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CONTENTS

Previous issue of The Observer News 

CICAD PARTNERS WITH LIONS CLUBS INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION (LCIF) TO EXPAND COMPREHENSIVE SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION IN SCHOOLS IN LATIN AMERICAN AND THE CARIBBEAN IN THE YEAR OF DEMAND REDUCTION

CICAD, through the Demand Reduction Unit, has formalized a ground-breaking partnership between CICAD and the Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) to  conduct school-based drug abuse prevention and life skills education programs in OAS member states using a model developed by LCIF.

The cooperation agreement was signed during an evening ceremony at OAS headquarters on March 31, 2005, with remarks by Acting OAS Secretary General Luigi R. Einaudi, CICAD Executive Secretary James F. Mack, and Lions Clubs International President Clement F. Kusiak, in the presence of the Board of Directors of Lions Clubs International, representatives from the diplomatic corps, and other special guests.

Complete article in WORD and PDF

CESAR FAX:
Metamphetamine Treatment Admission Rates Higher Than Cocaine and/or Heroin

GOVERNMENTAL EXPERT GROUP OF THE MULTILATERAL EVALUATION MECHANISM MEETS FOR ITS THIRD DRAFTING SESSION BEFORE APPROVAL AND PUBLICATION OF THIRD EVALUATION ROUND NATIONAL AND HEMISPHERIC REPORTS ON PROGRESS IN DRUG CONTROL 2003-2004

 

Ms. Angela Crowdy, MEM Unit Coordinator; and Darling Lopez (Costa Rica), Coordinator of the Governmental Expert Group

Governmental experts in the drug field from the region met at the Headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS) February 28 - March 9, 2005 to complete the third and final drafting session of the 2003-2004 Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism's (MEM) national and hemispheric reports. These reports evaluate the progress in the fight against illicit drugs, both at a national and hemispheric levels.

Complete article in WORD and PDF

SURVEY ON DRUG CONSUMPTION IN
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN NICARAGUA

Dr. Mauricio Sánchez M
SIDUC National Coordinator CICAD/OAS

The objective of this survey was to estimate the drug consumption prevalence between high school students in Nicaragua and its relation to other variables such as the composition of each student’s family, the student’s contact with friends that consume either licit or illicit drugs, performance in school, personal perceptions on the seriousness of drug abuse, personal predisposition to consumption, and the person’s exposure to prevention methods.

Table #1:
Surveyed Students According to Sex, Age,
Grade (in secondary school), and Type of School

Complete article in WORD and PDF

FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE UNITS IN SOUTH AMERICA:
A TOOL TO COMBAT MONEY LAUNDERING

Dr. Rodolfo Uribe
CICAD/OAS

The Organization of American States (OAS), through its Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) (Anti-Money Laundering Unit) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), are collaborating jointly on a project called “Support for the Creation and Development of Financial Intelligence Units in South America”. This project has been designed to respond to the urgent need to efficiently combat money laundering that is undermining the economies of the region and consequently the development of our countries.

Financial Intelligence Units in each country are the world’s response to the use of technology by individuals and criminal organizations for money laundering. According to the EGMONT Group, these units would be the “central and national organism in charge of receiving (according to its ability), requesting, analyzing, and disseminating to the corresponding authorities the financial information reports.”

Complete article in WORD and PDF

METHAMPHETAMINE TREATMENT ADMISSION RATED HIGHER THAN
THOSE OF COCAINE AND/OR HEROIN IN U.S. WESTERN STATES

CESAR FAX
Center of Substance Abuse Research
University of Maryland, College Park

Fax in PDF version

NIDA NOTES

MARIJUANA ABUSE:
AGE OF INITIATION, PLEASURE OF RESPONSE
FORESHADOW YOUNG ADULT OUTCOMES
Robin Eisner, NIDA NOTES Contributing Writer

A boy or girl who is smoking marijuana at 13 is likely to earn less money as a young adult than peers who aren't abusing the drug. An adolescent who smokes less marijuana than a friend but enjoys the experience more is likelier to be addicted to the drug at 21. These are findings from two recent studies that looked at adult outcomes associated with marijuana abuse in adolescence.

"The bad news is that if you start marijuana use by age 13, even if you eventually decrease your usage, you are likely to have a lower income and lower level of schooling by age 29," Dr. Ellickson says. "The good news is that 45 percent of the youths in our sample did not use marijuana between adolescence and emerging adulthood. We need to understand what helped those kids abstain over time." Dr. Ellickson says although her findings show an association between marijuana abuse and reduced income and educational performance, they do not prove that marijuana contributes causally to those outcomes, which result from multiple factors.

Complete article

 ANNOUNCEMENTS AND NEWS
FROM CICAD'S EXECUTIVE SECRETARIAT

• CICAD's thirty-seventh regular session will be held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic from April 26-29.

• The Experts Group on Money Laundering met in Washington, D.C. from March 16-18. The final report on this meeting is available through CICAD's website, and by clicking here.

• Recognizing the need to integrate educational activities and research, the Executive Secretariat of CICAD has created a new unit called EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH UNIT. For further information, please see attached document in WORD and PDF.

• DEMAND REDUCTION UNIT News (WORD and PDF)

• In 1997 CICAD undertook a pilot project in select schools of nursing in Latin America, with the purpose of promoting health, drug abuse prevention, and the social integration of the abuser. In 2004, with the success obtained from the Regional and  International Programs, CICAD has decided to expand this opportunity to other health professionals in Latin America. With the financial support of Government of Japan, Canada and United States and the technical assistance of the National Distance Education –UNED/Spain, CICAD and the University of São Paulo – School of Nursing Ribeirão Preto/Brazil have transformed the Regional program into a On-Line Specialization Program, entitled “REGIONAL ON-LINE SPECIALIZATION RESEARCH CAPACITY-BUILDING PROGRAM ON THE DRUG PHENOMENON IN LATIN AMERICA-PREINVEST.” For more information, please see attached document in WORD and PDF.

This quarterly newsletter is published electronically and  circulated to encourage discussion and comment. The findings, interpretations, judgments, and conclusions expressed in this newsletter are those of the author(s) and should not be attributed to CICAD/OAS.