31 de janeiro

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31/01/2013
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Fonte: Guardian
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Data: 31/01/2013
DMAA supplement linked to marathon runner's death is still on sale online
Stimulant taken by Claire Squires before she died during marathon is legally available in UK
through overseas websites
Claire Squires, who died months before DMAA was banned for sale in the UK by regulators.
Photograph: Rafa/PA
The supplement that contributed to the death of the marathon runner Claire Squires is still
available legally through overseas websites, it has emerged, despite it being banned for sale in
the UK by regulators four months after she died.
Several websites outside Europe that ship to the UK still sell the "original" Jack3D supplement,
containing the amphetamine-like stimulant DMAA (1.3 dimethylamylamine) that an inquest
found on Wednesday had been a contributory factor in the death of the 30-year-old a mile from
the finish line of the London Marathon.
Because the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) can only regulate
products on sale on the UK high street or through UK-based websites, online retailers based
overseas can still legally ship the product to the UK.
"We have no jurisdiction over other countries," confirmed a spokesman for the MHRA, an
executive agency of the Department of Health. "We try to work with regulatory partners to try to
get websites taken down if they are in Europe but we can't do much about sales from other
countries like China, Russia or the US.
"Even if products are being sold into the UK from Europe, we only have a degree of success."
Once the product has entered the UK, it is not illegal to buy or possess it. "Substances we have
banned are not controlled substances," added the MHRA spokesman. "Our ruling means that
products containing DMAA are, effectively, unlicensed medicines."
He said there was a "vastly under-reported" problem of people selling banned products to each
other in gyms. "This happens in a very 'under the radar'-type way," he added. "The majority of
people who take DMAA products are regular gym-goers. The police would not get involved."
The manufacturer of Jack3D reformulated the ingredients of the supplement after it was banned
in the UK, the US, Canada and Australia, but several sites still sell the original formulation.
When it banned the powdered supplement, the MHRA said it was the most popular of its kind in
the UK. Squires took the supplement without realising that the powder contained DMAA and
was unaware of the dangers.
The original formulation of the supplement was also available through a seller on the UK eBay
site on Thursday morning.
"The fact it's banned now is very welcome. But the ban hasn't eliminated the supply. The
difference now might be that if you go looking for it you're probably better informed than if you
just pick it up off the shelf. This will hopefully alert people to the general risk that if you're using
something that has a genuine physiological effect, you should be careful," said Graham Arthur,
director of legal at UK Anti-Doping.
The stimulant appears on the banned list of the World Anti-Doping Agency, although only when
detected "in competition".
When the supplement was banned last year it was hailed as a "significant step forward" by UK
Anti-Doping, which has frequently warned of the dangers of buying supplements over the
internet and over the counter that may not list all of their ingredients on the bottle.
A spokesman for eBay said it would take steps to remove any products from the site that
contained DMAA.
"eBay does not permit the sale of banned substances including DMAA and we take steps to
ensure listings for it are not allowed on our site. We will remove the listing you highlighted, and
review it to ensure any further listings are not permitted," he said.
CLIPPING VIVAVOZ
Fonte: Guardian
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Data: 31/01/2013
Mandatory drug tests – coming to a workplace near you?
They will be if Met police chief Bernard Hogan-Howe has his way, but he may find the Human
Rights Act an obstacle
The Met commissioner, Bernard Hogan-Howe, believes drug testing employees and the
associated fear of losing their jobs would act as a deterrent. Photograph: Lewis Whyld/PA
If your free time involves the use of drugs, your career could be at risk – at least that was the
message put out by the Met police commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe in a recent speech.
But drug testing at work could contravene the Human Rights Act and has raised serious
questions about the erosion of civil liberties in the workplace.
In a speech to an all-parliamentary group on cannabis and children, Hogan-Howe called for
mandatory drug testing to be introduced at work for millions of professionals in all occupations,
but in particular teachers, intensive care nurses and transport staff.
Drug testing of employees and the consequent fear of losing their jobs would act as a deterrent,
Hogan-Howe said, further suggesting employers would not have to turn informant on any staff
who proved positive in a test.
According to a report last year, more than a million workers have drugs in their system, while
the number testing positive rose by nearly 50% between 2007 and 2011. These types of
statistics are a cause for concern, but would mandatory drug testing be disproportionate
to human rights and a step too far for employers' control over their staff?
The argument that workers who are on drugs put other lives at risk is a solid one. In some
industries, such as rail and maritime, drug and alcohol testing is already mandatory and
necessary as a regulatory requirement.
In other industries the employers' right to carry out drug and alcohol tests may already be
included in your contract of employment or employee handbook. Indeed, under the Health and
Safety at Work Act 1974, there is a duty on employers to provide a safe working environment,
which includes ensuring they do not knowingly allow an employee to work when impaired by
alcohol or after using illegal drugs. But for these industries you need to give your consent to
testing, although an unreasonable refusal may give rise to disciplinary action against you (and
may in any event imply that you have something to hide).
This is especially the case if the reason for testing is clearly valid, such as an accident or other
incident in the workplace or a marked decline in performance. Under such a workplace policy
there is usually no requirement for the employer to provide notice that testing will be carried out.
The proposal of mandatory drug testing in the workplace takes matters to a new level and
raises obvious concerns about the erosion of civil liberties in the workplace. Attempts by
employers to force employees to take drug tests could potentially be challenged as a violation of
privacy under the Human Rights Act 1988.
It also begs the question about how robust the practices and procedures of those mandatory
drugs tests would be, including how expert the body or organisation would be in doing the
testing, and the reliability of the results (especially if you are already on medication). A positive
test could ruin your career, so all parties would need to have confidence in the testing
procedures.
