European UpdateEMCDDAThe EU drugs agency (EMCDDA) has reshaped theway in which it reports on Europe’s drugs problem.On 28 May, the agency will present its annual over-view of the European drug situation in a new informa-tion package designed to be ‘more timely, interactiveand interlinked’. Central to the package is the Euro-pean Drug Report 2013: Trends and developmentswhich replaces the former Annual report on the stateof the drugs problem in Europe, traditionally pub-lished in the autumn. Released six months earlier,the shorter, graphic-rich report summarises the latesttrends across the 27 EU Member States, Norway,Croatia and Turkey.http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/news/2013/3EMCDDAThe latest study examines drug prevention interven-tions for minority ethnic populations in 29 Europeancountries. It forms part of the agency’s monitoring ofaction 20 of the EU drugs action plan 2009–12 ondeveloping services for minority groups, includingmigrants.http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/news/2013/prevention-minoritiesCzech RepublicCustoms officers uncovered more than one kilogramof cocaine in the baggage of a Brazilian man, 26, enroute from Sao Paulo at the Vaclav Havel AirportPrague. The youth tried to smuggle 1153 grammesof cocaine of 87-percent purity.http://praguemonitor.com/2013/04/16/brazilian-one-kilo-cocaine-uncovered-prague-airportFrancePolice in France and the Netherlands have brokenup a smuggling ring that used torpedo-shaped con-tainers, cargo ships and frogmen for years to shipcocaine from South America to Europe's largestcommercial port.http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/25/france-trafficking-idUSL6N0DC2IS20130425IrelandA drug gang concealed a sophisticated cannabisgrowhouse in two 40ft containers which they buriedunder a mobile home in a remote part of Co Cork..

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Issue 79 May 2013

The gang accessed the containers through thefloor of a mobile home near the village of Ballyvour-ney.http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/cannabis-growhouse-operation-goes-underground-229437.htmlThe NetherlandsAt least 10 of the Netherlands’ local councils havealready or will soon submit plans to the justiceministry asking to be allowed to approve commer-cial marijuana growing. Research by newspaperTrouw showed councils are highly critical of officialgovernment policy on marijuana and say legalisedproduction would remove organised crime from theequation.http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2013/04/councils_up_pressure_for_legal.phpUnited KingdomThe British Prison Governors Association (PGA)has called for a review of a “prohibition-based” drugpolicy for Class A drugs, arguing that the currentBritish drug policy increases the number of prison-ers and victims of crime.http://reason.com/blog/2013/04/25/british-prison-guards-association-callsUnited KingdomAl Qaeda has teamed up with other terror groupsto smuggle cocaine to Britain. One plot involved astaggering four tons of the illegal drug with a streetvalue of £168million. Profits are being used to fundterror plots in the UK and western Europe.http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/al-qaedas-168million-cocaine-smugglers-1857934

World UpdateAfghanistanThe United Nations' early assessment of the 2013crop found farmers were planning to plant morepoppy than last year, marking the third annual risein the drug's cultivation. UN officials predict theincrease will push this year's crop close to 2007'srecord level .http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/9994303/Opium-crop-in-Afghanistan-heading-for-record-levels.htmlAustraliaIllicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS) National Re-port 2012. The (IDRS) is intended to serve as amonitoring system, identifying emerging trends oflocal and national concern in illicit drug markets.http://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/resource/illicit-drug-reporting-system-idrs-national-report-2012ChinaPolice in northwest China's said they have seized36.2 kg of heroin, the largest amount of the drug tobe smuggled to the region. The country confiscateda total of 7.3 tonnes of heroin, 16.2 tonnes ofmethamphetamine, 4.7 tonnes of ketamine andmore than 5,800 tonnes of chemical agents used tomake drugs last year.http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90882/8208264.htmlGhanaA handheld, battery-powered detector will help offi-cials identify counterfeit antimalarial drugs in a trialin Ghana. The trial will test how effective the deviceis at identifying suspect medicines.http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2013/04/portable-detector-shines-light-fake-drugsGuinea-BissauThe head of Guinea-Bissau’s armed forces, Gen.Antonio Injai, has been indicted by a federal grandjury in New York on cocaine and weapons-traffick-ing charges, as part of an ambitious Americanoperation targeting some of the most powerful fig-ures in a country long considered a major haven fordrug smuggling.http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/19/world/africa/us-indicts-guinea-bissaus-military-leader-on-drug-charges.html?_r=0IndiaBorder Security Force personals have recovered18 kilogram of heroin valued at around Rs 90 crorein the international market and fake Indian currencyworth nearly Rs 5 lakh near Indo-Pak border.http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-04-16/india/38585817_1_rattoke-border-security-force-indo-pak-border Page 2

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New ZealandThe government has banned two more chemicalsfound in former legal high K2.. `Associate HealthMinister Peter Dunne said the ban on BB-22 and5F-AKB48 - both found in synthetic cannabis K2products - comes into force from May 9.http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8614663/Govt-bans-more-legal-high-chemicalsPeruPeru is the single largest producer and exporter ofcocaine in the world. And after decades of foreign-funded eradication efforts in the country, the indus-try is thriving. Most of the estimated 325 tons of thestuff produced each year is making its way toBrazilian and European markets, earning Peruvianorganized crime well over $1 billion annually.http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/04/a-massive-drug-trade-and-no-violence/275258/Russia Almost 900 kilograms (2,000 lbs) of Afghan heroinwere seized in Russia in the first three months of2013, the Russian Federal Drug Control Service(FSKN) said. Some 30,000 Russians die fromheroin abuse every year, according to official sta-tistics, accounting for around one-third of all hero-in-related deaths worldwide.http://en.ria.ru/crime/20130414/180634740.htmlUSAA drug policy for the 21st centuryThe Obama Administration’s plan to reduce druguse and its consequences—the National DrugControl Strategy—represents a 21st century ap-proach to drug policy. This science-based plan,guided by the latest research on substance use,contains more than 100 specific reforms to supportour work to protect public health and safety inAmerica.http://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/drugpolicyreformVenezuelaVenezuelan authorities seized nearly 2.7 tons ofhigh-grade cocaine in the northwestern Zulia state,Interior and Justice Minister Miguel Rodriguezsaid. They were destined for Central America,Honduras. The drugs, intercepted in the Port ofMaracaibo, were labeled as "plastic for recycling"in order to avoid detection. Venezuelan authoritiescaptured more than 14.6 tons of drugs in the firstquarter of 2013, a 32.4-percent increase over thesame period of 2012, a year when a total of 45 tonswere found or confiscated.http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-04/26/c_132341351.htm

Drug WebwatchAustraliaNew recreational drugs are emerging at an unprecedented rate and represent one of thebiggest challenges in the alcohol and other drug field for 2013. In response, the Austral-ian Drug Foundation has published a range of resources about new and emerging drugs.http://issuu.com/australiandrugfoundation/docs/pr_new-and-emerging-drugs_apr2013?mode=window

Online Global Drug SurveyGlobal Drug Survey suggests Silk Road (web site) is just the most visible aspect of amuch larger online drug-dealing phenomenon. The internet is starting to rival thebackstreets as a place to buy illicit drugs, according to findings from the 2013 Global DrugSurvey, with 22% of users reporting they had bought drugs online.http://globaldrugsurvey.com/global-drug-survey-2013

DrugWorld links pageOne of the aims of DrugWorld is to provide a portal for those working in the field of drugs,by means of a comprehensive links page to institutions and agencies working in all thevarious aspects of illicit substances. Please check the link to your organisation to ensurethe correct hyperlink. If amendments are required contact paul@paul-cook.net

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Issue 79 May 2013

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