Harry Potter ECSTASY Old Hat Harry Potter X old hat here
by San Francisco Examiner - Monday 4 February, 2003
New York City is abuzz over Harry Potter. Not the book, not the movie, not the action figure -- the ecstasy tablet.
Monday, NYC detectives uncovered a $6 million, 14-person drug smuggling ring set to move nearly a half-million pills imprinted with the image of the popular children's hero.
"These Harry Potter brands are targeting a young audience," a special agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration told police and the press.
Local clubgoers say Harry's old hat and that the ecstasy scene has moved on.
"I doubt there's any audience for those, young or old," said Mike "Mechanic" B., 24, a queer club regular and occasional purveyor of MDMA (ecstasy) tablets.
"Potter pills are sooo last year."
Technically speaking, he's right. Ecstasydata.org, which maintains an online database of branded MDMA pills, first logged the purple, 168mg Potter pill in November 2002. The organization has already logged 1,076 varieties of logo ecstasy, with 30 originating in The City.
"It's really easy to brand a tablet on a pill press. Dealers imprint black market pills to identify and separate their brands from other pills," Mike said over breakfast in his Castro home.
J.B., a 35-year-old MDMA dealer who mostly markets his product to the younger rave and dance market, says the reason there are so many different branded pills on the market is simple: Copycats.
"Once a logo is known for being a quality drug, other people will copy that logo to try to sell more of their drug," J.B. said, "so then you have to create a new imprint."
Police nationwide have been cracking down on the sale of ecstasy and other club drugs, with local arrests netting huge hauls of hundreds of ecstasy tablets at a time.
According to ecstasydata, ecstasy tablets have debuted in San Francisco bearing the Star of David, the yin/yang, the Motorola and Volkswagen logos, the recycling symbol, and the nationally popular Tweety Bird image.
"I started the Sylvester Cat imprint," boasts Mike, who has since moved on to ripping off fashion icons.
As in Europe, pills bearing the Louis Vuitton imprint, the Gucci interlocked G, and the Armani logo are popular with The City's older poppers, he said.
Mike and J.B. don't agree that the Harry Potter pills are aimed at children, noting that there are already dozens of pills branded with "child" images such as Sylvester Cat, Superman and Mary Poppins.
"We're not marketing to kids with our logos, we're just trademarking our product," J.B. said.
"It's not like we sat down and created an image, like Joe Camel, in order to attract children. Cigarette companies, now they market to kids."
Inspector Gavin McEachern, of the SFPD's Narcotics division, said he has seen a large quantity of blue dolphin-embossed tablets on the street, but that the rising trend is in nonbranded pills and a new, off-white capsule (the latter often adulterated).
"At least when they had those silly logos on them we knew what they were. It clearly wasn't an Advil or anything," he said.
"Without the markings, we don't know if it's a standard prescription tablet or not. It could be Ritalin, who knows?
World: Bangkok police arrest 13, seize 1.5 million speed pills – February 2003 Bangkok police arrest 13, seize 1.5 million speed pills
Published by The Star Online - Monday 4 February, 2003
Copyright: The Star Online
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP): Police in Bangkok arrested 13 Thais and seized nearly 1.5 million methamphetamine tablets worth about 30 million baht (US$678,997) in weekend drug raids, officials said Monday.
Police raided a suspected drug den in a run-down hotel in the outskirts of Bangkok on Sunday, seizing 500,000 speed pills, a .22 caliber gun, a pipe containing 0.45 kilogrammes (1 pound) of C4 plastic explosive and two detonators, and a car police, Gen. Sant Sarutanond said in a statement.
They arrested four unidentified men and Wutthipong Chuahongkaew, 40, an alleged stolen vehicle trafficker known for trading cars for drugs in neighbouring Cambodia, he said.
Sant said the raid was planned using information from a previous arrest in northern Thailand. "It's a vast network,'' he said.
In another raid, police on Saturday stormed a house in suburban Bangkok, arresting a couple and confiscating nearly 1 million methamphetamine tablets.
Separately, three suspected drug dealers were killed Thursday in a shootout with undercover police in northern Thailand.
The bullet-ridden bodies of Sekan Saelee, Sutham Laoyeepa and a third unidentified man were found at the scene along with 100,000 methamphetamine pills, two pistols and a hand grenade, police said.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has vowed to take tough action to root out drug traffickers, and King Bhumibol Adulyadej reminded the government recently that methamphetamines pose a serious threat to Thai society.
Thai anti-drug agencies have accused the United Wa State Army, a former rebel group now allied with the Myanmar government, of flooding Thailand with methamphetamines.
The Thai military has estimated that at least 1 billion speed tablets will be smuggled into Thailand from neighbouring Myanmar, also known as Burma, in 2003.
http://thestar.com.my/
US: US alarmed by allies’ drug exports – February 2003 US alarmed by allies' drug exports
Published by BBC NEWS - Monday 4 February, 2003
Copyright: BBC NEWS
The United States has expressed concern about illicit drugs flooding in from Canada and the Netherlands.
President George W Bush says Washington maintains good relations with both the allies, but expects them to do more to stem the trade.
Yet neither Canada nor the Netherlands was included on the "majors list" of drug producing or trafficking countries in an annual White House report.
