USA
In the UN's annual report on drugs, the North American countries, and therefore also the United States, are accused of incapacity in impeding the large-scale cultivation of cannabis. The US position towards Mexico was particularly criticized.
(L'EVENEMENT DU JEUDI 26/03)
SPAIN
In Palma di Majorca a young Italian man killed himself. He had been arrested with a fellow countrymen following an inquiry by the court of Lucca. A ton of hashish oil was confiscated from their boat, destined for Viareggio.
(LA STAMPA 20/03)
ITALY
Cannabis lovers have a new magazine to keep them up to date. Entitled "Cannabis", it costs 3,000 lire, and is published in Turin. It's an unauthorized publication, without copyright, and can be contacted by regular or electronic mail.
(L'ESPRESSO 27/03)
WORLD
Science has begun to sing the praises of cannabis: in France the magazine "Savoir plus sante" writes that "hashish does not destroy nerve cells". In Great Britain "The Lancet" has maintained that "Cannabis use, even over a long period, is not a health hazard". In the US, a group of experts has come to the conclusion that marijuana is a medicine.
(LE NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR 26/03, L'ESPRESSO 27/03)
MEXICO
424 Mexican officials (police officers, financiers, anti-drug agents) tested positive in a test imposed by authorities to give the US an image of a Mexico active in the war against drugs. Half of the cases were of cocaine use in the last six weeks.
(EL PAIS 20/03)
ITALY
The government strategy on drugs remains uncertain: its claims in favor of legalization are counterweighted by the visit of the Minister for Social Solidarity, Turco, to the community of S. Patrignano, stronghold of prohibition, where the formation of an special commission was announced.
(IL GIORNALE 22/03)
ITALY
Reformist leader Marco Pannella will be tried on the accusation of "instigating delinquency". He distributed a small block of hashish on live television, on Christmas Eve of last year. He risks a total of 15 years in prison.
(LA STAMPA 24/03)
USA
The "decertification" strategy against neighboring countries who fail to collaborate in the war on drugs has produced more insults than good results. Last year Colombia was decertified, but Samper stayed in power. This year Colombia's decertification has been confirmed again.
(THE ECONOMIST 04/049)
USA
A Washington court has introduced the possibility, for those committing minor crimes of drug-related nature, to have the conviction annulled if they enter a disintoxication program. The scheme is spreading throughout the country and is known as "sanction and love".
(THE ECONOMIST 29/03)
ITALY
From a survey conducted on 2000 adolescents living in rural areas by a center for Christian solidarity, it has emerged that 4 out of 10 young people smoke recreational drugs as a "form of freedom and anti-conformity". In large cities, the figures are higher, 8 out of 10 have smoked hashish.
(IL MESSAGGERO 27/03)
SPAIN
Police, without an official judicial mandate, opened the letters of a 31 year old woman, finding cocaine. A court has now absolved her of any drug trafficking crime, as the police "violated her privacy". The secrecy of personal communication is a constitutional right.
(L'ESPRESSO 03/04)
USA
It has been a successful year for the State Department, with important court victories and uprooted plantations, but the drug dealers have not given up and find ever new active fronts. Thanks to the enormous profits involved in the traffic of illegal drugs they have a very powerful weapon on their side: corruption.
(L'ESPRESSO 03/04)
WORLD
During a session of the UN Commission on Drugs held in Geneva, the inadequacy of the tools available in the war against drugs was acknowledged in respect to the widespread use of synthetic drugs, which differently from opium or cannabis derivatives, are produced in the west.
(EL PAIS 28/03)
FRANCE
The 8 International Conference on Drug Related Harm has ended in Paris. Roughly a thousand specialists from all over the world exchanged information and experiences on the distribution of syringes, on heroin substitutes, on education and prevention.
(LE FIGARO 24-25/03, LIBERATION 24-25-26-27-28/03)
SPAIN
A doctor who over the course of three years sold about 4000 prescriptions for habit forming prescription drugs to hundreds of heroin addicts was condemned to 4 years of prison for "favoring the use of drugs not seriously damaging to health"
(EL PAIS 27/03)
FRANCE
Hashish and marijuana are toxic substances, and their use has a series of negative effects in both the short and long term, including memory loss and a weakened immune system. This was affirmed by an 80 page report by the Academy of Science which has sparked debate and suspicions of influence from the political level.
(L'EXPRESS 27/03, LE FIGARO, LE MONDE 28/03, LA REPUBBLICA 01/04/, CORSERA 02/04/)
SWITZERLAND
1996 government statistics on drugs and crime. The Swiss drug market continues to supply all types of illegal drugs in great quantities. 312 dead, 49 less than the previous year. According to the BAP (Federal Police Agency), however, things haven't improved. They worry especially about synthetic drugs, which are sold without scruple.
(NEUE ZUERCHER ZEITUNG 25/03)
SWITZERLAND
Ecstasy consumption has become a mass phenomena, a "normal" adolescent activity. It is a euphoric drug for the weekend, a disco and party accessory. Rarely apparent, unless consumed together with other drugs or in presence of other health problems. A day of study was dedicated to ecstasy and the problems related to its' consumption.
(NEUE ZUERCHER ZEITUNG 26/03)
