Article in Bangor Daily News: (Bangor, Maine). They are legalizing pot for medical reasons, you must have a script.
First discussions were about who could dispense. Now discussion is of price per ounce. Dispensers now say they must sell at high price, about $400 bucks an ounce. Their reasoning: buyers might resell. Real reason: They are playing both sides of street, legal and illegal, and want the bucks. My answer: When dispensers open hit them with an anti-trust suit. m > > Drug users must be decriminalized along with scale-up of combination > treatment and changes to drug control > http://www.physorg.com/news198828531.html > July 20, 2010 > > In a paper in The Lancet Series on HIV in people who use drugs, a call > to action is made by experts who say that while scale-up of various > interventions outlined in earlier papers are vital, these are not > enough. Drug users should be decriminalised, along with other changes > in policy on drug control and law enforcement. The paper is by > Professor Chris Beyrer, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public > Health, Baltimore, MD, USA, and colleagues. > > The authors highlight that it is possible to control HIV epidemics in > people who use drugs with currently available strategies, such as > opioid substitution (OST), needle and syringe programmes (NSP), and > antiretroviral treatment (ART). The evidence backs a massive scale-up > of all three in combination. Now is the time, say the authors, for > countries to realise that national harm-reduction policies, programmes > and services are desperately needed; failure to act or continuing with > inadequate pilot programmes will not prevent the HIV epidemic in drug > users advancing. > > The authors say: "The dangers of inaction in meeting the needs of > people who use drugs include continuing spread of HIV infection in new > populations and regions, increased complexity of HIV-1 epidemics at > molecular levels, decreased access to opioids for pain management and > palliative care, and the human, family, health, and social costs of > mass incarceration and detention." > > They add: "Expanded action and advocacy by health professionals on > behalf of people who use drugs are urgently needed in both health-care > and criminal justice sectors. Health professionals should not be > complicit in programmes and policies that have no evidence base or > that violate human rights. The voice of people who use drugs > themselves needs to be heard at all levels, from service delivery to > policy decision making." > > Highlighting that reform of justice systems is a large part of harm > reduction, the authors call for decriminalisation of drug users, along > with legal services and access to health services for people who use > drugs in all forms of prison and detention. They say: "If drug control > sectors and law enforcement are not a part of new approaches, then > harm-reduction programmes will be closed, substitution clinics will > stay sparsely attended, and ART and preventive interventions will have > a low uptake by drug users." > > They conclude: "Only around 10% of people who use drugs worldwide are > being reached [by current treatment programmes], and far too many are > imprisoned for minor offences or detained without trial. To change > this situation will take commitment, advocacy, and political courage > to advance the action agenda. Failure to do so will exacerbate the > spread of HIV infection, undermine treatment programmes, and continue > to expand prison populations with patients in need of care." > > >
