Scotland has some of the highest levels of adults using cocaine in Europe, according to a United Nations report.

The World Drug Report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said the "annual prevalence of cocaine use" among the adult population in Scotland was 3.7% in 2005 and 2009.

wexfordpeople.ie

A war between Mexican drug cartels is benefitting the United States by making black market drugs less accessible as gang members turn their efforts against each other, according to a new United Nations report.

“This struggle is a blessing for the United States because the drought of cocaine generates low levels of addiction, high prices and doses that are less pure,” said Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the U.N.’s Office of Drugs and Crime.

allheadlinenews.com

To many people, Barbara Harris is a dangerous woman. A maverick "do-gooder" from California, she has been accused of effectively promoting eugenics via the back door by paying for drug addicts to be sterilised.

Despite being lambasted in the media and condemned by health experts in the UK, Harris is visiting cities around Britain looking to launch pilot projects that will help her achieve her goal of reducing "the number of substance-exposed births to zero".

whyprohibition.ca

In the wake of the massacre of 16 students at a birthday party in Ciudad Juarez, Mexican politicos pointed fingers at each other and stonewalled journalists while civilians all over the country reaffirmed their lack of confidence in their government at all levels.

The massacre of 16 young men gathered to celebrate a birthday party on Sunday January 31, 2010 in a working class neighborhood in Ciudad Juarez left many unanswered questions.

How can a convoy full of armed men move around unnoticed in a city patrolled by 10,000 soldiers and a few thousand more federal and state police? How can they roam around the neighborhood and shoot at a group of young people celebrating a birthday party, get back in their vehicles, and escape in a timely matter just a few minutes before the arrival of the military? And how can a journalist cover a story when the journalist himself fears getting killed –either by drug cartels or the authorities - if he comes too close to the story?

ncmonline.com

If you had asked me 10 years ago whether the United States will ever change its interdiction-focused counter-narcotics policies -- and perhaps even decriminalize marijuana consumption at home -- I would have told you, "never."

Today, I say, "perhaps."

Earlier this week, in a tacit admission that current U.S. anti-drug policies are not working, the House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill to create an independent commission to review whether the U.S. anti-drug policies of the past three decades in Latin America are producing positive results.

The bill now goes to the Senate, where supporters say it has a good chance to pass, given its bipartisan support in the House. The 10-member panel, modelled after the 9/11 Commission that made recommendations to Congress and the White House after the 2001 terrorist attacks, would have to issue its report in 12 months.

winnipegfreepress.com

To help spot and track smugglers, the Homeland Security Department is expanding its use of drones, the unmanned aircraft widely used in Iraq and other war zones, beyond the Mexican and Canadian borders to the Caribbean and possibly other seas.

The department, through its Customs and Border Protection division, already operates five of the aircraft, known as the Predator B, along the Southwest border from a base in Arizona and the Canadian border from an installation in North Dakota.

nytimes.com

The so-called war on drugs has failed, leaving the taxpayer to pick up the tab, says a panel of local experts.

That panel spent the better part of two hours Monday night inside the Framingham Public Library's Costin Room articulating the systematic problems of the state's approach to criminals who face drug-related charges.

metrowestdailynews.com