tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/cocaine-2720/articles
Cocaine – The Conversation
2024-03-28T12:50:35Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/225991
2024-03-28T12:50:35Z
2024-03-28T12:50:35Z
The amazing story of the man who created the latest narco-state in the Americas, and how the United States helped him every step of the way − until now
<p>When Juan Orlando Hernández was <a href="https://apnews.com/article/honduras-president-juan-orlando-hernandez-corruption-trial-7c43423f12ff71859c370be2fc6ac5b0">convicted by a federal jury</a> in Manhattan in early March 2024, it marked a spectacular fall from grace: from being courted in the U.S. as a friendly head of state to facing the rest of his life behind bars, convicted of cocaine importation and weapons offenses.</p>
<p>“Juan Orlando Hernández abused his position as President of Honduras to operate the country as a narco-state where violent drug traffickers were allowed with virtual impunity,” said <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/juan-orlando-hernandez-former-president-honduras-convicted-manhattan-federal-court">U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland</a> following the jury conviction. <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/juan-orlando-hernandez-former-president-honduras-convicted-manhattan-federal-court">Anne Milgram</a>, administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, added: “When the leader of Honduras and the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel work hand-in-hand to send deadly drugs into the United States, both deserve to be accountable.”</p>
<p>The conviction was a victory for the Justice Department and the DEA. During Hernández’s two terms in office, from 2014 to 2022, he and his acolytes transported more than 400 tons of cocaine into the United States, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/juan-orlando-hernandez-former-president-honduras-convicted-manhattan-federal-court">according to U.S. prosecutors</a>. The former head of state now faces a mandatory sentence of up to 40 years in prison; sentencing is scheduled for June 26. </p>
<p>But there’s more to this story. </p>
<p>As I explore in the book “<a href="https://www.routledge.com/21st-Century-Democracy-Promotion-in-the-Americas-Standing-up-for-the-Polity/Heine-Weiffen/p/book/9780415626378">21st Century Democracy Promotion in the Americas: Standing Up for the Polity</a>,” written in collaboration with the <a href="https://www.open.ac.uk/people/bw4844">Open University’s Britta Weiffen</a>, Honduras is a tragic example of what happens when a country becomes a narco-state. While its people suffer the consequences – the World Bank reports that about <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/honduras/overview">half the country currently lives under poverty</a> – its leaders grow rich through the drugs trade.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the way Hernández came to power and maintained that position for so long could provide “Exhibit A” in any indictment of U.S. policy toward Central America – and Latin America more generally – over the past few decades. </p>
<h2>Growing ties with cartels</h2>
<p>Up to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-supreme-court-arrests-united-states-honduras-extradition-207d739fe73c844ad5cf182eec030a8a">Hernández’s arrest in Tegucigalpa</a>, the Honduran capital, and extradition to the United States in January 2022, his biggest enabler had been none other than the U.S. government itself. </p>
<p>Presidents <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/01/15/president-obama-announces-presidential-delegation-honduras-attend-inaugu">Barack Obama</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/honduras-president-narcotrafficking-hernandez/2021/02/11/1fa96044-5f8c-11eb-ac8f-4ae05557196e_story.html">Donald Trump</a> <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/06/18/readout-vice-president-bidens-meeting-honduran-president-juan-orlando">and Joe Biden</a> all backed Hernández and allowed him to inflict enormous harm to Honduras and to the United States in the process.</p>
<p>How so? To answer this question, some background is needed. </p>
<p>On June 28, 2009, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jun/28/honduras-coup-president-zelaya">a classic military coup took place</a> in Honduras. In the wee hours of the morning, while still in his pajamas, President Manuel “Mel” Zelaya was unceremoniously escorted by armed soldiers from his home and <a href="https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-lt-honduras-divided-070709-2009jul07-story.html">flown to a neighboring country</a>. The coup leaders alleged that, by calling for a referendum on reforming the Honduran Constitution, the government was moving toward removing the one-term presidential term limit enshrined in the country’s charter and opening the door to authoritarianism.</p>
<p>Initially, then-President Barack Obama <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE55S5J2/">protested the coup</a> and took measures against those responsible – the right-wing opponents of Zelaya. </p>
<p>But the administration eventually relented and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN07503526/">allowed the coup leaders to prevail</a>, largely due to pressure from Republicans, who saw Zelaya as being <a href="https://www.cfr.org/interview/honduran-politics-and-chavez-factor">too close to Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez</a>, whose leftist agenda was deemed by the GOP as a threat to U.S. interests. </p>
<p>The coup-makers simply ran the clock against the upcoming election date and installed their own candidate in the presidency, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/30/honduras-lobo-president">Porfirio Lobo of the National party</a>, whose son Fabio was also later convicted of cocaine trafficking. </p>
<h2>Washington looks the other way</h2>
<p>Lobo laid the foundations of Honduras as the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-56947595">new century’s first narco-state</a>, allowing drug cartels to infiltrate the highest echelons of government and the security apparatus as cocaine trade became an increasingly central plank of the country’s economy.</p>
<p>All the while, the U.S. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/08/american-funding-honduran-security-forces-blood-on-our-hands">pumped tens of millions of dollars</a> <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/should-the-u-s-still-be-sending-military-aid-to-honduras">into building up Honduras’ police and military</a>, despite widespread allegations of being engaged in corruption, complicit in the drugs trade and engaged in <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2016/country-chapters/honduras">human rights abuses</a>.</p>
<p>The dollars continued to flow when Lobo was succeeded in 2013 by his buddy and fellow National party member, Juan Orlando Hernández.</p>
<p>In 2017, Hernández – an ardent supporter of the 2009 coup – ran for a second term after the Supreme Court of Honduras <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0NE2T9/">pronounced this to be perfectly legal</a>.</p>
<p>Many Hondurans believe Hernández <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/the-honduran-government-is-trying-to-steal-an-election/">stole the November 2017 elections</a>. The vote count was suspended in the middle of the night as Hernández was running behind, and when the polls opened in the morning, he <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/the-honduran-government-is-trying-to-steal-an-election/">miraculously emerged as a winner</a>.</p>
<p>Despite widespread allegations of election fraud, the U.S. quickly recognized the result, congratulating <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/22/politics/us-honduras-election-results/index.html">Hernández on his win</a>.</p>
<p>Emboldened by his success, Hernández continued to build up Honduras as the new century’s first narco-state of the Americas.</p>
<p>In 2018, the president’s brother, Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández, a former member of the Honduran Parliament, was arrested in the United States for his association with the Cartel de Sinaloa, the Mexican drug cartel. This entity valued his services so much that <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/former-honduran-congressman-tony-hern-ndez-sentenced-life-prison-and-ordered-forfeit">they named a particular strain of cocaine after him</a>, stamping the bags as “TH.” Tony Hernández was convicted on four charges in 2019, sentenced to 30 years in prison, and has been in U.S. federal prison ever since. </p>
<p>President Hernández denied any association with the cartel, but the evidence pointed to the contrary. As <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2021/03/18/a-court-case-rocks-the-president-of-honduras">reported in The Economist</a>, in a New York City trial, one accused drug trafficker alleged that Hernández took bribes for “helping cocaine reach the United States.” Another witness testified that the president had taken two bribes in 2013, before being elected; a former cartel leader testified that the president had been paid $250,000 to protect him from being arrested.</p>
<h2>‘Complicit or gullible’</h2>
<p>Given Hernández’s history in Honduras, the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/03/08/juan-orlando-hernndez-honduras-convicted/">repeated claims of U.S. government officials</a> that they simply didn’t know of his crimes ring hollow.</p>
<p>Honduras became a narco-state, in part, because U.S. policymakers looked the other way as it did so. They embraced Hernández because he was ideologically more palatable and subservient to Washington’s wishes compared with his rival, Zelaya. But as the trial verdict in Manhattan makes clear, it was a decision with disastrous consequences.</p>
<p>As one State Department official put it, “Today’s verdict makes all of us who collaborated with (Hernández) <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/03/08/juan-orlando-hernndez-honduras-convicted/">look either complicit or gullible</a>.” </p>
<p>The latter may be the more charitable assessment. But the truth is more uncomfortable.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225991/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>I am a member of the Party for Democracy in Chile and and affiliated with the Foro de Political Exterior, a Chilean foreign policy think tank.</span></em></p>
Washington looked the other way as coup leaders and drugs cartels conspired to turn Honduras into a center of the cocaine trade.
Jorge Heine, Interim Director of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, Boston University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/220517
2024-01-12T16:12:10Z
2024-01-12T16:12:10Z
Four street drugs that could pose the biggest threat to UK public health in 2024
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569021/original/file-20240112-25-j3jcoe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4025%2C3017&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Xanax pills</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/muncie-indiana-united-states-june-5-1416893333">gremlinworks/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As with fashion and music, illicit drugs go through peaks and troughs of popularity. There are popular staples, such as cannabis, and more disruptive and transient substances, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/meow-hear-this-mephedrone-is-a-curious-khat-2164">mephedrone</a>. As with <a href="https://youtu.be/Ja2fgquYTCg?si=AjGVwuw92NiEPnMS">clothing fashion</a>, the drugs that most people are able to buy are <a href="https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/eu-drug-markets_en">determined by</a> the choices of designers, manufacturers and logistical operations, rather than consumers. </p>
<p>Predicting how the UK drug market may change in 2024 relies not only on recent trends in drug use but also on international developments. Geopolitical events in <a href="https://geographical.co.uk/news/myanmar-becomes-worlds-biggest-producer-of-opium">south-east Asia</a> or <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-67912242">South America</a> are just as important as organised crime activity in cities such as London or Liverpool. We suggest that there are four types of drugs that will be of increasing concern in 2024. </p>
<h2>1. Opioids</h2>
<p>Heroin sold in the UK is primarily sourced from opium grown in Afghanistan. Any change in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/afghanistan-what-the-conflict-means-for-the-global-heroin-trade-165995">production and distribution</a> of opium has a direct effect on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/nitazenes-synthetic-opioids-more-deadly-than-fentanyl-are-starting-to-turn-up-in-overdose-cases-212589">UK heroin market</a>. </p>
<p>After seizing power in 2022, the Taliban announced a clampdown on opium farming in Afghanistan. While other growing regions have <a href="https://www.unodc.org/roseap/en/2023/12/southeast-asia-opium-survey-report-launch/story.html#:%7E:text=Bangkok%20(Thailand)%2C%2012%20December,Asia%20released%20in%20Bangkok%20today.">increased production</a>, this has not been at the level of the Afghan crop. </p>
<p>Large stockpiles of opium and heroin stored along trafficking routes have depleted. 2024 will see the impact of this. </p>
<p>The estimated number of people who use heroin has <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/opiate-and-crack-cocaine-use-prevalence-estimates/estimates-of-opiate-and-crack-use-in-england-main-points-and-methods">increased</a> over the past decade, with an estimated 341,032 current users in England. </p>
<p>This is a highly profitable market, and suppliers are adaptable and nimble in responding to changes like these. As a consequence of the shortfall in Afghan heroin production, new, highly potent <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/383/bmj.p2421">synthetic opioids</a> have already emerged to fill the gap. These include the group of synthetic opiates known as <a href="https://theconversation.com/nitazenes-synthetic-opioids-more-deadly-than-fentanyl-are-starting-to-turn-up-in-overdose-cases-212589">nitazenes</a>, which have contributed to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/generation-x-hardest-hit-as-drug-deaths-rise-yet-again-in-england-and-wales-220064">record levels</a> of drug-related deaths recorded in 2023 in the UK. </p>
<p>Increased market penetration of these drugs could lead to a big rise in deaths in 2024. Worryingly, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-67777938">misselling</a> as other products and unintentional contamination of other non-opioid drugs could increase the harms further. Government and treatment services must act now to prepare for an increase in the supply of these drugs, as the costs of not doing so might lead to a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955395923003614?via%3Dihub">“nightmare scenario”</a>. </p>
<h2>2. Cocaine</h2>
<p>Cocaine has never been purer, more affordable and more available to those <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/23/coke-consumption-uk-millennials-generation-x">who want it in the UK</a>. While <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/drugmisuseinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2023">levels of use</a> have been relatively stable over the past 20 years, <a href="https://theconversation.com/generation-x-hardest-hit-as-drug-deaths-rise-yet-again-in-england-and-wales-220064">deaths and hospitalisations</a> have increased due the nature of the product on the market and increases in the frequency and length of use. </p>
<p>Unlike other class A drugs, such as heroin, there are few effective treatments, and users tend to be more socially integrated. This means that they are less likely to come into contact with police or present to treatment services. </p>
<p>They may not identify themselves as having a drug problem, despite the effect it may be having on their lives. When disposable income continues to be squeezed as it is in the current cost of living crisis, powder cocaine (as opposed to crack cocaine) is a drug that will continue to provide good “value for money”. Sadly, we predict yet another rise in poisonings and hospitalisations in 2024.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Older man snorting coke." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569019/original/file-20240112-29-ke6q5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569019/original/file-20240112-29-ke6q5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569019/original/file-20240112-29-ke6q5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569019/original/file-20240112-29-ke6q5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569019/original/file-20240112-29-ke6q5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569019/original/file-20240112-29-ke6q5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569019/original/file-20240112-29-ke6q5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cocaine users tend to be more ‘socially integrated’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/old-male-writer-smoking-cigarette-2284921057">Elnur/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. Ketamine</h2>
<p>Ketamine has been used in medicine as an anaesthetic for many years, and more recently as an <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-antidepressants-ketamine-and-psychedelic-drugs-may-make-brains-more-flexible-new-research-216025">antidepressant</a>. Taken recreational at lower doses, the drug <a href="https://www.talktofrank.com/drug/ketamine">induces</a> feelings of detachment and happiness. </p>
<p>This is another drug that has become increasingly <a href="https://bjgp.org/content/73/727/87">popular</a> because it is cheap, fast-acting and easy to get hold of. </p>
<p>Around <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/student-died-after-taking-ketamine-now-her-mother-wants-to-address-naivety-among-parents-13039959">3.8% of young people</a> (aged 16 to 24) report having used the drug. This has been steadily rising over the past decade. Police report that the weight of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/seizures-of-drugs-in-england-and-wales-financial-year-ending-2022/seizures-of-drugs-in-england-and-wales-financial-year-ending-2022">seizures</a> of ketamine that they made increased sharply from 187kg in 2021 to 1,837kg in 2022. Drug seizures are often used as a proxy for estimating levels of supply.</p>
<p>A range of problems can develop for those using ketamine in higher doses or over a longer period, ranging from mental health problems to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4544340/">incontinence</a>. An overdose of the drug can prove to be fatal.</p>
<p>As with most illicit drugs, combining ketamine with alcohol <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9323326/">increases</a> health risks. Sadly, it is the norm for people to use more than one drug at a time – including alcohol.</p>
<p>Given the widespread availability and <a href="https://www.timeout.com/uk/nightlife/how-ketamine-became-britains-go-to-party-drug">affordability</a> of ketamine in the UK, its use will continue to rise in 2024. Use is concentrated among younger people, many of whom won’t be aware of its potential for harm until it’s too late. </p>
<p>As with cocaine, there has been a distinct lack of health messaging, advice and support for people who use ketamine. Some youth organisations that have tried to do this have faced unhelpful <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/how-ketamine-became-the-uks-hidden-campus-killer-9mp3pm6ht">national media backlash</a>. </p>
<h2>4. Benzodiazapines</h2>
<p>Benzodiazepines, more commonly known by brand names such as Valium and Xanax, have proved to be popular and dangerous in equal measure. While medical prescriptions have <a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/2023/03/opioid-prescriptions-cut-by-almost-half-a-million-in-four-years-as-nhs-continues-crackdown/">fallen</a> in recent years illicit <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/drugmisuseinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2023">demand</a> and supply has not. </p>
<p>Although doctors have been <a href="https://www.nice.org.uk/sharedlearning/benzodiazepine-hypnotics-deprescribing">encouraged</a> to reduce prescriptions for benzodiazepines, the black market has filled the gap in demand. Unlike legitimate supply, the illicit market has no quality control or reliable information on strength – both of which lead to deaths.</p>
<p>The rapid rise in deaths from <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955395921004308">these drugs</a> in Scotland shows regional differences both in the use of drugs and the risks they pose. Reversing this trend in use and fatalities will prove to be difficult in 2024 as there are few signs of a change in demand for, or supply of these drugs.</p>
<h2>Can we prevent drug harms?</h2>
<p>It is not possible to entirely prevent all the harms relating to drug use and the drugs market, but they can be reduced. 2024 may see the emergence of new drugs or new ways of taking them, but what won’t change will be the continuation of more than 20 years of increasing drug-related harm. </p>
<p>In a year of a general election in the UK, there is the danger that drugs policy will be used for political point scoring – signalling to the electorate how tough on crime one party is, or how soft on crime their opponents are. Whatever the outcome of the election, unless there is a clear commitment to long-term investment in responses to drug use, new records will be set in drug-related deaths.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220517/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Harry Sumnall receives and has received funding from public grant awarding bodies for alcohol and other drugs research, and consultation fees from (international) not-for-profit organisations, and government Ministries for consultation work. He is an unpaid member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Mind Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Hamilton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Synthetic opioids called nitazenes are ones to watch in 2024.
Ian Hamilton, Honorary Fellow, Department of Health Sciences, University of York
Harry Sumnall, Professor in Substance Use, Liverpool John Moores University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/220064
2023-12-20T14:01:10Z
2023-12-20T14:01:10Z
Generation X hardest hit as drug deaths rise yet again in England and Wales
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566838/original/file-20231220-18278-uaocdf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C53%2C4422%2C2921&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/drug-syringe-cooked-heroin-on-spoon-355085264">one photo/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s another tragic record. A new report has confirmed yet another rise in drug related deaths in <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsrelatedtodrugpoisoninginenglandandwales/2022registrations#drug-poisonings-in-england-and-wales">England and Wales</a>. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports that 4,907 “drug poisoning” deaths were recorded in 2022 (84.4 deaths per 1,000,000 of the population), the highest on record.</p>
<p>While there was a slight fall in deaths in men (from 3,275 in 2021 to 3,240 in 2022), this was masked by a corresponding increase in women (from 1,584 in 2021 to 1,667 in 2022). This reflects a longer term trend of females catching up with male mortality. Drug-related suicides, <a href="https://sites.manchester.ac.uk/ncish/reports/annual-report-2023/">a topic that doesn’t usually receive much attention</a> in discussions about drug-related harms, were also higher in women than men. </p>
<p>Most deaths involved multiple substances, however opiates were detected in just under half of all deaths (2,261 cases). </p>
<p>Of concern are cocaine deaths (857 cases), which have now increased for 11 consecutive years. It’s not possible to determine whether these related to use of powder or crack cocaine. But we know there’s been an increase in the use of cocaine as well as a boost in the <a href="https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/eu-drug-markets/cocaine_en">global production, supply, purity, affordability and availability</a> of the drug, despite frequent <a href="https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news/seven-men-charged-in-national-crime-agency-investigation-into-140m-cocaine-seizure">large seizures</a> by law enforcement agencies.</p>
<p>Cocaine has become more potent and more affordable in recent years. Both factors increase the risk of harm including fatal overdose. We’ve also lagged behind developing support for people who use cocaine compared to those who use opioids.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566840/original/file-20231220-27-vu9xne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Actor Matthew Perry, who died of a ketamine overdose." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566840/original/file-20231220-27-vu9xne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566840/original/file-20231220-27-vu9xne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=879&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566840/original/file-20231220-27-vu9xne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=879&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566840/original/file-20231220-27-vu9xne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=879&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566840/original/file-20231220-27-vu9xne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1105&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566840/original/file-20231220-27-vu9xne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1105&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566840/original/file-20231220-27-vu9xne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1105&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Actor Matthew Perry died after taking ketamine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/los-angeles-aug-01-matthew-perry-71462893">DFree/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Surprisingly, despite its popularity <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/drugmisuseinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2023">in recreational settings</a>, ketamine is not included in the data – and it is unclear why. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34092131/">Other research</a> suggests there are around 30 deaths each year in England, which is lower than the number of ecstasy deaths (50 in 2022), despite <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/how-ketamine-became-the-uks-hidden-campus-killer-9mp3pm6ht">being used by more people</a>. </p>
<p>As for fentanyl, there were <a href="https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates#:%7E:text=Overall%2C%20drug%20overdose%20deaths%20rose,overdose%20deaths%20reported%20in%202021.">tens of thousands of deaths</a> in the US each year. However, in England and Wales these have remained low (57) and stable. </p>
<p>That’s reassuring, but it’s important not to be complacent. There has been recent concern about the emergence of other types of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/synthetic-opioids-will-be-banned-as-government-acts-to-stop-drug-deaths">even more potent opioids</a>, with many experts predicting that these drugs will become more prevalent if opium production in Afghanistan <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/7kxw3b/the-talibans-opium-ban-has-become-an-existential-problem-for-the-west">continues to decline</a> – leading to fears of even greater increases in drug deaths. </p>
<p>There were also sharp geographical differences in death rates, with those in more deprived areas in the north east and north west of England much higher than other areas. While there were higher rates of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/opiate-and-crack-cocaine-use-prevalence-estimates/estimates-of-opiate-and-crack-use-in-england-main-points-and-methods">opioid and crack use</a> in these regions, this also <a href="https://www.health.org.uk/news-and-comment/charts-and-infographics/male-healthy-life-expectancy-from-birth">reflects wider health and social inequalities</a>.</p>
<h2>Age as a risk factor</h2>
<p>The highest rate of deaths occurred in the 40- to 49-year-old age group, and the average age at death continued to rise. This is mainly the “Generation X” cohort born in the 1970s, who came of age when there was a rapid rise in the availability of heroin, and when general population rates of drug use were at their highest in the 1990s. </p>
<p>These premature deaths reflect <a href="https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/addiction-health">poorer</a> physical and psychological health, such as compromised respiratory and cardiovascular functioning, which increases the risk of dying from drugs. Many of these health problems could be <a href="https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/topic-overviews/prevention-drug-related-deaths_en">treated</a> if people accessed health services, but unfortunately too few do – adding to the risk of premature death. </p>
<p>The data doesn’t reveal everything though. It is also possible that coroners may record a physical health issue as the cause of death, rather than use of drugs. This adds to an <a href="https://backup.ons.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/08/Drug-related-deaths-deep-dive-into-coroners-records.pdf">underestimation</a> of the number of people dying from drugs.</p>
<p>Synthetic opioids, implicated in <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67589364">local spikes in deaths</a>, aren’t fully captured in the latest ONS figures either. This is because there are <a href="https://theconversation.com/drug-deaths-in-england-and-wales-rise-for-eighth-consecutive-year-145498">delays</a> between when a death occurs, when it is officially recorded by the coroner and when it is included in ONS reports. The latest report includes deaths which occurred in 2021 and 2022, and even as far back as 2017. </p>
<p>While rapid response investigatory panels have been set up in some local areas, these continuing delays hinder rapid assessment of threats to public health. </p>
<p>It may seem paradoxical that overall drug use is <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/drugmisuseinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2023#:%7E:text=1.-,Main%20points,(around%201.1%20million%20people).">declining</a> while drug-related deaths are rising. But this can be explained by the time taken to develop dependent use of drugs and the accompanying problems and risk to health. </p>
<h2>Reversing fatalities</h2>
<p>The government commissioned Dame Carol Black to advise on how the record number of drug related deaths could be reversed. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-drugs-phase-two-report">Her report</a>, published in 2020 and 2021, provided several suggestions including increasing investment in drug treatment which the government has accepted. </p>
<p>While provision of evidence-based drug treatment reduces the risk of death, increased investment will take time to have an impact. It comes after a decade of austerity, which severely affected provision of drug services. Currently, only about <a href="https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/search/drug">half of people</a> who might benefit from formal support are accessing treatment services. </p>
<p>There is no single intervention that will reduce death rates, and the complex profile of the illicit drug market and the cocktail of drugs implicated in deaths means that a whole systems response is required. Most importantly, recent uplifts in funding of treatment services need to be maintained. This will be challenging given the economic pressure on public services. </p>
<p>The priority should be an increase in the community provision of <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/naloxone-7974">naloxone</a>, the opioid overdose reversal drug. This can already be distributed through drug services, and an increasing number of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-66293181">police officers</a> are also carrying it. Supervised drug consumption facilities, such as the one due to be <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-66796575">trialled</a> in Glasgow in 2024 <a href="https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/technical-reports/drug-consumption-rooms_en">may reduce</a> risks in some more vulnerable groups, including those who are experiencing street homelessness.</p>
<p>City-based <a href="https://www.crew.scot/the-scottish-drug-checking-project/">drug checking services</a> and local early warning systems can also help to identify the local emergence of harmful substances. The government is also <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/5-million-fund-to-tackle-fatal-drug-deaths-across-the-uk#:%7E:text=As%20part%20of%20the%20Reducing,in%20potential%20drug%2Drelated%20deaths.">funding pilot projects</a> that may provide technological and data driven innovations. </p>
<p>There remains a worrying lack of innovation in the response to non-opioid drugs such as benzodiazepines (544 deaths this year). Considering the high proportion of deaths attributed to long-term health conditions, it is essential that we continue to break down barriers to accessing timely healthcare in all its forms, including <a href="https://www.antistigmanetwork.org.uk/home">stigma</a> and poor quality care.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220064/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Harry Sumnall receives and has received funding from public grant awarding bodies for alcohol and other drugs research, and consultation fees from (international) not for profit and government Ministries for consultation work. He is an unpaid member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Mind Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Hamilton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Women are catching up with men’s drug use.
