Hit hard by a double whammy of drought and economic slowdown, California's Central Valley has become a hotbed of methamphetamine and other injection drug use.

Under an anti-methamphetamine package announced last week by the government of New Zealand, popular cold and flu remedies containing pseudoephedrine will soon be available only by prescription afte

Under an anti-methamphetamine package announced last week by the government of New Zealand, popular cold and flu remedies containing pseudoephedrine will soon be available only by prescription after a visit to the doctor's office. The drug is a precursor chemical for manufacturing meth.

"We're asking New Zealanders to band together and to accept using alternatives to treat their colds and flus to ensure New Zealand no longer becomes one of the countries most heavily affected by P [as the Kiwis refer to meth]," said Prime Minister John Key as he announced the a series of moves to combat meth use and production.

In addition to restricting access to precursor chemicals, the government will spend more money on drug treatment programs, create a 40-man police anti-meth task force, and charge police with drafting a new anti-meth law enforcement strategy by next month. The government said it would pay for the programs with asset forfeiture funds.

The pseudoephedrine announcement in particular brought a mixed reaction from the public. Some, especially those who had friends or family members who had had problems with meth, were supportive. Both others were "annoyed," asking why law-abiding people had to suffer for the actions of drug users and some "voiced concern that it was a bit over the top."

Unsurprisingly, New Zealand police were happy with the new meth package. In a statement greeting the package's announcement, Assistant Commissioner Viv Rickard praised the "whole of government approach" as "more effective" in the battle against meth, but, as always, the police wanted more.

"Police support the control of pseudoephedrine as it would allow us to concentrate resources and work with Customs on preventing the importation of precursors from overseas," Rickard said. "Precursor control is a vital part of disrupting the supply of methamphetamine, but no one action on its own will solve the methamphetamine problem. Stronger legislation around gangs, the ability to seize assets and profits of organized criminals and enhanced treatment programs will all contribute reducing the supply of methamphetamine and making our communities safer."

In the last eight days, the decriminalization of drug possession has gone into effect for 150 million Latin Americans. Last Thursday, as part of a broader bill, Mexico (pop.

A bill that decriminalizes the possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use in Mexico is now the law of the land, although it will not go into effect for one year to give states time to ad

The Community Response to Crystal Methamphetamine Study and the Chemical Dependency Institute (Beth Israel Medical Center) are pleased to announce the presentation of findings from a recently complete

Just two weeks ago, the Congress passed the $787 billion economic stimulus bill, which included $

The New Mexico House voted 67-3 Saturday to approve a bill that makes using or possessing methamphetamine in a home where minors are present child abuse.

A year and a half ago, word started spreading from isolated law enforcement sources that candy-flavored methamphetamine was showing up in drug busts.

Jacob Sullum pokes numerous holes in the drug czar’s recent claims of dramatic drug war progress. This in particular jumped out at me:

…if Walters wants to take credit for every drop in drug use that occurs on his watch, he'll have to take the blame for the enormous increases in past-month LSD use among high school seniors and  past-month methamphetamine use among sophomores, both of which nearly doubled between 2007 and 2008 (hitting a whopping 1.1 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively).

Be careful out there, kids! Thanks to the total failure of the war on drugs, you are up to your asses in acid and meth, but seriously, do not mix them. It will suck. You’ll get arrested (and probably tasered, too).

See, contrary to the drug czar’s wild accusations, those of us who want to end the drug war have no interest in seeing young people make poor choices. And the fact that America’s high schools are overflowing with acid and speed ought to help illustrate why closing the black market is actually a perfectly rational approach to keeping powerful drugs away from our kids.

The Montana Meth Project, an anti-methamphetamine campaign based around scary images of the perils of meth use, has been widely touted as a s

The government of Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat announced a new anti-drug offensive last wee

The 2008 Global Conference on Methamphetamine (held September 15 & 16, 2008 in Prague) was a collaboration of the Czech Republic, City of Prague, Centre for Addictology at Charles University, Network Environmental Systems, Podane Ruce, Cranstoun Drug, Harm Reduction Coalition, Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, & The Thorne Group.

Presentations are now available for download at www.globalmethconference.com.

