Wrapping Up | Groovin the Moo Cancels Pill Testing | Mexico Shuts Elite Drug Unit
All the drug policy and related news from the past week in one place.
Goodbye!
Happy Friday and welcome to issue #78 of Drugs Wrap, a weekly compilation of the top stories in drug policy from across Australia and around the world.
Something of a bitter-sweet one this week as I’ll be taking a pause on the wrap for a little while. I’ve got a busy few weeks coming up and will then be over in Europe for 5 or so months catching up with family and friends I haven’t seen in nearly four years. During all of this, I’m not sure I’ll have time to give the wrap the effort it needs so I think it’s best to take a pause.
I started this project in lockdown in 2020, when I had no work as a freelance journalist, to research stories, share information, and maybe build a little bit of authority in this space. I’m now a full-time editor for a publication and, although I don’t get to write about drugs as much as I would like, Drugs Wrap has played a key part in that journey. In that sense, it has somewhat served its purpose, but it’s morphed from a simple means to an end in itself. I’d like to keep it going in some form in the future as I’ve become pretty attached.
I may pick it up again in October when I return or I may continue it in another form that news wrap drug policy content might be better suited to. Who knows. I’m open to opportunities so do reach out if you’ve got any ideas.
Thanks to everyone who has kept reading over the past almost two years. I hope you’ve all got something out of it and I wish you all the best in whatever you’re doing.
Make sure you’re following the wrap on Twitter where I’ll still be posting sporadically. You can also follow me for inane musings and non-drug related work.
If you’ve got any benefit from the wrap during its time then do consider donating:
You can also still find the Drugs Wrap Psychedelia playlist on Spotify for all the ‘psychedelic’ music that got caught in the email filter.
For one last time, let’s get to it.
Groovin the Moo Cancels Pill-Testing at Canberra Musical Festival After Insurers Pull Out
‘Canberra's biggest music festival will not provide a testing service for illicit drugs after insurers backed out just days before the event.
Groovin the Moo, to be held this Sunday, was the first event in Australia to provide free testing of pills to festival-goers.
Both organisers and the ACT government support the controversial service, which allows people to check whether their drugs contain dangerous substances without exposing themselves to law enforcement.
However, Pill Testing Australia, which carries out the checks, says it could not lock in public liability insurance for this weekend.
The organisation previously provided testing at the 2018 and 2019 Canberra festivals.
Its spokesman, Gino Vambuca, said he was devastated to receive the news just days before the event.
"It's sad and quite dangerous in a way that you'd pull this rug out from underneath us now, because whether you like it or not we know what happens — some people will use drugs," he said.
He said that, since the pandemic began, insurers regarded live events as higher risk, which had an flow-on effects for health services like his.
"Somehow, they're thinking it'll be a safer festival if … we're not there, which flies in the face of the evidence that's actually there”’.
Despite the news, Pill Testing Australia’s fixed site trial will still to go ahead in the Canberra CBD. The site is expected to open imminently.
The exact location of the facility is still a secret but will operate two nights a week as part of the six-month trial.
Head of Pill Testing Australia's medical team, Dr David Caldicott, said the organisation was ‘delighted’ to provide a fixed testing site in Canberra.
‘Those who would try to confound us will find that increasingly difficult in a jurisdiction like the ACT that's really embracing evidence-based drug law reform and leading the charge in Australia for that’.
The Vaping Conundrum
This is a great piece from GP Dr Hester Wilson on the predicament that government policy has put prescribers in when it comes to smoking cessation.
‘Of course, there are concerns about vaping. I get it – we don’t know the long-term risks and I’d love all my patients to be nicotine and tobacco free. But jeez, these laws put us as prescribers in a tricky place’.
‘As it stands, we’re being asked to prescribe an ‘unapproved’ product, for which ‘safety, efficacy and quality has not been established’.
We don’t want people starting e-cigarettes di novo and we don’t want a generation of young people dependent on this product; as health practitioners, we want our patients to stop smoking, as we know the outstanding benefits of this’.
‘Crisis Looming’: GP Calls for Help As Small Band of Doctors Do Heavy Lifting on Opioid Treatment
A GP recognised for his work with people who abuse drugs is calling for more doctors to step up as demand for opioid treatment surges in the pandemic.
Dr Anthony Michaelson, who is being honoured with an Order of Australia for his service to the community for his pioneering drug abuse treatment programs, is one of a dwindling number of GPs who prescribes medication to treat opioid addiction in high numbers in Victoria.
“Almost all [opioid replacement treatment] prescribing has been done by ageing GPs such as myself,” he said.
“Young doctors want nothing to do with addiction medicine. There is a crisis looming.”
The real issue is that just 6 per cent of the 1043 prescribers, mostly private GPs, see the bulk of the almost 15,000 patients. If one retires, it leaves services scrambling to provide hundreds of patients with treatment.
Ex-Vice Editor Tells How Journalism Led Him to Run Drugs to Sydney
‘A former Vice music editor who recruited up-and-comers from Canada’s hip-hop scene to courier cocaine into Australia says he became involved in the scheme to boost his journalistic profile and cultivate underworld contacts for a publication that glorified drug use and criminal activity.
Slava Pastuk – born Yuroslav Pastukhov and known online as Slava P – claims in a new memoir, Bad Trips, that on his first meeting with the Mexican cartel’s Canadian representatives in 2015 he was told that the drug ring had already completed about 150 trips to Australia, and that Sydney Airport customs officers were on the payroll’.
