New UN report says there has been a 35% spike in 2020-21 in the production of coca, the drug’s base ingredient
South American drug cartels have capitalised on the retreat of the Covid-19 pandemic to produce and smuggle record amounts of cocaine around the world.
Production of coca, the drug’s base ingredient, spiked 35% in 2020-21, surpassing pre-pandemic levels, according to a new report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Continue reading...Two killed, third person injured and fourth unharmed after quartet traveling for cosmetic surgery were seized in Tamaulipas
Two of four Americans kidnapped in northern Mexico have been found dead, authorities said on Tuesday, while their two compatriots were found alive, bringing to an end the frantic search that had captivated media attention on both sides of the border.
The governor for Mexico’s northern Tamaulipas state, Américo Villarreal, confirmed the news at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, adding that one person who had been found watching over the victims was in custody.
Continue reading...Drug with street value of £133m found in two batches of watertight packages
Sealed bags containing a total of 2.3 tonnes of cocaine have washed up on the northern French coast in the past few days, a source with knowledge of the find has said.
The drug was found in two batches of watertight packages on the Normandy coast, one on Sunday and one on Wednesday, the source told Agence France-Presse on Thursday.
Continue reading...Crusading pathologist Raquel Fortun finds evidence of multiple murder at the direction of ‘a madman’ in the exhumed remains of young Filipinos
It was in an old university stockroom, with wooden tables salvaged from a junkyard, that Raquel Fortun began to investigate the merciless crackdown launched under the former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte.
Fortun, one of only two forensic pathologists in the country, has now spent more than 18 months examining the exhumed remains of dozens of victims of the so-called “war on drugs”, revealing serious irregularities in how their postmortems were performed – including multiple death certificates that wrongly attributed fatalities to natural causes.
Continue reading...Patients using Adderall, OxyContin and other medicines with ‘high potential for abuse’ will be required to physically visit a doctor
The US Drug Enforcement Administration has proposed rules that would again require patients to visit doctors in-person to obtain prescriptions for certain medications that are frequently abused.
The announcement seeks to reverse policy changes made during the Covid-19 pandemic which allowed doctors to prescribe controlled drugs such as Adderall and OxyContin through virtual tele-health appointments.
Continue reading...Authorities are requesting public assistance to locate the three men who told authorities their boat capsized while fishing
Three men are being sought after police found about 365kg of cocaine off Western Australia’s south coast.
The men were found clinging to an esky in the ocean off Albany on 1 February, telling authorities their boat had capsized while they were fishing.
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Continue reading...Psychiatrists cautiously welcome decision as Australia becomes the first country to officially recognise psychedelics as medicines
Psychiatrists have cautiously welcomed the ability to prescribe MDMA and psilocybin, saying it’s a “baby step in the right direction”.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration announced on Friday that, from July, approved psychiatrists would be able to prescribe MDMA (ecstasy) for post-traumatic stress disorder and psilocybin (found in magic mushrooms) for treatment-resistant depression.
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Continue reading...From July, authorised psychiatrists will be able to prescribe the drugs for post-traumatic stress disorder and severe depression
After decades of “demonisation”, psychiatrists will be able to prescribe MDMA and psilocybin in Australia from July this year.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration made the surprise announcement on Friday afternoon.
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Continue reading...Conflict and economic hardship force farmers to rely on opium, with poppy cultivation rising by 33% in 2022
Production of opium has flourished in Myanmar since the military’s seizure of power, with the cultivation of poppies up by a third in the past year, according to a UN report.
In 2022, in the first full growing season since the military wrested control from the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, Myanmar saw a 33% increase in the cultivation area to 40,100 hectares, according to the report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime released on Thursday.
Continue reading...Suella Braverman pushing plan to change law on nitrous oxide as part of crackdown on antisocial behaviour
The Home Office is preparing to introduce a long-mooted ban on the sale or possession of nitrous oxide, one of the most popular recreational drugs among young people, as part of a wider crackdown on antisocial behaviour.
