Difference In Drug Use Trends In Canada V. United States

"Canada-United States Border Drug Threat Assessment." Public Safety Canada. Oct. 2004. 15 Feb. 2008 <http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/prg/le/bs/uscabdta-en.asp>.

Canada and the United States are firmly committed to the fight against illicit drugs and their two-way movement across our shared border. The strong relationship between our two governments, and in particular, our respective law enforcement agencies on this issue is a model of international cooperation. Traffickers of each of the illicit substances can be individuals, but are increasingly part of organized crime groups. Smugglers use a variety of conveyances, from personal vehicles to watercraft to commercial aircraft in order to transport illicit drugs in both directions across our shared border. The problem of illicit drugs and their smuggling across our shared border will persist, as will the need for our countries to work together to combat it. Continual improvements in cooperation and information-exchange between U.S. and Canadian law enforcement authorities will be essential in combating this mutual threat.

Cole, J. C., Bailey, M., Sumnall, H. R., Wagstaff, G. F., & King, L. A. (2002). The content of ecstasy tablets: Implications for the study of their long-term effects. Addiction, 97(12), 1531вЂ"1536.

The aim is to examine the variation in the content of ecstasy tablets seized in the northwest of England during 2001 and to compare it to the UK average from 1991 to 2001. All tablets submitted to the Forensic Science Service in the northwest of England during 2001 were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD). The mean MDMA content of these tablets are reported and compared to results from all Forensic Science Service laboratories in the United Kingdom from 1991 to 2001. Multiple samples (n = 80) from a single large seizure of White Dove tablets were analyzed to determine the variation due to manufacturing. Findings: All tablets submitted from the northwest of England to the Forensic Science Service in 2001 were found to contain 3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and some also contained 3, 4-methylenedioxyethamphetamine (MDEA). The MDMA content of these tablets ranged from 20 to 109 mg, and the mean was in the 60-69 mg range. Mitsubishi tablets were the most common type and they were found across the whole range. The low variation of MDMA content in the White Dove tablets suggests that these tablets were well manufactured. The data from the northwest of England in 2001 are in agreement with tablet analyses over the past 10 years, which show that the average MDMA content is falling. The amount of MDMA in ecstasy tablets is axiomatic to the discussion of their long-term effects. In order for the observed differences in ecstasy users to be the result of MDMA-induced neurotoxicity, it is necessary for them to have ingested one or more neurotoxic doses. These data indicate that the amount of MDMA in ecstasy tablets is dropping and that dose-effect relationships need to take this into account.

Godshaw, Gerald. Anti-Drug Law Enforcement Efforts and Their Impact [Microform]. Washington DC: The Service: Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O., 1987. iii-136.

This microfiche basically describes the anti-drug plan in the United States. It goes over how law enforcement is making an effort to try and stop the drug usage problem or reduce it. It also talks about the impact that law enforcement has made so far with the anti-drug enforcement.

James E. Gierach, An Economic Attack On Illicit Drugs, 79 May ABA J. 95, (1993).

Mr. Gierach persuasively argues that America has lost the war on drugs under the current strategy and a new policy must be devised and focused on economic principals and medical realities. This new approach must be a compromise position between the extremes of tough law enforcement and legalization, and should be directed toward eliminating the social harm created by drugs. Since profits drive the drug business, drug trade can ONLY be successfully attacked economically. One approach to breaking the cycle is by drawing addicts away from drug pushers and leading them into the hands of medical providers. According to the author, "the addict must have an alternative other than crime to obtain the drug of their addiction." Instead of destroying confiscated street drugs, we should steal them, test them at law enforcement labs and distribute them free of charge to addicts. It is the job of the medical community, rather than law enforcement, to address the problem of addiction. A Law and Order approach to solving the war on drugs is a "mission impossible."

Lankenau, S., & Clatts, M. (2005). Patterns of polydrug use among ketamine injectors in New York City. Substance Use & Misuse, 40(9/10), 1381вЂ"1397.

Polydrug use is an important public health issue since it has been linked to significant adverse health outcomes. Recently, club drugs, including ketamine and other drugs used in dance/rave scenes, have been identified as key substances in new types of polydrug using patterns. While seemingly a self-explanatory concept, “polydrug” use constitutes multiple drug using practices that may impact upon health risks. Ketamine, a club drug commonly administered intranasally among youth for its disassociative properties, has emerged as a drug increasingly prevalent among a new hidden population of injection drug users (IDUs). Using an ethno-epidemiological methodology, we interviewed 40 young (<25 years old) ketamine injectors in New York during 2000-2002 to describe the potential health risks associated with ketamine and polydrug use. Findings indicate that ketamine was typically injected or sniffed in the context of a polydrug using event. Marijuana, alcohol, PCP, and speed were among the most commonly used drugs during recent ketamine using events. Polydrug using events were often quite variable regarding the sequencing of drug use, the drug combinations consumed, the forms of the drug utilized, and the modes of administrating the drug combinations. Future research should be directed towards developing a more comprehensive description of the risks associated with combining ketamine with other drugs, such as drug overdoses, the transmission of bloodborne pathogens, such as HIV and HCV, the short- and long-term effects of drug combinations on cognitive functioning, and other unanticipated consequences associated with polydrug use.

Leduc, Diane, and James Lee, comps. "ILLEGAL DRUGS AND DRUG TRAFFICKING." Parliamentary