Safe Injection - Law - 3-6-10

dwf_admin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:06:44 -0800

"States have clear legal authority to authorize SIFs, just as they can legalize the cultivation, distribution, and possession of marijuana for medical purposes.76 State authorization could make a SIF legal under state law and prevent state law enforcement officials from taking action against it. It is equally clear, however, that state authorization cannot nullify federal drug laws, and so does not protect a SIF against being shut down by federal law enforcement agencies through raids, arrests, or other legal proceedings.

"There are at least 2 sections of the federal Controlled Substances Act that could be interpreted to bar a SIF. Section 844 prohibits drug possession and so is violated by every client who appears at the clinic with drugs.77 Although federal law enforcement officials rarely if ever target simple possession by individuals, 78 the law would allow them to do so if they wished to interfere with the operation of a SIF.

"A SIF authorized at the state or local level could also be deemed to violate Section 856, known as the Crack House Statute. This law makes it illegal to 'knowingly open or maintain . . . [or] manage or control any place . . . for the purpose of unlawfully . . . using a controlled substance.'"

Pain Management - 3-4-10

dwf_admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:53:13 -0800

"The large contribution to mortality from oxycodone and methadone may be because of the long duration of action of methadone and OxyContin. Drug users may accidentally overdose by overlapping doses when the desired euphoric or analgesic effect is slow in coming. Abusers have learned to ingest and inject pulverized OxyContin pills, defeating the controlled-release mechanism and releasing dangerous amounts of the drug within a short time."

Pain Management - Data - 3-4-10

dwf_admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:49:50 -0800

(2002) "By 2002, opioid analgesics were involved in more deaths than either of the illicit drugs responsible for most urban drug abuse in the 1990s: heroin and cocaine. These trends are generally consistent with trends in drug-related emergency department visits reported by DAWN from 1997 to 2002: a 101.4% increase in opioid analgesics, a 23.7% increase in cocaine, and a 32.2% increase in heroin.

"The increased involvement of these analgesics is related to exponential growth in their domestic sales over the past decade as physicians began to treat chronic pain with stronger analgesics.10 Oxycodone sales in grams increased 402.9% from 1997 to 2002; methadone (excluding that used in narcotics treatment programs) increased 410.8%; and fentanyl increased 226.7%.11 OxyContin, introduced in 1996, accounted for 68% of oxycodone sales by 2002."

Ecstasy - 2-28-10

dwf_admin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:44:40 -0800

"The main finding of the current longitudinal study is that continued use of MDMA is associated with different aspects of memory decline. For example, the ability to recall a short passage of prose being read aloud immediately and after a delay was found to decline significantly. This decline suggests impairment in retrospective memory, given that performance on the three RBMT prospective tests—1) remembering to ask the experimenter to telephone for a taxi; 2) remembering to deliver a message; and 3) remembering to ask for the return of a personal belonging—did not decline with continued MDMA use. Moreover, no changes in test scores were observed in terms of orientation for time and place and knowing the date.

"This investigation also indicates that vocabulary and the ability to recall first and second names may be adversely affected by the frequency of MDMA use, and that the ability to immediately recall a route may be related to the duration of MDMA use."

Methamphetamine - Data - 2-28-10

dwf_admin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:20:03 -0800

(2008) "In 2007-2008, 42.8 percent of past year methamphetamine users aged 12 or older reported that they obtained the methamphetamine they used most recently from a friend or relative for free, lower than the 49.7 percent reported in 2006-2007. In contrast, the percentage of past year methamphetamine users who bought it from a friend or relative increased from 25.1 percent in 2006-2007 to 30.1 percent in 2007-2008. About one in five users (21.7 percent) in 2007-2008 bought the methamphetamine they used most recently from a drug dealer or other stranger, which was comparable with the rate for 2006-2007 (20.5 percent)."

Methamphetamine - Data - 2-27-10

dwf_admin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:13:04 -0800

(2008) "The number of past month methamphetamine users decreased by over half between 2006 and 2008. The numbers were 731,000 in 2006, 529,000 in 2007, and 314,000 in 2008."

