-------------------------------------------------------------------
Cleaned Out (Michael Dix and Tracy Burns,
Busted For Marijuana And Cocaine
Possession Nine Months Ago, Come Home
To Find Cops Have Taken All Their
Possessions Without Due Process
Because They Didn't Buy Iowa Tax Stamps
For The Illegal Drugs)
MN: US IA: Cleaned Out
Newshawk: "Carl E. Olsen"
Source: Cityview
Author: Geoff S. Fein
Pubdate: January 7, 1998
Page: 7-8
Contact: Fax: 515-288-0309
Email: bpc@mail.commonlink.com
Photo: "I was freaked out. I begged them not
to take things. I sat here and watched them
rob me." Tracy Burns, With Mike Dix, in
their Adel home.
Editor's note: This article, with photo, is
online at:
http://www.commonlink.com/~olsen/DPF/stamps.html
Michael Dix and Tracy Burns were busted
for marijuana and cocaine possession. Nine
months later, cops seized everything from
their pickup truck to a pooper scooper.
CLEANED OUT
Michael Dix and Tracy Burns wear the look of frustration, anger and fear.
They moved to Adel four years ago from Waukee. Dix, a plumber, came from
East Dubuque, Ill., because of the construction boom and to be closer to
his family.
The couple's home is several miles off Highway 6. The only noise they hear
is the sounds of cooing doves and barking dogs.
Inside, borrowed furniture sits upon torn-up floors and semi-finished
walls, the byproduct of a remodeling project.
Their home is an empty nest.
But it wasn't always that way.
They had all the things a young couple could want: furniture, a stereo and
a VCR. Dix had his tools and a Ford pick-up.
And they both had a cocaine problem.
On March 10, the couple's home was turned upside down as Dallas County
Sheriff's deputies searched for drugs. Months earlier, deputies searched
through their garbage for drugs, but came up with only a few seeds and a
straw, Dix says.
It was, however, enough to get a search warrant for the home.
The sheriff was originally tipped off by neighbors who complained about
increased traffic on Prospect Ave., a sign of drug dealing, says Dallas
County Sheriff Art Johnson.
Because no one was home during the raid, deputies left a letter informing
the couple of their pending arrest.
"Our attorney called them. We agreed to turn ourselves in," Burns says.
But the Dallas County Sheriff couldn't wait.
"They went behind our lawyer's back and arrested us," Dix says.
Burns, 26, and Dix, 37, were arrested March 14 on charges of possession
with intent to deliver. The raid turned up 5 grams of marijuana and 48
grams of cocaine.
Though they had more than an ounce and a half of cocaine, Burns and Dix
deny they were dealers, instead claiming it was for their own use.
On June 26, Burns and Dix pleaded guilty to not having a drug tax stamp.
The Dallas County attorney dismissed the possession charges, avoiding a
trial. The couple were placed on five years probation, paid fines and
entered drug treatment.
Six months later they're adhering to the court's orders, staying off drugs
and working to turn their lives around, Burns says.
Little did Burns or Dix know their past would come back to rob them.
On Dec. 15, Burns returned to the Dallas County Sheriff's department to
retrieve items taken during the March search. She got back all but one - a
videotape. The next day she was sitting in her living room when a deputy
drove up.
"I thought he was coming to drop off the tape," Burns says.
Until she say the other vehicles.
Deputies and agents of the Iowa Department of Revenue had come to collect
on the couple's failure to pay the drug stamp tax.
The tax, which sounds more like a leftover from the Revolutionary War, is a
way for Iowa to collect on the multi-million dollar drug trade.
"It's a means to have this segment of society pay its fair share," says
Lucille Hardy, an assistant with the attorney general's revenue division.
"It's revenue the state is entitled to."
Since Sept. 1990, Iowa has required a stamp be affixed to a baggie of
marijuana or a vial of cocaine. Any illegal drug requires a stamp. And it
ain't cheap.
A $5 tax is due on each gram of marijuana; $250 on each gram of cocaine,
heroin or methamphetamine; $750 on each unprocessed marijuana plant; and
$400 per 10 pills, from the moment of possession.
"This is a business with no income tax, no sales tax, so we enacted an
excise tax," Hardy says.
Iowa law prevents the Department of Revenue from sharing information on
drug tax stamp applicants with law enforcement agencies. Even with that
assurance, few people are lining up to admit they are in possession.
A program manager with the Department of Revenue says few if any stamps
have been sold, except maybe to stamp collectors.
Some attorneys have begun telling clients to get the tax stamps, Hardy says.
"The number of applicants is small in comparison to the number of people in
possession of drugs," she says.
TAXING SITUATION
Burns and Dix owed the government $24,242.40, half in taxes, half in
penalties.
Failure to pay results in immediate collection.
That's what the state did.
During the three-hour seizure, Lori Dennis, an agent of the Iowa Department
of Revenue and Finance, and seven sheriff's deputies took six truckloads of
items. Among them were stereo equipment, a bug zapper, pooper scooper,
bread box, couch and love seat, milk can, 50-foot roll of air hose,
Christmas presents, a Thighmaster, Burns' engagement rings and Dix's 1994
Ford Ranger.
"I was freaked out. I begged them not to take things," Burns says. "I sat
here and watched them rob me."
The state took more than 150 items.
Neither Burns nor Dix had any idea they owed the money.
"No one contacted us about the law," Dix says. "The Department of Revenue
said most people don't pay. This is why they don't give notice."
The notice sent to Burns and Dix was postmarked the afternoon of Dec.16,
the day of the raid. It's possible the notice wasn't even sent until
afterward.
Dennis wouldn't comment.
"We don't have a lot of advance warning, says Don Cooper, Administrator of
Compliance with the Department of Revenue. "The usual process is to hand
deliver it. It's not a typical case to mail notice of the tax."
Nothing about this case is typical.
No advance warning is given because violators are usually unwilling to pay
the tax. They may hide, sell off their possessions or flee, making it
harder for the state to collect, Cooper says.
But Burns and Dix say they were willing to work out a payment plan. And
it's doubtful they would have fled - both have jobs and own their home.
"They were never given a chance to work on a payment plan," says Burns'
attorney Dean Stowers.
The number of people prosecuted for not buying the stamps is unknown.
Hardy says the Attorney General's office collected more than $400,000 in
back taxes in 1996.
While the Department of Revenue states it's willing to work out payment
plans, acceptance of a plan is at the department's discretion.
"They are saying they use discretion, but they can't say how. Is it up to
the individual revenue officer?" Stowers says.
Truth is, Burns and Dix never got the chance to ask about a payment plan.
The letter sent to them said if they wanted to discuss a payment plan, they
should call the Department of Revenue on Dec. 16. But they didn't get the
letter, sent registered mail, until Dec. 18, two days after the raid.
During the seizure, Burns says law enforcement went through the house
tagging items, acting as if they were on a shopping spree.
"They made it sound like they were taking things for their own personal
use," Burns says.
When she asked to call her attorney, Burns says not only did officers
refuse to let her answer the phone without paying $24,242.40, but they
tagged the phone and seized it.
"I sat in the corner of the room and they stood over me," Burns says.
"They said if we listened to them this wouldn't happen."
Burns and Dix both believe the reason for the seizure was that they refused
to be snitches. When they were arrested in March, the couple says Sheriff's
Investigator Kelly Sutten asked them to turn over names. "The police were
upset because the people wouldn't become snitches.
The cops carried a grudge over this," Stowers says.
Sutten was on vacation and unavailable to comment.
COPING
Dix was in the middle of remodeling the house. The job was made a bit
easier when police broke down the door and ripped up the carpet. Losing
his tools and feeling victimized by the authorities, however has made it
hard for him to continue.
"I got so much hard work into this," Dix says. "It's hard to control my
anger."
Dix was hoping to spend some time over his vacation doing work around the
house. But not now.
"I'm trying to keep occupied. I have no tools and I'm afraid to buy
anything. They could come back and take them."
Tools were not the only thing he lost.
When authorities took his truck, they directly affected the terms of his
probation. Dix can no longer drive to weekly recovery meetings in Des
Moines. He's now trying to make arrangements with his probation officer so
he isn't charged with violating probation.
"No one is making much effort to work with us," Dix says.
Burns says she has trouble sleeping and has gone to a doctor because of the
raid. "It's scary. They can come in any time and take things," she says.
Burns and Dix say they put in long hours at work to keep their minds off
their situation.
"It's not bad working long hours when you don't have much to come home to,"
Dix says.
"We knew we had five years ahead of us, but we were doing really well.
This is like a smack in the face," Burns says. "Now we just sit here and
look at nothing we have."
***
SEIZED
The police wrote this list of items they took from the home of Tracy Burns
and Michael Dix for failure to pay the stamp tax on their drugs
1.Kenmore microwave
2.1-gallon jug of pennies
3.Wine rack & contents
4.CDs & rack
5.7 Nintendo 64 games
6.Star Fox 64 games
7.Two blank video tapes
8.Three VCR video tapes (movies)
9.50' roll of yellow airhose
10.Nokia cell phone
11.Pentax 35mm camera
12.Hitachi TV
13.Nintendo 64
14.Hitachi VCR
15.Coffee table
16.Table lamp
17.Wooden TV trays
18.Two hand held video games
19.RCA Dish TV
20.Maglite
21.Bread box
22.Sears Craftsman lawn tractor
23.Couch & love seat
24.Sony boom box radio
25.Telephone stand
26.Oreck XL Vacuum cleaner
27.Avon Michael Jordon watch
28.Gold colored rope style chain
29.Antique style Austin phone
30.Brass plant stand
31.Metal step ladder
32.Miscellaneous hand tools
33.Bread maker
34.Goose cookie jar & pennies inside
35.Black Hills ring
36.Solitaire ring
37.Microwave stand
38.Telephone system
39.Norman Laboratory Speakers
40.Hpm - 60 Speakers
41.One set soft side luggage
42.Table & chairs (dining room)
43.Folding card table (4 chairs)
44.CD file & 12 CDs
45.Box containing 76 CDs
46.Stand up mirror
47.Box & 7 CDs
48.White jug full of pennies
49.Collector plates
50.Collector plates
51.Collector plates
52.Collector plates
53.Collector plates
54.Collector plates
55.Collector plates
56.Collector plates
57.Collector plates
58.Collector plates
59.Collector plates
60.Collector plates
61.Darts & dart case
62.Misc. costume jewelry
63.Florescent lantern
64.Dewalt circular saw
65.Coleman Dual Fuel Lantern
66.Camping stools
67.Delta Mitre saw
68.(illegible)
69.Skil 4 1/2 angle grinder
70.Air compressor regulators
71.Spray gun
72.Spray gun
73.Air heater
74.Tool cabinet & contents
75.Air compressor
76.ICE auger
77.Halogen light
78.Shopvac
79.Battery charger
80.Craftsman chainsaw
81.Fiberglass 6' Ladder
82.(illegible)
83.B & D buffer
84.Whistler radar detector
85.Folding ladder
86.Dewalt drill & case
87.Silver horn saddle (kid size)
88.Adult saddle
89.Four fishing poles
90.Gas trimmer
91.Boat anchor
92.Huffy bike
93.Palm sander
94.Mag cement float
95.Drop cord
96.Swingline stapler
97.Floor support stands
98.Sheet rock square
99.Oreck hand held vac
100.Ford Ranger pick-up truck
101.Drill bit index & bits
102.Halogen lamp
103.Liars bench
104.Tent
105.Hole saw
106.Belt sander
107.Plumber bit kit
108.Three ice fishing poles
109.Tackle box & contents
110.New kitchen faucet
111.Well pump
112.Patio tables & chairs w/umbrella
113.Bug zapper
114.Milk can
115.Servess 5hp roto tiller
116.Turbo wash
117.Almn grain scoop
118.Quasar camcorder
119.Self propelled push mower
120.Paramount weed trimmer
121.Sheridan pellet gun
122.Winston lighter set
123.Bose speaker
124.Elvis decanter
125.Elvis decanter
126.Video rewinder
127.Bushnell binoculars
128.Box of 18 CDs
129.New Ford rim
130.Music box carousel horses
131.Music box carousel horses
132.Music box carousel horses
133.Music box carousel horses
134.Music box carousel horses
135.Music box carousel horses
136.Music box carousel horses
137.Music box carousel horses
138.Brass carousel horse
139.Green bakeware
140.(illegible)
141.Pioneer turntable
142.Backgammon
143.TEAC graphic equalizer
144.Pioneer cassette tape deck
145.Kenwood receiver
146.Sony CD player
147.Elvis decanter
148.Thighmaster
149.Stanley stud finder
150.AM/FM Clock Radio
151.$75 cash
152.$75 cash
153.$75 cash
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Letter To Editor & Response In JAMA ('The Journal Of The American Medical
Association' Favorably Reviews A Pro-Drug-War Book That Endorses Drug-Testing
But Doesn't Cite Any Scientific Evidence For It)
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 18:58:25 EST
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: "Tom O'Connell" (tjeffoc@sirius.com)
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: LTE & Response in JAMA
My letter to the Editor criticizing the review of "Selfish Brain" was
published in Jan 7 JAMA, along with responses from the reviewer and the
author.
