“Their (drugs) illegal sale on an industrial scale nourishes a huge, sprawling and hydra-headed criminal underclass. All Richard Brunstrom –with, police authority –is really asking is for a sensible debate on how we move on from the failed drug policies of the past.”

-- Richard Madeley

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Transform News

• Chatham House Event
• Volunteer Website
• Recruitment
• Annual Report
• Facebook

3. Transform in the Media

• Visions for 2022 – What would a post-prohibition Britain look like?
• Transform Takes a Break
• Official Complaint from the Statistics Commission

4. UK News

• Cannabis
• Chief Constable, Richard Brunstrom raises debate again
• Richard and Judy

5. International News

• Dutch at forefront of policy reform
• 'Prince of Pot' to go to jail
• Venezuela President Accused of Facilitating Cocaine Trade
• The Geopolitics of Dope

6. What You Can Do

• Donate
• Forums

1. Introduction

Happy New Year! We’re finally back with you after a busy couple of months during which we’ve been planning our strategy for the next few years, recruiting new staff, and networking. Please read on for what is another bumper packed newsletter:

2. Transform News

• Chatham House Event

On 15th and 16th January Transform hosted an international event at Chatham House (the Institute for International Relations) to explore obstacles and opportunities for moving towards regulation in an international context. A distinguished participant list included representatives from Washington DC, the Netherlands, Afghanistan and Belgium, including officials from the European Commission, the Foreign Office and the World Bank. New alliances have been built and this ground breaking event has helped set the scene for Transform's expanding role further onto the international stage.

• Volunteer Website

We’re pleased to announce that our new volunteer website is up and running, you can log on at: http://www.transform-volunteers.org.uk . This site has been created for anyone wanting to contribute to the work of Transform. The website offers you an opportunity to work on a number of current projects, propose your own projects or activist ideas, engage in our forum and meet like minded individuals. Please log on and let us know your thoughts.

• Recruitment

After a very successful round of interviews we have now recruited a new Research Associate, Emily Crick, a former Reuters journalist and active researcher, who started work for us in January. We also have two new office based volunteers, Ed Rapley and George Gray.

• Annual Report

Our annual report for 2007 is now available. A PDF version of it can be read on our website at: http://www.tdpf.org.uk/AboutUs_Publications.htm#annrep. If you would like a hard copy please email us at info@tdpf.org.uk and request a copy.

• Facebook

For any Facebook addicts out there, one of our new volunteers has set up a Transform Facebook group so please add it to your groups and invite your friends and contacts to join as well. You can follow recent blog posts, post video clips, read the latest Transform news and, most importantly, post any comments and discuss ideas. Please follow this link to the page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Transform/7547294964

Transform in the Media

• Visions for 2022 – What would a post-prohibition Britain look like?

“I am occasionally nostalgic for the old days when scoring was part of the excitement and ritual of a big night out. Now it’s much more clinical and boring really –any underground vibe has gone entirely, and packaging warnings can be a downer.”

Transform was approached by Drug Link earlier in the year to write an article visualising what a post-prohibition world might look like. This was a first stab at the exercise and proved quite a tricky task as we tried to envisage not exactly how we might want a post-prohibition world to look, but how we thought it is actually likely to be. It also provided some excellent preliminary work for our next major publication ‘Blue Print for a Regulated Market.’ The article can be viewed here:

http://www.tdpf.org.uk/The%20year%20is%202022%20and%20drugs%20are%20legal.pdf

Steve would welcome any comments and feedback on the article.

• Transform Takes a Break

Transform took a break from the norm this month, with an unprecedented scoop in the UK's number 1 (and the worlds 4 th largest) women’s weekly magazine ‘Take a Break.’ Rather than the usual ‘my drugs hell’ style story, so often run in the weeklies, the article critiques prohibition and advocates for a move towards legalisation/ regulation – its a straight policy analysis. Amazing really, fair play Take a Break for having the courage to break the mould Read the full article here (pdf) .

• Official Complaint from the Statistics Commission

In July the Home Office released a consultation paper – ‘Drugs: Our Community, Your Say,” this document contained a number of statistics which put a very positive gloss on the governments policies (see previous newsletters and our blog for more information). Transform wrote a formal complaint to the statistics commission. Professor David Rhind, chairman of the statistics commission backed our complaint and responded asking the home office to explain itself:

"We think that most people would expect it [the annexe to the document] to provide a balanced presentation of the relevant statistical and other evidence… This particular annexe is more like a briefing document. Where a target has been met or exceeded, as is the case with the target to increase participation of problem drug users in treatment programmes, this is highlighted ... but where the target has been missed or seems likely to be missed the relevant information is presented in a low-key way without acknowledging that a target exists."

