Portland NORML News - Wednesday, January 14, 1998
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Search-And-Seizure Case Goes To Supreme Court ('Associated Press' Account
In 'Orange County Register' Notes The Case Originated In The Portland Suburb
Of Boring, Oregon, When A 45-Member SWAT Team Invaded A Man's Home
Without Knocking)

Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 13:41:13 -0800
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: jwjohnson@netmagic.net (Joel W. Johnson)
Subject: MN: US: Search-and-Seizure Case Goes to Supreme Court
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk:John W.Black
Source: Orange County Register
Contact: letters@link.freedom.com
Pubdate: Wednesday, January 14, 1998
Author: Scot Sonner-The Associated Press

SEARCH-AND-SEIZURE CASE GOES TO SUPREME COURT

U.S. prosecutors seek to overturn lower-court rulings that barred using as
evidence weapons seized in a search.

WASHINGTON - With memories still fresh of a deadly federal siege in Waco,
Texas, the Supreme Court considered Tuesday whether a SWAT team in Oregon
went too far when an officer with a search warrant broke into a residence
without knocking first.

Several justices said the search-and-seizure case from Boring, Ore., poses
questions about how much force police can use and how much danger must
exist before they can use no-knock entries.

Federal prosecutors want the Supreme Court to overturn lower-court rulings
that barred use of weapons seized in the 1994 Oregon search as evidence in
a gun possession case.

Police charged Herman Ramirez after searching his home for another man, a
prison escapee with a history of violence who was not found there.

With 45 law officers surrounding the Oregon residence at dawn, an officer
broke a window and waved a gun in a garage where an informant had told
police guns were stored.

Ramirez said he and his wife thought they were being burglarized. He ran
to a closet, got a gun and fired it toward the garage. Ramirez said he
then realized the window was broken by police and surrendered.

A federal judge ruled that the search violated the Constitution's Fourth
Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and said the weapons
could not be used as evidence.

The judge said that although the officers' knowledge of the escaped
inmate's violent past justified entering Ramirez's home without knocking,
they had to do so without damaging his property.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Follow-Up - Time Served ('Willamette Week' Notes Portland Attorney
Found Guilty Of Giving $40 To Heroin Addict To Buy Another Fix,
Which He Died From, Gets His Life Restored - Oregon Supreme Court
Is Satisfied One Of Its Own Deserves No More Than 18 Months Probation,
One-Year Suspension From Practicing Law - Time Served)

Willamette Week
Portland, Oregon
January 14, 1998
http://www.wweek.com/
letters to editor:
mzusman@wweek.com

Newsbuzz

Follow-up: Time Served

Nearly four years ago, Portland lawyer
David K. Allen gave a junkie named Todd
Lewis $40 to buy some heroin. Lewis died
of an overdose. A short time later, Allen
pleaded guilty to attempted possession of a
controlled substance ("The Road to Ruin,"
WW, March 27, 1996).

Serving 18 months probation wasn't
exactly a good career move for a criminal
defense lawyer, but at the time Allen was
more worried about the big picture: what
would happen to his license to practice
law. In late November, after deliberating
for more than a year, the state Supreme
Court finally handed down its decision on
Allen's fate in the legal community.

In a long opinion, the six justices agreed that Allen should be
suspended from the practice of law for one year. The unusual
part of the decision was the court's ruling that the time Allen
had already spent voluntarily not practicing law--more than a
year--could count toward his punishment. While the concept of
"credit for time served" isn't unusual in criminal law, it is a new
idea in lawyer discipline. In fact, the Allen opinion essentially
creates new law.

"We rely particularly on the facts that the accused's misconduct
is unlikely to recur, he has a good character and reputation as a
lawyer, he has no prior disciplinary record and he has shown
genuine remorse," the opinion reads.

The Oregon State Bar, however, thinks Allen should not be
allowed to seek the credit. It contends that the new law is
misguided and has filed legal arguments asking the court to
reconsider. -MO [Maureen O'Hagan]
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Chief Deputy Prosecutor Charged With Driving Drunk (Jim Townsend,
Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor In Snohomish County, Washington,
Will Be Arraigned Tuesday In Seattle)

From: "W.H.E.N." (when@olywa.net)
To: "-Hemp Talk" (hemp-talk@hemp.net)
Subject: HT: ART: WA prosecutor DUI
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 18:15:39 -0800
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net

The Seattle Times
Wednesday, January 14, 1998

Chief deputy prosecutor charged with driving drunk

by Nancy Montgomery
Seattle Times Snohomish County bureau

Jim Townsend, Snohomish County's chief criminal deputy prosecutor, was
charged yesterday with drunken driving, and according to his boss will
likely seek alcohol counseling and deferred prosecution.

"I understand he is going to step up to it and go through the process and
complete a program," said Jim Krider, Snohomish County Prosecutor.

Townsend, 44, a Snohomish County prosecutor since 1978, was charged with
DUI by King County prosecutors, who were asked to review the case to avoid
a conflict of interest. His arraignment is set for Tuesday before Seattle
District Court Judge Darcy Goodman.

The decision to charge Townsend came a month after he was arrested on a
highway south of Everett; he'd been stopped by the State Patrol for driving
erratically.

Townsend's blood-alcohol level was not included in the complaint filed
against him.

DUI is a gross misdemeanor that carries a penalty of up to a year in jail -
or only one day. A first offense also results in a 30-day license
suspension.

Townsend could not be reached for comment.

But Krider said it was his understanding that Townsend would seek alcohol
treatment and a deferred prosecution. In a deferred prosecution, charges
are dropped after two years, during which a defendant must complete a
counseling program and commit no new crimes.

Townsend's status as a criminal defendant will have no bearing on his
position as the county's chief criminal deputy prosecutor, Krider said.

"I don't see that it will affect his job at all," Krider said. "He's
dedicated his life to service to the public. He's an outstanding prosecutor
who made a mistake. . . . It's more than a mistake. He shouldn't have
been doing it but he is a human being. And I think he will continue to
serve the county with the same high quality that he has in the past. He's
an excellent prosecutor."

Krider said support for Townsend was widespread in the prosecutor's office
and, based on favorable phone calls, the community. "He's one of the most
knowledgeable chief criminal deputies in the state. I rely on him a great
deal," Krider said.

Townsend's arrest cost him the possibility of a new job he wanted, that of
judge. He was considered a top contender to be appointed Snohomish County
Superior Court judge, to replace the retiring Judge Paul Hansen.

But Townsend withdrew his name following his arrest. Gov. Gary Locke
appointed defense attorney George Bowden to the position instead.

Nancy Montgomery's phone message number is 425-745-7803. Her e-mail address
is: nmon-new@seatimes.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------

DEA - Sufficient Grounds Exist To Remove Marijuana From Schedules I And II
(Press Release Update On Yesterday's News,
With More Commentary By Jon Gettman)

Date: Tue, 13 Jan 1998 18:21:29 EST
Errors-To: manager@drcnet.org
Reply-To: Gettman_J@mediasoft.net
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: Jon Gettman 
To: Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: DEA: Sufficient Grounds Exist to Remove Marijuana from Schedules I
and II

Press Release from Riptide Communications.
Contact David Lerner / Kathy Engel Tel. 212 260-5000

Embargoed for Release Until January 14th, 1998

Report: Drug Enforcement Agency Says Grounds Exist for Removal of Marijuana
From List of hard Drugs

DEA Asked Department of Health and Human Services to Reevaluate Latest
Scientific/Medical Evidence In Response to Activist's Petition

Advocates See Process As Likely To Lead To End of Marijuana Prohibition

January 14th, 1998. - In a remarkable reversal of their prior position on
December 19th, 1997 officials with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
quietly requested the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to
conduct a legally binding "scientific and medical evaluation of the
available data" to determine whether marijuana and its active ingredients
should be removed from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
In initiating this process the DEA has for the first time made a
determination that sufficient grounds exist to reclassify marijuana.
Schedule I of the CSA is limited to hard drugs with addictive propensities
and with no legitimate medical usage

The DEA action came in response to an Administrative Petition filed on July
10, 1995, by petitioners Jon Gettman, a former president of the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), and Trans High
Corporation, publisher of High Times Magazine The petitioners argued that
there is abundant evidence that marijuana and other cannabinoids lack the
"high potential for abuse" required for Schedule I and II drugs under the
CSA. According to Gettman removal of marijuana from Schedule I would
require the federal government to sanction legal distribution of marijuana
for medical uses, research and prescriptions and adopt a regulatory rather
than a prohibitory model for marijuana.