JAMA; 279:20, Jan. 7, 1998.
Khantzian's plea for "love, not war" in this context is at least amusing.
Dupont states that I "misunderstand" his support for drug testing. I don't
at all-it's lucrative. If there were any published evidence (beyond his
anecdotal recollection) that routine testing of any population reduces the
incidence of addiction, we'd never know it because of there is no
bibliography.
His response is a good example of classic drug warrior "refutation-" ignore
the specifics of the criticism and restate the original assertions in
slightly different form.
Learning From Addiction
To the Editor.-Several weeks ago, my abiding interest in our national drug
policy was further piqued by a book review in JAMA, so I ordered The
Selfish Brain, by Robert L. DuPont, MD. When it arrived, I was astounded to
find that, although dealing assertively with all aspects of drug addiction
from history through modern clinical concepts, the book contains no
bibliography.
Written for a lay and professional readership, the book makes several
policy recommendations, including mass drug testing of high schoolers.
Given the author's prominence as a former presidential drug policy adviser
and first director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, it is sure to
be widely quoted. That a book devoid of supportive references would be
published by the American Psychiatric, Press and reviewed in JAMA lends it
an unwarranted appearance of academic integrity.
Beyond that, the review, while timidly taking issue with the author's
authoritarian tone, fails to note the absence of references. The book does
have pages of glowing recommendations from prominent members of the drug
"prevention and treatment" establishment, and its author and one of the
endorsers, a former Drug Enforcement Agency director, are joined in the
business of setting up drug-testing programs for industry, further
suggesting that American medicine's institutions have become compromised by
the drug war.
Thomas J.O'Connell,MD
San Mateo, Calif
1. Khantzian EJ, reviewer. JAMA. 1997; 278:339-340. Review of: DuPont RL.
The Selfish Brain: Learning From Addiction
In Reply.-Dr O'Connell takes me to task for "timidly taking issue" with Dr
DuPont's book, The Selfish Brain. He also chides me, JAMA, and the American
Psychiatric Press for not making more of the absence of references in the
book. More seriously, he accuses "American medicine's institutions" of
becoming "compromised by the drug war" because of the endorsements in the
book and because of DuPont's and one endorser's activities.
For the interested reader who has not read the review, I would argue that I
give a fair and balanced description of the book's content but, tactfully
and forcefully enough, criticize DuPont's views about prevention, policy,
and treatment as a "rigid approach [and] a shortcoming of the book." In my
review, I make a plea for more flexible and integrative thinking for
proponents of DuPont's perspective vs his narrow reductionistic views. As
for my failure to note the absence of references, mea culpa, but I do not
see the lack as so dreadful an issue as does O'Connell. I disagree that
this book can presume to be a major scientific or academic reference. It
mainly recapitulates and popularizes much that is known (or disputed) about
the nature of substance use disorders and what we should do about them,
especially from the perspective of DuPont's admittedly strong convictions.
To the extent that O'Connell's letter is accusatory, I find it
objectionable. We need to make more peace, not war, on issues of drugs in
our society. My preference is to consider alternative perspectives
respectfully and to challenge them forcefully when necessary. As I conclude
in my review, "this is especially the case when we are dealing with
problems as complex as those involved with substance use disorders."
Edward J. Khantzian, MD
Tewksbury Hospital
Tewksbury, Mass
In Reply.-Dr O'Connell complains that my book, The Selfish Brain: Learnng
From Addiction, is not referenced. He may be reassured to know that the
book was peer reviewed by the publisher and the American Psychiatric Press
and that JAMA's reviewer, Dr Khantzian, is a distinguished opponent of many
of my drug policy recommendations, which he makes clear in his review. The
book lists 43 recommended books on related topics in the section
"Bibliotherapy." Finally, O'Connell and other readers seeking more
citations can find ample references in my many published articles on drug
policy including those cited below.
The Selfish Brain is not a drug policy book. Instead, it offers an
integrated, comprehensive understanding of the uniquely human and
20th-century problems of addiction to alcohol and other drugs. The most
important features of the book are the recognition of the newly elucidated
biology of reward as the principal biological root of addiction and a
single-minded focus on the vital role of the 12-Step programs, including
Alcoholics Anonymous, in promoting lifelong recovery from addiction.
O'Connell misunderstands my support for drug testing. Testing for alcohol
and other drugs is important for both prevention and treatment, because
denial is, along with loss of control or unmanageability, 1 of the 2
principal characteristics of addiction. It is only when denial and
dishonesty are stripped away from addictive behavior that the healing
forces of recovery can begin the transformation of the addict and the
addict's family. I have known many addicted people who date the beginning
of their recovery from the time they were "caught" in the criminal justice
system, the workplace, or elsewhere as a result of a positive drug test
result.
I am grateful to the American Psychiatric Press for publishing the book, to
JAMA for having it reviewed, and to O'Connell for bringing additional
readers to the book.
Robert L. DuPont, MD
Institute for Behavior and Health, Inc
Rockville, Md
1. DuPont RL, McGovern JP. A Bridge to Recovery: An Introd uction to
12-Step Programs ; Washington, DC: Amencan Psychiatric Press, 1994.
2. DuPont RL, Voth EA. Drug legalization, harm reduction, and drug policy.
Ann Intern Med. 1995123:461-465.
3. DuPont RL Gold MS. Withdrawal and reward: implications for
detoxification and relapse prevention. Psychiatr Ann. 1995;25:663-668.
4. DuPont RL. Harm reduction and decriminalization in the United States: a
personal perspective. Subst Use Misuse. 1996;31:1929 1945.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
JAMA Articles Referred To By 'Miami Herald' Letter To Editor (Two Studies
On Domestic Violence Associated With Illegal Drugs Report Vast Majority
Of Disturbances Involve 'Alcohol And Other Drugs,' Suicide, Weapons;
44 Percent Previously Arrested For Violent Acts; 'Use' Undifferentiated
From 'Abuse' In JAMA Terminology, Also Violence Due To Prohibition
Rather Than Illegal Substances Themselves)
Date: Fri, 09 Jan 1998 07:37:51 -0500
To: mattalk@islandnet.com
From: (Anonymous)
Subject: Re: Legal booze is no excuse for legalizing drugs (LONG)
Hi, all.
Thought you might like to read these, since they were referenced in the
letter that was published (and posted by Alan). In the first study, I
can't figure out why they didn't report the odds ratio for homicide for
drug/alcohol users living with other drug/alcohol users (they only talk
about drug/alcohol users living with non-drug/alcohol users -- probably
only a small proportion of their sample). I'd like to see the actual study
this was based on for that type of info, but the AMA isn't *that* liberal
with JAMA articles online.
See also the science news update at the end of each abstract.
***
JAMA Abstracts - August 20, 1997
Alcohol and Illicit Drug Abuse and the Risk of Violent Death in the Home
Frederick P. Rivara, MD, MPH; Beth A. Mueller, DrPH; Grant Somes, PhD;
Carmen T. Mendoza, MSPH; Norman B. Rushforth, PhD; Arthur L. Kellermann,
MD, MPH
Context.-While acute alcohol and illicit drug use are common in homicide
and suicide victims, the role of chronic substance use in violent death is
unclear.
Objective.-To measure the magnitude of risk of violent death in the home
associated with alcohol use or chronic abuse and use of illicit drugs.
Data Sources.-Data obtained from a case-control study of risk factors for
homicide and suicide in 3 large metropolitan areas of the United States.
Design.-Matched case-control study including 388 homicide cases, 438
suicide cases, and equal numbers of controls matched for age, sex, race,
neighborhood, and county. Data were analyzed by means of conditional
logistic regressions in which other potential risk factors for violent
death were also considered.
Outcome and Exposure Measures.-Homicide and suicide victims were identified
from medical examiner reports in Shelby County, Tennessee; King County,
Washington; and Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Structured interviews were conducted
with proxy respondents close to the decedents to obtain information about
alcohol or illicit drug use, and history of alcohol-related hospitalization
or trouble at work because of drinking by the subject. Data about alcohol
use by others living in the same house as the subject were also obtained.
Results.-The risks of homicide and suicide associated with alcohol or
illicit drug use were elevated, as were the risks of violent death
associated with several indicators of chronic alcohol abuse. In addition,
nondrinkers living in a home with alcohol users were at increased risk of
homicide (odds ratio, 1.7; 95% confidence interval, 0.98-3.0), and
non-drug-using individuals residing in homes with illicit drug users were
at greatly increased risk of homicide (odds ratio, 11.3; 95% confidence
interval, 4.4-28.8).
Conclusions.-Alcohol and illicit drug use appear to be associated with an
increased risk of violent death. The risk of homicide was increased for
non-substance-abusing individuals living in households in which other
members abused alcohol or drugs. The concept of the individual at risk of
homicide should be broadened to include not only the abuser but also those
who may be at risk because of their exposure to others.
JAMA. 1997;278:569-575
>From the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, Seattle, Wash
(Drs Rivara and Mueller); Department of Epidemiology, University of
Washington, Seattle (Drs Rivara and Mueller and Ms Mendoza); Department of
Preventive Medicine, University of Tennessee, Memphis (Dr Somes);
Department of Biology, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and
Center for Adolescent Health, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland,
Ohio (Dr Rushforth); and Emory Center for Injury Control, Emory University,
Atlanta, Ga (Dr Kellermann).
EDITOR'S NOTE.-The authors of this study found that alcohol and illicit
drug abuse are strong risk factors for violent death in the home. The risk
of violent death was observed to be greatest for the abusers themselves,
but the risk was also elevated for other members of the household who did
not abuse alcohol or illicit drugs. This elevated risk was independent of
the presence of a gun in the home.
