The leafy plant khat, which acts as a stimulant when chewed, is about to become a banned class C drug in the UK. But how big a problem is it and why are ministers making it illegal?

It could be a scene from a market in Mogadishu. Dozens of Somali men are throwing cardboard boxes at each other across a dusty warehouse floor.

Money is exchanging hands amid all the noise and hustle. In fact, this is happening on an industrial estate near London Heathrow and by Tuesday all this activity will be illegal.

That is because of what is inside the boxes that have just been delivered to this depot.

It is a plant called khat or miraa or - more mystically - "Tea of the Arabs". Users chew the bitter leaves of this natural stimulant. It is supposed to make them more alert and raise energy levels, which is why supporters of khat say it is as harmless as coffee or tea.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

Khat ban: Why is it being made illegal?

Health professionals began distributing clean needles to heroin addicts in five Colombian cities, after the launch of a new program to reduce the spread of HIV and Hepatitis.

The nationwide program began on the streets of Medellin, Bogota, Cali, Cucuta, and Armenia Wednesday, as Ministry of Health employees searched for hangouts popular to heroin users, according to Colombia’s El Tiempo newspaper.

The Ministry of Health has so far allotted 100,000 clean syringe kits for distribution among addicts, while used needles will be collected and destroyed by trained personnel.

According to a North American Congress on Latin America report, a 2010 study showed that 3.8% among a sample of 231 heroin addicts in Medellin were HIV-positive, while a 2011 study of 141 heroin users in Cucuta and Pamplona showed a 9% rate of HIV infection. Most recently, Bogota’s health secretary reported a 23% increase of HIV cases in 2013; of the total number of people know to be infected, 325 died of the illness.

While the director of the Center for Drug and Safety Studies at the University of the Andes says the program is aimed at only controlling the spread of AIDS and Hepatitis B and C and not about reducing drug consumption, the Ministry of Health hopes that the delivery of kits will bring some addicts into the health system with access to treatment.

Colombia kicks off 1st clean needle programme for drug users

By Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General and member of the West African Commission on Drugs

A recent estimate by the United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics that the market for illegal drugs adds £4.4 billion ($7.6 billion) annually to the country’s economy gives a sense of the astonishing scale of the illicit narcotics trade. For regions such as West Africa, with economies that are neither as large nor as developed as the UK’s, the impact of such activity can be even more corrosive.

West Africa finds itself increasingly enmeshed in the global drug trade. Its location makes it vulnerable to being exploited as a transit point between the Latin American and Asian production centers and consumer markets in Europe and the United States.

But, as the experience of Central America shows, transit countries do not serve only as a corridor for drugs. Illegal drugs and the money that surround them invade and destabilize their societies. This disturbing development – a byproduct of the failed “global war on drugs” – threatens to reverse recent economic and social gains in our region.

So far, West Africa has avoided the worst of the endemic and routine violence that accompanies the passage of drugs through Central America. But, with the stakes so high, there is no room for complacency. The scale of the cocaine trade alone in West Africa dwarfs the combined government budgets of several countries in the region.

West Africa’s misguided war on drugs

Government policy on marijuana has created a monster whose tentacles are spreading throughout the country, the mayor of Heerlen told the Volkskrant on Monday.

Paul Depla, one of 35 mayors who want production of marijuana to be legalised, told the paper that government policy is making it far too easy for people to become criminals.

'Under the current policy, all you need is an attic and you can start growing marijuana,' Depla told the Volkskrant. 'This has created a monster with tentacles that reach everywhere.'

'Under the current policy, all you need is an attic and you can start growing marijuana,' Depla told the Volkskrant. 'This has created a monster with tentacles that reach everywhere.' - See more at: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2014/07/heerlen_mayor_criticises_gover.php#sthash.JEJhd9MB.dpuf'Under the current policy, all you need is an attic and you can start growing marijuana,' Depla told the Volkskrant. 'This has created a monster with tentacles that reach everywhere.' - See more at: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2014/07/heerlen_mayor_criticises_gover.php#sthash.JEJhd9MB.dpuf

- See more at: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2014/07/heerlen_mayor_criticises_gover.php#sthash.JEJhd9MB.dpuf

Heerlen mayor criticises government marijuana policy

Iron Fist approaches with an emphasis on arrests and drug interdictions often lead to substantial spikes in violence as the drug trade is disrupted, alliances shift and territorial control is disputed. Undoubtedly, the drug market plays a critical role in the criminal violence in the Northern Triangle. But it should be clear that this role is all too often grossly overestimated, supported by stereotypes and superficial assumptions about causal chains. Prevailing drug trafficking control measures often exacerbate violence levels and, though recognized as such, they are still widely applied. An open debate on alternative approaches to drug trafficking and violence needs to continue, considering and discussing harm reduction strategies on law enforcement.