As recently as March, 1995 DEA refused to consider reevaluating the status
of marijuana claiming that they were "unaware of any new scientific studies"
that might change their mind. Gettman and High times then provided the
agency with voluminous and specific documentation which led the DEA to
reverse itself. Never before has the DEA voluntarily referred a marijuana
scheduling petition to HHS for binding review.

This new scrutiny of marijuana comes at a time when the federal government
is using its authority to override state laws and brings suits to close
cannabis buyer's club's in San Francisco. Says Gettman: "In light of the
DEA's realization that sufficient grounds may exist to reclassify marijuana
the government should halt its efforts to violate the will of the people of
California."

***

Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 04:10:48 EST
From: David.Hadorn@vuw.ac.nz (David Hadorn)
To: Multiple recipients of list (drctalk@drcnet.org)
Subject: DEA documentation of petition significance

WOW! Congratulations, Jon! What a tremendously encouraging development - I
hope you have celebrated this critical milestone in some appropriate
fashion. You deserve it. You also showed class by crediting the
researchers in your press statement.

I certainly hope to read this story in tomorrow's papers, hopefully on page
1 where it belongs, as well as on the TV and radio news, etc. Anything we
can do to encourage major media coverage -- perhaps MAP should get involved?

Some questions:

1. In the posted material we sometimes read "Schedule 1" and sometimes
"Schedules 1 and 2". Can DHHS decide to put it in schedule 2?

2. Did Thomas Constantine sign the letter, and is he therefore basically
acknowledging, on behalf of the agency and himself, that marijuana has
minimal addictive potential and substantial medical use? If he didn't sign
the letter, why not and who did? When are we going to get to see a copy of
this letter and any attachments?

3. How can the DEA say what they're now saying while maintaining a website
filled with the usual prohibitionist lies? (This is perhaps a rhetorical
question.)

4. How long is the DHHS process likely to take? In your estimation, is it
likely to be hopelessly politicized? Can you appeal an unfavorable opinion?

5. Is either the DEA or DHHS going to announce this development publicly, do
you know?

Thanks -- and again, congratulations!

David

***

Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 14:57:29 EST
Reply-To: Gettman_J@mediasoft.net
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: Jon Gettman (Gettman_J@mediasoft.net)
To: Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: RE: DEA documentation of petition significance

David Hadorn posed some interesting questions.

Some questions:

1. In the posted material we sometimes read "Schedule 1" and sometimes
"Schedules 1 and 2". Can DHHS decide to put it in schedule 2?

[Jon Gettman]

The petition argues that these substances do not have the abuse potential
that warrants schedule I or schedule II controls. If marijuana does not have
the abuse potential for schedule I prohibition, that it does not have the
abuse potential for schedule II status either. DHHS could rule that
marijuana had sufficient abuse potential for schedule I or II, and recommend
schedule II status based on accepted medical use. The point of the petition,
though, is an evaluation of the abuse potential first, and then an
evaluation of where to schedule the drugs based on that evaluation.

2. Did Thomas Constantine sign the letter, and is he therefore basically
acknowledging, on behalf of the agency and himself, that marijuana has
minimal addictive potential and substantial medical use? If he didn't sign
the letter, why not and who did? When are we going to get to see a copy of
this letter and any attachments?

[Jon Gettman]

Here is a reposting of links to some of the letters. The 12/19/97 letter
should be on-line over the weekend. High Times is working on it now as we
speak. The links below are courtesy of NORML - which has had these documents
posted for some time. The 12/19/97 letter merely reports the referral for a
binding scientific and medical examination. The meaning of this referral is
provided by the letters cited immediately below. The 12/19/97 was not signed
by Constantine, however I do have two letters over his signature. The
12/19/97 letter is signed by Mary Kay Whalen, a DEA attorney in the office
of chief counsel.

Here is important source material that defines the significance of the
petition referral in DEA's own words. The three letters from DEA are
valuable documentation that the HHS referral of the petition means that
"sufficient grounds" exist for the removal of marijuana from schedules I and II.

March 1, 1995
Thomas Constantine (DEA) to Rep. Frank Wolf
http://www.norml.org/research/coors/fwtc395.shtml

In this March 1, 1995 letter DEA argues that "accepted medical use" is the
only issue that matters under the CSA, and that a reconsideration of
marijuana's abuse potential may be interesting but of no legal consequence.

March 14, 1995
Jon Gettman to Sen. John Warner
http://www.norml.org/research/coors/jwjg0314.shtml

In this March 14, 1995 letter I ask my U.S. Senator to remind DEA that the
argument they advanced in their letter of March 1, 1995 was explicitly
rejected by the US Court of Appeals in 1977.

April 21, 1995
Thomas Constantine (DEA) to Sen. John Warner
http://www.norml.org/research/coors/jwtc495.shtml

In this April 21, 1995 letter DEA changes their argument. They monitor
scientific research, and know of no findings that would provide grounds for
a review of marijuana's schedule I status. However I was invited to submit
such information if I could provide documentation.

July 27, 1995

Stephen Greene (DEA) to Jon Gettman
http://www.norml.org/research/coors/jgsg795.shtml

In this July 27, 1995 letter DEA acknowledges receipt of the petition and
explains that a referral to HHS means that "sufficient grounds" exist for
removal. If sufficient grounds do not exist, they will deny the petition.

The December 19, 1997 letter notifying my attorneys of the refer all to HHS
is not yet available on-line. However the significance of the referral is
established in the letters above from DEA.

Accepted medical use is not the only issue - established by the change in
Constantine's reply from 3/1/95 to 4/21/95.

DEA was not aware of all the relevant scientific research in early 1995 -
established by the referral to HHS 12/19/97 based on 1988 - 1994 research,
reconciled with DEA statements in the 4/21/95 letter.

"Sufficient grounds" exist for the removal of all cannabinoids from
schedules I and II - defined by the DEA's letter of 6/27/95 and established
by their referral of the petition to HHS after a 29 month review.

3. How can the DEA say what they're now saying while maintaining a Web site
filled with the usual prohibitionist lies? (This is perhaps a rhetorical
question.)

[Jon Gettman]

This is an important development, but let's not over-interpret it. Before
the petition was approved, DEA argued that "accepted medical use" was the
only argument that could affect marijuana's schedule I status. Now DEA has
acknowledged that a new argument, insufficient abuse potential, provides
"sufficient grounds" to review and perhaps alter that status, and also
preclude schedule II status. If you read the letters closesly, you'll see
that DEA once said there wasn't any other relevant science. Now they've
acknowledged there is more to the story. So as far as any anti-marijuana
arguments from DEA - well, there is more to the story, and we should follow
DEA's lead and re-evaluate common assumptions about marijuana.

4. How long is the DHHS process likely to take? In your estimation, is it
likely to be hopelessly politicized? Can you appeal an unfavorable opinion?

[Jon Gettman]

High Times and I can appeal the HHS decision. DEA can not. It will take
awhile, I expect over a year. I trust in the integrity of the scientific
process and the scientific community. It will be very difficult to
politicize this process. One of my central objectives was to give this to
scientists to evaluate according to non-political, objective scientific
standards.

5. Is either the DEA or DHHS going to announce this development publicly, do
you know?

[Jon Gettman]

They are trying to spin this as a routine bureaucratic development of little
of no consequence. They are at this point only responding to press
inquiries, which began yesterday. CNN ran this last night for quite awhile
on Headline News. It won't go away.

Thanks -- and again, congratulations!

[Jon Gettman]

Thank you. Read the DEA letters. Put them to work.

Jon Gettman

***

Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998 16:08:40 EST
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: Jon Gettman (Gettman_J@mediasoft.net)
To: Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: Hedonism and marijuana laws

At 01:46 PM 2/21/98 EST, Robert.Goodman wrote:

>Jon Gettman wrote, in part, again:
>
>> Intent is a major aspect of a criminal offense. Marijuana laws
>> are based on the premise that all intent to use marijuana is
>> hedonistic....
>
>And I'll reply, again, that there is no such basis for the
>marijuana laws. There's never been a legislative statement that
>marijuana use is at all pleasurable.