Thomas B. Cole, MD, MPH, Contributing Editor
Science News Update:
ALCOHOL AND ILLEGAL DRUG USE INCREASE RISK OF VIOLENT DEATH Risk also
elevated for other household members
CHICAGO-Not only are alcohol and illicit drug users at increased risk for
violent death, but so are members of their household, according to an
article in the August 20 issue of The Journal of the American Medical
Association (JAMA).
Frederick P. Rivara, M.D., M.P.H., from the Harborview Injury Prevention
and Research Center, Seattle, Wash., and colleagues studied data from 438
suicides and 388 homicides to determine the risk of violent death in the
home associated with alcohol and illicit drug use. These cases were
compared to an equal number of non-substance users.
The authors write: "In this study, a history of alcohol and drug use by the
subject was strongly associated with increased risks of both homicide and
suicide, and increases were generally observed among all sex and racial
subgroups examined."
They found that subjects using both alcohol and other drugs have 12 times
the risk of being murdered and 16.6 times the risk of suicide as that of
non-substance users. Those who had trouble at work related to drinking had
17.9 times the risk of being killed.
The researchers add that those living in the same household as substance
abusers are also at increased risk of homicide. They found that nondrinkers
face 1.7 times the risk of homicide when living with alcohol users while
non-drug users face 11.3 times the risk of homicide when living with
illicit drug users.
Alcohol is a factor in a large proportion of violent deaths, including both
homicides and suicides. Homicide studies in the United States and other
countries have reported high rates of alcohol use by the victim,
perpetrator or both. Similar rates of alcoholism and other drugs have been
detected in suicide victims, according to information cited in the study.
The authors state: "This study supports the need to address alcohol and
drug abuse and its relationship to risk of violent death. The problem of
substance abuse should be addressed on multiple levels, including primary
and secondary prevention, and should include screening for alcohol and
substance abuse problems in the emergency department, particularly in
trauma patients, or at other points of contact, as well as in other
settings for persons with depression, mental illness or suicide attempts.
Brief interventions by primary care physicians can have a significant
effect on weekly excessive alcohol use and binge drinking. In addition,
people with alcoholism should be assessed for concomitant depression and
treated accordingly."
They continue: "Our concept of the individual at risk for violent death
should be broadened to include not only the substance abuser, but also
those who may be at risk because of the presence of others within the
household who are substance abusers."
They conclude: "The problems of violence in our society is a complex one
and will require multifaceted solutions. This study indicates that
addressing the problem of substance abuse on many levels may have a
substantial impact on rates of violence and should be pursued." (JAMA.
278;1997:569-575)
***
JAMA Abstracts - May 7, 1997
Characteristics of Participants in Domestic Violence
Assessment at the Scene of Domestic Assault
Daniel Brookoff, MD, PhD; Kimberly K. O'Brien; Charles S. Cook, MA; Terry
D. Thompson; Charles Williams, PhD
Objective.--To evaluate the characteristics of victims and perpetrators of
domestic assault.
Design and Setting.--Consecutive-sample survey study conducted at the
scenes of police calls for domestic assault in Memphis, Tenn, in 1995.
Participants.--A total of 136 participants (72 victims and 64 assailants)
involved in 62 incidents of domestic violence and 75 adult family members
at the scene.
Main Outcome Measures.--Participants' responses to a confidential survey
and review of police records.
Results.--Of 62 episodes of domestic assault, 42 (68%) involved weapons and
11 (15%) resulted in serious injury. Fifty-five (89%) of 62 assault victims
reported previous assaults by their current assailants, 19 (35%) of them on
a daily basis. Although nearly all assault victims had called the police
for help on previous occasions, only 12 (22%) reported having ever sought
medical care, counseling, or shelter because of domestic assault. Sixty
(92%) of the 64 assailants reportedly used alcohol or other drugs on the
day of the assault. Of the assailants, 28 (44%) had a history of arrest for
charges related to violence, and 46 (72%) had an arrest for substance
abuse. Eleven (15%) of the victims were children. Children directly
witnessed 53 (85%) of the assaults.
Conclusions.--Most victims of domestic violence who had called the police
rarely used medical or mental health facilities for problems related to
family violence despite frequent assaults. Victims and assailants were
willing to discuss their histories of family violence and undergo
assessments at the scenes of police calls.
JAMA. 1997;277:1369-1373
Science News Update:
FEW VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE TURN TO MEDICAL COMMUNITY FOR HELP Most
domestic assaults involve alcohol; many involve weapons
CHICAGO--Despite repeated assaults, most domestic violence victims who call
police in a crisis rarely use medical or mental health facilities to help
ease problems in the family, according to an article in this week's issue
of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Daniel Brookoff, M.D., Ph.D., of Methodist Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee,
and colleagues confidentially surveyed 72 domestic violence victims and 42
accused assailants at the scenes of the domestic assaults, in November 1995.
The research team , which included a physician and a nurse or paramedic,
looked at 62 episodes of domestic assault. They found that police were
often the only authorities contacted by victims: "Although nearly all
assault victims had called the police for help on previous occasions, only
12 (22 percent) reported having ever sought medical care, counseling or
shelter because of domestic assault."
Among other findings of the study:
68 percent of the domestic assault incidents involved weapons. 15 percent
resulted in serious injury. 89 percent of assaulted victims reported
previous assaults by their current assailants--35 percent of them on a
daily basis. 92 percent of assailants reportedly used alcohol or other
drugs on the day of the assault.
Despite obvious injuries, many female victims asked the survey team to
intercede with the police to stop the arrest of their assailants. The
researchers write: "One barrier to seeking help that victims mentioned was
the prospect that seeking care or assistance in the prosecution of their
assailants would escalate the violence."
Children were directly involved in a number of incidents: "Eight victims
(11 percent) were younger than 12 years; all of them were the children of
female victims who witnessed or had attempted to intervene in the assault
of their mothers." In many cases, the researchers observed children--some
as young as two--emulating violent behavior.
They conclude: "Without timely identification and intervention, children
who witness family violence may perceive such behavior as usual or
acceptable, thus ensuring that the violence will continue."
Detecting Partner Violence in the Emergency Department
Three brief questions can detect a large number of women with a history of
partner abuse, according to another study in this week's issue of JAMA.
Kim M. Feldhaus, M.D., of the Denver Health Medical Center, Colorado, and
colleagues developed a three-question instrument called the partner
violence screen (PVS). It was tested in the emergency departments at Denver
General Hospital and University Hospital in Denver in the summer of 1994.
Three hundred twenty-two women who sought emergency care during selected
time blocks took part in the study.
Research assistants using the PVS asked the women these questions:
(1) "Have you been hit, kicked, punched or otherwise hurt by someone within
the past year? If so, by whom?" (2) "Do you feel safe in your current
relationship?" (3) "Is there a partner from a previous relationship who is
making you feel unsafe now?"
The women were then asked to complete the Index of Spouse Abuse (ISA) which
measures the severity of physical and nonphysical abuse inflicted on a
woman by her partner. Finally, the women were questioned using the Conflict
Tactics Scale (CTS), which measures the use of reasoning, verbal
aggression, and physical violence in resolving family conflicts.
The researchers found the brief PVS to be quite effective: "The three
questions took an average of 20 seconds to administer, far less time than
measuring the patient's routine vital signs. The three questions detected
71.4 percent of women identified as abused by the detailed 19-item CTS. The
PVS also detected 64.5 percent of women who were identified as abused on
the 30-item ISA."
The researchers point out that "the highest prevalence rate of partner
violence was noted among women with only a previous relationship and no
current partner."
They conclude: "All women seeking care in emergency departments should be
asked directly about partner violence, regardless of marital status or
current relationships ... Patients with positive screens should have this
history documented in the medical record, and they should be offered
support, counseling, or at the very least, referrals to safe shelters and
an action plan to ensure their future safety."
Editorial: Learning From the Paradoxes of Domestic Violence
In an accompanying editorial in this week's JAMA, Anne Flitcraft, M.D., of
the University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, describes domestic
violence as "a phenomenon built on the apparent contradiction of love and
violence."
She points to some of the paradoxes--including an incident mentioned by
Brookoff and colleagues, in which the assailant actually calls the police,
and the victim appears to protect the assailant when investigators arrive.
She notes that Feldhaus and colleagues make an important point: "Ending the
violence is not simply about ending the relationship. To the contrary, of
women seen in emergency departments who reported feeling unsafe ... more
than half attributed their fears to ongoing abuse by a past partner."
Emphasizing that domestic violence is a major cause of injury, disability,
homicide, homelessness, addiction, attempted suicide and child abuse, Dr.
Flitcraft concludes that these studies remind us of "the need to address
the status of health, justice and human rights in our communities."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Behind Bars (Public Broadcasting's 'NewsHour with Jim Lehrer'
Reports On New CASA Study Alleging 80 Percent Of America's 1.7 Million
Prisoners Are There Due To 'Abuse' Of Alcohol, Other Drugs)
Date: Fri, 09 Jan 1998 19:26:14 -0500
To: DrugSense News Service
From: Richard Lake
Subject: MN: US: PBS NewsHour Transcript: Behind Bars - Califano & McCollum
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Source: The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, PBS
Contact: newshour@pbs.org
Pubdate: Thursday, 7 Jan 1998
BEHIND BARS
Of 1.7 million people in prison in the US, 1.4 million cases involve
substance abuse a Columbia University study reported. Alcohol abuse is
especially widespread among our nation's criminals. Treatment programs
within prisons are being used to fight this growing problem. Jim Lehrer
spoke to Rep. Bill McCollum (R) Florida, and Joseph Califano.
JIM LEHRER: Now to today's report stating drug and alcohol abuse are
involved in the incarceration of 80 percent of the people now in American
prisons. Joseph Califano is chairman and president of Columbia University's
National Center on Addiction & Substance Abuse which issued the report.
He's joined tonight by Congressman Bill McCollum, Republican of Florida,
chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime.
Mr. Califano, how strong are these connections between the 80 percent of
the prisoners and drug and alcohol abuse?
JOSEPH CALIFANO, National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse: Well,
they're very strong. We have 1.7 million people in prison in this country;
1.4 million are there either because they violated drug and alcohol laws,
because they were high at the time that they committed their crime, were on
alcohol or drugs, because they stole money to buy drugs, or because they
have a history of alcohol and drug abuse. So really we have prisons that
are wall-to-wall with individuals with drug and alcohol problems.
JIM LEHRER: And is it--is your report and your study, has it concluded that
those people wouldn't be in prison if they had not been alcohol and drug
abusers?
JOSEPH CALIFANO: Two--of the 1.4 million 200,000 are drug dealers who do
not use drugs. The other 1.2 million are people hundreds of thousands of
whom would not be in prison if they did not use drugs and alcohol. And when
we release them from prison without treating them, what we're really doing
is visiting on society alcoholics and drug addicts who will commit crimes,
who are visiting criminals on society. And when we release drug addicts
without treating them, we're releasing from prison individuals who are
supporting drug dealers and the drug market.
JIM LEHRER: All right. I want to get to that part of it in a moment, but I
want to first go back to--I want to go to Congressman McCollum. Do you
dispute the basic finding, the 80 percent finding?
REP. BILL McCOLLUM, (R) Florida: Well, first of all, I want to say that I
have a great deal of respect for Joseph Califano. He has had a tremendous
record and does right now on trying to fight the war on drugs and do it the
right way. And I think this report--in general, what I know about it--is an
excellent report. But I would say that there are some questionable facets
to it. For example, the report, itself, says that the 80 percent figure is
based upon the implication of drug involvement by a great many of these
people. And it defines what implication to drugs means. And part of that
definition includes those who have had regular use, which are further
defined as little as one dose or one use of marijuana a week for a month.