Mr Bush criticised Burma, Guatemala and Haiti for failing to co-operate in the global battle against the drugs trade.
Elsewhere in the report he put the same 23 countries on its "majors list" as last year.
They included Afghanistan, Bolivia, Colombia, Laos, Nigeria, Venezuela and Thailand, but the White House statement stressed that inclusion did not necessarily mean criticism of their governments' efforts to stop the drugs trade.
Mr Bush highlighted an "alarming increase" in the quantity of synthetic drugs entering the US, especially ecstasy from the Netherlands.
"We expect Dutch authorities to move effectively and measurably in the coming year against the production and export of this drug, including dismantling labs and proceeding against trafficking organisations.
"Early in the year, we plan to discuss specific steps we can take together to reduce drug trafficking," Mr Bush wrote in the statement which will be submitted to Congress.
He said his administration was "concerned" that Canada was a primary source of pseudoephedrine and an increasing source of high-potency marijuana.
"Over the past few years there has been an alarming increase in the amount of pseudoephedrine diverted from Canadian sources to clandestine drug laboratories in the United States, where it is used to make methamphetamine," the statement said.
Mr Bush said Canadian authorities had not done enough to regulate the sale and distribution of various chemicals, though he praised other work by the law enforcement agencies.
Canada's foreign ministry spokesman Rodney Moore expressed surprise at the criticism.
"This issue has not been raised during any of the recent meetings between Canadian ministers and their US counterparts," he said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
UK: Students face drug dog check – February 2003 Students face drug dog check
Published by BBC NEWS - Monday 4 February, 2003
Copyright: BBC NEWS
Sniffer dogs will randomly search pupils at a West Midlands school.
Staff at Heart of England School in Balsall Common, near Solihull, said the scheme would send out a clear message to students that drugs will not be tolerated.
Dog handlers from security firm Grosvenor International Services (GIS) will make several unannounced visits to the school.
GIS works with 14 UK police forces supporting anti-drugs operations and also works with the licensed trade in tackling drug abuse.
School head teacher Annette Croft said the scheme was a response to the Home Office's wish to improve drug education programmes in schools.
"This is not in response to any particular incident," she said.
"But we intend to send a clear message that drugs will not be tolerated at our school and this is part of our commitment to ensure we maintain a safe environment for our young people."
She added: "Searches of the buildings and screening of people will assist in maintaining a high-profile level of awareness with the purpose of ensuring a 'clean bill of health'."
Pupils at the school welcomed the scheme because it warned them of the dangers of drugs.
Victoria Shrewsbury said: "I think it is a good idea as it will stop you when you are older taking drugs."
The 13-year-old said the dogs had visited the school during assemblies and students were completely at ease with their spot-checks.
"One dog was very excited by the contents of one teacher's trousers but they found he only had a marker pen in his pocket," she said.
Oliver Mumby, also 13, added: "The dogs may help someone accept that they have a problem.
"They may also confide with a counsellor at the school rather than talk to a policeman."
John Franklin-Webb, principal director of GIS, said: "This new initiative is a prime example of supporting the government's commitment in taking a pro-active stance on an issue that is clearly not going to go away."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
World: ‘Millions’ have tried ECSTASY in Europe – January 2003 'Millions' have tried ecstasy
Published by BBC News - December, 2002
Copyright: BBC News
Between three million and 3.5 million adults in the EU have probably tried ecstasy at least once, says a European drug monitoring body.
Up to half a million have taken it once a week or more at some time in their lives, according to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.
In a review of the situation across the EU's 15 member states, the Lisbon-based agency found that most users of ecstasy and other synthetic drugs are not people on the "margins" of society or in any way disadvantaged.
Instead, most are students or young professionals, most of them relatively well off.
"These trends seem to have established themselves rapidly across the EU," said Mike Trace, the Centre's chairman.
"The main reasons people say they consume ecstasy is to feel more pleasure when they dance, and to have fun," the Centre said in statement.
"Other recreative drugs are consumed to gain confidence or energy, or in search of new experiences."
Policy-makers
Whilst noting that reducing the risks to the ever greater numbers of "normal" young people who take drugs is one of the main concerns of policy-makers at local, national and international level, the centre warned of the need for responses to the problem to be realistic and well-founded.
"The consequences and risks of recreative consumption of drugs should be the object of scientific assessment," it said.
In particular, it called for action to break the close link between excessive consumption of (legal) alcohol - "the mind-altering substance most frequently consumed for recreative purposes" - and (illegal) drugs.
To be effective, it said, such action should be taken in cooperation with bars and clubs on the one hand, and the drinks industry on the other.
The work of the centre in monitoring developments in member states and acting as an information exchange is at the heart of an increasing tendency for EU member states to learn lessons from each other's experiences and move more in step in policy terms.
Recent developments include, in Portugal, the decriminalisation of possession and consumption of small quantities of any drug, and in the UK the downgrading of cannabis to a class C drug - effectively decriminalising its possession and use.
