Netherlands becoming a narco-state, warn Dutch police
Officers say many victims do not report incidents and organised gangs have a free rein
Daniel Boffey in Brussels Wed 21 Feb 2018
The Netherlands is starting to resemble a narco-state with the police unable to combat the emergence of a parallel criminal economy, a report from the Dutch police association has warned.
“Only one in nine criminal groups can be tackled with the current people and resources,” the report given to the De Telegraaf newspaper says. “Detectives see that small criminals develop into wealthy entrepreneurs who establish themselves in the hospitality industry, housing market, middle class, travel agencies.”
Critics of the Dutch gedoogbeleid (tolerance policy) towards the sale of cannabis in coffee shops, and the legal status of prostitution in the country, claim the Netherlands has been inadvertently promoted as a major hub for the trafficking of drugs and people.
A large majority of ecstasy taken in Europe and the US comes from labs in the south of the country, which are increasingly run by Moroccan gangs involved in the production of cannabis. Half of the €5.7bn a year of cocaine taken in Europecomes through the port of Rotterdam, according to Europol.
While there has been a 25% drop in the number of recorded crimes over the past nine years, to below 1m, the paper reported that 3.5m crimes go unregistered every year. The report also raised fears that the authorities were being put at “an insurmountable disadvantage”.
Amsterdam’s police chief, Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg, claimed his force was spending 60% to 70% of its time attempting to combat gang-related hit-jobs.
For complete article https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/20/netherlands-becoming-a-narco-state-warn-dutch-police
COALITION OF PARENTS, LAW ENFORCEMENT, RELIGIOUS LEADERS, AND EMPLOYERS TESTIFY AGAINST MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION AT LEGISLATIVE BLACK CAUCUS HEARING
At a hearing of the New Jersey Legislative Black Caucus, coalition members of New Jersey Responsible Approaches to Marijuana Policy (NJ-RAMP) expressed their opposition to the legalization and commercialization of recreational marijuana in New Jersey.
Parents, law enforcement professionals, religious leaders, employers, and addiction professionals offered testimony, insights and expertise on a multitude of issues including health concerns, increase in youth use, drugged driving, and arrest rates among minorities.
According to news reports, a number of legislators would rather see decriminalization than legalization in New Jersey. The Black Caucus prefers decriminalization as more helpful to minorities.
Nevada law enforcement official cite social costs and increase in crime
Todd Raybuck, a police captain in Las Vegas, Nevada, discussed the increase in crime and strengthening of the black market since recreational marijuana was legalized:
“The lure of increased tax revenue and claims of a regulated system that will eliminate the criminal element and repair historical harms to the minority community is intoxicating. Yet, as we are learning in Nevada, the financial gains from the marijuana industry do not adequately support the resources needed to control the effects of marijuana legalization. And, the promises of a regulated industry that will weed-out the illegal marijuana market and improve social conditions in disadvantaged neighborhoods are contrary to the reality.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is already seeing a negative impact on crime and the black market. In 2017, homicides related to an altercation over drugs increased 21% compared to 2016. Marijuana was the cause of the altercation in 53% of those homicides. In 2017, 58% of all drug related murders (24) involved marijuana.”
Legalizing doesn’t improve social justice issues
Will Jones, Communications Specialist for Smart Approaches to Marijuana, and a resident of Washington, DC, spoke about the false promise of social justice reform and pointed to statistics that show minority arrests related to marijuana are up in legalized states. In the two years after Colorado legalized marijuana, the number of Hispanic and Black kids arrested for marijuana-related offenses rose 29 and 58 percent, respectively. In the same period, the arrest rate for White kids committing pot offenses dropped eight percent.
“To continue to legalize and commercialize marijuana is to continue an addictive industry to profit off minorities and the marginalized. It’s time for us to wake up and realize that legalizing marijuana only reinforces the pillars of racial inequality in our country,” Jones said.