Now, I don't doubt that most of the people who are in jail say--and prisons
around this country have some connection with the drug problem, and they
should be treated, and they need to be treated. In fact, in the federal
system the good news is that by the end of this fiscal year, by the 1st of
October this year we're in right now every single eligible prisoner in the
federal prison system will be in a drug treatment program. That's the good
news. And the states now are not necessarily in that state of affairs. And
the bad news also is that even in the federal system the effectiveness, the
success rate of these treatment programs is only about 10 percent, better
than the private side, but not nearly as good as it should be.
JIM LEHRER: Mr. Califano, what did your study find about the treatment and
the effectiveness of treatment in federal, state, and also compared to
private?
JOSEPH CALIFANO: Let me--also, I'd like to clarify just one thing for Rep.
McCollum, who is also a great battler in this important war for our
country. Regular drug use is defined as it's traditionally defined, which
is the use of drugs twice a week at a minimum for a period of at least a
month. Of the roughly several hundred thousand regular drug users that are
in prison most of them were regular drug users in the month prior to their
arrest, and most of them were tested positive for drugs. And the drugs they
tested positive for were by and large heroin and cocaine and not marijuana.
Secondly, alcohol is the drug most connected with violent crime, which the
report indicates. On your question with respect to treatment, basically the
federal budget in fiscal 1997, .9 of 1 percent of the prison budget, $25
million, was spent for treatment. That is going up as Congressman McCollum
knows. With respect to the states, basically the need for treatment has
gone up. And, remember, of the 1.7 million prisoners 1.6 million are in
state prisoners. The federal part of this problem is the tail of the dog.
And as the need for treatment has gone up roughly eight hundred and fifty,
eight hundred and sixty thousand people who need treatment, those who are
getting treatment has gone down. Less than 150,000 got treatment. And what
is called treatment in prison, in state prisons, is often woefully
inadequate. It's a little education; it's a little of this. The kind of
treatment we think is needed is an intensive residential treatment for most
of these people, along with job training and literacy training, whatever
they need to get them up to a high school equivalency.
JIM LEHRER: Congressman, do you agree with that, that treatment in prison
of these billions of prisoners could do tremendous things?
REP. BILL McCOLLUM: I think that it would, now not alone, but it is very
important that it happen. And it's not happening well today. As I said
earlier, I think the figure I used is correct, that only about a 10 percent
success rate exists in any of these treatment programs, that being higher
again out in the civil world, where drug treatment programs don't have
prisoners incarcerated. So I agree with that part of the report. I also
think it's important, though, to know that as we go through this process,
the violent criminal is being incarcerated for longer and longer periods of
time for justification and good reason, and that, in fact, the person who's
there and being treated, the treatment alone is not the sole answer. In
other words, we need to have a combination of photos.
We need, as Mr. Califano said, to be sure we have prison industry programs
at work, job training programs at work; when the prisoners go out, they are
followed, which they're not today--in most of our prison systems when
they're released to the degree necessary. There's a lot to this. And right
now one of the more remarkable things is that we have seen the crime rate,
the violent crime rate, coming down I think in large measure because we
have extended the length of stay in prisons for many people who are
involved in these violent crimes and serious drug trafficking offenses by
the truth and sentencing laws that most--more than 50 percent of the states
now have passed and the federal government has--it says you have to serve
at least 85 percent of your sentences to stop the revolving door that was
in presence in this country for so long in the prison system.
JIM LEHRER: Congressman--
JOSEPH CALIFANO: We have slowed the revolving door. We haven't stopped it.
I think it is important to note that, on average, people get out of prison
in one and a half to four years; that even with the sentences that
Congressman McCollum is talking about people for crimes like aggravated
assault are getting out on an average in three years, so that if we want to
continue to use crime in this country, we've got to make sure that when
these people are released, we have given them the treatment and training
they need to become taxpaying, law abiding citizens, and that we're not
simply releasing more criminals on society because they are getting out.
JIM LEHRER: Congressman McCollum, what about Mr. Califano's earlier point
that, that it's--that the violent crime is being committed more by alcohol
abusers than drug abusers--does that jibe with your subcommittee's finding
as well?
REP. BILL McCOLLUM: Well, I haven't studied his report and I'm looking
forward to be able to see it in detail, but what we see out there is that
drugs and alcohol are definitely involved, but I'm not ready to say that
our studies have shown up to this point the connection that he's saying his
report does show. What I do--
JOSEPH CALIFANO: Our analysis is to--our analysis, and we will--the report,
I think, is in your office.
REP. BILL McCOLLUM: We're looking forward to reading it in detail. JOSEPH
CALIFANO: And we want to work with you on it. 21 percent of the individuals
in state prison who are incarcerated for violent crime were high on alcohol
only at the time of their crime. 3 percent were high on crack cocaine only
and 1 percent on heroin only. In the jails it's about 26 percent in
comparable lower percentages.
REP. BILL McCOLLUM: I also want to say, if I could, Mr. Califano, that I
don't disagree with your numbers with respect to the amount of people
getting out earlier than they really should be. But the reality is that we
need to get the other half of the states to go to this 85 percent
sentencing rule to get truth in sentencing throughout the nation. And that
would make a huge difference in this, but it does require, in addition to
that, everything you've said about the need to come forward with better
drug treatment programs, more drug treatment programs in the states, as
well as the prison training, and the opportunity to get jobs when they get
out.
JIM LEHRER: What about his point also, Congressman, that--and the report's
point--that if these folks are not treated, they go to prison only, even if
they stay for many years, they come back out still addicted to either
alcohol or drugs, and just become--become repeat customers, or out on the
streets?
REP. BILL McCOLLUM: I think that's absolutely correct, but I think that
there's something that's not in this report that needs to be said too
because the report didn't try to cover this apparently. And that is that in
those few states where we really have good prison industry systems and
they're not as complete anyway as we'd like, the recidivism rate where
those states exist with these programs is very low, compared to where they
don't. And we need very, very much to have prison industries reviewed. I
think that is equally important to the drug treatment issue as is the
question of how we deal with drug treatment in those who are addicted, or
those who are alcoholics.
JIM LEHRER: Mr. Califano, you've issued your report--250 pages. How long
did your folks work on this, three years?
JOSEPH CALIFANO: It took three years to do this.
JIM LEHRER: Three years. Okay. Now, what happens? What happens now?
JOSEPH CALIFANO: I think now what happens, fortunately, a couple of good
things happen. One, I'd like to say treatment and training in prison is a
tremendously sound investment for taxpayers. We estimate that if we treated
all of those 1.2 million prisoners, it would cost about $7.8 billion, about
$6500 each. And the return on that investment in the first year would be
more than $8 billion, and we'd have tremendous returns thereafter. What
happens now, one, I think largely because of our report, the drug czar
announced today that he's going to call a conference in March of experts in
the treatment and training area. And Mr. McConnell is exactly right.
Training and work is very important to go along with this. And that will
lead to a conference in October or November with several hundred people
from all the states in this country.
JIM LEHRER: All right.
JOSEPH CALIFANO: We need a revolution in the way we think about people in
prison, and we need, as I said in the report, a second front in the war on
crime.
JIM LEHRER: Okay.
JOSEPH CALIFANO: In prisons.
JIM LEHRER: We have to leave it there. Gentlemen, thank you both very much.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Crackdown On The Border Is Paying Off, Officials Say ('Operation Rio Grande'
Along South Texas Border Said To Result In 'A Dramatic Drop In Arrests
Of Illegal Immigrants,' Although 'Marijuana And Cocaine Seizures
Have Increased,' Operation 'Has Failed To Shut Down The Principal
Smuggling Corridor On US 77' - 'It's A Slow Process,' Says Commander)
Date: Wed, 07 Jan 1998 22:11:40 -0500
To: DrugSense News Service
From: Richard Lake
Subject: MN: US TX: Crackdown On The Border Is Paying Off, Officials Say
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: Art Smart
Source: Houston Chronicle
Page: Page One, Front Page
Author: James Pinkerton
Contact: viewpoints@chron.com
Pubdate: Wed, 07 Jan 1998
Website: http://www.chron.com/
Crackdown on the border is paying off, officials say
McALLEN -- Border Patrol officials said Tuesday that it is too early to
pronounce Operation Rio Grande a success, but claimed a dramatic drop in
arrests of illegal immigrants is attributable to the unprecedented federal
buildup in South Texas that began in August.
Moreover, Border Patrol agents for the first time are confident that
Washington has given them adequate tools -- hundreds of new officers,
vehicles and an array of high-tech equipment -- to begin controlling a
notoriously porous and violent stretch of the Texas-Mexico border.
Shootouts with drug traffickers and immigrant smugglers are so common in
the McAllen sector that agents must wear bulletproof vests and carry
military assault rifles on the river.
"I'm very, very satisfied with what's going on, but it's going to take time
-- it's a slow process," said Chief Joe Garza, who heads the McAllen
sector, which includes 282 miles along the Rio Grande.
The Border Patrol sector chief said crime has decreased in Brownsville, the
largest city in the Rio Grande Valley, a drop city police attribute to the
increased federal presence in city streets. Since the operation began,
arrests of illegal immigrants in the 17,000-square-mile sector have dropped
by as much as 5,400 a month, when compared with the same time in 1996.
However, Garza emphasized the operation has failed to shut down the
principal smuggling corridor on U.S. 77, used by an estimated 75 percent of
undocumented immigrants who cross the border. Smugglers operate safe houses
in and around the community of Raymondville, and walk their clients around
the Border Patrol's highway checkpoint farther north.
Garza said his Raymondville detail arrested 97 illegal immigrants Monday
night, and noted the arrest rate has dropped slightly so far this year.
Garza said that in the past, Border Patrol operations in his sector would
be launched and "two or three days later we would be out of gas, out of
time or out of money, and we'd have to go back to business as usual and the
smugglers would just wait us out."
Operation Rio Grande, launched in Brownsville last Aug. 25, has massed
hundreds of Border Patrol agents along the Rio Grande in traditional
crossing areas. The number of personnel has increased from 498 in 1995 to
849 today.
Along with the additional agents, 38 batteries of floodlights are trained
on the brush river banks, and a trio of long-range, low- light telescopes
have been mounted in strategic buildings and now scan the border.
"With Operation Rio Grande, we have changed our mindset," Garza said at a
Tuesday news briefing. "I think we have the will ... and the resources and
the support -- not only from the community, but from our own people, our
administration in Washington plus our Congress -- to take control of the
border."
Marijuana and cocaine seizures have increased since the operation got under
way as agents stop more vehicles driving away from the river and uncover
more drug caches along the border.
Meanwhile, immigration officials who are stationed at the Valley's
international bridges report a record number of immigrants using false
documents, including 67 arrested over New Year's weekend. Since the
operation began, 2,278 people using fraudulent or borrowed documents have
been arrested.
An Immigration and Naturalization Service official speculated that many of
those arrested were trying to avoid Operation Rio Grande.
But Operation Rio Grande has it critics, including immigration rights
groups. Activists say it has not cut down on the flow of illegals but has
been a boon to the "coyotes," as immigrant smugglers are known.
"Well, more than anything it is pushing people out west" into remote
brushlands up river, said Nathan Selzer, with the Valley Coalition for
Justice. "There is a concern if you push people away from the populated
areas, there will be more risks."
Garza, the Border Patrol sector chief, said there was not a single abuse
complaint during Operation Rio Grande that has been substantiated. However,
Selzer said his group is investigating five incidents including a man who
claims Border Patrol agents broke his arm after his arrest.