Ian Hamilton, Honorary Fellow, Department of Health Sciences, University of York
Harry Sumnall, Professor in Substance Use, Liverpool John Moores University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/215139
2023-10-25T11:16:03Z
2023-10-25T11:16:03Z
Crack vaccine research we did on rats could help babies of mothers who use cocaine – and reduce addiction
<p>The most recent <a href="https://inpad.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Lenad-II-Relat%C3%B3rio.pdf">statistics</a> put the number of <a href="https://www.unodc.org/res/WDR-2023/annex/1.1_Prevalence_of_drug_use_in_the_general_population_regional_and_global_estimates.xlsx">regular cocaine or crack cocaine users</a> in the world at 20 million. Of these, one in four will become addicted or develop use disorders.</p>
<p>Among the addicts, many are women who, when they become pregnant, can bring risks to themselves and their children. <a href="https://academic.oup.com/epirev/article-abstract/16/2/315/415440?redirectedFrom=fulltext">Cocaine use during pregnancy</a> is associated with serious conditions for pregnant women (such as severe pre-eclampsia or miscarriage) and babies (premature birth with complications, low birth weight, malformations and withdrawal syndrome in the newborn).</p>
<p>A study carried out by a research team I am part of at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), in Brazil, has achieved a breakthrough: <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c00366">a vaccine</a> that uses the immune system to prevent the perinatal consequences of drug use, and which could protect the children of drug-using mothers. If clinical studies prove the vaccine’s efficacy, it could be an important tool to complement the biopsychosocial treatments already used to treat people with cocaine and crack addictions.</p>
<p>Pre-clinical tests with the new vaccine on animals have already been carried out successfully. At the moment, the research project is trying to get this experimental drug registered with the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency <a href="https://www.gov.br/anvisa/pt-br/english">Anvisa</a> so that clinical trials can begin and is looking for funds to carry them out.</p>
<h2>More than a decade in the making</h2>
<p>During <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306453012000522">my doctorate</a>, I studied how our bodies produce antibodies that contribute to the perception of certain symptoms of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0278584610003726">depression</a>. These antibodies, induced by intestinal bacteria, are capable of changing the action of certain hormones and neurotransmitters and changing our perception, creating symptoms and modifying our perception. In 2011, when I applied to UFMG, I started working on the idea of using this knowledge to produce a vaccine against cocaine.</p>
<p>A few years earlier, <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0264410X0100425X">an American group had published articles</a> showing that cocaine produced antibodies in some addicts who used very large quantities of the drug. They then began studies with the aim of using this mechanism, which we can call a self-defensive mechanism of the organism, to help people with addictions to cocaine and its derivatives, such as crack.</p>
<p>I was already working on the vaccine when scientific research ran into reality: a tragic situation we experienced in Minas Gerais state became another trigger for the vaccine’s development. In 2013, the Public Prosecutor’s Office issued a rule to the Family Courts, obliging doctors to notify cases of births to drug-dependent women, which would take the newborn children into the adoption system. Immediately, hundreds of women arrived at the drug addiction clinic at UFMG’s Hospital das Clínicas, asking for help so they wouldn’t lose custody of their children.</p>
<p>It was a very sad situation. Motherhood is a time of conflict for these women, who want to protect the baby, but often can’t avoid the compulsion to use the drug. Only <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11469-018-0005-7">25 per cent</a> of them manage to stop using during pregnancy.</p>
<p>But science is also made up of encounters. When I raised the issue with Professor <a href="http://lattes.cnpq.br/5930812704632756">Ângelo de Fátima</a>, one of Brazil’s leading experts in medicinal chemistry, he offered to replicate the molecule that the Americans had produced so that we could try an experiment on pregnant rats. A while later we talked about a new type of molecule, which had produced an immunogenic response to cancer, and from there came an innovation, a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2090123221001715">totally synthetic molecule</a>, which we now call UFMG-V4N2.</p>
<p>After discussing the possible immunogenicity - the ability to induce an immune response - of molecular structures called calixarenes, we agreed that he would synthesise a new molecule, called UFMG-V4N2, which is the basis of the Calixcoca vaccine. UFMG-V4N2 is actually a vaccine platform that can virtually be used to produce other vaccines, against methamphetamine, opioid and nicotine addiction, for example, for which we already have molecule designs under study.</p>
<h2>Protected pregnancy</h2>
<p>In the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36822966/">study with the rats</a>, we observed that the vaccination induced the production of antibodies in the pregnant animals, which is a major challenge: pregnancy is a state in which the body’s immune response is lower, so that the baby is not considered a foreign body. The production of antibodies in pregnant women is therefore usually more complicated and, in the case of cocaine users, the drug itself already has an immunosuppressive effect.</p>
<p>Given the presence of the two immunosuppressive effects, we thought it would be very difficult for the mechanism to work. But paradoxically, the antibody production response was almost <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34381172/">a thousand times greater</a> than in the male mice. It’s a paradox for which we don’t yet have an immunological explanation, but it’s a finding that opens up a very interesting window of opportunity if this mechanism is reproduced in humans.</p>
<p>The vaccinated rats did not experience the lack of appetite or hyperactivity induced by cocaine, and had 30 per cent more offspring than the unvaccinated rats, which indicates a reduction in miscarriages, placental abruption and other perinatal complications. The antibodies produced were able to block the passage of the drug through the placenta, protecting the mice. Furthermore, we identified that the antibodies also pass through the milk, so when breastfeeding, the women, even when using the drug, may not cause harm to the babies.</p>
<h2>Addiction</h2>
<p>In addition to the benefits of the vaccine for pregnant women and their children, we believe that Calixcoca could also become an important tool to add to the addiction treatment package, which should also involve psychiatric, psychological and social care support and help from the family.</p>
<p>There are medicines that help with other addictions, such as alcohol or tobacco, but not so far for crack and cocaine, which are the drugs that most stimulate the brain’s reward circuit and, consequently, have a very high addictive power. Only 20 per cent of patients who undergo treatments manage to be drug-free within five years, which is a pretty poor result.</p>
<p>UFMG-V4N2 proved effective in producing antibodies and making them <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666934X23000053">block the passage of cocaine into the brain</a>, which means that the vaccinated animals have a reduced perception of the drug’s effect: a very important advantage in a treatment.</p>
<p>This blockage occurs in the following way: we have a “protective shield” called <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25561720/">the blood-brain barrier</a>, which prevents toxic elements, viruses or bacteria from entering the brain, but because the cocaine molecule is very small, it manages to pass through this barrier. The vaccine stimulates the production of antibodies, which bind to the drug molecules, increasing their weight and size and thus preventing them from getting past the protective shield. The cocaine is retained in the blood, but as it is bound to the antibody, it doesn’t act on the heart or arteries either, which means the risk of overdoses is reduced.</p>
<p>Cocaine and crack cocaine addiction is an extremely important medical, psychological and social problem that still has no definitive solution. Even before human trials begin, around 3,500 people have already contacted us spontaneously, interested in taking part as volunteers in clinical studies. That’s why the results achieved so far are so relevant: there is no treatment approved by regulatory agencies worldwide for this purpose, and Calixcoca could represent hope for thousands of users who want to quit the drug but can’t avoid relapsing. We still have a long way to go to complete the development of this treatment, which could contribute to improving the psychosocial treatments currently used to care for people suffering from cocaine and crack addiction.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215139/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The research into the development of Calixcoca received funding from the Ministry of Justice - National Drug Policy Secretariat; the Minas Gerais State Research Support Foundation (Fapemig); the Chamber of Deputies; the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq); and the Minas Gerais State Health Secretariat.</span></em></p>
Calixcoca, which is in the final stages of study, could be a tool in the addiction treatment package.
Frederico Garcia, Professor do Departamento de Psiquiatria da Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/210316
2023-07-31T15:26:30Z
2023-07-31T15:26:30Z
Opioids and cocaine are a deadly combination – and ‘polydrug’ deaths are rising
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540138/original/file-20230731-251277-bhfjl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C2987%2C1994&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mans-hand-holding-on-palm-plastic-1056695408">DedMityay/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Drug deaths in the US involving both opioids and cocaine have increased dramatically in the past decade, according to a <a href="https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/129733">new report</a> from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).</p>
<p>Drug-related deaths associated with stimulants, such as cocaine, methamphetamine, amphetamine and methylphenidate, doubled between 2011 and 2021. And deaths associated with using both stimulants and opioids, such as heroin, morphine, fentanyl and methadone, increased by about sevenfold over the same period. The biggest increases have been seen since about 2019. </p>
<p>Cocaine and methamphetamine are stimulant drugs, whereas opioids, such as heroin and methadone, are depressants. This means that cocaine and methamphetamine will, among other things, make you euphoric and more alert with more energy, while heroin has the opposite effect. After an initial rush of euphoria, heroin users report a long period of drowsiness. </p>
<p>It is unclear why people take both types of drugs together. It is not thought that the euphoric effects are changed significantly by taking these drugs together, but cocaine may help with acute withdrawal from heroin. Another explanation is that, by taking both types of drug together, the user balances the stimulant and depressant effects of the drugs. Some medicated opioid abusers take stimulants for an alternative high or to counteract the sedative effects of their medication. </p>
<h2>Different mechanism</h2>
<p>These drugs work via different mechanisms. The stimulants work mostly by activating the brain’s dopamine system. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, or chemical messenger, important in the brain reward system, so it is critical to both feeling joy and euphoria.</p>
<p>Heroin and similar drugs such as methadone or fentanyl work via the body’s opioid system. The brain and body have various proteins attached to cell surfaces involved in transmitting the opioid signals. The most relevant proteins here are the mu opioid receptors. These receptors are activated by opioid painkillers.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, it is easy to overdose on opioids such as heroin. Overdose can lead to respiratory depression and then respiratory failure. This is when there are long pauses between breaths, which become more like sighs and then a loss of consciousness followed by cessation of breathing. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Heroin addicts nodding off" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540151/original/file-20230731-256057-j6pxbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540151/original/file-20230731-256057-j6pxbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540151/original/file-20230731-256057-j6pxbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540151/original/file-20230731-256057-j6pxbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540151/original/file-20230731-256057-j6pxbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540151/original/file-20230731-256057-j6pxbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540151/original/file-20230731-256057-j6pxbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Opioids can cause respiratory depression.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/no-drugs-concept-man-woman-aids-533628886">Lipik Stock Media/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The exact mechanism whereby opioids cause respiratory depression is unknown but probably involves opioid receptors found in the brainstem.</p>
<p>Cocaine and methamphetamine are less likely to kill you but are still dangerous drugs causing heart palpitations, increased blood pressure and increased risk of stroke. Methamphetamine is especially associated with dangerous <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.4161/23328940.2014.982049?needAccess=true&role=button">hyperthermia</a> leading to multi-organ toxicity. </p>
<p>Taking stimulants together with an opioid clearly increases your risk of drug-related death.</p>
<p>One reason that we may be seeing more drug-related deaths is due to the increased use of fentanyl. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is <a href="https://www.drugs.com/medical-answers/fentanyl-compare-heroin-opiates-3569710/">50 times</a> more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine, with a faster onset of action. It is therefore more likely to lead to respiratory depression than other opioids, such as heroin or methadone. </p>
<p>Fentanyl is increasingly being used as an <a href="https://www.clinicaterapeutica.it/2022/173/1/11_DI_TRANA.pdf">adulterant</a> in street drugs, such as heroin. This is because it is cheap and very powerful, so only a small amount is needed to have a large effect.</p>
<h2>Europe’s problem too</h2>
<p>It is not just the US that is seeing a rise in so-called polydrug-related deaths. Data from the <a href="https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/european-drug-report/2023/drug-induced-deaths_en">European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Abuse</a>) show that deaths from polydrug use, especially those involving opioids, are also increasing in Europe. The European data shows that it is mostly men who are dying and that older age groups are increasingly dying from drug taking. </p>
<p>Taken together, it can be seen that there may be a worldwide increase in polydrug-related deaths and in particular those involving both stimulants and opioids.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210316/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Colin Davidson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The US has seen a huge rise in drug deaths in the past decade involving a stimulant and a depressant.
Colin Davidson, Professor of Neuropharmacology and Head of School of Pharmacy & Biomedical Sciences, University of Central Lancashire
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/199239
2023-02-06T20:53:55Z
2023-02-06T20:53:55Z
Why the drug poisoning crisis in B.C. won’t be addressed by the new decriminalization policy
<p>On the same day that British Columbia began a new era in drug policy with the <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/overdose/decriminalization">decriminalization of simple possession of some drugs</a>, the province’s chief coroner provided a <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/life-events/death/coroners-service/statistical-reports">devastating update</a> about the number of lives lost to illicit drugs during the previous year. </p>
<p>On Jan. 31, 2023, B.C. began a <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/overdose-awareness/decriminalization_factsheet.pdf">three-year pilot project</a> under which simple possession of some drugs (opioids, methamphetamine, cocaine and MDMA) can no longer lead to criminal prosecution or even seizure of the drugs by police. The policy applies to possession of up to 2.5 grams of substance for personal use.</p>
<p>While a major step in the right direction, decriminalization does nothing to tackle what is fuelling the drug-poisoning crisis: the makeup of a toxic and unregulated drug supply. </p>
<p>In fact, imposed carry restrictions of 2.5 grams could theoretically lead to unintended consequences as drugs become more potent to fit within legal limits. </p>
<p>The stated goal of the decriminalization policy change is to <a href="https://theconversation.com/decriminalizing-drug-use-is-a-necessary-step-but-it-wont-end-the-opioid-overdose-crisis-162497">remove the stigma associated with drug use</a> to encourage people to seek help when they need it. </p>
<p>While the effects that decriminalization may have on the stigma of drug use remain to be seen, what it won’t affect is the toxicity of the drug supply that is killing thousands of Canadians each year.</p>
<h2>Inconsistent and unreliable drug supply</h2>
<p>Chemical analysis of drugs (such as from <a href="https://drugcheckingbc.ca/video/">drug checking</a> or police investigations) can tell us what is circulating in the supply, but <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/birth-adoption-death-marriage-and-divorce/deaths/coroners-service/statistical/illicit-drug-type.pdf">toxicology results</a> from those who have died from overdoses tell us what is actually causing death. </p>
<p>These data sources describe how increases in adulteration of drugs with fentanyl analogues, <a href="https://theconversation.com/benzo-dope-may-be-replacing-fentanyl-dangerous-substance-turning-up-in-unregulated-opioids-164286">benzodiazepines</a> and animal tranquilizers like <a href="https://substance.uvic.ca/blog/xylazine/">xylazine</a> are driving the drug poisoning crisis. </p>
<p>Fentanyl has been the main opioid sold on the unregulated market for several years. It is typically sold mixed into other powders like caffeine or sugars to make a final product. </p>
<p>Drug supply monitoring has shown that fentanyl concentration in these powders sold on the street can range from zero to nearly 100 per cent, with a standard sample in B.C. being <a href="https://drugcheckingbc.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Drug_Checking_BC_Nov_20224.pdf">around 10–15 per cent</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwab129">Research conducted in Vancouver</a> has described how fentanyl concentration in these samples was somewhat consistent between 2018 and early 2020, with variability between samples even decreasing over that period. What that may speak to is producers of fentanyl reaching a sort of “sweet spot” that satisfies their customers. People who sell drugs have described how they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.102845">listen to feedback</a> from their regulars and adjust the product to meet their customers’ needs. </p>
<p>However, following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, <a href="https://epiresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/2022-Abstract-Book.pdf#page=77">variation in potency between fentanyl samples rose dramatically</a>, leading to further unpredictability. These changes to the fentanyl supply around the spring of 2020 coincided with rates of drug poisonings previously not seen in the province. </p>
<p>Under B.C.’s decriminalization framework, possession for personal use caps at 2.5 grams of substance. While 2.5 grams may be more than enough MDMA for a night out, it may not be enough heroin to last a single day for someone who has a high opioid tolerance. People who use drugs say that to abide by these limits, they will be forced to make <a href="https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2022/05/31/bc-decriminalization-drugs/">more frequent, smaller purchases.</a> With the drug supply as volatile and unpredictable as it is, every new purchase puts someone at risk. </p>
<h2>Legal limit may affect potency</h2>
<p>Since we know that the drug supply is dynamic, it raises a question: Will the imposed legal carry limit of 2.5 grams result in increased potency of fentanyl to fit within the new 2.5-gram threshold? </p>
<p>Increases in average potency of fentanyl has been <a href="https://www.inhsu.org/resource/fentanyl-concentration-in-drug-checking-samples-and-risk-of-drug-related-mortality-during-an-illicit-drug-toxicity-crisis-in-vancouver-canada-a-time-series-analysis/">shown to be linked to increased drug poisonings</a> in the same geographic area. If the unregulated fentanyl market adjusts to fit more active ingredient into a smaller package, there will be downstream effects on people lives. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508487/original/file-20230206-31-5cy44g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Cropped image of a person holding a hand-lettered sign reading 'Every death is a drug policy failure'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508487/original/file-20230206-31-5cy44g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508487/original/file-20230206-31-5cy44g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508487/original/file-20230206-31-5cy44g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508487/original/file-20230206-31-5cy44g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508487/original/file-20230206-31-5cy44g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508487/original/file-20230206-31-5cy44g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508487/original/file-20230206-31-5cy44g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An advocate holds a sign at a demonstration in Victoria in April 2022. Decriminalization alone may have little effect on drug deaths without changes to the addiction treatment system.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The provincial and federal governments have <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/british-columbia/article-federal-minister-promises-data-on-impact-of-decriminalization/">committed to a data-driven approach</a> to decriminalization. Ongoing drug supply monitoring will help public health professionals characterize what changes occur to the unregulated drug supply as a result of the policy change. Yet the act of decriminalizing drugs for personal use does not have any direct effect on the cause of the ongoing poisoning crisis. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2023PSSG0008-000109">consensus among experts</a> has consistently pointed to unpredictable drugs from an unregulated supply and the absence of a functioning addiction treatment system. For those who want to seek treatment, the lack of available space leaves people waiting, once again left to rely on the toxic drug supply. </p>
<p>If B.C. is serious about confronting the leading cause of unnatural death in the province, it is going to take far more than decriminalizing simple drug possession. People who use drugs require an alternative to the toxic unregulated supply to not be risking their lives every time they use drugs. </p>
<p>Increasing access to a safer supply of drugs through a <a href="https://theconversation.com/safer-supply-of-opioids-saves-lives-providing-alternatives-to-toxic-street-drugs-177925">variety of formats</a> and providing meaningful funding for accessible treatment options are some examples of ways the province can take immediate steps to make an impact. </p>
<p>In the meantime, <a href="https://bc.ctvnews.ca/illicit-drug-death-toll-surpasses-2-000-in-b-c-for-a-2nd-consecutive-year-1.6253605">six more people will die today</a> from a drug poisoning in B.C. And another six will die tomorrow. How many more days can this go on?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199239/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samuel Tobias does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
As British Columbia begins a new era in drug policy, the drug poisoning crisis continues without an end in sight.
Samuel Tobias, PhD Student, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/189850
2022-10-26T12:29:48Z
2022-10-26T12:29:48Z
Rap artists have penned plenty of lyrics about US presidents – this course examines what they say about Reagan and the 1980s
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489515/original/file-20221013-14-avelq0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C30%2C3421%2C2253&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Numerous rap songs criticize the Reagan administration for its complicity in the illicit drug trade.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-ronald-reagan-campaigning-for-a-second-term-of-news-photo/594771010?phrase=Ronald%20Reagan&adppopup=true">Wally McNamee/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Text saying: Uncommon Courses, from The Conversation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/uncommon-courses-130908">Uncommon Courses</a> is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.</em> </p>
<h2>Title of course:</h2>
<p>“Rap, Reagan and the 1980s”</p>
<h2>What prompted the idea for the course?</h2>
<p>Actually, it was Donald Trump’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-donald-trump-came-up-with-make-america-great-again/2017/01/17/fb6acf5e-dbf7-11e6-ad42-f3375f271c9c_story.html">Make America Great Again</a> movement. People seemed shocked by his campaign slogan. But it wasn’t the first time in the U.S. that an entertainer had acted as a populist politician to win the allegiance of working-class white voters who feared losing their socioeconomic status. That distinction more rightly belongs to Ronald Reagan, who used the phrase first in his 1980 campaign.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489513/original/file-20221013-24-kjid11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A campaign button emblazoned with the faces of two men is topped with the words 'Reagan-Bush in '80'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489513/original/file-20221013-24-kjid11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489513/original/file-20221013-24-kjid11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489513/original/file-20221013-24-kjid11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489513/original/file-20221013-24-kjid11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489513/original/file-20221013-24-kjid11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=697&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489513/original/file-20221013-24-kjid11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=697&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489513/original/file-20221013-24-kjid11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=697&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 1980 Ronald Reagan campaign button employed the use of the phrase ‘Let’s Make America Great Again.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_522618">Smithsonian Institution</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many of my students, who came of age during the Obama administration, enjoyed the 2016 song by YG and Nipsey Hussle titled “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlIREcAu0PI">FDT</a>,” which is an acronym for “F— Donald Trump.” The song’s <a href="https://genius.com/Yg-fdt-lyrics">lyrics</a> criticize Trump for campaigning for the White House by trying to <a href="https://time.com/3923128/donald-trump-announcement-speech/">breed resentment against immigrants from Mexico</a>. I realized then that, just as today’s rappers are weighing in on politics, I could teach a course about how rap artists in the 1980s – and even afterward – dealt with the politicians from that era, chief among them President Reagan.</p>
<h2>What does the course explore?</h2>
<p>It uses hip-hop as a tool to understand the sociopolitical, economic and cultural factors that affected the lives of Black youths during the 1980s – the era of “<a href="https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/heres-why-reaganomics-is-so-controversial-video">Reaganomics</a>.” That’s the <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/reaganomics.asp">name given to Reagan’s economic policies</a>, which called for deregulation of the markets, widespread tax cuts, less spending on social programs and more spending on the military.</p>
<p>For instance, we use Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s classic 1982 hit “The Message” to examine the disappearance of middle-class factory jobs from American cities during a period of <a href="https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2002/03/bought.htm">globalization</a> and <a href="https://www.edweek.org/education/education-spending-declined-during-80s-report-says/1991/06">cuts to public school funding</a>.</p>
<p>The group rapped:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“<em>My son said, Daddy, I don’t wanna go to school<br>
‘Cause the teacher’s a jerk, he must think, I’m a fool<br>
And all the kids smoke reefer, I think it’d be cheaper<br>
If I just got a job, learned to be a street sweeper</em>”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Students also examine the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s through the lyrics of Too $hort’s “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ9ioPrZ6_c">Girl That’s Your Life</a>” from 1983, N.W.A’s “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ei_zhL_YTY">Dopeman</a>” from 1987, and Killer Mike’s 2012 song “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lIqNjC1RKU">Reagan</a>,” which holds the Reagan administration <a href="https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB2/index.html">complicit in creating the crack cocaine epidemic</a>.</p>
<p>Raps Killer Mike: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“<em>Just like Oliver North introduced us to cocaine / In the 80s when them bricks came on military planes</em>.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Why is this course relevant now?</h2>
<p>It allows students to see the effects of the loosely regulated market economy of Reagan’s America, which led to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/45131666">profound wealth gaps</a>. </p>
<p>To get a sense of the implications of the Reagan 1980s, I also have students listen to Kendrick Lamar’s “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YARwQQntqp8">Ronald Reagan Era</a>,” which came out in 2011 and deals with the flow of drugs, crack cocaine in particular, into Lamar’s native Compton, California, and Los Angeles during the late 1980s. The song also illuminates how drugs negatively affected his neighborhood and childhood. Lamar was born in 1987.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490105/original/file-20221017-19-6eidfe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two men speak while holding microphones" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490105/original/file-20221017-19-6eidfe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490105/original/file-20221017-19-6eidfe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490105/original/file-20221017-19-6eidfe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490105/original/file-20221017-19-6eidfe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490105/original/file-20221017-19-6eidfe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490105/original/file-20221017-19-6eidfe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490105/original/file-20221017-19-6eidfe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kendrick Lamar, right, and Killer Mike are among the rap artists who’ve made songs that mention Ronald Reagan in the title.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrew Chin and Matthew Baker Getty Images</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What’s a critical lesson from the course?</h2>
<p>As various rap artists have pointed out, the violence that takes place in urban communities is directly connected to the world of politics.</p>
<p>As a group called Above the Law, part of a coalition of artists called the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9892864/">West Coast Rap All-Stars</a>, stated in the 1990 song “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmg6c0PASYk">We’re All in the Same Gang</a>”:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“<em>violence don’t only revolve from drugs and thugs and gangs that bang; most times it’s a political thang.</em>” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>A key lesson is that much of the praise for Reagan, a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10511431.2019.1708602">revered figure</a> in the conservative movement, did not always match the effects of his policies. For instance, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/06/01/trump-is-giving-arthur-laffer-presidential-medal-freedom-economists-arent-laughing/">modern economists have questioned</a> the purported benefits of the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/06/01/trump-is-giving-arthur-laffer-presidential-medal-freedom-economists-arent-laughing/">Laffer curve</a>, which is an <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/laffercurve.asp">economic analysis</a> that shows the relationship between tax rates and tax revenue, and which was used to support the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/taxnotes/2021/09/03/reagans-tax-cut">Reagan tax cuts</a>. Reagan also embraced <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-bad-is-inequality-trickle-down-economics-thomas-piketty-economists-2021-12">“trickle-down” economics</a>, a theory that tax breaks and other benefits for business will ultimately help everyone, but economists say these benefits rarely, if ever, reached the most marginalized. </p>
<h2>What materials does the course feature?</h2>
<p>• “<a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9780230616196">Ronald Reagan and the 1980s: Perceptions, Policies, Legacies</a>,” edited by Cheryl Hudson and Gareth Davies</p>
<p>• “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/625232/reconsidering-reagan-by-daniel-s-lucks/">Reconsidering Reagan: Racism, Republicans, and the Road to Trump</a>,” by Daniel Lucks</p>
<p>• “<a href="https://kansaspress.ku.edu/9780700616510/hip-hop-revolution/">Hip-Hop Revolution: The Culture and Politics of Rap</a>,” by Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar</p>
<p>• The 1985 movie “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089444/">Krush Groove</a>,” starring Sheila E. as well as Joseph Simmons and Daryl McDaniels of the pioneering rap group <a href="https://www.rundmc.com/">Run-DMC</a>.</p>
<h2>What will the course prepare students to do?</h2>
<p>The class prepares students to communicate their points of view to the public in creative and concise ways, much as rappers do in their songs. Specifically, they must write 16 bars. They also critically evaluate readings, songs and albums by doing a “5-Mic Review” <a href="https://www.hiphopnostalgia.com/2014/01/the-source-mic-system-for-album-reviews.html">in the way of the groundbreaking rap magazine The Source</a>. Finally, they do a group project that involves constructing a soundtrack for a movie or a hip-hop playlist.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189850/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stefan M. Bradley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Ronald Reagan may have been known as ‘The Great Communicator,’ but rap artists don’t view his legacy through such rose-colored glasses. A professor of Black studies and history takes a closer look.
