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The Shanghai Daily News has an article about increased drug use among wealthy Singaporeans despite the mandatory death sentences imposed there:

“IT is Friday night. Ling, a bank analyst in Armani heels, pops a blue pill into her mouth and dances to the thumping beat. Later she heads to a house party with her friends where they snort cocaine off tabletops. Singapore’s party drug scene used to be the domain of high-flying foreign bankers and other expatriates who would take ecstasy and snort cocaine in defiance of the city state’s punitive drug laws. But these days the drug scene for foreigners is not as pronounced as among well-to-do locals in a country which has the world’s fastest-growing number of high net-worth individuals, totalling some 67,000 in 2006.”

…

“In Singapore, anyone caught carrying more than 15 grams of heroin, 30 grams of cocaine, 500 grams of cannabis or 250 grams of methamphetamines faces a mandatory death sentence by hanging.”

[alternative link for this article]

The Bangkok Post carried an article on December 9th (already removed from their servers, but available here) describing how young Muslims are able to get around the ban on alcohol by using a traditional medicinal herb.

“As Thais rejoice over the 4×100 SEA Games gold medal in the women’s relay event, police are fretting over the 4×100 formula, a drugs cocktail popular in the deep South.”

“The illegal mixture is made by brewing kratom leaves (mitragyna speciosa) in hot water and then mixing the dark green juice with a soft drink, cough syrup and tranquilisers. The popular cocktail has been named “4 times 100″. The origin of the name is unclear, but it likely came from its four ingredients.”

“Police say Pattani’s Khok Pho district is the centre of the kratom juice supply. It is adjacent to Songkhla’s Saba Yoi district, particularly Ban Node, where kratom trees flourish naturally along many waterways. The district police station is making an average five raids per month, rounding up at least 10 offenders each time. But the raids have failed to discourage users because the penalty under the Narcotics Control Act is too lenient. Since a kratom leaf is only a category 5 narcotic, the maximum jail sentence under the act is only one year. Pol Lt-Col Panya Karawanan said in many cases the court gave suspended sentences because the offenders were in their teens. Police now use section 12 of the Medicines Act, which interprets the making of the cocktail as production of an unlicensed medicine, because it has cough syrup as an ingredient. This offence carries a maximum five years in jail.”

“Since Islam prohibits drinking alcohol, many Muslim teenagers are turning to 4×100 to get high,” Pol Lt-Col Panya said. “Many insurgent suspects admit they drank 4×100 before carrying out their missions of destruction.”

At the end of the article a local hospital director comments that extensive use of Kratom can lead to addiction, convulsions and paranoia. He indicated that serious crime doesn’t seem to come from its use, except for illegally felling trees.

If you are interested in learning more about Kratom, Wikipedia has an article available here.

The Times of London has an article on the flexibility of Afghanistan’s poppy farmers:

“Where opium poppies used to colour the plains of northern Afghanistan, towering cannabis plants now sway in the wind, filling the air with their pungent odour. Farmers in Balkh province were banned from cultivating opium last year and have switched to another cash crop, a rich source of income that is still tolerated by the authorities. Balkh’s burgeoning hashish industry does not pay farmers quite as much as the heroin factories used to for good-quality opium. But the rich black cannabis resin produced around the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif still pays about four times the price of cotton or wheat. It is highly prized by Afghan usersand is exported in large quantities to Pakistan and Europe.”

Mmm, from “hard” to “soft” drugs — progress?

The Bucks Free Press (in the UK) reports on police activities to determine if pub/club visitors have taken anything illegal before coming to the pub/club.

“A STATE-OF-THE-ART drug detection kit is to be used for random tests in pubs, bars and clubs across Wycombe in a partnership between police and landlords to improve people’s safety on nights out. The £30,000 machine tests for cocaine, heroin, cannabis, amphetamine, methamphetamine and ecstasy. Called an Ion Track Itemiser, the portable testing kit analyses swabs that have been rubbed over a person’s palms. It was first tried out at Pure nightclub in High Wycombe recently, where 12 clubbers – out of 135 tested – proved positive for cocaine use and were refused entry to the club. Those who tested positive were also searched for drugs, but none were found.”

The comments at the end of the article do reporesent a range of feelings.

Apparently these machines are also installed in many airports to test for explosives.

The DesMoines Register has an article detailing continued methamphetamine problems in Iowa despite success in reducing over -the-counter sales of pseudoephedrine.

It is a detailed article with additional links.

The BBC news service reports on research from Italy linking women’s smoking with a certain type of acne. Sounds wonderful.

The International Herald Tribune has an article on the fear of creating problems by using morphine where medically indicated: “Like millions of others in the world’s poorest countries, she is fated to die in pain. She cannot get the drug she needs, one that is cheap, effective, perfectly legal for medical uses under treaties signed by virtually every country, made in large quantities, and has been around since Hippocrates praised its source – the opium poppy. She cannot get morphine.”

The New York Times reports:

“Afghanistan produced record levels of opium in 2007 for the second straight year, led by a staggering 45 percent increase in the Taliban stronghold of Helmand Province, according to a new United Nations survey to be released Monday. The report is likely to touch off renewed debate about the United States’ $600 million counternarcotics program in Afghanistan, which has been hampered by security challenges and endemic corruption within the Afghan government.”

The article does note that in non-Taliban controlled areas in the north, opium production did decrease.

The Los Angeles Times reports on the cultural distinction that is made in Bolivia between the Coca plant and its use in plant form (chewing it, etc.) and its use to produce cocaine. The farmers would like to grow more Coca, but apparently have little interest in cocaine.

“Bolivian President Evo Morales, who took office in January 2006, rose to prominence as a leader of the country’s coca producers. He has proclaimed a goal of “zero cocaine” while simultaneously exalting coca production as a linchpin of Bolivia’s social and economic identity. He favors the “industrialization” of coca for products as varied as tea, medicines and toothpaste, and is pushing to abolish international bans on export of coca products. From Morales’ viewpoint, coca is a resource to be exploited, like natural gas or minerals. He and his supporters draw a clear dividing line: The good guys are the poor cocaleros, or coca growers; the bad guys are those who use the substance to produce and transport cocaine.”

The Christian Science Monitor has an article on the new mexican President’s efforts to control drug cartels and public corruption in order to make Mexico a more appealing place to live.

“The Senate takes up “comprehensive” immigration reform again this week. But the meat’s still missing in this burrito. As Mexico’s ambassador to Washington warns, even the “rosiest, peachiest” reform in the US won’t end the flow of poor migrants. Reform must also take place in Mexico. ”

“And begun it has. ”

“For the past seven months, Mexico has been at war with itself, literally. A new president, Felipe Calderón, has dispatched 24,000 troops into battle with the most corrosive influence in Mexico’s economy: powerful drug cartels. ”

“These violent syndicates, which mainly transport drugs into the US, have exploded in the past decade. They’ve escalated crime and political corruption, hindering creation of well-paying jobs for would-be migrants. At election time, they provide cash for many campaigns.” . . .