anthrax-infected heroin health scare which has seen seven people die in Scotland so far with another 14 hospitalised

08:43 anthrax-infected heroin , anthrax-infected heroin health scare which has seen seven people die in Scotland so far with another 14 hospitalised 0 Comments

health scare which has seen seven people die in Scotland so far with another 14 hospitalised, yet there is no panic in the streets, few headlines and little fearful talk in homes or in offices.The reason for the silence? The victims are all drug addicts, a faceless heroin-injecting underclass, who few care about. In the last month, anthrax-infected heroin has killed four people in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area, two in Tayside and one in the Forth Valley.Although it’s likely that the heroin was infected with anthrax somewhere en route from the poppy fields of Afghanistan, there is no way that police and medics can rule out that the drug was deliberately infected once it arrived in the UK.The big problem facing police and doctors struggling to deal with the anthrax scare is that they just don’t know how, where, when, why or at whose hands the heroin became contaminatedWas it as a result of the heroin accidentally coming into contact with infected farm material while being stored or in transit from the Middle East to Britain? Was it because a middle man unwittingly used a contaminated bulking agent? Was it done maliciously? And if so, by whom? A callous dealer? Someone targeting Glasgow’s junkies? Even the most far-fetched theories can’t be ruled out.
Users are concerned, but not concerned enough to stop using Patricia Tracey
The country’s leading microbiologist, Professor Hugh Pennington, points to the distinct possibility of the anthrax coming into contact with the heroin in the country of origin, yet he also believes that it is possible that the

anthrax could have been maliciously added to the heroin inside Britain.

“In the UK there used to be problem with anthrax-infected imports, particularly wool from areas east of Turkey,” he said. “It is no great surprise that it would be prevalent around the areas in Afghanistan where heroin is processed. You can’t completely rule out maliciousness as theoretically – people would be able to get hold of anthrax in the UK, although you’d need a specialist microbiological knowledge to do so.”Police are investigating the labyrinthine heroin supply chain, hoping that if they identify the source of the infection, they will be able to stop further deaths. Find the supplier, the theory goes, and you find and therefore save the customers. But the shadowy drug routes from Afghanistan to Scotland are difficult to trace and health officials are braced for more anthrax cases.
Some of the main theories about how anthrax spores came to contaminate the heroin, include the possibility that bonemeal, which is sometimes used to cut – ie, bulk up – heroin batches came from diseased animals. Another theory suggests that the equipment used to manufacture the drug was contaminated. Some peasant producers mix raw opium with water and chemicals in an oil barrel before heating the mixture over a large fire. These barrels may have previously been used to carry diseased meat, cattle feed or even manure.Professor Graeme Pearson is a former director general of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA), the country’s leading crime-fighting unit, and is now with Glasgow University’s Unit for the Study of Serious Organised Crime. He has investigated the heroin production process and says he is surprised infections are so rare.
He said: “I’ve seen videos of heroin production and it’s a horrible and unhygienic process. It’s surprising that this doesn’t happen more often.”Anthrax exists as small, hardy spores that can lay dormant for up to 100 years. If these spores are breathed in, eaten or come into contact with skin, they cause an infection.
Dr Colin Ramsay, consultant eEpidemiologist at Health Protection Scotland, has been following the anthrax infections ever since the first victim was identified.
He said:

“The current hypothesis remains that the anthrax cases are linked to contamination of either heroin or a cutting agent.”

While the police and medics remain temporarily at a loss, it may be thought that Scotland’s addicts themselves might be doing something to save themselves from infection. Sadly, that is far from the case.Heroin addicts, experts warn, are too in thrall to their next fix to heed the risks of shooting up with anthrax-infected heroin.Patricia Tracey, from Glasgow Drug Crisis Centre, claimed that it was “unrealistic” to expect addicts to listen to public health warnings. “Users are concerned, but not concerned enough to stop using,” she warned.The recent deaths have exposed the flaws in the Scottish Government’s drugs policy, Jolene Crawford, the head of pressure group Transform Drug Policy Foundation Scotland, claimed.She said: “If it was contaminated beer that was killing these people there would be uproar. But there is no outrage.“It is accepted that some heroin will be lethal because by prohibiting it we gift control to criminals. Were opium and heroin to be legally available via regulated pharmacies and doctors’ surgeries, we would not have to see our children, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters die unnecessarily in this way.”

SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport views the admission of guilt of Bulls and Springbok rugby player, Pedrie Wannenburg, to the use and abuse of cocaine

15:08 Pedrie Wannenburg , SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport views the admission of guilt of Bulls and Springbok rugby player , to the use and abuse of cocaine 0 Comments

"The SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport views the admission of guilt of Bulls and Springbok rugby player, Pedrie Wannenburg, to the use and abuse of cocaine, ecstasy and alcohol as a serious substance abuse and addiction issue rather than a performance enhancing issue. "We trust the strategy employed by the Bulls management as one of compassion where they sought to address Pedrie Wannenburg’s drug problem with counselling and empathy. "Mr Wannenburg admitted to the abuse of alcohol, cocaine and ecstasy while partying. Although alcohol is not banned in rugby, cocaine and ecstasy are banned during competition under the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) 2010 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods in Sport. "Generally stimulants such as cocaine and ecstasy stay in the body for a few hours before it is completely metabolised and excreted. "Hence, although Pedrie Wannenburg was tested after a rugby match by the Institute for Drug-Free Sport in February and May of 2009, he tested negative for these substances on both occasions. "The selection of Mr Wannenburg for drug testing after these matches was based on a random “blind” selection by the respective team managers. "Many lessons have been learnt during this saga and Drug-Free Sport would like to further encourage sports bodies to work with us in not only combating doping in sport but also in addressing the growing trend of substance abuse and addiction among sports participants.

"

Our top athletes are not immune to the negative influences of recreational drug use.

"We view with alarm the increasing prevalence of drug abuse with drugs such as cocaine, ecstasy and methamphetamine (tik) among young people and athletes.

"The South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport is the custodian of ensuring a drug-free sport environment in the country. Our anti-doping education programs focus on the dangers of drugs and developing decision-making skills among young people and athletes to make the correct choices."

new study published in the journal Science offers new insight into the mechanism behind cocaine’s addictiveness.

15:05 new study published in the journal Science offers new insight into the mechanism behind cocaine’s addictiveness. 0 Comments

new study published in the journal Science offers new insight into the mechanism behind cocaine’s addictiveness. The research, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), points to an epigenetic mechanism of the brain to explain cocaine's addictive effect. Epigenetics is a fairly new avenue of scientific research which looks at changes to gene expression. Such changes are believed to be triggered by environmental factors, such as diet, drugs and toxins.

In the study, researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine gave a group of mice repeated doses of cocaine. Another group receieved saline doses with a final dose of cocaine. The intent was to see how the effects of repeated exposure to cocaine differs from one-time exposure. The researchers found that cocaine alters pleasure circuits in the brain by repressing the G9A enzyme, an important regulator of epigenetic control of gene expression. When the researchers reversed the effect, they were able to block the changes in gene expression and prevent the urge for cocaine.

Researchers hope the discovery may lead to more effective cures for cocaine addiction and perhaps even other substances.

Cocaine was responsible for more than 3 percent of all sudden deaths

14:38 Cocaine was responsible for more than 3 percent of all sudden deaths 0 Comments

Cocaine was responsible for more than 3 percent of all sudden deaths in a Spanish study signaling that no amount of the recreational drug, however small, is safe.
Researchers performed forensic autopsies on 668 people who died suddenly between November 2003 and June 2006 in Seville. Cocaine was detected in 21 of the corpses, all of which were male age 21 years to 45 years, according to the report published today in the European Heart Journal. Most died from heart attacks or other cardiovascular complications.The results can be extrapolated to other parts of Europe, where cocaine consumption is a growing public health problem, said the researchers led by Joaquin Lucena, who is the head of forensic pathology at the Institute of Legal Medicine in Seville. The number of Europeans abusing cocaine has increased to 12 million in the past two decades, making it the second-most widely used drug after marijuana, the researchers said.“Our findings show that cocaine use causes adverse changes to the heart and arteries that then lead to sudden death,” particularly when combined with smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol, Lucena said. “The combination of cocaine with either or both of these habits can be considered as a lethal cocktail that promotes the development of premature heart disease.”More than half of the cocaine-related deaths occurred during the weekend, suggesting the men were recreational rather than chronic users of the drug, said Richard Lange and David Hillis, from the University of Texas Health Science Center. A wide range of cocaine levels were found in the men’s bodies, indicating it can be dangerous even at low doses.“The notion that recreational cocaine use is ‘safe’ should be dispelled, since even small amounts may have catastrophic consequences, including sudden death,” Lange and Hillis wrote in an editorial that accompanied the study.

