Australia: Overdose students took ADD drug

Queensland police are investigating a mass drug overdose by 14 students at Narangba Valley State High School, north of Brisbane.

Ten girls and four boys from year nine took an overdose of Ritalin during their lunchbreak.

Ritalin is the drug used to treat Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).

Witnesses say some of the students took as many as 15 tablets.

Students say one of the girls had brought the tablets from home.

"Someone's mum had them, she brought them to school," one student said.

Teachers were alerted to the problem when the group began suffering severe side-effects and concerns were raised when two affected students went missing for a short time.

"I saw my mate, he was shaking his left arm, went a bit numb, he started crying," one student said.

Rob McAlpine, from Education Queensland, says school authorities acted swiftly.

"Queensland Ambulance was called, students were transported to the Caboolture Hospital," he said.

Most of the students have since been discharged from hospital but police are still investigating where the drugs came from.

Drug education officer Mark Brown says he has not seen anything on this scale.

"The number of people who actually use drugs within the school environment is normally very, very small, so to have a situation like this where young people are using a prescribed medication, say 15 young people, is most unusual," he said.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Thurs, 30 March 2006
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Email: comments@your.abc.net.au
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/

USA: Federal Anti-Methamphetamine Legislation Becomes Law

On March 10, President Bush signed an anti-methamphetamine bill into law as part of the renewal of the PATRIOT Act.

This bill requires retailers to keep many cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine behind the counter, and stipulates that sick people must show identification and sign a log book to buy their decongestant. This strategy is modeled after laws implemented over the last two years in several states, which are reporting fewer "mom and pop" methamphetamine labs, but unchanged demand for the drug itself. Importation of methamphetamine from Mexico has increased to fill the gap, leading to an increase in prohibition-related violence in some areas as drug cartels move in.

The methamphetamine bill also contains an enhanced penalty of up to 20 years for manufacturing or selling methamphetamine in a household where a minor lives, a provision which could devastate families by assigning long prison sentences to parents who might instead benefit from treatment. Fortunately, this enhanced penalty is not mandatory. In fact, thanks largely to the work DPA and other groups did last fall, the only mandatory minimum in the final bill was a lifetime sentence for kingpins - a designation that affects a handful of people every year.

In an encouraging sign, the bill authorizes funding for a grant program to provide comprehensive services to pregnant women and mothers who need treatment. DPA applauds the inclusion of treatment in federal methamphetamine legislation, and will be looking for additional opportunities to focus the federal response on treatment instead of ineffective, draconian sentencing policies.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Fri, 17 March 2006
Source: Drug Policy Alliance (USA- Web)
Website: http://www.drugpolicy.org/

USA: Attorney general details efforts to curb meth

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was in Indianapolis on Wednesday to highlight provisions in the freshly renewed USA Patriot Act designed to curb the scourge of methamphetamine. Following is a question-and-answer with him:

Q: The most visible effects of the crackdown on methamphetamine have been the restrictions on over-the-counter cold and allergy medicines that include the need to show identification to buy these medicines. Do these efforts go too far?

A: That's really a question to be discussed and debated within the legislatures and in Congress. These were considerations certainly within the administration as to what was the appropriate strategy. We obviously didn't want to support legislation that would make it too difficult for law-abiding citizens who have a cold and want to get relief quickly.

I think this strikes a right balance, and if not, we'll have a period of time to see how it works. If modifications have to be made, then modifications will be made.

Q: People can now get an identification card that allows them to get through airport security more quickly. Would you support a similar identification card that allows people with allergies to buy cold medicine?

A: This is all part of the ongoing discussion or debate as to what is the appropriate policy. We have no intention at the federal level to deny access to those who are sick.

Q: Police in Indiana have been finding fewer basement and barn-based meth labs, but evidence shows factories in Mexico are producing the drug and smuggling it into the United States. What does the Patriot Act do to fight meth production in other countries?

A: The efforts to be successful against methamphetamine require dealing with importation of meth across our borders, particularly our southern borders. I've had several discussions with the Mexican attorney general about this. In fact, he and I are attending an anti-meth conference in Dallas, Texas, in May to discuss additional ways we can be more effective in dealing with meth. We've encouraged Mexico to limit the access to certain kinds of chemicals used in the production of meth.