As part of its effort to wipe out methamphetamine, and especially home-cooked meth, the state of Iowa enacted a law limiting the amount of pseudoephedrine people could purchase in a 24-hour period

The drug war’s mindless persecution of sick people goes beyond medical marijuana:

MASON CITY — Gary Schinagel has suffered from chronic nasal congestion from the time he was a youngster.

When he was a child growing up in Sheffield his family doctor told him, “Gary, this is something you’ll be dealing with all your life.”

Little did he know.

Last Wednesday, Schinagel, 47, a senior investment associate at Principal Financial Group in Mason City, was arrested for the illegal purchase of pseudoephedrine. [Globe Gazette]

Arrested for buying cold medicine. It’s happened before, too. Can you even imagine how many cold sufferers have declined to purchase cold medicine for fear of having their door kicked in by the cops?

If you don’t know about things like this, you don’t fully understand what the drug war does. The real drug war consists of the accumulation of every mindblowingly absurd outcome our policies have produced. It’s not just a game of cops and robbers. It’s a philosophy that corrupts our consciousness, permeates our policymaking, and eventually results in completely normal and innocent people being arrested all the time for some of the stupidest reasons one could possibly imagine.

Also: On a very related note, this weekend CVS wouldn't sell Radley Balko the medicine he needed.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For More Info: Luciano Colonna
September 10, 2008 +00 (1) 801 635 7736 (USA); luciano.colonna@globalmeth.com

FIRST GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON METHAMPHETAMINE TO ADDRESS 65 BILLION DOLLAR MARKET IN PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC, SEPTEMBER 15-16, 2008

Experts >From 22 Nations Will Gather to Examine the Intersection between Methamphetamine, Public Health, Law Enforcement, and Civil Society.

PRAGUE, Czech Republic, September 9 ­­­­-- While illicit production and use of synthetic drugs has stabilized in North America and Europe, it is on the rise in much of Asia and the Middle East, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said Tuesday. The global market for amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS), worth an estimated 65 billion dollars in wholesale and retail sales combined, has stabilized or shown signs of decline in North America, Europe and Oceania but the problem has shifted to new markets over the past few years, the office said. According to Luciano Colonna, Chairman of the 2008 Global Conference on Methamphetamine, the use of ATS also continues to be used at an alarming rate in many parts of Eastern and Central Europe, the Russian Federation, and South Africa, with 36 million using ATS at least once on 2008. Colonna said that ATS are now more popular than heroin and cocaine combined.

The First Global Conference on Methamphetamine will provide an arena for the world’s foremost scientists, leaders and professionals working on issues of drug use to come together to discuss a wide variety of topics centering on methamphetamine. The Conference will take place in Prague’s City Hall on Monday & Tuesday (September 15-16 2008).

As the first event to gather global experts from a wide diversity of fields, the conference is assured to be an unparalleled event. Confirmed speakers from USA, China, Australia, Thailand, Russia, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Israel, Poland, Iran, Slovakia Ukraine, Czech Republic, Great Britain and the United Nations will address the conference theme of “Science, Strategy and Response.” Representatives from international agencies, civil society, academia, science, law enforcement and others will have the unique opportunity to discuss key issues including: Treatment, HIV, Trafficking, Production, Environmental Impact, Law Enforcement, Policy, Current Research, Regional Updates, and Innovative Global Approaches.

As nations struggle to develop appropriate responses to methamphetamine, it is crucial that the most current scientific research, information, and best practices be available to those seeking to implement solutions. The primary goal of the First Global Conference on Methamphetamine is to provide a context for this important work to take place.

FOR MEDIA: A press conference will take place at the conference site at 10 AM, Monday (September 15, 2008. The major sessions of the conference are open to reporters. Site visits, photo opportunities and interviews can be arranged. For journalists not traveling to Prague, interviews and briefings with key spokespeople and presenters can be arranged on request.

Sponsors and Partners include: The Czech Republic, Charles University, the City of Prague, Network Environmental Systems, Podane Ruce, Cranstoun Drug Services, Sananim, Institute Scan, Systems, Inc, and The Thorne Group.

