“We should stop digging in the hole of a failed war on drugs and start searching for alternative strategies. ”

-- Tom Lloyd, Cambridgeshire's former chief constable

Contents

1. UK News

• Heroin prescribing back on the agenda
• LEAP Executive Director Jack Cole visits UK
• European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction report highlights UK cocaine consumption
• Payout for UK prisoners forced to go 'cold turkey'

2. International News

• Milton Friedman dies
• BC Progress Board Discussion Paper on Crime
• UNODC & World Bank report on Afghanistan
• Bolivian coca workers killed
• Links

3. What Transform Has Been Up To

• Board of Trustees
• Publicity and media

4. What You Can Do

• Join Transform
• Donate
• Media
• Online activism

1. UK News

Heroin prescribing back on the agenda

The return of the 'British system' hailed by some police as a necessary move...

http://transform-drugs.blogspot.com/
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,29389-2466008,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/6172392.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/drugs/Story/0,,1954749,00.html

...while at the same time, warnings are issued regarding the heroin currently available on UK streets

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/6174854.stm
http://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/LocalPages/NewsDetails.aspx?nsid=6719&t=1&lid=1

LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) Executive Director Jack Cole visits UK

Jack Cole visits England and Scotland to discuss drug legalisation with like-minded former and current police officers

“Cole is a man on a mission. He spent 12 years of his 26-year career in the New Jersey state police as an undercover narcotics officer, investigating international drug-trafficking organisations, local dealers and low-level users. Now he is a spokesman for an organisation that campaigns for the legalisation of drugs. His argument is that what politicians like to call the "war on drugs" has been an expensive failure over the past 30 years.”

http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/75541.html
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk
http://www.leap.cc/

European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction report highlights UK drug consumption

Statistical information regarding the 'drug phenomena' in 29 European countries, with the UK coming out as the major consumers of cocaine and heroin in Europe . From the Transform blog:

“the cocaine story was just a rehash of the ‘loads of people taking cocaine shock' news that journalists, with quite amazing regularity, wheel out each year when the annual reports are published by the British Crime Survey and EMCDDA that just confirm what they said last year. In the intervening months we can usually rely on sporadic ‘loads of people taking cocaine shock' stories hung on either a ‘celeb/model takes cocaine shock' exposé, or the investigative journalist (with nothing better to do) favorite ‘cocaine traces found in bar/ school/ parliament/ convent /*insert unlikely place* toilets' . Broadsheet journalists in particular love the ‘cocaine shock' stories because it gives them a chance to sneak some celebrity tat into their news pages, basically offering a free ticket to hurtle down market and appeal to Heat readers - The Independent on Sunday's non-news cover story last Sunday being a case in point.

Still, at least the media aren't talking about cannabis for a change, and these stories do give critics of the UK Drug Strategy – that in 1998 pledged to reduce the use and availability of Class A drugs by 50% by 2008 – a great opportunity to point out that it is doing the exact opposite of what it was supposed to (ie cocaine is cheaper, more available and loads of people are using it) despite the billions of pounds still being thrown at it. Assuming Gordon Brown is the next PM – you have to hope he's paying attention.”

http://transform-drugs.blogspot.com/2006/11/everyone-is-talking-about-heroin-and.html
http://ar2006.emcdda.europa.eu/en/home-en.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1059-2472142,00.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,542-2468622.html

Payout for UK prisoners forced to go 'cold turkey'

HM Prison Service fails to provide 'minimum standard of treatment' to 197 current and former prisoners. Met by the predictable yelps of dismay by the tabloids including the Sun's front page headline: “Hey, Hey we're the Junkies!” Interestingly the coverage in the Sun, whilst nominally critical, told the stories of the men involved in a way that ended up being quite sympathetic.

More generally stories such as this one show that the power of the courts is ultimately more significant than the forces of political and tabloid spin. The principles of justice played out in the courts will prove a key tool in levering changes in the law over the coming years.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6146678.stm

2. International News

Milton Friedman dies

Nobel prize-winning economist and anti-prohibitionist dies at age 94. Transform received a letter of support from Friedman a few years ago. It is interesting to note how support for drug law reform comes from across the political spectrum – from free-market economists like Friedman on the right, through to radical Critics of Western power such as Noam Chomsky on the left (who has also given support to Transform). Drug law reform is mercifully non partisan.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6156106.stm
http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_a_l/johann_hari/article2007442.ece

British Colombia Progress Board Discussion Paper on Crime

This paper identifies the major cause of crime in British Columbia , Canada as "widespread substance abuse and the activities of the criminal drug organisations involved in the illegal drug trade" and then goes on to recommend that the Provincial government lobby the national government for drug policy reform!

http://www.bcprogressboard.com/index.php

UNODC & World Bank report on Afghanistan

Straight from the horse's mouth: "Efforts to combat opium have achieved only limited success and have lacked sustainability"

http://web.worldbank.org

A Channel 4 programme on the situation in Afghanistan illustrates just how bad life is for everyday people, in part because of the poppy industry

http://www.channel4.com/news/microsites/U/unreportedworld/afghanistan.html

Bolivian coca workers killed

This news from September is a bit out of date, but that doesn't make it any less horrific. It is a tragically familiar tale.