Pastuk claims in the book that he was researching a story when he met with the cartel’s Canadian kingpins. It quickly became apparent that he was being pitched to take the trip himself, to which he readily agreed, along with Ali Lalji, a former sales manager at Vice, and the man Pastuk describes as his drug dealer, Isa “Pope” Cargill, who had appeared on Vice TV.
Pastuk’s turn as a drug mule went smoothly but he found Australia to be a miserable country, whose denizens were so enthralled by the beauty of their home that they had no interest in the world beyond.
“I don’t understand this place,” Pope commented from a hotel pool overlooking Sydney Harbour. “Everything looks like it was named by a child and everyone has a dumb look on their face. I passed a building for something named ‘Wawa Bank’ and when I ordered a Big Mac from McDonald’s the cashier had the same expression on his face as a Golden Retriever.”’
This Week in Weed
Cannabis Legalisation Tied to ‘Significant Reductions’ in Prescription Drug Use, Researchers Find
TGA’s Delta-8 Crackdown Leaves Patients in Limbo
4/20 Activists Illuminate Opera House & Harbour Bridge with Cannabis Art
Cannabis Legalisation: A Jailed Generation and the Suits Making Millions
California Lawmakers Aim to Protect Workers’ Off-Hours Pot Use
‘Once the Federal Government Legalises, Many More States Would Follow Through’
A Dozen Police Pin Down Man at 4/20 Festival in Melbourne As He Smokes Medically-Prescribed Weed
VICE Celebrates Weed Week
Around the World
Mexico Shuts Elite Investigations Unit in Blow to U.S. Drugs Cooperation
‘Mexico has disbanded a select anti-narcotics unit that for a quarter of a century worked hand-in-hand with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to tackle organized crime, two sources said, in a major blow to bilateral security cooperation.
The group was one of the Sensitive Investigative Units (SIU) operating in about 15 countries which U.S. officials tout as invaluable in dismantling powerful smuggling rings and busting countless drug lords around the globe. The units are trained by the DEA but under the control of national governments.
In Mexico, the over 50 officers in the SIU police unit were considered many of the country's best and worked on the biggest cases such as the 2016 capture of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, then the boss of the powerful Sinaloa cartel.
The closure threatens to imperil U.S. efforts to combat organized crime groups inside Mexico, one of the epicenters of the multi-billion dollar global narcotics trade, and make it harder to catch and prosecute cartel leaders.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's government formally notified the DEA in April last year that the unit had been shut down however the closure of the unit was not reported at the time’.
Latin America Must Address the Over-Incarceration of Women
‘As women around the world continue to fight for their political, social, and economic rights, the high number of incarcerated women in Latin America have another barrier to overcome—the unfair treatment within the justice system.
In the efforts to disrupt the drug trade, governments in Latin America imposed punitive drug laws that threaten security, public health, and human rights.
Organizations such as the Washington Office of Latin America (WOLA) consistently call for governments to address the issue by modifying the drug laws with a human rights perspective to ensure the safety and rights of women.
Given the extreme impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Latin American governments must amend these laws and address the inequalities that led to the economic and social downturn in the region.
Therefore, it is the responsibility of Latin American leaders to address the disproportional, inhumane, and abusive treatment of women by enacting and enforcing drug policy reforms’.
Man Sentenced to Nearly 11 Years in Prison in Rapper Mac Miller’s Death
‘An Arizona man involved in supplying counterfeit prescription pills that led to the 2018 overdose death of rapper Mac Miller has been sentenced to nearly 11 years in prison, according to documents filed in federal court on Monday.
Ryan Michael Reavis, 39, was sentenced to 10 years and 11 months after he pleaded guilty to one count of distributing fentanyl, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
Reavis is one of three men charged with providing the drugs that caused Miller’s death.
The 26-year-old rapper was found at his Studio City home on Sept. 7, 2018. Coroner reports showed he died after accidentally overdosing on a mix of fentanyl, cocaine and alcohol.
In a statement to The Times, Reavis’ attorney, Cori Ferrentino, said that her client would use his time to “grow in his recovery” and to honor Miller’s life in whatever way he can.
“We strongly believe longer periods of incarceration for the addict/runner will not solve the fentanyl crisis,” she said.
“We, as a society, have been down that road in the past and it did not work. Instead, treatment and accountability are part of the answer. Fortunately, Mr. Reavis has already begun down the path of recovery.”’
The Psychedelic Selection
Macquarie University Clinical Trial to Test Psychedelics in Treating Depression
The Best Books About Psychedelics
5 Examples of Ancient Psychedelic Cave Art
What Is Bicycle Day? Celebrating the First Human LSD Trip
Bicycle Day: Honoring The Onset Of The Psychedelic Revolution As It Zooms Across The Globe
Mushrooms Have Their Own Language, New Study Suggests
Should Psychedelics Research be Publicly Funded?
How Credible is Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy? Study Suggests People Are Cautious About Psychedelic Treatment for Depression
Can the Clever Use of Old Legal Strategies Thwart Psychedelic Monopolies?
Magic Mushrooms Are Giving Investors a Bad Trip
Watch: Misconceptions About Drugs | Mental Floss
Watch: How Queer Clubs Changed the Way We Take Drugs | VICE
Listen: In Conversation About the War on Drugs in Guatemala | WORLD: We Got This
I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which I live and work, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and pay my respects to elders past and present. Sovereignty was never ceded.
Thanks for reading, have a great weekend, and I look forward to bringing you the wrap again at some point in the future.