The plan is being pushed by the home secretary, Suella Braverman, according to officials, and would lead to people found with laughing gas, which is usually inhaled from balloons filled via small metal cylinders, facing prosecution.
Continue reading...Prohibitionist approach risks fuelling the black market, worsening health outcomes and sending people to jail unnecessarily, experts say
The criminalisation of nicotine vaping risks “unintended consequences” including fuelling the black market, causing worse health outcomes and even potentially putting people in prison when we should be trying to keep them out, the Australian Alcohol and other Drugs Council (AADC) says.
It is an offence in all states and territories to supply a nicotine vape to someone without a prescription, and to either possess or use one without a prescription.
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Continue reading...Two men charged with drug and money laundering offences, as well as theft of electricity, after officers raid Coromandel East property
Two men have been arrested after police uncovered an elaborate underground bunker allegedly used to grow cannabis in Adelaide’s south.
Officers attended a semi-rural property in the suburb of Coromandel East on Monday where they discovered the bunker’s entrance.
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Continue reading...Pharmacists are having to convert tablets into liquid alternatives needed for small children
Australian medical groups and pharmacists have warned that a national shortage of medicines including common antibiotics is getting worse, with some pharmacists having to convert tablets into liquid alternatives for children.
Some doctors are now urging the federal government to invest in the development of domestic manufacturing as a long-term solution to overcome global supply chain challenges.
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Continue reading...Federal police warn ‘smuggling drugs internally is idiotic’ after man, 28, charged with importing 120g of cocaine into Melbourne airport
An Irish man is behind bars after he was stopped at Melbourne airport and taken to hospital for a CT scan which allegedly revealed six Kinder Surprise capsules packed with cocaine.
The passenger’s bags were searched at the international airport in late December with Australian Border Force alleging there was a positive result for the presence of cocaine.
Continue reading...New study finds most medications are ineffective against strains currently circulating but thankfully full vaccination still offers protection
The antiviral Paxlovid is the “last drug left in the cupboard” to treat people vulnerable to severe disease and death from Covid-19, a leading virologist says.
The message from Associate Prof Stuart Turville is particularly concerning given the variants circulating now are adept at evading antibodies.
Continue reading...Exclusive: White powder residue found after events held at Chevening and Downing Street, say sources
Traces of a suspected class A drug were found at a government grace-and-favour home after parties attended by political allies of Liz Truss, the Guardian has been told.
The white powder was discovered at the Chevening estate last summer in the days before Truss won the Tory leadership contest and became prime minister, according to sources.
Continue reading...Despite premier Daniel Andrews refusing to budge on the issue, Legalise Cannabis party promises to push ‘forcefully’ on drug reform
A group of progressive candidates that might hold the balance of power in the Victorian upper house have vowed to push for cannabis decriminalisation despite premier Daniel Andrews refusing to budge on the issue.
While the Legalise Cannabis party said it was too early to “count their eggs”, preliminary projections suggest they are in the running to win three upper house seats – but it is promising to push “forcefully” on drug reform if elected.
Continue reading...Researchers say despite the lack of symptom relief, more trials are needed to focus on the targeted use of medicinal cannabis
The first high quality study looking at the impact of cannabidiol oil on palliative care patients with advanced cancer found it did not improve their pain, depression, anxiety, or quality of life.
Palliative care is one of the conditions for which medicinal cannabis has been approved in Australia.
Continue reading...NSW police say several transnational organised criminal networks were collaborating on drug imports
Six Sydney men have been charged and millions of dollars in cash and drugs seized after a multi-agency police investigation into an international drug ring.
Another man was arrested in Los Angeles as part of a joint operation with US homeland security.
Continue reading...32 tonnes of packaged drug found in raids on farms and production plants across country
Marijuana with a street value of at least €64m (£56m) has been seized in Spain – the largest amount ever found – police said.
Spanish police said they had seized 32 tonnes of packaged marijuana.
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