European UpdateEMCDDAAnnual Report 2011The report, the agency’s flagship publication, pro-vides the latest data and commentary on the drugsituation across the 27 EU Member States, Croatia,Turkey and Norway. Key challenges are discussedalong with some of the promising practices used toaddress drug problems today. Where possible, Euro-pean data are placed in a global context.http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/events/2011/annual-reportEMCDDADrugnet Europe 76 In this issue: In this issue:Annual report 2011 highlights; EMCDDA scientificpaper award; ‘Have your say’ in two online surveys;technical cooperation with the Eastern partnershipcountries; European summer school on illicit drugs;and a new EMCDDA manual on prevention.http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/drugnet/76IrelandMinister considers Portuguese drugs strategy. De-criminalisation of drug use in Portugal has not madethe country a "paradise" for users or resulted in morechildren taking drugs, according to the country’sdrugs chief.http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/minister-considers-portuguese-drugs-strategy-172855.htmlIrelandDrug Use in Ireland and Northern Ireland. 2010/11Drugs survey reveals that level of recent and currentdrug use remains stable.http://www.nacd.ie/news/launch_event22112011.htmlItalyFabio Carlino, the man jailed nearly three years agofor allegedly supplying the cocaine that killed Tour deFrance and Giro d’Italia champion Marco Pantani,has had his sentence overturned by Italy’s highestcourt. http://road.cc/content/news/47616-man-convicted-supplying-marco-pantani-fatal-supply-cocaine-wins-appeal

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PortugalThe decriminalisation of drugs in Portugal hasbeen a success, but austerity measures maythreaten drug treatment.http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/11/201111211444824612.htmlSwitzerlandCannabis smokers in Switzerland will soon beallowed to grow up to four marijuana plants each athome to stop them buying drugs on the blackmarket. In a bizarre twist to the new law, fourpeople sharing a house can grow up to 16 plants -but only if each person tends to their own crop.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2062526/Swiss-cannabis-smokers-allowed-grow-marijuana-plants-stop-buying-drugs-illegally.htmlThe NetherlandsNon-Dutch residents will be banned from cannabis-selling coffee shops in southern Netherlands fromJanuary 1 to spare locals from the nuisance of drugtourism, the justice ministry said.http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Tourists%20banned%20from%20Dutch%20cannabis%20cafes/5675070/story.htmlUnited KingdomBorder officials seized more cocaine in the last sixmonths than in the whole of the previous year,figures show. More than 2.1 tonnes of the drug wasstopped at the UK border between April and Sep-tember, compared with two tonnes in 2010/11, theUK Border Agency (UKBA) figures show.http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5h4Hrc-HWPzFQeQpeA9x2ffKEKmAw?docId=N0487141320549200830AUnited KingdomWorking Protocol between the Home Secretaryand the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.New working protocol jointly developed and agreedbetween the Home Secretary and the ACMD.http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/agencies-public-bodies/acmd1/workingprotocol?view=Binary

World UpdateUNODCGlobal SMART Update A brief update which fo-cuses on developments in the fast changing syn-thetic drug market and is released biannually, sothat those interested in the issue of synthetic drugscan keep up to date in a timely way.http://www.unodc.org/documents/scientific/Global_SMART_update_6.pdfWADAThe British Olympic Association has been told itslife ban for drugs cheats violates the global anti-doping code. The World Anti-Doping Agency boarddeclared the policy "non-compliant" at a meeting.http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/15813788.stmBoliviaBolivian President Evo Morales said that U.S. drugagents are not welcome back in his country despitethe newly announced normalization of diplomaticrelations with Washington. As a coca growers'union leader before his 2005 election, Morales said,he was "personally a victim" because U.S agentscontrolled Bolivia's military and police. Bolivia'santi-narcotics police, working closely with the DrugEnforcement Administration, often clashed withcoca growers and Morales says they on one occa-sion beat him unconscious.http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/11/08/bolivia-vice-president-says-us-drug-agents-not-welcome-back/?test=latestnewsCanadaA new clinical guideline released by the Centre forAddiction and Mental Health will help enable healthcare practitioners to provide buprenorphine(combined with naloxone), the most effective medi-cation since methadone to treat the growing prob-lem of opioid addiction in Canada.http://knowledgex.camh.net/primary_care/guidelines_materials/Documents/buprenorphine_naloxone_gdlns2011.pdfColombiaColombia's president has called for governmentsaround the world to debate legalising certain drugs– even cocaine. Juan Manuel Santos's call for aninternational rethink on drugs represents a signifi-cant raising of the ante in the debate on the meritsof prohibition. He is the highest-profile incumbentpolitician to openly question whether there needs tobe a comprehensive overhaul of global drugs laws.http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/13/colombia-juan-santos-call-to-legalise-drugs?newsfeed=true