The undignified nature of the tests is also likely to affect staff morale, and even businesses may
question whether the additional cost and time of such processes are ultimately beneficial. It will
be interesting to see if this comes to fruition.
Do you agree with mandatory drug testing at work, or do you think it is a step too far? Do you
think it would act as a deterrent for those either on drugs or thinking about taking them?
• Philip Landau is an employment lawyer at Landau Zeffertt Weir Solicitors.
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Fonte: G1
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Data: 31/01/2013
40% dos detidos em flagrante por tráfico de drogas são menores
Dados são da GCM de Sorocaba (SP), durante apreensões em 2012.
Mais de 250 crianças e adolescentes foram detidos ao longo do ano.
Do G1 Sorocaba e Jundiaí
Comente agora
O número de menores apreendidos por tráfico de drogas tem aumentado emSorocaba (SP). Dos
suspeitos detidos em flagrante durante 2012, quase 40% eram crianças e adolescentes. O
envolvimento dos jovens neste tipo de crime tem acontecido cada vez mais cedo.
As câmeras da Central de Monitoramento da Guarda Civil Municipal fizeram muitos flagrantes de
menores traficando ao longo do ano. Uma das imagens gravadas pelas câmeras da GCM mostra
dois meninos, um de 11 e outro de 12 anos. Com eles, foram apreendidas 32 porções de maconha e
48 pedras de crack. Eles foram encaminhados à delegacia.
Em outro caso, as imagens mostram um grupo usando cocaína na porta de uma loja fechada, no
Centro. Segundo a GCM, os mesmos adolescentes passaram a madrugada vendendo drogas no
local.
Imagens feitas no bairro Ana Paula Eleutério, conhecido como Habiteto, mostram adolescentes
usando entorpecentes durante um baile. As imagens flagraram crianças entrando e saindo de baixo
do palco. De acordo com a Guarda Municipal, o palco foi usado para o consumo de drogas.
Pelos registros do orgão, das 646 pessoas presas em flagrante no ano passado, em Sorocaba, 254
eram crianças e adolescentes. Destas, 90% foram apreendidas ou encaminhadas para a Fundação
Casa por tráfico de drogas.
Central de Monitoramento
da GCM flagrou muitos menores traficando drogas (Foto: Reprodução/TV TEM)
CLIPPING VIVAVOZ
Fonte: G1
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Data: 31/01/2013
Preocupação na Europa por explosão na demanda de drogas sintéticas
France Presse
BRUXELAS, 31 Jan 2013 (AFP) - A União Europeia (UE) alertou esta quinta-feira para um forte
aumento na demanda das chamadas drogas 'de design', sintetizadas na China e que podem ser
compradas pela internet, enquanto a cocaína perde popularidade, embora se mantenha, atrás da
maconha, como a segunda droga ilegal mais consumida.
'Na Europa e em todo o mundo presta-se atenção (...) nas novas drogas e nas novas pautas de
consumo', destacou um relatório elaborado pelo Centro de Controle Europeu de Dependência à
Droga e a Europol.
'Esta atenção se vê alimentada pelas mudanças produzidas na tecnologia das comunicações', já que
em muitos casos as drogas podem ser compradas como 'euforizantes legais' na internet ou 'em lojas
especializadas'.
O termo 'droga de design' é usado, desde os anos 1980, para designar os compostos do 'ecstasy'
(MDMA e outros, como os canabinoides sintéticos) e se aplica a substâncias 'destinadas a imitar os
efeitos das drogas controladas, porém modificando sutilmente sua estrutura química para escapar
dos controles existentes', destacou o informe.
A maioria destas novas 'substâncias psicotrópicas que se negocia no mercado europeu de drogas
ilegais' se fabrica na China e, em menor medida, na Índia.
Três produtos naturais - kratom, sálvia e cogumelos alucinógenos - continuam sendo os 'euforizantes
legais' ofertados com mais frequência na web, seguidos de oito substâncias sintéticas, cuja
disponibilidade aumentou em 2011.
O mercado europeu da droga 'é um dos fenômenos criminosos mais complexos e invasores do
nosso tempo', advertiu a comissária de Assuntos do Interior, Cecilia Malmstr¶m, durante entrevista
coletiva.
'Os grupos criminosos organizados são agora mais propensos a traficar com muitas substâncias ao
mesmo tempo e juntar forças', acrescentou.
'O tráfico de drogas também está se diversificando no que diz respeito à complexidade, tanto das
rotas escolhidas quanto dos tipos de drogas transportadas por estas rotas', acrescentou.
Apesar de um claro declínio nos últimos anos, 'a cocaína continua sendo a segunda droga ilegal
mais consumida na Europa, depois da maconha' e 'a maior parte do processo de transformação das
folhas de coca em cloridrato de cocaína continua se desenvolvendo em Colômbia, Peru e Bolívia'.
O consumo de cocaína aumentou durante mais de uma década 'até alcançar um máximo em 20082009', mas desde então se verifica uma 'perda de popularidade desta droga'.
'Estudos qualitativos realizados em ambientes recreativos também indicam uma possível mudança
na imagem da cocaína, que vai perdendo sua reputação' em países como Dinamarca e Holanda.
As apreensões de cocaína diminuíram.
A droga com destino à Europa transita pela maior parte dos países da América do Sul e América
Central, mas procede sobretudo de 'Argentina, Brasil, Equador, México e Venezuela', diz o estudo.
Espanha, Holanda, Portugal e Bélgica continuam sendo os 'principais pontos de entrada da cocaína
na Europa'. E os informes mencionam 'com frequência Alemanha, França e Reino Unido' como
principais países de trânsito ou de destino.