Legal highs 'need more controls'

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
25 October 2011 Last updated at 14:35 GMT The government can ban the import of drugs as well as curb alternatives to legal highs The sale, supply and impact of so-called "legal highs" should be more controlled, the government's drugs advisers have recommended.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs said stricter laws, more research and awareness were needed to curb them.

The drugs, including bromo-dragonfly and MDPV, are often marketed as plant food to evade regulations.

Council chairman Les Iversen, said: "It's not just a nice party drug but something that can kill."

Launching a report into the spread of the drugs, he said: "We want the government to do all it can to combat the sale, supply and harms of so-called 'legal highs'."

'Plant food'

The marketing and sale of "novel psychoactive substances" - or legal highs - is often designed specifically to avoid legislation under the Medicines Act 1968, with drugs often marketed as "not for human consumption".

Continue reading the main story

There is a common, but mistaken, perception that because such drugs are not legally controlled or banned they are safe”

End Quote Home Office Prof Iversen said: "Users are playing a game of Russian roulette. They are buying substances marked as research chemicals. The implication is that you should do the research on yourself to find out whether they're safe or not.

"This is a totally uncontrolled, unregulated market."

The Home Office describes legal highs as drugs which mimic, or are claimed to mimic, the effects of illegal drugs.

"There is a common, but mistaken, perception that because such drugs are not legally controlled or banned they are safe," it said.

Among recommendations published on Tuesday, the ACMD called for education - particularly in schools - to counteract that belief.

Side effects of legal highs included severe agitation, paranoia, high blood pressure, increased heart rate and heightened aggression. There is evidence that one drug, GHB, can be addictive.

Continue reading the main story

In May 2010 a coroner at Brighton County Court ruled that a 46-year-old man had died from "mephedrone poisoning on the background of coronary artery disease".

This was the first death in the UK directly attributed to the drug.

Since then there have been a further 41 deaths, with another 56 under investigation.

No wonder that Prof Les Iversen says that "legal high" users are playing "Russian Roulette" with their health.

The story of mephedrone is a clear warning on how rapidly the use of a "legal high" can spread.

The first confirmed seizure was at a music festival in July 2009. In less than six months the drug had spread in what Prof Iversen calls "a spectacular manner".

Banned in April 2010, mephedrone perfectly illustrates the task facing the government. How to stay one step ahead of drug manufacturers rather than playing catch-up.

The government has already classified naphyrone, mephedrone (and related cathinones), Spice, GBL, BZP and ivory wave as class B drugs.

Mephedrone contributed to 42 confirmed deaths, the report said.

It was banned after widespread media coverage of its effect. Four people died in 2010 after taking it.

It also said it recognised a lack of substantive research in detecting drug changes, mainly due to the speed at which the drugs surface in the UK, but also because of a lack of funds.

However, it recommended more resources for research on the chemistry, pharmacology, acute harm, and the social harms of legal highs.

With the internet being the "main method" of promoting legal highs, "more often than not misleading claims are made about the substance, eg purporting that substances are bath salts or fish food", the council called on the Advertising Standards Authority to investigate claims made by the websites.

The council also wants UK authorities to use their powers more strongly to prosecute sellers of legal highs.

"The burden of proof should be placed upon the supplier to establish beyond reasonable doubt that the product being sold is not for human consumption and is safe for its intended use," its report said.

Debt Financing

Career Advisor

Read More

Insurers lose asbestos legal case

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
12 October 2011 Last updated at 11:28 GMT The UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hope dismissed the appeal by insurance companies

Insurance companies have failed in a legal bid to scrap the right of people in Scotland to claim damages for an asbestos-related condition.

The UK Supreme Court dismissed their case, a decision which will enable people with pleural plaques to claim compensation.

Insurers previously failed to overturn the laws at the Court of Session.

Most Scots affected by pleural plaques had worked in heavy industry, such as shipbuilding.

The House of Lords ruled five years ago that victims could not claim compensation, but the Scottish government disagreed. MSPs passed the Damages Act in 2009, allowing claims to be made - with the likely cost estimated at between £7m and £9m.

Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said insurance firms must now recognise the law, but industry body the Association of British Insurers maintained the Damages Act was flawed.

Pleural plaques are not themselves a disease and have no symptoms, but the thickening of lung membranes is an indicator of past exposure to asbestos.

Scottish ministers argued pleural plaques could give rise to more serious conditions, such as lung cancer, mesothelioma or asbestosis.

Continue reading the main story

I've got to get on with my life, but I don't know how much life I've got left in me”

End Quote John Ferguson Former shipyard worker But insurance firms vigorously attacked the legislation, alleging it infringed on human rights laws.

The industry argued that it broke European Convention on Human Rights provisions on property rights and constitutes unreasonable legal interference.

But Supreme Court justices in London dismissed an appeal by several insurance companies - including AXA - against an April decision by Court of Session judges in Scotland, who rejected argument that the legislation was unlawful.

The Supreme Court ruled that it could not be said that the "judgment of the Scottish Parliament was without reasonable foundation".

Mr MacAskill said: "I warmly welcome this significant decision, not least for the sake of people with pleural plaques and all those who campaigned so vigorously to help them.

"We firmly believe that people with this condition should be able to raise a claim for damages, and we are delighted that this decision has gone in their favour - a result that will surely bring them some comfort."

Continue reading the main story Reevel Alderson Home affairs correspondent, BBC Scotland

This is a highly significant judgement.