Stefan M. Bradley, Professor of Black Studies and History, Amherst College
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/191175
2022-09-28T10:46:37Z
2022-09-28T10:46:37Z
‘Gutter water’, ‘monkey tail’ and smoked faeces: new dangers on Nigeria’s drug scene
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486064/original/file-20220922-15282-eqedpv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some people take the new drugs to prolong sex.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>New, unconventional drugs are <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/DAT-02-2020-0003/full/html">becoming popular</a> in Nigeria, designed by dealers and users to replicate the effects of illegal substances like cannabis, cocaine, and ecstasy. They affect how the brain works and cause changes in mood, feelings and behaviour. Policymakers have labelled them as “new psychoactive substances” because they’re not recognised under international conventions. </p>
<p>These psychoactive substances are found all over the world, and they’re growing in popularity. But little empirical research has been conducted on the uptake of these new drugs in many non-western contexts, especially in Africa. More information is needed because using substances like these is harmful to health. Policymakers need proper evidence regarding their availability, use, and effects to provide evidence-based interventions.</p>
<p>It appears that people in Nigeria are creating new drugs either because they can’t afford more traditional narcotics, or because they’re not controlled (and therefore difficult to detect), or because they’re strong.</p>
<p>As my colleagues and I documented in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667118221000064">a mini review of recent insights on the topic</a> in Nigeria, most new psychoactive substances are extremely potent. Some drug users prefer them to conventional narcotics because they want to experience a more intense and longer high. </p>
<p>We also found that some people will take these substances – such as tramadol – to give them more energy for hard labour. Others use them because they want to last longer during sex. </p>
<p>These new psychoactive substances pose a public health threat, but because they’re new and not easy to detect, they are not controlled – for instance, by the <a href="https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaties/single-convention.html?ref=menuside">1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs</a> or the <a href="https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaties/psychotropics.html?ref=menuside">1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances</a>. </p>
<p>Traditional drugs – like cannabis, cocaine, and ecstasy – are controlled under these conventions, making them easier to detect, categorise and regulate internationally. </p>
<p>Studies that reveal more about the substances being used in Nigeria and their effects on users will help inform public health interventions.</p>
<h2>Types of drugs</h2>
<p>New psychoactive substances exist all over the world, and they’re growing in popularity. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime identified <a href="https://www.unodc.org/LSS/Announcement/Details/eff8dc38-7ab0-42b0-8cd9-753b89953fcc">almost 900</a> new substances between 2009 and 2018. These were found across 119 countries and territories, in all regions of the world.</p>
<p>In western countries, people use synthetic opioids, like tramadol and fentanyl, and synthetic cannabinoids. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667118221000064">Our mini-review</a> of empirical studies conducted in different parts of Nigeria mapped the types, availability, and motivations for taking these new psychoactive substances.</p>
<p>In Nigeria, aside from a few imported new psychoactive substances like tramadol, most of them are locally sourced and can be obtained free of charge or at a low cost. </p>
<p>There’s a cocktail called “gutter water”, which is made from a mix of tramadol, cannabis, codeine and vodka. Other popular cocktails include “monkey tail” – a combination of homemade spirit, cannabis and psychoactive plant roots, seeds and stems – or a mixture of sodium hypochlorite solution (bleach) and carbonated soft drinks. </p>
<p>There are also pure plant-based substances. Some people will chew or smoke dried cassava and pawpaw leaves or seeds, zakami (<em>Datura metel</em>) seeds, and moringa (zogale) leaves.</p>
<p>Other popular ways to get psychoactive effects involve sniffing burnt tyres, hydrogen sulphide gas (sewer gas), or nail polish. </p>
<p>There are other new substances that people who are desperate or very poor try to use, but it is unknown whether these produce psychoactive effects that can get them high. These include smoking the whitish elements of lizard dung or human faeces. Others will drink 10-day-old human urine for the same reason. </p>
<h2>Addressing the issue</h2>
<p>Although research on the harms caused by using new psychoactive substances is at an early stage in Nigeria, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10911359.2020.1790462">one study</a> found that some tramadol users experienced seizures or convulsions after taking the substance, and a few users died from a drug overdose.</p>
<p>Because drug availability <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10911359.2020.1790462">often correlates</a> with high drug use, it’s logical to say that without strategies to address the new drugs, their use may continue to rise. </p>
<p>Therefore, there is a need to initiate a strategy to address the issue. This must be underpinned by sound research. There must be comprehensive data that maps the availability, types, patterns, and motives for taking these new drugs among Nigerians.</p>
<p>A nationwide campaign will be essential. It must give young people the information they need on the dangers of substance use. </p>
<p>Credible government sources like the National Orientation Agency of Nigeria and the Ministry of Health should champion this effort. Campaigns should aim at deterring people from ever trying new psychoactive substances. Efforts must also be made to reorient those who already use the substances without stigmatising them. </p>
<p>For the campaign to be successful, the Nigerian police and other law enforcement agencies that often use intimidation and <em>war on drug</em> approaches to enforce laws should be distanced. This is primarily because brutalising drug users <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09687637.2021.2004998">has not</a> reduced drug availability and use in Nigeria. </p>
<p>Finally, official corruption – blamed <a href="https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/bulletin/2019/19-11671_ebook.pdf#page=39">for fuelling</a> the availability of tramadol – must be tackled immediately.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191175/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emeka Dumbili received funding from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) in 2012. </span></em></p>
People in Nigeria are creating new drugs either because they can’t afford more traditional narcotics, because they’re not controlled or because they’re strong.
Emeka Dumbili, Lecturer, Nnamdi Azikiwe University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/184926
2022-06-19T12:50:48Z
2022-06-19T12:50:48Z
Decriminalizing hard drugs in B.C. follows decades of public health advocacy
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469560/original/file-20220617-14205-7slb7v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C467%2C5439%2C3853&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">B.C. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson holds a copy of exemption documents that enable British Columbia to decriminalize possession of small amounts of 'hard' drugs for personal use. B.C.’s bold experiment will be closely watched as a comparator with other progressive jurisdictions.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/decriminalizing-hard-drugs-in-b-c--follows-decades-of-public-health-advocacy" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p><a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8882290/bc-overdose-crisis-decriminalize-possession/?utm_source=NewsletterNational&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=2022">British Columbia has become</a> the first province to be granted an exemption under the <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-38.8/">Controlled Drugs and Substances Act</a> to remove criminal penalties for possession of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA for personal use. </p>
<p>This means that police will no longer arrest, charge or seize drugs from adults found with 2.5 grams or less of these substances. Instead, people with drugs will be offered information on available health and social services and assistance with referrals to access treatment if they choose.</p>
<p>B.C.’s bold experiment to decriminalize “hard” drugs will be closely watched as a comparator with other progressive jurisdictions, such as <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/oregon-1st-state-to-decriminalize-possession-of-hard-drugs">Oregon</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/dec/05/portugals-radical-drugs-policy-is-working-why-hasnt-the-world-copied-it">Portugal</a>. Decriminalization in these places has been implemented differently, reflecting the distinctive circumstances and priorities that influence drug policy in different global contexts.</p>
<p>As a sociologist who has been studying drug policy development in Canada for nearly 30 years, it is plainly evident to me that decision-making is a political process that does not rest on facts alone. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0829320100006566">Drug policy</a> reflects <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0959523021000023270">ideological commitments</a> that are influenced by, and in turn influence, prevailing public understandings and opinions about drugs. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09595230500404145">Exposure to the facts</a> — which are also contested — and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0955-3959(01)00085-8">constructive dialogue about social norms and values</a> is needed to facilitate more meaningful debate. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Cropped image of a group of people, one of whom is holding a hand-lettered sign reading 'Every death is a drug policy failure'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469561/original/file-20220617-20-ftu74x.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469561/original/file-20220617-20-ftu74x.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469561/original/file-20220617-20-ftu74x.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469561/original/file-20220617-20-ftu74x.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469561/original/file-20220617-20-ftu74x.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469561/original/file-20220617-20-ftu74x.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469561/original/file-20220617-20-ftu74x.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Advocates gather in Victoria to mark the anniversary of the declaration of a public health emergency in opioid-related overdoses in British Columbia on April 14.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Decriminalizing drug use is the <a href="https://www.oupcanada.com/catalog/9780199007882.html">realization of 50 years of policy discussions</a> advocating for removal of all penalties for small amounts of drugs. The called-for public health perspective is just beginning to materialize, despite extensive evidence that <a href="https://cannabiscoalition.ca/info/HarmReductionHeadway_Resistance_IJDPX2008.pdf">the war on drugs has failed</a>. The research evidence instead supports the view that prohibition of substance use has been ineffective, costly, inhumane and harmful to the user and society.</p>
<h2>Why so little progress for so long?</h2>
<p>Canada has long pursued half-measures by adopting a hybrid model recognizing public health considerations within a legal framework that enforces prohibition. The <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1947221/pdf/canmedaj01573-0103.pdf">LeDain Commission of Inquiry</a> in 1972 proposed a gradual withdrawal from criminal penalties for illicit drug possession, phasing out incarceration in favour of medical treatment. </p>
<p>The LeDain report foreshadowed the emergence of drug policy with the goal of <a href="https://ontario.cmha.ca/harm-reduction/">harm reduction</a> and the need for more attention to the principles that underlie drug policy debates. What is meant by “harm” has been contentious when determining the proper role of law when the police and politicians define harm in ways that justify continued prohibition.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469565/original/file-20220617-23-jl5q1d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman at a podium in front of a row of flags, and two other women at opposite sides of stage, in front of background with the words 'A pathway to hope'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469565/original/file-20220617-23-jl5q1d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469565/original/file-20220617-23-jl5q1d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469565/original/file-20220617-23-jl5q1d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469565/original/file-20220617-23-jl5q1d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469565/original/file-20220617-23-jl5q1d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469565/original/file-20220617-23-jl5q1d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469565/original/file-20220617-23-jl5q1d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson discusses details about the province’s application for decriminalization at the provincial legislature in Victoria on Nov. 1, 2021, as provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and chief coroner Lisa Lapointe look on.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ten years after the LeDain report, the enactment of the <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/rfc-dlc/ccrf-ccdl/">Charter of Rights and Freedoms</a> provided legal tools that complement more scientific evidence-based arguments for drug policy reform. The success of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0829320100006566">legal challenges on Charter grounds</a>, however, has been largely limited to striking down the most egregious policing practices and penalties for drug crimes.</p>
<p>Sweeping changes in the law might well have been expected with the launch of <a href="https://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/research/forum/e133/133a_e.pdf">Canada’s Drug Strategy</a> in 1987. The language change was monumental: it covered the full spectrum of non-medical drug use, including legal drugs like alcohol, prescription drugs and even solvents; and it signalled an intent to set out in a new direction that dramatically departed from the war-on-drugs approach. </p>
<p>The implementation of the strategy, however, was much less so. Police continued to command the lion’s share of funding, despite the promise of pursuing a “more balanced” and coherent public health approach to substance use. </p>
<p>Thirty-five years later, the situation has changed little. In 2018, after decades of debate, but little action indicating actual commitment to reform, <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/cannabis/">cannabis was legalized in Canada</a>, transforming its users from pariahs to responsible consumers. Users of more dangerous drugs continue to be treated differently, primarily because such use elicits more concern for crime control than protecting health. </p>
<h2>Lessons from other jurisdictions</h2>
<p>In Oregon, the lack of full commitment to a public health approach explains the <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/oregon-decriminalized-drugs-2020-hows-83846382">“mixed results.”</a> U.S.-style decriminalization there has been adopted as a social justice remedy to mitigate the impact of policing on marginalized communities.</p>
<p>In 2020, Oregon voters approved a <a href="https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/lpro/Publications/Background-Brief-Measure-110-(2020).pdf">ballot measure to decriminalize hard drugs</a> as a way to keep addicts out of prison and get them into treatment. Possession of controlled substances is now a “violation” carrying a maximum US$100 fine. The fine is waived if the offender calls a hotline for assessment, which may lead to them receiving treatment. </p>
<p>However, after the first year, just one per cent had used the hotline, and nearly half did not show up to court, prompting criticism that the system is too lenient.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469563/original/file-20220617-19-1btqrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black wall with colourful handprints and names on it" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469563/original/file-20220617-19-1btqrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469563/original/file-20220617-19-1btqrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469563/original/file-20220617-19-1btqrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469563/original/file-20220617-19-1btqrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469563/original/file-20220617-19-1btqrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469563/original/file-20220617-19-1btqrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469563/original/file-20220617-19-1btqrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some of the handprints of people recovering from drug addiction are seen on a wall in the parking lot of an addiction recovery centre in McMinnville, Ore., on Dec. 9, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Andrew Selsky)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Portugal’s adoption of decriminalization measures has been <a href="https://transformdrugs.org/blog/drug-decriminalisation-in-portugal-setting-the-record-straight">implemented more successfully</a>, in part because its social safety net is far more comprehensive and better integrated with the criminal justice system. </p>
<p>Portugal’s approach is both more vigorous and nuanced, recognizing that most drug use is “low risk” and requires no intervention. The vast majority of cases referred by the police are deemed non-problematic and the charges are suspended. Those who have a pattern of repeated violations may be issued fines or offered counselling appointments. Substance use dependence and abuse in high-risk cases more often triggers a referral for non-mandatory treatment. </p>
<p>Portugal’s adoption of a graduated system of intervention demonstrates a view that is consistent with coherent harm reduction policy development. Drug use is treated as a health issue. And the proof is in the pudding. Since these measures were enacted in 2001, drug-related deaths and rates of drug use have remained below the European Union average. The rates of HIV infection from injection drug use, and incarceration for committing drug offences, have also been dramatically reduced. </p>
<p>Canada’s adoption of a public health perspective on substance use is hampered by its failure to address the inconsistencies inherent in its hybridized approach. Enacting harm reduction within a prohibition framework perversely criminalizes people recognized as needing help.</p>
<p>B.C.’s bold experiment provides an opportunity to implement more balance in Canadian drug policy, and a more principled withdrawal from the war on drugs. Much can be learned from other places in deciding the path forward, and the world is waiting for new lessons to be learned.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184926/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Hathaway does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
British Columbia’s bold experiment provides an opportunity to implement more balance in Canadian drug policy, and a more principled withdrawal from the war on drugs.
Andrew Hathaway, Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Guelph
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/170007
2021-10-21T19:16:44Z
2021-10-21T19:16:44Z
Forgotten how to party? Safety tips from a drug and alcohol expert
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427412/original/file-20211020-20-smslqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1000%2C666&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/fun-disco-559484653">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Cancelled dance parties, festivals and other events have shaped how Australians use alcohol and other drugs during the pandemic.</p>
<p>Now restrictions are easing, some people who have not used alcohol or other drugs recently may start to use them again, and need to be aware of their reduced tolerance.</p>
<p>Here’s what <a href="https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/program/drug-trends">survey data</a> released today by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, tell us about drug use and drug markets during the pandemic.</p>
<p>And here’s what to think about if your drug use during the pandemic has changed, and you’re about to head off to a party.</p>
<h2>Cocaine up, ecstasy down, alcohol stable</h2>
<p>Of the two yearly surveys released today, one relates to people who inject drugs such as heroin. The other relates to people who use ecstasy and other party drugs, who typically use drugs occasionally.</p>
<p>The group using ecstasy and other party drugs showed significant changes in drug use between 2020 and 2021. This variability is probably because this group tends to use in specific contexts and is more strongly influenced by access and opportunity.</p>
<p>More people used cocaine in 2021 than in 2020, continuing the upward trend in recent years. We don’t know why cocaine use has been increasing. But the frequency of cocaine use was very low at just a few days in the past six months. </p>
<p>Cocaine purity in Australia tends to be fairly low and has been <a href="https://www.acic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-09/Illicit%20Drug%20Data%20Report%202018-19_Internals_V10_Cocaine%20CH.pdf">decreasing</a>. So, although other data also show that cocaine has increased in popularity in the past few years, we haven’t seen a big increase in harms. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/weekly-dose-cocaine-the-glamour-drug-of-the-70s-is-making-a-comeback-88639">Weekly Dose: cocaine, the glamour drug of the ’70s, is making a comeback</a>
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<p>Fewer people used ecstasy in 2021; the frequency of use also decreased (from 12 days in the past six months in 2020 to seven days in 2021).</p>
<p>But this was not just because of closed venues or cancelled events. People surveyed said it was also harder to get. The closed international border has restricted importation of ecstasy and the chemicals used to make it. In the past year, ecstasy purity has reportedly decreased and the price increased.</p>
<p>More people said they used “magic mushrooms”, <a href="https://theconversation.com/weekly-dose-anaesthetic-and-recreational-drug-ketamine-could-be-used-to-treat-depression-81468">ketamine</a>, and non-prescribed pharmaceutical stimulants such as <a href="https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/medicines/brand/amt,30571011000036106/dexamphetamine-sulfate-sigma">dexamphetamine</a> and <a href="https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/medicines/brand/amt,17251000168101/ritalin">methylphenidate</a>. The frequency of use of these drugs was very low at just a few days in the past six months.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/weekly-dose-anaesthetic-and-recreational-drug-ketamine-could-be-used-to-treat-depression-81468">Weekly Dose: anaesthetic and recreational drug ketamine could be used to treat depression</a>
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<p>The rate of alcohol use was stable. This is in line with <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/alcohol/alcohol-tobacco-other-drugs-australia/contents/impact-of-covid-19-on-alcohol-and-other-drug-use">other data</a> showing that, although alcohol use may have increased slightly in the early months of the pandemic, it stabilised after that. Spending on takeaway alcohol at bottle shops increased, but the opportunities to drink at pubs, bars and restaurants decreased.</p>
<p>The surveys are not intended to represent all people who use drugs, so should be interpreted alongside other sources.</p>
<h2>What might happen as restrictions ease?</h2>
<p>As festivals and dance parties start up again, some people may start to use these drugs again.</p>
<p>When you use a drug, including alcohol, regularly, your body gets used to having it in your system and you need to use more to get the same effect. This is known as “<a href="https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/drugtreat-pubs-front6-fa-toc%7Edrugtreat-pubs-front6-fa-secb%7Edrugtreat-pubs-front6-fa-secb-8%7Edrugtreat-pubs-front6-fa-secb-8-2">tolerance</a>”.</p>
<p>If you haven’t used a drug for a while, your tolerance may have decreased. You’ll need less to get the same effect. So if you start using the same amount as before you might unintentionally use too much and experience unwanted side effects, including overdose.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427416/original/file-20211020-23-yoiztt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Person at home holding small bag containing white powder" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427416/original/file-20211020-23-yoiztt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427416/original/file-20211020-23-yoiztt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427416/original/file-20211020-23-yoiztt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427416/original/file-20211020-23-yoiztt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427416/original/file-20211020-23-yoiztt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427416/original/file-20211020-23-yoiztt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427416/original/file-20211020-23-yoiztt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Taking a drug at home can be very different to taking it while dancing all night at a club.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/drug-addict-dealer-closing-bag-cocaine-1019419879">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If you have increased use during the pandemic, your tolerance may have increased, so the effects at your usual dose may be reduced. This can also lead to unintentional overdose because, although you don’t feel the effects, the drug may still be toxic at high enough doses.</p>
<p>The setting you use a drug in also changes the effects you might feel. So if you have been using ecstasy quietly at home during the pandemic you’ll have different effects to using it while dancing all night.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-does-mdma-kill-109506">How does MDMA kill?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What can you do to use more safely?</h2>
<p>With changes in the market, the strength and purity of illicit drugs you used before the pandemic might also be different to those you have access to now.</p>
<p>If you can have your drugs checked to see what’s in them you can decide whether to still take them or not. The ACT government has announced funding for a <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6888821/pill-testing-site-could-be-coming-to-the-city-this-summer/">trial of a drug checking service</a>. New Zealand passed interim legislation to <a href="https://theconversation.com/after-the-last-summer-of-terrible-drugs-its-time-to-make-nzs-temporary-drug-checking-law-permanent-165612">make drug checking legal</a> last year. It’s due to finalise the full legislation at the end of this year to <a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/global-legal-monitor/2021-04-14/new-zealand-government-indicates-that-drug-checking-law-will-be-made-permanent/">make it permanent</a>.</p>
<p>If you don’t have access to a drug checking service, you should be extra cautious the first few times you use a drug again after a break:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>“<a href="https://wearetheloop.org/crush-dab-wait">crush/dab/wait</a>”</strong>: take a quarter of a pill or a dab of powder at first then wait an hour or two to see the effects. You can always take more if wanted, but you can’t get it out of your system if you take too much</p></li>
<li><p><strong>avoid mixing drugs</strong>: the more drugs you take at the same time the more likely you are to have problems, like overdose. Some drugs reduce your ability to feel the effects of other drugs. For example stimulants can mask the effects of alcohol, then you can drink too much</p></li>
<li><p><strong>check what’s circulating</strong>: the <a href="https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/aod/public-drug-alerts/Pages/default.aspx">New South Wales</a> and <a href="https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/alcohol-and-drugs/drug-alerts">Victorian</a> governments regularly release alerts to the public about contaminants found in seized drugs or from hospital data. Other states also sometimes release alerts.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Tolerance also applies to legal drugs like alcohol. If you’ve been drinking more during lockdown, your tolerance might have increased and you might drink more than you intended. You might not feel drunk, but your brain function may still be affected and you can still be over the legal limit for driving.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427418/original/file-20211020-21-1rg745s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Man drinking beer about to grab car keys, friend holding back arm" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427418/original/file-20211020-21-1rg745s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427418/original/file-20211020-21-1rg745s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427418/original/file-20211020-21-1rg745s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427418/original/file-20211020-21-1rg745s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427418/original/file-20211020-21-1rg745s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427418/original/file-20211020-21-1rg745s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427418/original/file-20211020-21-1rg745s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">If you’ve been drinking more in lockdown, you might feel OK but be impaired and still be over the limit.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/do-not-drink-drive-cropped-image-572252890">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If you have been drinking less, your tolerance may have decreased so a smaller amount of alcohol will affect you more than normal. So, if you drink the same amount as you did before the pandemic you might get drunk more quickly.</p>
<p>Start slowly, monitor the number of drinks you have and pay attention to how drunk you are feeling.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/getting-back-on-the-beers-after-lockdown-heres-what-you-should-know-140454">Getting back on the beers after lockdown? Here's what you should know</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How to get help</h2>
<p>If you’re worried about your own or someone else’s use of alcohol or other drugs call the National Alcohol and other Drug Hotline on 1800 250 015, free from anywhere in Australia.</p>
<p>If you want support to manage your drinking, <a href="https://hellosundaymorning.org/">Hello Sunday Morning</a> offers a free online support community where you can connect and chat with others who are actively changing their alcohol use.</p>
<p>You can also chat online with a counsellor at <a href="https://www.counsellingonline.org.au/">Alcohol & Drug Counselling Online</a>, join an online support group at <a href="https://smartrecoveryaustralia.com.au/">SMART Recovery</a> or talk to your GP about seeing a psychologist. You may be able to access support via <a href="https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/telehealth">telehealth</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170007/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Lee works as a consultant in the alcohol and other drug sector and a psychologist in private practice. She has previously been awarded funding by Australian and state governments, NHMRC and other bodies for evaluation and research into drug prevention and treatment. She is a member of the Australian National Advisory Council on Alcohol and other Drugs and the board of directors of Hello Sunday Morning and The Loop Australia.</span></em></p>
Now restrictions are easing, some people who have not used alcohol or other drugs recently may start to use them again, and need to be aware of their reduced tolerance.
