1. Opium continues to sprout from number of Afghan fields
Dallas Morning News, Sunday, February 22, 2004
Reese Erlich

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN - Although temperatures sometimes drop below freezing, farmers have already planted this year's opium poppy crop in fields just outside Kandahar. It's no secret to the government of interim President Hamid Karzai or the U.S. troops who patrol the area. Opium poppy is virtually the only winter crop.

Akhtar, a major opium growing farmer who asked that his full name not be used, says his and other nearby villages producing drugs rarely encounter any U.S. anti-drug personnel. The farmers are quite open about their business, even offering visitors bowls of salt-roasted marijuana seeds, a byproduct of another major commodity in the village: hashish.

Akhtar and other villagers say producing drugs is a matter of capitalist economics. They can earn three times as much growing poppy and marijuana as raising wheat, their traditional crop."Because these two crops don't require a lot of water," said Akhtar, "we make a better profit when we sell it."

U.N. surveys estimate Afghanistan accounted for three quarters of the world's opium last year, and the trade brought in $2.3 billion, more than half of the nation's gross domestic product. New surveys suggest even more will be planted this year. Patrick Fruchet, a Kabul-based U.N. official, said drugs finance local warlords and their private militias, which in turn, keep the country politically destabilized.

"How we deal with poppy will make or break Afghanistan in the medium term," Mr. Fruchet said.

Threat times three
Mr. Karzai made the same point this month when he told an international anti-drug conference that opium production threatened economic recovery, security and even Islam in Afghanistan. "Poppy cultivation destroys all three," he told Afghan leaders, foreign diplomats, military officers and counter-narcotics experts. "We need more help and assistance."

Mirwais Yasini, head of Afghanistan's Counter Narcotics Directorate in Kabul, said his government is making some progress in the fight against drugs. The government is educating farmers, cracking down on heroin labs and "eradicating the opium plants," Mr. Yasini said. Additionally, the U.S. Army has begun a new policy of destroying heroin labs and poppy fields when they encounter them during normal operations.

Opium poppies have grown in Afghanistan for centuries, but it wasn't until the 1980s that significant amounts were processed into heroin. After the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, the mujahadeen guerrillas discovered that heroin smuggling was a lucrative means to finance their anti-Soviet campaign. Weapons for the mujahadeen arrived in Karachi, Pakistan, traveled by truck to the Afghan border and then by mule over the mountain passes. The heroin followed the same trail in reverse.

Within a few years after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, factional fighting among the mujahadeen led to chaos. Heroin quickly became the country's number one export as warlords financed their armies with drug smuggling. By the time the Taliban seized power in 1996, Afghanistan produced roughly 75 percent of the world's heroin.

Poppy pressure
Under tremendous pressure from the U.S., however, the Taliban reversed course and banned poppy growing in 1999. Within two years, poppy cultivation dropped by more than 90 percent, according to U.N. aerial surveys. It continued only in areas controlled by the Northern Alliance, the U.S.-backed guerrillas that later helped topple the Taliban.

Within months after the U.S. invasion in 2001, when Afghanistan had no effective government, farmers planted poppy, and heroin smuggling surged once again. U.N. surveys estimate Afghan opium production rose to 3,968 tons last year. Afghan officials are vowing to destroy huge amounts of crops and arrest big smugglers in coming months. The United Nations and donors are also trying to build a crack Afghan counter-narcotics police. But there are doubts about the ability of the Afghan government to take on powerful warlords who control much of the country and are widely believed to fund their private armies with drug money. Some warlords also hold public office.

Mr. Yasini, the drug czar, said the government has tried to crack down on the drug trade but has limited resources. For example, only 430 of the proposed 17,000 Afghan national police will be assigned to anti-drug efforts because the government's priority is fighting the Taliban and maintaining security.

Back in the village outside Kandahar, farmers are tending their fields. They understand the social problems caused by drug addiction. "But what option do we have?" asked poppy farmer Akhtar. Reese Erlich is a freelance writer based in San Francisco.
--from Peter Webster,24Feb04

2. Yunnan declares last-ditch war against AIDS
Xinhua Net, Monday, February 23, 2004

The province has also inked the decision into a local law on AIDS prevention, the first provincial one of its kind in the country which is to come into effect later this year. Promoting the use of condoms among its AIDS-vulnerable population, mainly prostitutes and drug users, is on the top agenda of this year's AIDS prevention campaign in the province, which has realized the danger posed by the epidemic.