The centre is one of a number of specialised institutions under the aegis of the European Commission, each based in a different EU member states.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
U.S: Foils Swaps of Drugs for Weapons – January 2003 U.S. Foils Swaps of Drugs for Weapons
Published by The Washington Post - December, 2002
Copyright: The Washington Post
U.S. officials announced yesterday that they had foiled two separate plots to use drug money to buy weapons for terrorists, including an alleged attempt by a U.S. citizen and two Pakistanis to swap tons of heroin and hashish for Stinger missiles that they planned to sell to al Qaeda.
In the second case, Justice Department officials said they had broken up a plot by right-wing Colombian paramilitaries to buy $25 million worth of high-powered East European weaponry with cocaine and cash.
The cases illustrate the increasingly aggressive efforts by U.S. authorities to stanch the flow of drug money and other funds that terrorists use to buy weapons and finance their activities. From Islamic militants to Colombian paramilitaries, Attorney General John D. Ashcroft said, there is a "deadly nexus between terrorism and drug trafficking" that poses a serious threat to American security.
"We have learned, and we have demonstrated, that drug traffickers and terrorists work out of the same jungle; they plan in the same cave and they train in the same desert," Asa Hutchinson, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), said at a Washington news conference with Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III and other officials yesterday.
In both cases, authorities lodged the federal charge of providing material support to terrorist groups, a statute that has become the centerpiece of the Justice Department's domestic war on terrorism. The charge, used rarely before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, has been filed against defendants including John Walker Lindh -- who pleaded guilty to aiding the Taliban -- and the alleged members of al Qaeda sleeper cells in Lackawanna, N.Y., Portland, Ore., Detroit and Seattle.
According to a federal indictment unsealed in San Diego yesterday, the two Pakistani nationals and a naturalized U.S. citizen, who has lived in Minneapolis, were indicted on Oct. 30 for allegedly offering to trade 5 metric tons of hashish and 600 kilograms of heroin with undercover FBI agents for four Stinger missiles.
As the deal progressed, according to the indictment, the men told the agents meeting with them in Hong Kong that "they intended to sell the 'Stinger' anti-aircraft missiles . . . to members of the Taliban, an organization which the defendants indicated was the same as al Qaeda." The meetings with the men were taped, according to Ashcroft.
Syed Mustajab Shah and Muhammed Abid Afridi, both from Pakistan, and Ilyas Ali, a naturalized U.S. citizen from India, were arrested after that Sept. 20 meeting. They appeared in a Hong Kong court on Tuesday to fight extradition to the United States, officials said.
The Colombia case, called "Operation White Terror," began 13 months ago and resulted in videotapes and audiotapes of meetings with undercover FBI and DEA agents in London, Panama City and the Virgin Islands, where four suspects allegedly discussed exchanging drugs for weapons.
The arms were intended for the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, or AUC, a brutal umbrella group of paramilitary forces that has been blamed for hundreds of assassinations, kidnappings and massacres. It was labeled a terrorist organization by the State Department in September 2001.
U.S. authorities said the four suspects believed they were going to trade $25 million in cash and cocaine for weapons, including shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles; 9,000 assault rifles; grenade launchers and nearly 300,000 grenades; 300 pistols; and about 53 million rounds of ammunition.
The sting included a bogus "PowerPoint" computer presentation given to AUC representatives that showed the weaponry. Later on, in April, U.S. agents allowed one of the prospective buyers to inspect samples of the weapons during a meeting in St. Croix, according to court documents.
Four men were charged in the case: Carlos Ali Romero Varela and Uwe Jensen, both of Houston, and Colombian nationals Cesar Lopez, also known as Commandant Napo, and an unnamed defendant known only as "Commandant Emilio." The four were charged in federal court in Houston with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization -- offenses punishable by as much as life in prison.
Jensen was arrested on Tuesday in Houston. He said during a federal court appearance yesterday that he is Danish but with U.S. citizenship. The three others were arrested on Tuesday in San Jose, Costa Rica, after traveling there to finalize the deal with U.S. undercover agents. They face extradition to the United States.
The AUC has long been named by advocacy groups as the worst perpetrator of human rights abuses in Colombia, including carrying out executions and other operations against leftist guerilla groups at the behest of the Colombian army.
In separate moves earlier this year, Ashcroft announced indictments against members of both the right-wing AUC and the leftist guerrilla group FARC, or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
U.S. investigators have said since Sept. 11, 2001, that they have uncovered several schemes by terrorist associates to raise money through drug sales. "Drugs are the currency of terrorists," said U.S. Attorney Michael Shelby of Houston, who was at yesterday's news conference. "This is the medium of terrorism in the 21st century."
In the largest recent case, dubbed Operation Mountain Express, participants in a massive methamphetamine ring allegedly sent millions of dollars to the Hezbollah terror organization. About 100 people were arrested in 10 cities in January as a result of the probe, which also found evidence of close ties between Mexican drug-trafficking organizations and Arab American organized crime groups in New York, Michigan and Canada.
World: Fighting Burma’s drugs trade – January 2003 Fighting Burma's drugs trade
Published by BBC News - December, 2002
Copyright: BBC News
Burma's ruling generals and their Wa allies on the country's north eastern border have pledged big cuts in opium production, hoping to head off international criticism. Larry Jagan, the BBC's Burma analyst, reports.