Nicole Lee, Professor at the National Drug Research Institute (Melbourne), Curtin University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/163568
2021-08-16T12:29:11Z
2021-08-16T12:29:11Z
Rat poison is just one of the potentially dangerous substances likely to be mixed into illicit drugs
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415548/original/file-20210810-17-n2r4rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2121%2C1412&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Impurities are often added to recreational drugs to mask poor quality.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/midsection-of-man-holding-cocaine-royalty-free-image/1076137624">Sebastian Leesch/EyeEm via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over 150 people in Illinois started <a href="https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1807652">bleeding uncontrollably</a> after using <a href="https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/synthetic-cannabinoids-k2spice">synthetic cannabis-based products</a> – including fake marijuana, Spice and K2 – that contained the rat poison brodifacoum in March and April 2018. By the end of July 2021, these banned products were still being sold in <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/07/20/fda-warning-synthetic-marijuana-rat-poison/802585002/">10 states and the District of Columbia</a>, resulting in hundreds of severe bleeds and several deaths.</p>
<p>Illicit drug use was responsible for <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/illicit-drug-use#direct-deaths-drug-overdoses">an estimated 166,613 deaths worldwide in 2017 due to overdose</a>. The increased risk of disease and injury associated with illicit drug use caused an <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/illicit-drug-use#indirect-deaths-drug-use-as-a-risk-factor-for-premature-death">additional estimated 585,348 premature deaths</a>. And it’s impossible to tease out whether people were harmed by the drugs themselves or by the myriad impurities added to them.</p>
<p>I am a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=lWAD9d8AAAAJ&hl=en">clinical pharmacologist</a> and guest editor for a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jcph.1921">special supplement</a> in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology on commonly abused substances. I also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jcph.1860">surveyed the research</a> in 2021 on what’s known about illicit drug adulteration. The research is clear: Adding impurities to, or adulterating, illicit drugs is a longstanding and widespread practice with harmful consequences. </p>
<h2>You seldom get what you pay for</h2>
<p>Drugmakers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/dta.220">include other ingredients for a few reasons</a>, whether to cut costs by bulking up their product with cheaper nonactive ingredients or to achieve particular effects by adding other drugs to mask poor product quality or imitate the desired effect of the drug itself.</p>
<p>Prior to the 2000s, drugs including cocaine and heroin were being “cut,” or diluted, with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jcph.1860">inactive ingredients like sugars</a> to enlarge supply and increase profits. Since then, buyers of cocaine and heroin products frequently receive a cocktail of adulterants that mimic the product’s intended effects or mask side effects due to poor quality.</p>
<p>For example, the active ingredient of ecstasy, MDMA, is what produces the product’s intended effects. However, a 2004 study assessing ecstasy tablets from drug seizures at raves found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-003-1712-7">20% of the products contained no MDMA</a>, and dosage varied widely in products that did. Cheaper and more dangerous <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jcph.266">stimulants and psychedelics</a> like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jcph.742">synthetic bath salts</a> and LSD are frequently swapped for MDMA without alerting the buyer.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415555/original/file-20210810-17-1rzlf8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Five ecstasy tablets on a white background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415555/original/file-20210810-17-1rzlf8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415555/original/file-20210810-17-1rzlf8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415555/original/file-20210810-17-1rzlf8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415555/original/file-20210810-17-1rzlf8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415555/original/file-20210810-17-1rzlf8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415555/original/file-20210810-17-1rzlf8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415555/original/file-20210810-17-1rzlf8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some drugs are so adulterated that they contain little to none of the active ingredient that buyers seek.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/ecstasy-pills-royalty-free-image/508919350">portokalis/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Drugs added to intensify effects</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.13968">Over 70% of cocaine products</a> contain <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/clpt.2010.156">levamisole</a>, a drug for worm infections that increases the intensity and duration of stimulant effects. It was <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psym.2013.02.012">banned in the U.S. in 1999</a> because it <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.13968">suppresses red and white blood cell production</a> and increases the risk of life-threatening infections and anemia. These side effects are seen at doses over 150 milligrams, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.13968">35% of seized cocaine products in the U.S.</a> exceed that level.</p>
<p>Other additives are commonly added to cocaine to intensify effects. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2011.06.105">Aminorex</a>, a stimulant and appetite suppressant, was <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2011.06.105">withdrawn by the FDA in 1972</a> after it caused a number of <a href="https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA181301396&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=1082801X&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E1f297428">pulmonary hypertension</a> cases that resulted in heart failure and death. Similarly, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.291.2.216">caffeine</a> is <a href="https://jppres.com/jppres/pdf/vol8/jppres19.638_8.2.146.pdf">frequently added</a> to intensify the adrenaline rush. While safe when taken alone in lower doses, higher doses of caffeine in combination with other stimulants can induce <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.291.2.216">seizures and heart rhythm problems</a>.</p>
<p>For heroin, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1556-4029.2007.00648.x">veterinary anesthetic xylazine</a> is commonly added to intensify its relaxing effect. And <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1556-4029.2007.00648.x">fentanyl is increasingly being used as a substitute</a>. Because fentanyl is <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2016/09/29/why-fentanyl-is-deadlier-than-heroin/">50 times more potent</a> than heroin, a smaller amount of total product can produce similar effects. But adding even just a slightly larger amount of fentanyl than expected can easily result in an overdose.</p>
<h2>Covering up adulteration and poor manufacturing quality</h2>
<p>Manufacturers also add impurities to compensate for lost effects due to adulteration. Anesthetics like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.13968">lidocaine and benzocaine</a> are added to adulterated products to reproduce the tingling sensation on the gums or tongue that drug dealers look for to assess cocaine quality. While these anesthetics are FDA approved, they can cause seizures and heart rhythm problems with the wrong dose.</p>
<p>A similar technique is used for heroin. Manufacturers commonly add <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-012-2089-2">malaria drug quinine</a> to mimic heroin’s bitter taste and the initial drop in blood pressure when it’s administered.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415553/original/file-20210810-19-922ggf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three pairs of hands holding packets of drugs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415553/original/file-20210810-19-922ggf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415553/original/file-20210810-19-922ggf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415553/original/file-20210810-19-922ggf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415553/original/file-20210810-19-922ggf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415553/original/file-20210810-19-922ggf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415553/original/file-20210810-19-922ggf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415553/original/file-20210810-19-922ggf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Adulterants may be added to mimic the expected effects of a particular drug.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/drug-grams-and-tabs-royalty-free-image/482857483">KatarzynaBialasiewicz/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Poor heroin production also creates a lot of impurities that can cause <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jcph.1860">severe chills and pain at the injection site</a>. To get around these side effects, manufacturers frequently add antihistamines like Benadryl and pain relievers like Tylenol. The pain reliever metamizole, which was recalled in 1977 for health risks, is sometimes used instead of Tylenol.</p>
<h2>The double-edged sword of field testing</h2>
<p>Adulterants can lead to dangerous side effects. But because additives aren’t disclosed to the buyer and most of them have been banned by the FDA, clinicians might not recognize or even suspect that an adulterant is the cause of a patient’s symptoms. </p>
<p>While consumer-based methods to test for drug impurities may help, they aren’t foolproof. Volunteers at music festivals in the 2010s offered <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/on_site_ecstasy_pill_testing_services_may_reduce_user_risks_at_concerts_and_raves">MDMA purity testing</a> so attendees could decide whether they wanted to use the drugs they had. If they were injured, attendees could alert emergency personnel about potential adulterants they were exposed to. Unfortunately, over 40% of the adulterated samples were missed by those field testing kits and discovered days later only with sophisticated laboratory equipment.</p>
<p>With illicit drugs, the difference between what you believe you are buying and what is actually in the product can be the difference between life and death. If you are suffering from drug addiction, <a href="https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline">resources are available</a> to help you manage your addiction and achieve sobriety.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163568/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>C. Michael White does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
In an effort to reduce costs, drugmakers and dealers often cut, or adulterate, recreational drugs with substances that have been banned by the FDA.
C. Michael White, Professor of Pharmacy Practice, University of Connecticut
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/157709
2021-04-06T05:29:46Z
2021-04-06T05:29:46Z
Drugs could soon be decriminalised in the ACT. Here’s why that would be a positive step
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393486/original/file-20210406-17-n21fl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1000%2C667&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In February this year, Labor backbencher Michael Pettersson introduced a <a href="https://www.legislation.act.gov.au/b/db_63822">private members bill</a> to remove criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of some illicit drugs in the Australian Capital Territory.</p>
<p>This might seem like a radical step to some, but researchers and health professionals have been <a href="http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/GCDP-Report-2016-ENGLISH.pdf">calling for this reform for some time</a>.</p>
<p>Most Australians support decriminalisation and a <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-australians-back-legalising-cannabis-and-57-support-pill-testing-national-survey-shows-142720">less punitive</a> approach to drug use.</p>
<p>The bill is currently before a <a href="https://www.parliament.act.gov.au/parliamentary-business/in-committees/committees/select-committee-on-the-drugs-of-dependence-personal-use-amendment-bill-2021/inquiry-into-the-drugs-of-dependence-personal-use-amendment-bill-2021">parliamentary committee</a> that will look at the evidence and submissions from professionals, people who use drugs and the general public, and will report back in October this year.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1338350568130088962"}"></div></p>
<h2>How will decriminalisation work?</h2>
<p>Drug decriminalisation is not the same as legalisation. Decriminalisation means it’s still illegal, but you may get a fine, rather than a criminal charge. In this case, the proposal is for decriminalisation of use and possession only. Manufacturing and selling will still be a criminal offence.</p>
<p>Possession of cannabis has already been decriminalised in the ACT since 1992. Pettersson also introduced a bill that <a href="https://theconversation.com/home-grown-cannabis-to-be-legal-in-the-act-now-what-124268">came into effect in 2020</a>, which went one step further. It allowed adult residents in the ACT to legally grow and possess small amounts of cannabis for personal use.</p>
<p>Possession of cannabis has also been decriminalised in South Australia and the Northern Territory for nearly 30 years.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-australians-back-legalising-cannabis-and-57-support-pill-testing-national-survey-shows-142720">More Australians back legalising cannabis and 57% support pill testing, national survey shows</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If the new legislation passes, possession of small amounts of a limited number of illicit drugs will no longer be a criminal offence. They will be decriminalised, like cannabis was between 1992 and 2020 in the ACT.</p>
<p>If someone is found in possession of illicit drugs, and the amount is under the “personal possession limit”, they risk a civil fine of 1 penalty unit ($160). The <a href="http://www6.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/act/consol_act/doda1989169/s169.html">current criminal penalty</a> is a maximum fine of 50 penalty units ($8,000) or two years of imprisonment or both.</p>
<p>This means people who use drugs can avoid a criminal record if they pay the civil penalty within prescribed time period — a little like a speeding fine.</p>
<p>The proposed personal limit for possession is 0.5 grams of MDMA, 0.002 grams of LSD, and two grams of cocaine, amphetamines, psylocibin and heroin. These are much lower levels than the current definitions of “personal use” in the ACT.</p>
<h2>Why decriminalise drugs?</h2>
<p>Australia’s <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/national-drug-strategy-2017-2026">official national drug policy</a> includes reducing harms from legal and illegal drugs. Efforts to reduce harms from illicit drugs are severely hindered because possession and use is a criminal offence.</p>
<p>The legal status of some drugs has more to do with <a href="https://theconversation.com/history-not-harm-dictates-why-some-drugs-are-legal-and-others-arent-110564">history</a> than risk of harm. In fact, some of the major harms from using illicit drugs are because they are illegal.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/history-not-harm-dictates-why-some-drugs-are-legal-and-others-arent-110564">History, not harm, dictates why some drugs are legal and others aren't</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>One of the biggest harms from illicit drug use is having a criminal record for possessing small amounts of a drug for personal use. Most people who use illicit drugs do so very occasionally and only in small amounts, and are <a href="https://theconversation.com/health-check-what-makes-it-so-hard-to-quit-drugs-69896">not dependent nor do they need treatment</a>. A criminal record can have a long-lasting negative impact on a person’s future, including on their career and their ability to travel.</p>
<p>Making them a criminal offence also means there is a lot of stigma attached to using these drugs. We know stigma makes it harder for people to seek help when they need it.</p>
<p>There are <a href="https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/blog/australias-recreational-drug-policies-arent-working-so-what-are-options-reform">no clear benefits</a> from criminalisation of illicit drugs. In the justice system, a large amount of time and money is spent on addressing drug-related offences. Former Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Palmer has <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/after-33-years-i-can-no-longer-ignore-the-evidence-on-drugs-20120606-1zwpr.html">noted</a>: “drug law enforcement has had little impact on the Australian drug market”. There’s <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2002.tb00959.x">no evidence</a> criminalisation has reduced use of illicit drugs.</p>
<p>Decriminalisation significantly reduces the involvement of the justice system and allows existing resources to be better used to support treatment for people who need it, or to focus justice system efforts elsewhere.</p>
<p>Evaluation of drug decriminalisation in other countries, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bjc/article-abstract/50/6/999/404023?redirectedFrom=fulltext">such as Portugal</a>, has found it increases the number of people accessing alcohol and drug treatment and does not result in increased drug use.</p>
<p>In the Northern Territory, South Australia and ACT, cannabis use did not increase when decriminalisation was introduced 30 years ago. <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/illicit-use-of-drugs/national-drug-strategy-household-survey-2019/contents/summary">Rates of use</a> are no higher than other states. This suggests there are more benefits than risks to decriminalisation.</p>
<p>Recently, the state of Oregon in the United States decriminalised all drugs for personal use following <a href="https://theconversation.com/oregon-just-decriminalized-all-drugs-heres-why-voters-passed-this-groundbreaking-reform-150806">a vote</a> by residents.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/oregon-just-decriminalized-all-drugs-heres-why-voters-passed-this-groundbreaking-reform-150806">Oregon just decriminalized all drugs – here's why voters passed this groundbreaking reform</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>More and more jurisdictions are moving towards this approach. Decriminalisation of illicit drugs is the natural conclusion to decades of research on drug-related harms.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157709/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Lee works as a consultant in the alcohol and other drug sector and a psychologist in private practice. She has previously been awarded funding by Australian and state governments, NHMRC and other bodies for evaluation and research into drug prevention and treatment. She currently holds grants and tenders from the Australian Government, and several state and territory governments. She is a member of the Australian Government's Australian National Advisory Council on Alcohol and other Drugs, a member of the board of directors of Hello Sunday Morning and volunteers with The Loop Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jarryd Bartle is a consultant to the alcohol and other drug sector</span></em></p>
Decriminalisation of illicit drugs is the natural conclusion to decades of research on drug-related harms.
Nicole Lee, Professor at the National Drug Research Institute (Melbourne), Curtin University
Jarryd Bartle, Sessional Lecturer, RMIT University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/154754
2021-02-08T14:52:05Z
2021-02-08T14:52:05Z
Cocaine: falling coffee prices force Peru’s farmers to cultivate coca
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382769/original/file-20210205-23-41gcnu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1179%2C393%2C3421%2C2600&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cash crop: Peruvian farmers looking over a field of coca seedlings.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Thomas Grisaffi</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A slump in world coffee prices has pushed farmers in Peru’s central jungle to rip up their plants and replace them with coca leaf – the raw material used in cocaine. This <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-peru-drugs/coffee-farmers-in-peru-abandon-crops-to-grow-coca-group-idUSKCN1QE2ON">countrywide trend</a> has driven coca leaf production close to <a href="https://research.reading.ac.uk/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru/los-cultivos-de-coca-en-el-peru/">55,000 hectares</a> or up to <a href="https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/insights/26707/cocaine-production-is-spiking-in-peru-and-bolivia-and-it-could-keep-going-up">500 tons of cocaine annually</a> – enough to satisfy <a href="https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR3100/RR3140/RAND_RR3140.pdf">annual demand</a> in the United States three times over.</p>
<p>As drug trafficking routes shrank due to COVID-19 lockdowns, the price of coca leaf plummeted to <a href="https://www.devida.gob.pe/documents/20182/460659/MONITOREO+DE+PRECIOS+DE+HOJA+DE+COCA+Y+DERIVADOS+COCA%C3%8DNICOS+EN+ZONAS+ESTRAT%C3%89GICAS+DE+INTERVENCI%C3%93N/5d62d46f-29e5-4588-8d1e-a6863c2fd599">half its previous levels</a>. Although it has slowly recovered, it finished 2020 by <a href="https://www.gob.pe/institucion/devida/informes-publicaciones/1464996-monitoreo-de-precios-de-hoja-de-coca-y-derivados-cocainicos-en-zonas-estrategicas-de-intervencion-diciembre-2020">23% lower than</a> a year earlier. But even so, coca offers poor farmers <a href="https://www.un-ilibrary.org/content/books/9789213633014c007">more security</a> than any other crop as demand is constant.</p>
<p><a href="https://research.reading.ac.uk/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru/">Our research</a> is a comparative analysis of the coca and cocaine trade in Peru and Bolivia. The aim is to generate productive debates and promote cooperation by linking farmers, policymakers, advocates and scholars in both countries. We have spent months living and working in coca-producing regions, interviewing farmers and talking to them about how they grow and market their crops as well as speaking with agricultural union leaders and local officials. </p>
<p>Yusbel Almonacid Santos, a farmer from the town of Satipo in Peru’s Central Jungle, reminisced about coffee’s heyday. “People were excited about coffee,” he told us. “It was the golden bean.” Ten years ago, he told us the price of coffee was high, with one kilo selling for up to US$2.70 (£1.97).</p>
<p>But in 2010 <a href="http://repositorio.uncp.edu.pe/bitstream/handle/UNCP/5137/T010_46145556_T.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">coffee leaf rust</a> multiplied throughout the central jungle and destroyed the plantations. The state-run Agrarian Bank stepped in, offering loans to help farmers replant but soon after the price crashed to US$0.60.</p>
<h2>Coffee poverty</h2>
<p>Farming coffee requires farmers to tend plants on steep mountainsides the year round. Once a year, they contract teams of workers to bring in the harvest that then must be peeled and dried. Every year merchants demand ever higher quality and more coffee that is registered organic, which increase costs for the farmer. “Coffee creates more work than profit,” Almonacid complained .</p>
<p>“If the price is only 5 soles (US$1.40 per kilo) – that’s just enough to pay the people who harvest it, but for the farmer, nothing is left,” local farmers’ union leader Marianne Zavala told us. “Harvesting coffee can actually leave you in debt. Last year a lot of people didn’t even bother to harvest.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Group of men on a hillside in Peru admiring a newly planted coca field." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382753/original/file-20210205-22-1eg8img.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382753/original/file-20210205-22-1eg8img.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382753/original/file-20210205-22-1eg8img.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382753/original/file-20210205-22-1eg8img.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382753/original/file-20210205-22-1eg8img.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382753/original/file-20210205-22-1eg8img.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382753/original/file-20210205-22-1eg8img.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Peruvian farmers admire a newly planted coca field.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Thomas Grisaffi</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other crops have such a low price that they are not viable. “We took out loans from the bank to plant a hectare of bananas,” explains Marisol Díaz, a young mother. “When they were beautiful and ready, their price had dropped to US$0.40. How do we earn money at that price? Now we are in debt to the bank – we are worried they will send around the debt collectors.”</p>
<p>Away from Peru’s main towns, <a href="https://www.sineace.gob.pe/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/PERFIL-JUNI%CC%81N.pdf">high levels of poverty</a> are endemic. Houses are built from rough-cut planks with beaten mud floors and many do not have access to electricity, sanitation or running water. Malnutrition and anaemia is common, especially among children. “Look at what my kids are eating – just soup, I can’t afford anything better than that,” said coffee grower Alejandro Cortez, pointing to his children’s swollen stomachs.</p>
<p>Coca leaf has become a lifeline for these farmers. It has <a href="https://www.springerprofessional.de/en/social-control-in-bolivia-a-humane-alternative-to-the-forced-era/10548386">significant advantages as a cash crop</a>, growing like a weed on steep slopes, in acidic soil and at higher altitudes. Coca reaches maturity after just one year and its three-to-four-month harvest cycle provides families with a regular income.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Peruvian woman sitting at a staff offering bags of coca for chewing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382756/original/file-20210205-23-1tw9mzs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382756/original/file-20210205-23-1tw9mzs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382756/original/file-20210205-23-1tw9mzs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382756/original/file-20210205-23-1tw9mzs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382756/original/file-20210205-23-1tw9mzs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382756/original/file-20210205-23-1tw9mzs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382756/original/file-20210205-23-1tw9mzs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman sells coca for traditional chewing in the VRAEM, Peru.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Thomas Grisaffi</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s also lightweight – important because many farmers must carry their products to market on their back. But, most critically, there is <a href="https://www.stabilityjournal.org/articles/10.5334/sta.440/">always a market</a>. Coca in 25kg sacks fluctuates between US$30 to US$70, while coffee averages US$37 and has only one harvest a year. “When coffee rust killed our plants, people with a little coca survived. The rest had to abandon their land,” said Zavala. “Coca was like a small savings account.”</p>
<h2>More than just a crop</h2>
<p>Coca has a rich social, cultural and medicinal significance in <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/coca-yes-cocaine-no">Indigenous Andean cultures</a> – dating back to pre-Colombian times. But since the 1970s coca has been largely grown for cocaine. Of 117,292 tons of dried coca leaf produced in Peru in 2017, 106,401 tons were estimated to be <a href="https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2018/December/coca-cultivation-area-in-peru-increased-by-14-per-cent-during-2017.html">destined for drug trafficking</a>.</p>
<p>Despite its illegality, farmers have few moral qualms about planting coca. Zavala said: “We are not committing a sin if we plant coca – anyone who buys cocaine, they are the guilty ones.”</p>
<p>The Peruvian state, <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2018/08/18/peru-and-bolivia-are-unlikely-allies-in-the-war-on-drugs">backed and funded by the US</a>, has responded to the recent coca expansion <a href="https://research.reading.ac.uk/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru/bullets-in-lieu-of-dialogue-coca-eradication-in-perus-central-jungle/">with violence</a> – in April 2019 two coca growers <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/perus-crackdown-on-coca-pushes-illegal-growers-toward-protected-areas/">were killed</a> by government forces in San Gaban, a rural district about 1500kms south-east of the capital Lima. </p>
<p>And many others have been <a href="https://www.insightcrime.org/news/brief/coca-eradication-violence-peru/">injured</a> while defending their plantations. In the face of poverty, eradication has <a href="https://nacla.org/article/price-success-bolivia%27s-war-against-drugs-and-poor">alienated farmers</a> and <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3429145">displaced coca</a> to new regions, including Ucayali, which in turn has put pressure on <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-peru-landrights-coca-idUSKCN1G51I0">indigenous communities</a>. </p>
<p>In the small town of Paratushiali, in Peru’s central jungle, locals use words such as “abandoned”, “neglected” and “forgotten” to describe their region. Roads are impassable during the rainy season, public health and education infrastructure is sparse – but more than anything farmers complained about the lack of assistance from the state to market their products. “There is no concern for small farmers – the state is more interested in repressing coca,” Rueben Leiva, a coffee turned coca grower in his mid-30s, told us.</p>
<p>“DEVIDA (the state development agency) is supposed to help us replace coca but they spend 80% of their budget on salaries and cars. By the time it gets to us, all we receive is a sack of fertiliser and a machete – that’s not development,” Almonacid said. “We don’t trust them, they divide us – that’s their job.”</p>
<p>Lack of economic opportunities, marginalisation and state neglect all fuel drug crop production and the drug trade. Eradicating drug crops alone is not the answer, the state must support farmers to find realistic economic alternatives to coca.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154754/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thomas Grisaffi receives funding from the Global Challenges Research Fund</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Linda Farthing receives funding from University of Reading.</span></em></p>
Coca is illegal – and there are harsh penalties for cultivating it. But farmers whose families face poverty say they have no choice.