Website: www.globalmethamphetamine.com

Contact: Luciano Colonna Chair, Executive Program Committee - 2008 Global Conference On Methamphetamine +00 (1) 801 635 7736 (USA); luciano.colonna@globalmeth.com

Contact: Andy Lawson, Lawson Communications +420 775 035 757 (Europe); andyl@lawson-communications.com

###

Phillip S. Smith, Writer/Editor

Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 13, 2008

Contact: Luciano Colonna
Chair, Executive Program Committee
+00 (1) 801 635 7736 (USA / UTC – 6 hours)
luciano.colonna@globalmeth.com
`
First Global Conference On Methamphetamine To Feature 80 Speakers From 16 Countries
Full Program Agenda Available for Conference September 15 - 16, 2008, Prague, Czech Republic

PRAGUE, Czech Republic, August 11 ­­­­-- The Global Conference On Methamphetamine today announced the program for the 2008 Global Conference on Methamphetamine. The conference will take place September 15-16, 2008, in Prague, Czech Republic. The full conference program is available online at http://www.globalmethconference.com/prague-08/programme-and-abstracts.ph...

The program committee has created an exciting program full of new and cutting-edge topics that is relevant and engaging for the international community. The two-day conference will feature a keynote presentation by Dr. Louisa Degenhardt, of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. The conference includes two days of presentations, panels and discussions. There will also be methamphetamine laboratory displays and demonstrations.

This following is just a small sample of the presentations that will be given at GCM 2008. Ivan Langer, Minster of the Interior of the Czech Republic, will speak on the Intersection of Policy and Research; Jeremy Douglas and Matthew Nice of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) will present UNODC’s 2008 Global Amphetamine Type Stimulant Situation Assessment; Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance will present The Questions That Never – Or Almost Never – Get Asked About Methamphetamine; with Mike Sabin of New Zealand’s MethCon Group countering with his presentation Don’t Throw The Baby Out With the Bath Water. Also featured will be Network Environmental Systems' Methamphetamine Laboratory Display & Presentation. For the full program, visit the Global Conference on Methamphetamine Web site at http://www.globalmethconference.com

Highlights of the Conference:

New Methamphetamine Epidemic in Thailand
Apinun Aramrattana, Research Institute of Health Sciences at Chiang Mai University

Methamphetamine Abuse in China
Lin Lu, Director, National Institute on Drug Dependence at Peking University

The Methamphetamine Epidemic in the US: Speed, Crank, Crystal, Ice and Tina and the Public Health Consequences
Richard Rawson, UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs

Methamphetamine: Clandestine Laboratory Update
Robert Pennal, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, California Department of Justice

Dramatic Increase in Methamphetamine Related Drug Treatment Admissions in Cape Town
Andreas Plüddemann, South African Medical Research Council

A Global Overview of Youth Methamphetamine Use: Where Are We Now and Where Are We Headed?
Caitlin Padgett, Youth R.I.S.E.

Social Aspects of Methamphetamine Injection in Russia
Olga Borodkina, St. Petersburg State University

Safety First: Prevention Education For Methamphetamine and Other Drugs
Marsha Rosenbaum, Drug Policy Alliance

Amphetamine Type Stimulant Injection in the Republic of Georgia
David Otiashvili, Addiction Research Center, Union Alternative Georgia

Methamphetamine in the Czech Republic: EU Pervitin Deviance or Laboratory of EU Drug Future?
Tomáš Zábranský, Center for Addictology, Charles University in Prague,

Speaking to Be Heard: Outreach to Gay Men in San Francisco Who Do Meth
Michael Siever, The Stonewall Project, SF AIDS Foundation

Quite a Lot of Smoke But Very Limited Fire - The Use of Methamphetamine in the European Union
Danica Klempova1 & Chloe Carpentier, European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction

According to estimates by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Health Organization (WHO): More individuals worldwide now use stimulants than opiates and cocaine combined. Methamphetamine is the most widely used illicit drug in the world except for cannabis. Over 26 million individuals used amphetamine-type stimulants in 2007.

Established trends show methamphetamine use to be widespread in North American, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand; while India, Pakistan, Eastern Europe, the Russian Federation, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Western Europe represent emerging markets or areas of perceived risk. Yet the development of appropriate and effective responses to stimulants lags. In most cases, treatment and prevention are inappropriately modeled on opiate and alcohol treatment, ignoring both the physical properties of the drug itself, and the fact that methamphetamine use patterns vary widely, and effective responses must be tailored to the unique needs of regions, cultures, and individual users. A lack of infrastructure, of funding, and of experts trained specifically in methamphetamine response compounds the problem.