Gosh, there are several hairs to split here but I really don't care to get
into those issues at this time. However Robert's critical faculties
warrant, at least, a modest explanation of my comment. The comment above
was offered as an opinion, but indeed it was an informed opinion.

First of all, the legal regulation of marijuana today is not based on
legislative action, but on administrative law proceedings. Existing
schedule I statius of marijuana is based on DEA rule-making. The
justification for rejecting the recommendations of Judge Francis Young was
that anecdotal evidence of therapeutic use had no scientific validity, in
part because patients were just trying to justify their dependence on
marijuana.

"Why do scientists consider stories from patients and their doctors to be
unreliable? First, sick people are not objective scientific observers,
especially when it comes to their own health. We have all heard of the
placebo effect. . . Second, most of the stories come from people who took
marijuana at the same time they took prescription drugs for their symptoms
. . Third, any mind-altering drug that produces euphoria can make a sick
person think he feels better. . . Fourth, long-time abusers of marijuana
are not immune to illness. Many eventually get cancer, glaucoma, MS and
other diseases. People who become dependent on mind-altering drugs tend to
rationalize their behavior. They invent excuses, which they can come to
believe, to justify their drug dependence." 57 Fed. Reg. 10,499 (1992)

The relevant administrative proceedings are, indeed, based on legislative
action. When turning to the legislative history of the CSA, while it is
clear that abuse potential is the basis for control, thrill-seeking is
noted to be a primary basis for the perceived drug abuse problem. For
example:

"Some persons . . .[are] extremely prone to the use of drugs, and are
likely to use a wide variety of them, in search of a psychic state
different from their normal state because of their inherent dissatisfaction
with themselves." U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News 1970, p. 4573. (1970)

"Some use drugs to seek relief from the tedium of their jobs and their
lives. Some . . .to escape the fear of failure, or the knowledge that they
have not fulfilled their potential. Some become hooked accidentally . . .
after undergoing medical treatment . . .to relieve pain. A larger number
take to certain drugs to offset fatigue . . . A very much larger group try
psychotoxic drugs for kicks, out of curiosity or bravado. They are usually
juveniles who frequently find themselves unable to shake off the drug
habit." U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News 1970, p. 4573. (1970)

Seeking a different psychic state, relief from tedium, and/or the pursuit
of "kicks" are all ways of describing something also referred to as
'getting high'; I include all of them as attempts to characterize using
marijuana as a pleasure seeking exercise. I remember a time when tobacco
was not recognized as containing an addictive drug. I was always amazed
when legal tobacco and illegal marijuana were justified because people use
marijuana to get high but that the use of tobacco is merely for relaxation.
One was hedonistic, the other . . . relaxing.

For a lot of people any non-medical use of drugs is improper and
constitutes drug abuse. Marijuana is illegal because, supposedly, all use
is non-medical. I maintain that most members of both the public and the
criminal justice system incorrectly believe that a) all people use
marijuana for pleasure, b) marijuana is illegal because the harmful
effects of marijuana exact too great a price for those pleasurable effects,
and c) that stories of marijuana's medical benefits are just excuses to
rationalize pleasure-seeking marijuana use.

And then we have the extensive record of Gabriel Nahas, M.D., Ph.D. who is
quite influential among opponents of marijuana law reform. In a 1985 paper
published by PRIDE "A Drug Policy for Our Times - 1985) Nahas and
co-authors Thomas Gleaton, Otto Moulton, Keith Schuchard, and Henry Clay
Frick II present the popular justification for drug prohibition under a
section entitled "The Lessons of Science."

"What does science tell us about dependence producing drugs? . . . First,
these drugs produce a pleasurable feeling, a "reward" because of their
action on the pleasure center of the brain. As a result, a person who has
consumed one of these dependence producing drugs will have a tendency to
take it again in order to obtain the initial pleasurable sensation. . .
while consumption of addictive drugs provide a pleasurable feeling,
abstinence from these drugs results in unpleasant and painful reactions --
the withdrawal symptoms. Therefore a drug dependent person is caught
between the urge to take a drug for pleasure and the desire to avoid the
unpleasantness and difficulties that occur when no longer under its
influence. . .the combined factors of pleasure and reward . . . lead to . .
compulsive, frequent, daily self-administration."

The foundation of my petition is that this last comment can not be
supported in the case of marijuana, which lacks sufficient abuse potential
for schedule I or schedule II status.

Finally, the legislative basis for the Controlled Substances Act cedes
great influence over the definition of abuse potential to contemporary
scientific standards. Some of the best articles reporting on modern
research on drug dependency are reviewed in an article by George Koob in
Neuron that explicitly invokes the hedonism focus. Koob, G. "Drug
Addiction: The Yin and Yang of Hedonic Homeostasis" Neuron. Vol 16.
893-896. May, 1996.

The legal issue is not whether or not people use marijuana for pleasure,
although many people support current laws because they want to oppose
pleasure-seeking drug use. The legal issue really is whether or not there
is sufficient harm from marijuana use to justify its complete prohibition.

One can argue that pleasurable effects are no basis for marijuana
prohibition under federal law, and I would agree. However the law does
assume that pleasure-seeking is the basis for non-medical drug use, and as
such the law assumes that hedonism is part of the intent, the guilty mind,
that is a critical component of a criminal act. My original argument was
and remains that therapeutic use of marijuana demonstrates intentions
contrary to those recognized by the public as deserving of criminal
sanctions. This discussion of hedonism is interesting in its own right,
but I don't think it affects the original argument one way of the other.

In a very formalistic sense, the drug laws do not criminalize drug-taking,
only possession, sale, and manufacture. The Supreme Court ruled in 1962
(Robinson v. California) that it was cruel and inhuman to make addiction or
any other disease subject to criminal sanctions. However, no matter what
the basis for the construction of the drug laws, the laws are a tool of
social policy that seeks to use criminal sanctions to constrain hedonistic
activity; the threat to the public health is used to justify this use of
criminal sanctions.

>There's never been a legislative statement that
>marijuana use is at all pleasurable.

There is room for a lot of opinions on this matter. Actually, I think I
may have totally misconstrued Robert's comment. Perhaps he was referring
to statements by legislators as to whether or not their individual
marijuana use was pleasurable. Didn't Newt Gingrich say he tried it at a
party in New Orleans, but didn't particularly enjoy it and never tried it
again? Come to think of it, I can't recall any statements by legislators
that marijuana use is pleasurable. Does anyone know of any?

Jon Gettman
-------------------------------------------------------------------

DEA Seeks Medicinal Review For Marijuana (CNN Report)

Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 19:39:43 EST
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: "Ken Russell" (russell.ken.kw@bhp.com.au)
Subject: The CNN report on DEA petition

DEA seeks medicinal review for marijuana

January 14, 1998
>From CNN Justice Department correspondent Pierre Thomas

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Drug Enforcement Administration has requested
the Department of Health and Human Services to review whether marijuana
is a hard drug with addictive properties and no legitimate medical use.

But there is strong disagreement over whether the request suggests any
shift in the DEA's position on the classification of marijuana as a
prohibited "schedule 1 substance."

The DEA action follows an administrative petition filed by Jon Gettman,
former president of the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws, and by Trans High Corp., publisher of High Times
Magazine.

DEA officials privately maintain they have not changed their position
but that administrative procedures and the nature of the petition
require them to seek scientific analysis.

However, Gettman's supporters argue DEA could have rejected the
petition outright, and that the agency does not ask for HHS studies
"lightly."

Gettman supporters refer to a July 1995, DEA memo to Gettman saying a
referral to HHS would come only if there were "sufficient grounds" to
justify a change in current federal policy on marijuana.

Those supporters also note DEA officials had earlier maintained they
knew of no scientific studies which would change the federal
classification of marijuana.

The request for HHS evaluation came after Gettman and High Times
officials provided DEA with a number of specific studies on the effects
of marijuana.

A DEA official said that was correct -- but that these studies "are of
unknown relevance. We are not scientists over here."

The agency will leave it to HHS to determine the validity of the
studies, as federal guidelines require.