Thomas Grisaffi, Lecturer in Human Geography, University of Reading
Linda Farthing, Visiting Fellow in Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/144386
2020-09-07T13:15:14Z
2020-09-07T13:15:14Z
Bolivia reverses years of progress with new draconian cocaine policy, supported by the EU
<p>Bolivia has seen <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/bolivia-protest-blockade-anez-evo-coronavirus/2020/08/11/7ffceb50-db48-11ea-809e-b8be57ba616e_story.html">widespread public protests</a> in recent months against the interim government, led by Jeanine Añez, which has twice postponed elections due to coronavirus. Her government has repeatedly violated its mandate by passing new laws and persecuting its political opponents, including <a href="https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-53112041">coca growers</a> in the Chapare region east of Cochabamba, who <a href="https://ain-bolivia.org">we collaborate</a> with on <a href="https://research.reading.ac.uk/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru/">research projects</a>.</p>
<p>Bolivia is the world’s third largest producer of cocaine, a drug manufactured from coca leaves, which is central to Andean culture. Under the previous government of Evo Morales, coca growers benefited from <a href="https://www.un-ilibrary.org/drugs-crime-and-terrorism/bulletin-on-narcotics-volume-lxi-2017_98360021-en">a programme</a> that allowed them to cultivate a plot of coca up to 2,500 square metres, and actively engaged farmers to self-police to respect these limits.</p>
<p>This policy, which emphasised community participation and respect for human rights, was lauded and funded by the <a href="http://www.oecd.org/derec/ec/Evaluation-cooperation-ec-bolivia-annexes-en.pdf">European Union</a>. Internationally recognised in the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/14/opinion/how-bolivia-fights-the-drug-scourge.html">mainstream press</a> as <a href="http://www.oas.org/documents/eng/press/Introduction_and_Analytical_Report.pdf">best practice</a> in this area, Bolivia’s community coca control programme has long served as an example for cooperation <a href="https://research.reading.ac.uk/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru/wp-content/uploads/swho%20did%20she%20present%20it%20to%20if%20not%20the%20public,%20officials?ites/127/Unorganized/Turning-over-a-new-leaf.pdf">in other parts</a> of the world.</p>
<p>But this approach was recently reversed. One former EU official in the country confidentially told us that this represents a “significant setback”. Yet the EU has been helping to make this happen. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three women and two children read green leaflets." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354662/original/file-20200825-16-3sfplw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354662/original/file-20200825-16-3sfplw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354662/original/file-20200825-16-3sfplw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354662/original/file-20200825-16-3sfplw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354662/original/file-20200825-16-3sfplw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354662/original/file-20200825-16-3sfplw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354662/original/file-20200825-16-3sfplw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Family of Chapare coca growers learn about the EU-supported community coca control initiative in 2011.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Proyecto de Apoyo de Control Social</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In February, the EU <a href="https://www.paginasiete.bo/nacional/2020/2/17/union-europea-dona-27-millones-de-euros-bolivia-246943.html">promised to</a> provide €10 million (£9 million) in drug control funding for Bolivia’s interim government, and support its new “drug free” five-year strategy. On August 16, the Bolivian press reported that the EU representative to Bolivia, Joerg Schreiber, <a href="https://twitter.com/AsuntoCentral/status/1295002646072496128">had affirmed</a> this commitment. </p>
<p>This sparked criticism from former interim president and ex-head of the supreme court <a href="https://twitter.com/erveltze/status/1295041656811642880?s=20">Eduardo Rodríquez</a> and former president <a href="https://twitter.com/evoespueblo/status/1295690983552749575?s=21">Evo Morales</a>. Support of Bolivia’s new drug control strategy stands in stark contrast to the EU’s long-term focus in Bolivia and its internal policy guidelines.</p>
<h2>An interim government</h2>
<p>Jeanine Añez came to power without a <a href="https://www.wola.org/2019/11/bolivia-crisis-evo-morales-peaceful-path-forward/">constitutional mandate</a> on November 12 2019, two days after Morales was forced to resign at the military’s “request” after a police mutiny. The next day, the military unleashed lethal force against demonstrators protesting Morales’ ousting.</p>
<p>Human rights violations, arbitrary detentions and threats against human rights defenders soon followed, as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25621&LangID=E">Michelle Bachelet</a> has <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/SP/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26184&LangID=Si">frequently noted</a>. Añez’s interim government <a href="https://www.paginasiete.bo/nacional/2020/2/28/gobierno-rechaza-informe-de-bachelet-senala-que-es-un-ataque-la-democracia-248072.html">has rejected</a> Bachelet’s statements as “subjective, erroneous assumptions” and an “attack against democracy expressed by the people”.</p>
<p>The post-election crisis last year resulted in <a href="https://hrp.law.harvard.edu/press-releases/black-november-report/">at least</a> 35 deaths and 800 injuries, most of them during army and police operations. Dozens of former government officials and people related to the former administration have been persecuted.</p>
<p>Bolivia’s Interior Minister, Arturo Murillo, continuously makes troubling public statements. He has, for example, <a href="https://www.paginasiete.bo/seguridad/2020/1/23/ministro-de-gobierno-la-peor-lacra-de-la-humanidad-es-el-drogadicto-244330.html">referred to</a> people with drug dependency as “the worst scourge of humanity”. </p>
<p>He joined the rest of Añez’s cabinet in signing a law guaranteeing impunity for police and military actions that led to the death of <a href="http://hrp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Black-November-English-Final_Accessible.pdf">ten coca growers</a> and the wounding of over 100 others on November 15. A subsequent military and police attack on unarmed protesters left <a href="http://hrp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Black-November-English-Final_Accessible.pdf">11 dead</a> and scores injured.</p>
<h2>Collaboration or conflict</h2>
<p>The “<a href="https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/publications/habeas-coca-bolivia-s-community-coca-control">community coca control</a>” programme adopted during the Morales years (2006-2019) focused on working with coca leaf growers to shrink crops destined for illegal markets, while increasing human rights, alternatives to coca and permitting traditional uses of the plant. This successfully reduced illegal production, and was <a href="https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/hiv-aids/development-dimensions-of-drug-policy.html">hailed by</a> the UN Development Programme as an innovative approach superior to decades of forced eradication.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man wearing a suit gives a speech above a crowded square." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354668/original/file-20200825-21-o44bfk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354668/original/file-20200825-21-o44bfk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354668/original/file-20200825-21-o44bfk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354668/original/file-20200825-21-o44bfk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354668/original/file-20200825-21-o44bfk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=670&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354668/original/file-20200825-21-o44bfk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=670&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354668/original/file-20200825-21-o44bfk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=670&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">EU Official Nicolaus Hansmann inaugurates the Community Coca Control Office in June 2011.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Programa de Apoyo de Control Social</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Añez government quickly drafted its own <a href="https://comunicacion.gob.bo/?q=20200228/28857">drug strategy</a>, “Together and Drug Free,” in coordination with the EU technical experts and DITISA, an EU-funded consulting firm. The strategy was later later rebranded as “<a href="http://ain-bolivia.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Estrategia.Final_.3.06-GD-FINAL.pdf">Bolivia: Drug Free</a>” after the original name provoked outcry that the EU was granting legitimacy to Añez’s government by incorporating her party’s name (Together) in the title.</p>
<p>It presents a hardline and often muddled stance on drug use, interdiction and supply control issues, demonstrating little knowledge of existing Bolivian policy or national dynamics. Its authors copied text from the US international narcotics control <a href="http://ain-bolivia.org/wp-content/uploads/INCSR-Bolivia-2020-VOL-I.pdf">strategy report</a> and press articles word for word and dismissed the previous strategy as “permissive and impractical” and “merely a political discourse”.</p>
<p>Aggressive statements from key high-ranking Añez officials characterise Chapare coca farmers as “<a href="https://eldeber.com.bo/pais/luis-fernando-lopez-el-chapare-es-un-micro-estado-narcoterrorista-independiente_163203">narco-terrorists</a>”. Ongoing threats of intervention against growers by Bolivia’s security forces fly in the face of longstanding EU policy in the country. </p>
<p>Añez <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=503257990617701&ref=watch_permalink">announced</a> the plan on state television only 11 days after the EU announced funding, but the full text wasn’t made available to the public until three months later. “This lack of transparency is problematic,” a Bolivian drug policy expert who asked to not be identified told us. “Neither government nor the EU has provided information about the action plan that has to accompany all EU-funded strategies”.</p>
<p>The strategy also fails to comply with EU <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/echo/files/policies/sectoral/Gender-AgeMarker_liens_bd_2014.pdf">gender and generational</a> funding requirements. Although the policy cites a focus on “vulnerable populations”, it makes no reference to accompanying integrated development with direct involvement of the project beneficiaries, another <a href="https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/30727/drugs-strategy-2013_content.pdf">EU requisite</a>.</p>
<h2>Loss of trust</h2>
<p>The lack of consultation as well as the Añez government’s suspension of existing development projects has eroded the high level of trust in government that <a href="https://www.stabilityjournal.org/articles/10.5334/sta.440/">previously existed</a> in coca-growing regions.</p>
<p>“Before, we worked closely with the European Union to control coca so as to stay within the legal limits,” a coca-grower leader who didn’t want his name used because of fear of government retaliation told us. “We want to keep doing this, but everything has broken down with this de facto government. They don’t communicate or coordinate with us at all.”</p>
<p>The EU had <a href="https://research.reading.ac.uk/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru/wp-content/uploads/sites/127/Unorganized/Turning-over-a-new-leaf.pdf">actively explored</a> adapting the previous policy to neighbouring countries. But now, the lessons from the community-based experience are quickly being lost. “It would be a disaster to lose all the progress Bolivia made on coca control,” lamented one drug policy expert. “The technical focus has gone down the drain.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144386/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathryn Ledebur is the director of the Andean Information Network, a human rights organisation that works on coca, development and human rights issues. . She receives funding from the Global Challenges Research Fund for research and on coca policy in Peru and Bolivia and from the Open Society Foundation for coca, development and drug policy in Bolivia. She has worked as a senior expert consultant on coca, development, drug policy and gender for the European Union and research organisations.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Linda Farthing receives funding from the University of Reading Global Challenges Research Fund. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thomas Grisaffi receives funding from Global Challenges Research Fund. He has previously been a fellow of the Leverhulme Trust and the OSF/SSRC's Drugs, Security and Democracy Program. </span></em></p>
Bolivia’s drug control strategy was once internationally applauded.
Kathryn Ledebur, Visiting Fellow in Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading
Linda Farthing, Visiting Fellow in Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading
Thomas Grisaffi, Lecturer in Human Geography, University of Reading
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/142152
2020-08-04T12:17:50Z
2020-08-04T12:17:50Z
Marijuana fueled Colombian drug trade before cocaine was king
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350268/original/file-20200729-19-qmd65z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5403%2C3580&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A marijuana trafficker practicing his aim in the Guajira, epicenter of Colombia's first drug boom, in 1979.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/colombia-marijuana-dealer-practising-shooting-his-gun-on-news-photo/96345506?adppopup=true">Romano Cagnoni/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Long before Pablo Escobar’s Medellín cartel got rich supplying Americans with cocaine in the 1980s, Colombia was already the United States’ main source of illicit drugs – specifically, marijuana. That’s the takeaway of my new book “<a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520325470/marijuana-boom">Marijuana Boom</a>.” </p>
<p>This debunks the popular notion of Escobar as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/pablo-escobar-and-the-legacy-of-drug-warfare-in-latin-america-21061">pioneer of Colombian drug trafficking</a>. Rather, it was some of Colombia’s <a href="https://colombiareports.com/la-guajira/">most marginalized people</a> who changed the course of their nation.</p>
<p>Back in the 1970s, peasant farmers from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta – a remote and mountainous region of Colombia’s Caribbean coast – began shifting from banana, cotton and coffee production to marijuana cultivation. When this population again pivoted to growing <a href="http://oaji.net/articles/2020/2336-1580845587.pdf">coca leaf for processing into cocaine</a> in the 1980s, they set Colombia on a course to become the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/colombia-top-cocaine-producing-countries-record-production-2017-3">illicit drug capital of the Americas</a>. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>This research upends other old tropes about the drug trade, including the idea that it’s <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/drug-dealing-is-a-violent-crime">inherently violent</a>. </p>
<p>Colombia’s marijuana economy operated relatively peacefully until the Colombian and U.S. governments in 1978 launched <a href="https://www.scholars.northwestern.edu/en/publications/a-traffickers-paradise-the-war-on-drugs-and-the-new-cold-war-in-c">a militarized campaign to eradicate marijuana crops and increase drug interdictions</a>. Traffickers retaliated, giving rise to the now familiar “war on drugs”-style dynamic of escalating conflict. </p>
<p>My research also disproves the <a href="https://franciscothoumi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Drogas-Ilegales-Econom%C3%ADa-y-Sociedad-en-Los-Andes.-Francisco-E.-Thoumi-2002.pdf">long-held academic consensus</a> that illegal drug markets emerge in remote areas where the state has insufficient presence. </p>
<p>I find Colombia’s marijuana boom was actually an unintended consequence of state-led efforts to economically develop Colombia. Throughout the 20th century, Colombia worked to build its <a href="https://nyupress.org/9780814799345/bananas-and-business/">banana export sector</a>, create <a href="https://archive.org/details/cottonindustryof113port/page/n5/mode/2up">a cotton belt</a> to supply Colombian textile factories and to <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/agrarian-question-and-the-peasant-movement-in-colombia/410CEB610724F8514ED2B1928689A125">redistribute land</a>. By the 1970s, Colombia was expanding international trade, particularly with the U.S.</p>
<p>These changes made some rural Colombians rich but, my research shows, impoverished peasant farmers in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. People who’d grown legal commodity crops saw opportunity in exporting an illegal one to the United States: marijuana.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350275/original/file-20200729-27-mm04gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two armed officers search three men with their hands up" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350275/original/file-20200729-27-mm04gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350275/original/file-20200729-27-mm04gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350275/original/file-20200729-27-mm04gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350275/original/file-20200729-27-mm04gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350275/original/file-20200729-27-mm04gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350275/original/file-20200729-27-mm04gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350275/original/file-20200729-27-mm04gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Police search suspected marijuana growers in the Guajira, Colombia, 1980.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/armed-police-searching-suspected-marijuana-growers-near-news-photo/3271093?adppopup=true">Timothy Ross/Hulton Archive/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>My book recounts how and why people in northern Colombia used their farming experience to grow and export marijuana. But it doesn’t detail their next transition, from <a href="https://verdadabierta.com/los-anos-de-hernan-giraldo-en-la-sierra-nevada-de-santa-marta/">marijuana to cocaine</a>. </p>
<p>In southern Colombia, academics have documented how Pablo Escobar’s generation of traffickers <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/between-the-guerrillas-and-the-state">financed new settlers to grow coca leaf</a>, the base ingredient in cocaine, in the 1980s. We just don’t know how cocaine simultaneously supplanted marijuana as the staple drug crop of the peasant economy up north. </p>
<h2>How I do my work</h2>
<p>This began as a personal quest to understand the country of my childhood. My father is from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta area, where marijuana once boomed. </p>
<p>Some of my research was archival, conducted in Colombia and the U.S. But much of it was done on the ground. I began collecting testimonials in northern Colombia in the early 2000s, during Colombia’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/search/result?sg=5ff52dde-56c1-4bd3-94a9-5a94fe3f99e9&sp=1&sr=1&url=%2Fwhy-only-now-after-51-years-war-is-ending-in-colombia-48563">52-year armed conflict</a>. Paramilitary forces controlled the area. The war ended in 2016. But armed groups, including cartels, still operate there.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>To stay safe while studying an industry that uses cash and violence to keep its affairs clandestine, I relied on friends and family, who helped me establish contacts and identify information sources. I also kept my questions focused on the defunct marijuana business – not the active cocaine trade. </p>
<p>This focus helped me avoid reproducing what historian Luis Astorga calls “<a href="https://openlibrary.org/books/OL896105M/Mitologi%CC%81a_del_narcotraficante_en_Me%CC%81xico">the mythology of the narcotrafficker</a>.” There are no Pablo Escobars in my book – just everyday Colombians who seized on their country’s growing commercial ties to <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR3140.html">the world’s largest drug market</a> – the United States – to launch a global business.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142152/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lina Britto does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Step aside, Pablo Escobar. New research shows it was poor farmers who helped turn Colombia into the world’s largest drug producer when they started growing and exporting pot in the 1970s.