As nations struggle to develop appropriate responses to methamphetamine, it is crucial that the most current scientific research, information, and best practices be available to those seeking to implement solutions. The primary goal of the First Global Conference on Methamphetamine is to provide a context for this important work to take place.

FOR MEDIA: The major sessions of the conference are open to reporters. Site visits, photo opportunities and interviews can be arranged. For journalists not traveling to Prague, interviews and briefings with key spokespeople and presenters can be arranged on request.

Sponsors and Partners include: The Czech Republic, Charles University, City of Prague, Network Environmental Systems, Marathon Oil Company, Podane Ruce, Cranstoun Drug Services, Sananim, Institute Scan, and The Thorne Group.

Website: www.globalmethamphetamine.com http://www.globalmethconference.com.

Contact: Luciano Colonna Chair, Executive Program Committee - 2008 Global Conference On Methamphetamine +00 (1) 801 635 7736 (USA); luciano.colonna@globalmeth.com

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, August 13, 2008

Contact: Luciano Colonna, Chair, Executive Program Committee

1st global conference on methamphetamine

conference newsletter
issue no. 1

Prague. Czech Republic.
15th - 16th Sept. 2008

Prague New City Hall
www.globalmethconference.com

The Czech Republic, City of Prague, the Centre for Addictology at Charles University, Network Environmental Systems, Podane Ruce, Cranstoun Drug Services, the Harm Reduction Coalition and The Thorne Group, are honored to cosponsor the 1st Global Conference on Methamphetamine: Science, Strategy and Response. The event is scheduled to take place this September 15 - 16, 2008 at Prague's new City Hall.

   The first event of its kind, experts from the fields of science, public health, criminal justice, government, and civil society, will come together in the historic city of Prague to discuss a wide range of topics centering around methamphetamine. While local and national communities are under siege by a perceived methamphetamine epidemic rush to pursue solutions, many facets of the problem remain to be discovered, examined, debated, illuminated and verified.
   It is in this spirit of discovery, discussion, and cooperation that we are convening this summit. As the first event to gather global experts from varied fields, with diverse and even sometimes divergent perspectives, the conference is assured to be an unparalleled event.
   The First Global Conference On Methamphetamine will take place in Prague's City Hall, with speakers and delegates attending from more than 20 nations. Delegates will have access to over fifty panel, breakout, and plenary sessions and the unique opportunity to interact with local, national, and international organizations, providers, scientists, and professionals. Visit the conference website to get more information and register.

Opium in essence is about poverty, where as Yaa Baa is about greed.  ~ Jean-Luc Lemahiey (UNDOC)

Major & Concurrent Sessions

Abuse and Dependence and the Onset of Schizophrenia - Super Labs and Cartels - Spreading Like Wildfire: 'Tik' Use in the Western Cape of South Africa - Social Marketing - Trade Awareness of Illicit Sourceing of Chemicals Required for Production - Law Enforcement: Through the Barriers - Use Among Opiate Abusers in Iran - Personal Values and Meaning in Use Among HIV Positive MSM - Voter Approved Treatment Through the Criminal Justice System - Methamphetamine Use in China - Biopyschosocial Aspects of Use Meth Lab - Contamination Assessment - The Future of Global Drug Policy - Novel Interventions for Reducing Risk - Meth Lab Eradication Through Effective Control of Pseudo/ephedrine - Use and Property Offending and Drug Dealing in New Zealand - High Risk Behavior and Avoidance Based Coping Among HIV+ MSM Sexuality and Mental Health Concerns - The Matrix Model for the Treatment of Dependence - Use Among Black MSM - Marketing Education to the Club World - Quite a Lot of Smoke But Very Limited Fire - The Use of Methamphetamine in the European Union - History of Methamphetamine in the US - Hypogonadism and Use Among HIV Positive Men - Therapeutic Communities in Czech Republic - Use In Central & Eastern Europe: How Recent Social History Shaped Current Drug Consumption Patterns - Youth and Ya Ba Use in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand - Use Among Youth in Inner City Winnipeg - Methamphetamine,Meth Labs, and Drug Endangered Children - Use Among Queer Street Involved Youth In Vancouver - Use During Pregnancy: Where Did the Current Surge in Treatment Admissions Come From? - Working with Users in an Urban Setting - Unveiling the Needs of Women Who Use In Indonesia - Providing Integrative Services to Users: The Ukrainian Experience - Use Among Patients of Buprenorphine Maintenance Programs - Injection and HIV Risk in Ukraine - Amphetamines in "Free" Serbia - Pharmacological Treatment of Meth Addiction -  Exploring the Efficacy of Matrix in Tehran - The Czech Republic: EU Pervitin Deviance or Laboratory of EU Drug Future? - Safety First: Prevention Education - Use and Networks of Drug Injectors in St. Petersburg - Drug Choice and HIV Risk Among IDUs in St. Petersburg - Brief Motivational Interventions - Exploring Intimacy, Sexuality, and Identity -  "Aquí Empieza la Patria" ("Here the Homeland Begins") - Patterns of Use - Relationship Between Use, Other Drugs, and Sexual Effects - Dependence and HIV Risk -  Behavior Hepatitis A, B, and C Virus Infection  Among Users in Treatment - Use Among Treatment Seeking Youth: An Emerging Problem? - Russian Narcologoical Treatment Crisis - Meth Free Alliance's Neighborhood Intervention Project - Social Cognition, Executive Function & Use - Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About - Ibogaine -  Regional Updates- The Relationship Between Use & Violence - Consumption & Expenditure: A Cultural Analysis - Dramatic Increase in Treatment Admissions in Cape Town, South Africa - Methamphetamine, Justice and Public Health - Crime and Punishiment

