cannabisnews.com: Internet Aids Narcotics Trade





Internet Aids Narcotics Trade
Posted by FoM on February 27, 2002 at 10:50:10 PT
Chat rooms can be protected against the police
Source: BBC News
The use of the internet by drug traffickers is making the fight against narcotic abuse harder, a UN watchdog has warned. The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) says in its 2001 report that illegal drugs are being sold over the internet, often with the aid of private chat rooms protected from law enforcers. Drug dealers using the internet are often evading capture because of the failure by some countries to adopt laws on cyber crime, the report says. 
The INIB, based in Vienna, also revealed that Burma became the world's top illicit opium producer last year after cultivation in Afghanistan was stopped in 2000 by the former Taleban regime. The board is also urging countries to resist calls for the legalisation of cannabis, saying it would be an "historical mistake" to treat the drug like alcohol or tobacco.  Crime online Reports from the Czech Republic reveal that narcotics deals were struck online at internet cafes or using mobile phones. Dutch firms were using the web to sell cannabis seeds and products all over the world, the report revealed. The INCB said it believed young people were particularly at risk from drug dealers using the internet. It found that dealers were using internet bank accounts to launder drug money, while online pharmacies were making prescription-only drugs readily available. It added: "The INCB is particularly concerned that countries without adequate legislation against crime involving new technologies may become sanctuaries." In Africa, the board said it feared that the increase in intravenous heroin use would hasten the spread of HIV/Aids on the continent. In South Africa alone, intravenous drug use had increased 40% in the past three years. In North America, the use of cocaine appeared to be stabilising but heroin abuse among the young was increasing. Impact on health Afghanistan is still a key country in the world opium trade and after the overthrow of the Taleban, large quantities of the drug were released on to the market, said the INCB. Heroin abuse was increasing throughout South Asia, the report said, with a shift away from smoking and inhaling the drug towards injecting it. More heroin is also being used in central and eastern Europe, which remained a popular transit zone for traffickers. Intravenous use is contributing to a rise in HIV/Aids and Hepatitis C infections in the region.Newshawk: CharlieSource: BBC News (UK Web)Published: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 Copyright: 2002 BBC Website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/ Contact: http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/talking_point/Related Articles:U.N. Rebuts Arguments for Legalizing Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12110.shtmlUN Challenges Blunkett Cannabis Plan http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12105.shtmlA History of Debating Marijuana Legalization http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11738.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by p4me on February 27, 2002 at 11:39:59 PT
I left this out of next message
The UN is not going to convince Europe of going back to incarceration for marijuana use. This was at the DE messageboard. It is an article telling of the opening of a second cannabis cafe. I particularly liked this line that follows: "They are challenging a law so ridiculous that if you made it up people wouldn't believe you.Feb 27 2002 By Andy Kelly And Claire Tolley, Daily Post Staff DUTCH-STYLE cannabis cafe is expected to open in Liverpool within weeks. The coffee shop will not sell the drug, but will act as a venue for cannabis smokers to meet and smoke in a communal atmosphere. A Liverpool bar owner is behind the plans and has enlisted a Dutch expert to help with the cafe. Such outlets have been tolerated in Holland for a number of years. Nol van Schaik is co-owner of the Dutch Experience, a similar venture which opened controversially in Stockport last September. His English business partner, Colin Davies, is still on remand in Strangeways awaiting trial on various cannabis-related charges after Manchester Police raided the cafe on its opening day. Speaking from Holland, Mr van Schaik said: "The bar owner is visiting me later this week for help in decorating the cafe. "He already has three cafe's and bars in Liverpool and wants to change one of them into a Dutch-style coffee house. "This is something we want to be out in the open - there is no point in hiding away. He enlisted my help at a recent conference in Liverpool." Cannabis possession is still illegal in the UK, although there are plans to reduce its classification from a Class B drug to Class C. But the Dutchman is convinced a Liverpool cannabis cafe would be able to operate with few problems. "More than 50 of us tried very hard to get arrested outside Stockport police station with cannabis in a recent protest but were unsuccessful, so why should Liverpool be different?" he said. Mr van Schaik is working as a consultant for three other proposed cannabis cafe's, in Rhyl, Milton Keynes and Bournemouth, the latter due to open this week. He believes there will soon be a significant rise in the number of cannabis cafe's in the UK and the main problems will be practical rather than legal. "Finding businessmen to open the cafe's will be the problem, since current dealers are unlikely to want to go legitimate, paying taxes and staff," he said. North West MEP Chris Davies, a campaigner for the legalisation of cannabis, believes open flouting of the law will be inevitable. "Ten years ago, major supermarkets deliberately set out to break the law by opening on Sundays. "There was massive public demand for a change and this situation is no different. "They are challenging a law so ridiculous that if you made it up people wouldn't believe you. "In one year, 130,000 people die from smoking, 30,000 from alcohol and not a single one from cannabis. Drug crime is 99pc linked to heroin and cocaine, yet 70pc of police time is taken up with cannabis." Mr Davies, who will reappear in court in March after walking into Stockport police station with cannabis stuck to a postage stamp, believes the lessons of Holland must be learned by the UK. "As we heard at the recent Liverpool Cannabis Conference, drug addiction in Holland is less than half that of the UK and drug crime is significantly lower than here." Last night, Merseyside Police said they could not comment on the possibility of a cannabis cafe in Liverpool until it was actually opened. A spokeswoman said: " Obviously we are in a similar situation to Manchester. Cannabis is illegal so anyone found in possession will be arrested." But Aigburth's Robert Gartside, a multiple sclerosis sufferer recently fined £25 for cannabis possession, said it would be good news for those using the drug to ease pain. Mr Gartside said: "I think it's an excellent idea. I'm hoping it will have a similar atmosphere to the cafe in Stockport. "A cafe would have a social element to it and put MS sufferers in touch with others who already use cannabis."..SUPL:__________________
DE-fender since September 15, 2001. 
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Comment #3 posted by p4me on February 27, 2002 at 11:33:03 PT
Elfman_420
I agree that it is time we call the a spade a spade or more directly a narcotic, a narcotic. A narcotic is a substance that can induce sleep. You can by melatonin for $2 bottle Dollar Generala that will put you to sleep without a prescription. And marijuana is not a narcotic. The prohibitionist spin language needs to be erased and proper language needs to be used. That includes the War on Drugs. The war should be on drug abuse and would be served better by WODA. Forget the war on drugs. It is a sick reminder of many lives ruined and a trillion dollars shot all to hell.
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Comment #2 posted by Elfman_420 on February 27, 2002 at 11:18:14 PT
Who is this narcotics control board?
"The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) is also urging countries to resist calls for the legalisation of cannabis, saying it would be an "historical mistake" to treat the drug like alcohol or tobacco." Cannabis MAY be defined as a drug, though I'm not entirely convinced, but it is certainly not a narcotic, by definition. Therefore, this board should have nothing to do with any recommendations to continue making a plant illegal.Who is this Narcotics control board in the UN? I highly doubt the human rights dept. within the UN agrees with this department.Human rights activists are always in favor of treatment over incarceration.
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Comment #1 posted by PonziScheme on February 27, 2002 at 11:17:59 PT:
More old news
See my post to the last story to see how this dreck from the U.N. is old news...
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