Eight men charged over £950,000 drugs seizure

Eight men have been charged in connection with the seizure of drugs worth almost £1m, police said. The men, aged between 33 and 55, were detained as part of a Scotland-wide crackdown on serious and organised crime over the past two weeks. Detectives were investigating the seizure of £950,000 worth of diamorphine between August last year and January. Most of the men were detained in Hamilton and Blantyre in Lanarkshire. They have been charged under the Misuse of Drugs Act and are due to appear in court at a later date. Det Ch Inspector Colin Boyle said: "As a result of the investigation, almost £1 million worth of diamorphine was seized before it could cause untold harm on our communities. "Our inquiries have resulted in eight men subsequently being charged with drug offences and these arrests should send a clear message that Police Scotland will continue to act on information from the public to tackle serious and organised crime whenever it arises." Drugs seizure

Mexican Drug Lord's Secret Tunnel Network

Authorities in Mexico have released video footage of a secret tunnel network used by drug kingpin Joaquin Guzman to avoid capture. The footage, released by Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam, shows hidden passageways and staircases the drug lord had built to navigate between his homes. Known as "El Chapo", or Shorty, 5ft 6in Guzman was seized by Mexican marines with the help of US agents in a condo in the resort city of Mazatlan. His arrest was a significant victory for Mexico and the US in the war on drugs, according to the chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security. Michael McCaul said he was encouraging Mexican authorities to send the 56-year-old to America, where he faces at least seven indictments. The US had offered a $5m (£3m) reward for information leading to Guzman's capture, with "multiple indictments in multiple cities" from New York to San Diego. He has also been branded "public enemy number one" in Chicago. Republican Representative Mr McCaul told ABC News it was up to Mexico to decide where the suspect is prosecuted. But he noted Guzman escaped from prison in 2001 - by hiding in a laundry basket - eluding authorities for 13 years. Mr McCaul said Guzman would end up "in a super-max prison" in the US from which he could not escape. Asked if he would like to see him hauled before US courts the politician said: "I would. I think the normal sequence is Mexico, being a sovereign nation, has the first prosecution. "However, there's a history here. He escaped from a prison in 2001. There is corruption in that country." "I would ask that the Mexicans consider extraditing him to the United States, where he will be put in a super-max prison under tight security where he cannot escape, and be brought to justice with a life imprisonment sentence. "I think that would be the best course for not only Mexico, but also the United States, in ensuring that what happened in 2001 does not happen again." Guzman, who arrived at the Mexico City airport after his arrest and was being taken directly to prison, was the most wanted drug baron on the planet. He runs Mexico's infamous Sinaloa Cartel and his fortune has grown to more than $1bn, according to Forbes magazine. It listed him among the "world's most powerful people" and ranked him above the presidents of France and Venezuela. Guzman was found with an unidentified woman and no shots were fired during his capture. His cartel has smuggled billions of dollars-worth of cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamines into the US, and fought vicious turf wars with other Mexican gangs. He pioneered the use of sophisticated underground tunnels to smuggle drug shipments across the border and also became a major narcotics exporter to Europe and Asia. Nearly 80,000 people have been killed in the last seven years with much of the violence in western and northern regions that have long been major smuggling routes. Drug lords secret tunnels

Russell Brand calls for change in drug laws in wake of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death

Comic actor and former heroin addict Russell Brand says the recent death of Philip Seymour Hoffman makes the case that drug laws need to be changed. Writing for the British newspaper The Guardian, Brand argues that drug addiction is a “mental illness” and should therefore be treated as a medical condition in hopes of preventing tragedies such as Hoffman, who was found dead in his apartment this past weekend from a suspected heroin overdose. Asks Brand: “Would Hoffman have died if this disease were not so enmeshed in stigma? If we weren’t invited to believe that people who suffer from addiction deserve to suffer? Would he have OD’d if drugs were regulated, controlled and professionally administered?” Change drug laws

Are the "Northern Ireland drug deaths 'different from rest of UK' really"

Drugs-related deaths in Northern Ireland are mostly linked to prescription drugs, unlike other regions of the UK, a study suggests. Whereas the vast majority of drug-related deaths in the UK are linked to opiates such as heroin and morphine, in NI most relate to other drugs. The research was carried out by St George's, University of London. It found there was a small decrease in the overall number of drug-related deaths in Northern Ireland. There were 78 such deaths in 2012 as opposed to 82 in 2011. In Northern Ireland, higher proportions of deaths were attributed to the misuse of drugs such as Tramadol, benzodiazepines and anti-depressants. Northern Ireland also displayed a substantially lower proportion of deaths attributed to heroin/morphine and methadone than other regions of the UK, such as the south of England, the midlands and London. Drug deaths