Bao Yuxiang, the notorious drug warlord and commander of the United Wa State Army, says he will dramatically cut production of opium poppy in areas under his control within the next 12 months.
"I have promised to make the Wa areas drug-free by 2005 and I will," he told the BBC in a recent interview in his home-base of Pangshang, on the border with China.
The Wa are one of the main poppy growers in Burma's Golden Triangle - situated in the north-west tip of the country bordering, China, Laos and Thailand.
UN drug officials now estimate that most of the world's illicit heroin originates in this inhospitable and mountainous region.
Profitable crop
The Wa have been involved in the drugs trade for decades, largely because of the difficulty of growing any other cash crops, and lack of industry.
Since 1989 the Wa have had a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese military junta.
During much of that time opium production has sky-rocketed.
But in the last few years poppy cultivation has declined dramatically, say UN drug control officials.
Mr Bao, who along with his three brothers commands the 20,000-strong United Wa State Army (UWSA), says that over the past two years, the Wa have begun to resist the temptation to continue growing poppy.
UN financial assistance has been used for crop substitution projects, including fruit trees and tea plantations, and to set up small-scale industries like tea production and slate manufacturing factories.
"In some areas the Wa have reduced the amount of land under poppy cultivation by up to 80%," said an independent Australian researcher, Jeremy Milsome, who has just completed several months of detailed surveys in UWSA areas.
"Last year, overall the UWSA managed an average reduction of poppy production of more than 30%," he said.
Most independent assessments of opium production in the Wa areas also show a major reduction in the amount of poppy that is cultivated.
Allegations continue
But despite this, the Wa are still blamed by Thai army chiefs for millions of amphetamines that flood into Thailand every year, and by Western governments like the United States for most of the heroin on the streets of Europe and North America.
These are allegations which Mr Bao vigorously denies.
"It makes me fed up and angry... I'm tired of hearing it. It's nonsense," he said.
But the allegations continue, and with the new growing season at its height, there is increasing international concern about the production of opium in Burma's Golden Triangle.
The Burmese authorities are now insisting that poppy cultivation this season will be half as much as last year.
"We hope to cut opium production by 50% in the current production year [2002-3]," said the head of Burma's drug suppression committee, police colonel Hkam Awng.
"There will be a dramatic reduction in poppy cultivation in the coming year," the Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung told the BBC. "You will see!"
'Too fast, too soon'
But UN officials are worried about the possible impact of this planned rapid decrease in poppy cultivation.
They fear that as a consequence, poor farmers who are dependant on growing the illicit drug will suffer.
"A 50% reduction is revolutionary and we should be happy with that," said the head of the United Nations Drugs Control Programme in Rangoon, Jean-Luc Lemahieu.
"But it's too fast, too soon. I don't see enough income coming in for the opium poppy farmers and I'm concerned that we'll have a humanitarian crisis on our hands as a result."
UN officials fear that if there are no viable substitute cash crops or income generating schemes for the poor farmers, the result will be that they have no alternative but to return to poppy production the following year, as happened in Afghanistan.
And while the Burmese authorities continue to insist they are doing all they can to reduce opium production, the reality is that amphetamine tablets, known as crazy medicine or ya baa, continue to flood across Burma's borders, especially into Thailand.
Thai military officials are warning that Thailand is facing an invasion of more than a billion tablets next year - most of which will be produced in the Golden Triangle.
"The precursor chemicals needed for the manufacture of amphetamines are not produced in Burma and are illegal here," Win Aung told the BBC.
"They come from India, Thailand and China. More needs to be done to stop the smuggling of these chemicals across our borders."
But as many experts point out, the only way to effectively combat drug trafficking is to suppress the demand for it as well as cut its production.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
World: Kosovo police battle smugglers – January 2003 Kosovo police battle smugglers
Published by BBC News - Tuesday 26 November, 2002
Copyright: BBC News
The ex-German paratrooper is a police officer serving with the UN, whose role is to check patrol routes for mines and unexploded cluster bombs that litter this area of the border with Montenegro.
They hunt the smugglers who bring horse trains over deeply rutted tracks that snake through the mountainous country.
The ponies and mules are specially trained for the rough terrain and their horseshoes are bent down at the back to create studs that help the animals grip under their heavy loads of cigarettes alcohol and drugs.
"Maybe every second night the drugs come, by horse, maybe five or 50 horses, a maximum of 100," says Peter.
The drugs, including heroin from Turkey, are en route to northern Europe, while cigarettes and alcohol go south.
But the hunters know they are also the hunted.
The armed smugglers who inhabit the villages at the base of the mountains keep constant watch.
They use sophisticated radio communications, to try to keep ahead of the police.
If that fails there are more traditional methods in an area where the blood feud is a way of life.
Crime playground
Peter and his men have just had a warning.
Two Kosovo Police Service Officers had their cars burned outside their homes.
They know its just a beginning because this is not about a little local cottage industry.
The smugglers work hard for bigger interests, the organised crime gangs that traffic drugs, women and weapons across Europe; whatever commodity commands a high profit.
Because of a combination of geography, history and culture, organised crime has a pernicious grip on this an area of the central Balkans.
One senior officer described Kosovo as a "playground" for organised crime.
