Drugs

Almost 400 motorists suspected of driving while high on drugs will escape prosecution because of a failure to process blood tests, it has emerged. A lack of capacity at police laboratories has led to the huge backlog of samples. In 386 cases, a prosecution has been abandoned because tests were not processed within a legal 12-month time limit. The Scottish Police Authority, which disclosed the figures and has responsibility for processing tests, admitted there had been "a serious failure". It said the number of tests that would have to be processed had been significantly underestimated before new legislation to crack down on drug-driving came into force in 2019. It is expected that more cases will be dropped in the “immediate months ahead”, despite tests being sent to commercial providers in an effort to boost capacity. Jamie Greene, the justice spokesman for the Scottish Tories, urged the SNP to properly fund the police, so that the backlog could be tackled. … [Read more...] about Suspected drug drivers walk free because of failure to process blood tests

Ann Shulgin, who has died aged 91, probably tried every available psychedelic drug; with her chemist husband Alexander (Sasha) Shulgin , who has been described as “the grandfather of ecstasy”, she was a pioneer in advocating the use of MDMA or ecstasy in a therapeutic context. “He was the scientist and I was the psychologist” was how she summarised their collaboration, both acting as guinea pigs. At the height of the 1990s explosion in “rave” culture, Ann Shulgin argued that MDMA and similar chemicals might counteract a lack of empathy and cohesion among those in their twenties and thirties. “Many young people who go to raves are from big cities and they grow up learning to be cautious, not to look strangers in the eye,” she said. “When young people go to a rave, it’s their first experience of being able to relax and expand boundaries, with ecstasy as a heart-opener.” MDMA or 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methamphetamine, a stimulant with mild hallucinogenic properties which the Shulgins … [Read more...] about Ann Shulgin, pioneering researcher who with her husband Alexander explored the uses of psychedelic drugs – obituary

As Mexican marines closed in on infamous drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, they turned to their secret weapon to root him out from the undergrowth. “Max” a six-year-old female bloodhound in the final stages of her career as a specialised human tracking dog, locked on to the 69-year-old and led the team of heavily armed soldiers deep into the rugged mountains of Sinaloa. There, hiding in some bushes just outside the rural outpost of San Simon, she found Caro Quintero. Known as ‘El Narco de Narcos’, he was convicted for his role in the torture and murder in 1985 of US Drug Enforcement agent Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena in a shocking act of brutality which soured US-Mexican relations for years. But he was released from Mexican prison in 2013 in a move which sparked fury among US law enforcement, who wanted him to face justice in America. In 2018, he was placed on the FBI’s top ten most wanted list, and a reward of $20 million was offered for information leading to his arrest. … [Read more...] about Bloodhound ‘Max’ finds drug lord hiding in a bush

Drug and alcohol addicted prisoners will get special rewards such as gym sessions and TVs if they go cold turkey to kick their habit in jail. Dominic Raab, the Justice Secretary, is to create 100 units within jails where offenders agree to regular drug tests and are rewarded with incentives such as extra gym time, in-cell TVs, additional family visits and cooking facilities if they stay clean. The incentivised substance-free living (ISFL) units are part of a £120 million cash injection to promote an abstinence-based approach to rehabilitate addicts. There are concerns that traditional methadone or other opiate treatments are leaving offenders “indefinitely” reliant on the drug. Mr Raab believes too many prisoners are being put on methadone , a heroin substitute , simply to subdue and prevent them from causing harm to themselves, other inmates or prison officers rather than trying to wean them off drugs and get them clean. Double abstinence-led wings It follows … [Read more...] about Jailed drug addicts will be given TVs and gym sessions if they go cold turkey

Cocaine deaths have risen sevenfold in a decade, with middle-class drug users fuelling the crisis , new statistics have suggested. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published data on Wednesday showing that drug-related deaths in England and Wales have reached a record high, partly fuelled by a spike in cocaine use . Researchers found that there were 4,859 deaths related to drug poisoning registered in 2021 – a rate of 84.4 deaths per million people. This marks the ninth consecutive annual rise, up 6.2 per cent from the previous year. It is also the highest number since records began in 1993, more than a quarter of a century ago 'Significant' rise in drug deaths The figures come as the Government was accused by one of its own drug advisers of not caring about the growing number of heroin addicts dying from overdoses. However, the ONS also found that there were 840 deaths involving cocaine registered in 2021, which was 8.1 per cent higher than the previous year … [Read more...] about Middle-class drug users fuel soaring number of cocaine deaths