More Details and David Rind’s full response can be viewed here:

http://transform-drugs.blogspot.com/2007/12/transform-in-guardian-drug-consultation.html

UK News

• Cannabis

The issue of cannabis, and the re-review of its re-classification has remained centre stage in the media over the past few months with the ACMD set to take evidence on the issue in February for, yes, the third time in five years.

Once again we’ve seen a splurge of poor reporting and sensationalist scaremongering across the media, and political world in the lead up to the review. A particularly poor example was the Daily Telegraph that reported on the 11 th January, on their front page that ‘Abuse of cannabis puts 500 a week in hospital.’ (Drugscope were quick to respond to this story, highlighting how the statistics had been misrepresented in the story).

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs started their review of cannabis on 5th February, with Steve Rolles of Transform giving oral evidence to the Council. Transform's submission considers how the political and media backdrop to the latest review has distorted both science and policy thinking around this issue, as well as offering a broader critique of the classification system and the flawed and outdated science on which it is nominally based.

• Chief Constable, Richard Brunstrom raises debate again

Richard Brunstrom hit the news once again this month over his views on drug policy following an appearance on the BBC today programme in which he stated that ecstasy is safer than aspirin and that drugs will be legal within ten years. This resulted in a media flurry with articles ranging from The Daily Mail who ran with an article ‘The most idiotic police chief in Britain’ which focussed on personally attacking Brunstrom rather than discussing his drug policy ideas, to articles in The Mirror and The Independent which held more balanced debates around the arguments. For Transform’s analysis of the story please see our blog.

• Richard and Judy

”Their (drugs) illegal sale on an industrial scale nourishes a huge, sprawling and hydra-headed criminal underclass. All Richard Brunstrom –with, police authority –is really asking is for a sensible debate on how we move on from the failed drug policies of the past.”

Following on from the publicity around Richard Brunstrom’s, Chief Constable of North Wales recent report, which critiques prohibition and calls for legally regulated drug markets, Richard and Judy (YES ‘the nation’s favourite TV couple!) wrote a sophisticated article in the Express newspaper defending Brunstrom’s call for legalisation. A very promising sign that people are starting to loose their fear about speaking out about the failings of prohibition and that our ideas are becoming more and more accepted in the mainstream!

International News

• Dutch at Forefront of Policy Reform

While the bickering continues in the UK over whether or not to increase cannabis possession from two years in prison to five, a group of Dutch policy makers, including former serving mayors, a former prime minister, police chiefs and ministers have drafted and signed a resolution which calls for the Dutch Government to resolve the contradictions in their cannabis policy (or what is known as the ‘back-door problem’). The Dutch Parliament are currently discussing the restrictions that the UN conventions put on legal regulation of cannabis production and supply. A translation of the resolution can be found here: provided by the TNI website .

• ‘Prince of Pot’ to go to Jail

Marc Emery, a marijuana activist from Vancover, has been arrested and is pending extradition for selling marijuana seeds over the Internet (a crime rarely prosecuted in Canada). Emery is portrayed by US authorities as a major drug trafficker who has pocketed millions of dollars and fuelled organised crime. However, Emery claims that his arrest was politically motivated and designed to quieten his vocal opposition to reform of marijuana laws. The full story can be read here or here .

• Venezuela President Accused of Facilitating Cocaine Trade

US anti-drugs official, John Walters, director of the US Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), has accused the Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, of being a ‘major facilitator’ of the trade in cocaine. For more information on the story please see:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7198768.stm

• The Geopolitics of Dope

Dr George Freidman wrote a recent paper examining the geo-political reasons behind the increasing level of violence along the US-Mexican border. The article can be read in full below:

http://blogs.stratfor.com/friedman/2008/01/29/the-geopolitics-of-dope/#res

What you can do

• Donate

Transform relies solely on donations from individuals and charitable trusts to maintain its work. Ideas, contacts and suggestions are always welcome, and please, if you haven’t already – sign up online to make a donation to the organisation. It really can make a difference. You can do this easily and quickly through our secure online giving page run by the Charities Aid Foundation.

• Forums

In our last newsletter we provided a list of UK based forum and blogs where you can engage in online debates on drug policy. Please see a further list of some International forums below. These suggestions provide an easy, flexible and potentially incredibly valuable way to engage in the drugs debate. Please use our web resources to help inform your contributions. Any links which you make to transform pages, blogs and publications will help raise our profile so please do use them. Once again if you’d like the full list of forums and blogs please email: info@tdpf.org.uk and please let us know how you get on and if there are any good debates going on that you think we should know about – many thanks.