The development of drug trade and drug control in the Netherlands: a historical perspective

Drug trade is widely seen as a phenomenon rather new to the Netherlands. However, at the beginning of the 20th century the Dutch pharmaceutical industries were already extensively involved in the production of both opiates and cocaine, and they went on exporting large quantities of these drugs after the Opium Act (1919) took force. Until the 1960s, arrests were not at all common, and these largely affected minority groups like Chinese opium smokers and black marijuana users. Since then, drug control efforts have increased by leaps and bounds. At first, cannabis was the main target; then the focus turned to heroin, and that was later joined by cocaine. This paper traces the history of the drug trade and drug control in the Netherlands, with emphasis on their development in Amsterdam. The conclusion is reached that, in spite of drastic changes in both drug trade and drug control, certain ideologies, constructs and strategies have remained remarkably stable.     

Sustainable Development as a Policy Telos: A New Approach to Political Problem-Solving

The world seems to be characterized by political pluralization (the emergence of 'polities' other than the nation state) in addition to an already existing state of moral pluralism. This severely complicates political attempts at problem-solving on, for example, a global scale. One of the most stressing potential problems is the coexistence of mutually effacing or contradictory systems of political norms. To tackle such problems, we argue that policy teloi – shared conceptions giving direction to cooperative political ventures (particularly sustainable development ) – can be helpful. The conditions of success for policy teloi in the case of environmental sustainability are investigated.     

Volatile Organic Compounds,Spectral Characterization and Morphology of Ammonium Nitrate Fuel Oil (ANFO) Samples

Ammonium nitrate fuel oil is an explosive mixture found in most antipersonnel landmines (APL) buried throughout the Colombian territory. During more than 50 years of internal conflict, the Colombian government has found that trained dogs are the most effective method to detect APL. However, the olfactive signature in ANFO is unknown and also if there are differences in detection related to the explosive manufacturing origin. Therefore, this work begins with the analytical validation of the method used to determine ammonia, in its derivatized form as carbamate, released by home-made ANFO using HS-SPME-GC-FID. Once validated, the method was used to identify ammonia and other organic volatile compounds present in ANFO, under laboratory and simulated field conditions. The validation process includes the evaluation of the optimum conditions for the derivation and extraction of butylcarbamate, the determination of the working ranges with linear response in FID, the limits of detection and quantification, the sensitivity, and the precision. The results of the validation established linearity and sensitivity in a concentration between 20 and 120 mg/L, as well as low limits of detection and quantification of 6.4 and 21.4 mg/L, respectively. Also, an intermediate precision of 11% for butylcarbamate with a repeatability of 8%. The validated method showed in real samples of home-made ANFO besides ammonia, the presence of low molecular methylamines, and also exhibited differences in volatile compositions according to the origin. The objective of this work is to offer a reliable analytical methodology for the extraction and analysis of volatile compounds from ANFO.     

Governing sustainable palm oil supply: Disconnects,complementarities, and antagonisms between state regulations and private standards

The global palm oil value chain has grown in complexity; stakeholder relationships and linkages are increasingly shaped by new public and private standards that aim to ameliorate social and environmental costs while harnessing economic gains. Regulatory initiatives in the emerging policy regime complex struggle to resolve sector‐wide structural performance issues: pervasive land conflicts, yield differences between companies and smallholders, and carbon emissions arising from deforestation and peatland conversion. Identifying opportunities for more effective governance of the palm oil value chain and supply landscapes, this paper explores disconnects, complementarities, and antagonisms between public regulations and private standards, looking at the global, national, and subnational policy domains shaping chain actors’ conduct. Greater complementarities have emerged among transnational instruments, but state regulation disconnects persist and antagonisms prevail between national state regulations and transnational private standards. Emerging experimental approaches, particularly at subnational level, aim to improve coordination to both enhance complementarities and resolve disconnects.     