"We view this as a routine matter," the DEA official said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Medical Marijuana Patients' And Caregivers' Fund Will Defend 11362.5
(An Immediate, Urgent Goal Of The Fund Is To Support Litigation In Opposition
To The Federal Lawsuit Against Six Northern California Medical Marijuana
Dispensaries)

Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 23:18:40 EST
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: canorml@igc.apc.org (Dale Gieringer) (by way of David Borden )
To: Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: Prop 215 Defense Fund

Medical Marijuana Patients' and Caregivers' Fund Established To Defend
Prop. 215

Contact: Dale Gieringer (415) 563-5858.

Californians have established an emergency legal defense fund to
help support medical marijuana patients, caregivers, and dispensaries
against the government's efforts to suppress medical marijuana.

An immediate, urgent goal of the fund is to support litigation in
opposition to the federal government lawsuit to close down six prominent
Northern California medical marijuana dispensaries.

The fund also hopes to provide legal defense, assistance, and
education in other cases involving medical marijuana patients and
caregivers, and to support efforts to achieve Prop. 215's goal of "safe and
affordable distribution of marijuana to all patients in medical need."

California NORML coordinator Dale Gieringer, one of the original
organizers of Prop. 215, is calling on supporters across the nation to
contribute to the Medical Marijuana Patients' and Caregivers' Fund, which
is being administered independently of NORML by a board of representatives
from several statewide organizations, including California NORML

"The federal lawsuit presents the greatest peril to medical
marijuana patients since before Prop. 215 was passed. The six clubs serve
over 10,000 patients, nearly 80% of the total in California; to close them
down now would be an intolerable public health and safety disaster."

"Those of us who supported Prop. 215 have the duty to help preserve
the victory. The federal lawsuit is an unprecedented threat to medical
marijuana patients everywhere. To fight it will be costly. Contributions
are urgently needed."

Donations may be sent to:

NORML Foundation: Medical Marijuana Patients' and Caregivers' Fund
1001 Connecticut Ave NW #710
Washington DC 20036

(Checks should be made out to NORML Foundation: MMPCF)

***

Dale Gieringer (415) 563-5858 // canorml@igc.apc.org
2215-R Market St. #278, San Francisco CA 94114
-------------------------------------------------------------------

How To Help The Cannabis Buyers Clubs (News Release
From American Medical Marijuana Organization Provides E-mail Addresses
And Other Contact Information For Online Activists)

Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 14:06:43 -0700
From: AMMO@powernet.net
Subject: HOW TO HELP THE CANNABIS BUYER'S CLUBS


AMERICAN MEDICAL MARIJUANA ORGANIZATION (AMMO)
Defending The Rights Of Medical Marijuana Patients

Wed. Jan 14, 1998

HOW TO HELP THE CANNABIS BUYER'S CLUBS

On January 9, 1998, six federal civil lawsuits were filed against cannabis
buyers' clubs in the Northern District of California.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Donations to fight these federal lawsuits are urgently needed. Make checks
payable to the name of the individual buyers' clubs:

1) Cannabis Cultivators Cooperative
Dennis Peron (named defendant)
1444 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: (415) 621-3986
Fax: (415) 621-0604
E-mail: cbc@marijuana.org
Web: http://www.marijuana.org

2) Flower Therapy
John Hudson, Mary Palmer, Barbara Sweeney, Gerard M. Buhrz (named
defendants)
3180 17th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
Phone: (415) 255-6305
E-mail: flowert@pacbell.com

3) Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative
Jeff Jones (named defendant)
P.O. Box 70401
Oakland, CA 94612-0401
Phone: (510) 832-5346
Fax: (510) 986-0534
E-mail: ocbc@rxcbc.org
Web: http://www.rxcbc.org

4) Santa Cruz Cannabis Buyers' Club
201 Maple Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Phone: (408) 429-8819

5) Ukiah Cannabis Buyer's Club
Cherrie Lovett, Marvin & Mildred Lehrman (named defendants)
40A Pallini Lane
Ukiah, CA 95482
Phone: (707) 462-0691
Fax: (707) 468-4336
E-mail: dirtroad@lightspeed.net

6) Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana
Lynette Shaw (named defendant)
School Street Plaza
Building 6 - Suite 210
Fairfax, CA 94930
Phone: (415) 256-9328

WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?

1) Write LETTERS TO THE EDITOR of these California newspapers. For help on
letter-writing, see the Media Awareness Project at http://www.mapinc.org.

California Newspapers (compiled by Jim Rosenfield: jnr@insightweb.com)
cctletrs@netcom.com (Contra Costa County Times Calif.)
chronletters@sfgate.com (San Francisco Chronicle)
feedback@smctimes.com (San Mateo Times)
letters@blk.com (BLK, LTE's)
letters@examiner.com (San Francisco Examiner)
letters@latimes.com (Los Angeles Times)
letters@news.latimes.com
letters@link.freedom.com (The Orange County Register)
letters@modbee.com (Modesto Bee)
letters@sfbayguardian.com (San Francisco Bay Guardian)
letters@sjmercury.com (San Jose Mercury News)
letters@TheReporter.com (Vacaville Reporter)
letters@uniontrib.com (San Diego Union Tribune)
mail@newtimes-slo.com
opinion@bakersfield.com
opinion@sacbee.com
pdletters@aol.com (Santa Rosa Press Democrat)
triblet@angnewspapers.com
tribletter@aol.com
viewpoint@asucla.ucla.edu (Daily Bruin UCLA Viewpoint)
voice@villagevoice.com

2) SEND POSTCARDS to and CALL federal and state elected officials.
SEND E-MAIL to the few who have e-mail.

Save the list and periodically remind these officials that
you won't remain silent in this civil war on your family and friends.

STATE GOVERNMENT

Governor Pete Wilson
State Capitol, 1st Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 445-2841
Fax: (916) 445-4633
E-mail: petewilson@ca.gov

Lieutenant Governor Gray Davis
State Capitol, Room 1114 Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 445-8994
Fax: (916) 323-4998
E-mail: gray.davis@ltg.ca.gov

Attorney General Daniel E. Lungren
1300 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 445-9555
Fax: (916) 324-5205

Attorney General's Office Public Inquiry Unit
Web: http://caag.state.ca.us/piu/mailform.htm
E-mail: piu@hdcdojnet.state.ca.us

CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLY AND SENATE:
E-mail list:
http://www.sonnet.com/CriminalJusticeReform/legislators.html

Other lists:
http://www.state.ca.us/s/govt/legisca.html
http://clerkweb.house.gov/mbrcmtee/members/mbrsstate/uolmfram.htm

U.S. CONGRESS
U.S. Senators of California:

Boxer, Barbara (D) senator@boxer.senate.gov

Feinstein, Dianne (D) senator@feinstein.senate.gov

For U.S. Senators in other states, see:
http://www.senate.gov/senator/membmail.html
http://www.earthlaw.org/Activist/senatadd.htm

U.S. Representatives:
http://w
ww.visi.com/juan/congress/

E-MAIL THE WHITE HOUSE:
president@whitehouse.gov
vice.president@whitehouse.gov
first.lady@whitehouse.gov

WHITEHOUSE COMMENT LINE:
(202) 456-1111

ATTORNEY GENERAL COMMENT LINE:
(202) 514-2000

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Northern District of California
Michael Yamaguchi, U.S. Attorney
11th Floor - Federal Building
450 Golden Gate Avenue - Box 36055
San Francisco, CA 94102

Central District of California
Criminal Division
312 North Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
E-mail: tmrozek@usdoj.gov

Executive Office for United States Attorneys
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Room 1619
Washington, D.C. 20530-0001
Phone: (202) 514-1020
Fax: (202) 514-0323

U.S. Attorneys Home Page
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/eousa/usaos.html


DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION

San Francisco Division
450 Golden Gate Avenue
P.O. Box 36035
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 436-7900
Subdivisions: (Fresno, Monterey, Sacramento, San Francisco Airport TF,
San Jose)

Los Angeles Division
255 East Temple Street - 20th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 894-2650
Subdivisions: (Riverside, CA; Santa Ana, CA; Ventura, CA; Honolulu, HI;
Guam; Las Vegas, NV; Reno, NV; N. Lake Tahoe TF; S. Lake Tahoe TF)

***

Re-distributed as a public service by the:

Colorado Hemp Initiative Project
P.O. Box 729, Nederland, CO 80466
Hotline: (303) 784-5632
E-mail: (cohip@levellers.org)
Web: http://www.welcomehome.org/cohip.html

"Fighting over 60 years of lies and dis-information
with 10,000 years of history and fact."