By September 2003, statistics showed the province with a population of over 42 million reported 13,948 HIV positive cases and 841 AIDS patients, the largest number in the country. To make it worse, HIV infection is spreading from separate border areas connecting southeast Asian nations to 16 cities and prefectures across the province, said Lu Lin, director of the province's disease prevention and control center.

"It indicates a very dangerous trend," Lu said. It is estimated that by 2005 the province will see 100,000 HIV cases. China reportedly had 840,000 HIV carriers by the end of 2003.

Sharing injection needles between drug users was blamed as the first means HIV transmission in the country. A neighbor of the Golden Triangle, a drug production area between Myanmar , Thailand and Laos , Yunnan, a province with over 4,000 kilometers of border line, easily falls victim to drug dealingand AIDS, Lu said.

What's more, statistics showed sex is becoming another major transmission mode of HIV/AIDS in the country.

Lu said that there is little time left for the province in the battle against the deadly epidemic. "Only when these special groups of people are adopting preventive measures, can the epidemic be constrained from spreading to more," said Lu, noting that the province is at a critical moment in its fight against AIDS.

Condoms will be available, either for free or at a low price, in hotels and entertainment venues like night clubs, places commonly regarded as hotbed of prostitution in the country.

Zhang, the provincial official in charge of AIDS prevention, said that the provincial government will cover the expense for thesupply of condoms to HIV carriers and hotel owners will be encouraged to share the financial burden of providing condoms to their guests. Besides, disposable needles are promoted among drug users in the province. Drug users will not be taken away for forced treatment when getting disposable needles at registered places.

Such promotions, said Lu, do not mean acquiescence of prostitution and drug abuse."On the contrary," Lin said, "A major task we face in AIDS prevention is to crack down on these illegal practices." At present, however, when prostitution and drugs cannot yet be uprooted in society, it is a sensible alternative to promote the use of condoms and disposable needles among these at-risk groups, Lu said.

"We hope these measures can see their effect in three to five years," Lu said. However, officials and experts are well aware of their difficulties in the battle against AIDS.

In sharp contrast to the increasing number of HIV/AIDS cases, which is expected to hit 100,000 by 2005, the province currently only has 30 specialists in HIV/AIDS treatment. Also, the expense of the treatment, at least 40,000 yuan (over 4,800 US dollars) a year for each sufferer, means a heavy burden to the province, which still has a lot of poverty-stricken areas.

It is the Chinese government's commitment to provide free medical treatment and subsistence relief to HIV carriers and AIDS sufferers. "When we strive to give more care to those unlucky people, we need an effective mechanism. Otherwise, what we say would become averbal promise," said Zhang Chang'an.

The province will invest 140 million yuan (about 16.9 million US dollars) in 2004 to establish a provincial AIDS care center, Zhang said. It also vows to set up a network of AIDS prevention and treatment which is expected to cover all its counties. Admitting that AIDS is a tough problem for the province to address, Xu Rongkai, governor of Yunnan, said in January that the provincial government and officials must learn to face the music. "Facing the challenge from AIDS, we should take the safety and security of the people into our hearts," said the governor when speaking at a meeting of the provincial government earlier this year.

Last year, the provincial health department began to report thesituation of AIDS regularly to society. "We're willing to cooperate with media on the problem of AIDS prevention, including publicizing the AIDS situation in the province," Zhang said. "We don't want to hide this problem from the public, or even todeny it," Zhang said. "What is more terrifying than the deadly epidemic itself is authorities' intentional cover-up and the public's ignorance."

"What we are doing and planning to do, including the promotion of the use of condoms in hotels, is aimed at making people informed of the preventive measures against the disease. Only whenall people know about the measures, can we do good work in AIDS prevention and control." The provincial government has decided to make local officials' efforts in AIDS prevention a required assessment factor when evaluating their work.

