UK

  • uk heroin injectingPeople caught with Class A drugs in Scotland could be given a police warning instead of facing prosecution. Officers can already issue a formal warning for possession of lower category drugs. Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain told MSPs this would now include Class A drugs in a bid to address the underlying causes of Scotland's drugs death crisis. The Conservatives said the move amounts to "de facto decriminalisation" of deadly substances. Ms Bain insisted this was not the case, adding that there is "no one size fits all" response to drug addiction and that every case should be judged individually. (See also: Warnings for Class A drugs is good step but there's still more to do)

  • ecstasy labWe want to understand why MDMA is today so cheap, so pure, and so abundant across the UK and the EU. Since 2012, pills have doubled or tripled in strength and now have to be taken in halves if you want to remember your night – or to survive it. There were 65 MDMA-related deaths in 2016 – a fivefold increase from the 13 recorded by the Office for National Statistics in 2011. On dark web markets, prices for kilogrammes of MDMA are now £5,000; 10 years ago it was £30–40K. MDMA used to sell at street level for £60/gramme; now it can be bought for £30. The chemical we’ll buy, PMK-glycidate, caused these changes, as it is being used to make MDMA on an unprecedented, industrial scale.

  • uk cannabis debate esCanada was once the centre of a gold rush, but now a "green rush" for cannabis is setting stock markets alight. As the world's most progressive country on cannabis legislation, Canada has become the centre of a weed investment boom that has caught the eye of entrepreneurs across the globe. Canadian cannabis companies have the lowest cost of capital in the world, because they have a monopoly on the billions chasing the industry. Legalising cannabis has helped Canada gain "first mover" status in the burgeoning industry and now some are asking whether London should follow suit and steal a lead over European rivals such as Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Lisbon and Berlin.

  • uk heroin injectingScotland has the highest rate of drug-related deaths in Europe and the numbers are continuing to rise at an alarming speed. Both the Scottish government and the UK government are holding summits in Glasgow this week to discuss how they can tackle the drugs death crisis. Plans for drug consumption rooms to get addicts off the streets have been called a "distraction" by the UK government minister for crime. Glasgow's plan for a special facility to allow users to take their own drugs under medical supervision are backed by the Scottish government. But drug legislation is reserved to the Westminster government. (See also: Bring ex-addicts on board to tackle drug deaths crisis, say experts)

  • dispenserooCannabis dealers who stuck hundreds of unauthorised adverts on London's Tube trains say they are now swamped with orders and have more guerrilla marketing tactics up their sleeve. Dispenseroo, a cannabis selling start-up which mimics the branding of online food delivery giant Deliveroo, said over the last three weeks it had put up 2,500 adverts on London Underground trains. The posters, which were clipped or glued into advert panels by 10 workers employed via job site Gumtree, said: “Do you love 🍃? Use code ‘tube’ for £5 off,” alongside the Dispenseroo hashtag. Transport for London confirmed the posters were unauthorised and said it was removing any found on the network.

  • Western European harm reduction presents an interesting paradox. On the one hand, the widespread availability of effective harm reduction programs is laudable. Drug-related disease rates are low. Overdose rates are low. A variety of treatment options, from abstinence to methadone to prescription heroin, are available in many areas at no cost. Integrated care models⁠—ones that recognize the complex stew of social, economic, psychological and familial circumstances that contribute to problematic drug use⁠—are common. Gone are the days of begging for funding scraps to support a meager staff. But these far-reaching successes have come at a price. (See also:Where have all the activists gone?)

  • afghanistan opium harvestA perfect storm of conditions over the last decade led to the current fentanyl epidemic in the US. It began with rising social deprivation and excessive opioid prescribing by doctors, leading to mounting addiction. Then came a crackdown on over-prescribing and a surge in demand for street heroin, which at the time happened to be poor quality and in short supply. In order to meet demand, heroin suppliers were boosted with the addition of fentanyl imported from China. Apart from its better management of prescription drugs, perhaps Europe's unsuspecting saviour from fentanyl is its historical nemesis, Afghanistan. Unlike in the US, regional heroin distributors in Europe have had a stable supply of high purity, low-cost heroin for nine years running.

  • gdpi logoThe Home Office should climb off its “high horse of oppression and prohibition” and stop pursuing the “fantasy” of a drug-free society, the chair of an influential international consortium on drug policy has said. As a new Global Drug Policy Index is set to rank each country’s approach to tackling narcotics, former New Zealand prime minister and chair of the Global Commission on Drug Policy,Helen Clark, said that the UK was fixated with a “self-defeating” strategy to the issue that bred misery. Clark also said that the Home Office’s approach to drug policy meant it deterred police and crime commissioners in England and Wales who might otherwise advocate for a more liberal strategy.