An increase in the use of ecstasy may be due to the outlawing of the party pill drug BZP and the bad reputation of P, according to the latest findings of the illicit drugs monitoring work done by Massey University researchers.

The latest findings of the Illicit Drugs Monitoring System, conducted among frequent drug users each year, show a levelling out of methamphetamine (P) use and increases in ecstasy and cocaine use.

Lead researcher Dr Chris Wilkins from the University's Centre for Social and Health Outcomes Research and Evaluation says there has been a steady increase in ecstasy use since 2001. Though few of the frequent drug users interviewed had experience of cocaine there were signs it was becoming more readily available and of greater purity.

Dr Wilkins warned that people using ecstasy needed to be aware of its risks, including the risk that they may not be taking pure ecstasy but a mixture of methamphetamine, ketamine and BZP.

"The ban on BZP may encouraging more people to use ecstasy and this is an issue which we intend to investigate in detail over the next six weeks."

The study's findings illustrate the effectiveness of prohibiting a previously legal substance - in this case BZP - by changing the way it is supplied and making it more difficult and expensive to get.

The chief executive of leading drugs and humans rights charity Release today accused advertising regulators of censorship after the body's ad campaign was withdrawn from London buses.

Release said it has been told its campaign, which incorporates posters on the sides of buses in the capital that read "Nice people take drugs", is to be removed and that the strapline needs to be altered to temper the message before the ads can be reinstated.

Sebastian Saville, the chief executive of Release added that the removal of the "Nice people take drugs" adverts from buses was an overreaction to a legitimate message.

The charity was told yesterday by CBS Outdoor, the billboard advertising company that booked the bus campaign on its behalf, that the inclusion of the words, "also" or "too" would make the ads less likely to be attract complaints and ensure they fit non-broadcast advertising codes of practice.

Saville said he found if difficult to understand why the campaign might be misconstrued.

He said: "The Nice People Take Drugs campaign is about getting people to think about drug use in our society and for politicians to stop being so frightened of having an open debate on how to more effectively deal with the current situation. I am deeply concerned."

Saville suggested the move reflected a broader climate in which politicians and regulators seek to stifle debate on drugs and bend to pressure from "moral crusaders".

With the California economy in shambles the state is increasingly relying on the financial boost they get from medical marijuana. According to some estimates, California receives millions of dollars in taxes from medical marijuana growers and buyers. For their part marijuana growers are welcoming the state's acceptance of their legal businesses, though they still live in fear of prosecution by the federal government.

Medical experts have warned of a "worrying link" between ketamine use and serious bladder and kidney problems.

The recreational use of ketamine - an anaesthetic commonly used by vets - has increased in recent years because of its powerful hallucinogenic qualities. But there have been recent reports of serious urological side effects from heavy use of the Class C drug, including severe pain, haematuria (blood in the urine), incontinence and even kidney failure.

Doctors and drug workers from Bristol Urological Institute at Southmead Hospital and the Bristol Drugs Project teamed up to evaluate the symptoms experienced by ketamine users. They present their findings today at the Royal College of Psychiatrists' 2009 Annual Meeting in Liverpool.

The researchers found that 15 patients in the West Country had recently been referred to urologists with a history of chronic ketamine use and severe urgency, frequency, pain and haematuria.

A separate survey of urologists across the UK found that most had seen similar cases. In around a third of cases, the patients' symptoms improved when they stopped using ketamine.

However, in the remaining two-thirds of cases the symptoms either stayed the same or got worse - even after the patients stopped using the drug. If patients continued using ketamine, their symptoms became very difficult to control.

Lead researcher Dr Angela Cottrell said: "There is a worrying link between ketamine use and urinary tract pathology that is proving difficult to manage. A multidisciplinary approach involving psychiatrists, drug workers, pain consultants, urologists and GP is needed to tackle this growing problem. A harm reduction strategy to increase awareness of the risks and help people reduce their intake is also needed."

I sense an echo chamber on this one that will last well into summer.

Here's more from the Seattle Times:

At least three local drug users were hospitalized this week with life-threatening illnesses after they were exposed to an animal-deworming medication used to dilute cocaine and crack.

One user required extensive surgery and another racked up more than $100,000 in medical bills, according to Public Health — Seattle & King County.

The department Thursday issued an alert aimed at drug-treatment facilities and users to warn about risks associated with the animal drug, called levamisole, which can wipe out white blood cells in humans.

Levamisole is an odorless, tasteless white powder that closely resembles cocaine. "You can't tell if the cocaine or crack is contaminated with levamisole by looking at it," said David Fleming, director of the public-health department. "Don't take a chance and risk your life."

Cocaine users who have consumed levamisole might exhibit serious health symptoms, such as high fever, chills, swollen glands and painful sores on the mouth and anus.

"The contaminant is creating an illness" that resembles rapidly progressive infections, said Bob Wood, AIDS-control officer with Public Health. "But this is not a condition that needs to result in death."

Users exhibiting symptoms should seek treatment at a hospital immediately, he said.

Medical staff at several local drug-treatment facilities said Thursday they had not yet heard about any levamisole cases but were no more concerned than they were about cocaine and crack use in general.

Over the past two years, similar cases have been reported in New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Great Britain, Wood said. The provinces of British Columbia and Alberta in Canada have seen nearly 40 cases — including one death — in the past few months, according to Ottawa Public Health.

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Nice People Take Drugs – it's not a controversial statement. We all know people who have. The last three US presidents have admitted to it. Much has been suggested about the likely next UK prime minister. Nowadays if a politician admitted to it, the tabloids would struggle to make a story stick let alone generate a scandal. The fact is, a lot of people from all walks of life have at some point taken drugs and it's time we got real about it.

That's why this week we have launched a new campaign called Nice People Take Drugs. Buses will be travelling across London carrying this slogan in an attempt to get people talking about drugs and kickstart a drug policy debate.

Over one third of the adult population of England and Wales has used illegal drugs and almost 10 million people have smoked cannabis. According to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, one in eight Britons under 35 has taken cocaine. Some will have experimented with drugs with little apparent consequence, some will continue to use them on occasions.

The situation where people have to deny, hide or, if found out, regret their drug taking is simply absurd. The public is tired of the artificial representation of drugs in society, which is not truthful about the fact that all sorts of people use drugs. If we are to have a fair and effective drug policy, it must be premised on this reality.

It is time for the public to challenge the mantra adhered to by politicians and much of the media that society must continue to fight a war on drugs, as if they are an enemy worth fighting and ones that can be defeated. The implication that drugs are evil and that users of them ought to be made to feel ashamed suits this status quo, but in fact does not reflect most people's experience of drugs.