July 7th, 2010 | Full text | published by BRAHA Editor in Drug Law
The Association for a Drug Free Portugal (APLD) welcomes the passionate appeal of the President and seeks with urgency the adoption and implementation of a policy that makes the addict responsible of their acts and allows him to set a project of a real Life.
July 7th, 2010 | Full text | published by BRAHA Editor in Drug Law
The reasoning simulates to enjoy the simplicity of the meridian logic of Aristotelian syllogism: 1st – To devaluate drugs is one of the forms to fight the problem, 2nd - The dealer only has interest in drugs valued. Therefore, if we undervalue drugs, the number of dealers will decrease and the problem partly solved.
February 2nd, 2010 | Full text | published by BRAHA Editor in Drug Facts, Drug Law
The national press, and especially the foreign, has referred with outlandish insistence, on the eve of two important elections in Portugal, the “resounding success” of the decriminalization of drugs launched in 2001 by the Socialist Government, neglecting all other European countries and in prejudice of the guidelines of the UN Conventions of which Portugal is a signatory.
January 21st, 2009 | Full text | published by BRAHA Editor in Drug Law
On the spot fines for people caught with cannabis will undermine all the hard work in having the drug reclassified later [...]
October 6th, 2008 | Full text | published by BRAHA Editor in Drug Law
“Look at the Dutch example!” That phrase has become a kind of mantra, chanted whenever the advocates of liberalizing drug laws in Europe or the [...]
October 6th, 2008 | Full text | published by BRAHA Editor in Drug Law
The International Narcotics Control Board is associated with the United Nations and, as the name implies, oversees the International Conventions on Narcotic Drugs. Here is an article from their website (www.incb.org) which states that they view drug. The explicit or tacit approval of so called drug injection rooms [...]
October 6th, 2008 | Full text | published by BRAHA Editor in Drug Law
There has been mounting pressure in recent times to “re classify,” decriminalise, or legalise cannabis. Sources include the UK based Police Federation (no connection to the Police), Paul McCartney (ex Beatle and along with his late wife Linda, also a cannabis user), Anita Roddick (Body Shop selling Hemp products) [...]
October 6th, 2008 | Full text | published by BRAHA Editor in Drug Law
On How The War On Terrorism Affects Drug Control Efforts:
“You hear different opinions about this. The reason you hear different opinions is that we don’t have perfect knowledge of what is actually flowing so sometimes it is hard to tell the difference on the street level for some period of time because there is a [...]
October 6th, 2008 | Full text | published by BRAHA Editor in Drug Law
Professor J.P. Shepherd of the Violence Research Group at the University of Wales in the UK, published the results of his study “Criminal deterrence as a public health strategy” in the November 17, 2001 issue of The Lancet.
The study looked at individuals who commit violence or endanger others while under the influence of alcohol. Shepherd [...]
October 6th, 2008 | Full text | published by BRAHA Editor in Drug Law
Iowa State University researchers have calculated that brief family intervention programs designed to discourage teen drinking are both beneficial and cost-effective. Their study found that each dollar spent on intervention programs for adolescents was returned many times over in savings by preventing future costs associated with alcohol problems in adulthood.
The research, published in the Journal [...]
The world’s best business model has always been addiction. Tobacco and alcohol have been around for ages, but new temptations and spinoffs are being marketed all the time: meth, painkillers, energy drinks, you name it.
Importantly, the study also finds that the risk of violence from patients with psychoses who also have substance use disorder is no greater than those who have a substance use disorder but who do not have a psychotic illness – in other words, schizophrenia and other psychotic illnesses do not appear to be responsible for any additional risk of violence above the increased risk associated with substance abuse.
Smoking marijuana over an extended period of time appears to greatly boost a young man’s risk for developing a particularly aggressive form of testicular cancer, a new study reveals. [...]
Relief from pain. In some people, prescription pain relievers also cause euphoria or feelings of well being by affecting the brain regions that mediate pleasure. This is why they are abused. Other effects include drowsiness, constipation and slowed breathing. [...]
On Sunday researchers at the University of Buffalo reported that Ritalin, used on children diagnosed with ADHD, may cause long-term changes in the brain. Many clinicians regard Ritalin as short-acting but the research with gene expression in an animal model suggests that it has the potential for causing long-lasting changes [...]
The body produces many chemicals and hormones, i.e., histamines, steroids, thyroid hormone, digitalis-like substances, adrenalin, etc, all of which work by attaching to corresponding brain receptors. The key is that these natural substances produced by the body are present in nanogram amounts [...]
As California State Assembly member Tom Ammiano put it: “What if California could raise hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue to preserve vital state services without any tax increase?” [...]
“The fight against drugs is actually the fight for Afghanistan,” said Afghan President Hamid Karzai when he took office in 2002. Judging by the current situation, Afghanistan is losing. [...]
Among the things everybody knows is that Democrats, being the party of the little people, raise money in small contributions, whereas Republicans, being the party of fat cats, raise funds in huge basketfuls from wealthy corporate types. At least, that’s the way the world is usually portrayed by the “Today Show,” The New York Times and the Democratic Party. So it’s of more than passing interest to see [...]