AMERICAN MEDICAL MARIJUANA ORGANIZATION (AMMO)
Defending The Rights Of Medical Marijuana Patients

Board of Directors:

--Steve Kubby (kubby@alpworld.com)
--Ed Rosenthal (asked@well.com)
--Laura Kriho (cohip@levellers.org)

For subscription changes, please mail to (kubby@alpworld.com) with the
word "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" in the subject line.

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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Garden Grove Targets Cannabis Clubs ('Orange County Register' Reports City
Revokes Business License Issued To CBC Only Three Months Ago)

Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 13:41:02 -0800
Subject: MN: US CA: Garden Grove Targets Cannabis Clubs
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk:John W.Black
Source: Orange County Register
Contact: letters@link.freedom.com
Pubdate: Wednesday, January 14, 1998
Author: Tiffany Montgomery & Muhammed El-Hasan-The Orange County Register

GARDEN GROVE TARGETS CANNABIS CLUBS

The council amends the code in order to yank a business license for
'illegal activity.'

Garden Grove - The city Tuesday was poised to revoke a business license it
issued nearly three months ago to a cannabis club.

City officials voted unanimously to amend a provision in the city code,
allowing the city to yank the license of any business engaging in "illegal
activity."

"I'm the mayor of Garden Grove. I have no intention of seeing headlines
saying that it's OK to open up a marijuana farm in Garden Grove," Bruce
Broadwater said. "It's not going to happen."

The Orange County Patient, Doctors and Nurses Support Group Co-op rents a
post office box in the city, but does not have a permanent meeting place.

The group's founder, Marvin Chavez of Santa Ana, vowed after the vote to
"keep fighting."

Chavez said the organization's purpose is to help those who need marijuana
for medicinal purposes.

"It's for patients to all come together and support each other, come out of
the closet and educate each other about our conditions, and take charge of
our care," he said.

Chavez said his group does not sell marijuana but encourages members to
grow it and provides it to those who don't for a donation.

Proposition 215, which was passed by California voters in 1996, allows
patients suffering from a variety of illness to possess and grow marijuana
for medical use with a doctor's recommendation.

The amended city law also allows the city to rescind a license if an
application is filed with misleading or false information.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Re - Questions (E-Mail Cites Research Cannabis Use Decreases Alcohol Use)

Resent-Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 09:58:56 -0800
From: rgivens@sirius.com
Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 09:57:45 -0800
To: rgivens@sirius.com
Subject: Re: Questions

David Yates wrote:

>3. Is there any evidence to suggest that alcohol use decreases if cannabis
>use increases?

Studies cannabis use indicate that alcohol consumption decreases with
marijuana use. The more regularly a person smokes, the less they tend to drink.

I know a good many pot smokers who have quit drinking altogether. Not
because of any drinking problem, but just because they "don't feel like
drinking."

293-4 Richard Blum Report 1966 (4 Cal colleges) 54% of weekly marijuana
users decreased alcohol intake - 2% of weekly users increased alcohol intake
- 89% of daily users reduced alcohol use

At one California college MJ use increased from 19 to 43% and - alcohol use
more than once a month fell from 29% to 14% alcohol use more than "several
times" a month fell from 17 to 12%

Stanford University "At a time in their lives when students typically
increase alcohol consumption significantly, only 3% MJ users had increased
the frequency or quantity of their hard liquor consumption, while 32%
reported a decrease. Garfield, Emily & Boreing, Michael "Drug Use On Campus"
1969 p 13

Dr. Seymour Halleck, U of Wis: "Perhaps the one major positive effect of the
drug (marijuana) is to cut down on the use of alcohol. In the last few years
it is rare for our student infirmary to encounter a student who has become
aggressive, disoriented, or physically ill because of excessive use of
alcohol. Alcohol has almost ceased to become a problem on our campuses."
Marijuana & LSD on campus 1968

DEBATE POINT---This shoots the "Added Burden" theory in the ass. When they
throw out their lame sound bite, "all we need is ANOTHER drug out there,"
give them a few figures about how MJ reduces alcohol abuse. This will more
than offset any miniscule damage MJ might do.

The added burden theory rests on the assumption that MJ causes some serious
damage or acts as a gateway to drug abuse. The research makes it clear that
MJ DIVERTS people from more harmful pastimes such as alcohol and addictive
drugs.

It's no wonder the alcohol industry is universally opposed to marijuana (big
contributors to DARE, PDFA etc). They'd probably lose 20% or their market
with legal cannabis.

R Givens
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Use Of Medication Should Not Be A Crime (Letter To Editor
Of 'San Francisco Chronicle')

Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 13:41:22 -0800
Subject: MN: US CA: LTE: Use of Medication Should Not Be a Crime
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: "Frank S. World" 
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Pubdate: Wed, 14 Jan 1998
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/

USE OF MEDICATION SHOULD NOT BE A CRIME

Editor -- Police are tormenting cannabis clubs again in the name of fear --
fear of drug use. It must sound strange to suggest that the use of drugs
for fun is ``OK,'' but I'm not suggesting freedom from self-control. Quite
the contrary, people can be responsible users, just like alcohol users. Not
a fair analogy, I agree.

As the law sees it, there is no distinction between war against users and
care for people. But responsible recreational drug use should not be a
crime in the first place. I assume we could agree at least that medication
should not be a crime. So says a state law.

This leaves the important issues. Crime and the hostility to minorities
caused by society's zeal for a misconceived drug war. Meanwhile, legitimate
uses of marijuana for medicine continue to struggle for tolerance.

We must require respect for humanity and values. We all need the promotion
of our welfare and our rights to make decisions for ourselves about our
needs and desires. Expecting such respect from the law and government, of
course, will be a long wait. It is only people who share pleasures and
pains, concerns, interests in each other's projects, and each other's
company, not institutions.

The least that the establishment could do is leave us alone. Our society
must recognize drug use and abuse as the medical and social problems that
they are and that they must be treated with medical and social solutions.

So stay tuned, when in the following months and years to come, our
political leaders will band together to give the help only people can give
. . . compassion. It could happen.

ROLAND V. WILSON II
Berkeley
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Farmers Reject Hemp (Delegates To The American Farm Bureau Convention
In Charlotte, North Carolina, Reverse Position On Research In 198-168 Vote,
Cutting Off Nose To Spite NORML's Face)

Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 11:09:28 -0800
From: Allison Bigelow (whc@CNW.COM)
To: hemp-talk@hemp.net, hempmag@lconn.com
Subject: HT: Fwd: Farmers Reject Hemp

Source: Reuters
Pubdate: 14 Jan 1997

FARMERS REJECT HEMP

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 14 - U.S. farmers decided today to just say no to
research into industrial hemp, a cousin of marijuana. On a 198-168 vote,
delegates to the American Farm Bureau convention went on record against
production of industrial hemp and eliminated language in favor of
research into it. "Don't take the good name of Farm Bureau and associate
it with these people," said Missouri Farm Bureau president Charles
Kruse, who complained the AFB, the largest U.S. farm organization, was
being linked with groups like National Organization for Reform of
Marijuana Laws. "If we say we support research, we are going to continue
to be used," he said.

Possibility of Profits

Bill Sprague, president of the Kentucky Farm
Bureau, said hemp might be a profitable crop. Hemp has adherents in
Kentucky who see it as the successor to tobacco. The Kentucky Hemp
Growers Cooperative Association, which supports international research,
had a booth at the trade fair held as part of the AFB convention. "We
should at least continue to do some research work," Sprague said.
Industrial hemp, which contains virtually none of the mood- altering
drug produced by marijuana, has excited interest as a fabric for apparel
and furnishings, as well as its traditional use in rope and canvas. It
has a wider color range and a more durable fiber than other natural
textiles, proponents say.

