Australia: Drugged drivers can cheat testing

In the latest blow to Victoria Police's controversial roadside drug testing, one of the state's top forensic experts has warned that drivers under the influence of drugs could "mask" the test results.

And he said people could switch to drugs not covered by the random roadside saliva tests.

Documents released to The Sunday Age under freedom of information show the director of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine warned in November that "some drivers may try to mask the test through a number of practices".

He detailed some of them in a report to Penny Armytage, secretary of the Department of Justice.

He said they would "inevitably affect the detection rate, yet are outside the control of Government".

"Advice provided to me is that the use of masking agents in oral fluid collections is yet to be properly evaluated by the scientific community," he wrote.

He said the Government might need to review the laws to overcome people attempting to circumvent the testing.

Assistant Commissioner (Traffic) Bob Hastings said there had been no evidence of drivers attempting to "mask test results" or switch to drugs not covered by the tests.

But police would not have a clear picture until the trial was completed.

He said figures showed drug-driving was nearly four times as prevalent as drink-driving, with one in every 67 drivers testing positive for cannabis or methamphetamine-based drugs.

The trial got off to a controversial start when laboratory tests cleared two of the first three drivers who tested positive in the roadside tests. Lawyers for the first person are expected to announce in the next few weeks if they will take legal action. Van driver John De Jong, of Ballarat, tested positive within the first 15 minutes of
the tests beginning in December.

Police had invited the media and Mr De Jong's positive saliva test was reported.

He immediately protested his innocence and independent and police laboratory tests nine days later confirmed the absence of drugs.

Mr De Jong said yesterday he had not received an apology from the police.

Documents obtained by The Sunday Age show Mr De Jong's lawyers, Slater and Gordon, wrote to the police traffic alcohol section on December 21 and requested "an immediate apology".

The letter said allegations had been reported in the media "that my client tested positive for drugs" and images of Mr De Jong were published.

"The various publications impute that Mr De Jong was guilty of such offences and does so in a sensationalist way," the letter said.

"Furthermore, it could reasonably have been anticipated by Victoria Police that when invited to attend the testing, the media would have reported in such a way."

Mr Hastings sought "urgent legal advice" from the commander of police legal services and replied to Slater and Gordon.

"At no stage did Victoria Police facilitate or promote the identification of any individual involved in the roadside testing and consistently stressed to the media the importance of privacy," he wrote.

A police media unit incident report of December 15 said police organised the media presence.

"Due to intense media interest, media representatives were invited to attend the event at a specific location and time," it said. "Where possible, motorists were advised of the media presence and asked if they had any objections to being filmed. Most motorists indicated they were happy to be filmed."

The report also indicated the media were told that a person, whose name was deleted, had tested positive to methamphetamines as police escorted him to the drug-testing bus.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org/amphetablog.html
Pubdate: Sun, 29 May 2005
Source: Age, The (Australia)
Copyright: 2005 The Age Company Ltd
Contact: letters@theage.com.au
Website: http://www.theage.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5
Author: Jason Dowling

Australia: Chemists warned after drug sale charges laid

New South Wales Police Minister Carl Scully has warned chemists not to sell large quantities of pseudoephedrine products, which can be used to make illegal drugs such as speed and ice.

The warning comes after prosecutions were launched yesterday against four Sydney chemists over the sale of cold and flu tablets.

The four pharmacists will face court for allegedly selling large amounts of cold and flu tablets containing pseudoephedrine.

They are alleged to have breached the poisons and therapeutic goods laws.

Mr Scully says pseudoephedrine is a key, legal ingredient in the illicit manufacture of illegal drugs like speed and ice.

He says chemists are not allowed to sell more than a few packets of the product at a time.

"I believe these prosecutions will go through the industry like a bushfire," he said.

"If you sell too many of these packets, you're liable to end up in court and possibly get deregistered."

A national committee will decide next month whether to change the classification of pseudoephedrine products so they can only be bought over the counter with the pharmacist's permission.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org/amphetablog.html
Pubdate: Sat, 28 May 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Contact: comments@your.abc.net.au
Website: http://www.abc.net.au

Australia: AIS issues caffeine, pseudoephadrine warning

The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) has told a Senate inquiry that it advises athletes not to take pseudoephadrine and caffeine together, because to do so can cause heart damage.

Questions about the use of tablets containing those substances have been raised in the wake of recent publicity about high-profile sportspeople taking them for performance enhancing purposes.

Professor Peter Fricker from the AIS told the inquiry the organisation discouraged athletes from taking pills containing the substances, even though they were not on the banned substances list.

"We particularly counselled all athletes about taking pseudoephadrine and caffeine together for performance-enhancing purposes because of the messages about pill popping for shortcuts to success, but [also] importantly the risk to the health of the athlete because of the risk to the heart," Professor Fricker said.

Pseudoephadrine is commonly found in over-the-counter cold remedies while caffeine is also available in tablet form from pharmacists.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org/amphetablog.html
Pubdate: Thur, 26 May 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Contact: comments@your.abc.net.au
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/

Australia: Two charged over alleged drug ring

Two people have been charged over an alleged drug network in Sydney's west.