Sociologist Tong Jiyu with the provincial academy of social sciences said that the incorporation of AIDS prevention into a government's strategy and official evaluation system indicates itsresponsible attitude towards its people.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200402/23/eng20040223_135560.shtml

3. Centre to monitor AIDS public policy
China Daily, Saturday, February 21, 2004

A new think-tank, unveiled on Friday at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, will try to develop social and policy alternatives to combat the spread of the disease. "During multiple-perspective research on the social problem, we aim to figure out the obstacles for HIV/AIDS control and prevention, and then raise suggestions for the government to make or change polices," said Xia Guomei, director of the Research Centre for HIV/AIDS Public Policy.

As a social science researcher, Xia has focused on HIV/AIDS and related social problems for over 10 years."The crucial chain to improve HIV/AIDS prevention is to change the public policy makers' attitude and opinions," she added. Meanwhile, experts from legal and medical circles said that raising the level of public awareness, fighting discrimination against victims and reducing unsafe activities are crucial to HIV/AIDS prevention.

Within two years, the centre will help the city government revise its regulations on HIV/AIDS prevention while identifying patient's rights, privacy protection and other controversial problems. "The regulation will back up prevention from the legal angle. Meanwhile, some successful practices in foreign countries will be explored in Shanghai such as the use of condoms among high-risk groups and safe injections among drug users," said Zhu Huimin, an official from the city's Health Bureau.

By the end of last year, Shanghai had reported a total of 911 HIV/AIDS patients. But the metropolis is facing an increasing threat from the epidemic due to its large floating population, more than 4 million among its 17 million residents. And it will get huge numbers of visitors by 2010 when the city hosts "World Expo."

Medical experts also fear the serious challenge the city will face.

"Sex will become the main channel to spread HIV while most of Shanghai's flowing population, young or middle aged people, are very sexually active but with comparatively poor education," said Kang Laiyi, professor of Shanghai AIDS Surveillance Centre.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200402/21/eng20040221_135408.shtml

4. A former drug addict comes clean about his ordeal
Jakarta Post, Features, February 22, 2004
Dewi Santoso

When did you start using drugs? What brought you to that world?
I started using drugs when I was 14. It all began when I went to my friend's house, and he was smoking pot. He asked me if I wanted to try the stuff, I said no. But then he said I was chicken, and so I said OK.

What happened then? Did you like the feeling?
No. It was terrible. I threw up. But my friend told me to give it another try, and the second time, it felt good. I felt very light, like I was flying.

Did it make you to want to use it more?
Yes. I couldn't stop using it. It was easy to get the stuff in my school. A lot of students sell it for around Rp 50,000 (about US$6) to Rp 100,000 per gram ...

Did you try any other drugs, such as low-grade heroin?
Of course. After marijuana, I tried everything from LSD, low-grade heroin to crystal methamphetamine.

Did you inject heroin and share needles with your friend?
I once injected heroin and shared the syringe with a friend. But I didn't continue.

Didn't you know that the practice is dangerous, that you could contract HIV?
I knew all about the dangers of using drugs. But I couldn't do anything at the time as I was in too deep.

What made you stop?"
My parents found out about me and they beat me like hell.

What did they do beside beating you?
They brought me to Singapore for a detoxification program.

How long did you stay there? Was the program effective? Did it change you in a way?
I stayed there for one year. I think it's quite effective as not only did they put me into the detox program, they also had this one-on-one session where I could just say anything that bothered me, anything that made me angry, anything that I didn't feel comfortable talking about with my parents. They also taught me how to be a cool person without even having to touch the dreadful stuff.

Did you take a HIV test?
I did, and thank God it was negative.

After coming back, has anybody, such as your friends, ever invited you to smoke pot again? Did you find yourself being unable to resist their offer?
I guess there's always this temptation, this seductive thought to use it again. I admit there were times when I was about to give in. But thank God, I didn't.

What made you not give in?
My parents, my sister, my family. I don't want to disappoint them for the second time. I think I've put them through enough roller-coaster experience. For once, I want to make them proud of me.

So, does it mean that you regret the whole thing?
I regret that I put my parents in a situation where they could do nothing but pray that their only son would not die of an overdose or AIDS. But I don't regret I made a play with the devil.