Four men - caught by police during an undercover operation transferring £2 million worth of cannabis in an underground garage

14:11 Four men - caught by police during an undercover operation transferring £2 million worth of cannabis in an underground garage 0 Comments

Four men - caught by police during an undercover operation transferring £2 million worth of cannabis in an underground garage – have been caged for plotting to supply the drug.Surveillance officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Serious and Organised Crime Command watched the handover in Kilburn Park Road, Kilburn, on May 7, last year and seized 600 kg. of cannabis stuffed into 61 boxes.


The four are: Shopkeeper Hamid Charkaoui, 31, of Colville Terrace, Notting Hill, (pic. l.) Delivery driver Fouad Raihani, 34, of Galsworth Court, Bollo Bridge Road, Acton, (pic. 2nd l.) Jobless Paul Mottley, 26, of Salutation Street, Manchester, (pic. 3rd l.) and jobless Dawood Ahmad, 25, of Park Mews, Park Drive, Manchester, (pic. 4th l.). Charkaoui, sentenced to seven-and-a-half years and Raihani, sentenced to five years, were watched unloading the boxes from their van for collection by Mottley, who received five years and Ahmad, sentenced to three-and-a-half years.Officers moved in as the Londoners loaded up the Manchester duo’s van and arrested all four men, seizing the cannabis (pic. r.) stored in heat-sealed clear plastic bags.Police searched six address, including Charkaoui’s uncle’s property in Ebbsfleet Road, Cricklewood, where they found 6 kg of amphetamine, 29 cellophane wrapped packages of cannabis and a money counting machine.The other searches uncovered £11,000 cash, a heat-sealing machine, a roll of heat-seal plastic and 19 rounds of ammunition. On May 19 mini-cab driver El-Hosain Charkaoui, 49, was arrested on his return from Spain and initially denied knowing anything about the drugs at his home in Ebbsfleet Road, but received eighteen months after admitting his role in the plot.
Detective Inspector Marion Ryan of the Serious and Organised Crime Command said: "This was a significant haul of cannabis that we have successfully removed from circulation. “Today's sentencing is testament to how seriously the criminal justice system takes this class B drug."

increase in the number of sudden deaths among 21 to 45 year olds in Spain is being blamed on cocaine.

13:59 increase in the number of sudden deaths among 21 to 45 year olds in Spain is being blamed on cocaine. 0 Comments

A team of Andaulcian scientists, led by Joaquín Lucena at the Legal Medicine Institute in Sevilla, has concluded after studying 2,477 autopsies that 3% of such deaths are caused by cocaine use. The drug can lead to heart attacks and also premature coronary atherosclerosis. Their research showed that of the 668 cases of cardiovascular sudden death, 21 cases showed cocaine use.

El Mundo reports that 7% of the national population uses the drug, most of the users are aged 15 to 34, and experts say users continue to think the drug is harmless.

An article on the subject has been printed in the European Heart Journal which also quotes the research of two top scientists from the University of Texas in the field. It says that cocaine abuse is an increasing and under estimated European public health problem.

prisoner Renae Lawrence has made a fresh confession about her role in heroin smuggling in an effort to prevent the execution of Scott Rush