Lina Britto, Assistant Professor of History, Northwestern University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/135289
2020-07-07T18:57:35Z
2020-07-07T18:57:35Z
3 things ‘ZeroZeroZero’ gets right about the cocaine trade
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345371/original/file-20200702-111333-1kvxeug.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C0%2C1492%2C1000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'ZeroZeroZero' is a drama based on truth that shows a clear picture of the modern cocaine trade.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8332438/mediaindex?ref_=tt_mv_sm">Amazon</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Amazon Prime Video series <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZeroZeroZero">“ZeroZeroZero”</a> shows U.S. viewers an accurate picture of the modern cocaine trade that’s rarely seen on screen. It is loosely <a href="https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/03/9509591/is-amazon-series-zerozerozero-based-on-a-true-story">based on</a> Italian journalist <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/313544/zerozerozero-by-roberto-saviano/">Roberto Saviano’s nonfiction book</a> by the same name.</p>
<p>I study cocaine trafficking and U.S. drug policy, and the show reveals three truths that challenge the U.S. government’s justification for its war against cocaine trafficking in Central America and Mexico. </p>
<h2>1. Most cocaine isn’t destined for US markets</h2>
<p>A fundamental government assumption is that any cocaine smuggled north out of South America, where it is produced, is inevitably bound for American streets.</p>
<p>That is why the U.S. spends <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/FY-2021-National-Drug-Control-Budget-Highlights.pdf">billions of dollars</a> every year attempting to intercept the boats and planes that shuttle cocaine from South America to Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean – an area known to anti-drug forces as the “<a href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/670/664098.pdf">transit zone</a>.” </p>
<p>In 2018, for instance, the U.S. military trumpeted its role in drug seizures in the region by claiming that American forces had “<a href="https://www.southcom.mil/Portals/7/Documents/Posture%20Statements/SOUTHCOM_2019_Posture_Statement_Final.pdf">helped keep the equivalent of 600 minivans</a> full of cocaine off U.S. streets.” By the same logic, the federal government considers anyone caught moving cocaine anywhere in the transit zone to be threatening the U.S.</p>
<p>That assumption is behind the March 2020 federal indictment of <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/nicol-s-maduro-moros-and-14-current-and-former-venezuelan-officials-charged-narco-terrorism">Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro</a> for, among other things, exporting cocaine to Honduras – which prosecutors claimed was “expressly intended to flood the United States with cocaine.” </p>
<p>And it’s behind the recent federal complaint against <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/former-chief-honduran-national-police-charged-drug-trafficking-and-weapons-offenses">Honduras’ former chief of police</a>, who had allegedly conspired to “transport the drugs westward in Honduras towards the border with Guatemala and eventually the United States.”</p>
<p>Neither case offers proof that the cocaine involved actually entered U.S. territory. <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCODE-2011-title21/USCODE-2011-title21-chap13-subchapII-sec963">U.S. law</a> requires only that the intent be there, and it is assumed that traffickers must intend for the cocaine to reach the U.S. After all, where else would it go?</p>
<p>“ZeroZeroZero” offers the inconvenient answer. Episode 1 takes viewers to northern Mexico as 5.5 tons (5,000 kilograms) of cocaine in sealed pucks are being hidden in the bottom of cans of chilis. Even though the cocaine has made it as far north as Monterrey – less than three hours’ drive from Laredo, Texas – viewers learn by Episode 2 that the drugs are not going to the Mexico-U.S. border. Instead, they take a sharp turn southeast and are loaded onto a container ship at the port of Tampico, headed for Italy.</p>
<p>This is why the show shines. It depicts a little-known reality: Far more cocaine is transshipped through Central America and Mexico to markets worldwide than finds its way up American nostrils.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345863/original/file-20200706-3953-842kmk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345863/original/file-20200706-3953-842kmk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345863/original/file-20200706-3953-842kmk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345863/original/file-20200706-3953-842kmk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345863/original/file-20200706-3953-842kmk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345863/original/file-20200706-3953-842kmk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345863/original/file-20200706-3953-842kmk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345863/original/file-20200706-3953-842kmk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">From 2012 through 2016, federal data show that, on average, most of the cocaine leaving South America and heading north each year was destined for somewhere other than the U.S.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Conversation via SankeyMATIC, with data from Kendra McSweeney</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>How do I know? Illicit commodities are notoriously hard to track. But as I explain in a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.102719">recent article</a>, an obscure U.S. government data set has for years been compiling reliable intelligence on cocaine traffic through the transit zone. When compared alongside <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR3140.html">analysts’ best estimates</a> of cocaine consumption in the U.S., the data tell an intriguing story.</p>
<p>Between 2012 and 2016 – years for which there are comparable data – an average of at least <a href="https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2018-02/OIG-18-43-Jan18.pdf">1,400 tons</a> of high-purity cocaine was annually exported north out of South America and into the transit zone. Of that, law enforcement removed about <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/2020-NDCS-Data-Supplement.pdf">335 tons</a> yearly, whether in the transit zone, at the border or <a href="https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2020-01/2019-NDTA-final-01-14-2020_Low_Web-DIR-007-20_2019.pdf">within the the U.S</a>. In the same period, U.S. cocaine users consumed on average barely <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR3140.html">200 tons</a> per year. That means they used less than one-fifth of the available cocaine flow.</p>
<p>So where did the majority of the remaining cocaine go – almost 900 tons a year? There are no comparable sources for the amount consumed in transit zone countries or in Canada. There is, however, strong evidence to suggest that hundreds of tons annually are being trafficked through Mexico and Central America and out to Europe, and across the Pacific to Asia and Australia. Traffickers target those overseas markets for good reason: That’s where the money is, and they have a cheap way to get cocaine there.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3HoRfUKcvdY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The cinematography is stunning, and so is the series’ accuracy.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>2. The big money is in growing overseas markets</h2>
<p>The U.S. government’s assumption wasn’t always wrong. A generation ago, the Western Hemisphere cocaine trade did function like a pipeline that started in South America, wound through Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean, and discharged cocaine almost exclusively into American neighborhoods. </p>
<p>In 1990, the U.S. had an estimated 4.3 million cocaine users. Meanwhile, Western Europe’s cocaine markets were still in what a United Nations report called “<a href="https://www.unodc.org/pdf/report_1999-06-01_1.pdf">a developmental stage</a>.”</p>
<p>Now, the picture is dramatically different. U.S. cocaine consumption has been in a prolonged “<a href="http://www.lse.ac.uk/ideas/Assets/Documents/reports/LSE-IDEAS-After-Drug-Wars.pdf">nosedive</a>,” according to a report from the London School of Economics. In 2018, there were <a href="https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2019/en/stimulants.html">fewer than 2.5 million users</a>, with lower rates of adult use than in many European countries. Experts <a href="http://www.lse.ac.uk/ideas/Assets/Documents/reports/LSE-IDEAS-After-Drug-Wars.pdf">continue to debate</a> why U.S. demand has plummeted. Even the recent and unprecedented <a href="https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2019/en/stimulants.html">surge in cocaine production in Colombia</a>, which has increased purity and dropped prices in the U.S., has only just curtailed that long slide. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, cocaine consumption in cities across <a href="https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2019/en/stimulants.html">20 European countries rose 70% from 2015 to 2019</a>. Demand in Australia is <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-true-cost-of-cocaine-11992">high and growing</a>, as it is in Eastern Europe and Russia. Again, “ZeroZeroZero” gets it right: The series ends with the players negotiating a shipment from Mexico to Russia.</p>
<p>Overseas cocaine markets aren’t just expanding. They’re also potentially <a href="https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2020-01/2019-NDTA-final-01-14-2020_Low_Web-DIR-007-20_2019.pdf">far more lucrative</a> than North American ones. In 2017, a kilo of cocaine that sold wholesale for US$28,000 in the U.S. went for <a href="https://dataunodc.un.org/drugs/heroin_and_cocaine_prices_in_eu_and_usa-2017">twice that</a> in Northern Europe. Traffickers stand to make immense profits if they can move large volumes cheaply over long distances. </p>
<p>This is where the containers come in.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345372/original/file-20200702-111353-16dsu17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345372/original/file-20200702-111353-16dsu17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345372/original/file-20200702-111353-16dsu17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345372/original/file-20200702-111353-16dsu17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345372/original/file-20200702-111353-16dsu17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345372/original/file-20200702-111353-16dsu17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345372/original/file-20200702-111353-16dsu17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345372/original/file-20200702-111353-16dsu17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘ZeroZeroZero’ shows container shipping is a key tactic for moving drugs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8332438/mediaindex?ref_=tt_mv_sm">Amazon</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. Bulk cocaine is exported from Mexico and Central America in shipping containers</h2>
<p>Mexico and Central America boast three of Latin America’s <a href="https://www.cepal.org/en/notes/port-activity-report-latin-america-and-caribbean-2018">five busiest maritime ports</a>. The busiest of all is Colón, the Caribbean terminus of the Panama Canal, which after the canal’s recent expansion can handle <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/729955/colon-panama-container-port-cargo-volume/">4.3 million shipping containers</a> per year. In fact, maritime port facilities across the region have been upgraded in recent years, with new capacities and efficiencies that have lowered costs and enhanced the region’s competitiveness as a transoceanic trade hub.</p>
<p>Cocaine traffickers are taking full advantage. The port of Colón has become a major <a href="https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/report-port-of-colon-is-a-new-hub-for-cocaine-smuggling">hub for Europe-bound cocaine</a>. Similarly, Costa Rica’s recently <a href="https://www.thecentralamericangroup.com/the-port-of-moin-in-costa-rica/">enhanced Limón-Moín port facilities</a> have been a <a href="https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/port-in-costa-rica-feeds-european-drug-pipeline/">boon</a> for trans-Atlantic cocaine shipping. In February 2020, inspectors there found <a href="https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/costa-rica-five-tons-cocaine/">5 tons of cocaine</a> in a shipment of ornamental plants destined for the Netherlands. </p>
<p>The same month, a container of mashed bananas out of Limón was stopped in Italy with <a href="https://www.freshplaza.com/article/9198381/italy-seizes-3-tons-of-cocaine-found-in-a-cargo-of-banana-puree-coming-from-costa-rica/">3.3 tons of cocaine inside</a>. In May 2020, a container full of coffee left Honduras’ <a href="https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/americas/ictsi-s-honduras-terminal-upgrades-its-facilities">newly expanded port of Cortés</a>. Upon arrival at Le Havre, France, <a href="https://criterio.hn/en-francia-incautan-1-4-toneladas-de-cocaina-procedente-de-honduras-en-contenedor-de-cafe/">1.5 tons of cocaine</a> were found among the coffee beans.</p>
<p>These are just some of the cocaine seizures that made headlines in the last several months. At best, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-shipping-faces-troubling-new-smuggling-questions-11578330634">1 in 10</a> containers circumnavigating the globe is searched by authorities; the rate is even lower for containers holding perishable commodities like plants and <a href="https://www.insightcrime.org/news/brief/cocaine-hidden-in-fruit-feeds-european-pipeline/">fruit</a>. So these seizures, while large, likely represent just a fraction of the cocaine transshipped via container out of Central America and Mexico.</p>
<p>As “ZeroZeroZero” shows, cocaine traffickers operating in Mexico and Central America may be working in the United States’ proverbial back yard, but their distribution networks reach much more widely than they used to. The U.S. is no longer cocaine’s true north.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/135289/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kendra McSweeney receives funding from the National Science Foundation and has received research support from the Open Society Foundation, the National Geographic Society, the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), the American Association of Geographers, and The Ohio State University. </span></em></p>
The federal government’s fight against cocaine distribution wrongly assumes that it’s all destined for the US.
Kendra McSweeney, Professor of Geography, The Ohio State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/140606
2020-06-15T14:14:55Z
2020-06-15T14:14:55Z
Crystal meth: Europe could now see a surge in supply and use
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341513/original/file-20200612-153812-1hvh1e4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/background-macro-shot-blue-crystals-salt-1175586049">SeventyFour</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For many people in Europe, the closest they will have got to methamphetamine will be the TV series <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/08/15/heres-what-breaking-bad-gets-right-and-wrong-about-the-meth-business/">Breaking Bad</a>. But that could be about to change, as a result of developments in the international supply chain for cocaine and a new potential alliance between Mexican drug cartels and illegal European laboratories. </p>
<p>Other members of the amphetamine family have been used in Europe for years. A number are used in medicine, such as <a href="https://bnf.nice.org.uk/drug/methylphenidate-hydrochloride.html">methylphenidate</a> in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); while <a href="https://www.talktofrank.com/drug/speed">“speed” or d-amphetamine</a> has had a steady following among recreational drug users. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.talktofrank.com/drug/methamphetamine">Methamphetamine</a> is more potent than speed, produces more intense effects, has a longer duration of action, and is more likely to be inhaled or injected. Also known as meth, crystal or ice, regular use is <a href="https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/methamphetamine/what-are-long-term-effects-methamphetamine-misuse">more likely</a> to damage users’ brains or affect their mental health. Illicit production of methamphetamine also has a high <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/brabant-dutch-drug-labs-blight-the-landscape/">environmental cost</a> from things like chemical waste. </p>
<p>So far, meth use in Europe has been quite <a href="https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/data/stats2019/gps">limited</a>. In England and Wales, for instance, only 15,000 people <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/drug-misuse-findings-from-the-2018-to-2019-csew">reported using</a> the drug in 2018-19. This includes some <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/n7jdd8/uk-british-dont-use-meth">notable pockets of use</a>, but other drugs are more available, more embedded in leisure and lifestyle, and don’t have the same <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1741659012443234">negative</a> media <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/faces-crystal-meth-shocking-before-7260592">representation</a>. In contrast, 976,000 people reported using cocaine, and around half a million used ecstasy. </p>
<p><strong>Methamphetamine use around the world</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341515/original/file-20200612-153849-1ftr6bp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341515/original/file-20200612-153849-1ftr6bp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341515/original/file-20200612-153849-1ftr6bp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341515/original/file-20200612-153849-1ftr6bp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341515/original/file-20200612-153849-1ftr6bp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341515/original/file-20200612-153849-1ftr6bp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341515/original/file-20200612-153849-1ftr6bp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341515/original/file-20200612-153849-1ftr6bp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2019/prelaunch/WDR19_Booklet_4_STIMULANTS.pdf">Methamphetmine UNODC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is very different to the <a href="https://www.drugabuse.gov/drug-topics/methamphetamine/methamphetamine-trends-statistics">US</a> and also Asia. In east and south-east Asia, for instance, the meth trade is now <a href="https://www.unodc.org/documents/scientific/ATS/2020_ESEA_Regonal_Synthetic_Drug_Report_web.pdf">estimated to be</a> worth around US$61 billion (£48 billion) a year, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southeastasia-crime/asia-pacific-meth-drug-trade-worth-up-to-61-billion-un-says-idUSKCN1UD0BO">having quadrupled</a> in five years to become the world’s biggest market. The supply has increased on the back of intense manufacturing in the region, which has improved quality and driven down prices. </p>
<h2>Signs of change</h2>
<p>The gamechanger for Europe could be coming via the cocaine market. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/coronavirus-coca-crash-bolivia-colombia-peru-latin-america/2020/06/09/8c7da42c-a11f-11ea-be06-af5514ee0385_story.html?mc_cid=5b630ec8fa&mc_eid=%5BUNIQID%5D&utm_campaign=5b630ec8fa-SENSEMAKER_MEMBERS_10_06_20&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Tortoise%20Members">Some reports</a> suggest that the price of coca, the raw ingredient of cocaine, is falling. You might think this would lead to heightened demand, but it could actually threaten future supplies as South American coca farmers switch to alternative crops to put food on the table. </p>
<p>This gap in the market could play into the hands of manufacturers of methamphetamine looking to expand into Europe. Historically, meth production in Europe has been quite localised, serving small domestic markets or exporting to more profitable regions like Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. Now, however, there is <a href="https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/joint-publications/eu-drug-markets-report-2019_en">intelligence that</a> organised crime groups from Mexico might be beginning to take an interest in Europe, potentially sharing manufacturing expertise and supply chains for raw materials. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341522/original/file-20200612-153849-1f5f4gu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341522/original/file-20200612-153849-1f5f4gu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341522/original/file-20200612-153849-1f5f4gu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341522/original/file-20200612-153849-1f5f4gu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341522/original/file-20200612-153849-1f5f4gu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341522/original/file-20200612-153849-1f5f4gu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341522/original/file-20200612-153849-1f5f4gu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341522/original/file-20200612-153849-1f5f4gu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Breaking borders?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/man-cooking-meth-538605031">Nomad_Soul</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A <a href="https://www.telegraaf.nl/nieuws/401784231/mexicanen-aangehouden-bij-vondst-drugslab-in-herwijnen">number of reports</a> from the Netherlands also suggest that well-established laboratories which had been manufacturing large quantities of MDMA (ecstasy) are now <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/3azzvj/dutch-and-mexican-gangs-are-teaming-up-to-sell-high-end-meth-to-asia">switching to meth production</a>. One mobile meth laboratory was even found in a boat moored <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/13/netherlands-police-raid-cargo-ship-crystal-meth-lab-moerdijk">at Rotterdam</a> docks. <a href="https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/">According to</a> the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), reports of police seizures of methamphetamine have also recently increased in Europe.</p>
<h2>Substitution</h2>
<p>Due to the coronavirus, we know that a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52557191">European recession</a> is unfolding. It threatens record levels of unemployment, with knock-on effects on consumer spending and people’s choice of leisure activities. Particularly at a time like this, value for money in the drugs market is just as important as with the legitimate economy. This is where methamphetamine may have an advantage over cocaine: its effects last significantly longer, and falling prices and high purity from more European production may make it seriously competitive. </p>
<p>There are several historical examples of how consumers replace one drug with another. When consumers substitute because of government attempts to clamp down on a specific drug, criminologists sometimes call it the <a href="https://www.vox.com/xpress/2014/8/30/6083923/drug-war-on-drugo">“balloon” or “hydra” effect</a>. </p>
<p>One of the reasons for the recent explosion in meth use in Asia, for example, was authorities <a href="https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/20.500.12413/14714/655_Drivers_and_Enablers_of_Serious_Organised_Crime_in_Southeast_Asia.pdf?sequence=1">attempting to</a> suppress heroin use and poppy cultivation in the region. This merely increased manufacturing of synthetic drugs like methamphetamine. Not only that, heroin use continued as supply re-routed from Afghanistan to Myanmar. </p>
<p>Shortages of drugs or the arrival of new synthetic drugs have both prompted consumers to substitute one variety for another. And if there is a big rise in methamphetamine use in Europe, drug services in many countries won’t be prepared. </p>
<p>Forseeing what will happen in the drug market is certainly not an exact science. Specialists <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23453028">have predicted</a> a rise in meth use in the UK before and been proven wrong. But this time, along with changes in the global supply chain, we have a pandemic that provides fertile conditions for a stimulant like meth because many people are doing less than usual.</p>
<p>Finally, a thought on how to prepare for this possible surge. In their response to coronavirus, most governments have shown they are willing to “follow the science” to protect the public’s health. As citizens and voters, we can ask them to extend this logic to drugs policy. </p>
<p>The past few decades’ drug policies of control and criminalisation have been costly and have seemingly <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/health-and-social-care-committee/news/drugs-policy-report-published-19-20/">failed</a> to achieve their intended objectives. Taking control of production and supply of drugs might seem far-fetched, but there are great potential rewards for thinking outside of the box in this area – both in relation to methamphetamine and other recreational drugs. The pandemic has shown that when there is the incentive and willingness to act, no policies are off the table.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/140606/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Harry Sumnall receives and has received funding from public grant awarding bodies for alcohol and other drugs research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Hamilton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Methamphetamine use has increased dramatically in Asia in the past five years, overtaking even the US. Now cartels spy an opportunities in Europe.
Ian Hamilton, Associate Professor, Addiction and Mental Health, University of York
Harry Sumnall, Professor in Substance Use, Liverpool John Moores University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/139160
2020-05-30T08:08:49Z
2020-05-30T08:08:49Z
Peru’s war on drugs is an abject failure – here’s what it can learn from Bolivia
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337658/original/file-20200526-106823-69mbkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Drying coca, Chapare, Bolivia </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Thomas Grisaffi</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Peruvian government forces began eradicating coca leaf, the raw material for cocaine, without warning in a remote corner of Peru’s principal coca growing region last November, they were met by growers armed with sticks and rocks. The security forces backing the eradication brigades responded by firing bullets and tear gas, <a href="https://www.academia.edu/40912151/Bullets_in_Lieu_of_Dialogue_Coca_Eradication_in_Perus_Central_Jungle">seriously wounding five farmers</a>.</p>
<p>“We have an abusive government. They hit hard at the coca growers … They shot at us with tear gas, with high calibre weapons,” community leader Rúben Leiva told us.</p>
<p>Drug crop production is <a href="https://www.swansea.ac.uk/media/Drugs-and-Development-The-Great-Disconnect.pdf">primarily thought of</a> as a crime and security issue. But most people are forced into production due to poverty and lack of opportunities in the legal economy. </p>
<p>For 40 years, policies in Peru have prioritised forced eradication of coca leaf under intense pressure from the US government. Weak economies, farmers turned into outlaws, and human rights violations are the <a href="https://www.wola.org/analysis/what-does-it-mean-to-have-a-human-rights-oriented-drug-policy/">result</a> of this militarised crop and drug control strategy.</p>
<p>Coca production has not <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256716908_Caught_in_the_middle_Colombia%27s_war_on_drugs_and_its_effects_on_forest_and_people">shrunk overall</a>, merely shifting its location, often through extensive replanting, which <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es102373d">aggravates deforestation</a>. Global cocaine manufacture in 2017 reached its highest level ever: an estimated 1,976 tons, more than double the amount <a href="https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2019/">recorded in 2013</a>, guaranteeing the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=KpvmDQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Anti-Drug+Policies+under+Plan+Colombia:++Daniel+Mej%C3%ADa.&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiY25Wuo-joAhWxj3IEHW52AdEQ6AEwAHoECAQQAg#v=onepage&q=Anti-Drug%20Policies%20under%20Plan%20Colombia%3A%20%20Daniel%20Mej%C3%ADa.&f=false">flow of drugs northward</a>.</p>
<h2>The search for alternatives</h2>
<p>These negative outcomes have stimulated <a href="http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/ENG-2018_Regulation_Report_WEB-FINAL.pdf">regional debate</a> around the violence, corruption and instability fuelled by current drug policies. Bolivia has emerged as a <a href="https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/uploads/dd3082d5-1bab-4fa0-9cb5-273a921ea32b/habeas-coca-bolivias-community-coca-control-20150706.pdf">world leader</a> in promoting a new model based on farmer participation and non-violence. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337227/original/file-20200524-124822-12majp1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337227/original/file-20200524-124822-12majp1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337227/original/file-20200524-124822-12majp1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337227/original/file-20200524-124822-12majp1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337227/original/file-20200524-124822-12majp1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337227/original/file-20200524-124822-12majp1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337227/original/file-20200524-124822-12majp1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman stands in front of a mural depicting coca growing. The Chapare, Bolivia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Thomas Grisaffi</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Beginning in 2004, successive governments have allowed growers to cultivate a restricted amount of coca leaf, with compliance conducted by local coca grower unions themselves. This coca leaf is sold to registered intermediaries and domestic markets as a mild stimulant, similar to caffeine. The leaf also packs a powerful punch of nutrients such as calcium and vitamin C. </p>
<p>This community-based model <a href="https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/bulletin/2017/Bulletin_on_Narcotics_V1705843.pdf">has proven more effective</a> in reducing coca acreage than police and military repression, and has extended social and civil rights in previously peripheral regions. Government investment, gender equity policies, and the 2013 international recognition of Bolivians right to consume the leaf domestically have strengthened local stability.</p>
<p>In turn, this has encouraged economic diversification away from coca. In Bolivia, 23,100 hectares were under coca cultivation in 2018, <a href="http://ain-bolivia.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/TURNING-OVER-A-NEW-LEAF.pdf">less than half</a> that in Peru.</p>
<p>The programme is recognised as a “<a href="http://fileserver.idpc.net/library/OAS-Analytical%20Report_The-drug-problem-in-the-Americas.pdf">best practice</a>” by the Organisation of American States. The <a href="https://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/people/health/Development_Dimensions_of_Drug_Policy.pdf">United Nations Development Programme</a> reported in 2019 that: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>By recognizing coca cultivation as a legitimate source of income, the [Bolivian] government has helped stabilize household incomes and placed farmers in a better position to assume the risk of substituting illicit crops with alternative crops or livestock.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337660/original/file-20200526-106811-1u7gdms.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337660/original/file-20200526-106811-1u7gdms.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337660/original/file-20200526-106811-1u7gdms.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337660/original/file-20200526-106811-1u7gdms.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337660/original/file-20200526-106811-1u7gdms.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337660/original/file-20200526-106811-1u7gdms.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337660/original/file-20200526-106811-1u7gdms.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Two workers take a break to chew coca, Chapare, Bolivia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Thomas Grisaffi</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While drug crop policy was undergoing profound change in Bolivia, neighbouring Peru continued eradication-based strategies designed and (until 2011) funded by the US. </p>
<p>Peru’s programmes experience <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-29082-9_8">the same problems</a> as Bolivia’s <a href="https://www.wola.org/sites/default/files/downloadable/Drug%20Policy/past/ddhr_bolivia_brief.pdf">before 2004</a> when it changed tack, but within a context of greater violence both by the state and <a href="https://jied.lse.ac.uk/articles/10.31389/jied.7/">insurgent forces</a>. Peru’s growers have endured repeated cycles of forced eradication, failed development and violence by the state, insurgents and drug traffickers. </p>
<h2>Could it work in Peru?</h2>
<p>An urgency to trying something different led some Peruvian coca growers and their organisations to travel to Bolivia’s coca growing regions in 2019. Three delegations from six regions spoke with coca farmers, visited state-financed projects to promote alternative crops and fish farming and met with Bolivian officials, including the head of the anti-narcotics police and members of congress.</p>
<p>They came away with a solid understanding of what Bolivia’s community control could offer. Grower organisations subsequently educated their members about the model, as well as proposing its possible adoption with the European Union and the state coca crop control organisation (DEVIDA). </p>
<p>“We could do a pilot project of the Bolivian model here,” insisted grower leader Marianne Zavala from Peru’s Junin province. “I know it would work well and we really want to try this.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337661/original/file-20200526-106823-11hmunr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337661/original/file-20200526-106823-11hmunr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337661/original/file-20200526-106823-11hmunr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337661/original/file-20200526-106823-11hmunr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337661/original/file-20200526-106823-11hmunr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337661/original/file-20200526-106823-11hmunr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337661/original/file-20200526-106823-11hmunr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Coca left to dry in the street, Chapare, Bolivia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Thomas Grisaffi</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But for Bolivia’s model to have any hope of success in Peru, two obstacles must be addressed. Peru’s rural union structures lack the grassroots cohesion that has proven critical in Bolivia. Coca grower organisations in Peru, as well as local municipalities, will need extensive training and capacity building, as well as assistance in forging a regional and national consensus on an alternative approach.</p>
<p>This challenge is compounded by the inordinately high distrust among Peru’s rural populations, including coca growers, towards the state, particularly the security forces and DEVIDA. Bolivia’s experience offers ideas for how <a href="https://www.academia.edu/30977537/Social_Control_in_Bolivia_A_Humane_Alternative_to_the_Forced_Eradication_of_Coca_Crops">this mistrust can be diminished</a>. </p>
<p>Bolivian coca growers designed the community control policy, staffed related state institutions, and have seen their own political representatives in positions of power. They emphasised political participation to their Peruvian counterparts. “We could never have reached as far if we had only worked as a growers’ union,” Bolivian leader Felipe Martinez told the Peruvians. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337884/original/file-20200527-141303-1jynhhg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337884/original/file-20200527-141303-1jynhhg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337884/original/file-20200527-141303-1jynhhg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337884/original/file-20200527-141303-1jynhhg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337884/original/file-20200527-141303-1jynhhg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337884/original/file-20200527-141303-1jynhhg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337884/original/file-20200527-141303-1jynhhg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Farmers prepare coca seedlings.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Thomas Grisaffi</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10714839.2020.1733217?scroll=top&needAccess=true">destabilisation of Bolivia</a> in November 2019, when President Evo Morales was ousted after accusations of conducting a fraudulent election, highlights how dependent community-based control of coca is on the commitment of the government in power. </p>
<p>The anti-Morales interim Añez government has threatened a return to <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/z3bq9w/the-worlds-biggest-legal-coca-industry-might-get-shut-down">forced eradication</a> so as to undermine local unions loyal to Morales. It has killed nine people during a coca grower protest, and continues threats towards growers’ leaders under the guise of combating drug trafficking. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337662/original/file-20200526-106832-1ehps99.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337662/original/file-20200526-106832-1ehps99.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337662/original/file-20200526-106832-1ehps99.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337662/original/file-20200526-106832-1ehps99.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337662/original/file-20200526-106832-1ehps99.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337662/original/file-20200526-106832-1ehps99.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337662/original/file-20200526-106832-1ehps99.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A memorial for the nine coca farmers killed in November 2019, Cochabamba, Bolivia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Thomas Grisaffi</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The trust that coca growers once had in government has evaporated, and with it the underpinnings of community control. This holds an important lesson. If a government continues to treat coca growers as enemies – people whom policies should act upon rather than collaborate with – then the violence, failed development and coca cultivation will continue unabated.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139160/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thomas Grisaffi receives funding from the Global Challenges Research Fund. He has previously received funding from the Social Science Research Council/Open Society Foundations (Drugs, Security and Democracy Program), the Leverhulme Trust and the Economic and Social Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathryn Ledebur is the director of the Andean Information Network, a human rights organization that works on coca-related issues. . She receives funding from the Global Challenges Research Fund for research and editing on coca policy in Peru and Bolivia and from the Open Society Foundation for coca and drug policy in Bolivia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Linda Farthing receives funding from the Global Challenges Research Fund for research and editing on coca policy in Peru and Bolivia. She is affiliated as a consultant with the Andean Information Network, a human rights organization that works on coca-related issues.</span></em></p>
Production of coca leaf, the raw material in cocaine, is surging in Peru despite 40 years of forced eradication designed to convince farmers to abandon it. Bolivia shows a better way forward.
