Peace And Justice Of La Luz

Heroin Maintenance Can Help Hardcore Addicts, Study Finds

Heroin addicts who can’t quit using and don’t respond to methadone treatment can be helped by maintenance doses of heroin, according to a study conducted by researchers at King’s College London.

Reuters reported May 28 that heroin maintenance, while obviously not a cure for addiction, at least kept most of the hardcore addicts in the study away from street drugs, which in turn helped prevent use of dirty needles and other unhealthy behaviors. In fact, about two-thirds of the heroin-maintenance group tested clean for the presence of street drugs, a far better performance than among methadone patients, two-thirds of whom typically test positive for use of street drugs.

Some of the study participants stayed in the program for more than two years and were able to get jobs and reconnect with family members, researchers added. “People are not only physically getting better, but they’re getting back into society,” said study author John Strang.

The findings were published in the May 28, 2010 issue of The Lancet.

by Ken Larson
Please help us in our fight by supporting a cause I personally believe in.

Our traditional justice system has been inadequate to the task of breaking the cycle of substance abuse and crime. Four out of every five offenses are committed by someone with a drug or alcohol problem; and we just keep locking them up!

In just the past 20 years alone, state prison systems have added 1 million new cells to incarcerate the 2.3 million adults now behind bars in the U.S. That’s far more than any other country on the globe with 1 out of every 100 adult Americans currently serving time. Approximately one-half of these individuals are addicted to drugs or alcohol and most do not pose a serious threat to public safety. (more…)

Source: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

August 21, 2009

MEXICO CITY (AP) – Mexico enacted a controversial law on Thursday decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs while encouraging government-financed treatment for drug dependency free of charge.

The law sets out maximum “personal use” amounts for drugs, also including LSD and methamphetamine. People detained with those quantities will no longer face criminal prosecution; the law goes into effect on Friday.

Anyone caught with drug amounts under the personal-use limit will be encouraged to seek treatment, and for those caught a third time treatment is mandatory – although no penalties for noncompliance are specified.

The maximum amount of marijuana considered to be for “personal use” under the new law is 5 grams – the equivalent of about four marijuana cigarettes. Other limits are half a gram of cocaine, 50 milligrams of heroin, 40 milligrams for methamphetamine and 0.015 milligrams of LSD.

We at Peace & Justice of La Luz are proud to have sponsored Mike Jones at the Otero County Fair. We were able to talk to hundreds of people who were curious about the subject. And if we did not convince them all that prohibition was a failure, we at least started this conversation in our community. Thank you, Mike Jones!

LEAPing to legal drugs

(J.R. Oppenheim/Daily News)

Drug warriors from across the country are banding together to ask people to support the legalization of drugs.

Judges, prosecutors, prison wardens, corrections staff and police officers have organized to educate the public about the damage and cost of the war against illegal drugs.

The premise of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, or LEAP, is the war on drugs cannot be won and the benefit of regulating, taxing and controlling these substances far outweighs the cost in tax dollars and human lives trying to suppress them. (more…)