Worldwide News

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.

Wells Fargo & Co., which bought Wachovia in 2008, has admitted in court that its unit failed to monitor and report suspected money laundering by narcotics traffickers -- including the cash used to buy four planes that shipped a total of 22 tons of cocaine.

Full story

Prescription drug related deaths soar in Florida

Press release from Drug Free America Foundation

According to the 2009 Medical Examiners report just released, drug related deaths in Florida account for 8,563 of the 171,300 total deaths reported.  The Florida Office of Drug Control responded to this report, stating that prescription drug abuse is one of our greatest public health threats.

Figures show that prescription drugs killed 2,488 Floridians last year, equivalent to approximately 7 deaths per day.  The drugs that caused the most deaths were Oxycodone, all Benzodiazepines, Methadone, Ethyl Alcohol, Cocaine, Morphine and Hydrocodone. Even more troubling is that Fort Lauderdale and St. Petersburg reported the largest numbers of fatalities.

Calvina Fay, executive director of Drug Free America Foundation and a Pinellas County resident, lent her expertise to this issue. Fay said, Florida has been battling prescription drug abuse because of the egregious prescribing practices of those who run these pay by cash pill mills dispensing dangerous and addictive medications. People in this county are sick and tired of watching others profit from the addiction of their loved ones. Recent legislation that regulates pain clinics and prescription drug monitoring hasn't come quickly enough.

Residents should also understand that this issue must be a joint public safety effort. Parents and caregivers need to be vigilant and lock their medications, as well as properly dispose of old medication.  In order to push back against this problem, everyone must be on board! concluded Fay.

Belgium takes on the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union on 1 July with a caretaker government in charge, following national elections which saw Flemish separatist leader Bart De Wever top the polls.

Belgian Presidency

An aide says Mike Antonovich is concerned about crime and the outlets' effect on residents and businesses. Last week, two L.A. pot store workers were killed.

Worried that unincorporated Los Angeles County could increasingly be favored by medical marijuana dispensaries excluded from other areas, Supervisor Mike Antonovich on Tuesday proposed a ban on the outlets, which would reverse a four-year-old county policy.

Aides to Antonovich noted that many cities in the county have banned dispensaries or imposed moratoriums and the city of Los Angeles is trying to shut down about 400. The supervisor's office has received at least a dozen inquiries from Los Angeles dispensaries looking to move to the county.

Full story

Russia‟s RIA Novosti (6/29) reports, “The current political crisis in Kyrgyzstan was caused by a power struggle between domestic drug clans,” according to Viktor Ivanov, the head of Russia‟s Federal Drug Control Service. Ivanov said in a radio interview, “Existing evidence clearly indicates that the former Kyrgyz leadership had a tight control over drug-trafficking in the country, which angered other [domestic] drug barons who believed they were being deprived of their share in the profits [from the illicit drug trade].” Ivanov “said drug barons were interested in having politicians at the reigns of power who would help them „stuff their pockets with money.‟”

Russia‟s RIA Novosti (6/29) reports, “As many as 500 Afghan drug laboratories may be involved in the production of drugs being trafficked to Russia,” according to Viktor Ivanov, the head of Russia‟s Federal Drug Control Service. Ivanov said in a radio interview, “Last year we handed to the United States a list of drug „brands‟ that point to laboratories located in Afghanistan. These 175 brands, laboratories deliver drugs to Russian territory.” Ivanov “said Russia is probing 25 Afghan and Central Asian drug barons who are believed to be behind much of Afghan drug traffic to Russia.”

Source: ONDCP News Briefing