Kosovo is a natural crossroads with largely porous borders.
The structure of organised crime gangs often follows that of army units with commanders lieutenants and soldiers.
Impenetrable gangs
In an area where the tensions mainly between ethnic Albanians and Serbs have led to the creation of parallel networks for business, the conditions are ripe for exploitation. Unemployment is a further factor.
On some scales its running at 50%.
On top of that the gangs are almost impossible to penetrate because the members are almost always either related or from the same village.
However a large warehouse in northern Kosovo gives the lie to the idea that this is an area where the ethnic tensions are insurmountable.
The warehouse contains 20 million fake Marlborough cigarettes seized by UN customs officers.
They were the product of close co-operation between ethnic Albanian gangs and Serbian organised criminals.
As John Robertson in charge of intelligence and investigation for Customs in Kosovo put it: "There are no ethnic problems with organised crime. It seems the barriers one encounters in other fields are not present when it comes to exploiting financial opportunity."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
US: The New problem drug: OXYCONTIN – January 2003 The New problem drug: OxyContin
Published by juneauempire.com - Friday 27 December, 2002
Copyright: juneauempire.com
A prescription drug available over the Internet has become the new heroin. In the six years since it hit the market, OxyContin has gone from being a godsend for terminal cancer patients to a severely abused street drug. "OxyContin is definitely an issue here in Juneau," said Dr. Lindy Jones, a local family practitioner. "OxyContin was heavily marketed by the drug company for chronic pain, and all over the country people were finding it has significant abuse potential."
When OxyContin hit the market six years ago, legal sales totaled $40 million the first year. In 2000, sales topped $1 billion.
Nationally, a black market for OxyContin is fed in part by crime rings that divert drugs back to the United States from legitimate markets overseas.
In Juneau, the drug sometimes comes to town in a quasi-legal fashion. The pills are sold through the mail by Internet pharmacies. One Web site offers 30 pills of OxyContin for $400 without any reference to a prescription.
After a Juneau man was indicted on drug charges this month, a police sergeant testified the man had purchased nearly 6,000 tablets of painkillers, including OxyContin and related drugs. Police suspect the drugs came through the mail.
"It's remarkable what people can get through the Internet," said drug counselor Larry Olson of the Juneau Recovery Hospital. Olson is seeing a dramatic increase in the number of patients in need of treatment for OxyContin abuse.
Drugs also get in the hands of abusers through legitimate channels.
Drug seekers will make doctor's appointments and claim convincing but bogus symptoms. The Bartlett Regional Hospital emergency room sees its share of drug seekers.
"It's a dilemma we face," said emergency room physician Ken Brown. "We want to give pain control to people with a legitimate need for it and we don't want to give unnecessary medicine. We struggle with that all the time here in ER. There are definitely some people we put a stop to."
Drug counselor Matt Felix thinks doctors tend to be too generous with prescription medication.
"A lot of the drugs on the street are over-prescribing from doctors and dentists," he said. "You get a tooth pulled and they give you a whole damn bottle when you just need a few days' worth."
Dr. Jones disagrees.
"I don't see over-prescribing," he said. "We're under-prescribing, I think."
He said painkillers such as Percocet are best prescribed for short-term pain. Like related painkillers Percodan and Vicodin, these pills contain about five milligrams of the pain reliever oxycodone, mixed with aspirin or acetaminophen. OxyContin is pure oxycodone, in doses two to 15 times stronger.
Jones said physicians are selective about who gets a powerful, addictive narcotic such as OxyContin.
"If you are going to prescribe it you need to do it with patients who are appropriate, with no abuse history, and who are willing to sign a contract," he said.
A pain contract states the patient will obtain prescriptions from one doctor and set up appointments to monitor the patient's condition before the medication runs out. This helps physicians monitor use and determine if drugs are being abused.
Physicians and pharmacists communicate to keep tabs on drug seekers and are successful at identifying misuse of prescriptions.
But there are some physicians who are less vigilant with painkillers such as OxyContin, said Sgt. Tim Birt of the Southeast Alaska Narcotics Enforcement Team.
"We like to think that all doctors are completely ethical, but it's not always the case," he said. "Doctors can be loose with prescriptions, and people will shop around with doctors and move around the community."
Drug seekers will use aliases, or claim prescriptions are lost or stolen in order to refill them multiple times. Even given a vigilant medical community, Birt said a drug seeker potentially could work a number of angles before being identified.
http://www.juneauempire.com/archive
World: Tracking Thai traffickers – January 2003 Thailand - tracking the traffickers
Published by BBC News - December, 2002
Copyright: BBC News
The 2,000-mile Thai-Burmese border is an open sore of drug trafficking. "Yaa baa" - an innocuous looking pink pill - has created almost a million new teenage addicts within five years. Crossing Continents' Olenka Frenkiel joins an army team tracking the traffickers.
Dam, 12, is undergoing art therapy for drug addicts at the Thanyarak Hospital, a rehabilitation centre on the outskirts of Bangkok.
The vast majority of patients are teenagers addicted to "yaa baa" - tiny pink pills that look like sweets and smell of chocolate or vanilla - appealing to young tastes.
