Drug War Chronicle, Issue #539 -(urls + editorial)- 6/13/08 - Politicians Sabotage Harm Prevention!

A Publication of StoptheDrugWar.org
David Borden, Executive Director,
http://stopthedrugwar.org/user/borden
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"

Students: Intern at StoptheDrugWar.org to stop the drug war now!
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/539/drcnet_internships_to_stop_the_drug_war

Table of Contents:

1. FEATURE: WESTERN HEMISPHERE'S ONLY HEROIN MAINTENANCE PROGRAM
COMING TO AN END
For the past three years, a select group of heroin addicts in
Vancouver and Montreal have received pharmaceutical grade heroin
as part of a pilot heroin maintenance program. Now, the NAOMI
program is winding down, the researchers are assembling their
reports, and the addicts are back on the streets.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/539/naomi_heroin_maintenance_pilot_program_closing

2. FEATURE: MENDOCINO MARIJUANA BATTLE WAITS FOR ELECTION
RESULTS, RESTRICTIVE INITIATIVE DRAWS STRONG OPPOSITION
California's Mendocino County has grown rich off of marijuana,
but problems have come with the prosperity. Now, everyone is
waiting to see whether last week's still undecided election will
mean the county takes a step backward from its liberal
cultivation laws.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/539/mendocino_county_measure_b_election_marijuana

3. STUDENTS: INTERN AT DRCNET AND HELP STOP THE DRUG WAR!
Apply for an internship at DRCNet for this fall (or spring), and
you could spend the semester fighting the good fight!
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/539/drcnet_internships_to_stop_the_drug_war

4. HELP NEEDED: DRUG WAR CHRONICLE SEEKING CASES OF INFORMANT
ABUSE
Drug War Chronicle is seeking information on serious police
misconduct or misjudgments in the treatment of informants.
Confidentiality will be protected.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/539/help_us_find_botched_drug_war_informant_cases

5. SENTENCING: US JAIL AND PRISON POPULATION AT ALL-TIME HIGH
AGAIN LAST YEAR
Another year, another all-time high in US prisoners, and the
drug war continues to make a major contribution. This is getting
really old.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/539/US_prisoners_all_time_high_2.3_million

6. LAW ENFORCEMENT: THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
Busy, busy. Border guards going down, prison guards going down,
more cops in trouble, and more investigations of a
perjury-condoning prosecutor in Detroit.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/539/police_drug_corruption

7. MEDICAL MARIJUANA: OREGON APPEALS COURT PROTECTS WORKERS
The Oregon Court of Appeals has rejected an employer's firing of
a medical marijuana patient who did not use on the job, saying
it violates state anti-discrimination laws.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/539/oregon_appeals_court_medical_marijuana_emerald_steel_ruling

8. BUSTED: VETERAN YIPPIE ACTIVIST DANA BEAL ARRESTED IN
ILLINOIS
Veteran activist Dana Beal of Global Marijuana March fame spent
more than a week behind bars in Illinois, arrested on
money-laundering charges after police found $150,000 in cash.
But he bailed out Thursday after the original charge vanished,
to be replaced by an obstruction of justice charge. The cash is
still in custody.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/539/dana_beal_facing_money_laundering_charges_in_illinois

9. LATIN AMERICA: US HOUSE APPROVES MEXICO ANTI-DRUG AID BILL,
BUT MEXICO BALKS AT SENATE HUMAN RIGHTS CONDITIONS
The Merida Initiative anti-drug assistance package for Mexico
and Central America passed the House this week, but Mexico is
balking at human rights and other conditions in the Senate
version of the bill. Will the Senate sacrifice human rights on
the altar of the drug war?
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/539/house_passes_mexico_drug_aid_merida

10. SOUTHWEST ASIA: AFGHANISTAN MAKES "WORLD'S LARGEST" DRUG
BUST -- 260 TONS OF HASH DESTROYED
What may have been the largest drug bust ever took place in
Afghanistan this week. But while NATO claimed it dealt a hard
blow to the Taliban, profits from the lost hash are miniscule
compared to what the group rakes in from the opium trade.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/539_worlds_largest_drug_bust_hashish_afghanistan

11. LATIN AMERICA: MORE ARGENTINE COURTS THROW OUT DRUG
POSSESSION CHARGES
The Argentine government is working on a rewrite of its drug
laws, but courts there aren't waiting for the politicians. In
April, two federal tribunals in Buenos Aires declared the drug
possession laws unconstitutional, and now more courts have
followed suit.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/539/argentina_court_ruling_decriminalization