We have good communications with respect to our Mexican and Canadian counterparts. We're also talking with our counterparts in other countries like China and Germany where we have an issue of large amounts of these precursor chemicals being imported into countries like Mexico.

Q: What is the gravest threat folks in Indiana face from terrorism?

A: Indiana has events that, from time to time, that I think might prove enticing targets. Let me just say I have no information at this time about threats to Indiana, but you're always worried about that. You have an enemy that's very patient, very smart, and I think they're always looking and evaluating what might be attractive targets.


Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Thurs, 16 March 2006
Source: IndyStar.com (USA - Web)
Reporter: Vic Ryckaert
Copyright: 2006 IndyStar.com.
Website: http://www.indystar.com

Australia: AFL drugs code tested

With one AFL player sitting a nostril away from being banned from playing football, the league's support among clubs for the illicit drugs policy also would seem to be a sniff away from fracturing.

If this player, who has twice tested positive for recreational or illicit drug use, is caught a third time by the Australian Sports Drug Agency in its out-of-competition tests, then his club will be officially informed for the first time that one of its players is a drug user. This information will be passed on moments before the player is charged for failing a third drug test and advised to attend the tribunal for a likely six to 12-match ban.

That club will be confronted with losing a player for taking drugs that, while stimulants, are not considered to be performance-enhancing. Indeed, unless dancing to loud music and blowing a whistle is their thing on the field, then taking party drugs would retard performance.

At the time of the announcement of the new drugs regimen, many clubs, and players, felt that to object too strenuously would imply support for drug-taking.

Players were comforted with a reminder that to avoid detection, they would only need abide by the law. That they were to be submitted to tests not applied to the wider community in ensuring they abide by those laws was another matter.

Anecdotally, the incidence of drug-taking, particularly of ecstasy, is high among players.

This practice is anathema to the image, let alone performance, of an elite athlete, so trying to rid the sport of this is to be encouraged. Whether you should do so by banning players is what clubs will ask. Whether you can do so without banning players would be the AFL's question.

Clubs have been happy to support the principle, but will be challenged should reality hit. Clubs are notorious for talk of raising "quality people" but repeatedly forgive off-field antics, provided the player has good on-field form. The better the player, the easier to forgive.

Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse spoke angrily at the time of the regimen's introduction that it was wrong that the club was the last to know if players had taken drugs.

One could only imagine the reaction from Malthouse if, on the eve of the season, he learnt that it was a Magpie who had been doing drugs (there is no suggestion that it was a Collingwood player who recorded the two positive tests).

It is difficult to envisage the unity of the clubs' support for the drugs ban being maintained should the philosophy become reality. It would equally be hard for a player to plead innocence - to having taken a tablet from his mum, for instance - if he was caught three times.


Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Sun, 12 March 2006
Source: The Age (Australia - Web)
Author: Michael Gleeson
Copyright: 2006 The Age
Website: http://www.theage.com.au

USA: Bush signs bill to fight spread of meth

WASHINGTON -- President Bush signed a sweeping anti-methamphetamine law Thursday while a top administration official characterized the illicit drug's rapid spread across the nation as an epidemic.

At a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Bush embraced the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act, which he signed as an amendment to the USA Patriot Act.

"Our nation is committed to protecting our citizens and our young people from the scourge of methamphetamine," Bush said. ". . . It is ruining too many lives across our country."

The new law limits retail distribution and sales of pseudoephedrine, a legal ingredient in popular cold remedies and an essential ingredient in meth. It also allows the federal government to track international bulk shipments of pseudoephedrine and its chemical twin, ephedrine.

Prior to the signing ceremony, Drug Enforcement Administration chief Karen Tandy appeared at a Capitol Hill news conference and expressed unqualified support for the new legislation.

"This new law creates an opportunity to turn the tide of the meth epidemic," Tandy said.

Tandy's characterization appeared to mark a change in the administration's position on meth.