But they are a form of speed, a methamphetamine, and are said to contain ephedrine, formaldehyde, caffeine and a variety of addictive agents and poisons, from heroine to cyanide.
"I started when I was 11," Dam explains.
"I tried inhaling yaa baa with friends before school. Then I came home. I didn't go to school. I just wanted to play."
Yaa baa literally means "crazy medicine" because of its psychotic effects.
"I began hallucinating," says Dam. "I saw people walking past me when there wasn't anybody. I was so frightened my legs were shaking. I didn't know if they were ghosts or real."
Thai television shows news footage of bloodstained, violent yaa baa addicts - screaming and threatening people in the street.
In some cases the paranoia becomes too much and addicts jump off buildings and doctors have discovered evidence of irreversible brain damage.
Neighbour problems
The Phra Muang Task force, a special unit of the Thai army, guards the mountainous 2,000-mile border with Burma.
This drug is a serious threat to Thailand's national security.
They say they have arrested 7,000 dealers and seized 28 million yaa baa tablets.
Most comes from the Wa State, an ethnic enclave inside Burma.
For years the Wa people, originally from China, were rebels against the Burmese regime. But peace now prevails.
The Burmese military regime has granted them some autonomy but only, it is believed, for a cut in the yaa baa profits in return.
Thai Lt Colonel Piranei and his team bring me to a look-out post from where we can see right into the Wa State.
He points to a sun-bathed valley with a sprawling metropolis, Mungyawng, 20 miles across the border.
"Thirty-five thousand people live in Mungyawng," he says.
"There are five yaa baa factories in this area. They have one big factory in the valley behind that mountain."
He passes me the binoculars.
"We believe drugs money built the city. We can clearly see a big hospital, an army camp, a hydro-electric dam and we know there's a big casino and hotel."
Enticing
The task force has set up a little display of the drugs confiscated along this border.
The colonel opens a pack. I can smell the chocolate.
"In every pack of 200 pink pills, the Wa include two little green ones - the green are double strength, a bonus, for the dealer", he explained.
The Thai army is also said to be involved in the illicit drug trade but the colonel denied this was true of him or his men.
Couriers
I met two Yaa baa couriers from the Wa State. They looked Chinese and were in their early 20s.
"At home I was told never to use it", says the smaller of the two, named Tung.
"They say whoever takes yaa baa will become weak and sick - they will become crazy."
"Yaa baa is not for us to use. My parents would be very angry if I took it."
How ironic - these little pills have transformed this band of rebels, this penniless economy, into a prosperous self-contained mini-state.
Every child is educated. Their lethal little pharmaceutical laboratories have built them a power base in this obscure jungle crossroads of the world.
I asked Tung whether the Wa people ever considered the anguish the drug had caused.
He answered, much like the global tobacco industry might: "No-one forces people to take the drug. Some do, some don't. It is their decision."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
World: Singapore Wrestles with ‘Party Drugs’ Threat – November 2002 Singapore Wrestles with 'Party Drugs' Threat
Published by Yahoo News - Tuesday 19 November, 2002
Copyright: Yahoo News
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Twenty-year-old Ringo says it was like riding on an imaginary roller coaster after friends spiked his drink with "K" at a karaoke lounge three years ago.
The imaginary ride turned into a real life plunge into a world of psychological dependence, loan sharks and drug pushing as the Singaporean's first taste of the narcotic became a habit too big for his pockets.
Ketamine, or simply "K," is finding favor among Singapore's affluent young party-goers, who wrongly believe they can get a quick high without the risk of becoming hooked.
Official figures for 2001 show that drug abuse is on the rise again in Singapore after eight years of steady decline, fueled by "party drugs" such as ketamine, Ecstasy and "Ice."
Four in 10 new drug abusers arrested last year confessed to having taken these seemingly harmless pills and powders -- cheap synthetic equivalents of heroin and cocaine.
The youngsters who take these synthetic drugs find it a fashionable status symbol and range from secondary school leavers to university graduates, experts said.
Ketamine, originally used as an anaesthetic, is a hallucinogen that alters sensations, mood and consciousness.
It comes in a white crystalline powder form, as a liquid or a tablet and can also be snorted, smoked or consumed in drinks. Experts say users can develop psychological dependence on "K."
HIP PARTY-GOERS
"Young people like it. It's a party drug and you don't need any apparatus to take it," said Munidasa Winslow, a psychiatrist at Singapore's Institute of Mental Health.
"There's a misleading concept that it's safe," said Winslow, who heads the hospital's drug rehabilitation program.
Gone is the image of the gaunt, shivering drug addict crouching in a dark corner "chasing the dragon."
The new breed of drug abuser is the hip party-goer who pops the pill and gets a quick high before taking to the dance floor to boogie the night away.
"They are cheap to produce, give an equivalent high, and tend to be in favor with the party crowds," said Winslow.
Indeed, it found favor with Ringo, a frequent patron of billiard parlors and karaoke lounges, who soon found his monthly income of S$300 ($170) unable to sustain a S$3,000-a-month habit.
Six months into his dependence on ketamine, Ringo, then 17, started pushing drugs to other users to fund his own vice.