For complete article http://www.poppot.org/2018/02/22/nj-black-caucus-highlights-harms-pot/
| Democrats Forming Marijuana Legalization Consensus |
| Posted by CN Staff on February 15, 2018 at 05:45:36 PT By Tom Angell, Contributor Source: Forbes
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who signed onto the bill as a cosponsor on Wednesday and did a Facebook Live chat with Booker about it, called cannabis legalization \”a social justice issue and a moral issue that Congress needs to address.\” The vocal pro-legalization support from the two senators, who are widely considered to be weighing campaigns for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, signals that a shift toward marijuana reform advocacy that has been underway in the party for some time is elevating to a near consensus. And polling shows that Democratic voters are in support of the move. Gallup found last year that 72 percent of Democrats back marijuana legalization, and a Quinnipiac University survey last month showed that 95 percent of the party’s voters support medical cannabis. The latter poll also showed that just 12 percent of Democrats want the federal government to interfere with the implementation state marijuana laws. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, also supports legalization. The senator, who introduced legislation to deschedule marijuana during his nearly successful campaign for the party\’s 2016 presidential nomination, is reportedly considering another run in 2020. Last week, Sanders\’s campaign organization launched an online petition calling for an end to marijuana prohibition and the broader \”war on drugs. For complete story WeWantWEED |
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FEBRUARY 2018
Vaping — the act of inhaling a vaporized liquid from an electronic device — is the latest trend, and it’s alarmingly prevalent among today’s teens.
Let’s clear the air and tell you what you need to know:
VAPING IS SKYROCKETING AMONG TEENS
Nearly half of Colorado’s high school and middle school students have tried vaping, compared to about one in five who say they have smoked a cigarette or used marijuana, according to the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey. (This state data is from 2015 and vaping has become much more high profile since then.)Vaping has become such a problem that schools are sending warning messages home to parents,
particularly cautioning parents about a new discrete brand called a JUUL, which is rapidly gaining popularity.
While the JUUL delivers a strong dose of highly addictive nicotine, Pax, the company that created the JUUL, makes similar devices designed for ultra high-potency marijuana. These products look like flash drives and, one Pax review notes, “You can turn the brightness of the LED down or off for an effective ‘stealth mode.’”
KIDS CAN VAPE MANY THINGS: NICOTINE, FLAVORING, & MARIJUANA
There are hundreds of different vape products available, offering a range of ingredients including high levels of nicotine, chemical additives, flavorings and THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. This makes it hard for parents to know what kids are vaping.
Here’s what marijuana magazine High Times tells its readers: “Weed smokers have known for a while that vaping is less odorous and doesn’t linger as long as smoke from combustion methods. But now, people who want to vape weed in public can just blend in with the e-cigarette users.”
IT\’S NOT JUST HARMLESS VAPOR: A lot of teens hear and repeat myths like “it’s just water vapor” — which is not true. Even if the vape devices don’t contain nicotine or marijuana, they still have other chemicals and flavorings that have not been deemed safe for inhalation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
VAPE PRODUCTS ARE HARD TO DETECT: Not only are vape products hard to detect if you see them in your kid’s backpack, but they don’t have the same obvious odor giveaway as smoking cigarettes and marijuana. In fact, many claim you can’t tell the difference between smelling secondhand vapor that contains marijuana and vapor that does not. And vaping is so easy to conceal, kids are actually doing it in class.
VAPING IS DESIGNED TO APPEAL TO KIDS: Flavors are chosen that entice young appetites, like cookies & cream, cups o’ peanut butter and bubble gum. Stanford University compiled a startling gallery of photos comparing actual vape products to their sugar-coated candy and dessert inspirations.
Regardless of how they are ingested, nicotine and THC hurt kids’ developing brains. Vaping can provide very high concentrations of these drugs. For example, one JUUL pod has as much nicotine as a pack of cigarettes.
In our next newsletter, we’ll talk more about today’s high-potency marijuana and its risks to youth. Today’s marijuana is not what parents remember so it’s important to stay informed. This post from the Parker Police Department illustrates what we’re up against as parents.
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Produced by Smart Colorado — used with permission
SMART CO is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting the health, safety, and well-being of Colorado youth as marijuana becomes increasingly available and commercialized. Smart Colorado is a project of the Colorado Nonprofit Development Center.
To learn more about Smart Colorado, please visit: smartcolorado.org
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Alcohol and drug prevention, treatment and recovery: why invest?
Public Health England: Published 12 February 2018
Local commissioners, providers and healthcare professionals can use the ‘Why invest?’ slides to help make the case for investing in drug and alcohol treatment and interventions.