"What we've run into is a great reluctance of people to go forward to the
government with allegations of abuse ... there is very little faith they
won't be retaliated against," said Selzer, who works out of Harlingen.
Operation Rio Grande is the third intensive operation this decade by the
Border Patrol where agents are placed within sight of each other along the
border, and is similar in some respects to earlier efforts in El Paso and
San Diego. In all three instances, the operations have been popular with
merchants in border cities who have for years put up with shoplifters,
petty thieves and burglars who slip across the border to commit crimes.
"The Border Patrol presence downtown has contributed in a positive way to
decreasing the crime rate in Brownsville," said local police Lt. Henry
Etheridge.
"It runs the whole array. You have strong-arm robbers holding up people and
running back to Mexico, and at night we used to have burglars who broke
into businesses through the roofs. And that has decreased," he said.
As in El Paso, gone are the scruffy squads of Mexican youths who stationed
themselves on busy Brownsville intersections and washed windshields or
juggled balls, asking for a few coins in return.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Fatal Heroin Overdose Rattles Family Of Haltom City Man
(Alcohol Impaired Recovering Texas Addict,
Sister-In-Law Tells 'Dallas Morning News')
Date: Wed, 07 Jan 1998 20:49:13 -0500
To: DrugSense News Service
From: Richard Lake
Subject: MN: US TX: Fatal Heroin Overdose Rattles Family Of Haltom City Man
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: adbryan@onramp.net
Source: Dallas Morning News
Author: Dave Michaels, The Dallas Morning News
Contact: letterstoeditor@dallasnews.com
Pubdate: Wed, 7 Jan 1998
Website: http://www.dallasnews.com
FATAL HEROIN OVERDOSE RATTLES FAMILY OF HALTOM CITY MAN
Alcohol Impaired Recovering Addict, Sister-in-law Says
As a recovering drug abuser, Robert Hampton seemed to have adjusted his
path from crooked to straight. The 51-year-old plumber was driving a new
truck, taking care of his ailing mother and saving money, relatives said.
Doing heroin seemed like the last thing on his mind.
But, impaired by a night of drinking whiskey-and-Cokes, the Haltom City
resident turned to heroin one last time, said Shirley Hampton, his
sister-in-law. About five hours later, Mrs. Hampton found him dead, slumped
over in a bathroom with a charred spoon, a belt and a syringe at his side,
police said.
Mr. Hampton's Dec. 30 death was the second suspected fatal heroin overdose
in Tarrant County in a week, authorities said. Eric Lee Higgins, 20, of
Bedford, was found dead in his bedroom Dec. 29. Friends and relatives have
said Mr. Higgins had used heroin that night.
Additionally, authorities are awaiting toxicology results to determine
whether a third death - that of Keller resident Bruce Allen Fann, 36, on
Friday - may have been linked to heroin abuse, said Keller police Lt. Tommy
Williams.
Heroin is also considered the cause of a near-fatal overdose Sunday in
Hurst, where a 17-year-old was found at a friend's house in the 1700 block
of Renee Drive in a "crisis state," police said. He was treated at North
Hills Medical Center and later released, Detective Doug Blue said.
It was the second close call for the youth, who was treated at a Bedford
hospital for a heroin overdose in late November, police said.
Detective Kyle Barton, a Haltom City police spokesman, said authorities are
awaiting toxicology results on Mr. Hampton and on residue found on the
spoon, though drug paraphernalia that was found suggests he injected heroin
before dying.
But Mrs. Hampton said her brother-in-law seemed to have abandoned the vice
at least a year ago.
"I think what happened is he had been drinking whiskey. Real stiff drinks,
like one-fourth a cup of soda pop and the rest whiskey and ice," Mrs.
Hampton, 55, said. "If he did [overdose], I think it was an accident. He
was too drunk to know what he was doing. But, of course, he shouldn't have
been doing it anyway."
Family members never suspected that Mr. Hampton still used heroin, they
said, if only because he looked healthy and worked hard. A large man with a
healthy appetite, he was a "caring, forgiving man, a sweet person," Mrs.
Hampton said.
He leaves behind two grown sons, a stepdaughter and four grandchildren, she
said. One of the grandchildren was born the night he died, she said.
"Stay away from heroin. Nothing but harm comes from it," she said.
"Watching this episode take place, it is just so hard on the family. Your
family suffers, not just you."
Mr. Hampton's niece, Cynthia Kellar, said her uncle's death offers lessons
for others thinking of experimenting with heroin.
"To all the kids to who think drugs are a joke, it's just like playing
Russian roulette. You don't ever know if this is the one time the bullet
rolls around," said Ms. Kellar, 26. "No matter what, life is too precious
to waste for a few seconds of pleasure."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Suing For Peace In The War On Drugs (A Vancouver, BC, Constable
Concludes That Prohibition Just Won't Work)
Source: Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Contact: letters@globeandmail.ca
Published: Wednesday, January 7, 1998
Author: Robert Matas in Vancouver
SUING FOR PEACE IN THE WAR ON DRUGS
After 15 years in the trenches, a constable concludes that prohibition
just won't work
Vancouver -- PUSHERS, addicts and the hapless victims of drug-related
crime -- they have all drawn their share of media attention. But
consider for a moment the perspective of the person the public sends
to the front line in the war on drugs: the police officer.
Thanks in large part to Hollywood, the stereotype is that of the
crusading cop who tracks down dealers against insurmountable odds and
rarely appears to be troubled by the strung-out junkies encountered
along the way. This image of indifference to the human cost of drug
use is so pervasive that it's a shock when a real cop speaks out and
expresses sympathy for those tangled up with narcotics.
Gil Puder has done that and much more. Last week, he stepped out of
his role as a Vancouver police constable and called publicly for the
decriminalization of heroin and cocaine. In an article in a local
newspaper, he maintained that drug abuse is a health issue, rather
than a criminal one.
But Const. Puder did not stop there. He also pointed fingers, accusing
federal Health Minister Alan Rock of ducking the issue and suggesting
that B.C. Attorney-General Ujjal Dosanjh "would rather talk tough and
count the bodies."
He wondered whether the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police has
been silent on the issue because its members have built their careers
on drug enforcement.
Even his own force has not escaped criticism. Last month it raided The
Cannabis Cafe, a local diner that provides customers with pipes to
smoke marijuana, although it does not sell the drug.
Const. Puder likens the raid to a Keystone Kops episode. "I was
there," he said in an interview, "doing crowd control." The goal of
the exercise, he suspects, was not just to enforce the law but to put
the controversial cafe‚ -- an attraction for visitors from the United
States and the rest of Canada -- out of business.
"Most of the guys just shrugged their shoulders and wondered why they
were there."
The article in the Vancouver Sun was written, says Const. Puder,
because, after 15 years on duty, he was finally fed up.
Drugs and violence have been part of his entire career. A few years
after joining the police, he shot and killed an addict who was robbing
a bank. In 1987, a friend, Sergeant Larry Young, was shot during a
drug raid. This year he spent New Year's Day in a flop house, watching
an ambulance team trying to save a junkie's life.
But the incident that really hit home happened back in November. A
young addict had died and he had to break the news to his mother. A
recent immigrant from Eastern Europe, she was already mourning the
unexpected death of her husband and now found herself all alone in a
strange land. She started talking about suicide.
According to Const. Puder, a police officer always finds it easier to
depersonalize a situation and just do his or her job. But after this
incident, he felt truly tired of repeatedly having to cope with
violent death.
Unfortunately, he says, no one seems prepared to address the
situation. Officials agree that the drug problem finances criminal
organizations, drives Vancouver's HIV epidemic, and perpetuates the
petty and major crimes that swamp the courts. They recognize that
prohibition of drugs has its limitations, and acknowledge that tighter
enforcement has proved futile.
Nevertheless, he contends, the federal government appears to be more
frightened by the opposition Reform Party -- and its get-tough
policies -- than it is by the drug problem.
Such outspokenness on the part of a police officer is rare -- with
good reason, given law enforcement's quasi-military tradition and the
ever-present potential for disciplinary action.
But Const. Puder insists that such tactics would not work on him. He
is ready to stand up to anyone who tries to deny him his right to free
speech. As for intimidation, "I'm 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, a black belt
in karate and former boxer. I teach the use of force. If someone wants
to meet me in the back alley, just tell me and I'll show up."
But he need not worry. After the article appeared, he received hand
shakes and messages of support from dozens of his colleagues. Still,
he realizes that publicizing his views may not be the best of career
moves. "But I'm not trying to be chief," he admitted. "I'm happy with
my career."
At 38, he works part-time with the force, patrolling the downtown
district, and part-time as an instructor at the B.C. Police Academy
and Langara College. (A specialist in the use of force, he has
designed training manuals for private security programs and trains
other instructors.)
This arrangement, he says, is flexible and offers more time to spend
with his family (he has two sons, 3 and 9).
His experience, he feels, allows him to speak out on the
decriminalization of narcotics without coming across as "a
bleeding-heart wimp." But he'd like to see others take a more active
role in the debate.
"Social workers speak up. We [the police] directly interact with the
issue every day. Why cannot we speak up? Are we just supposed to shut
up, say nothing, just grit our teeth?"
But even if he stands alone, Const. Puder intends to keep pressing his
case. "This is just something that has to be kept on the front
burner."
Robert Matas is a member of The Globe and Mail's Vancouver bureau.
Cause for concern
When a member of their police force speaks out on drugs, Vancouverites
have good reason to pay attention.
The east side of their downtown area has been identified as the worst
spot in the developed world for the rapid spread of the AIDS virus,
mainly because there are so many drug addicts sharing dirty needles.
Also, Vancouver is believed to have 10 times as many drug traffickers
as any other place in Canada. In the past five years, about 1,470
people have died in British Columbia from overdosing on an illegal
drug.
The regional health unit has declared a medical emergency, and Mayor
Philip Owen has stepped up law enforcement. In an effort to stem a
wave of property crimes, he is moving up to 100 members of the police
force from desk jobs to the streets.
***
CClist, the electronic news and information service of CANNABIS CANADA,
"Canada's National Magazine of Marijuana & Hemp"
Subscribe to Cannabis Canada! Call 1-800-330-HEMP for info.
Write to: Suite 504, 21 Water St., Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6B 1A1
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-------------------------------------------------------------------
Time To Take Pot Luck (Editorial Columnist At 'The Scotsman'
Says The Law On Cannabis Is Not Working And The British Prime Minister
Should Establish A Royal Commission To Consider Legalisation)
Date: Wed, 07 Jan 1998 21:14:14 -0500
To: DrugSense News Service
From: Richard Lake
Subject: MN: OPED: Time To Take Pot Luck
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: shug
Source: The Scotsman
Author: Allan Massie
Contact: Letters_ts@scotsman.com
Pubdate: Wed, 7 Jan 1998
Website: http://www.scotsman.com
TIME TO TAKE POT LUCK
COMMENTARY: The Law On Cannabis Is Not Working. Mr Blair should accept this
and consider legalisation, says Allan Massie
IN A speech on the rejection of the Reform Bill, the Liberal clergyman
Sydney Smith compared the efforts of the House of Lords to block the
progress of reform to the attempts of a Mrs Partington to keep out the
Atlantic with a mop, during a great storm at Sidmouth in 1824. This
prompted a famous cartoon by (I think) Cruikshank in which Mrs Partington
was given the features of the Duke of Wellington, the most obdurate
opponent of parliamentary reform.
