Today, research was presented that shows that adolescents who use marijuana may be at greater risk for developing schizophrenia, once again confirming youth marijuana use is risky and can lead to serious consequences, including mental health problems. Researchers have long known that marijuana use has been associated with psychopathology. In the past decade, research on the psychiatric implications of the drug has increased dramatically—this new research adds to the growing body of evidence that regular marijuana use can not only aggravate already existing mental illness, but that it may precede, or act as a catalyst, in mental health problems, including depression, suicidal thoughts and schizophrenia.

In the study, [diffusion tensor imaging] DTI was performed on 12 healthy, early adolescent males compared with 12 late adolescent males to show normal human brain development; 11 schizophrenic patients compared with 17 matched controls; 15 schizophrenic patients who smoke marijuana compared with 17 matched controls; and 15 marijuana smokers compared with 15 matched non-drug users. The scans revealed no abnormal developmental changes in the language pathway in the healthy adolescents, but showed abnormalities in both the marijuana users and schizophrenic patients.

View the full press release.

Read the Reuters story.

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Owners of so-called "head shops" often sell pipes, bongs, growing equipment and other items intended specifically for illegal drug use. The good news is that fewer law enforcement agencies and prosecutors are looking the other way when it comes to these illegal acts. Last year, a series of businesses and owners which profited off of the illegal drug trade were prosecuted for selling drug paraphernalia. The latest closings have occurred in Montana:

"MISSOULA (AP)—The owners of five pipe and tobacco accessory shops in Montana were indicted this month for allegedly distributing drug paraphernalia.

In May, Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided The Vault in Missoula, The Grateful Shed in Bozeman and three other shops in Kalispell, Great Falls and Billings. The names of the other shops were not released, and their indictments are sealed.

The agents seized pipes, cash, clothing and business records, forcing at least one of the shops to close."

Read the whole AP story here. Fewer of these shops means less accessibility to drug paraphernalia for young people. Contact law enforcement in your town if you're concerned about drug paraphernalia being sold in your community.

"WASHINGTON, November 25 (SANA)—The amount of land being used to grow opium poppies in Afghanistan has been cut by almost a half over the past year but remains a threat to the country's security, the US government said.

The 107,400 hectares (265,275 acres) of land being cultivated for opium poppies was about 48 percent down on the 2004 level, said a White House report."

Read the rest of the story here.

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A day after some naysayers of anti-drug progress in Afghanistan suggested progress can't be made in reducing the illicit poppy crop, we have a new report showing that poppy cultivation is down by 48 percent since 2004. Here's an excerpt from our announcement showing the dramatic progress in reducing the raw ingredient for heroin:

"The annual U.S. Government estimate for opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan is complete and shows that approximately 107,400 hectares of poppy were cultivated during the crop season in 2005—a decline of 48 percent over the 2004 level.

The drop in poppy planting was widespread, including reductions in 19 of Afghanistan’s 26 poppy growing provinces. The reduction in cultivation is attributable to several factors including voluntary restraint by farmers.

“The news that poppy cultivation has been cut in half is welcome indeed,” said John Walters, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). “Continued reductions will be needed to reduce Afghanistan’s drug trade to a level where it does not pose a threat to that nation’s internal stability.”

“Even with these significant reductions in poppy cultivation, the overall scope of the drug threat in Afghanistan remains unacceptably high. Building on these results will continue to require enormous political and administrative efforts, which we support. We look forward to working with the Government of Afghanistan to strengthen its ability to combat this dangerous threat,” Walters said.

Read the whole press release. Watch ads illustrating the links between drug money to terrorism

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News coverage from last week's announcement continued over the weekend along with a great Op-Ed in El Tiempo, Colombia's largest newspaper. President Uribe also hailed the announcement:

"MEDELLIN (EFE)—Colombian President Alvaro Uribe hailed as “good news” recent statements by U.S. drug czar John Walters concerning victories achieved in the war on drugs. Walters said Thursday that anti-drug operations in Colombia between February and September had caused the price of cocaine in the United States to rise by 19 percent and the purity of the drug to diminish by 15 percent."