Law Enforcement

Police worry that hemp cultivation would confound
drug-law enforcement because hemp looks like marijuana, Kruse said.
While most delegates shared Kruse's distaste for hemp, one asked if
grain research should end because it can be converted into alcohol,
misused by some people.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Lungren - Stop Selling Marijuana Trading Cards (California Attorney General
Tries To Intimidate San Francisco's InLine Trading Cards)
InLine link, and card with political message about hemp.
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 00:51:54 EST Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org From: David.Hadorn@vuw.ac.nz (David Hadorn) To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: More Lungren follies Posted at 6:47 p.m. PST Wednesday, January 14, 1998 Lungren: Stop selling marijuana trading cards BY SCRIPPS-MCCLATCHY WESTERN SERVICE SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California Attorney General Dan Lungren is urging a producer of trading cards that feature marijuana plants to stop making and selling those cards. In a letter to the president of In Line Trading Cards and Magazines, and released Wednesday, Lungren stressed that the ``Classic In Line Hemp Cards'' are marketed to children in retail stores. ``Obviously, children are the most common consumers of trading cards and using slick, full-color cards to glamorize marijuana is an overtly cynical attempt to promote marijuana use to children while turning a profit for yourself,'' Lungren wrote in a letter signed by 21 other state attorneys general. Officials for the San Francisco-based trading card company could not be reached for comment Wednesday. The company's home page on the Internet says, ``We believe that the secular laws banning a natural, God-given plant are morally and philosophically indefensible.'' Lungren, a Republican who is running for governor, has previously called on manufacturers of violent video games to withdraw their products. Lungren also was a leading opponent of Proposition 215, a successful ballot initiative that legalized using marijuana for medicinal purposes. The California Citizens Compensation Commission, which sets the salaries and benefits of elected state officials, was scheduled Thursday to hold the first in a series of meetings on a variety of pay-related issues. The issues include the extra pay provided to legislative leaders, the relationship between state officials' salary levels, living expense payments for legislators, possible guidelines for future cost-of-living increases and whether legislators' salaries should be based in part on whether they pass a state budget on time. The commission said it will accept public testimony at the meeting, which is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. in the first-floor auditorium at 400 R St.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Attorneys General Slam Marijuana Trading Cards (AGs From 22 States Jump
On The Demagogic Bandwagon To Censor InLine Classic Cards)

Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 20:11:52 -0800 (PST)
From: Turmoil 
To: hemp-talk@hemp.net
Subject: HT: Attorneys General Slam Marijuana Trading Cards (fwd)
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Marijuana trading card
collectibles such as ``Hashish,'' ``Acapulco Gold'' and ``Thai
Stick'' are under fire by 22 state attorneys general who have
demanded they be yanked from the market.

In a letter made public Wednesday, law officials from 22
states asked InLine Classic Cards' President Kingsley Barnham to
cease production of the ``Classic Hemp'' series, sold in
convenience stores alongside baseball and auto trading cards.

``Using slick, full-color cards to glamorize marijuana is an
overtly cynical attempt to promote marijuana use to children
while turning a profit for yourself,'' said the letter, written
by California Attorney General Dan Lungren.

``There are many outrageous and contemptible attempts to
promote marijuana use, but efforts targeted at children are
particularly loathsome,'' the letter said.

San Francisco-based InLine introduced the cards in 1994, and
in its on-line publicity material stresses that it ``is in no
way glorifying or encouraging illegal activity of any kind.''

But the company also says the cards ``raise serious
questions about basic human rights and freedoms ... (including)
the freedom to alter one's conciousness.''

``InLine takes the position with these cards that this
nation's offensive against drugs can be compared to the war the
United States waged in Vietnam: obscenely expensive and
completely cost inefficient, producing far more losers than
winners, and very likely morally wrong.''

In their letter, the attorneys general asked Barnham to
''reconsider your destructive propaganda effort'' and drop the
cards from production.

``It is our hope that you will find the capacity to act
responsibly and comply with our request,'' the letter said.

InLine officials could not be reached for comment.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Lungren Vs. Medical Pot (Letter To Editor Of 'San Francisco Examiner'
Criticizes California AG)

Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 02:01:16 -0800
Subject: MN: US CA: LTE: Lungren Vs. Medical Pot
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: "Frank S. World" 
Source: San Francisco Examiner
Contact: letters@examiner.com
Pubdate: Wed, 14 Jan 1998
Website: http://www.examiner.com

LUNGREN VS. MEDICAL POT

Attorney General Dan Lungren's attack on medical marijuana is in reality
based on his keen desire to challenge the entire proposition's legality.
His assumption that marijuana has no medicinal value is based on
conjecture.

If his theory were true, why have many physicians found marijuana useful as
a treatment for patients suffering from AIDS, glaucoma and chronic or acute
pain? Apparently there is no better medicinal substitute.

Ronald Pennyworth
Piedmont
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Crackdown To Hit East Palo Alto Gangs (City Officials Upset
San Mateo County Sheriff Didn't Consult With Them Before Announcing
10-Officer Strike Force That Will Target Four Key Gangs And Drug Dealers
In Minority Community)

Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 13:26:21 -0800
Subject: MN: US CA: Crackdown to Hit East P.A. Gangs
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: Marcus-Mermelstein Family 
Source: San Jose Mercury News
Contact: letters@sjmercury.com
Pubdate: Wed, 14 Jan 1998
Author: Alan Gathright, Mercury News Staff Writer

CRACKDOWN TO HIT EAST P.A. GANGS

But city officials upset sheriff didn't consult with them on latest plan

The San Mateo County sheriff announced a crackdown Tuesday against violent
East Palo Alto gangs, but he may first have to settle a beef with the
mayor, who's irked that the city wasn't consulted.

Sheriff Don Horsley told the county board of supervisors that a 10-officer
strike force will target four key gangs and drug dealers allegedly
responsible for increased dealing and a bloody turf war that boosted the
city homicide count to 15 in 1997.

``I don't believe that crime in East Palo Alto is out of control. It's not
1992,'' Horsley stressed, referring to the year when the city's 42
homicides made it the per capita ``murder capital'' of the nation. But
Horsley added, ``We want to make sure that there isn't an open market for
drug trafficking,'' which triggers feuding.

East Palo Alto Mayor R.B. Jones said that while he's grateful for any help
combating crime, the sheriff should have talked with his city's police
chief and city council.

``I would be the first to say, `Thank you Sheriff Horsley, we could
certainly use 10 more officers,' '' Jones said Tuesday. ``But you don't
just send an occupying force into somebody's community.''

As chief law enforcement officer for the county, the sheriff does not need
city approval for the operation.

The dispute underscores the long-strained relations between county
officials and leaders in the largely minority community, which voted to
become an incorporated city in 1983 specifically to have its own police
force.

A separate issue from the task force is Horsley's proposal for a joint
city-county police authority that would strengthen law enforcement in East
Palo Alto.

Horsley said the agency would be controlled by a city-dominated board. But
the sheriff insisted he must have some management authority to improve a
department that has suffered from lax discipline and brutality scandals.
Horsley said his proposal would boost the beleaguered 31-officer police
department to 42 officers and increase pay by 33 percent.

But Jones said the city simply wants to hire some of the sheriff's deputies
-- like temporary office workers -- while retaining command of the city's
force. Horsley isn't willing to relinquish control over his troops.

Meanwhile, some county supervisors are growing impatient to see the city's
proposal for a long-term solution to the crime crisis. The county has
pumped $10 million in law enforcement help into East Palo Alto over the
past five years.

``We need to make a firm commitment to keeping East Palo Alto safe,''
Supervisor Ruben Barrales, whose district includes East Palo Alto, said
during the Tuesday board meeting.

But Supervisor Mary Griffin replied: ``I would like to see the East Palo
Alto (city council) make an equally firm commitment to keeping East Palo
Alto safe.''

Griffin suggested a summit between supervisors and the city council that
would ]allow leaders to find common ground for a permanent solution.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Young Start To Drinking Predicts Alcoholism - Report ('Reuters' Item
On New Study From National Institute On Alcohol Abuse And Alcoholism, NIAAA)

Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 22:19:41 -0500
Subject: MN: US: Wire: Young Start To Drinking Predicts Alcoholism - Report
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: shug 
Source: Reuters
Pubdate: 14 Jan 1998
Author: Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent

YOUNG START TO DRINKING PREDICTS ALCOHOLISM - REPORT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The younger children or teenagers are when they
start to drink, the more likely they are to become alcoholics, government
researchers said on Wednesday.

They said the unexpected findings were yet another reason to keep alcohol
away from children.

``The younger kids start drinking, the more likely they will develop
alcohol dependence at some time in their lives,'' said Bridget Grant, who
led the study by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
(NIAAA)

Children who started drinking before the age of 15 were four times more
likely to become alcoholics, formally known as alcohol dependent, as those
who started at 21.