Both El Salvador and Guatemala have been experiencing higher murder rates than those recorded during the civil wars in these countries, which ended in the mid-1990s. It is, however, Honduras – despite having been spared the kind of bloody civil wars experienced by its neighbours – that currently occupies first place on worldwide homicide rate rankings (see the figure below. For these three countries in particular, but also in the rest of the region, the high number of homicides and violent confrontations of the past decade are related to the settling of scores (ajustes de cuentas) and territorial disputes or rivalry between DTOs. But the high homicide rates are also fuelled by police and military interventions that destabilize DTOs and illicit markets, with increased competition and clashes as a result. Exactly to what extent violence in the Northern Triangle is specifically drug-related is thus unfortunately extremely difficult to determine.

It has been argued, for example, that in Honduras the political struggles following the 2009 coup have resulted in links between law enforcement, security forces, politicians and organized criminals to shift to such an extent that distinguishing between drug violence and politically motivated violence has become next to impossible. 4 Furthermore, the quality of homicide typology data – to the extent that they are available at all – is highly variable, making it difficult to determine the share of reported homicides that is related to organized crime or gangs. By extension, with DTOs being a particular type of criminal organization and gangs becoming increasingly involved in the drug trade, it is even more difficult to obtain reliable statistics on the extent to which homicides in the Northern Triangle are related to drug trafficking.

A remarkable development of relevance in the debate on the relationship between drugs and violence in the Northern Triangle is the diversification of DTO activities, which has increased notably over the last few years. These organizations have found activities such as extortion, human smuggling and trafficking, kidnapping and weapons smuggling to be very profitable, in some cases causing a partial shift away from drug trafficking. Eliminating the illegal drug trade, by regulating the market, or allowing DTOs to traffic drugs through Central America via ‘a corridor’ to the US, one of the original proposals by Pérez Molina, could definitely contribute, but does not offer the panacea the region is looking for in its attempts to counter its high levels of violence. This diversification of DTO activities is an additional argument that should motivate policy-makers to change the prevalent habit of equating – often without question – drug trafficking to high violence rates, and look at underlying historical and socioeconomic variables instead.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

Drugs and violence in the Northern Triangle

Around 100,000 people die from drug overdoses in Russia every year, worrying statistics from the country’s Federal Drug Control Service have revealed.

“28.7 people out of 100,000 among [the] urban population have died from overdose and drug related diseases in 2013. That’s 2.7 times higher than a year before,” Olga Mishina, deputy head of the Federal Drug Control Service, said, as quoted by Itar-Tass news agency. The social groups that are the most vulnerable to narcotics are young people and teenagers, she stressed.

Mishina was speaking at the annual All-Russian Congress of the Anti-Drug Volunteer Movement, which took place on the shores of Lake Baikal in the Irkutsk Region on July 1-7. Rehabilitation and socialization of drug addicts were among the main subjects discussed during the event. Mishina believes the police are doing everything they can, adding that stricter measures won’t help stop the spreading of drugs.

More effort should be put into preventive measures like the further development of the Anti-Drug Volunteer Movement in the country, she explained.

100,000 lives annually: Drug death toll triples in Russia

During the communist era, Poland was a country cut off from the international drug market. Substances like cocaine or ecstasy were unavailable for Polish users. Some addicts were producing so called “Polish heroin” for personal use and sometimes for sale within small groups of friends. There was no such thing as a drugs trade. After the collapse of communism and opening of the borders, new substances began to appear on the black market, and became popular.

Nowadays, there are numerous drug smuggling routes which pass through Poland. Illegal substances are transported from Eastern to Western Europe, and those (such as amphetamine) which are produced in Poland, are transported directly to Western Europe. Smuggling routes and methods vary, depending on the particular substance and its country of origin.

