“ We simply do not know enough about which elements of drug policy work, why they work and where they work well.”

-- Dame Ruth Runciman, head of UKDPC

Contents

1. UK News

• UKDPC report
• The smoking gene
• Links
• Upcoming Events

2. International News

• Irish Penal Reform Trust poll results
• Normalising trade between US and Colombia in an effort to combat drug smuggling
• New Mexico legalises medical use of cannabis
• Teachers in Hawaii must submit to random drug testing to get pay rise
• Cocaine drink
• Australian report on the public cost of prohibition
• Links

3. What Transform Has Been Up To

• Recruitment
• Spreading the word

4. What You Can Do

• Donate
• On-line activism
• Early Day Motions

1. UK News

UK Drug Policy Commission report

Read the report from this independent body established to provide objective analysis of UK drug policy:

http://www.ukdpc.org.uk/index.shtml

...now read Transform's comment and some of the media coverage:

http://transform-drugs.blogspot.com/2007/04/uk-drug-policy-commission-launches-new.html

The smoking gene

This discovery seems to offer the chance to make addiction treatment more effective

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article2414772.ece

http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/apr2007/nida-02b.htm

Links

Find out who represents you in your local government...and then ask them what they think about drug policy

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk_politics/2007/election_2007/default.stm

The new Ministry of Justice

http://www.justice.gov.uk/

Upcoming Events

International Harm Reduction Conference 13th - 17th May, Warsaw

Danny will be chairing the parallel plenary session, Alcohol, Tobacco and Illicit Drugs: Regulatory Frameworks and Harm Reduction, on 17th May
Global 2020, the alliance of international groups campaigning for drug legalisation and regulation by 2020, will also be meeting

Harm Reduction 2007

Lib Democrat Drugs Law Reform Forum 8th June, Taunton Deane

Danny will be speaking at this public meeting, along with Jeremy Browne, MP

Liberal Democrats

RELEASE Drugs University: Drugs and Crime 2008 18th June, London

http://www.release.org.uk/html/~master_menu/~Conferences/2007_Conference.php

Criminal Justice and Social Justice: New Directions 5th & 6th July, London

http://www.crimeandsociety.org.uk/projects/cjsjconf2007.html

DrugScope National Conference 12th & 13th July, Cambridge

http://www.drugscope.org.uk/wip/7/PDFS/conference-programme.pdf

2. International News

Irish Penal Reform Trust poll results (Europe)

The people polled are definitely in favour of non-custodial sentences for non-violent crimes, and that includes some drugs related offences

http://www.iprt.ie/iprt/1932

Normalising trade between US and Colombia in an effort to combat drug smuggling (Americas)

Will the US government replace the illegal drugs trade in Colombia with investment in viable legal trade? To do so, the US-Colombia free-trade agreement has to get through Congress. Colombian workers also want union rights, something the Bush administration isn’t keen on

New York Post opinion piece

New Mexico legalises medical use of cannabis (Americas)

New Mexico is the twelfth state in the US to regulate and control cannabis for medical use. The state plans to grow its own, thus stepping into uncharted territory

http://www.thespectrum.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070414/OPINION02/704140327

Teachers in Hawaii must submit to random drug testing to get pay rise (Americas)

Constitutional rights continue to play second fiddle to draconian measures to prevent teachers from dealing to pupils. Pressure is mounting on teachers in Hawaii to allow subjection to random drug searches. Increased pay is the carrot, whilst the stick is public vilification

http://www.molokaitimes.com/articles/7423115344.asp

Cocaine drink (Americas)

A new drink has been hitting the supermarkets of America: Cocaine by name; sugar and taurine by nature. It’s no surprise that there has been widespread concern over its marketing. The saying ‘there’s no such thing as bad publicity’ springs to mi nd...(the product has since been 'banned by the man' ).

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2007-04-23-conn-fights-cocaine-drink_N.htm
http://www.drinkcocaineshop.com/

Report on public cost of prohibition (Antipodes)

Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation is asking for corporations to support policy change, pointing out the estimated cost of prohibition to companies through “sick days, lost productivity, crime, workplace accidents and higher health and insurance costs.”

http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/business/items/200704/s1904883.htm
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~adlrf/

International Links

World Net Daily article on the effect of Virginia Tech shooter's prescription drug regime: Bob Unruh of WorldNetDaily (agreeing with Michael Moore), links pharmaceutical drugs with violent episodes, including many school shootings in the US

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55310

Spoof drugs education material from France, as well as some information about the drugs policies put forth by the presidential candidates

http://www.circ-asso.net/paris/pages/campagne.php

'Brainwave doses for every mood...' There’s a way to take drugs without smoking, drinking, injecting or ingesting! It’s called listening. Idoser are a company that produces a variety of state-inducing audio waves, which are likened to the effects of certain drugs. That’s potentially a lot of harm reduction..

http://i-doser.com/

3. What Transform Has Been Up To

Recruitment

We are very pleased to welcome Jane Slater as the new Transform Administrator! Jane graduated with her degree in Geography from Manchester Uni and has worked for various charities and public sector bodies. Jane will be taking over from Nathalie, who is leaving Transform at the end of May.

Spreading the word

Once again, Transform has received a great deal of media exposure this month, a great deal of it generated by the UKDPC report (see UK News above).

Transform also hosted the launch of the Drugs Health Alliance on 3rd May at the RSA. Photos and transcripts of the speeches will soon be available on the website.

The Transform website continues to attract an ever-increasing number of visitors, many of whom come to the site through the blog.

4. What You Can Do

Donate

Set up a five pound a month donation easily on our secure online donation page, administered by Charities Aid Foundation.
It may not seem like a huge amount of money, but is does make a massive difference to us.

Online activism

Transform Action Alert email list

Sign up for our Action Alert email list - we promise we won't bombard you with emails! Just fill out the on-line form, typing 'Action Alert' in the message box. We did have some fun this past month trying to get onto the Matthew Bannister programme on BBC 5 Live but, clearly, there were also quite a few other people wanting to express their opinions about cannabis.

Contact Transform

Mainstream media feedback

If you hear something you agree or disagree with in the media, make sure the journalists find out about it! Most major media outlets have some kind of internet feedback mechanism, even if it is only emailing the journalist directly. Even if you don't want to make any comments yourself, it can often be enlightening to see what other people are saying.

Here are a few to start with...

BBC, Have Your Say: BBC

The Daily Mail (just click on 'Comments' at the top of any news item): Daily Mail

The Guardian, Comment is Free: Comment is Free

The Sun, Have Your Say: The Sun

The Times, Comment section: The Times Online

See a recent letter to the Independent from a Transform supporter:
http://comment.independent.co.uk/letters/article2418390.ece (scroll down the page to 'The harm created by the drug laws')

Early Day Motions

As we highlighted in the March newsletter, an early day motion has been introduced by MP Joan Ruddock, calling for the government to place greater emphasis on harm reduction, rather than crime reduction, in its drugs policy. You can check to see if your MP has signed up to support it by checking the Early Day Motion website below. If your MP hasn't signed, please write to her/him, saying that you support this motion.

Early Day Motion Parliamentary web site

Find your MP

Transform guidance on lobbying policy makers