(More to be announced)

A knowedge of the formulas and chemicals used to produce methamphetamine is essential to the effort to minimize harm.

Featured Speakers

                                                                          
   Keynote Speaker: Louisa Degenhardt, PhD
   National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of  
   NSW, Sydney
   "The Global Methamphetamine Picture"

   Special Guest Speaker: Ivan Langer
   Minister of The Interior, Czech Republic
   "Welcome"
                           
   Speical Sessions: Jeremy Douglas
   Manager, Global SMART Program
   Matthew Nice, Research Expert
   United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna
   "The Global ATS Situation Assessment 2008"

This Week's Highlighted Speakers

Richard Rawson, PhD
UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, Los Angeles
"On the Treatment of Methamphetamine"

Prof. Lin Lu, MD, PhD
Director, National Institute of Drugs and Development, Beijing
"Methamphetamine Abuse in China"

Apinun Aramrattana, MD, PhD
Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai
"The New Methamphetamine Epidemic in Thailand"

Danica Klempova, MA
Drug Situation Analyst, European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Lisbon
"Quite a Lot of Smoke But Very Limited Fire - The Use of Methamphetamine in the E.U."

Kat Coric
Artist, President, Arts & Ideas, Montreal
"Crystal  - See Through it - Marketing Crystal Meth Education to the Club World"

Stephanie Lovett   
Compliance Director, Chemical Compliance International, Birmingham
"Trade Awareness of Illicit Sourcing of Chemicals Required for Methamphetamine Production"

Marsha Rosenbaum, PhD
Director Emerita, Safety First Program, Drug Policy Alliance, San Francisco
"Safety First: Prevention Education For Methamphetamine and Other Drugs"

Michael Siever, PhD
Director, The Stonewall Project, San Francisco
"The Evolution of Party and Play: Counseling Gay Men in San Francisco Who Do Methamphetamine"

Michael D. Siever, PhD., is a licensed psychologist whose specialty is addictive behaviors. He is the founder and Director of the Stonewall Project, which provides services to gay and bisexual men who use methamphetamine.

The Stonewall Project has two components: 1) a harm reduction treatment program providing integrated substance use, mental health, and HIV counseling and education; and 2) a harm reduction outreach and education program best known by its web site, www.tweaker.org (opens in a new window)">www.tweaker.org that also includes real time outreach and education in the community. He also was one of the founders of Magnet, a community space and sexual health center for gay men. Both Stonewall and Magnet are programs of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

Dr. Siever was a founding member of and, for three years, the Community Co-Chair of the Substance Abuse Treatment on Demand Planning Council for the City and County of San Francisco and has been active in several other advisory groups and task forces for the San Francisco Department of Public Health. He was a member of the Continuum of Services System Re-engineering Task Force for the California State Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs.