Read the whole EFE wire story here.

While drug legalizers are working in Denver to make more drugs available, others are working to make the problem smaller and to save lives. Here's a touching story from the Rocky Mountain News which highlights a successful Denver drug court program that is working to give drug addicted prostitutes a second chance at life.

"Life sometimes gives you second chances. This is my second chance, and I couldn't ask for anything better."

Less than a year ago, chances are what Priest would have been asking for was crack cocaine, her drug of addiction—the drug she thought she had conquered after five years of sobriety and productivity. But when her life began to disassemble, Priest found herself plummeting back toward bad habits, bad people, back toward a "crazy living hell."

Then, last February, she found herself back before the court on charges of prostitution. She had been there before, so many times, in fact, that "I don't know the number."

But this time it was different. This time she was offered the chance to have the prostitution charge thrown out. All she had to do was enroll in the Chrysalis Project.

Funded with a $450,000, three- year U.S. Department of Justice grant, the program is a public-private collaboration that focuses on prostitutes with substance-dependency issues. Offering mental health services along with classes in daily living skills and self-esteem, Chrysalis tries to help its participants make a U-turn on their road to self-destruction.

Read the whole story here.

Reuters reports on Director Walters' press conference yesterday about the increase in the cost of cocaine on U.S. streets.

Click here to view the slides. The slide show is also available in PowerPoint.

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Over the past several years, critics of Plan Colombia and international anti-drug action have made claims that reducing the availability and purity of cocaine and other drugs on US streets is impossible. Today, Director Walters released new data showing significant changes in the price and purity of cocaine and heroin on U.S. streets. At the street level, the price of cocaine has increased by 19 percent between February and September of this year. The purity has decreased by 15 percent in the same period of time.

As mentioned in an earlier post, heroin purity has declined 22 percent between 2003 and 2004, with an increase of 30 percent in price.

Yet another indication that Plan Colombia and our balanced efforts against the international drug problem are making the problem smaller.

Canines risk their lives everyday protecting Americans from illegal drugs that are smuggled into our nation and into our communities. Drago, a narcotics canine based in Collier County Florida, retired this week after a successful career of seizing drugs from criminals. Drago seized over $18 million in narcotics over his 12 year career with the Collier County Sheriffs office. The Naples Sun Times has the story:

"The Collier County Sheriff's Office recently retired one of its hardest working members in the war against drugs: Narcotics Canine Drago. In his long service to the department, Drago seized over $18-million in contraband.

Sgt. Cliff Deutsch of Special Operations is Drago's handler. He was emotional when talking about finally ending his 12 plus year partnership with Drago. "(I) spend 24 hours a day, seven days a week with him. He's part of the family. In fact, he was there before I even had a family."

Drago is a black German Shepherd, who started his career in 1994. Since then, the two have merited many distinctions and awards, including classification as expert witnesses for court purposes in narcotic interdiction and identification.

Of Drago's retirement, Sgt. Deutsch said, "He's served the community well. I know he's saved many lives by his drug seizures. He deserves it." He will live with the sergeant and his family."

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Yesterday, Director Walters and the Partnership for a Drug Free America launched a new ad campaign designed to bring communities together to fight the threat of methamphetamine. The announcement took place at a drug court in Springfield and was covered, among others, by the Associated Press:

"Hoping to encourage neighbors and communities to help in the fight against methamphetamine, the nation's drug czar launched an ad campaign Monday warning that the secondhand effects of meth labs can ruin the health of non-users.

The 30-second public service announcements will start running on television in Springfield—the third-largest city in a state that leads the nation in illegal meth lab seizures—and will go to 22 other cities in coming weeks, in a campaign run jointly with the Partnership for a Drug Free America.