They were among seven people arrested after raids on homes early this morning.

The alleged ringleader, a 41-year-old man from Shane Park in Sydney's west, has been charged with several offences, including the supply of a commercial quantity of cannabis.

A 35-year-old man from Canley Vale in Sydney's south-west has been charged with supplying a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug.

Investigators allege the syndicate has been involved in the supply and distribution of hundreds of kilograms of cannabis and amphetamines.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org/amphetablog.html
Pubdate: Fri, 20 May 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Contact: ABC Ultimo Centre, 700 Harris Street, Ultimo 2007, GPO Box 9994,
Sydney NSW 2001
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/34

Australia: Police need public help to fight drug rings: report

A Federal Government agency says law enforcement groups will have to involve the private sector and the public to help interrupt the supply of amphetamines in Australia.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund has completed a long-term study commissioned by the Federal Government.

The results show that intercepting drug shipments will have only a limited impact on the supply of amphetamines.

Amphetamines are predicted to overtake cannabis as the most readily available illicit drugs in Australia, as they are cheaper and quicker to produce.

The core ingredients are also easy to access.

The chairman of the fund, Mark Payne, says increased local production of amphetamines is part of the reason for the trend.

He says that means more needs to be done to catch people who run secret drug laboratories.

Mr Payne says measures could include mandatory reporting of chemical and equipment sales.

"It's certainly something that has been trialed in other countries, that is to say a legislative requirement," he said.

The report says formal agreements with the private sector will also help interrupt the supply chain.

Mr Payne says there is also a wider role for the public.

"Networks within the greater public as well, in terms of identifying suspicious behaviour, and certainly clandestine laboratories do become known," he said.

"Not only the suspicious activity but the smells and the production activities that surrounds it."

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org/amphetablog.html
Pubdate: Fri, 20 May 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Contact: ABC Ultimo Centre, 700 Harris Street, Ultimo 2007, GPO Box 9994,
Sydney NSW 2001
Email: comments@your.abc.net.au
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/34

Australia: Arrests made over million-dollar drug ring

Police say seven people have been arrested today by officers investigating a drug syndicate that has allegedly been operating in western Sydney.

Officers allege the group has been involved in the supply and distribution of cannabis and amphetamines over the past six months.

It is alleged the network's ringleader supplied $1.3 million worth of drugs.

Police say six homes, a car yard and a storage facility were raided this morning.

Investigators say five men and two women are being questioned.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org/amphetablog.html
Pubdate: Fri, 20 May 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Contact: ABC Ultimo Centre, 700 Harris Street, Ultimo 2007, GPO Box 9994,
Sydney NSW 2001
Email: comments@your.abc.net.au
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/34

USA: "Superbug" revisited: an interview with NYC's health commissioner

In February the New York City health department announced that a gay man had contracted a virulent strain of HIV that was resistant to several treatments.

Since the unidentified man was a crystal meth user who had multiple unprotected sex partners, the story triggered fears of a new wave of HIV infections -- and an explosive debate about the apparent failure of HIV prevention campaigns.

In April the health department announced that the man was responding to treatment and was in stable condition. After testing many of his partners, officials were unable to find another example of the so-called "superbug."

In an exclusive interview, PlanetOut editor Chris Bull spoke to the city's health commissioner, Dr. Thomas R. Friedan, about the "superbug," crystal meth, barebacking and same-sex marriage.

In hindsight, would you have done anything about your February announcement differently?

We initially went public because the public has a right to know. We trust people to make better decisions when they have better information. What we know now is that we have learned that our characterization of the case was accurate despite all the controversy. We can now track this [strain of the] virus to see whether it's spreading. We think it's guardedly good news we haven't identified any other cases. While we expected at least one other case, we haven't identified it. The investigation is continuing, but there is a possibility we will never identify another case.

Has any good come of it?

We are pleased there has been more discussion of safer sex. The level of interest in our announcement was greater than we anticipated. It is a good thing that doctors are giving more tests, and that people are thinking more about protecting themselves.

Some said the announcement was alarmist because there had been other cases of virulent strains in the past.

There really are no cases similar to this one. The cases from Vancouver may be on the same spectrum, but they are not even close to this level of resistance.

There's also the argument that a single case is not cause for alarm.

That's where I say the role of public health is to prevent outbreaks, not describe them. I do think that because we made the announcement, there is less likelihood this is spreading or at least spreading without being tracked. If we had waited a month to warn people -- now that would have been unethical.

HIV prevention seems to have taken on a new sense of urgency.

We refer to an event like this as a sentinel health event because it signals broader problems.

Such as?

High levels of unsafe sex among certain social networks. An increase in drug resistance among newly infected people. It signaled the lack of a monitoring system.

Some AIDS activists called for draconian prevention measures, from interventions in sex clubs and chat rooms to mandatory HIV testing.

Our primary approach is educational and providing resources. We would like to see condoms available at all high-risk venues. One thing we know for sure: Condoms work to prevent the spread of HIV.