At various times last year, agencies within the Bush administration -- in particular, the Food and Drug Administration and the State Department -- worked behind the scenes to oppose key terms of the anti-meth bill. The FDA opposed the retail sales restrictions, and the State Department asked for a voluntary approach to international enforcement.

The anti-meth measure gained urgency as members of Congress from the Midwest and South were overwhelmed with reports of meth and meth-related crime sweeping into their states and districts. Yet, administration officials maintained that the highly addictive drug had remained a local and regional problem, and should be treated as such.

On Thursday, White House drug czar John Walters distanced himself from Tandy's characterization of meth as an epidemic.

"It has hit the country unequally," said Walters, who appeared at the outdoor news conference with Tandy. "It's a very bad drug, and it's not equally distributed. In some areas, it has grown like an epidemic. In other areas, where it hasn't penetrated yet, this bill will help keep that from happening."

Some members of Congress have faulted Walters for focusing more attention on drugs such as marijuana that are more widespread than meth but have less-costly consequences for society.

Less than an hour after Bush signed the new law, the House attempted again to prod Walters. It voted 403-3 to pass an amendment from Rep. Darlene Hooley, D-Ore., requiring Walters' office to produce a strategy to control precursor chemicals, rein in meth traffic and treat addicts.

"The administration and (the drug czar) haven't focused on meth," Hooley said. "This amendment will require them to take action."

The anti-meth law imposes limits on the amount of pseudoephedrine an individual retail customer may buy: 3.6 grams of pseudoephedrine a day, or the equivalent of 120 pills; and 9 grams of pseudoephedrine a month, the equivalent of 300 pills. Starting Sept. 30, all U.S. retailers must move cold medicines behind the counter and record the name and address of every customer.

The federal law does not interfere with Oregon's tougher state law, which requires that consumers obtain a prescription for pseudoephedrine.

Laws in Oregon, Oklahoma and other states have been credited with a swift plunge in small-scale meth labs, resulting in fewer hazards to children, police and emergency workers and neighbors.

Anticipating an increase in demand for foreign-made meth, members of Congress added provisions -- authored by Hooley -- that allow tracking of international shipments of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. In addition, the law requires the United States to set import quotas for ephedrine and pseudoephedrine based on legitimate need. And the law requires the State Department to compare legitimate demand for ephedrine and pseudoephedrine worldwide with the amount actually being produced. Countries with excessive imports could lose U.S. aid.

Walters downplayed the administration's past opposition to the bill, calling the new law "a story of cooperation" with Congress.

"There is no worse drug than methamphetamine," Walters said. The new law "is a great preventative effort. It's a great remedy. . . . We know it works in the states where it already has been applied."


Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Fri, 10 March 2006
Source: The Sunday Oregonian (USA - Web)
Author: Jim Barnett
Copyright: 2006 The Sunday Oregonian
Website: http://www.oregonlive.com

USA: Bills to combat methamphetamine advance in Legislature

PHOENIX - Legislators are hoping to mount a multi-pronged attack on methamphetamine, an illegal stimulant considered a scourge of many communities.

The House has voted to toughen existing restrictions on retail sales of over-the-counter cold medications that contain a decongestant that is a precursor chemical for making methamphetamine.

Meanwhile, another bill advancing in the Legislature would provide millions of dollars for anti-meth programs, including stepped-up law enforcement, addict treatment and, possibly, public service announcements aimed at young people.

Authorities say methamphetamine use is closely tied to property and violent crimes and is a factor in many child neglect and identity theft cases. Toxic fumes from meth production pose a health hazard to anyone inside a makeshift lab.

The House's 43-14 vote Thursday night in favor of the sales restriction bill (HB2815) will send the measure with bipartisan backing to the Senate and an uncertain fate.

Similar legislation ran into strong opposition in the Senate chamber last year, and lawmakers ultimately ended months of debate by enacting passing a stripped-down version that toughened penalties for methamphetamine production.

The 2005 legislation also required that products containing the precursor chemical, pseudoephedrine, be removed from stores' regular shelves and instead be kept behind counters, out of the reach of customers.