Thomas Grisaffi, Lecturer in Human Geography, University of Reading
Kathryn Ledebur, Visiting Fellow, University of Reading
Linda Farthing, Visiting Fellow, University of Reading
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/138952
2020-05-21T12:16:12Z
2020-05-21T12:16:12Z
PPE and contactless delivery: drug dealers reveal how they are adapting to coronavirus
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336767/original/file-20200521-102662-ylxcxj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=92%2C38%2C5059%2C2862&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>While the COVID-19 lockdown might have brought most parts of the economy to a halt, it seems to have had little affect on drug dealers. They have even found opportunity in the situation. They wear personal protective equipment (PPE) to avoid infection, finding a neat way to cover their faces to avoid police surveillance in the process.</p>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has not diminished the supply of and demand for illicit drugs in the UK – particularly cannabis and cocaine. And while it might be difficult to see the attraction of using stimulants and party drugs like MDMA and cocaine in the confines of your own home during lockdown, users seem to be taking full advantage of the extra time on their hands. One 47-year-old told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’ve been using sniff regularly for most of my adult life so the lockdown hasn’t changed anything for me. To be honest, I probably been doing more than usual as I’ve got more time on my hands and I’m not spending as much on other shit. Anyway, it makes me feel good and there’s not much around at the moment to make anyone feel good. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In fact, both drug users and dealers reported that sales and use had actually increased during COVID-19. One dealer, aged 40, said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It just goes with having a drink for a lot of people. People are at home bored and that, getting mortal and sniffing passes the time. I’ve also got a few Cracky Chans [crack users] and they get through it the same.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The large number of domestic cultivators has meant the supply of cannabis has seen no disruption. And despite initial worries by some dealers that their supply from overseas might dry up, which has been documented in relation to <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-coronavirus-is-changing-the-market-for-illegal-drugs-134753">some other substances (for example, synthetic cannabinoids)</a>, there does not appear to be a shortage of heroin or cocaine, unlike other more mundane consumer goods like <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-why-people-are-panic-buying-loo-roll-and-how-to-stop-it-133115">paracetamol, pasta and toilet paper)</a>.</p>
<p>Initially the drug users we spoke to were panic stockpiling drugs, and although this seems to have abated, drug dealers and users alike seemed genuinely surprised that drugs had been easier to buy than many (legal) everyday products. </p>
<h2>Masking up</h2>
<p>Drug dealers have been heeding government advice and taking the necessary precautions to protect themselves and their customers against COVID-19. Dealers have been wearing masks, gloves and protective eyewear, alongside a hood to conceal their identity as they continue to run their businesses during lockdown:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The [police] know most of us round here so covering your face has meant you have less chance of being pinched even if they see you, you can get away without um recognising you and turning up at your flat. Everyone I know is wearing them.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Talking about his delivery process, a user told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There’s no physical contact whatsoever. He calls me when he’s outside, I go down and he opens the boot, I put the money in one box and take my gear from the other. We have a little chat and that’s it, he’s gone. I took the piss with him at first as I thought it was over the top but now it’s just normal.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Others told us about the changes they’ve made when actually taking drugs:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’ll tell you one thing mate, I wouldn’t be snorting with a note… could be hoovering corona straight up your shnoz [nose]. Use a straw, me, then hoy [throw] it straight out. Best way.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336769/original/file-20200521-102637-6jg1oj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336769/original/file-20200521-102637-6jg1oj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336769/original/file-20200521-102637-6jg1oj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336769/original/file-20200521-102637-6jg1oj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336769/original/file-20200521-102637-6jg1oj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336769/original/file-20200521-102637-6jg1oj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336769/original/file-20200521-102637-6jg1oj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Combining a deal with the weekly shop.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Dealers use disinfectant and hand sanitiser and try as much as possible to cover their meetings with customers as “essential travel” or even combine them with genuinely essential travel:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Mainly now when I’m going to go to the shops anyway. I’ll arrange to meet people there. When it first kicked off I would walk the dog and get them to meet me on route but it was … dead sus so I just bite the bullet and drive. Sometimes I go check on me mam and dad as they are meant be self-isolating.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Timing was key for another:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’m always dead careful anyway, [since COVID-19] … I meet people at the likes of Tesco car park, Aldi or somewhere, shopping for essentials you know (laughs). I like to do it at busy times, teatime or morning going to graft time … I always have hand sanitiser in the car, use it loads. I wear gloves as well but I always have done if passing something over, don’t want forensics on the bags just in case.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Although drugs are still considered the preserve of young people, our research shows they play an equally important part in the lives of older, middle-aged adults. Most of the dealers we spoke to make a living entirely from drug supply and had a <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-17736-2_7">nice but not extravagant lifestyle</a>, using the money to buy “life’s little luxuries” without getting themselves further into debt.</p>
<p>Despite these unprecedented times, a state of national lockdown and speculation that things will never be the same again, drug use and drug dealing seem to remain business as usual.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138952/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
It’s difficult to find toilet paper, but apparently there’s no shortage of cannabis.
Tammy Ayres, Lecturer in Criminology, University of Leicester
Craig Ancrum, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Teesside University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/132598
2020-03-02T05:49:07Z
2020-03-02T05:49:07Z
The deadly opioid fentanyl is turning up in disguise on Sydney streets, making illicit drug use even riskier
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317934/original/file-20200302-57507-1q4iz80.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C8%2C2987%2C1985&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On February 21 NSW Health <a href="https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/aod/public-drug-alerts/Documents/public-drug-warning-acetyl-fentanyl-21-February-2020.pdf">issued a warning</a> about methamphetamine and cocaine being contaminated with the dangerous opioid fentanyl.</p>
<p>Several people who had taken these illicit stimulant drugs presented to Sydney hospitals with symptoms of opioid overdose, raising the alarm. Drug tests found <a href="https://www.cesphn.org.au/documents/population-health/2955-nsw-health-clinical-alert-acetyl-fentanyl/file">fentanyl and acetyl-fentanyl</a> had caused the overdoses.</p>
<p>It’s believed to be the first time fentanyl has been found in <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-28/mardi-gras-fentanyl-drug-warning/12010576">stimulant drugs</a> in Australia. </p>
<p>People using stimulants like methamphetamine and cocaine are not looking for the depressant effects of opioids. They would not have expected their drugs to contain fentanyl.</p>
<p>While you never know for sure what you’re getting when you buy illicit drugs, this is an extreme case.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/princes-death-from-fentanyl-is-only-the-tip-of-the-global-overdose-iceberg-60441">Prince's death from fentanyl is only the tip of the global overdose iceberg</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What is fentanyl?</h2>
<p>Fentanyl is a strong synthetic opioid prescribed for severe pain, for example to cancer patients or after surgery. It was <a href="https://theconversation.com/weekly-dose-fentanyl-the-anaesthetic-that-may-have-been-used-as-a-chemical-weapon-on-chechen-rebels-62966">first developed</a> in the 1950s as a fast acting anaesthetic and pain reliever, but its availability has been restricted in recent years because of a high rate of misuse. </p>
<p>Today it’s usually applied in skin patches <a href="https://adf.org.au/drug-facts/fentanyl/">where the pain is</a>. It’s also used in epidurals in combination with other drugs to relieve pain during childbirth.</p>
<p>Fentanyl is much <a href="https://adf.org.au/drug-facts/fentanyl/">stronger</a> than other opioid drugs like heroin, morphine and codeine.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317935/original/file-20200302-57536-1ueb4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317935/original/file-20200302-57536-1ueb4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317935/original/file-20200302-57536-1ueb4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317935/original/file-20200302-57536-1ueb4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317935/original/file-20200302-57536-1ueb4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317935/original/file-20200302-57536-1ueb4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317935/original/file-20200302-57536-1ueb4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People in the market for methamphetamine or cocaine in NSW may unknowingly be getting drugs laced with fentanyl.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Opioids are depressants, which means they depress the central nervous system, slowing breathing and heart rate. Other effects include reduced pain, euphoria, constipation, vomiting, slurred speech and loss of appetite.</p>
<p>People who use fentanyl for non-medical reasons inject it. They find a tolerance to the drug builds quickly, the effects diminish quickly and physical dependence is rapid.</p>
<p><a href="https://yourroom.health.nsw.gov.au/a-z-of-drugs/Pages/fentanyl.aspx">Symptoms of fentanyl overdose</a> include difficult or shallow breathing, fainting, cold and clammy skin and blueish lips and skin around the mouth. People can die quickly so seeking emergency help is critical.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/weekly-dose-fentanyl-the-anaesthetic-that-may-have-been-used-as-a-chemical-weapon-on-chechen-rebels-62966">Weekly Dose: fentanyl, the anaesthetic that may have been used as a chemical weapon on Chechen rebels</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_chem_info/acetylfentanyl.pdf">Acetyl-fentanyl</a> has a slightly different chemical structure to fentanyl but similar effects. It has not been approved for human use.</p>
<h2>A prime culprit in America’s opioid crisis</h2>
<p>Fentanyl has been responsible for many of the overdose deaths reported <a href="http://theconversation.com/princes-death-from-fentanyl-is-only-the-tip-of-the-global-overdose-iceberg-60441">globally</a> in recent years, including in Australia.</p>
<p>Fentanyl and related substances like acetyl-fentanyl are manufactured illegally in some countries. They’re mixed with other drugs to produce powerful effects at a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31465320">lower production cost</a>. Fentanyl may also be found in other drugs because of cross contamination through careless practices in drug labs. </p>
<p>In the United States more than <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/index.html">700,000 people</a> died from a drug overdose between 1999 and 2017. Illicit fentanyl caused around half of the overdose deaths <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31465320">reported each year since 2013</a>.</p>
<p>While a portion of these people would have knowingly been using fentanyl, many people who overdosed on fentanyl in the US <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31712552">had been using stimulants</a> such as methamphetamine and cocaine. </p>
<p>A study in Canada found 73% of people who tested positive for fentanyl <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26577516-why-the-fuss-fentanyl-urine-screen-study-a-cross-sectional-survey-to-characterize-an-emerging-threat-to-people-who-use-drugs-in-british-columbia-canada/">did not know they had taken it</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/opioid-dependence-treatment-saves-lives-so-why-dont-more-people-use-it-122537">Opioid dependence treatment saves lives. So why don't more people use it?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Risk in Australia</h2>
<p>Illicitly manufactured fentanyl has not been reported in Australia previously. <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jat/article/41/4/318/2967156">Nine overdose deaths</a> that occurred in Melbourne in 2015 were found to include fentanyl and heroin, however the source of the fentanyl was unknown.</p>
<p>An <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-12/dark-web-fentanyl-sales-spark-fears-of-australian-opioid-crisis/10996602">Australian study</a> published in 2019 found illicitly produced fentanyl was readily available on the dark web and suggested a high risk of the drug being imported to Australia.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317937/original/file-20200302-57517-1827l9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317937/original/file-20200302-57517-1827l9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317937/original/file-20200302-57517-1827l9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317937/original/file-20200302-57517-1827l9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317937/original/file-20200302-57517-1827l9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317937/original/file-20200302-57517-1827l9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317937/original/file-20200302-57517-1827l9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People who use fentanyl for non-medical reasons typically inject it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://www.acic.gov.au/informing-responses-australias-illicit-drug-markets">Australian Crime Commission</a> identified China as a likely source of illicit fentanyl and related substances, highlighting ease of access to Australian markets.</p>
<p>Doctors working in the area of drug dependence have been <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-12/dark-web-fentanyl-sales-spark-fears-of-australian-opioid-crisis/10996602">expecting to see</a> illicit fentanyl in Australia at some point. The fear is Australia could face an overdose epidemic similar to the US and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/13/canada-opioids-crisis-overdoses-report">Canada</a>.</p>
<h2>How can we reduce harm?</h2>
<p>Harm reduction strategies include training people who take illicit drugs in the use of naloxone, a drug that reverses opioid overdoses, and providing rapid fentanyl test strips so drugs can be tested prior to use.</p>
<p>The test strips are reliable and <a href="https://harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12954-018-0276-0">easy to use</a>. A small amount of the drug is dissolved in water and the test strip is dipped into the liquid for 15 seconds. </p>
<p>The test strips are highly sensitive and only a tiny amount of fentanyl is needed for it to be detected. It takes five minutes for the test result to appear. </p>
<p>While the strips have been found to be accurate at detecting the presence of fentanyl, they don’t identify the strength or quantity of <a href="https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DOA/CDPH%20Document%20Library/Fact_Sheet_Fentanyl_Testing_Approved_ADA.pdf">the drug in the sample</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/testing-festival-goers-pills-isnt-the-only-way-to-reduce-overdoses-heres-what-else-works-118827">Testing festival goers' pills isn't the only way to reduce overdoses. Here's what else works</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Most people who use illicit drugs do so occasionally. It’s likely people using stimulant drugs will not have fentanyl testing kits or naloxone with them. This increases the risk of harm.</p>
<p>Naloxone, testing kits and drug checking availability in general are the best ways to reduce harm from fentanyl. These will need greater promotion if we continue to see cases like we’ve seen in Sydney in the past month.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132598/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julaine Allan has received funding from NHMRC, ARC, RIRDC and NSW Health to conduct research on substance use. Julaine is currently Director of Research for Western NSW Local Health District.</span></em></p>
Fentanyl has been a prime culprit in the opioid crisis in the United States. It’s now turning up in cocaine and methamphetamine in New South Wales.
Julaine Allan, Senior research fellow, Charles Sturt University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/129667
2020-02-10T13:57:50Z
2020-02-10T13:57:50Z
Potential gene therapy to combat cocaine addiction
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311679/original/file-20200123-162221-1ri4ber.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C27%2C4608%2C3421&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">More than 1 million people in the U.S. are addicted to cocaine.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/drugs-addiction-withdrawal-symptoms-concept-depressed-1076759381">Orawan Pattarawimonchai/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Have you ever slipped when trying to avoid sugar, quit smoking, or break another habit or addiction? Usually that one piece of cake or one cigarette won’t ruin your whole plan, but for people struggling with cocaine addiction, one slip can undo months of hard work. </p>
<p>Cocaine consumption is increasing, with <a href="https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/cbhsq-reports/NSDUHDetailedTabs2017/NSDUHDetailedTabs2017.pdf">2.2 million people in the U.S. admitting to recent cocaine use in 2017</a>. In 2014, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health estimated that nearly 1 million Americans were <a href="https://drugabuse.com/cocaine/relapse/">addicted to cocaine</a>. The effect of cocaine on the brain and body is so powerful that, even after state-of-the-art treatments, <a href="https://drugabuse.com/cocaine/relapse/">many people</a> trying to quit cocaine relapse within a year.</p>
<p>What if cocaine could be made less euphoric, so that a single use by a recovering addict doesn’t result in a full-blown relapse? Scientists at the Mayo Clinic recently published progress toward making this idea a reality – a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/hum.2019.233">gene therapy that would treat cocaine addiction</a> by making cocaine less rewarding. </p>
<p>We are a <a href="https://rpmlab.wordpress.com">molecular biologist</a> and a <a href="https://bcmb.utk.edu/people/faculty/rebecca-a-prosser/">neurobiologist</a> who are interested in understanding and treating human disease, including neurological disorders such as cocaine addiction. As University of Tennessee faculty members leading basic biomedical research, we have worked for years on how genes are turned on and off in people and the effects of cocaine on mice, respectively. So, we were excited to see a promising convergence of novel gene therapy and cocaine addiction therapy. </p>
<h2>A treatment to make cocaine less addictive</h2>
<p>Beginning more than 20 years ago, scientists have worked to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1124/mol.55.1.83">engineer a new version of a human protein</a> that could break down cocaine so quickly that it doesn’t produce an addictive high. We all have the normal human protein BChE that helps regulate neurotransmitters, and which can slowly break down cocaine. Targeted mutations in BChE can turn it into a super-CocH – a protein that can quickly break down cocaine. When this CocH is injected into the bloodstream, it breaks down cocaine very fast – before the user can experience the pleasurable effects – so a dose of cocaine is less rewarding. Being less rewarding means it is easier to stop using cocaine. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1124/jpet.108.150029">Previous research</a> has shown that injections of the super-CocH protein drastically decrease addictive behavior in cocaine-addicted rats. That’s great. But the problem is that daily CocH injections would be too expensive and difficult to maintain for the years needed to prevent cocaine relapse for human users. It would be much more practical to provide a single treatment that could provide enough CocH to last for years. </p>
<p>One way to do that is gene therapy: Give patients the DNA sequence (the gene) that contains the instructions for making super-CocH so their bodies can keep making it for months or potentially years. Fortunately, over the past decade, this type of gene therapy has been moving from science fiction to hopeful reality. <a href="https://app.emergingmed.com/asgct/home/:diseaseId%3F/:subDiseaseId%3F">Clinical trials</a> have demonstrated the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omtm.2017.11.007">potential of gene therapy to treat diseases</a> from <a href="https://hemophilianewstoday.com/gene-therapy/">hemophilia</a> to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2019.02.01">neurodegenerative disorders</a>, and a handful of these are <a href="https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/cellular-gene-therapy-products/approved-cellular-and-gene-therapy-products">FDA-approved</a>. The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/hum.2019.233">new Mayo Clinic study</a> takes an important step toward making CocH gene therapy a reality. </p>
<h2>How does gene therapy work?</h2>
<p>How exactly does a scientist “give a person a gene”? You can’t just swallow DNA the way you would a pill. The Mayo Clinic scientists had to find a way to deliver the gene to every cell in the liver. The way they did this was to insert the gene for super-CocH into a virus called adeno-associated virus (AAV). AAV has been modified so that when it infects cells it cannot reproduce in the body or make someone sick. It is just a delivery vehicle. The virus works by delivering the CocH gene to liver cells, where it remains for months or years. The cells read the super-CocH gene and use it to manufacture many copies of the CocH protein, which then breaks down cocaine. </p>
<p>In the new study, the team tested this approach in mice. The results are very promising and suggest that this gene therapy is safe and effective. Mice receiving the gene therapy alone were healthy. Mice given cocaine became hyperactive and showed signs of liver damage. When the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/hum.2019.233">mice were given cocaine plus gene therapy</a> they behaved normally, as if they had not been given the drug. The cocaine was quickly broken down by their new super-CocH proteins, and their livers showed no signs of damage. </p>
<p>The results are promising enough that the FDA has approved plans to proceed with human clinical trials. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311686/original/file-20200123-162199-1ypurb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311686/original/file-20200123-162199-1ypurb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311686/original/file-20200123-162199-1ypurb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311686/original/file-20200123-162199-1ypurb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311686/original/file-20200123-162199-1ypurb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311686/original/file-20200123-162199-1ypurb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311686/original/file-20200123-162199-1ypurb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311686/original/file-20200123-162199-1ypurb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The virus is a delivery vehicle for the gene.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gene_therapy.jpg">National Institutes of Health</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Looking forward</h2>
<p>Keep in mind, this treatment won’t hit the market anytime soon. It took six years from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0067446">initial tests of AAV-CocH therapy in mice</a> to reach the point where the technique is safe enough for human trials. There are many aspects of the treatment that need to be evaluated and modified to make sure it is both safe and effective in humans. </p>
<p>For example, AAV gene therapy can produce <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omtm.2017.11.007">unwanted immune responses in people</a> that will need to be carefully monitored. Issues such as discomfort caused by the therapy, different responses based on an individual’s genetic makeup and interactions with other medications or medical conditions will also need to be addressed. </p>
<p>Because this study only monitored mice for two months, longer-term effects of the gene therapy will need to be investigated. Also, how well this therapy works to treat cocaine addiction in mice is not really known, and treating addiction in humans is certain to be even more complicated. </p>
<p>This gene therapy could someday make a dose of cocaine less rewarding, but a full recovery from addiction will likely require a combination of treatments administered over many years. </p>
<p>Like many, the two us have family members or friends who struggle with addictions that cannot be cured simply by “trying harder.” This recent work combines careful scientific progress with a creative new idea, giving hope to those trying to overcome cocaine addiction.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129667/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel Patton McCord receives funding from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca A. Prosser does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Addiction to cocaine is wildly difficult to conquer. But physicians may soon have a new type of gene therapy for patients that makes the drug less alluring.
Rachel Patton McCord, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee
Rebecca A. Prosser, Professor of Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/129392
2020-01-30T12:44:41Z
2020-01-30T12:44:41Z
The highs and lows of the opium trade in southern Africa
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311814/original/file-20200124-81336-1d1c10h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The reach of European empires and of Indian Ocean trade networks drew southern Africa into the global politics of opium around the turn of the twentieth century. Between the late 1880s and early 1920s and there was a shift from economies of supply to regimes of control. </p>
<p>The colonies of Mozambique and South Africa were caught up in these big changes. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02582473.2019.1627402">recent paper</a> I highlight how official and unofficial actors shaped and responded to the global politics of opium and, in different ways, worked to benefit from these developments. </p>
<p>With a focus on Mozambique and, especially, South Africa, I demonstrate how the changing global politics of drug supply and suppression influenced local colonial social and political processes. </p>
<p>I also show how these histories influenced events worldwide, including the first efforts to use the League of Nations to control the international cannabis trade.</p>
<h2>Opium cultivation in Mozambique</h2>
<p>In July 1877 an unpleasant surprise greeted British Imperial consul, Captain James Frederick Elton, as he led an expedition through the Zambezi valley in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Mozambique">Mozambique</a>. An agricultural experiment was underway, and it seemed to be thriving. The enterprise was Portuguese; the crop was <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/crime/history-of-heroin-morphine-and-opiates">opium</a>. </p>
<p>This was a problem for him because there was open contestation between European countries hungry to <a href="https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Scramble_for_Africa">colonise the continent</a>. Elton recognised that active farming in this region was bad news for British interests and claim-making. </p>
<p>Worse, the healthy crop of <em>Papaver somniferum</em> heralded a new source of competition with <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Opium-Wars">British Indian opium</a> that monopolised the lucrative Chinese market.</p>
<p>In 1874, the Mozambique Opium Cultivation and Trading Company launched its experiment with £180,000, a concession of 50,000 acres of Portuguese crown land and exclusive rights to duty-free export for 12 years. </p>
<p>In fact, growing opium in the Zambezi valley proved a short-lived venture. </p>
<p>In 1884, poppy cultivation was ended by an anti-colonial uprising. Although the violence had broader aims and targets, African workers were motivated to destroy the opium plantation because of the company’s extortion of workers through taxes and forced recruitment. </p>
<p>Quests to profit from opium were taken up in a different way further south. </p>
<h2>The South African leg</h2>
<p>By the early 1900s the consumption of opium and its alkaloids, like morphine, were well established in southern Africa. A common ingredient in over-the-counter <a href="https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object-groups/balm-of-america-patent-medicine-collection/history">patent medicines</a>, opiates were distributed by shopkeepers, pharmacists and missionaries. </p>
<p>Because of disproportionate access, white citizens were most at risk of forming a ‘habit’. Afrikaans poet <a href="https://www.uj.ac.za/library/informationsources/special-collections/Online-Exhibitions/Eugene-Marais/Pages/Eugene-Marais-Early-Life.aspx">Eugene Marais</a> was famously a life-long morphine injector. At least one historian has argued that the writing career of <a href="https://digitalcollections.lib.uct.ac.za/humanitec/schreiner">Olive Schreiner</a> was, for a time, hampered by over-consumption of opiated Chlorodyne. </p>
<p>Opium also figured in labour control. Early in the century, until 1910, the Transvaal legally imported tons of opium for the use of migrant Chinese workers recruited to the gold mines. It legislated a <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/poppies-and-gold-opium-and-law-making-on-the-witwatersrand-190410/7F346245184D53E8B084CE30C1F772B7">formal system of opium provision</a> for these workers and farmed the revenue through a customs act.</p>
<p>Opium consumption was entirely legal. Nevertheless, especially from 1910, the South African government sought to <a href="https://mh.bmj.com/content/44/4/253.full">regulate all forms of opium sales</a>. Police showed most interest in opium used for smoking and occasionally raided ‘opium dens’. In 1910, police reported six such venues in Cape Town. All were in fact just rooms in private homes. Salon owners supplied opium, along with the pipes and lamps used to smoke it. </p>
<p>Their patrons were a small and eclectic community. There was, for example, William Birch, a ‘Coloured’ Pierrot troupe player, small time drug dealer and police informant; Daisy Harris, a ‘European’ hotel barmaid; Mr Kong Lee, who ran a laundry with his wife, a ‘St Helena woman’; Hamat Rajap, a Muslim tailor; and Richardson (alias ‘Country’), a black American traveller.</p>
<p>In Cape ports, sailors brought opium. Train stewards were known to move it inland. Some medical professionals also profited from a sideline supplying opium. In Johannesburg, risk-takers could try their luck smuggling Indian opium from up the coast and the port at Lourenço Marques (now Maputo).</p>
<h2>Colonial rule</h2>
<p>After 1910, quantities of opium in circulation remained relatively small. Yet, international opium conferences held in the <a href="https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/the-1912-hague-international-opium-convention.html">Hague in 1912</a> and in 1914 identified the Union of South Africa as a critical region for controlling ‘dangerous drugs’. Bordered by two oceans, with multiple ports and a growing pharmaceutical manufacturing sector, the Union was instructed to embrace the protocols being drafted. </p>
<p>But South Africa dragged its feet. That is until the 1920s when government officials such as <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/general-jan-christiaan-smuts">Jan Smuts</a>, who served as prime minister of the Union, promoted restrictive legislation. </p>
<p>Smuts was also one of the architects of the <a href="https://www.unog.ch/80256EDD006B8954/(httpAssets)/36BC4F83BD9E4443C1257AF3004FC0AE/%24file/Historical_overview_of_the_League_of_Nations.pdf">League of Nations</a>. He soon recognised that the international campaigns against ‘dangerous drugs’ could suit local political aims. </p>
<p>The government led by Smuts sought to control the consumption and production of cannabis (known as ‘dagga’ locally) within its borders. Cannabis had been used as medicine and recreational intoxicant by indigenous communities for at least 500 years. But the British <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-african-court-frees-cannabis-from-colonial-and-apartheid-past-103644">colonial view</a> of the plant became woven into narratives that fed white panic about crime and racial control. </p>
<p>South Africa requested that international bodies add cannabis to the ‘dangerous drugs’ list. With support from Egypt and other nations, cannabis was – along with opium, heroin, and cocaine – criminalised internationally in 1925.</p>
<p>The South African government also set about putting rigorous controls in place on the Mozambican border. The drive to control ‘dangerous drugs’ therefore also bolstered its capacity for territorial sovereignty.</p>
<p><em>This is the second article in a <a href="https://theconversation.com/africa/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=DRSA">series</a> on drug regimes in southern Africa. They are based on research done for a special edition for the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rshj20/current">South African Historical Journal</a>. Read the full paper over <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02582473.2019.1627402">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129392/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thembisa Waetjen receives funding from the National Research Foundation (NRF).</span></em></p>
Opium played a fascinating role in southern African colonial politics, conflict and social change - from the poppy fields of Mozambique to the early days of Johannesburg city.