12. EUROPE: SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT THINK-TANK CALLS FOR
PRESCRIPTION HEROIN, SAFE INJECTION SITES, LEGALIZED MARIJUANA
A Scottish think-tank tasked by Parliament with figuring out how
to reduce drug-related harm has called for marijuana
legalization, safe injection sites, and opiate maintenance.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/539/scottish_think_tank_report_marijuana_heroin_prescription

13. WEEKLY: BLOGGING @ THE SPEAKEASY
"Will John McCain Avoid Running a 'Tough-On-Crime' Campaign?,"
"World Record Marijuana Crop Gets Blown Up By Fighter Jets,"
"Two More Horrible Drug Raid Disasters," "Bob Barr's Newfound
Drug War Opposition Shows That Anything is Possible," "Vietnam
Orders Police to Win the Drug War by August," "Stop Making
Excuses and Go Watch 'The Wire'," "People are Getting Themselves
Arrested Just So They Can Sell Drugs in Jail," "The Drug War is
a War on Communities of Color," "George Bush and Cocaine: How
the President Might Save His Approval Rating."
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/539/blogging_at_the_speakeasy

14. FEEDBACK: DO YOU READ DRUG WAR CHRONICLE?
Do you read Drug War Chronicle? If so, we need your feedback to
evaluate our work and make the case for Drug War Chronicle to
funders. We need donations too.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/539/do_you_read_drug_war_chronicle

15. WEBMASTERS: HELP THE MOVEMENT BY RUNNING DRCNET SYNDICATION
FEEDS ON YOUR WEB SITE!
Support the cause by featuring automatically-updating Drug War
Chronicle and other DRCNet content links on your web site!
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/539/drug_policy_content_syndication_feeds_now_available

16. RESOURCE: DRCNET WEB SITE OFFERS WIDE ARRAY OF RSS FEEDS FOR
YOUR READER
A new way for you to receive DRCNet articles -- Drug War
Chronicle and more -- is now available.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/539/drug_policy_RSS_feeds_now_available

17. RESOURCE: REFORMER'S CALENDAR ACCESSIBLE THROUGH DRCNET WEB
SITE
Visit our new web site each day to see a running countdown to
the events coming up the soonest, and more.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/539/drug_reform_calendar

(Not subscribed? Visit http://stopthedrugwar.org to sign up
today!)

================

1. Feature: Western Hemisphere's Only Heroin Maintenance Program
Coming to an End
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/539/naomi_heroin_maintenance_pilot_program_closing

Every day for 15 months, Vancouver heroin addict Rob Scott
Vincent, 36, went into a nondescript building on the city's
Downtown Eastside where a nurse would hand him a syringe loaded
with pharmaceutical grade heroin. Sitting at a sterile,
stainless steel counter, Vincent would inject himself with the
drug, then sit in an equally sterile waiting room for awhile as
the drug took hold before heading out to do his daily business.

Vincent was one of 251 participants -- 192 in Vancouver and the
rest in Montreal -- in the only heroin maintenance program in
the hemisphere, a pilot program known as the North American
Opiate Maintenance Initiative (http://www.naomistudy.ca).
Originally intended to operate in both Canada and the US, the US
component never got off the ground in the drug war atmosphere
there. And now, NAOMI is winding down in Vancouver and Montreal.
The last handful of participants in the program will get their
last fixes at the end of this month.

In the program, which was limited to long-time addicts over 25
who had failed to kick the habit at least twice in previous
treatment tries, participants used treatments of oral methadone
or injected heroin. A small percentage received a pharmaceutical
opiate called Dilaudid. Participants also received counseling
and other support services. The Canadian federal government
(then under control of the Liberals) funded the project with
$1.8 million and agreed to allow the importation of
pharmaceutical heroin for the project.

Similar pilot opiate maintenance projects in Switzerland,
Germany and the Netherlands produced results showing reductions
in criminality, drug use, and economic costs to society, and
increases in health, stability, and employability among
participants. NAOMI researchers and supporters are hoping it
will produce similar results. While the final research report
from NAOMI is not expected until the fall, preliminary results
suggest the findings will be similar to those in Europe.

In a March briefing paper
(http://www.naomistudy.ca/pdfs/March2008NAOMIUpdate.pdf), NAOMI
reported that 85% of participants taking injected heroin had
stayed with the program for 12 months, that the treatment had
proven to be "extremely safe," and that there had been no
security issues or evidence that NAOMI had had a deleterious
impact on the neighborhood. The paper also suggested that the
program would show a positive economic impact.