Why?
(There was a five-minute pause before he finally gave his answer) I don't regret it because no matter how bad it was, I see it as another experience that will enrich my life and teach me to make better judgments in the future.

After what you've been through, what do you have to say to teenagers?
Just say 'No' to drugs. Don't listen to people when they call you chicken or whatever. Let them be. Because if you give in to what they say, you'll ruin your life -- and they won't be there to help you.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20040222.I02

5. The new cases of HIV decreased by 32% in 2003
Translated from Vietnamese news article, Saturday, February 20, 2003
Nguyen Quoc Tuan

Hanoi - there are 75,180 HIV infected persons in Vietnam, of them, 11,489 persons have full-blown AIDS and 6,465 have died. Comparing to year 2002, the new cases of HIV infection reduced by 32% in 2003, numbers of AIDS infected persons and persons who died by AIDS have decreased by 11.33% and 26% respectively.

However, according to epidemiologists, those figures are only "a floating part of an ice block" because many HIV/AIDS infected persons who have not been identified are living in communities and they can easily transmit the disease to others due to a lack of preventing measures.

Particularly, the prevalence of young persons who are infected by HIV/AIDS has increased gradually. The number of pregnant women who are infected by HIV has also risen and as a result, the prevalence of HIV infected new-born children is much higher compared to the last years' figures (the prevalence of HIV/AIDS infected among pregnant women is 4.04%).  HIV infection are more prevalent among IDUs and prostitutes.

According to Mr. Trinh Quan Huan, Director of Department of Preventive Medicine and AIDS Prevention, HIV/AIDS infected persons have now been reported in all provinces throughout the country. Recently, the Ministry of Health has been implementing transmission reduction activities, including free provisions of needles and condoms.

Mr. Trinh Quan Huan also informed that the Vietnamese Government has requested to participate in the UN's program of getting 3 million HIV/AIDS infected poor persons on ARV treatment. It is expected that more poor persons in Vietnam who are infected by HIV/AIDS will have access to treatment.
--from JV Net. 23Feb04

6. [EU] EU needs ambassador for HIV/AIDS, experts tell conference
Monday, February 23, 2004

Peter Piot, executive director of the Joint U.N. Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), said the EU must mobilize resources against the virus as it prepares to accept 10 nations into the fold in May.  Among the accession states, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are developing serious HIV problems.  The former Communist countries of the Baltic, Eastern Europe and Central Asia have seen a dramatic rise in HIV infections due to high levels of heroin use coupled with poverty associated with the transition to capitalism, Piot said.

"We have the fastest-growing HIV epidemic in the world at the doors of the new EU," Piot told BBC Radio, adding, "In the new EU, this should be one of the priorities" (Andrew Woodcock, Press Association, Feb. 23).

About 2.1 million of the 40 million HIV/AIDS sufferers worldwide live in Europe and Central Asia ( UNAIDS release , Feb. 22).  The numbers are not as alarming as the rate of increase; Estonia logged 899 new HIV diagnoses in 2002 but only 12 in 1998, and Lithuania's figures quintupled from 2001 to 2002 ( UNICEF release , Feb. 22).

The conference is bringing together ministers from 55 countries and high-level representatives from U.N. agencies, among them World Health Organization Director General Lee Jong-wook, UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy and former Irish President and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson.  Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa is attending, as is erstwhile rock star and Third World fundraiser Bob Geldof.

Bellamy urged participants to enlist young people, who face the highest risk of infection — people under 30 account for 80 percent of HIV infections in Eastern Europe, for example — in the fight against HIV/AIDS.   

"The evidence shows that when serious and sustained prevention efforts target young people, HIV prevalence rates decline as they did among young people in Cambodia, Uganda and Brazil," Bellamy said  (UNICEF release)
http://www.unwire.org/UNWire/20040223/449_13369.asp

7. [UK] GMC to decide if controversial clinic is aiding or harming drug abusers
Independent (UK), Monday, February 23, 2004
Jeremy Laurance

Others insist addicts cannot be forced to give up drugs until they are ready. They say that, until then, it is far better to give them the drugs they need, and keep them in touch with medical services, than abandon them to the black market.