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/450/1/

Links

*United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

"Mandated to assist Member States in their struggle against illicit drugs, crime and terrorism"

http://www.unodc.org/unodc/index.html

*Transnational Institute

Founded in 1974 as a worldwide fellowship of committed scholar-activists, their most recent report, on the drugs industry in Afghanistan , can be easily found at the top of the home page. Top class independent analysis.

http://www.tni.org

3. What Transform Has Been Up To

We've been having a very busy month, holding our AGM here in Bristol as well as a successful fundraising event in London at C Hoare & Co Bank.
We were also very excited to hear that our application to the United Nations for ECOSOC status will be reviewed in 2007. Several major publications are approaching completion and are due to be published early in the new year – watch this space…

Board of Trustees

We are very pleased to announce that Gary Wallace (Plymouth DAAT manager) joined the Transform Board at our last meeting. As we look forward to the beginning of 2007, we now have to start recruiting a new Treasurer, as our acting Treasurer will, sadly, be stepping down at the end of the next financial year - if you think you have the enthusiasm and the right skills to become the next Transform Treasurer, please visit the Trustee recruitment section of our website.

Publicity and media

*Danny was invited to participate in a debate about coercive treatment at the Federation of Drug and Alcohol Professionals conference in early November - http://www.fdap.org.uk/fdapevents/conf2006.html

*Danny has been invited by UNODC to speak to Russian Chief Police Officers when they visit the UK in 2007

*Steve delivered a guest lecture to the King's College Criminal Justice Master's course on the links between crime and prohibition

*Steve did a whole slew of radio interviews in response to the EMCDDA report on drug use in Europe

*NEW ONLINE! Fact Research Guide - a handy research tool for all you anti-prohibitionists out there!

*NEW ONLINE! Published letters - a collection of Transform's letters published in newspapers and magazines, from 1996 to the present

4. What You Can Do

Join Transform

If you are interested in volunteering with Transform, please visit http://www.tdpf.org.uk/AboutUs_WhatYouCanDo.htm#vols , or if you'd like to become a Trustee (especially one with Treasurer experience), please see http://www.tdpf.org.uk/AboutUs_trustee_recruitment.htm

Donate

As ever our funding needs remain pressing…. ideas, contacts and suggestions are always welcome, and PLEASE - if you haven't already - sign up online to make a regular donation, however small, to the organisation. It can really make a difference: if just half of our subscribers were regular small givers we would have enough money for two new staff. So don't assume organisations like ours can just run themselves, or that drug law reform is an easy thing to raise money for – come on – if we cant wheedle a few bob from our supporters! http://www.tdpf.org.uk/support_Transform.htm

Our secure online donation page administered by the Charities Aid Foundation: Donations can be one off or regular, large or small. Please give generously - we need your support -Transform relies solely on donations from individuals and charitable trusts to maintain its work. http://www.tdpf.org.uk/AboutUs_TdpfFunding.htm

We can also accept ‘Give as you earn' payroll donations: Please look into the possibility of getting Transform on the list of nominated/ suggested charities at your place of work. Visit your payroll office to pick up a donor instruction form and visit the CAF website, or give us a call and we can help sort it all out – or come and give a talk at your work place. Our registration number is: 000476760.

Media

Visit our extensive selection of hints and tips for engaging with the media: http://www.tdpf.org.uk/AboutUs_WhatYouCanDo.htm#medja

We have recently put online an archive of letters we have had published over the years. As well as being an entertaining read it provides a useful guide to what letters editors like to publish. Check it out here: http://www.tdpf.org.uk/MediaNews_PublishedLetters.htm

Online activism

The Internet gives you the opportunity to engage the drug law reform debate as never before. There are literally thousands of online forums, discussion groups, and media feedback opportunities where you can get involved and inject a little common sense into the debate.

**E-Petitions

mySociety (the people behind www.theyworkforyou.com) are working in partnership with No. 10 to enable us all to submit petitions to the Prime Minister with greater ease. Transform will be posting a petition shortly to call for the review/consultation on the drug classification system – promised by the Home Secretary in January to be commenced. Following a report from the Science and Technology Committee that condemned the classification system as ‘not fit for purpose' the Government then reneged on its promise of a review. We will be sending out an action alert reminder when this petition is online. There will be potential for more such activity in the future. Although it may not force the Government to act it can be a useful way of drawing attention to an issue.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/

**Radio 4 TODAY programme Christmas repeal

please nominate the ‘Misuse of Drugs Act 1971' and explain why!

“We want you to suggest a law which you think should be scrapped. Which is Britain 's least useful or most damaging law? If possible, be specific. Our panel of politicians (across the spectrum) and legislation experts will sift your nominations to come up with a shortlist of six.

That shortlist will go to a vote and, on New Year's Day, we'll announce the winning - or, more accurately, losing - law. At the very least, we hope, we'll fuel debate. But we'll also see whether any politician is brave enough to take the views of Today listeners to the House of Commons.

Who knows where it might lead? Watch this space.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/vote/2006vote/

**They Work For You:

Detailed transcripts of parliamentary debates you can comment on – Take the opportunity and your comments will form part of the permanent online record. The following link will take you to all the recent debates involving the words ‘illegal & drugs':

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/search/?s=illegal+drugs

**Newspaper comment pages

A lot of newspapers, from the Guardian to the Daily Mail now allow you to post comments on news and comment items, as well as having extensive discussion forums. Get involved – it's easy and makes a real difference.