All you need to know about Polish drug routes

Many countries have legalized cannabis as a medicine. In addition to the Netherlands, medical marijuana is legal in Spain, Portugal, Finland and certain US states. In these countries, cannabis in medicinal form can be had on presentation of a prescription.

In Germany, growing cannabis for medical purposes has been legal since May 2011. Before then, special permits from the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices had to be obtained.

Cannabis-containing drugs are usually prescribed as a finished product with cannabis extract added, such as a spray. The medicine is sprayed into the oral cavity. From there it spreads rapidly in the blood.

More and more studies are confirming the positive effect on various diseases of the active ingredients of the cannabis plant. They cannot cure these diseases, but can improve the quality of life of those affected.

This applies, for example, to people who suffer from multiple sclerosis. MS is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system that manifests itself in flare-ups and that often produces spasms. These can be reduced by the administration of cannabis or its active ingredients tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). The muscles relax and thereby improve general mobility.

The ingredients of the cannabis plant can also help people who suffer from Tourette's, Parkinson's disease or chronic neuropathic pain.

Scientists have also found a positive effect in cancer therapy. Patients often suffer from nausea and vomiting due to chemotherapy. THC helps counteract this, as does cannabidiol.

Cannabis gains acceptance as medicinal product in Germany

"He didn't say no because he was scared to loose his only friend"

This is the story of Jesse Snodgrass, a kid with Asperger's syndrome who was arrested by an undercover cop posing as a student at Jesse's high school. This is the story of how the war on drugs preys on the most vulnerable.

The war on kids in the United States

France said Thursday it has joined forces with 13 other European countries to negotiate a lower price for a promising new hepatitis C drug that has drawn controversy for its astronomical cost.

Sovaldi, made by US pharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences, has shown huge potential at helping cure the liver disease but its price -- more than 50,000 euros ($68,000) for a 12-week course of treatment -- has health authorities concerned.

"If we accept such a high price, firstly we won't be able to treat everyone and we will also be creating a risk for our social security system, which means for other patients," French Health Minister Marisol Touraine said Thursday.

She told BFMTV that Sovaldi would cost the country's already heavily-indebted welfare system billions of euros. "So I launched an initiative... to mobilise all European countries and make sure we join forces to weigh on price negotiations with this US laboratory.

"For the first time, 14 European countries have made a commitment together. We will therefore negotiate country by country as that's how it's done, but we will exchange information and discuss things between European countries."

EU nations join forces against 'exorbitant' hepatitis C drug

On 14th July, the International Drug Policy Consortium collaborated with the New York NGO Committee on Drugs and the New York Missions of Benin, Switzerland and Mexico to discuss expectations and potential outcomes from the 2016 UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Drugs.

The 2016 United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Drugs: Ensuring a successful outcome

Organized crime and illicit criminal activity undermined essential institutions like the rule of law and delivery of education and health, the United Nations leading expert on drugs and crime told the Economic and Social Council today.

Opening a high-level panel discussion entitled “Sustainable development and the world drug problem: challenges and opportunities”, Yury Fedotov, Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said that drug cultivation hindered growth of legitimate economies and businesses. Alternative development strategies promoted by UNODC had reduced cultivation, but farmers also needed infrastructure in order that the new crops they produced could be marketed and income generated.

Joining Mr. Fedotov in making opening statements were United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and Economic and Social Council President Martin Sajdik.

On the panel were Khaled Abdel-Rahman Shamaa, Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations in Vienna and Chair of the fifty-seventh session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs; Norachit Sinhaseni, Permanent Representative of Thailand to the United Nations; Mary Chinery-Hesse, Commissioner, West Africa Commission on Drugs; Lochan Naidoo, President, International Narcotics Control Board, Aldo Lale-Demoz, Deputy Executive-Director, UNODC; and Alberto Otárola Peñaranda, Executive Director of DEVIDA.

Mr. Ban agreed on the negative impact drugs and organized crime could have on people’s lives and on societies. Drugs and crime were corrosive and harmed justice systems, State institutions and communities.

“That is why it is so important to help farmers choose alternative crops,” he said, stressing the need to stabilize markets and create decent jobs. “When we take these measures, we do more than fight drugs and crime — we promote progress and peace.”

Panellists shared their experiences in addressing the drug problem from the State and regional level, as well as from within international institutions.

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