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1. PUERTO RICO: Evaluation of the San Juan Men's Prison Methadone Maintenance Program: The first U.S. state prison-based MMTP
ICAAT staff with Robert Heimer of Yale School of Medicine and co-authors from University of Puerto Rico and Carlos Albizu University in Puerto Rico have just published their first article summarizing the evaluation of the first methadone maintenance program for sentenced inmates in a United States prison.
2. ITALY: Senate Moves to Negate Addiction Laws that Distinguish between Crimes of Production and Trade of Illicit Drugs and Possession with Intent to Sell. Tiroler Anzeiger (German), 26 Jan
Should this occur even the smallest amounts of possession can lead to suspension of a drivers license and, in case of foreigners, deportation; modestly higher quantities carry sentences of 20 years or more. The new proposed law culminates a long-standing effort of Italian conservative forces to implement a zero-tolerance policy; the abject failure of that approach in countries throughout the world for decades seems to be ignored.
3. FRANCE & AUSTRIA, and at WHO: Reversals Threatened in "Substitution Treatment" In FRANCE the agency charged with the "war on drugs" wants to enact strict new regulations that inevitably would curtail markedly the number of individuals receiving buprenorphine (currently estimated at over 80,000) and sharply reduce the role of "mainstream medicine" - i.e., the office-based generalist practitioner. See interview (in French)with Dr. Mario Sanchez, "chef de service" at Paris' Montevideo Clinic.
In Austria, the Health Minister decided (reportedly with no prior consultation with the leading clinicians and academicians in the field) to push for severe restrictions of all opiate agonist maintenance treatment (e.g., denial to anyone not employed; demand for a "contract" obliging patients to refrain from all other drug/medication use - or be terminated). Slow-release morphine, currently prescribed for one-third of all maintenance patients, would be banned entirely. The proposed new draconian rules have been described as "Super-GAU" - GAU being the abbreviation for "groesster anzunehmender Unfall" - loosely translated as "maximum anticipated negative impact". For details (in German) see article in DER STANDARD .
And in Geneva shortly there will be renewed debate on the appropriateness of listing buprenorphine as an essential medication - an issue that appeared to be settled months ago.
4. SCOTLAND – The “Not in My Backyard” (NIMBY) Problem is Universal, But in This Case the Outcome is a Pleasant Surprise
Evening Times of Glasgow
The paper reports "campaigners have lost their fight to stop a doctor's surgery with a methadone clinic being built on an area where children play." The local Council chairperson noted, "There are significant benefits to the community" associated with a methadone clinic, notwithstanding fears of local residents.
5. THAILAND: Reports of Medieval “Treatment” of Addiction
Bangkok Post , Jan 12.
In Thailand, the home of massive "extra-judicial executions," comes a report of medieval "treatment" of addiction. The headline
UNSHACKLING THE DRUG HABIT. The first few lines say it all: Sight of addicts, mental patients chained to walls of rehab centre accepted by locals. The sight of men chained to trees and walls at a ponoh school in Mayo district may shock strangers, but not local people. These men have been diagnosed as mentally deranged from prolonged drug abuse, or are HIV-Aids positive.
The full story can be found by clicking here
6. AFGHANISTAN: US “War on Drugs” Utter Failure
A detailed documentation of the utter failure of the "war on drugs" on the Afghan front appeared 18 Jan in the Wall Street Journal. The headline says it all: HEAVY TRAFFIC IN AFGHANISTAN, HEROIN TRADE SOARS DESPITE U.S. AID; A Threat To Fragile Democracy, The Drug Spreads Death On Its Route To Europe Just Three Euros For A Shot. For the full story click here
(thanks to Hans-Guenter Meyer-Thompson of DGS for calling attention to the article)
7. MYANMAR: Booming Heroin Trade Not Just a Boon for Afghanistan
The heroin trade, despite (in part because!) the tens of billions of US taxpayer dollars spent to try and stop it, is clearly not just a boon for Afghanistan. The NY Times on January 29, 2006 reported that in Myanmar, too," the heroin trade is burgeoning".
8. IRAN : Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT) and Harm Reduction Programs Continue to Develop in Prisons
According to the Islamic Republic of Iran's Prisons Organization, the number of inmates receiving MMT has reached 2,200 in 21 of Iran's prisons. More than half of the country's provinces now have a prison with MMT. Throughout the prison system, there are 51- triangular healthcare clinics- programs that provide HIV/AIDS, STD and substance abuse treatment. Condoms are available in private meeting rooms (for conjugal visits) and in triangular clinics, and disposable shavers are distributed at prison stores. Needle exchange programs will be established in 10 prisons in 2006.
There is MMT for prisoners being released in after care centers in 5 provinces and others are planned. The goal is to have 10,000-12,000 prisoners in MMT by the end of 2006, making the Iranian prison MMT program one of the largest in the world.
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