The risk that a person would abuse alcohol was doubled in people who
started drinking before 15 compared to those who waited until the current
legal drinking age of 21.

``These are whopping statistics and a very strong association,'' Grant told
a news conference. The effect held strong when factors like sex, race, age,
duration of drinking and family history were accounted for, Grant said. The
volunteers were not asked how much and how often they drank.

``Some people will say didn't we know this? Well, we didn't know this,''
said Dr. Enoch Gordis, director of the NIAAA.

A 13-year-old who has started drinking has a 28 percent chance of becoming
an alcoholic if there is no family history of alcohol abuse. Among
13-year-olds with a family history of alcohol problems the risk is 58
percent, with an average risk of 43 percent for all 13-year-olds.

This drops dramatically to about 10 percent of people who started to drink
at 21.

``At this point we can't tell you the reasons. We can only speculate on
what they might be,'' Gordis added. ``One possibility is the later you
start, the less time you have to establish a habit of drinking before
protective mechanisms kick in, such as your first job.''

Or the young brain may be more susceptible to the influence of alcohol, he
added.

Dr. Mary Dufour, deputy director of the NIAAA, said many underage children
drank.

``Alcohol is America's No. 1 drug of choice,'' Dufour said. ''In 1987
nearly half of eighth graders...said they had used alcohol sometime in
their lives,'' she added.

``These numbers scare me.''

The NIAAA researchers took information from 43,000 people surveyed
face-to-face by the U.S. Census Bureau. Among the questions in the 110-page
survey were queries about when a person first started drinking -- excluding
the occasional sip or taste as part of family or religious events.

They said the margin of error was very low -- less than three percent.

They cited statistics showing alcohol abuse among the young was associated
with risky sex, leading to teen-age pregnancy and exposure to the HIV virus
that causes AIDS. It was also strongly linked with violence, depression and
suicide.

``The main reason for prevention is that it's a disaster in the young,
independent of this issue,'' Gordis said.

``We need to be vigorous in our enforcement of laws that are meant to
protect young people from access to alcohol,'' Health and Human Services
Secretary Donna Shalala said in a statement. ''And we need to avoid
glamorization of drinking, including misleading linkages between sports and
alcohol.''

Grant said other countries such as France and Italy, where drinking was
accepted at younger ages, were experiencing similar problems with alcohol
abuse.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Gingrich Promotes Drug War (The GOP Speaker Of The US House
Of Representatives Addresses Lawmakers In Olympia, Washington,
Suggesting They Focus On Four Goals, Beginning With 'Ridding The Nation
Of Drugs' - No Comment Reported From American Medical Association)

From: "W.H.E.N." (when@olywa.net)
To: "-Hemp Talk" (hemp-talk@hemp.net)
Subject: HT: ART: Gingrich promotes Drug WAR
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 18:17:47 -0800
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net

Gingrich speech gets a partisan reception in Olympia
U.S. House speaker preaches a GOP message
Peter Callaghan; The News Tribune

OLYMPIA - How state legislators responded to U.S. House Speaker Newt
Gingrich's speech Tuesday depended on where they sat.

Republicans, seated to Gingrich's right, welcomed his 35-minute speech with
frequent applause - agreeing with his proposals for more federal and state
tax cuts and a restructuring of the nation's retirement programs.

Much of what the Georgia Republican proposed can be found in GOP bills
pending before the Legislature.

"He really wants to fix government to make it more accountable," said state
House Speaker Clyde Ballard (R-East Wenatchee).

But sitting to his left were many stern-faced Democrats who greeted
Gingrich politely but gave little support to much of his vision for
America's future - especially his criticism of bilingual education and a
rebuke to how programs are delivered by government workers.

Rep. Hans Dunshee (D-Snohomish) said that while Gingrich proposes deeper
tax cuts at every level of government, it's up to state lawmakers to figure
out how to do that without gutting education.

"You can come in and do the vision thing, but this is the place we solve
problems," Dunshee said of the Legislature.

"He's the guy who tried to shut down the federal government," added House
Democratic floor leader Frank Chopp of Seattle.

Neither reaction - from Democrats or Republicans - was unexpected, and
neither much affected Gingrich's speech to most members of the House and
Senate, Gov. Gary Locke and seven of the eight other statewide elected
officials. Supreme Court justices, who normally attend joint sessions, were
across the street hearing cases.

Gingrich, in the state to raise money for Republicans and to hear
presentations at Microsoft and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center,
is perhaps the first sitting U.S. speaker to address the Legislature.

Rep. Steve Conway (D-Tacoma) suggested that the trip was meant to "package
the new Newt Gingrich." And Ballard acknowledged that Gingrich is "testing
the waters" for a possible run for president in 2000.

Sounding like the college professor he used to be, Gingrich asked lawmakers
to help him make sense out of two conflicting ideas: turning over more
decision-making to the states while maintaining some sort of central vision
for the United States.

"How can we have a common general direction while maximizing our
decentralization and maximizing local leadership and maximizing local
initiative?" he asked.

His suggestion was to focus on four common goals: ridding the nation of
drugs, rethinking government retirement programs, building both an
education system and what he called a learning system, and reducing taxes
at all levels of government from the current average of 38 percent of
income to 25 percent.

On education, Gingrich proposed three reforms:

* "Let's write into the (teachers') contract that if your school is in the
bottom 20 percent in scoring, the contract doesn't apply anymore."

* "Students should learn to read and write in English because that is the
commercial language of United States, and they will have their future
crippled if they can't read and write in English."

* "I'd like you to consider mandating that once a year in every grade level
a day be spent looking at the Declaration of Independence and the
Constitution."

Gingrich said Americans have two mental clocks - one measured in seconds
that they use to time the performance of the private sector, and one
measured in 15-minute increments that they use to judge the public sector.

That is, the same consumer who would think nothing of waiting 90 minutes
for service at a driver's license counter wouldn't tolerate a much shorter
wait at Nordstrom.

"How can we think that process through so that people 20 years from now
would have the same expectations of efficiency, customer orientation and
performance out of the public sector as they have out of the private
sector?" he asked.

He also called for a "personal, modern retirement system" to replace a
Social Security system built before computers. He proposed a national
commission to study government retirement programs made up of one-third
older baby boomers, one-third younger baby boomers and one-third younger
Americans.

"I know it takes some courage for elected officials to raise the issue,"
Gingrich said.

* Staff writer Peter Callaghan covers politics. Reach him at 253-597-8657
or by e-mail at pjc@p.tribnet.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------

How To Lobby Online In Support Of SB 6271, Washington State's
Medical Marijuana Bill (Including A List Of Legislators' E-mail Addresses)

Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 16:21:52 -0800 (PST)
From: Robert Lunday (robert@hemp.net)
To: wa-hemp-all@hemp.net
Subject: SB 6271 Online/Medical Marijuana Lobby Tips
Sender: owner-wa-hemp-all@hemp.net

Senate Bill 6271 is now available online in HTML format at:
http://www.hemp.net/news/SB6271.html

This version summarizes the changes to the RCW, greatly reducing it's
length, yet providing links to the complete text should you desire to see
it. The official version can be found at:
http://www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/senate/6250-6274/6271_011398

I've included Section 1 here which very eloquently lays out the intent of
the legislation.

Here are some excellent words of advice from Senator Jeanne Kohl:

"It's very important that people who send e-mails or contact
legislators in any form do so respectfully and not threaten people with
not voting for them, etc. That really turns off legislators. The best
thing would be to bring up medical needs, about a relative or friend who's
suffered and found help, etc. Nothing about overall drug legalization.
It would be especially helpful to have people write in who opposed the
initiative or were uncomfortable with it who would now like to see the
legislature do something very focused, narrow, regulated, etc."

Remember it is truthful information and compassion that will win the day.

Sincerely,

Robert Lunday

***

For the complete text of this bill visit:
http://www.hemp.net/news/SB6271.html

SB 6271

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that some studies have
shown that some seriously ill patients, under their physicians' care, may
benefit from the use of marijuana, to relieve symptoms and suffering.
Some of the conditions for which marijuana appears to be beneficial
include chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting in cancer patients, AIDS
wasting syndrome, glaucoma, muscle spasms associated with epilepsy and
multiple sclerosis, and some forms of intractable pain.