Mrs Partington is still with us, though now she wears the features of Tony
Blair or Jack Straw as they try to push back the incoming Atlantic of drugs
with their little mops.
Alternatively, their conduct of the war against drugs resembles Hitler's
conduct of the war on the Eastern Front.
Barbarossa has failed, the Battle of Stalingrad has been lost, but still
demented orders are issued from the bunker forbidding any withdrawal. And
yet the retreat goes on, the war is being lost. It is being lost because it
has become unwinnable. Does anyone seriously suppose otherwise? Presumably
Mr Blair and Mr Straw do, for they propose to intensify the war. They have
appointed a new commander, ludicrously styled a czar. Don't they remember
what happened to the last czar of all the Russias?
We know how the war-song goes. Cannabis (which, incidentally, was made
illegal only in 1928) is bad in itself. Furthermore, cannabis addiction
leads to addiction to harder and still more harmful drugs such as heroin
and cocaine (I am not quite sure where ecstasy fits in the catalogue.)
Therefore to decriminalise or legalise cannabis will open the door to new
horrors.
Now, this may or may not be true. There is certainly no inevitability about
it. That is obvious. It is more than 30 years since cannabis became a
fashionable drug in universities, 30 years since the young Bill Clinton
smoked a joint, but famously (or feebly) did not inhale. Though Jack Straw
spoke out against drugs even when he was president of the National Union of
Students, I should be incredulous if anyone claimed that there was nobody
in Mr Blair's Cabinet who had experimented with drugs in their dizzy youth.
I should think several did. But I would find it equally hard to believe
that any Cabinet minister was now a cocaine or heroin addict.
Nobody of sense denies that prolonged and intensive smoking of cannabis is
harmful. It makes people goofy and incapable of concentration. It destroys
their ability to work, and their ability to relate intelligently and
sensitively to other people. That is to say, it is damaging in much the
same way as prolonged and intensive drinking of alcohol is damaging. But
"recreational" smokers of cannabis don't reach this condition, any more
than recreational drinkers of alcohol do.
There is another side to addiction: it is not necessarily altogether
harmful. It damages, but it may also enrich - if you survive it, and escape
from it. I speak as one addicted, not only to caffeine and nicotine, both
of which I still use because, though they may damage the health, they do
not derange, but also to alcohol, from which I now abstain. Addiction can
lead to self-knowledge; the struggle against it can strengthen you. I have
known a good many alcoholics; some of my best friends were drunks. Some of
them are, sadly, dead. I don't regard that as a reason for banning alcohol.
Some have survived, and many of these are stronger and better people as a
result of the experience. I suppose the same may be said of recovered drug
addicts.
Concerning drugs, we are in a state of mental and moral confusion. On the
one hand, most of us recognise that the present law is not working.
Estimates of the number of regular users of cannabis can be no more than
guesses. Some put the figure as high as two million. I have no idea whether
this is about right or wildly wrong. What is obvious is that the present
legislation puts hundreds of thousands of otherwise law-abiding young
people on the wrong side of the law. This breeds (since the law is so
difficult to enforce) indifference to law itself, and contempt for it too.
It leads them to think of the police as their enemies - even though it is a
law which, I suppose, a good many policemen and policewomen themselves
break. The mental and moral confusion reaches right up to the top. Even
without asking how many of our judges, fiscals, advocates and legislators
have themselves dabbled with drugs, if only in their youth, we may still
shake our heads in amazement at the spectacle presented by our Prime
Minister, Mr Having-it- both-ways Blair. One week he appoints a czar to
lead the war against drugs; the next, as it were, he invites rock stars who
openly parade their use of drugs to his celebrity parties at Downing
Street. It is grotesque. It would make the most solemn cat split its sides
with laughing.
Some will call this hypocrisy. I am not so unkind. I say it is merely an
example of the mental and moral confusion which Mr Blair finds himself in.
He can't be blamed for that. We are, most of us, in the same boat.
That is why it is imperative that, as this newspaper and Sir David Steel
have recommended, Mr Blair sets up a Royal Commission to examine the case
for and against our present drugs laws, and to consider whether cannabis at
least should be legalised. Note that I say "legalised". The worst possible
decision would be merely to decriminalise cannabis. Decriminalisation would
leave supply in the hands of the dealers, who also deal in other, more
immediately dangerous drugs; and who have the incentive sometimes to be, or
to pretend to be, out of cannabis, or out of good quality cannabis, in
order to lure their clients on to experiment with harder drugs.
Legalisation, however, removes supply from the criminal world, and hands it
over to licensed vendors. It makes it possible to control the quality of
cannabis they sell. It makes it possible to tax the drug, as alcohol and
tobacco are taxed.
The Royal Commission, having examined all the evidence, might recommend
that the law stays as it is. That would satisfy many parents, few of whom
hand their sons or daughters a joint as they might hand them a can of lager
or a gin and tonic. It would justify the Government's continuation of its
"war against drugs", however unlikely victory in that war may be.
But it would be a mistake. There is little point in a law which is so
difficult to enforce and which manifestly runs counter to what so many
think justified. In this respect our drugs law differs from other laws
which may be hard to enforce. Drunk drivers, rapists and murderers may all
experience guilt; someone copped for possession or even supplying of
cannabis is unlikely to do so.
In these matters I am a liberal. The Government should trust the people.
Individuals should be permitted to go their own way, even to the hell of
addiction. A Royal Commission might decide otherwise, but it would be good
if it advised Mrs Partington-Blair and Mrs Partington-Straw to put their
mops away. Nannies belong in the nursery, not in Downing Street.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Request For Help From Europe (Prime Minister's Command
To All 60 British Labour EU MPs May Swing European Policy
Away From Harm Reduction To Swedish Model)
From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: Request for help from Europe (fwd)
Date: Wed, 07 Jan 1998 14:39:19 -0800
Lines: 24
From: mario lap (mario@lap.nl)
To: press@drugtext.nl
Dear Friends,
I just got off the phone talking to Hedy D'Ancona, Social Democrat, former
Dutch health minister and European MP.
You may know that Mrs D'Ancona chaired the EU parliamentary commission on
drugs that produced the recent report calling for EU harm reduction
policies, room for regional solutions and studies of alternatives.
Now believe it or not, this report is going to be voted down because all
60 British Labour EU MP were ordered to vote against it directly from
Downing Street 10 and even worse they were also ordered to back up the
Swedish amendments which will turn the whole thing into a disaster for
humane drug policies.
So it is now or never. Let's make a difference. Do you want Swedish
drug policy?
***
Date: Fri, 09 Jan 1998 07:17:49 -0500
To: mattalk@islandnet.com
From: webbooks@paston.co.uk (CLCIA) (by way of Richard Lake, rlake@mapinc.org)
Subject: Re: MEPs
I mailed the list of MEPs emails posted here yesterday, several of which
bounced. I have had the following reply:
This is the list of the one's that DID NOT bounce; the original list came
from the Eupepean Parliament Labour Party site, obviously out of date.
Copy this list to Bcc your message to them
arlene.mccarthy@geo2.poptel.org.uk,
Michael.McGowan@btinternet.com,
mcmahonmep@geo2.poptel.org.uk,
eryl.mcnally@geo2.poptel.org.uk,
Bmiller@aol.com,
e.morgan.mep@geo2.poptel.org.uk,
david.morris@geo2.poptel.org.uk,
simon.murphy@geo2.poptel.org.uk,
office@newens.demon.co.uk,
anita.pollack@geo2.poptel.org.uk,
mel.read@geo2.poptel.org.uk,
brian.simpson@geo2.poptel.org.uk,
skinner@epri.org,
100305.2120@compuserve.com,
rbalfe@europarl.eu.int,
roger.barton@geo2.poptel.org.uk,
david.bowe@geo2.poptel.org.uk,
a.billingham@geo2.poptel.org.uk,
101457.3376@compuserve.com,
ccrawley@enterprise.net,
tony.cunningham@geo2.poptel.org.uk,
wayne.david@geo2.poptel.org.uk,
Alan.Donnelly@ping.be,
104706.1600@compuserve.com,
glynford.euromp@zen.co.uk,
PaulineGreen@leevalley.co.uk,
gary.titley@mcr1.poptel.org.uk,
john.tomlinson@geo2.poptel.org.uk,
truscott@epri.org,
101450.2601@compuserve.com,
mark.watts@geo2.poptel.org.uk,
joe.wilson@geo2.poptel.org.uk,
remote-printer.ShaunSpiers/MEP@441812989959.iddd.tpc.int,
remote-printer.DavidThomas/MEP@441986895114.iddd.tpc.int,
remote-printer.NormanWest/MEP@441226200791.iddd.tpc.int,
remote-printer.IanWhite/MEP@441179236966.iddd.tpc.int,
remote-printer.KenCollins/MEP@441355249670.iddd.tpc.int,
remote-printer.MichaelElliott/MEP@441818107847.iddd.tpc.int,
remote-printer.DavidHallam/MEP@441746768850.iddd.tpc.int,
remote-printer.AlfLomas/MEP@441815030028.iddd.tpc.int,
remote-printer.TomMegahy/MEP@441924366851.iddd.tpc.int,
remote-printer.EddyNewman/MEP@441612573000.iddd.tpc.int,
remote-printer.ChristineOddy/MEP@441203551424.iddd.tpc.int,
remote-printer.BarrySeal/MEP@441274752092.iddd.tpc.int
Hundreds of books on cannabis, including Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts,
now available for purchase on-line through the Campaigner's Guide below:
Campaign to Legalise Cannabis International Association (CLCIA)
54C Peacock Street, Norwich, Norfolk, NR3 1TB, UK
campaigners' guide : http://www.paston.co.uk/users/webbooks/index.html
home page : http://www.foobar.co.uk/users/ukcia/groups/clcia.html
"The use of cannabis ought to be a matter of choice, not of law."
The drugtext press list.
News on substance use related issues, drugs and drug policy
webmaster@drugtext.nl
-------------------------------------------------------------------
DrugSense Weekly, Number 28 (Summary Of Drug Policy News
For Activists)
Date: Wed, 07 Jan 1998 12:59:53 -0800
From: Mark Greer (MGreer@mapinc.org)
Subject: DrugSense Weekly January 7, 1998 #028
DrugSense Weekly January 7, 1998 #028
A DrugSense publication
http://www.drugsense.org
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
* Feature Article
The Drug Civil War
by Cliff and Margaret Thornton and
Comment on the Drug Civil War by Nora Callahan
* Weekly News In Review
Domestic News -
Adolescents
Taking A Fresh Look At DARE
Heroin
Purer, Cheaper, Snortable Heroin Floods U.S.
Medical Marijuana
Alternative Pot Club Shuts Down
S.F. Club's Style Rankles Medical Pot Advocates
High Times: Freedom Fighter of the Month
The Year In Review Medical Marijuana
Sentencing
The Dangerous Expansion Of Forfeiture Laws
The War On Drugs
Nonabstinence Programs Seem To Work For
Many Alcoholics And Addicts
Sending Stories Home From Prison
Number Jumble Clouds Judgment of Drug War
Key Findings: Drug Abuse Warning Network
International News -
UK: Eight In 10 Britons Favour An Easing Of The Law
Australia: We're Losing Drugs War, Police Admit
Canada: OPED: A Cop's Plea To Decriminalize Drugs
France Will Allow Certain Medical Use Of Marijuana
* Hot Off The 'Net
Women's Christian Temperance Union At It Again
* Tip Of The Week
A Message From Mark Greer
***
FEATURE ARTICLE
The Drug Civil War
by Cliff and Margaret Thornton, Efficacy
efficacy@email.msn.com
Our government declared war on drugs over a quarter century ago, but the war
is really against Americans who choose to use certain drugs - people not
inanimate objects. Regardless of what they claim, we are engaged in a
strange sort of civil war - the drug civil war.