The UK should abandon its current drugs policy

The UK should abandon its current drugs policy because the war on drugs is not being won, Nick Clegg has said. Speaking on a visit to Colombia, the deputy prime minister said different approaches were needed although he did not back full legalisation. The Lib Dem leader said his party would publish a report on an alternative strategy later this year. The Home Office said there was no need to review Britain's drug laws, pointing out that illegal drug use is falling. BBC home editor Mark Easton said Mr Clegg had long argued that current UK drugs policy is not working. 'Terrible conflict' But he said Mr Clegg was frustrated by the Conservatives' refusal to set up a Royal Commission on the issue and had asked the current drugs minister, Lib Dem Norman Baker, to complete an international review. Speaking after meeting former guerrilla fighters and victims of what he called the "terrible conflict" in Colombia, he said the war on drugs had cost tens of thousands of lives, destroyed communities and forced people to live in constant fear. Mr Clegg said British politicians owed it to young people in the UK and countries like Colombia to look at different approaches - although he insisted he was not advocating full legalisation. Nevertheless, his party review will look at the impact of legalisation of marijuana in Uruguay and some US states, as well as the decriminalisation of all drugs in Portugal. 'Conspiracy of silence' In December 2012, Mr Clegg backed a Royal Commission on drugs, just days after PM David Cameron rejected the idea. A Royal Commission is a public inquiry, established by the head of state, into a defined subject and overseen by a commissioner who has quasi-judicial powers. Mr Clegg has said he wants to break "the conspiracy of silence" of politicians, while in government, refusing to consider alternatives to the war on drugs because it is "all too controversial". "If you are anti-drugs, you should be pro-reform," he has said. abandon drugs policy

What makes someone relapse into addiction after rehabilitation and recovery ?

Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman reportedly died after taking drugs, having apparently been clean for more than two decades. But what causes relapses like this, asks Ed Ram. Philip Seymour Hoffman first checked himself into rehab after graduating in drama from New York University in 1989. He was a heroin user and addicted to alcohol. In an interview in 2011 he said that problem was "pretty serious" at the time. "I know, deep down, I still look at the idea of drinking with the same ferocity that I did back then. It's still pretty tangible," he told the Guardian. "Just because all that time's passed doesn't mean maybe it was just a phase. That's you know, that's who I am," he added. While it might strike most non-addicts as strange that someone would revert to destructive behaviour after years of sobriety, it is actually common. "Heroin abuse is a persistent and pernicious disorder and it's difficult to break free from it," says John Marsden, a doctor in addiction psychology at King's College London. "A relapse is common." The fundamental issue is the long-term nature of the problem. "It's addiction that is the problem," says Mark Johnson, a former heroin user and the founder of ex-offender charity User Voice. "It's an illness that doesn't go away. You put down the drugs and everyone thinks that you have stopped the problem but that's not the case." The mental and physiological problem of addiction need to be put into the same realm as depression, says Elliot Elam, from drug and alcohol treatment charity Addaction. "It simmers in the background - people can learn to cope with it or overcome it but it's not a problem that can be cured." Particular triggers can spark a relapse, like with any addiction, such as smoking. The trigger could be a stressful day at work, a break up or a couple of drinks - the same pattern of relapse can be seen in the use of drugs like heroin, says Elam. "We often see problems of family troubles, losing a job, long-term illness, bereavement, relationship issues, stress, and so on." Equally a trigger could be through association, Marsden explains. A former addict could have seen someone picking up some drugs that they used to take, have had a familiar drink, or even seen an old friend from the time that they were using. Whatever the situation, a relapse is always a conscious decision, Johnson insists. It starts with an emotional relapse that can start months before use. "Hoffman would have known that he was going to do it - it doesn't just happen." And giving in to the trigger is often down to complacency. "Sometimes when people have been clean for a while they think they have overcome the illness of addiction," says Johnson. This just isn't the case. They think they can deal with the drug because they have managed to control themselves for so long, Johnson suggests. Their ability to control themselves to the extent of not taking the drug then erroneously leads them to believe they could therefore handle taking the drug. This can result in a relapse into drug use. To some extent, most experts agree, addiction is forever. relapse after rehabilitation