Thembisa Waetjen, Associate Professor of History, University of Johannesburg
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/125278
2019-10-29T09:25:00Z
2019-10-29T09:25:00Z
Cocaine and alcohol: here’s why they’re such a deadly combination
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297459/original/file-20191017-98674-dio3pp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/776627251?src=uKIZIHtfbinGkblx7ZwIfA-1-0&size=medium_jpg">golubovystock/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When anyone under the age of 40 is admitted to a hospital emergency department complaining of chest pain, the doctor is likely to ask if the patient has taken cocaine. Cocaine use is a risk factor for heart attacks, but that risk is magnified when combined with alcohol. </p>
<p>According to EU data, around <a href="http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/system/files/publications/10225/2018-cocaine-trendspotter-rapid-communication.pdf">2.3m young adults</a> (aged 15-34) in Europe used cocaine in the last year. And cocaine use in the UK has been <a href="http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/countries/drug-reports/2019/united-kingdom/drug-use_en">increasing rapidly</a>, with Bristol and London leading the way. </p>
<p>Londoners consume twice the amount of any other European city – roughly 23kg of the class A drug every day. This works out at more than half a million doses of cocaine, with an <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/revealed-how-much-cocaine-londoners-are-taking-every-day-11830741">estimated street value of £2.75m</a>.</p>
<p>What makes this data more striking is that while the cost of a gram of cocaine has historically remained the same, the purity has increased dramatically, from <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/713101/Focal_Point_Annual_Report.pdf">20% in 2009 to 50% in 2016</a>, with some reports of <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cocaine-pure-uk-warning-police-users-a7736911.html">super-strength (100%) cocaine</a> being sold.</p>
<h2>How cocaine works</h2>
<p>Cocaine has many effects on the body but has several target organs: the brain, heart and liver. Cocaine affects the brain by increasing the amount of a chemical called dopamine in the brain, which causes a person to feel euphoric, have more energy and feel more confident. Cocaine stimulates the reward centre of the brain within seconds to minutes. But the effects are short-lived, lasting between five and 30 minutes, which partly depends on how it is taken. Injecting or smoking cocaine <a href="https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/cocaine">results in</a> a shorter-lasting high (five to ten minutes) than snorting (15 to 30 minutes). </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-dopamine-and-is-it-to-blame-for-our-addictions-51268">Explainer: what is dopamine – and is it to blame for our addictions?</a>
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<p>The short-lasting effects cause a user to repeat taking cocaine for the rewarding stimulus, which can result in a person eventually becoming addicted. The consequences of long-term use include an increased risk of <a href="https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/cocaine">stroke, heart attack and depression</a>.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298958/original/file-20191028-113987-14zf2fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298958/original/file-20191028-113987-14zf2fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298958/original/file-20191028-113987-14zf2fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298958/original/file-20191028-113987-14zf2fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298958/original/file-20191028-113987-14zf2fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298958/original/file-20191028-113987-14zf2fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298958/original/file-20191028-113987-14zf2fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Smoking cocaine results in an intense but short-lasting high.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/1068160763?src=gzozWddulpvblvtUhNo7Rw-1-0&size=medium_jpg">Doidam 10/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>Dangerous by-product</h2>
<p>Many people who take cocaine drink alcohol at the same time. This is in part because of the opposing physiological effects of each drug. Cocaine can increase anxiety, whereas alcohol acts as a depressant, which relieves anxiety. The combination can also enhance the euphoric effect, fuelling the brain’s reward system. Despite this, an unknown consequence to many regular or even recreational users is that combining alcohol with cocaine is cardiotoxic. </p>
<p>The liver is the major organ where cocaine is metabolised (broken down). But when cocaine is taken with alcohol, the liver produces a new byproduct called <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11229942">cocaethylene</a>. It is thought that about 20% of the cocaine that is consumed is turned into this new chemical. Cocaethylene also remains in the blood circulation three to five times longer than cocaine.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/middle-class-cocaine-users-are-a-scapegoat-for-ineffective-drugs-policy-104288">Middle class cocaine users are a scapegoat for ineffective drugs policy</a>
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<p>Cocaethylene has considerably greater potency than cocaine, increasing the heart rate and blood pressure, which can lead to <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0022950">increased risk of stroke, arrhythmia and heart attack</a>. Some studies suggest a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9243342">20-fold increased risk of a heart attack</a> when cocaine and alcohol are used together. Alcohol’s toxic products can also <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11410725">directly affect the heart</a>, lowering blood pressure and causing an increase in heart rate. Our group has shown that binge drinking can increase the risk of a heart attack. </p>
<p>As cocaethylene blocks the reabsorption of dopamine in the brain, it produces higher euphoric effects for both cocaine and alcohol, which can create a vicious cycle of taking more of each drug. A person is also more likely to <a href="https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/cocaine/what-are-short-term-effects-cocaine-use">engage in risky and violent behaviour</a>.</p>
<p>Both alcohol and cocaine alone can cause inflammation (hepatitis) to the liver, however, when taken together where cocaethylene is produced, studies have reported <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24765297">greater liver injury</a>.</p>
<p>As cocaine is more readily available in many cities across the world, it is important for users to be fully aware of the short- and long-term health risks of using cocaine and alcohol because the consequences can be fatal.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125278/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vinood Patel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Cocaine and alcohol combine to create a deadly chemical known as cocaethylene.
Vinood Patel, Reader in Clinical Biochemistry, University of Westminster
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/122907
2019-09-19T14:20:15Z
2019-09-19T14:20:15Z
Drug use in England and Wales is up for the fourth year in a row
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293186/original/file-20190919-22408-1ya6i0f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cocaine is the third most commonly used drug among people aged 16 to 24.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/50152831?src=axZ8_Z2APqOTGVHZSaw7vg-1-23&size=medium_jpg">Christopher Elwell/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Once a year we get a glimpse of how many people are using drugs such as heroin and cocaine in England and Wales. The Home Office conducts an <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/drug-misuse-findings-from-the-2018-to-2019-csew">annual household survey</a> that asks people if they have used drugs and, if they have, to provide some details about which drugs and how often they have consumed them. For the fourth year in a row, overall drug use has risen. An interesting fact on its own, but as always, the devil is in the detail. </p>
<p>Class A drugs including cocaine are proving to be popular, second only to cannabis in popularity. Nearly a million people now report using the drug. Fewer people report using opiates, such as heroin – but this is largely due to limitations of the survey which, as a household exercise, will not pick up certain groups, such as the homeless or other transient populations. Equally, the survey will not capture the experience of students – another important cohort. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293192/original/file-20190919-22408-1ar051n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293192/original/file-20190919-22408-1ar051n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293192/original/file-20190919-22408-1ar051n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293192/original/file-20190919-22408-1ar051n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293192/original/file-20190919-22408-1ar051n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293192/original/file-20190919-22408-1ar051n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293192/original/file-20190919-22408-1ar051n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293192/original/file-20190919-22408-1ar051n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Class A drug use including cocaine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Home Office</span></span>
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<p>One of the most striking elements of the data is the ease with which people, especially young people, can obtain controlled drugs. In 2018-19, almost 19% of respondents to the survey reported that it was “very easy” to get drugs within 24 hours. This a significant increase on the previous year’s figure of 14.5%.</p>
<h2>Like ordering pizza</h2>
<p>More than half of all young people, aged 16-24 years, said they could get drugs within 24 hours. This increased access to the drugs market could be as a result of more <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/drugs-dark-web-net-online-sales-uk-biggest-global-survey-research-law-a8341966.html">online availability through the dark web</a>. Equally, the drugs market has developed in the way other legal markets have in the 21st century. Drugs can now be delivered straight to your door, <a href="https://www.globaldrugsurvey.com/gds-2018/cokeinoes-cocaine-delivered-faster-than-pizza/">often faster than pizza</a> and there have been reports that suppliers are <a href="https://mixmag.net/read/drug-dealers-are-now-using-loyalty-cards-similar-to-those-from-coffee-shops-news">offering loyalty cards to customers</a>.</p>
<p>Class A drugs such as cocaine carry the most severe penalties under current drug laws, so why are an increasing number of people willing to break the law? Perhaps recent high-profile political <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/politicians-drug-use-gove-cocaine-history-confession-clinton-obama-a8950456.html">confessions</a> of drug use have added to people’s perception that it’s acceptable – or at least not as frowned upon – to use drugs. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293191/original/file-20190919-22450-1bhsny9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293191/original/file-20190919-22450-1bhsny9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293191/original/file-20190919-22450-1bhsny9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293191/original/file-20190919-22450-1bhsny9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293191/original/file-20190919-22450-1bhsny9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293191/original/file-20190919-22450-1bhsny9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293191/original/file-20190919-22450-1bhsny9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Cannabis use is at its highest in almost 10 years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/601386278?src=tSywE9crEcpFPwMBXtwpPw-1-34&size=medium_jpg">The Adaptive/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>A recent <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5bbb29273560c345fcc0fade/t/5d6d287bf37f2400019d35fd/1567434878163/Attitudinal+Survey+Report+FINAL.pdf">YouGov</a> poll suggests that most people think the current drug laws are ineffective in deterring drug use. And they would be right. The Home Office’s own evidence shows that <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/drugs-international-comparators">tough law enforcement does not deter drug use</a>, and the drug laws certainly did not deter any of those high-profile politicians from using cannabis or cocaine. </p>
<p>Despite changes in attitudes to drug use, government policy towards drugs has remained the same for half a century, so it’s hardly the evidence-based legislation it should be. </p>
<h2>We can reduce harm</h2>
<p>Current policy approaches drug use as a criminal matter when all the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5428163/">evidence</a> points to the need for a health and education-based approach. Most people will use drugs for pleasure and not come to any harm – but some will. The difficulty is predicting – prior to exposure – who is at risk, something that we are still struggling to get data on. Until then we need to think about how we can reduce the potential for harm that drugs pose to some people. </p>
<p>This is where we do have some evidence that we can use to reduce harm, but it is based on facilitating the safe use of drugs rather than trying to prevent drug use. Despite the public polling suggesting most people think current drug laws are ineffective, it is less clear what they would be willing to support. </p>
<p>It’s easy to say you support change, but would you be willing to see a drug consumption facility open up in your neighbourhood or see your taxes used to increase specialist drug treatment? Yet these are just two ways that we know could <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk-drug-deaths-continue-to-rise-time-for-action-120449">halt</a> the record numbers dying because of drug use. With 11 people a day dying as a result of drugs, this matters more than ever.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122907/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Hamilton is affiliated with Alcohol Change UK. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Niamh Eastwood is Executive Director of Release, the UK's centre of expertise on drugs and drugs law. </span></em></p>
Getting hold of illegal drugs is easier than ever, with home deliveries and even loyalty cards.
Ian Hamilton, Associate Professor, University of York
Niamh Eastwood, Associate Member of the Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, Middlesex University, Middlesex University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/123096
2019-09-09T04:56:55Z
2019-09-09T04:56:55Z
Drugs don’t affect job seeking, so let’s offer users help rather than take away their payments
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291422/original/file-20190909-175663-1kss60k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C136%2C5064%2C3482&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Drug testing risks further marginalising welfare recipients. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sad-confused-man-looking-laptop-sitting-180999986?src=LPOLOKvY9T2BDQE8aqVbJA-2-57">Iakov Filimonov/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Morrison government is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/06/the-recycled-drug-testing-plan-is-just-one-more-cruel-and-pointless-diversion">having another shot</a> at getting its proposal to drug test people on welfare through the Senate.</p>
<p>Welfare, health and drug treatment experts have consistently opposed the proposal since it was first introduced three years ago. They say these measures will only serve to <a href="https://ama.com.au/media/dr-chris-moy-doorstop-drug-testing-welfare-recipients">further marginalise people on welfare</a> and people who use drugs, and may have a range of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/sep/14/drug-testing-welfare-recipients-an-absolute-disgrace-australian-of-the-year-says">unintended consequences</a> such as homelessness.</p>
<p>If the government really wanted to assist people who have drug problems to return to work, it would increase funding for drug treatment.</p>
<h2>What’s being proposed?</h2>
<p>The new proposal appears very similar to those the Senate <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/legislation/ems/r6065_ems_5df415e5-bf55-4745-8db8-6d653265a900/upload_pdf/665144.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22legislation/ems/r6065_ems_5df415e5-bf55-4745-8db8-6d653265a900%22">previously rejected</a> in 2017 and 2018.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.anneruston.com.au/media_release_drug_testing_trials_to_help_welfare_recipients_become_job_ready">two year trial</a> would test around 5,000 new recipients of Newstart Allowance and Youth Allowance for a range of illegal drugs in three locations in Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/drug-testing-welfare-recipients-raises-questions-about-data-profiling-and-discrimination-77471">Drug testing welfare recipients raises questions about data profiling and discrimination</a>
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<p>Cocaine has been added to the list of drugs to be tested for. The list already included methamphetamine, MDMA (ecstasy), opioids (such as heroin) and cannabis in <a href="https://ajp.com.au/news/drug-testing-welfare-recipients-really-mean/">earlier versions</a>.</p>
<p>Welfare recipients who test positive will be placed on income management, with 80% of their income quarantined. </p>
<p>They will undertake a second test within a month. Two positive tests will result in a referral to a medical professional for treatment. Ongoing treatment may be a requirement of their job plan. </p>
<p>If they return two positive tests, or they dispute a test and ask for another test, they will be required to <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/legislation/ems/r6065_ems_5df415e5-bf55-4745-8db8-6d653265a900/upload_pdf/665144.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22legislation/ems/r6065_ems_5df415e5-bf55-4745-8db8-6d653265a900%22">repay the cost of the tests</a>.</p>
<h2>What is the rationale?</h2>
<p>The government is attempting to frame the measure as a helping hand for people who have problems with drugs. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/morrison-backs-drug-testing-politicians-as-well-as-welfare-recipients">Social services minister</a> Anne Ruston said the measure was not to punish people on welfare but to identify those who needed help. </p>
<p>During previous attempts to get this legislation through the Senate, former prime minister <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/drug-test-trial-for-welfare-recipients-all-about-love-says-turnbull">Malcolm Turnbull</a> described it as a measure of “love”.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291424/original/file-20190909-175673-10synt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291424/original/file-20190909-175673-10synt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291424/original/file-20190909-175673-10synt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291424/original/file-20190909-175673-10synt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291424/original/file-20190909-175673-10synt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291424/original/file-20190909-175673-10synt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291424/original/file-20190909-175673-10synt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In the plan goes ahead, most people detected for drug taking won’t have problems with substance abuse.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/468262262?src=TC07ZbO2VeGASJShfquTbg-1-3&size=huge_jpg">TK Kurikawa/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>But a positive drug test is not an indicator of problems. It cannot distinguish between one-off, irregular or regular use. It cannot indicate how much of a drug has been used. So it will not be able to fulfil the government’s wish to identify those who need help.</p>
<p>Most people who use drugs do not have problems with them. Only 20% of people who use methamphetamine, for example, <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/illicit-use-of-drugs/ndshs-2016-detailed/contents/table-of-contents">use it more than once a week</a>. Using more often than weekly is a marker for dependence. </p>
<p>So the majority of people who test positive will probably not have a problem, and will be inadvertently and unnecessarily caught up in the treatment system.</p>
<p>Alcohol and tobacco are the drugs that <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0269881119841569">cause the most harm</a>, including dependence and longer-term health problems. They are also the biggest financial burden on the community. Neither is addressed under this measure, so it will not assist the majority of people who need help.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/history-not-harm-dictates-why-some-drugs-are-legal-and-others-arent-110564">History, not harm, dictates why some drugs are legal and others aren't</a>
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<p>If the aim was to help people address ongoing drug problems, MDMA would not be on the list of drugs to be tested. There are <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-does-mdma-kill-109506">very few long-term problems</a> with MDMA. It rarely requires treatment, despite it being the <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/illicit-use-of-drugs/ndshs-2016-detailed/contents/table-of-contents">in the top three most commonly used illicit drugs</a> in Australia.</p>
<h2>Why it’s unlikely to be effective</h2>
<p>Prime Minister Scott Morrison <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/morrison-backs-drug-testing-politicians-as-well-as-welfare-recipients">has said</a> the plan is “about helping people get off welfare, off the dole and into work”.</p>
<p>But there is no evidence drug use is a barrier to job seeking. In fact, most people who use drugs are <a href="https://theconversation.com/three-charts-on-who-uses-illicit-drugs-in-australia-110169">employed</a>.</p>
<p>A 2001 <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/247245354_Drug_testing_and_mandatory_treatment_for_welfare_recipients">Canadian study</a> concluded drug testing welfare recipients was an expensive process that would result in a very marginal increase in employment.</p>
<p>A 2013 position paper from the <a href="https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/20368/1/ANCD_paper_DrugTesting.pdf">Australian National Council on Drugs</a>, the Australian government’s previous drug advisory body, similarly concluded:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There is no evidence that drug testing welfare beneficiaries will have any positive effects for those individuals or for society, and some evidence indicating such a practice would have high social and economic costs. In addition, there would be serious ethical and legal problems in implementing such a program in Australia.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There’s also <a href="https://public-health.uq.edu.au/article/2017/09/evidence-or-against-drug-testing-welfare-recipients">little evidence such a measure would save money</a> by kicking people off welfare, given the costs of running such programs.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-evidence-for-or-against-drug-testing-welfare-recipients-it-depends-on-the-result-were-after-83641">Is evidence for or against drug-testing welfare recipients? It depends on the result we're after</a>
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<p>New Zealand originally looked at a scheme similar to the Australian proposal, but subsequently modified it to subsidise existing pre-employment testing. It tested more than 8,000 people on welfare and returned only <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11184479">22 positive results</a>.</p>
<p>Trials in the US found <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/01/us/florida-law-on-drug-testing-for-welfare-is-struck-down.html?_r=0">relatively few people</a> who received government benefits tested positive to illicit drugs. Among seven states that trailed a similar measure in the US, nearly all of them had <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/02/26/3624447/tanf-drug-testing-states/">detection rates</a> of less than 1%. </p>
<p>The trials showed <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J045v17n01_03">little net benefit</a>, also making it an expensive exercise.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955395915003588">The evidence</a> in favour of forcing people into treatment is limited. It is <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/involuntary-treatment-sud-misguided-response-2018012413180">less effective</a> than voluntary treatment for long-term outcomes, and increases overdose risk. </p>
<p>Financial sanctions can lead to <a href="https://www.drugfoundation.org.nz/assets/uploads/2011-uploads/Policy-Briefing-Welfare-Reform-and-Substance-Use-July-2011-0.pdf">poorer outcomes</a> in people with alcohol or other drug problems.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/forcing-ice-users-into-rehab-wont-solve-the-problem-heres-what-we-need-instead-45946">Forcing ice users into rehab won't solve the problem – here's what we need instead</a>
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<h2>Instead, increase funding for drug treatment</h2>
<p>Every $1 spent on <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16430607">drug treatment saves</a> about $7 in health, welfare and other costs to the community.</p>
<p><a href="https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/resource/new-horizons-review-alcohol-and-other-drug-treatment-services-australia">Drug treatment</a> reduces drug use and harms, which has knock-on effects of improving participation in the community (including employment and <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d6e5/e2aa51b17b1863d07c823a19a531e7f54788.pdf">training</a>), improving health and well-being, and reducing criminal behaviour. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291425/original/file-20190909-175673-1lw0sqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291425/original/file-20190909-175673-1lw0sqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291425/original/file-20190909-175673-1lw0sqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291425/original/file-20190909-175673-1lw0sqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291425/original/file-20190909-175673-1lw0sqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291425/original/file-20190909-175673-1lw0sqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291425/original/file-20190909-175673-1lw0sqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Every dollar spent on drug treatment saves $7.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/343847333?src=LwGO8_sqWKmBO8aKvhrfpg-1-54&size=huge_jpg">Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Yet there are too few drug treatment places for people who want it, let alone forcing people who don’t want or need it into treatment.</p>
<p>Along with drug testing welfare recipients, the government has announced a <a href="https://www.anneruston.com.au/media_release_drug_testing_trials_to_help_welfare_recipients_become_job_ready">A$10 million treatment fund</a>. But we need at least double the <a href="https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/ndarc/resources/New%20Horizons%20Final%20Report%20July%202014.pdf">A$1.2 billion</a> currently spent to just meet the existing demand for voluntary treatment. </p>
<p>The proposed measure is a blunt response to a nuanced problem. There are much more effective, and cost effective, ways to address both alcohol and other drug problems and unemployment than drug testing welfare recipients.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/helping-drug-users-get-back-to-work-not-random-drug-testing-should-be-our-priority-77468">Helping drug users get back to work, not random drug testing, should be our priority</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123096/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Lee works as a paid consultant in the alcohol and other drug sector. She has previously been awarded grants by state and federal governments, NHMRC and other public funding bodies for alcohol and other drug research. </span></em></p>
There’s no evidence drug use is a barrier to job seeking. And testing can’t distinguish between one off, irregular or regular use.
Nicole Lee, Professor at the National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.