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Hong KongAs mainland Chinese discover expensive winesand luxury cars from the west, so too grows thedemand for illegal drugs such as cocaine. And thisbooming trade uses Hong Kong as a conduit be-tween Latin American producers and the burgeon-ing mainland China market.http://business.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/20/hong-kong-bust-shows-china-cocaine-boom/MexicoMexican soldiers detained a top operator for thepowerful Sinaloa drug cartel, a man for whom theU.S. government had offered a reward of up to $5million. Suspect Ovidio Limon Sanchez is one ofthe most-wanted U.S. drug fugitives in Mexico,sought "for importing and distributing hundreds oftons of cocaine into the United States within thelast two decades," according to a U.S. State De-partment notice announcing the reward.http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/mexico-detains-top-operator-sinaloa-cartel-14927726#.TskvGz1-JwcMexicoThe bound and gagged bodies of 26 young menwere found dumped in the heart of Mexico's sec-ond-largest city, in what experts said could mark anew stage in the full-scale war between the coun-try's two main drug cartels, Sinaloa and the Zetashttp://www.seattlepi.com/default/article/26-bodies-dumped-in-mass-slaying-in-Guadalajara-2286984.phpNew ZealandTwo new drug courts planned for Auckland willfollow the American model and feature randomcompulsory drug and alcohol tests for offendersenrolled in the programme.http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/5904233/Addicts-to-be-tested-in-new-drug-courtsParaguayIn a bid to increase the efficiency and responsive-ness of Paraguay in tackling the combined threatsof illicit drugs, trafficking and transnational organ-ized crime, UNODC and the Government of Para-guay have launched a four-year national integratedprogramme with a budget of $10 million.http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2011/November/unodc-and-paraguay-launch-usdollar-10-million-programme-to-counter-drugs-and-crime.html?ref=fs1

Drug WebwatchReportsEMCDDAMortality related to drug use in EuropeThis Selected issue focuses on mortality among drug users due to all causes, of which drug-induceddeaths (overdoses) is only a component, albeit the one most well-documented. The publication beginswith an introduction to mortality cohort studies and then reviews the findings on overall mortality ratesin Europe. http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/selected-issues/mortality

EMCDDACost and financing of drug treatment services in EuropeSelected issue provides an exploratory European overview of costs associated with treatment for drugdependence. The cost of drug treatment in Europe is looked at from two main angles in this report.http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/selected-issues/treatment-costs

United KingdomSeizures of drugs in England and Wales, 2010/11The Home Office Statistical Bulletin contains figures for seizures of drugs made in 2010/11 by localpolice forces and the UK Border Agency within England and Wales.http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/police-research/hosb1711/

United KingdomShooting Up – Infections among injecting drug users in the United Kingdom 2011This report describes time trends on the extent of infections among PWID in the UK. It is based on datato the end of 2010. This year’s report focuses on infections caused by bacteria.http://www.hpa.org.uk/webc/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1317131377664

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I would like to express thanks to those persons around the world who have contributedto this issue in particular to Jim Young at Substance Misuse. Items for inclusion infuture issues should be forwarded to paul@paul-cook.net

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Paul Cook

Issue 62 December 2011

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