The current bill approved by the House, sponsored by Republican Rep. Tom O'Halleran of Sedona and championed by Democratic Attorney General Terry Goddard, is modeled after a 2004 law enacted by Oklahoma.

Products containing pseudoephedrine could be dispensed only through a pharmacy, purchase quantities would be limited to nine grams a month and customers would have to be at least 18 years old, show photo identification and record their purchases in a logbook intended to help law enforcement officers spot people buying meth ingredients.

Some Arizona communities also have enacted similar restrictions at the urging of Goddard, who called last year's legislative action "a capitulation to the pharmaceutical industry."

Goddard says the sales restrictions have proven effective elsewhere in reducing the number of clandestine meth labs.

"Arizona citizens deserve this protection," he told a House committee last month.

Critics argue that the logbook requirement could subject customers to risk of identity theft, that the retail restrictions would burden businesses and that the measure isn't needed in the first place because most methamphetamine now is smuggled from Mexico rather than produced in Arizona home labs.

"We ought to deal with the real serious problem and that's the border," said Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa.

The Senate has already begun considering a bill (HB2554) sponsored by Rep. Mark Anderson, R-Mesa.

As passed by the House, the bill would provide $12 million for law enforcement and abuse treatment and prevention programs, much of it targeted to combat methamphetamine use.

A Senate committee has increased the bill's proposed spending to $20.5 million, including $8.5 million for public service announcements to warn children about "physical deterioration" and the risk of death associated with using methamphetamine.


Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Fri, 10 March 2006
Source: Tucson Citizen (United States - Web)
Email: letters@tucsoncitizen.com
Copyright: 2006 Tucson Citizen
Website: http://www.tucsoncitizen.com

USA: The meth breakthrough

The Senate's passage of a bill to control base chemicals offers hope in the war on this drug.

Significant advances in the war against drug abuse are so rare that any win is worth celebrating. And the Senate's approval this week of sweeping new controls on the ingredients to make methamphetamine was an important step forward.

The Senate approved what Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., chairman of the House subcommittee overseeing drug policy, called "the most important meth bill that's ever been passed by the United States Congress."

Strictly speaking it isn't a bill, since it was part of the revised Patriot Act that President Bush intends to sign, but the point is well taken anyway.

The meth legislation means that consumers of products made from ephedrine and pseudoephedrine will face restrictions on over-the-counter sales throughout the nation. Those ingredients are the base for most of the widely sold cold remedies on the market. Many states, including Oregon, have already enacted such restrictions because meth dealers buy or steal the medicines to supply their meth-cooking operations.

As important as these restrictions will be in disrupting the supply and purity of meth sold on the streets, it's noteworthy that the law also allows authorities to go after the big fish of the methamphetamine industry, the Mexican drug cartels that account for two-thirds of the American supply of the drug.

Most of the supply of meth in this country is possible only because those chemical manufacturers produce more than the legitimate market needs. The law allows American drug agents to demand the records of the companies that make the base chemicals.

Of course, executive branch agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration and the State Department can make or break this aspect of the legislation. When it takes effect, the law could deny access to the legal U.S. market for uncooperative foreign companies, but DEA and State have to push the question instead of dragging their feet.

We must note here, because we are proud of his work, that none of this would likely have happened without the indefatigable efforts of Steve Suo, a reporter for The Oregonian.

In 2004 and 2005, Suo crunched supply-and-demand statistics to make the key discovery regarding good anti-meth policy. He showed that when authorities crack down on the supply side of the meth equation, the demand side declines. This is vital information to communities across the nation that must deal with the drug's impact on users -- as well as the astonishing array of crime, toxic waste, negligence and injury that meth use spawns. Suo also documented the importance of foreign suppliers to the U.S. drug market and the link between legal and illegal uses of the base chemicals.

Ultimately Suo's work and Congress' actions are likely to hasten the day when legal drug manufacturers remove ephedrine and pseudoephedrine from their cold remedies. That will be the occasion for Americans to really celebrate their victory over a dangerous enemy.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Sat, 4 March, 2006
Source: The Oregonnian (United States)
Website: http://www.oregonlive.com/