19:51 prisoner Renae Lawrence has made a fresh confession about her role in heroin smuggling in an effort to prevent the execution of Scott Rush 0 Comments

prisoner Renae Lawrence has made a fresh confession about her role in heroin smuggling in an effort to prevent the execution of Scott Rush, the youngest of the nine Australians arrested in Bali in 2005.Lawrence's testimony at Rush's final appeal that she made multiple courier runs to Bali will help lawyers argue that his death sentence is unjust under Indonesian law, because lighter sentences were given to other members of the group (pictured).Although Lawrence had made 2 drug runs to Bali before her arrest in 2005, she received a 20-year sentence, the least severe punishment imposed on any of the 9 Australians.19-year-old Rush was making his 1st overseas trip when 3.4 kilograms of heroin was found strapped to his body at Denpasar airport in April 2005.He had no knowledge of the extent of the drug syndicate that recruited him and, after initial denials, confessed his guilt and pleaded for mercy.His death sentence has attracted controversy because Australian Federal Police reneged on a promise to his father, Lee Rush, to stop the then teenager travelling to Bali. Instead, the police steered him into a trap knowing he could face execution under Indonesia's drug laws.Rush and the group's convicted ringleaders, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, are the only members of the group who have been sentenced to death and are awaiting final appeals while on death row in Bali's Kerobokan jail.The other 6, including Lawrence, are serving jail terms.Lawrence told Indonesian police after her arrest in 2005 that she travelled to Bali in October the previous year with Chan and that Sukumaran had strapped the pair with heroin, which they took back to Australia.She also told police of a trip to Bali in December 2004 that was aborted because of difficulty obtaining money to buy the drugs.But during her trial, Lawrence withdrew her police statements and was not questioned at length about them.The Age has learned Lawrence has given a new statement to Rush's lawyers and is prepared to testify if asked to do so by a panel of Supreme Court judges set to consider Rush's appeal, which could begin in early AprilLawrence's drug run in October 2004 and attempted run three months later were confirmed during the trials of three of the syndicate's other drug ''mules'' in Brisbane in December 2008.



Rush was initially sentenced to life imprisonment - but in a shock judgment, the sentence was increased to death on appeal in the Supreme Court in 2006.



In the same court, fellow couriers Martin Stephens and Michael Czugaj had life sentences upheld.



The differing appeal sentences were imposed on the basis of the same evidence heard by different judges.



Prosecutors had never asked for the death sentence for Rush. Under Indonesian law there is no automatic requirement for findings in different courts to match, nor for the ruling of a superior court to be followed automatically by a lower court.



But Rush's lawyers can point to sentencing inconsistencies in a motion for reconsideration at the appeal.



They are expected to ask the appeal judges to look at all the ''Bali 9'' cases and argue that for the sentences to be uniform, Rush should not be executed.



In 2008, the retiring head of Indonesia's Supreme Court, Bagir Manan, was quoted as saying he expected the apparent injustice of Rush's sentence to be considered at the final appeal.



If final appeals by Rush, Chan and Sukumaran fail, their last option is to seek clemency from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who has shown little mercy to those convicted of narcotics crimes since he took office in 2004.



Rush's lawyers are expected to file his appeal before those of Chan and Sukumaran.



Rush says he was living a teenager's ''party life'' in Brisbane with Czugaj, his schoolmate, when they were offered all-expenses-paid trips to Bali in 2005.



During their eight-day stay in Bali, Chan and Sukumaran demanded they carry packages back to Australia, for which they would be paid $5000 each. They were told their families would be killed if they did not follow

instructions. After they were detained at Denpasar airport, they were escorted to a room where they saw 2 other distressed Australians they had never seen before who had also been caught trying to carry drugs to Sydney. They turned out to be Martin Stephens and the woman whose testimony might now save Rush's life, Renae Lawrence.



Lawrence, then 29, from Newcastle, feared she faced life in jail as she pleaded for mercy at her trial in 2006. Her lawyers were surprised and relieved when she was sentenced to 20 years.



Following controversy over the AFP's role in Rush's arrest, the Rudd Government last month issued guidelines stipulating that police consider a suspect's age, nationality and whether capital punishment is likely when co-operating with foreign countries.



The organisers and financiers of the heroin to be smuggled by the Bali 9 have never been arrested.



It has never been explained how a Thai woman named Cherry Likit Bannakorn twice managed to remain unnoticed as she delivered the heroin to Chan in the middle of a police surveillance operation instigated by the AFP.



Federal MPs on both sides are pushing to pass laws early this year to entrench Australia's opposition to the death penalty.