The General Medical Council is now to arbitrate in this dispute in the biggest case it has heard in its history involving seven doctors from a private treatment centre. The Stapleford clinic in London has been treating drug addicts for 17 years. It was founded in 1987 by Colin Brewer who already had experience treating alcoholics with the drug antabuse.

He was asked by the Home Office to take over the treatment of addicts who had formerly been treated by a private Harley Street practitioner, Ann Dally. She had been found guilty by the GMC of excessive prescribing and forced to give up her practice. At about the same time, another GP, John Marks, who pioneered the prescribing of heroin to drug abusers in Liverpool, was forced to abandon his practice because of Home Office pressure. He said he had helped patients lead stable lives and cut crime rates in the area. He is now living in New Zealand.

Ironically, Dr Brewer, who thought he had the support of the Home Office, now finds himself on the wrong side of it in the same way as Dr Dally and Dr Marks did. But at the start, all went well. He offered addicts rapid de-toxification - withdrawal from drugs - followed by treatment with naltrexone, a heroin blocker. The naltrexone meant that even if the patient relapsed and injected heroin it would have no effect; the naltrexone stopped the heroin causing the usual rush. The idea was that this would help the addict to walk past a dealer without feeling impelled to score.

At the same time, Dr Brewer took on patients for maintenance, those not yet ready to go the detox and naltrexone route but who were looking for a steady source of drugs to stabilise their lives. He believed it was necessary to offer different categories of drug, which might vary at different times, to suit patients' needs. The Stapleford clinic gained a reputation for offering the widest rage of treatments in the country, including opiates, amphetamines, tranquillisers, anti-depressants and
anti-psychotics, as well as detoxification with naltrexone.

As more patients sought out Dr Brewer, he took on extra doctors to handle the demand. With private fees averaging between UKP100 and UKP200 a week, the clinic was turning over a substantial sum. And during the 1990s, the tide seemed to be moving in Dr Brewer's favour.

The resistance to maintenance prescribing of the NHS treatment centres softened as recognition grew that their tough approach was not working. Injectable drugs became acceptable again - albeit for a minority of abusers - and centres were criticised for handing out methadone in inadequate doses which were less than addicts needed.

Last May, the Home Office declared an expansion of heroin-prescribing on the NHS and published new guidelines for doctors licensed to provide it. It was the clearest signal of the new liberal approach to the treatment of drug addiction. But for Dr Brewer's critics in the NHS, the prescribing policy adopted by the Stapleford clinic was too liberal. The clinic was accused of functioning "almost like a grocery" for drug addicts.

Supporters admit it was liberal about the drugs it handed out. But they claim it was better to be too liberal than not liberal enough. They say some drugs could have been diverted to the black market, but the amounts involved would have been insignificant.

Backers of the clinic say that it saved lives. Its critics say it did more harm than good. The GMC will decide where the balance lies.
--from Peter Webster, 24Feb04

8. [UK] Blair provokes fury over school drug tests
Independent  (UK), Monday, February 23, 2004
Richard Garner and Marie Woolf

Tony Blair provoked fury yesterday from drugs charities and some teachers' leaders by pledging his support for random drug tests on pupils in schools. The Prime Minister said new guidance to be issued to schools nationwide next month would offer support to headteachers to carry out random drug tests. But a leading drugs charity warned last night that the move would drive the drug culture "further underground" and destroy relationships of trust between pupils and schools. One teachers' leader said the plans would be "unworkable".

Mr Blair said in the News of the World yesterday: "We can't force them to do it but if heads believe they have a problem in their school then they should be able to do random drug testing. Guidance will be given for headteachers next month, which is going to give them specifically the power to do random drug testing within their schools. Some headteachers may worry that, if they go down this path, they are declaring there is a problem within their school. But, in my view, the local community is probably perfectly well aware there is a problem."

The tests would be carried out through urine samples or allowing police with sniffer dogs on to the premises. The Department for Education and Skills saidthat schools already have the power to carry out random drug tests - providing they have the support of parents.