Medical Marijuana - Eric Holder letter - 2-28-10

dwf_admin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:52:52 -0800

"The prosecution of significant traffickers of illegal drugs, including marijuana, and the disruption of illegal drug manufacturing and trafficking networks continues to be a core priority in the Department's efforts against narcotics and dangerous drugs, and the Department's investigative and prosecutorial resources should be directed towards these objectives. As a general matter, pursuit of these priorities should not focus federal resources in your States on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana. For example, prosecution of individuals with cancer or other serious illnesses who use marijuana as part of a recommended treatment regimen consistent with applicable state law, or those caregivers in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state law who provide such individuals with marijuana, is unlikely to be an efficient use of limited federal resources. On the other hand, prosecution of commercial enterprises that unlawfully market and sell marijuana for profit continues to be an enforcement priority of the Department. To be sure, claims of compliance with state or local law may mask operations inconsistent with the terms, conditions, or purposes of those laws, and federal law enforcement should not be deterred by such assertions when otherwise pursuing the Department's core enforcement priorities.

"Typically, when any of the following characteristics is present, the conduct will not be in clear and unambiguous compliance with applicable state law and may indicate illegal drug trafficking activity of potential federal interest:
• unlawful possession or unlawful use of firearms;
• violence;
• sales to minors;
• financial and marketing activities inconsistent with the terms, conditions, or purposes of state law, including evidence of money laundering activity and/or financial gains or excessive amounts of cash inconsistent with purported compliance with state or local law;
• amounts of marijuana inconsistent with purported compliance with state or local law;
• illegal possession or sale of other controlled substances; or
• ties to other criminal enterprises."

Methamphetamine - 2-27-10

dwf_admin — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 21:27:19 -0800

"Methamphetamine production and distribution are undergoing significant changes. Methamphetamine use has stabilized nationally since 2002 after increasing during much of the 1990s, and domestic production of methamphetamine has decreased dramatically since 2004. However, the increasing prevalence of high-purity ice methamphetamine throughout the country and the expansion of methamphetamine networks operated by Mexican and, more recently, Asian drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) have largely sustained methamphetamine markets in the United States."

Methamphetamine - 2-27-10

dwf_admin — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 21:16:29 -0800

"Preliminary 2008 availability and seizure data indicate a strengthening in domestic methamphetamine availability and domestic methamphetamine production, and an increase in the flow of methamphetamine into the United States from Mexico—most likely attributable to the efforts of methamphetamine producers in both countries to reestablish the methamphetamine supply chain in the face of disruptions and shortages that began occurring in early 2007. Throughout 2007 methamphetamine availability decreased in U.S. drug markets, causing instability in the methamphetamine supply chain. Prior to 2007, U.S. drug markets relied on the strong flow of methamphetamine produced in Mexico, a supply system established in 2005 and strengthened in 2006. However, ephedrine and pseudoephedrine restrictions in Mexico resulted in a decrease in methamphetamine production in Mexico and reduced the flow of the drug from Mexico to the United States in 2007 and from January through June 2008."

Pain Management - Data - 2-26-10

dwf_admin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:57:16 -0800

"Among persons aged 12 or older in 2007-2008 who used pain relievers nonmedically in the past 12 months, 55.9 percent got the pain relievers they most recently used from a friend or relative for free. Another 8.9 percent bought them from a friend or relative, and 5.4 percent took them from a friend or relative without asking. Nearly one fifth (18.0 percent) indicated that they got the drugs they most recently used through a prescription from one doctor. About 1 in 20 users (4.3 percent) got pain relievers from a drug dealer or other stranger, and 0.4 percent bought them on the Internet. These percentages are similar to those reported in 2006-2007."

recent posts for dwf_admin

Safe Injection - Law - 3-6-10

Pain Management - 3-4-10

Pain Management - Data - 3-4-10

Ecstasy - 2-28-10

Methamphetamine - Data - 2-28-10

Methamphetamine - Data - 2-27-10

Medical Marijuana - Eric Holder letter - 2-28-10

Methamphetamine - 2-27-10

Methamphetamine - 2-27-10

Pain Management - Data - 2-26-10