The UK Supreme Court has said the judgement of the Scottish Parliament as an elected body about what constituted the public interest, should be respected.

In earlier cases, the Supreme Court had overturned decisions relating to Scots law.

Although pleural plaques are not in themselves a disease, and have no symptoms, they indicate previous exposure to asbestos.

Victims say it causes them great distress and concern that they may develop a more serious condition.

Insurance companies say they should not have to pay compensation for something which has not, and may not, happen.

The justice secretary added: "It is our sincere hope that the insurers will now reflect carefully on the decisions reached by the Scottish Parliament, by both the Outer and Inner Houses of Scotland's Court of Session, and now by the UK's Supreme Court and settle those claims that have been stalled for so long."

Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray added: "This is tremendous news for all those in Scotland who have had to suffer the trauma of being told they have pleural plaques and will now, after two and a half years of delay, be able to pursue the damages they are entitled to."

Former west of Scotland shipyard worker John Ferguson, who helped build the QE2, said his employer failed to warn him of the dangers.

"I now have pleural plaques and that hangs over my head," he said.

"I've got to get on with my life, but I don't know how much life I've got left in me - I'd like to see people higher up pay for this in some way."

Nick Starling, director of general insurance and health for the Association of British Insurers, said after the ruling: "Insurers remain fully committed to continuing to pay compensation to people with asbestos-related conditions, such as mesothelioma.

"The insurers brought this case because they believe that the Damages Act is fundamentally flawed in that it ignores overwhelming medical evidence that pleural plaques are symptomless, and the well-established legal principle that compensation is payable only when there is physical harm.

"We are very disappointed that the court has not found in our favour on this important principle of law. Insurers will now consider carefully this judgment and what it means for them."

Debt Financing

Career Advisor

Read More

Australia seeks world backing on tobacco legal fight

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

A woman smokes on a street in central Sydney April 7, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Daniel Munoz

By Rob Taylor

CANBERRA | Thu Oct 6, 2011 2:41pm EDT

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia is confident the world's toughest anti-tobacco laws will soon pass parliament, but the government warned on Thursday that the anti-smoking fight was not over and urged other nations to reject a possible WTO challenge backed by big tobacco.

Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the minority government was bracing not only for a court challenge to its plan to force cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging from 2012, but also an intellectual property dispute at the World Trade Organization.

"A tobacco company themselves can't bring a claim in the WTO. A state has to do that," Roxon told Reuters in an interview.

"I won't be surprised if tobacco companies are out there looking for a country to claim on their behalf, and we urge countries not to do that."

The new laws, expected to easily pass parliament next week with backing from the conservative opposition and Green crossbench senators, are being closely watched by New Zealand, Canada, the European Union and Britain, which are considering similar restrictions.

The legislation is in two parts, one of which mandates that cigarettes can only be sold in plain olive green packaging and another part restricting tobacco company trademarks.

The pathfinding plan has infuriated tobacco firms including Philip Morris, British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco, which have threatened a High Court challenge. Tobacco nations like Nicaragua, Kenya and Ukraine also say the measures breach global trade rules.

Despite political unease at home over potential compensation claims that tobacco companies have said could mount to billions of dollars, Roxon has been a passionate advocate for the laws within the Labor government, which has a one-seat buffer with the backing of Green and independent MPs.

Her father, Jack, a one-time smoker, died of esophageal cancer at 42, when Roxon was just 10, leaving her pharmacist mother alone to raise three daughters.

"Big tobacco companies do have big tentacles that reach far and wide across the world. I've made very clear to my international colleagues that they need to look at this not only from a health perspective, but from a trade perspective," Roxon, now 44, said.

Australia says the new laws reflect its obligations under the World Health Organization's 2005 framework against tobacco, which urges states to consider plain packaging laws. The WHO estimates more than 1 billion around the world are regular smokers, with 80 percent in low and middle income countries.

Industry analysts say tobacco companies are worried that plain packaging could spread to emerging markets like Brazil, Russia and Indonesia, and threaten growth there.

In Britain, tobacco companies have been fighting in courts for the right to sell cigarettes in vending machines, while tobacco companies in the U.S. are challenging more graphic health warnings on cigarette packets, claiming the changes violate their right of free speech.

An Australia parliamentary committee looking into the legislation and possible grounds for a legal contest received submissions from as far afield as Europe and Kenya, and even cigarette retailers in Peru and Rio de Janeiro.

"We don't know how much (tobacco firms) seek to influence other players, but we certainly become suspicious when you see comments made by people apparently completely disconnected to Australia ... when the lines are exactly reflecting -- almost parroting -- tobacco companies," Roxon said.

Australia's tobacco market generated total revenues of around A$10 billion (U.S.$9.6 billion) in 2009, up from A$8.3 billion in 2008, although smoking generally has been in decline. Around 22 billion cigarettes are sold in the country each year.

Australia wants to cut the number of people who smoke from around 15 percent of the population to 10 percent by 2018. Health authorities say smoking kills 15,000 Australians each year with social and health costs of around A$32 billion.

Roxon said she had experienced enormous support from other health ministers at a recent United Nations health meeting in New York, and was sharing Australia's legal preparations with other nations likely to follow Canberra's plain-pack lead.

"Ultimately that's going to be worrying the tobacco companies, but that is absolutely going to be better for consumers and people who would otherwise be future patients," she said.

New Automobile

Health Management

Read More