Mexikos Drogenbarone verlegen ihre Produktionsstätten zunehmend in die USA. Seit die US-Behörden die Grenzen wegen der wachsenden illegalen Einwanderung stärker kontrollieren, haben sich die Kartelle darauf verlegt, die Drogen direkt im Abnehmerland anzubauen. Immer öfters stoßen US-Behörden in den dichten Wäldern Nordamerikas auf riesige Marihuanaplantagen. Den Drogenbossen bringt der Anbau im Norden gleich zwei Vorteile: niedrigere Transportkosten und einen höheren Ertrag.

orf.at

The medical marijuana dispensary in this California wine country town is in a former auto dealership, and has more registered patients than the town has residents. Los Angeles has more dispensaries than Starbucks and almost as many as public schools.

The surge in medical marijuana in California has left many communities scrambling to regulate the free-for-all, while others are trying to ban the drug altogether. The issue took on greater urgency after the Obama administration announced looser federal marijuana guidelines last month.

durangoherald.com

Drugs Mortality UK vs Popular Press Reporting 2008

Google docs

Members of Advisory Council on Misuse of Drugs to demand assurance of future independence from home secretary Alan Johnson

More members of the government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs are set to resign unless they receive reassurances on its future independence from the home secretary, Alan Johnson.

Johnson will meet members of the council on Tuesday, when he will attempt to placate them following the sacking of the council's chairman, Professor David Nutt.

guardian.co.uk

Alcohol continues to be the number one drug of concern for Australians seeking treatment for drug or alcohol issues, according to a report released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

The report, Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia 2007–08: report on the National Minimum Data Set, found that treatment for alcohol issues has continued to increase, with treatment for alcohol comprising 44% of treatment episodes in 2007–08 compared with 38% in 2002–03.

virtualmedicalcentre.com

European efforts to curb cocaine and heroin use made little impact in the past year, the EU's main drugs watchdog says in its annual report.

But cannabis use, particularly among young people, is declining, according to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).

bbc.co.uk

EMCDDA 2009 Annual report

WLEW-AM reports a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter late Friday spotted a small plane drop seven or eight large bags onto the runway about 75 miles north of Detroit. Authorities say the plane picked up one bag and took off.

The sheriff's department says authorities found more than 300 pounds of ecstasy and more than 100 pounds of marijuana.

connectmidmichigan.com

A third chemical – cocaethylene – builds up in the liver over a number of years among those who mix the two drugs. And this is now having major health consequences

"I first took coke when I was 18 and at university. I remember two friends who did chemistry told me I should get really drunk first because it would mix into this new chemical in my blood and make me even higher," a 30-year-old woman who works in publishing told the Observer yesterday.

u.tv