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Wider use of antidote could lower overdose deaths by nearly 50%
Distributing naloxone and training people to use it can cut the death rates from overdose nearly in half, according to a new study
Time Magazine (US)
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Around 15,000 people die each year by overdosing on opioid pain relievers such as Oxycontin, a rate that has more than tripled since 1990. The government has tried numerous strategies to reduce the death toll, but those policies have not had a significant effect on death rates from overdoses. Community-based naloxone distribution and training programs have existed in the U.S. since 1996, and have provided the drug to over 50,000 people, leading to 10,000 successful overdose reversals. -
Effort building to change US pot laws
The Associated Press (US)
Monday, February 4, 2013
An effort is building in Congress to change U.S. marijuana laws, including moves to legalize the industrial production of hemp and establish a hefty federal pot tax. One measure would regulate marijuana the way the federal government handles alcohol: In states that legalize pot, growers would have to obtain a federal permit. Oversight of marijuana would be removed from the Drug Enforcement Administration and given to the newly renamed Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Marijuana and Firearms, and it would remain illegal to bring marijuana from a state where it's legal to one where it isn't. -
La nouvelle révolte du kif dans le Rif
À Al Hoceima, des affrontements ont eu lieu entre les habitants de Bni Jmil et Ketama et les forces de l’ordre à cause de la décision d’interdiction de la culture du kif dans la région
Maroc Hebdo (Morrocco)
Vendredi, 1 fevrier 2013
Des milliers d’habitants des communes de Beni Jmil et de Ketama, province d’Al Hoceima, ont bruyamment manifesté, samedi 26 janvier 2013, devant les sièges du caïdat, de la commune et de la gendarmerie royale, leur mécontentement contre cette décision. Les manifestants, qui scandaient, entre autres slogans, “Des alternatives et du pain”, sont allés jusqu’à barrer la route côtière entre Al Hoceïma et Tétouan avec des amas de pierre, demandant le départ du nouveau commandant de la gendarmerie royale pour son approche sécuritaire dans la gestion de ce dossier. Les protestations ont fini en affrontements avec les forces de l’ordre. (Lire aussi: Trafic. Touche pas mon kif !) -
Ontario’s top court upholds country’s marijuana laws in medicinal pot case
The Toronto Star (Canada)
Friday, February 1, 2013
Canada’s ban on marijuana was effectively upheld when Ontario’s top court struck down the country’s laws related to medicinal pot much to the chagrin of activist groups. In overturning a lower court ruling, the Court of Appeal ruled the trial judge had made numerous errors in striking down the country’s medical pot laws. The Appeal Court found the judge was wrong to interpret an earlier ruling as creating a constitutional right to use medical marijuana. Doctors are allowed to exempt patients from the ban on marijuana, but many physicians refuse to prescribe on the grounds its benefits are not scientifically proven. -
Why we took cocaine out of soda
Social injustice and "a most wonderful invigorator of sexual organs"
The Atlantic (US)
Thursday, January 31, 2013
When cocaine and alcohol meet inside a person, they create a third unique drug called cocaethylene. Cocaethylene works like cocaine, but with more euphoria. So in 1863, when Parisian chemist Angelo Mariani combined coca and wine and started selling it, a butterfly did flap its wings. His Vin Marian became extremely popular. Jules Verne, Alexander Dumas, and Arthur Conan Doyle were among literary figures said to have used it, and the chief rabbi of France said, "Praise be to Mariani's wine!" -
New drug bill 'to decriminalise ecstasy' in Colombia
BBC News (UK)
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Colombia's Justice Minister, Ruth Stella Correa, has said a new drugs bill would decriminalise personal use of synthetic drugs, such as ecstasy. The proposal would replace current laws, which ban cocaine and marijuana, although people are not prosecuted for possessing small amounts. Colombia's legislation is being re-assessed in an attempt to tackle drug use, trafficking and related issues. -
Czech Parliament backs medical marijuana, with a catch
The Wall Street Journal (US)
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
The Czech Senate approved a bill allowing for the legal sale of cannabis for medical purposes, affirming a decision of the country’s lower house of parliament. The proposal, which enjoys very strong support from all political parties in both houses of parliament, should become law later this year, pending an expected presidential signature. But there’s a catch: the text of the bill says that only imported cannabis will be allowed for sale in the first year “to ensure standards.” -
WA officials: Challenges still exist on marijuana
The Seattle Times (US)
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Officials tasked with creating a regulated marijuana system in Washington state said they are moving forward with a timeline of issuing producer licenses by August 2013, but said that several challenges and uncertainties still exist surrounding the new law. (See also: Eager marijuana entrepreneurs are in for a long regulatory trip) -
Will States lead the way to legalizing marijuana nationwide?
Time Magazine (US)
Monday, January 28, 2013
While it seems unlikely that the federal government will make much of an effort to arrest pot users in Colorado or Washington—Obama has said he has “bigger fish to fry”— the tension between federal and state laws on marijuana remains. Just last week, an appeals court rejected a suit that sought to lower the classification of medical marijuana under federal drug laws. Justice Louis Brandeis once said that the states should function as “laboratories,” testing new ideas for possible adoption by the whole nation. -
Legalize pot and reap the benefit from influx of toking tourists: Liberals
National Post (Canada)
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Canada’s economy could benefit from an influx of toking tourists if weed is legalized, the Liberal Party of Canada says in a new analysis that backs the party’s 2012 policy convention resolution. And Canada’s health-care system and law-enforcement agencies would gain from billions in new tax revenues — money now going to organized crime — as a result of domestic sales of high-quality, low-priced and government-regulated Canadian weed, according to the 38-page paper.
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