He could have faced 20 years jail and 10 strokes of the cane if he had been caught. Ringo is now undergoing rehabilitation at a treatment center, after two previous attempts to rid himself of the habit.
FIGHTING DRUGS WITH FICTION
Synthetic drugs first made big news in the city state in 1995 when police raided a popular discotheque and unearthed Ecstasy pills, said to have been distributed at private rave parties held after official closing hours.
Singapore's drug busters have since kept close tabs on under-the-table peddling of the drugs at popular nightspots.
The city state, known for tough laws that mandate hanging for traffickers of even modest amounts of hard drugs like heroin, uses a lighter hand on synthetic drug dealers. Still, offenders can face a maximum sentence of 30 years jail and 15 strokes of the cane for the import and export of ketamine and Ecstasy.
The United Nations has said about 40 million of those aged 15 and above have abused amphetamine-type stimulants such as "Ice" and Ecstasy.
Asia alone accounts for roughly two-thirds of such drug abuse, mostly in East and Southeast Asia, where "Yaba" tablets -- the cheaper version of "Ice" -- are also prevalent.
Despite tough anti-drug laws and a spate of successful clampdowns on drug rings, strait-laced Singapore may need more than nooses and canes to stave off a global tide of synthetic drug abuse.
Departing from its usual slogan-and-health warning campaigns against drugs, the city state is turning to fiction to warn off a growing crowd of younger drug abusers.
The government is distributing copies of a make-believe diary of a substance abuser to schools to highlight the dangers of drugs.
"Mama, how will you remember me?... Will it be your smiling son? Or will it be the other picture -- the one of me lying on the floor of the filthy public toilet. Near dead," says the fictional diary of David, a young man on death row.
http://news.yahoo.com/
World: Mystery gas may have been nerve agent – November 2002 Mystery gas may have been nerve agent that leads to death of brain
By The Guardian - Monday October 28, 2002
Copyright: The Guardian
Western chemical warfare experts said yesterday that the gas pumped into the theatre, which may have killed many of the hostages, was most likely a rare form of nerve agent developed by US military in the 1970s.
QND, or quinuclinodylbenzoate, developed by the Department of Defence, is a relative of a nerve agent and considered to be non-lethal when used properly. Russian officials refuse to name the gas.
"All nerve agents, like Sarin gas and those that the Iraqis use, block the transmissions between nerve and muscle", said Professor Peter Rose of the Open University. "These would produce the memory deficits that hostages have talked about."
The symptoms usually caused by QND match those of hostages carried out of the building. It causes skin to be drained of colour, sweating, victims to appear concussed, and possibly have respiratory problems. Victims can also experience hallucinations and anxiety attacks.
"QND is a muscarnic cholinergic blocker," said Prof Rose. "It effects a special type of nerve, known as a muscarnic receptor, in the brain. When it is released into the atmosphere, it gets into the lungs. It then passes through the bloodstream and through the entire brain."
Prof Rose said the agent affected the chemical acetylcholine, which carries messages from one nerve cell to another. "QND interacts with this and stops the message getting across," he added. "It's like turning the volume up on a radio and stopping any changes in the signal, so the message loses all its meaning. It would be like getting a constant 'long' signal in Morse code."
The agent works on the brain and paralyses its ability to interpret what is going on. "It turns off the lights, and destroys the body's headquarters."
Prof Rose added that the people least likely to be affected by the gas were the terrorists themselves as they are the healthiest and the most prepared for such a situation. "It will affect the young and the old more than the fit", he said. There were many young women among those carried from the theatre.
The gas has never been used before, Prof Rose said, except perhaps in secret, or in a US propaganda film in the 1970s, by the US Department of Defence. "It was stockpiled and never used in the west." Prof Rose said he had experimented with the gas - which originally comes as a white powder mixed with a propellant - in a laboratory, but never on humans.
"It is bound to be lethal in high concentrations," said Prof Rose. "It would shut down the brain and if this happens for long enough the body stops getting oxygen and the brain itself dies."
The Russian military have considered using such "non-lethal incapacitants" before, said Lev Feodorov, the President of the Union of Chemical Security, to stop the coup attempt of 1993. Yet they decided against it. He added that the gas could have been made in Russia, but using an American formula that is commercially available.
Other analysts suggested the gas could be based on a substance called BZ, or another valium-based substance. Both could result in similar symptoms. Russian doctors complained on Saturday morning that they were not immediately told what the gas was, and could not properly treat inhalation victims. Relatives feared doctors still did not know the name of the gas yesterday, as the Russian authorities feared releasing the information to the public.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
UK: American servicemen quizzed over drugs – November 2002 US servicemen quizzed over drugs
By BBC News - Thursday, 17 October, 2002
Copyright: BBC News
A group of US servicemen based at a Suffolk airbase are at the centre of an investigation into illegal drugs.
United States Air Force officials said a four-month investigation at RAF Lakenheath had "provided evidence" the men might have been involved in the "use, possession, and distribution" of drugs including ecstasy and marijuana.
Lakenheath is home to about 5,000 servicemen and women, making it the largest US airbase in Europe.
None of the 27 involved has been charged, and all are continuing to work at the base.
The head of public affairs for the base, Major Francisco Hamm, said the investigation had not been completed.