A drugs kingpin who styled himself on a Breaking Bad character is among nine men who have been jailed for supplying amphetamines on an “industrial scale” across Britain. The organised crime group was smashed after investigators were able to hack the encrypted messaging service used by criminals across the world, Encrochat, in 2020. It allowed police to identify the key players in a conspiracy to produce and supply Class A and B drugs worth more than £6 million between April and June 2020. The ringleaders included Anthony Saunderson, a 42-year-old originally from Formby, Merseyside, who used the moniker “jessie-pinkman” on Encrochat, in a nod to the character of the same name in the hit television show Breaking Bad. The US series follows Jesse Pinkman, a small-time crystal meth dealer, and his former chemistry teacher, Walter White, as they rise to the top of the drug trade in New Mexico. Merseyside Police, which carried out a joint investigation with North Wales Police, … [Read more...] about ‘Breaking Bad’ drug kingpin gets 35 years for ‘industrial scale’ operation

Sadiq Khan faced a backlash from Labour and the Tories as he announced plans for a commission to consider decriminalising cannabis after visiting a “fascinating” marijuana farm in the United States. The London mayor put himself on a collision course with the Labour leadership as he announced that Lord Falconer, a former justice secretary, would chair the first London drugs commission to assess the effectiveness of drugs laws. It came as he visited the Traditional Cannabis Dispensary and Cultivation Centre in Los Angeles, where he said that an “honest, open” conversation was needed about UK cannabis laws . “Hearing from those who cultivate and grow this plant has been fascinating,” he said. Labour poured cold water on the plan, with a party spokesman saying: “Labour does not support changing the law on drugs. Drugs policy is not devolved to mayors, and under Labour would continue to be set by national government.” Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, said: “Sadiq Khan’s time … [Read more...] about Sadiq Khan faces backlash over call to consider legalisation of cannabis

Over the past two years, people have gone from clapping us on Thursday nights to threatening physical violence. “You’re useless,” they yell. “Why is there always a queue? Where are my tablets? You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Pharmacies have always been vulnerable – six years ago, we were robbed of thousands of pounds of cosmetics by a gang who threatened me with a knife. The pandemic and its aftermath have turned things up to boiling point. But until a pharmacist is found on the floor lying in a pool of blood, no-one will take this abuse seriously. Which is why a recent report from the Pharmacists’ Defence Association does not surprise me. Some 85 per cent of pharmacists say they, or someone they work with, have experienced verbal or racial abuse in the previous month while at work. When I first qualified in 2003, pharmacists were long established as trusted members of the community, treated with respect. And I’d like to make clear that the vast majority of our … [Read more...] about ‘Until a pharmacist is found lying in a pool of blood, no-one will take this abuse seriously’

José Noriel Portillo started his deadly rampage by shooting dead a baseball player who helped defeat the team he sponsors. He then set fire to the house of another player. After that, he got into an argument with a local tour guide, chased him into the San Francisco Javier church in Cerocahui and allegedly shot him dead. He then reportedly turned his weapon on the two priests who offered the tour guide refuge. The altar is now riddled with bullet holes and splattered with blood. As shocking as the killings were – bringing condemnation from the Pope and the UN – criminal cartels acting with such impunity is becoming routine in increasingly lawless parts of Mexico. The remaining priest, Rev Avila, during the homily at the small church where the killings took place high up in the canyons of rural Chihuahua, lashed out at Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the Leftist president of Mexico. Mr López Obrador, an old friend of Jeremy Corbyn , has employed a radical approach to … [Read more...] about Mexico’s cartel violence reaches bloody nadir with ‘hugs, not bullets’

Paul Ryder, who has died suddenly aged 58, was a musician whose bass guitar-playing was the funky heartbeat of the Happy Mondays, the band he founded alongside his older brother Shaun; with their potent fusion of rock and dance music – and their gargantuan appetite for drugs – they were in the vanguard of the “Madchester” era of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Paul Anthony Ryder was born on April 24 1964 in Little Hulton, a suburb of Salford, 20 months after Shaun. Their mother Linda was a nursery nurse, their father Derek a postman. As teenagers, both lads were in regular trouble but, inspired by punk, they knew they wanted to be in a band. Paul bought himself a bass guitar and was soon proficient on it. “The grooves I played came from Northern soul and disco,” he recalled. “I can’t read music, so I just copied the basslines, but I could never get them spot-on so they turned into my own basslines.” With Paul and Shaun joined by Mark Day on guitar, Gary Whelan on drums and … [Read more...] about Paul Ryder, bass guitarist with the Happy Mondays – obituary