Le système judiciaire québécois: problématique et indicateurs d'efficacité

Sommaire: L'évaluation de la performance des organisations chargées de la prestation des services publics est le plus souvent abordée par le biais de l'analyse des programmes. Cette démarche s'applique difficilement à l'appréciation du degré de réalisation de la mission qui leur est confiée. L'analyse de la problématique du secteur de la justice permet de dégager les trois grands objectifs qui devraient être poursuivis par les systémes judiciaires. 11s ont trait à la qualité de cette justice, à l'accessibilité et à la célérité avec laquelle elle est rendue. Cette problématique est illustrée à partir du cas de l'appareil judiciaire québécois, défini ici cornme un système d'action. Les conditions de réalisation de la mission des systémes judiciaires sont présentées à partir de cet exemple. Divers moyens de mesurer le degré d'atteinte des objectifs sont ensuite dégagés. Enfin, une série d'indicateurs est définie pour certains d'entre eux. Abstract: The evaluation of the performance of public organizations is generally done through program analysis. But another approach should be used to measure the level of achievement of the mission assigned to an institution such as the court system. In this article, we tried to determine how the performance of the judicial apparatus might be evaluated. We considered that the mission of this apparatus refers to three fundamental objectives: the quality of justice, its accessibility, and the absence of undue delays. Referring more specifically to the case of the Quebec judicial system, we examine how the degree of achievement of these objectives might be evaluated.     

L'agence de réglementation et le transport aérien régional au Canada de 1966 à 1980

Sommaire: L'article traite des relations formelles entre une agence de rCglementa-tion et les entreprises commerciales sous sa juridiction. D decrit et analyse les DCcisions et Ordonnances dun tel organisme et Ctablit des indices de performance des sociCtCs en prksence. L'agence CtudiCe est le ComitC des transports aCriens de la Commission canadienne des transports et les cinq compagnies akriennes regionales oeuvrant au Canada de 1966 a 1980. Les rksultats dbmontrent que le ComitC a CtC trés actif pendant cette pkriode, produisant au-dela de 200 decisions et ordonnances. Celles-ci, de nature très diverses, correspondent B une intense pCriode de dkveloppement. La performance relative des sociCtCs et leur performance spCci-fique permettent de les classifier de facon hibrarchique et de constater que la compagnie QuCbecair a connu des difficult& dans ses relations rbglementaires. L'article s'interroge en conclusion sur la nature “limitative” du processus de rC-glementation. Abstract: This article deals with the relations between a regulating agency and the industry it regulates. Its goal is to describe and analyse the output of such an agency in terms of decisions and orders and in doing so, to establish “performance indicators” of the companies under regulation. The Air Transport Committee of the Canadian Transport Commission and the five regional carriers serving Canada between 1969 and 1980, are the object of the research. The results show that the CTA has been very active in terms of the volume and the variety of work. The performances of the carriers are about the same except for one, Quebecair, which has an extremely bad record. The article in its conclusion, questions the limitative character of the regulating process.     

Macroscopic findings for the exclusion of a forensic relevant soil embedded resting period in skeletal remains--an approach based upon literature

A reliable determination of the post mortem interval (PMI) in human bones has neither been found by morphological nor by intensive analyses of other kinds. In most cases of legal medicine practice the question of PMI is restricted to a forensically relevant resting period. In a survey based upon literature, all osteological signs of decomposition, which have not been described for a soil embedded resting period of under 50 years, were collected. 21 research reports could be found, describing macroscopic findings on soil-embedded human bones with known PMI. All in all, 1295 individuals were examined in these investigations. A censorious review of the summarized results found in literature reveals that the following findings have never been seen in a PMI of 50 years or less. Outer appearance: macroscopically no adipocere, deep incisions of the outer compact layer, extensive defects of the bone surface, intense brownish-black lawn of microorganisms, fraying of the outer lamellar system, lifting of the cortical area, torsion of the tissue, attached brushit, bone manually breakable. On freshly sawn cross sections: lack of adipocere, brushit in the marrow area, reduced or lack of UV-fluorescence.     

Immunochemical screening: manipulation, handling and interpretation errors, exemplified by benzodiazepines

The article describes problems related to immunochemical screening-tests with special regard to benzodiazepines, which are commonly used for therapeutic purposes. Focal points are adulteration, manipulation and handling of samples, the selection of cut-off-values, specificity and cross-reactivity, influence of biotransformation and frequently observed pitfalls in the interpretation of the analytical results.