It was possible the inquiry, by the Ministry of Defence Police and US security forces, could end in military court proceedings, he said.
Those under investigation are aged between 17 and 30, and range in rank from airman to staff sergeant.
Some of the men are assigned to the 439rd fighter squadron.
Servicemen from a further five squadrons are among those being investigated.
Major Hamm said the USAF operated a zero tolerance drugs policy and servicemen and women were regularly tested.
Crews from Lakenheath have been involved in recent years in strikes against Libya in the mid-80s, the Gulf Conflict in 1991, attacks on Serbia in 1999 and in Afghanistan last year.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
World: Senator says COCAINE should be sold in liquor stores – November 2002 Senator: Cocaine and heroin should be sold in liquor stores
By chealth - Monday, 21 October, 2002
Copyright: chealth
VANCOUVER (CP) -- A B.C. senator says cocaine and heroin should be sold in liquor stores because the drugs are already available through illegal means that result in huge profits for dealers.
Senator Edward Lawson said the controlled distribution of the drugs that have cost hundreds of lives through overdoses in recent years in the Vancouver area alone would also ensure the drugs are not tainted.
"Maybe we should tie (the drugs) together with the liquor stores, have it government controlled and have them quality controlled," said Lawson, who is part of the Special Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs.
The committee is attending public hearings across the country to get input on the issue of illicit drugs.
Lawson was joined by B.C. colleague Senator Pat Carney in advocating a formal debate on the legalization of marijuana. Alliance MP Keith Martin introduced a private members' bill on the issue Wednesday.
Lawson said Switzerland dispenses drugs such as heroin through clinics and that Canada already has some programs that treat cocaine addicts, for example, by giving them limited amounts of the drug.
"We do it here on a controlled basis but we're kind of tippy-toeing in that, almost as if we're afraid we might have a successful result," Lawson said in an interview.
He said it's time for Canada to seriously consider implementing new policies to deal with the drug problem that has taken a toll on people, including the recent deaths of young Vancouver-area residents who took the rave drug ecstasy.
"My God, this cries out for desperate measures and a different look at the way we do things," Lawson said.
Dr. Mark Tyndall, who treats AIDS/HIV patients at Vancouver's St. Paul's Hospital, told the committee 16 of the 18 beds originally intended for people with the disease are now occupied by addicts who contracted it through intravenous drug use.
Tyndall said Lawson's idea of dispensing cocaine and heroin in liquor stores would make for an interesting experiment.
"I don't think (liquor stores) would be flooded by people lining up. You and I wouldn't be lining up with our kids to buy heroin and cocaine at a liquor store."
He said such a plan, combined with a comprehensive treatment program, would also provide opportunities for hard-core users to get out of the drug spiral.
On the issue of decriminalizing marijuana, Lawson said police use millions of dollars in resources in busting numerous grow-ops in British Columbia but courts are too lenient in dealing with the criminals.
Legalizing and taxing the billion-dollar industry would mean the money generated could be used for education and health programs, he said.
Lawson, who was appointed to the Senate by former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, also said there's merit to Martin's private members' bill and that most people he's talked to around the country favour decriminalizing pot.
Conservative Senator Carney said the issue of legalizing marijuana should be debated separately from policies on other illicit drugs that are more harmful.
"One of our jobs as a committee is to separate those two issues," she said.
"You can't really lump in the human tragedy and the cost and the waste of life in (Vancouver's) Downtown Eastside ... with someone who wants to smoke pot and drink wine in the privacy of his home."
The Senate committee is reviewing Canada's anti-drug laws on marijuana and is scheduled to present its report on cannabis to the senate in August 2002.
Vancouver mayor Philip Owen told the senators that Canada must implement a national policy to deal with the illegal drug trade, help addicts and prevent associated property crime.
"As the world becomes increasingly smaller, the regional, national and international implications of a comprehensive system of care to address substance misuse and crime is of key importance," Owen said.
Vancouver is developing an extensive drug policy that advocates prevention, treatment, enforcement and harm reduction.
http://www.canoe.ca/
UK: Sniffer dogs become pub regulars – October 2002 Sniffer dogs become pub regulars
By BBC News - Wednesday, 18 September, 2002
Copyright: BBC News
Hundreds of pub landlords in east Devon are allowing police sniffer dogs to search for drugs on their premises.
It is hoped the unannounced visits will severely disrupt the drugs trade.
The Pubs Against Drugs scheme (Pad) has been overwhelmingly supported by publicans.
The dogs, which can sniff out drugs from cannabis to cocaine, are to make regular visits to the 400 pubs taking part.
East Devon licensing officer Karen Mead said landlords were willing to take when first told about Pad.
She said: "They all replied with 100% support. They wanted to actively take part in the scheme and be included in it.
"We had one club owner who was so keen to take part in the scheme that he contacted us and asked us to visit his premises."
Police will be chiefly targeting amphetamines, ecstasy and cannabis.
But cocaine will also be on the search list.
Publicans say they do not want drugs on their premises.
Landlord Gareth Williamson said: "We don't want it.
"I don't want it. The staff don't want it. The customers don't want it.
"Leave them at home. Leave them wherever. Just don't bring them on to licensed premises."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
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