Have you identified venues where condoms are unavailable? If so, how do you make sure they are always stocked?

That's something we're working on right now on an ongoing basis. We'd like to see a greatly improved condom distribution network.

There was a time when condoms were part of the ethic of being gay. That's still largely true, but there are definitely more men who flaunt the ethic or see it as somehow unfashionable.

There is clearly a sense today that AIDS is a treatable disease. So there is less urgency. Twenty years ago, people died within a year of diagnosis. Today, that's usually not the case. So we have to find new ways of encouraging safe sex.

How can that be achieved?

It's important we work with the [gay] community. Government can foster a certain social norm as we did with anti-tobacco campaigns, but there are limits. Smoking around other people is a whole lot less acceptable today than it was before. I'm not equating second-hand smoke with sex. Don't misquote me there. The point is to achieve social norm change, but there is only so much government can do to change social norms. By making condoms more widely available, they will be used more. There's no question about that. Social marketing and public education campaigns can encourage their use. But some of that change must come from within the community as well.

You've identified a problem here. Condom use is slipping. Yet at the same time it doesn't look like seroconversion rates are skyrocketing as one might expect, based on the situation you are describing. Why?

First of all, we don't learn about infection numbers for many years after they occur. I find this discussion of numbers disturbing. To me, it's totally unacceptable that infections are continuing even at the rate it has. Look at perinatal transmissions. Look at transmission among injection drug users. Perinatal transmissions went from 300 per year to five. Injection drug users had an 87 percent decrease. This is related to safer needle use and widespread testing. We haven't reduced infections anywhere near that degree among men who have sex with men or, for that matter, in the heterosexual community. We need to do much better.

What is the role of crystal meth in the upswing of unprotected sex?

It's not just crystal. Cocaine is also a leading cause of unsafe sex. They are both damaging and widely available, and we don't have a lot of good treatment options.

Some have put intercourse without condoms in moral terms, comparing it to murder.

I'm the commissioner of public health, not the commissioner of public morals.

Is it a mistake to put it in moral terms?

I don't want to go there. But I do think the discussion in the community around sexual health and sexual behavior is a very good thing.

Anti-gay activists have also put the problem in moral terms, using your description of this man's behavior to raise the specter of the irresponsible, promiscuous homosexual. There have been calls for quarantine and more repressive legislation aimed at gay men. Do you feel responsible for how the right wing has twisted the information you put out?

I saw some of the news coverage of that. I thought [that kind of rhetoric] is very irresponsible. We always emphasize the importance of confronting stigma and supporting communities to change and improve.

If you could communicate one thing to sexually active gay men, what would it be?

There's no question that barebacking -- unprotected anal intercourse -- is by far the riskiest act. It's at least five times riskier than receptive vaginal intercourse and 50 times riskier than receptive oral sex.

At the federal level, the Bush administration increasingly spends scare prevention dollars on campaigns promoting abstinence until marriage. And of course it is also working to ban same-sex marriage. Does that make any sense?

As you know, the mayor supports gay marriage. But it's not an issue the health department deals with. If you look at some of the public education campaigns we have done in the subways, we are pretty far out there. We get blasted all the time [for frankness]. We have the freedom here to use the best possible information to reach people.

Is same-sex marriage an HIV-prevention measure?

I don't think I can comment on that.

Why not?

Any relationship with fidelity is certainly good. The fewer the number of partners, the lesser the risk of HIV transmission. But remember -- I'm the commissioner of public health, not public morals.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org/amphetablog.html
Pubdate: 18 May 2005
Source: Gay.com
Website: http://www.gay.com
Author: Chris Bull, Editor

Australia: Flying-high Capper

MELBOURNE: Former flamboyant full-forward Warwick Capper has admitted taking drugs before two matches with the Sydney Swans.

Capper, 41, has made the allegations in his book, Capper, Fool Forward. He said he tried speed in two games during his career, including the 1986 qualifying final against Carlton at the MCG.

"We used to get these tablets called 'briquettes', which were speed tablets," he said.

"A friend who also played for the Swans and I thought we would try them before two games including the 1986 qualifying final.

"I was standing on heads in the first half," Capper said. "After half-time it was a big downer."

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org/amphetablog.html
Pubdate: Sat, 30 Apr 2005
Source: Northern Territory News (Australia)
Copyright: 2005 Northern Territory News
Contact: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au
Website: http://ntnews.news.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/283

Australia: Six charged in NSW drug bust

New South Wales police have charged six people in the Great Lakes area on the state's mid-north coast with a range of drug offences after seizing drugs worth $120,000.

Officers raided homes in Forster, Tuncurry and Nabiac and seized amphetamines valued at $85,000, cannabis valued at $35,000 and $35,000 in cash.

Two men and two women are expected to appear in court later today, while another two men have been granted bail and will appear in court in June.

In a separate seizure, police found more than one kilogram of cannabis in a backpack after stopping a motorist at Lake Haven on the central coast last night.

A 30-year-old man was charged and will appear in court later today.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org/amphetablog.html
Pubdate: Sat, 30 Apr 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Contact: comments@your.abc.net.au
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/34