It comes as the Bush administration and many states are stepping up efforts to stop the spread of meth, an addictive stimulant that can be prepared or "cooked" in makeshift labs with over-the-counter cold tablets and common household chemicals."

To learn more about the campaign visit http://www.drugfree.org/Meth or www.MethResources.gov. The DEA also assisted with the meth launch by providing valuable information for the success of the launch. The DEA has also recently launched www.JustThinkTwice.com for young people interested in learning more about the harm of meth.

NewScientist.com today reported that a new study in rats reveals ecstasy causes the reduction in the brain’s defenses opening the brain up to viruses and other pathogens. Research and science continue to confirm the harmful effects of drug use on the brain.

“The researchers behind the study warn of "clinical considerations which may apply to the treatment of people who abuse MDMA". For example, anesthetics could find it easier to penetrate the brain, "greatly increasing the risk of unwanted sedation". And they say infections could cause permanent damage to brain cells or alter the ability of the brain to function normally.”

Officials in Alameda County are working to protect the public health of its citizens. The Oakland Tribune reports

"Jack Frost soon may be nipping at your nose, minus much of the sweet odor of marijuana sold at the six cannabis clubs in Ashland and Cherryland.

While Alameda County's efforts to cut the number of medical marijuana outlets by half may extend into the new year, the Hayward Area Recreation and Park District wants this month to stamp out pot puffing—and other smoking—at one Ashland park...."

Read more

A great story from the Hesperia Star in California. The Hesperia City Council has become the latest local government to stand up to the pro-drug forces that are pushing so-called "medical marijuana" in their community.

"Last Tuesday, the Hesperia City Council passed a resolution prohibiting any such facilities from setting up shop within city limits. The city had not received any requests to set up a medical marijuana dispensary however, according to Dave Reno, Hesperia’s Principal Planner; the council was just being proactive.

The staff report presented by Reno cited the experiences of municipalities with medical marijuana dispensaries, including Oakland, Hayward, Fairfax and Roseville.

“All these jurisdictions commented they would rather not have the dispensaries at all,” Reno said.

Among the problems cited in report were illegal dealers trying to sell to users at a lower price, people smoking marijuana around the facility, people coming from out of town or even out of state to purchase marijuana, purchasers driving under the influence of marijuana, burglary attempts on marijuana storage facilities, doctors prescribing marijuana to anyone for a fee and adjacent businesses closing due to people loitering near the distribution facilities."

Interesting story from the Associated Press. The drug culture in America often uses coded symbols that parents are unlikely to be aware of to promote their pro-drug messages.

"One of the hottest-selling T-shirts around the country shows a simply drawn snowman with a menacing expression.

It's not Frosty's evil twin. The image popularized by drug-dealer-turned-rapper Young Jeezy symbolizes those who sell a white substance known on the street as snow: cocaine.

Anti-drug campaigners and education officials are alarmed, saying the T-shirt and others like it are part of sophisticated marketing campaigns using coded symbols for drug culture that parents and teachers are not likely to understand. Some schools are banning kids from wearing the snowman images.

"The snowman is made of white, grainy stuff like sugar," said 12-year-old seventh-grader Mailik Mason, standing next to his mother in a Manhattan store selling the snowman shirts. "It has to do with a certain drug, crack or coke.".....

This is part of a phenomena in which parents have no idea what their children are exposed to. There is a code that children are aware of but not parents," says Sue Rusche, president and CEO of the anti-drug group National Families In Action."

A great piece from the New York Times on the Odyssey House runners. Odyssey House has been saving lives by providing drug treatment to addicts:

"Of all the jittery runners who will be shuffling near the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge on Sunday morning, anxious to hear the starting cannon for the New York City Marathon, Curtis Jenkins may be the most improbable.