The government would say that the war is not against the people who use
drugs, but those who sell them, as if there is some wide gap between the
two. Whether users of dealers, both all are people. In addition, millions of
American lives have been destroyed by charges relating to simple use or
possession of drugs.
America has declared war on its own people three times. The first was when
the North invaded the South to prevent it from seceding over the issue of
slavery. (It can be debated that this conflict, as well, could have been
resolved without the terrible bloodshed of war.)
The second time was to attempt to prohibit the consumption of alcohol in
1921, which led to the most violent period of street crime we ever endured
until recently. The War on Drugs is the third war. It has been a politically
conceived, irrational reaction to what should be considered a public health
problem. The battlegrounds of the second and third wars were (are) the
streets of our cities.
If any President had ever said he wanted to declare a violent war on some of
the most sick and unfortunate Americans, he would not have had much support.
The declared war on drugs, however, has received support from all sides.
Inanimate substances were the perfect enemy for a society that seems to
require an enemy in order to feel secure. With the threat of communism
vanishing, the timing was perfect and the politics "correct."
When Martin Luther King said, "the greatest purveyor of violence in the
world today, my own government," he was referring to the war in Vietnam. Our
government has since turned its violence inward on its most vulnerable
people, minorities, the young, and the poor. Like all Civil Wars, this one
is fought between different groups of Americans, including government
entities.
Belief in neighborhood block watches seems to be growing, even after
volunteers have been killed on the streets. This thinking is the result of
the need for an illusion of control. This is psychological control -
reinforcing the "us" vs. "them" attitude. Many minority people make their
livings as drug warriors. Minorities involved in or using drugs are
considered enemies. War rhetoric is strong in minority communities. It is
divisive and dehumanizing. It helps people cope with the brutality of war.
Remember Gooks, Krauts, and Japs? Now they are roaches who run from the
light.
When government commandos use helicopters and assault weapons and crash
through doors of Americans, it is war. The people inside the doors did not
look like dangerous enemies at first. They were sick and pathetic - until
they began to arm themselves. Violence and drugs were never connected until
the government introduced the violence. No matter what anti-crime bills we
pass, the cycle of violence will continue until we substantially change the
role of our government with regard to drugs.
When we trace the per capita level of violence in American history, we see
that it jumped in 1921 and continued to escalate until 1933. It then
declined rather dramatically and was quite stable until the 1970's. During
the Depression, crime rates fell. Poverty, it seems, does not cause crime to
the extent that prohibitive law enforcement does.
"People... locked up for drug use are really political prisoners. For it is
only politics that makes their drug use a crime while the leaders of the
world are toasting with champagne," says Marloes Elings of Amnesty
International. When the government uses hypocrisy and violence to control
the behavior of citizens, the citizens become vicious. Government sets the
tone by declaring war - as a result the drug civil war rages.
Cliff and Margaret Thorton head Efficacy, a drug policy reform group based
in Connecticut.
***
>From a discussion on the Alliance of Reform Organizations:
Since we already know what the drug war is I looked up the other relevant
words:
civil: 1. of citizens 5. pertaining to the private rights of the individuals
and to legal proceedings connected with these.
civil war: 1. a war between factions within the same country
Quite revealing. We do indeed have us a drug civil war raging as we speak.
Nora Callahan in a post to Robert Field, January 1998.
***
WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW
Domestic News
***
Adolescents
Subj: US CA: Taking A Fresh Look At DARE
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n011.a09.html
Source: Los Angeles Times
Contact: letters@latimes.com
Pubdate: 04 Jan 1998
Questions about the cost and effectiveness of the main anti-drug program
taught in Orange County elementary and middle schools are prompting a
reexamination of the curriculum.
Proponents of DARE, or Drug Abuse Resistance Education, say the large number
of cities using the program across the country demonstrates support for
having uniformed police enter the classroom and discuss the dangers of
cocaine, alcohol and other drugs.
But, in recent years, the decision of cities such as Seattle, Spokane and
Oakland to drop DARE indicates that some officials are wondering if the
lectures to schoolchildren do deter them from drugs.
Several Orange County school districts are taking fresh looks at the
program, which is a good idea.
There should be no rush to end DARE, but looking for possible supplemental
programs to help it operate more effectively is warranted.
A DARE spokesman said the program, which began in Los Angeles more than a
decade ago, was never expected to solve America's drug problem. Seventeen
one-hour lessons in fifth grade are no match for the availability of drugs.
[continues: 30 lines]
***
Heroin
Subj: WIRE: Purer, Cheaper, Snortable Heroin Floods U.S.
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n002.a01.html
Source: Wire
Pubdate: Wed, December 31, 1997
BOSTON (Reuters) - Purer product, cheaper prices and savvy marketing have
given deadly Colombian heroin the lion's share of the U.S. market with New
England the fastest growing segment, Drug Enforcement Administration
officials said Wednesday.
George Festa, the DEA special agent in charge of New England, attributed the
resurgence of heroin to "a lack of memory on the part of youth, celebrity
heroin chic and the fact that you no longer have to inject it.
The purity is so incredible, you can snort it.
"The ability to snort heroin like cocaine means that it eliminates needles
and the risk of AIDS. So its use is spreading. These people don't realize
that heroin is not cocaine. Heroin is not a recreational drug," Festa said.
The Colombians use their well-established cocaine distribution networks to
offer free samples of the drug and make it available in smaller, cheaper
quantities.
The result is that after decades of a market once dominated by Southeast and
Southwest Asian drugs, Colombian heroin now accounts for more than 60
percent of the heroin smuggled into the country, the DEA said.
[continues: 44 lines]
***
Medical Marijuana
Subj: US CA: Alternative Pot Club Shuts Down
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n008.a05.html
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Pubdate: Sat, 3 Jan 1998
Feeling the heat from law enforcement, a leading alternative to Dennis
Peron's Cannabis Cultivator's Club in San Francisco has shut its doors.
Cannabis Helping Alleviate Medical Problems, or CHAMP, which provided
marijuana to 500 members from its headquarters at 194 Church Street, shut
down for good Wednesday.
"We didn't feel a lot of support from the city to support its clubs," said
Victor Hernandez, CHAMP executive director.
Hernandez said members of the staff at the club were upset about a two-week
period of surveillance by unidentified plainclothes police, who videotaped
outside the club and trailed staff members.
"The biggest culprit in this thing is Dan Lungren, who refuses to carry out
the will of the voters who passed Proposition 215," said Hernandez.
Members of the organization were permitted to smoke marijuana for their
medical conditions at the facility, but it did not foster a night club
atmosphere like Peron's club.
Hernandez said he sees nothing wrong with Peron's approach. "In Dennis'
situation, people seemed to be in much better spirits than they would be
somewhere else," he said.
Hernandez said the club offices will be open next week from Wednesday
through Thursday, noon to 7 p.m., for members to pick up their medical
records.
***
Subj: US CA: S.F. Club's Style Rankles Medical Pot Advocates
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n008.a04.html
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Pubdate: Sat, 3 Jan 1998
At the close of a long interview at his Cannabis Cultivators Club in San
Francisco, the affable Dennis Peron offered to roll a reporter a joint. The
offer was politely declined, and the proffered buds of a substance that
might have been marijuana were drawn back to the desk of club founder Peron,
who has recently declared himself a Republican candidate for governor of
California.
It was a typical, and not wholly unexpected gesture from the bad boy of pot
politics, but it underscored a tendency that is making Peron's colleagues in
the medical marijuana business very nervous - he bends the rules, and
sometimes, they break.
Peron's antics and incessant activism have fractured the coalition that in
November 1996 engineered a decisive victory for Proposition 215, which made
legal the personal use of marijuana in California for medical purposes with
a doctor's prescription.
[continues: 112 lines]
***
Subj: High Times: Freedom Fighter of the Month
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n002.a09.html
Source: High Times
Pubdate: Jan., 1998
Contact: letters@hightimes.com
Website: http://www.hightimes.com/
Photo: by Jean E. Taddie shows James Dawson followed by Jack Rickert, in
wheelchairs, captioned: "Wisconsin Journey for Justice marchers (Jackie
Rickert, second) start another day."
WISCONSIN MARCHERS WHEEL INTO MADISON
Madison, WI - Fifteen medical-marijuana patients spent a week last September
marching 210 miles from the small town of Mondovi to the state capitol here,
in a follow-up to last May's "Journey for Justice" in Ohio.
The march's arrival on Sept. 18 coincided with the introduction of a
medical-marijuana bill in the state legislature by Rep. Frank Boyle
(D-Superior). Boyle's bill would reschedule cannabis as a Schedule III drug
- equating it with Tylenol/codeine, rather than with heroin - and create a
medical-necessity defense for patients with "acute, chronic, incurable or
terminal" illnesses, if their doctors say conventional treatment "is either
not effective or is causing severe side-effects."
Rep. Boyle says he decided to sponsor the bill because medical-marijuana
patients "convinced me this was more than worth the political risk." He
argues there's "absolutely no rational" to deny people medication that
improves their lives, especially when drugs like steroids, barbiturates and
codeine are legal and frequently prescribed.
[continues: 46 lines]
***
Subj: US CA: The Year In Review Medical Marijuana
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n005.a02.html
Source: Orange County Register
Contact: letters@link.freedom.com
Pubdate: 28 Dec 97
Last year California voters, by passing Proposition 215, made it clear that
they want marijuana, when used for medical purposes under the supervision of
a doctor, to be removed from the criminal arena - although most voters are
not interested in across-the-board legalization. During 1997, implementation
of the mandate was shakey. The year began with federal officials hinting
they might pull the licenses of doctors who recommended marijuana for their
patients, but they backed off, reinforced by a federal court decision.
In California, several cannabis clubs continued to dispense marijuana, but
their ability to do so legally was called into question by a 1st District
Court of Appeals decision Dec. 12 that reinstated an injunction that shut
down the Cannabis Buyers' Club in San Francisco. Most observers, led by
Attorney General Dan Lungren, interpreted the decision as reaffirming state
law that prohibits anyone, even a non-profit organization, from selling
marijuana or possessing it for sale.
If that's the case, however, the result in practice will be that medical
patients with a doctor's recommendation will be able to possess marijuana
legally, but will only be able to obtain it on the black market, unless they
grow it themselves. Thus the black market will be reinforced. The voters,
perhaps relying on a clause in the initiative declaring one purpose to be
"to encourage the federal and state governments to implement a plan to
provide for the safe and affordable distribution of marijuana to all
patients in medical need," thought they were voting for a small scale legal
"white market" in medical marijuana.
A few localities have made efforts. The city of Arcata came up with a
detailed plan that could easily be adopted or adapted by other cities. San
Mateo flirted with the idea of distributing pot confiscated in drug busts,
and one Northern California city discussed the idea of using a vacant lot
behind the police station to do it. Santa Ana is having the issue thrust in
its face through prosecution of people involved with a cannabis buyers'
club.
A closer reading of the 1st District's decision shows the court virtually
invited local governments to come up with safe and legal distribution plans
and delineated several criteria that would have to be met. Next year, then,
the ball will be in the hands of local governments.
