Basel among the ten European cities with the highest cocaine consumption
According to the United Nations (UN), the illegal opium and cocaine trade are clearly on the rise. Following a decrease in the number of coca plants being grown in South America, the cultivation area has increased by 30 per cent over the past few years.
Switzerland is included in the UN report due to the high amount of cocaine consumption in the country’s cities. According to theorganisation, the four Swiss cities of Zurich, Geneva, St Gallen, and Basel are in the top ten European cities with the highest cocaine use.
However, the drug used most often used across the world is not cocaine, but cannabis. Around 183 million people use hashish or cannabis, according to the report. Especially in North and South America, the number of cannabis consumers is increasing while it remains at a high level in Europe.
Coop stores continue sale of dangerous toothpaste despite doctor’s calls for a ban
Basel’s doctors and scientists are calling for a ban of a substance found in toothpaste amid fears it could potentially cause breast cancer. The substance is called triclosan and it is a biocide – which means that it kills living creatures. It is used in disinfectant but isalso found in various everyday cosmetic products and even some toothpastes. This is entirely unnecessary, according to Basel’s doctors and scientists.
Triclosan is included in many products sold in the Coop as well as at other major distributors, and is even sold in vast amounts when on discount. The substance appears in the small print on the ingredient list on the back of toothpaste products by “Colgate”, as barfi.chhas reported. This biocide is mainly used as a disinfectant but is also used in various cosmetics products. “Colgate” toothpaste and acne products by “Louis Widmer” both contain the ingredient.
This is entirely unnecessary, doctors and scientists claim. In the international science magazine “Environmental Health Perspectives”, they now demand a worldwide and general ban on the substance. Those calling for a ban include the members of Swiss organisation “Ärztinnen und Ärzte für die Umwelt” (Doctors for the Environment) led by Basel manager, Martin Forter. Triclosan is hormonally active, irritates the skin, and potentially can cause breast cancer, they claim. The substance also decomposes very badly in the environment and finds its way back to humans via the food chain. A request by barfi.ch to Coop as to why the toothpaste is still available has remained unanswered.
The usage in cosmetics does not make any sense, say doctors
The employment of the substance in Switzerland has actually been partly forbidden since early 2017 – however only in cleaning agents or clothing. In cosmetics products or toothpastes, triclosan is still being used.
Stephan Krähenbühl, head doctor of clinical pharmacology and toxicology at the university hospital of Basel, also finds this use “unnecessary”.
“90 per cent of triclosan exposure happens by its use in cosmetics,” Dr Krähenbühl tells barfi.ch. Yet adding triclosan to cosmetics does not make any sense either as a disinfectant or in any other way, he said.
“If triclosan was not used any longer in cosmetics, most of the exposure would disappear,” the toxicologist said. The substance could in fact cause irritations, even though there is no hard evidence so far to make the link between the substance and cancer. The other ten per cent of exposure by triclosan is caused by its main use as a disinfectant.
Basel’s police “reluctant” in investigation of Pro-Erdogan activities despite information by Federal intelligence service
The management of Basel-Stadt’s cantonal police acted "too reluctantly" to information by the Federal intelligence service about the Pro-Erdogan activities of one of its officers, according to an independent examination report.
The police “probably underestimated” the relevance of the accusations and the need to act, Zurich constitutional law professor Felix Uhlmann told the media in Basel on Thursday. Professor Uhlmann had been commissioned by Baschi Dürr (head of Basel’s justice and security department) to conduct an independent investigation in April this year.
According to Professor Uhlmann, the police management did in fact realise the need to act in matters of personal rights and data protection law. However, it refrained from solving relevant data protection problems and did not critically examine superior orders.
In 2016, a member of Basel’s police force had come to the attention of the Federal intelligence service due to his “Erdogan-friendly” presence on the Internet. According to the report, he had asked for the names of people who were close to the exiled Turkish priest Fethullah Gülen, and had offered one dollar per name.
There had been no concrete evidence of spy activities at that time. But in autumn 2016, the Federal intelligence service (BND) informed the cantonal police management of Basel-Stadt via the cantonal intelligence service. The police member’s statements on Social Media were not deemed compatible with police service, according to the BND. Disciplinary measures were recommended.