Estimates show that the social and economic costs of alcohol-related harm amount to £21.5bn, while harm from illicit drug use costs £10.7bn. These include costs associated with deaths, the NHS, crime and, in the case of alcohol, lost productivity.
Providing well-funded drug and alcohol services is good value for money because it cuts crime, improves health, and can support individuals and families on the road to recovery.
Local authorities and clinical commissioning groups are responsible for planning and funding alcohol and drug treatment and prevention services. Information about local specialist services in each area is available on the FRANK website.
The ‘Why invest?’ slides with notes and references can be downloaded from box.com. They can be used individually or as a complete set of 32 slides.
For complete report https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alcohol-and-drug-prevention-treatment-and-recovery-why-invest/alcohol-and-drug-prevention-treatment-and-recovery-why-invest
POT KILLS: WHAT’S ON YOUR POT? WHAT’S IN YOUR WATER?
11/2/2018
The Marijuana Environment is Hazardous to Human Health
All creatures great and small are being poisoned by the pesticides and rodenticides in the water they drink, and in the food they eat. This polluted water from the northern California marijuana environment eventually flows to much of the State. The lawless pot industry is nothing less than purveyors of poison.
The recent scientific study “Cultivating Disaster: The Effect of Cannabis Cultivation on the Environment of Calaveras County,” points out that the cultivation of the drug was allowed by the State of California without adequate understanding of the impact on the environment and public health, welfare and safety. The chemicals that flow from the grow sites to the watershed had never been approved for these crops.
California classifies as an agricultural product. However, pot growers do not have to meet the same stringent requirements for chemicals and fertilizers as do all other farmers. Local water providers conduct limited testing to see if dangerous chemicals are leaching into water supplies or waste treatment systems.
However, independent water experts tested water samples in Calaveras County. They found that two-thirds of the samples contained chemicals proven to be deadly poison to humans, fish and animals.
Carbofuron is a threat
Of particular concern is carbofuron, an extremely toxic, water soluble granular pesticide. The US bans banned carbufuron, but Mexican cartels don’t follow the US ban. It is reported that an eighth of a teaspoon would kill a 300 lb black bear.
In 2017, UC Davis researchers found harmful bacteria and deadly mold and Aspergillus fungi on marijuana in grows and dispensaries. This critical threat from marijuana grows to our environment and the human population is just beginning to surface.
The damaging effects of marijuana (cannabis), often considered a hallucinogenic drug, have long been known. Marijuana with high levels of THC, the mind-altering chemical in marijuana, is being grown and sold today as a “medicine.” It is long-acting and addictive, causing brain damage, loss of intellect, psychotic breaks, suicides, mental illness, and birth defects and leads to other social costs from higher crime rates, highway deaths, excessive high school dropouts, and increased ER admissions, among others.
This lawless Big Marijuana Industry follows the playbook of Big Tobacco: GET KIDS HOOKED — ADDICTION OFTEN FOLLOWS. Their advertisements include images of Santa Claus, kids’ movies and cartoons, and they sell “edibles,” pot infused candy, lollipops and gummy bears with THC levels 50-70%. Many products are advertised as being 94-95% THC. Now there is crystalline THC that is 99.99% THC, known as “the strongest weed in the world.” Unfortunately, the public perception of marijuana is based on marijuana of the past — with 1- 5% THC.
For complete article http://www.stoppot.org/2018/02/11/pot-kills-whats-pot-whats-water/
Marijuana sales overtake alcohol in US city for first time
Friday 9 February 2018
Licensed vendors in Rocky Mountains ski resort Aspen made $11.3m (£8.2m) from selling cannabis in 2017
Sales of marijuana have overtaken alcohol in a city in Colorado, three years after the state became the first in the US to legalise recreational use of the drug.
Licensed vendors in the ski resort of Aspen raked in $11.3m (£8.2m) income from cannabis last year, compared to $10.5m (£7.6m) brought in by off-licences.
It is believed to be the first time legal marijuana sales have eclipsed those of alcohol anywhere in the US.
The US state growing three times more cannabis than it can consume
Aspen’s first cannabis shop opened in March 2014, three months after legislation for taxing and regulating sales came into force across Colorado. By the next year the resort, which has a population of less than 7,000, had seven licensed distributors.