Canada estimates that each heroin addict costs the country
$45,000 a year. The studies of European opiate maintenance
programs report that they save host countries $20,000 a year
for each participant.

"What we know now is that we were able to recruit people with
long-term dependence on heroin who repeatedly failed other
treatments and who had many health and social problems when they
entered," said Dr. David Marsh, one of the co-investigators and
lead clinical physician for the study. "From a doctor's
perspective, whether they were treated with methadone or heroin,
many of them improved dramatically. We'll know from the formal
research results how much and in what ways they improved."

The provision of methadone or heroin was only part of the
treatment, Marsh said. "The medication is a component of a
broader package of primary care, mental health care, addiction
counseling, and case management to provide participants with
access to a range of welfare and other benefits," said Marsh.
"We work with people to try to manage the negative consequences
of their drug use and help them improve their lives."

Vincent had been addicted to opiates for nearly 15 years when he
decided to participate in NAOMI. "I wanted to see if it could
better my life, and it did," he said. "It helped me slowly wean
down. I'm still using, but not even one-third of what I was
using."

Vincent's stint in NAOMI ended in March. Since then, he has had
to return to the streets to find his drugs. "It's not too bad,"
he said. "I mostly use morphine pills, and I pick up a pill for
$5 bucks every morning and I'm good for the day." Vincent pays
for his fixes by collecting and recycling cans. But sometimes,
he can't find what he wants and has to spend time searching for
a substitute opiate -- heroin, dilaudid, whatever is around.
"It's usually readily available," he said, "but sometimes I have
to scrounge around."

Getting participants completely off opiates wasn't the be-all
and end-all of the pilot program, said Marsh. "Patients benefit
in a lot of ways," he said. "Some were able to stop taking
illegal opiates, and in my view, if a patient is prescribed
methadone and is using it properly, I consider that a success.
Methadone treatment has been available for many years, and there
are thousands of studies showing its benefits."

The Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (http://www.vandu.org)
was one of the key supporters of NAOMI, despite its complaints
about the restrictiveness of the standards for qualifying for
the study. The program needs to continue, VANDU said.

"Regardless of the parameters they set that made it tough to
qualify, this is a badly needed service and it's a shame it's
just a pilot project and is not continuing," said VANDU
president Richard Utendale. "I've talked to a lot of people who
have been helped by it. They were able to improve their
day-to-day lives by not having to struggle to feed their drug
habits. NAOMI provided a safe place and support, and
participants didn't have to worry about being jacked up by the
police or ripped off or sold inferior products or dope with
adulterants."

The Downtown Eastside, where both VANDU and NAOMI are located is
the epicenter of one of the largest hard drug scenes in the
hemisphere. The program had an impact on the area, said
Utendale. "I think NAOMI also improved the neighborhood, with
less street and property crime."

There was a downside to NAOMI, though, said Utendale. "The
drawback is that when people are finished with the program, they
have to go back on the street and resort to the same old means
of getting their drugs. That's why this needs to be permanent."

Vincent said he wished the program could continue. "I would most
definitely participate in a permanent program," he said. "It was
very, very helpful. It's a lot easier to quit or reduce my
intake with pharmaceutical grade heroin. Most of the stuff on
the street is cut with other things -- that's why I like to use
morphine. I can't see any reason for not keeping this open," he
said. "NAOMI is a medical facility, just like Insite [the
Vancouver safe injection site]. They should not shut it down."

But that is what is going to happen at the end of this month.
Last November, doctors appealed on compassionate grounds to
extend the program on behalf of five participants. So far there
has been no agreement from either Health Canada or the regional
health authority.

"Dreams are free," Utendale sighed, "but the way things are
looking right now, this isn't going forward without some changes
in Ottawa."

Marsh said it was "premature" to try to predict what would
happen. "But I'm optimistic we'll find funding and get the
regulatory approval at some point to apply the lessons we've
learned from this study," he said.

But given the current Conservative federal government's
ideological opposition to harm reduction, as evidenced by its
losing battle to shut down Vancouver's safe injection site, it
is going to take a new national election before there is any
chance that Canada will follow the Europeans' lead and make
heroin maintenance part of a broader public health policy.

================

later
bliss -- C O C O A Powered... (at california dot com)

--
bobbie sellers - a retired nurse in San Francisco

"It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the beans of cocoa that the thoughts acquire speed,
the thighs acquire girth, the girth become a warning.
It is by theobromine alone I set my mind in motion."
--from Someone else's Dune spoof ripped to my taste.

date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 07:26:56 -0700 author: bobbie sellers