Dr. Siever received his B.A. in Social Relations from Harvard University and both his M.Ed. in Special Education and his PhD. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Washington in Seattle. He was a NIAAA-funded Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Addictive Behaviors Research Center at the University of Washington under G. Alan Marlatt, PhD., and Research and Clinical Associate in the AIDS Risk Reduction Project in the School of Social Work at the University of Washington. Dr. Siever also has a long history of community activism dating back several decades.

He was a member of Survive AIDS (formerly known as ACT-UP Golden Gate). In addition to his activism as a gay man living with HIV, he is an advocate for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities and other marginalized and oppressed communities particularly with the San Francisco Department of Public Health. He was a founding member of Queer Nation/Seattle and served on the Steering Committees of Seattle Committee Against Thirteen, the Washington Coalition for Sexual Minority Rights, and the Union of Sexual Minorities. His activism started in the civil rights and anti-war struggles in the 1960's and 1970's.

Wendee Wechsberg, PhD
Director, Substance Abuse Treatment Evaluations and Intervention, RTI International
"Spreading Like Wildfire: 'Tik' Use in the Western Cape of South Africa"

Tomas Zabransky, MD, PhD,
Research and Development Manager, Centre for Addictology at Charles University, Prague
"Meth in the Czech Republic: EU Pervitin Deviance or Laboratory of EU Drug Future?"

An estimated 25 million individuals used amphetamine-type stimulants in 2006. - United Nations World Drug Report

Conference Programme

Sunday Evening, September 14, 2008
7:30 -10: 00 p.m. Welcoming Reception
Zlatá Praha Restaurant ~ The Rooftop Terrace
of the InterContinental Hotel Praha
(Main Conference Hotel)

Monday, September 15, 2008
9:00-10:30 a.m. Opening Ceremony
11:00-12:30 p.m. Opening Plenary
12:30-13:30 p.m. Lunch (provided)
13:30-15:00 p.m. Major & Concurrent Sessions
15:30-17:00 p.m. Major & Concurrent Sessions
17:00-18:30 p.m. Major Session

7:30-10:00 p.m. Mayor's Gala Event
Lord Mayor Residence
Hosted by Pavel Bém, Lord Mayor of Prague

Tuesday, September 16, 2008
8:30-10:00 a.m. Major Session
10:30-12:00 p.m. Major & Concurrent Sessions
12:00-13:00 p.m. Lunch (provided)
13:00-14:30 p.m. Major & Concurrent Sessions
15:00-16:30 p.m. Major & Concurrent Sessions
16:45-17:30 p.m. Closing Ceremony

Conference Objectives

  As the use of methamphetamine and other amphetamine-type stimulants proliferates across the globe, there is an emerging consensus among experts that stimulant use is a unique and complex problem that presents a significant challenge to existing philosophies and strategies. The 2008 Global Conference on Methamphetamine will provide an arena for the world's foremost scientists, leaders and professionals working on issues of drug use to come together to discuss a wide variety of topics centering around methamphetamine.
   Established trends show methamphetamine use to be widespread in North American, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand; while India, Pakistan, Eastern Europe, the Russian Federation Sub-Saharan Africa and Western Europe represent emerging markets or areas of perceived risk. According to estimates by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime and the World Health Organization more individuals worldwide now use stimulants than opiates and cocaine combined. Yet the development of appropriate and effective responses to stimulants lags. In most cases, treatment and prevention are inappropriately modeled on opiate and alcohol treatment, ignoring both the physical properties of the drug itself, and the fact that methamphetamine use patterns vary widely, and effective responses must be tailored to the unique needs of regions, cultures, and individual users. A lack of infrastructure, of funding, and of experts trained specifically in methamphetamine response compounds the problem.
   As nations struggle to develop appropriate responses to methamphetamine, it is crucial that the most current scientific research, information, and best practices be available to those seeking to implement solutions. The primary goal of the First Global Conference on Methamphetamine is to provide a context for this important work to take place.

For details on registration, hotel accommodations and the wonderful City of Prague, please visit the conference website  or contact the conference organizer directly at wt@theproductionagency.com

Media and program inquires should be directed to Luciano Colonna, EPC chair, at luciano.colonna@globalmeth.com

2008 Global Conference On Methamphetamine
The White House
Sevenoaks, TN13 2QP Great Britain
www.globalmethconference.com