Martin Barnes, the chief executive of the drugs charity DrugScope, said the plan would do nothing to reduce drug abuse among pupils. He said: "We don't accept that drug testing and the random use of sniffer dogs are an appropriate or effective response to the drug use amongst children and young people. These measures risk driving drug use further underground, an increase in truancies and exclusions, and a breakdown in trust between pupils and schools."
--from Peter Webster, 24Feb04

9. [US] US' largest AIDS group disappointed by president's announcement on global AIDS funding
PRNewswire, Monday, February 23, 2004

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) the largest US-based AIDS organization with clinics in the US, Africa and Central America-released the following statement today from Michael Weinstein, President: "In light of the fact that over 3 million people have died of AIDS in the 13 months since the president first unveiled his Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief, today's announcement is very disquieting," said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

"In a funding process marked by continuous delays, today's results are leaving many experts in the field of AIDS treatment wondering how decisions were made. Most of the groups currently treating people with HIV in the developing world were not funded to expand their life-saving ARV treatment programs. When the Administration is reducing funding requests from the Congressionally authorized levels on the basis of 'absorptive capacity,' how can they justify 'approving' but not funding leading expert AIDS care providers including the Harvard AIDS Institute and AIDS Healthcare Foundation?"

AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the US' largest specialized provider of HIV/AIDS medical care, serves thousands of patients at healthcare centers in California, Florida and New York, and also operates free AIDS treatment clinics in South Africa, Uganda and Honduras. AHF answered President Bush's groundbreaking State of the Union pledge to treat two million people in poor countries by responding to the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) request for proposals to AIDS care in Africa and the Caribbean. AHF's application to expand its treatment capacity in Africa had been approved to expand treatment to up to 34,000 Africans living with HIV/AIDS; however AHF's proposal remains in limbo as "approved" but "not funded."

The grants are among the first of funds released from Bush's commitment of $15 billion for Global AIDS Relief that was unveiled during his State of the Union speech last year.
--from AEGIS, 23Feb04

10. [US] Group wants needle exchange to go mobile
Associated Press, Friday, February 20, 2004

The Health Department approved the concept of a mobile exchange program last year, but rules need to be established before it can begin, according to Kendall Farrell, executive director of Vermont CARES.

Under the terms of the current proposal, peer outreach workers would receive a stipend and follow a lengthy list of guidelines before distributing needles. The well-trained workers would provide drug users with a safe means of using intravenous drugs while educating them on health and safety issues such as safe sex. Farrell said there are many barriers to getting people into a site-based program; a mobile outreach would bring prevention materials and education to people who need the service.

St. Johnsbury is one of three Vermont towns that host exchange clinics. The others are Burlington and Brattleboro. Farrell said there are already six trained outreach workers in the St. Johnsbury area ready to bring needles and education to the streets. The next step isgetting the health commissioner's approval.
--from CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News Update 02/23/04

11. Study: [UK] Protein link to addicts' cravings
Guardian, The (UK), Monday, February 23, 2004
James Meikle

Scientists are paving the way for medicines that could help remove cravings in drug addicts and improve the education prospects of people with learning difficulties. They believe that similar molecular changes in the brain help cause cocaine addiction and impair learning and memory processes.

Experiments in mice over the past six years suggest that the absence of a protein called PSD-95 is responsible for both conditions. Researchers at Edinburgh University, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute at Hinxton, Cambridgeshire, and Duke University, North Carolina, report the "previously unappreciated" link in the journal Neuron. Work at Edinburgh had already suggested that removing the protein from mice severely limited their ability to learn, apparently because it interfered with the way brain synapses changed electrical activity in nerve cells into chemical activity.

Work in the US exposing mice to cocaine reduced levels of the protein in parts of the brain linked to movement and emotional response. Drug addicts often have problems with memory and coordination, but scientists now believe they know why: they are suffering molecular brain damage.

Seth Grant, professor of molecular neuroscience at Edinburgh, said: "The protein molecule is important in the type of learning to do with people, places and things, so cocaine strikes at the kinds of learning which would include, for example, studying for examinations." Addiction and learning were repetitive processes, he suggested.

The research should make it possible to begin investigating drugs that might reverse the damage, said Prof Grant. They might help drug abusers and people with disorders such as schizophrenia and those with learning difficulties. But he advised caution in developing drugs to enhance the learning capabilities of healthy people by interfering with fundamental molecular mechanisms. "I would be very concerned that that might lead to psychiatric disorder," he said.
--from Peter Webster, 24Feb04