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CONTENTS

        Previous issue of The Observer News 

United States Department of Justice National Drug Intelligence Center

The National Drug Intelligence Center Provides Software, Training, and International Cross-Case Analysis Services at No Cost

By Michael T. Horn, Director, National Drug Intelligence Center

Read the full article in Word or PDF

The National Drug Intelligence Center, a component of the United States Department of Justice, has devised a highly effective tool for quickly analyzing investigative data relevant to any type of investigation. Using a piece of software called RAID (Real-time Analytical Intelligence Database), coupled with our unique methodology, we are able to analyze large volumes of evidence and other investigative data in a very short period of time. 

The RAID software has proven its effectiveness in over 300 investigations, including some of the highest profile investigations in the United States and throughout the world. We’ve deployed our analysts to hundreds of locations to provide on-site document and computer exploitation support. Additionally, we’ve taught many law enforcement organizations how to use the RAID software and our methodology in their own investigations. We offer the RAID software and associated training to agencies throughout the world at no cost. Further, NDIC is developing a new version of the RAID software which has the potential to exponentially enhance law enforcement’s ability to identify connections among investigations conducted throughout the world – connections that would otherwise remain undetected.

To view NDIC publications visit the NDIC website at www.usdoj.gov/ndic . Some publications are available in Spanish and French.

New Economic thinking on Addiction and Legalization 

By Robert B. Charles for the National Alliance for Model State Drug Laws

Any consumer of an addictive substance begins with a first use of that substance. That decision is informed by the costs of use, including price, risk of addiction and other adverse health effects, and perceived benefits of use. As the consumer migrates from treating the addictive substance (for example, cocaine or alcohol) as a "luxury" to treating that same substance as a "necessity," substantial research indicates that the Price Elasticity of Demand (PED) for the drug shrinks – that is, the degree to which use is affected by price falls. Unlike the first time purchaser of drugs, who is assumed to have weighed the addicted substance’s putative effects against costs and risks, often based on information (accurate and inaccurate) collected from peers, media, parents and the community-at-large, an addicted person’s decision-making is defined by the state of addiction.

Dr. Charles is the new Assistant Secretary of the State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs 

Drug Use Amongst Vulnerable Young People
Prevention strategies need to target young people most at risk

Published by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) 
Drugs in Focus Issue No 10 

Most young people who experiment with drugs or use them recreationally – at parties for example – do not develop serious drug problems. For these young people the greatest risks of harm are associated with having an accident, getting into a fight or into trouble with the police or having unprotected sex whilst under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs. However, a small but significant minority of young people who experiment with drugs do become intensive drug users and develop serious drug-related health problems. 

Research has identified a range of risk factors for developing drug problems. Some risk factors are associated with characteristics of the individual – for example having a mental disorder such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or depression – whilst others are linked with family or neighbourhood characteristics.  Children living in families with high levels of parental conflict, poor family relationships and discipline or where parents themselves have drug or alcohol related problems are at greater risk of drug abuse. Young people who are homeless, who have been excluded from school or who have stopped attending school, young offenders and young people in institutional or foster care are more likely to experiment with drugs at an early age and to develop drug-related problems.

These factors are highly interconnected and are best understood as a ‘web of causation’. This briefing paper deals with developing protective factors in groups of young people who are most vulnerable to becoming problem drug users. It considers ways of complementing universal drug prevention strategies by providing selective interventions which target those who are most at risk of becoming intensive drug-users.

See full text in PDF only. Visit the EMCCDA website for other Drugs in Focus publications: http://www.emcdda.eu.int/infopoint/publications/focus.shtml 

Mr. Paul Kennedy, Senior Assistant Deputy Solicitor General of Canada Assumes the CICAD Chair for 2004

At the conclusion of the thirty-fourth regular session of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) of the Organization of American States (OAS) meeting held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, November 17-20 2003, the new CICAD Chair, noted the following issues to inform the Special Summit of the Americas, which will meet in Monterrey, Mexico, January 12 to 13, 2004:

• Continue the work of Expert Groups during 2004-2005 to address the issues of Money Laundering, Chemicals, Precursors, Demand Reduction;
• Establish ad-hoc working groups to address the issues of Transnational Organized Crime and Maritime Narco-trafficking Cooperation;
• Approve and update the provisions for the control of arms brokers contained in CICAD’s  Model Regulations on Firearms;
• Approve amendments to the Model Regulations on Money Laundering to integrate terrorist financing measures and develop next steps;
• Establish criteria for prioritizing the CICAD Commission’s work in light of fiscal constraints.    

Read the full statement by the new CICAD Chair at CICAD XXXIV (Word or 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.