Nine months ago, Jenkins, 29, was addicted to crack, a habit formed when he was 18. In February, he was charged with criminal mischief, his second felony arrest. His first, in 2000, for car theft, landed him in jail for a year and a half. "Gone in 60 seconds? That was me," said Jenkins, a Brooklyn native. "I used my skills in a negative way to make money for crack."

This time, the judge gave Jenkins a choice: jail or a drug-treatment program. He chose the program. "I know I could have beaten the charge," he said. "But I also know I needed help."

Jenkins ended up at Odyssey House, a substance-abuse treatment center that has 830 patients at six residential centers in the city. And there, as part of his recovery, he started running.

He runs five or six miles at least three days a week. He has slowly built up to a long run of 18 miles on weekends. Now he is one of five residents who will be in the field of more than 35,000 runners taking a 26.2-mile tour of the five boroughs Sunday.

Jenkins will be joined by William Walsh, a 26-year-old former plumber's assistant and cocaine user from Brooklyn, who said his last thought before he drifted off each night was of the marathon. Last Sunday, at a 5-mile tune-up race in Central Park, Walsh finished in 35 minutes 8 seconds.

There is also Eddie Bryant, 41, a former Marine and father of eight who said he turned to drugs to cope with the death of his parents; Elijah Campbell, a baby-faced 21-year-old who arrived at Odyssey House through the court system and, since June, has cut 10 minutes off his 5-mile race time; and Renee Shepherd, 41, a North Carolina native who said she checked herself into Odyssey House after years of drinking. "In the past, I'd have watched the marathon from a bar," she said. "I never thought that would be me running."

According to an anonymous, 87-question survey from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the percentage of teens who indicated they've tried marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, heroin, steroids and methamphetamines was on the decline amongst Tennessee teens.

Forty-two percent said they had used marijuana at least once in their lifetime, down from 43 percent in 2003 but higher than the 33 percent in 1993.

"Kids are saturated with media and the marketing of what you're supposed to look like as a teenager," said Stephanie Davis, director of programs for Students Taking a Right Stand, a group for middle and high school students. "Teens are under pressure to look like what they see and what they perceive as popular."

Read the entire story on WKRN's Web site.

A group of concerned county supervisors has made a strong statement against marijuana in San Diego. From the North County Times:

"SAN DIEGO—A torn group of county supervisors Tuesday voted to defy state orders to create a registry of medical marijuana users and hand out identification cards to people using the drug for medicinal relief.

The board's 3-2 majority said that complying with the state's order would tell children that marijuana was OK and would lead to increased abuse of the drug.

Supervisors essentially said that they agreed with federal law, which considers marijuana a dangerous drug, and that they disagreed with California voters who created the state's medical marijuana law.

In 1996, state voters approved Proposition 215, the "Compassionate Use Act," that gave people with chronic or terminal illnesses and a doctor's prescription permission to use marijuana to ease pain.

The two board members who voted to create the registry, Greg Cox and Ron Roberts, expressed dislike for Prop. 215 but said the county should follow state law to start the identification card system and then challenge the law by mounting another initiative or challenging it in court.

However, the board majority—Chairwoman Pam Slater-Price and Supervisors Bill Horn and Dianne Jacob—said that Prop. 215 was bad law and that the county should defy the state. All of North County's supervisors were included in the majority.

County counsel John Sansone told supervisors that if the state challenged their defiance in court, the county was likely to lose.

"Let 'em sue," Horn said of the state. "I think we should challenge this. I look forward to the lawsuit when it happens. If we just celebrated Rosa Parks for standing up against bad law, I think we ought to stand against bad law."

A group of committed anti-drug activists successfully educated voters about the dangers of marijuana in Telluride, Colorado.

Telluride narrowly busts plan to ease pot-law enforcement

A measure that would have eased enforcement of marijuana laws in the ski resort town of Telluride crashed in a close vote.

Voters rejected 332-308 a proposal to make busting someone for possession of marijuana the town marshal's "lowest law enforcement priority."