***
Sentencing
Subj: US: The Dangerous Expansion Of Forfeiture Laws
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n009.a01.html
Source: Wall Street Journal
Contact: editors@interactive.wsj.com
Pubdate: Monday, 29 December, 1997
Asset forfeiture laws have been spreading like a computer virus through the
nation's statute books. Until a decade or two ago, such laws targeted
primarily customs violators, but today more than 100 federal laws authorize
federal agents to confiscate private property allegedly involved in
violations of statutes on wildlife, gambling, narcotics, immigration, money
laundering, etc.
The vast expansion of government's forfeiture power epitomizes the demise of
property rights in modem America. Federal agents can confiscate private
property with no court order and no proof of legal violations.
Law-enforcement officials love forfeiture laws because a hefty percentage of
the takings often go directly to their coffers. The Justice Department alone
bequeathed $163 million in confiscated assets to state and local law
enforcement last year.
[continues: 117 lines]
***
The War On Drugs
Subj: US: OPED: Nonabstinence Programs Seem To Work
For Many Alcoholics And Addicts
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n007.a01.html
Source: San Francisco Examiner
Contact: letters@examiner.com
Pubdate: Fri, 02 Jan 1998
Your toddler throws tantrums - whose does not? - so you give him time-outs,
speak sternly, cancel a dessert. But not every time he acts up. Like most
parents, you choose your battles and skip some.
That's the thinking behind providing shelter for chronic alcoholics or drug
addicts without requiring that they abstain or enter treatment.
It's called "harm reduction." It makes sense to keep people alive until, one
day perhaps, they sober up. In the meanwhile, they are prevented from dying
on the streets.
Most of us have a hard time with the measures and implications of harm
reduction. Beyond our tendency to moralize and blame victims, no one wants
to encourage deadly habits.
Naturally, the approach has opponents in the substance abuse treatment
field, where a single-minded insistence on abstinence has saved millions of
lives. Tempers flare when reformers suggest a more flexible approach may
help others.
[continues: 156 lines]
***
Subj: US IL: Sending Stories Home From Prison
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n006.a01.html
Source: San Jose Mercury News
Contact: letters@sjmercury.com
Pubdate: Fri, 2 Jan 1998
LINCOLN, Ill. - Erika Gonzales is reading to her 2-year-old boy, Jimmy. It's
a simple book about the simple things children do: visit the corner, take
the bus to Grandma's, go to first grade.
But barely a sentence along, she tosses the book down.
Crying and swiping at tears with the palms of her hands, she whispers, "I
can't read it."
Then she gathers herself and starts reading again - into a cold, black tape
recorder. Jimmy is 125 miles away in Joliet. Gonzales is in prison.
"Mommy misses you and loves you," she tells the recorder. "She's going to
read you a book to let you know this is me and I love you."
She soon finishes the story, then gives the recording to the volunteers who
will make sure it is mailed.
[continues: 67 lines]
***
Subj: US: Number Jumble Clouds Judgment Of Drug War
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n003.a02.html
Source: Washington Post
Pubdate: Friday, 2 Jan 1998
Contact: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm
As the election season began gearing up in late 1991, President George Bush
got an unsettling bit of front-page news:
The number of habitual cocaine users in the United States had jumped an
astounding 29 percent in a single year, from 662,000 to 855,000, according
to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Bush had aggressively pushed
his administration's anti-drug effort. Now, he had little to show for it.
But the bad news, widely reported by newspapers across the country, was
wrong. NIDA had miscounted in its annual National Household Survey on Drug
Abuse, one of the nation's "leading drug indicators." A year later, without
fanfare, the number of habitual users was revised back down to 625,000.
"Problems with statistical imputation," the General Accounting Office
concluded in a 1993 report on the miscalculation that received little public
attention. "We certainly think that more adequate quality control procedures
could have caught findings of such significant policy relevance."
[continues: 406 lines]
***
Subj: US: Key Findings: Drug Abuse Warning Network
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n001.a04.html
Source: San Jose Mercury News
Contact: letters@sjmercury.com
Pubdate: Wed, 31 Dec 1997
Among key findings announced Tuesday by the federal government's Drug Abuse
Warning Network:
In 1996, there were 487,600 drug-related hospital emergency-department
episodes overall, down significantly from 1994 (518,500) and 1995 (517,800).
There was no statistically significant change in the total of
cocaine-related cases between 1995 (138,000) and 1996 (144,200).
Between 1995 and 1996, there were no changes in either cocaine or
heroin-related episodes by age, sex or race and ethnicity. However, between
1994 and 1996, there was a 21 percent increase in cocaine cases and a 20
percent increase in heroin cases among those 35 and older.
Although heroin-related episodes had increased steadily since the early
1980s, there was no change in the number of heroin-related episodes reported
from 1995 (72,200) to 1996 (70,463). However, between 1990 and 1996, there
was a 108 percent increase, from 33,900 to 70,500.
Marijuana/hashish episodes rose from 40,200 in 1994 to 50,000 in 1996, an
increase of 25 percent. Since 1990, such incidents have increased 219
percent.
Between 1995 and 1996, there were no changes in marijuana/hashish cases by
age, sex or race/ethnicity. However, between 1994 and 1996,
marijuana-related episodes have increased 33 percent among those 12 to 17;
27 percent among those 26 to 34; and 41 percent among those 35 and older.
Methamphetamine-related episodes dropped from 16,200 in 1995 to 10,800 in
1996.
Health officials attributed the increases among older Americans to their
higher vulnerability to a range of age-related health problems and to a
greater likelihood that they would seek professional care.
***
International News
Subj: UK: Cannabis Campaign: Eight In 10 Britons Favour An Easing Of The Law
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n010.a04.html
Pubdate: Sunday, 4 Jan 1998
Source: Independent on Sunday
Contact: cannabis@independent.co.uk
If Jack Straw decides to back the decriminalising of cannabis, he will find
that the overwhelming majority of Britons are behind him, to judge from a
Mori poll for the Independent on Sunday which revealed that 80 per cent want
the law relaxed.
Almost half of those polled (45 per cent) said they were in favour of the
law being changed for those who need cannabis for medicinal purposes, while
35 per cent wanted cannabis legalised for recreational use. Only one in six
(17 per cent) approved of the Government's policy of maintaining the status
quo.
Mr Straw would be particularly popular among under-45s, 45 per cent of whom
believe cannabis should be available for personal use. The belief among
ministers and their advisers that our campaign appeals chiefly to
middle-class intellectuals was not borne out by the poll. More than half of
working-classrespondents (55 per cent) thought a debate on a change in the
law was a good idea.
Further evidence that the Government is wrong to dismiss the cross-class
support for decriminilisation came from a phone-in poll published around the
same time of the IoS Mori poll. The Labour-supporting Mirror showed its
readers voting by nearly two to one in favour of decriminalisation.
Nearly six out of 10 (59 per cent) Conservative voters and seven out of 10
(68 per cent) of Labour were in favour of a debate; 64 per cent applauded
the unprecedented call by Lord Bingham, the Lord Chief Justice, last October
for an open debate on legalising cannabis.
[end]
***
Subj: Australia: We're Losing Drugs War, Police Admit
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n007.a08.html
Source: Financial Review, Australia
Pubdate: Sat, 3 Jan 1998
Contact: edletters@afr.fairfax.com.au
Website: http://www.afr.com.au/
Australia's police chiefs have endorsed a milestone report which concedes
that police are having almost no impact on the trade in illegal drugs and in
many cases are making the situation worse.
The 160-page report, compiled by the Australian Bureau of Criminal
Intelligence, looks at decriminalisation and more police tolerance of drug
use. It also warns that "policing cannabis may be pushing cannabis users
towards harder drugs."
The Australian Illicit Drug Report gives a comprehensive overview of the
drug scene, noting the cost of abuse is estimated at $1.6 billion.
Meanwhile, the price of most drugs has remained stable or fallen and
supplies have been steady or grown - strong indications of the
ineffectiveness of police activity.
The ABCI's board comprises all of Australia's police chiefs and is chaired
by the Victorian Police Commissioner, Mr Neil Comrie.
[continues: 52 lines]
***
Subj: Canada: OPED: A Cop's Plea To Decriminalize Drugs
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n001.a02.html
Source: Vancouver Sun
Contact: sunletters@pacpress.southam.ca
Pubdate: Dec. 31, 1997
A Vancouver police officer doesn't want to tell one more mother of a son's
overdose death. He writes that a public-health crisis, not a law-enforcement
challenge, is besieging us all.
WOULD WE RATHER COUNT BODIES?
Recently, I had to tell a woman her son had died from a drug overdose.
Leaving her world shattered by tragedy, I asked myself what our society is
doing to help other mothers whose children are at risk. Absolutely nothing,
I'm embarrassed to say. And with seven Vancouver residents dying in one
24-hour period from drug overdoses - nine in less than two weeks - that's
not good enough.
Rather than constructive action, however, lawmakers frantically rearrange
deck chairs on the modern social Titanic. My hope for 1998 is that Santa has
left a large measure of courage and wisdom in a number of stockings, so that
our children can mark this year as the one when we finally began treating
drug abuse as a health issue, rather than a criminal industry.
[continues: 104 lines]
***
Subj: France: France Will Allow Certain Medical Use Of Marijuana
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n009.a09.html
Source: San Francisco Examiner
Contact: letters@examiner.com
Pubdate: 21 Dec 1997
PARIS - The French government will approve the experimental medical use of
marijuana in hospitals next year as a first tentative step toward relaxing
the country's Draconian drug laws.
Discussions also are to be held early next year on the abolition of prison
sentences for possession of small quantities of marijuana and other 'soft'
drugs - perhaps eventually leading to decriminalization of cannabis use,
government officials say.
Although the government has ruled out any formal change in drug laws in the
near future, it is contemplating administrative changes to soften the harsh
French rules.
To help counter political opposition, the government has commissioned a
scientific study of the relative dangers of marijuana and other illegal
substances, including comparisons with legal drugs such as alcohol and
nicotine.
[continues: 46 lines]
***
HOT OFF THE 'NET
Women's Christian Temperance Union At It Again
The Women's Christian Temperance Union, the organization primarily behind
alchol prohibition continues today. One of its new issues is drug policy.
They have been reported lobbying against medical marijuana in various
states. You can visit their web site at: http://www.wctu.org
Having the WCTU against us is a great way to highlight the historical
relationship between today's drug prohibition and the failed alcohol
prohibition.
***
TIP OF THE WEEK
A Message From Mark Greer
A little thought: If a reformer spends an hour on a letter, emails it to ten
papers and it gets published in one with a modest circulation of 500,000
readers (many major publications have a circulation in the millions) the
reformer is earning $3,500 for the movement (that is what it would cost to
purchase the space of a typical letter in such a newspaper).
Who knows that letter may influence: a local politician, a senator, a local
businessman, the next George Soros not to mention the effect the other nine
letters have on educating the editors who read them (this may actually have
a higher value than the published letters over the long haul)
Write those letter's, folks. It's a huge return on your time investment.
It's not what others do, it's what YOU do.
***
DS Weekly is one of the many free educational services DrugSense offers our
members. Watch this feature to learn more about what DrugSense can do for
you.
Editor: Tom Hawkins, thawkins@mapinc.org
Senior Editor: Mark Greer, mgreer@mapinc.org
We wish to thank each and every one of our contributors.
NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
Mark Greer
Media Awareness Project (MAP) inc.
d/b/a DrugSense
MGreer@mapinc.org
http://www.DrugSense.org/
http://www.mapinc.org
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[End]
to 1998 Daily News index for January 1-7