their use of these substances for the first time.

Experts call new strategies on AIDS prevention ineffective!

Immediate Release

St. Petersburg, FL (07/21/10) – On Tuesday, July 20^th 2010, internationally recognized anti-drug experts from every region of the world united to oppose a set of dangerous unproven global strategies recommended in the Vienna Declaration.

The declaration is based on three false premises: 1) that the criminalization of illegal drug use fuels the HIV/AIDS epidemic, 2) that criminal justice and health promotion are conflicting approaches to drug policy, and 3) that the major costs of illegal drug use are those generated by the criminal justice system.

This document was released in anticipation of the 18^th International AIDS Conference and has been under scrutiny by several non-governmental organizations.

Calvina Fay, Executive Director of Drug Free America Foundation says, There is no ‘reasonable evidence’ that supports the strategies outlined in the Vienna Declaration. Further, we should reject ineffective harm reduction tactics that are not based on scientific evidence while accepting drug use and creating an illusion that drugs can be used safely or responsibly. Such ill-conceived schemes foster the misunderstanding that drug use itself is not harmful and increases addiction.

Many of the experts who opposed the Vienna Declaration know from research and practical experience that the optimal way to truly beat addiction, prevent the spread of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, and prevent drug-related harm are effective strategies that target drug use and include prevention, education, treatment and law enforcement efforts and do not trade one for the other.

The best foundation for prevention is policy. We know from experience that a balanced and restrictive drug policy is effective in keeping drug use at low levels. Since drug utilization in itself is an important risk factor for being infected by HIV, it is good AIDS-prevention to preclude illicit drug use. We must always strive to protect young people from getting involved with illegal drugs, says Sven-Olov Carlsson, International President, World Federation Against Drugs.

To view the full joint statement issued opposing the Vienna Declaration, please visit www.ungassdrugs.org. If you would like to conduct an interview with Ms. Fay, Mr. Carlsson and/or other drug policy and prevention experts on this statement, please contact Lana Beck, Director of Communications with Drug Free America Foundation, Inc. at 727-828-0211 or 727-403-7571.

The World Federation Against Drugs (www.wfad.se) is a multilateral community of non-governmental organizations and individuals. Founded in 2009, the aim of WFAD is to work for a drug-free world. Drug Free America Foundation (www.dfaf.org) is a national and international nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting drug use, drug addiction and drug trafficking and to promoting effective sound drug policies, education and prevention. Drug Free America Foundation is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

Several international organisations, including WFAD, have issued a Joint Statement in opposition to the Vienna Declaration today.

The government's chief drugs adviser says the UK is "floundering" in its attempts to control the online mephedrone market, BBC reports.

According to Yves Bot, senior adviser to the European Court of Justice, the Netherlands can ban over-the-counter sales of marijuana in Dutch so called "coffee shops" to nonresidents in order to end drugs tourism from Belgium, France, Germany and other countries.

A decision by the European Court of Justice is expected soon.

California´s senior senator, Dianne Feinstein, now supports the campaign to defeat marijuana legalisation in California.

In a statement, published on the Public Safety First website, Feinstein says Proposition 19 is simply a jumbled legal nightmare that will make our highways, our workplaces and our communities less safe. A recently released report from the RAND Corporation, [Assessing How Marijuana Legalization in California Could Influence Marijuana Consumption and Public Budgets] noted that if Proposition 19 passes, the only thing that would be certain is drug use would go up and the State of California would run afoul of Federal law and risk losing federal funding. In addition, there are too many unknown factors related to law enforcement and public safety. I urge voters to VOTE NO on Proposition 19 this November.

According to Los Angeles Times most of the California´s top elected officials and candidates for statewide office, from both major parties, are against the initiative to legalise marijuana.

Dave Evans, special advisor to WFAD, debated so called “medical” marijuana with Senator Nicholas Scutari on Fox News.

When you have a pig and dress it up it is still a pig, Evans said. [“Medical” marijuana] has not been proven to be a safe and effective medicine.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced the appointment of Yuri Fedotov (Russian Federation) as the new Executive Director of UNODC.

He will succeed Antonio Maria Costa in that position and as Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV). The Secretary-General is grateful to Mr. Costa for the services he has rendered to the Organization and for his commitment in leading UNODC since 2002.

Mr. Fedotov brings a wealth of senior-level experience to his new function, being well-informed regarding issues on the UNODC agenda: rule of law; policy and trend analysis; prevention; treatment and reintegration; and alternative development. UNODC is a global leader in the fight against illicit drugs and international crime, mandated to assist Member States in their struggles against illicit drugs, crime and terrorism.

Currently the Russian Federation's Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Mr. Fedotov has previously served as Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, having joined the diplomatic service in 1971.

Mr. Fedotov is a Merited Member of the Diplomatic Service, and has also been awarded the Order of Friendship and the Certificate of Appreciation by the President of the Russian Federation.

Born in 1947, he graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. He is married and has a son and a daughter.

In the latest edition of the Journal of Global Drug Policy and Practice, Dr. Andrea Barthwell examines the findings of the body of research supported by the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the University of California San Diego and raises issues about the adequacy of the data and findings to support conclusions drawn from the studies.

There is the need for a robust body of data to support all cannabis-based products, stated Dr. Barthwell, and these studies can be used to pursue the next stages of research. However, the safety and efficacy data from the CMCR studies do not constitute 'reasonable evidence' that smoked cannabis is a 'promising treatment' for certain painful conditions; neither does it meaningfully inform the debate over whether cannabis should be rescheduled by the DEA.

Dr. Eric Voth, Chairman of the Institute on Global Drug Policy, noted that this review of the CMCR report contributes greatly to our understanding about the controversy of smoked marijuana as medicine. Dr. Barthwell's conclusions should be noted not only by medical professionals but also by legislators and voters to instruct their decisions about the drug.

The Journal of Global Drug Policy and Practice, a joint effort of the Institute on Global Drug Policy and the International Scientific and Medical Forum on Drug Abuse, is an international, open access, peer-reviewed, online journal with the goal of bridging the information gap on drug policy issues between the medical/scientific community, policymakers and the concerned lay public. Edited by Eric A. Voth, MD, FACP and David A. Gross, MD, DFAPA, the intended readership includes clinicians, clinical researchers, policymakers, prevention specialists and the interested public.