Drugs

Last night, an Irish government jet landed just outside Dublin. On board was Daniel Kinahan, alleged leader of one of Europe’s largest cocaine trafficking cartels. He was taken straight to court, charged with directing a criminal organisation and sent to prison. For years, he and his family have openly lived in Dubai. They were believed to be beyond the law, beyond punishment for their alleged crimes. Clearly, they were not. Coverage last night and today has focused on many of the institutions involved. The Irish specialised police units, the agencies that seize criminal assets, and British police. It has also mentioned American sanctions and the huge American reward for his capture. Talks with the UAE have also received attention.

This year is set to be the year of psychedelics – Trump’s trip, you could call it. Since the President signed an executive order supporting the use of psychedelic medicines in April, no fewer than six federal agencies have announced initiatives to help usher the industry along. The agencies, mainly connected to the Department of Health and Human Services, have approved multiple million-dollar initiatives to research, approve and roll out psychedelics. A whole fleet of startups are now circling the Food and Drug Administration. Three of these have Commissioner’s National Priority Vouchers from the FDA, which means that when they submit their new drug applications, the agency will make a decision within two months of filing.

Royal removals The King has had more success in stripping Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor of his royal titles than George IV had in removing the title of his Queen, Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel. George, then Prince of Wales, and Caroline married in 1795 having got engaged before they actually met. On their wedding night, both found each other physically disgusting – although they did manage to conceive a daughter. Caroline went on to have a string of affairs, prompting delicate royal investigations, even though George was hardly a picture of fidelity himself. She later left England and set up with an Italian manservant, Bartolomeo Pergami, but returned to England when George ascended to the throne in 1820. His efforts to dethrone her via a Pains and Penalties Bill failed.

One morning a few months ago I was walking past St James’s Park station when a dishevelled man with his fists clenched stepped into my path without warning. He stared at me furiously and blocked my path, body almost shaking. For a few tense seconds he stood there before I crossed the road to get away from him. ‘Most rough sleepers are harmless and vulnerable, but a small minority are violent’ When I told friends who work in central London about this incident, I was shocked at how typical my experience was. For people who commute into Westminster, it is becoming commonplace to be spat at, lunged at and screamed at to ‘fuck off’ by individuals who appear to be high on illegal drugs.

Mash’s older brother was the same age as Anthony Williams when he slaughtered a stranger in a brutal and random attack. He was in the grip of a psychotic disorder caused by cannabis. We do not yet know what drove Williams, a 32-year-old African Caribbean man, to allegedly try to murder ten people during a 14-minute knife rampage on a train. But Mash is in no doubt cannabis often plays a part in attacks like these. ‘In my community smoking weed is normalised,’ he says. ‘We laugh and joke about hearing voices or having a “para” [a paranoid fit].’ He counts on his fingers: ‘Two brothers, two cousins and multiple friends’ who have experienced hallucinations and delusions. He shakes his head sadly. ‘Weed is killing my people.

Moscow mule Sir: While visiting Russia, James Delingpole learned from the patriarchate’s press officer that under communism the Russian Church wasn’t allowed to exist (‘Letter from Moscow’, 27 September). However, that doesn’t accord with my own experience of being in the USSR during the Brezhnev era. As a student, I visited the 14th-century Zagorsk monastery complex just outside Moscow one Sunday and was spellbound by the heavenly chant of the Orthodox liturgy which lifted my soul. The church was full of babushkas as well as younger believers crossing themselves and kissing the icons. For all his faults and human-rights violations, Brezhnev, unlike Vladimir Putin, had not been indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.