The legislature finds that humanitarian compassion necessitates that
the decision to authorize marijuana for use by seriously ill patients is a
personal, individual decision, based upon the physician's professional
medical judgment and discretion, and founded in the privileged
physician-patient relationship. The legislature finds that the advice
given by a physician to his or her patient is constitutionally protected
free speech, and as such is entitled to the protection of the first
amendment of the bill of rights, and the Constitution of the state of
Washington. The legislature further finds that, in an era when some
seriously ill or terminal patients are driven to thoughts of suicide,
refusal to allow physicians to authorize the use of medical marijuana to
relieve intractable pain and suffering is unconscionable.

The legislature further finds that, although the policy of the
federal government is to oppose the use of medical marijuana, Washington
state public policy, in the interests of compassion, free speech, and
advancement in the treatment of the terminally ill necessitates the
legalization of limited, physician-supervised medical marijuana. Some
medical researchers believe that increased clinical experience may provide
valuable data not yet available in limited scientific studies. The
legislature finds that the medical utility of marijuana is worth studying,
and encourages public and private research organizations and physicians to
research such use, including efficacy, and availability of pharmaceutical
quality marijuana.

The legislature intends that seriously ill patients, who, in the
judgment of their physicians would benefit from the use of medical
marijuana, be exempt from liability and criminal prosecution for limited,
personal possession and use of marijuana. The legislature intends that
physicians also be immune from liability and prosecution for the
authorization of marijuana use to patients for whom, in the individual
physician's professional judgment, medical marijuana may prove beneficial.

The legislature intends to strictly limit the legalization of
marijuana to medical use, upon authorization of a physician. The
legislature does not condone the nonmedical, recreational use of marijuana
under any circumstances.

***

Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 12:19:02 EST
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: "Clifford Schaffer" (schaffer@smartlink.net)
To: Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: Washington State Senate e-mail addresses

As of January 14, 1998, this is the current list of e-mail addresses for the
Washington State Senate.

bauer_al@leg.wa.gov
benton_do@leg.wa.gov
brown_li@leg.wa.gov
deccio_al@leg.wa.gov
fairley_da@leg.wa.gov
finkbein_bi@leg.wa.gov
franklin_ro@leg.wa.gov
fraser_ka@leg.wa.gov
goings_ca@leg.wa.gov
hale_pa@leg.wa.gov
haugen_ma@leg.wa.gov
heavey_mi@leg.wa.gov
hochstat_ha@leg.wa.gov
horn_ji@leg.wa.gov
johnson_st@leg.wa.gov
kline_ad@leg.wa.gov
kohl_je@leg.wa.gov
long_je@leg.wa.gov
mcauliff_ro@leg.wa.gov
mcdonald_da@leg.wa.gov
senate_26@leg.wa.gov
patterso_ju@leg.wa.gov
prentice_ma@leg.wa.gov
prince_eu@leg.wa.gov
rasmusse_ma@leg.wa.gov
senrasmussen@msn.com
roach_pa@leg.wa.gov
rossi_di@leg.wa.gov
sellar_ge@leg.wa.gov
sheldon_be@leg.wa.gov
sheldon_ti@leg.wa.gov
spanel_ha@leg.wa.gov
strannig_ga@leg.wa.gov
stevens_va@leg.wa.gov
swecker_da@leg.wa.gov
thibaude_pa@leg.wa.gov
west_ja@leg.wa.gov
winsley_sh@leg.wa.gov
wojahn_lo@leg.wa.gov
wood_je@leg.wa.gov
zarelli_jo@leg.wa.gov

Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 20:05:56 EST
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: "Clifford Schaffer" (schaffer@smartlink.net)
To: Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: Re: Washington State Senate e-mail addresses

-----Original Message-----
>
>Cliff,
>
>Thank you for the post with Senators e-mail addresses.
>
>It would appear that the Senate is not going to be a problem. Sen. Kohl
>and Sen. Deccio are the ranking members of the Health Care Committee and
>they have jointly sponsored the bill for medical mj.
>
>The House is a different story, we do not have a current sponsor in the
>house.
>
>Do not let this discourage you from contacting senators, but know the
>focus that we need today.

OK, then, here is the House. Enjoy.

Gary Alexander 20 alexande_ga@leg.wa.gov
David H. Anderson 10 anderson_da@leg.wa.gov
Marlin Appelwick 46 appelwic_ma@leg.wa.gov
Bill Backlund 45 backlund_bi@leg.wa.gov
Ida Ballasiotes 41 ballasio_id@leg.wa.gov
Brad Benson 6 benson_br@leg.wa.gov
Rod Blalock 33 blalock_ro@leg.wa.gov
Marc Boldt 17 boldt_ma@leg.wa.gov
Roger Bush 2 bush_ro@leg.wa.gov
Patty Butler 32 butler_pa@leg.wa.gov
Jack Cairnes 47 cairnes_ja@leg.wa.gov
Don Carlson 49 carlson_do@leg.wa.gov
Mike Carrell 28 carrell_mi@leg.wa.gov
Gary Chandler 13 chandler_ga@leg.wa.gov
Frank Chopp 43 chopp_fr@leg.wa.gov
Grace Cole 32 cole_gr@leg.wa.gov
Dow Constantine 34 constant_do@leg.wa.gov
Steve Conway 29 conway_st@leg.wa.gov
Suzette Cooke 47 cooke_su@leg.wa.gov
Mike Cooper 21 cooper_mi@leg.wa.gov
Jeralita "Jeri" Costa 38 costa_je@leg.wa.gov
Larry Crouse 4 crouse_la@leg.wa.gov
Richard DeBolt 20 debolt_ri@leg.wa.gov
Jerome Delvin 8 delvin_je@leg.wa.gov
Mary Lou Dickerson 36 dickerso_ma@leg.wa.gov
Jim Dunn 17 dunn_ji@leg.wa.gov
Hans Dunshee 39 dunshee_ha@leg.wa.gov
Philip E. Dyer 5 dyer_ph@leg.wa.gov
Ruth Fisher 27 fisher_ru@leg.wa.gov
Georgia Gardner 42 gardner_ge@leg.wa.gov
Jeff Gombosky 3 gombosky_je@leg.wa.gov
William A. Grant 16 grant_wi@leg.wa.gov
Brian Hatfield 19 hatfield_br@leg.wa.gov
Timothy T. Hickel 30 hickel_ti@leg.wa.gov
Jim Honeyford 15 honeyfor_ji@leg.wa.gov
Tom Huff 26 huff_to@leg.wa.gov
Peggy Johnson 35 johnson_pe@leg.wa.gov
Jim Kastama 25 kastama_ja@leg.wa.gov
Karen Keiser 33 keiser_ka@leg.wa.gov
Phyllis Kenney 46 kenney_ph@leg.wa.gov
Lynn Kessler 24 kessler_ly@leg.wa.gov
John Koster 39 koster_jo@leg.wa.gov
Eileen L. Cody 11 cody_ei@leg.wa.gov
Kathy Lambert 45 lambert_ka@leg.wa.gov
Patricia Lantz 26 lantz_pa@leg.wa.gov
Kelli Linville 42 linville_ke@leg.wa.gov
Dave Mastin 16 mastin_da@leg.wa.gov
Joyce McDonald 25 mcdonald_jo@leg.wa.gov
Cathy McMorris 7 mcmorris_ca@leg.wa.gov
Thomas Mielke 18 mielke_th@leg.wa.gov
Maryann Mitchell 30 mitchell_ma@leg.wa.gov
Jeff Morris 40 morris_je@leg.wa.gov
Joyce Mulliken 13 mulliken_jo@leg.wa.gov
Edward B. Murray 43 murray_ed@leg.wa.gov
Al O'Brien 1 obrien_al@leg.wa.gov
Val Ogden 49 ogden_va@leg.wa.gov
Linda Evans Parlette 12 parlette_li@leg.wa.gov
John Pennington 18 penningt_jo@leg.wa.gov
Erik Poulsen 34 poulsen_er@leg.wa.gov
Dave Quall 40 quall_da@leg.wa.gov
Renee Radcliff 48 radcliff_re@leg.wa.gov
Debbie Regala 27 regala_de@leg.wa.gov
Eric Robertson 31 robertso_er@leg.wa.gov
Sandra Singery Romero 22 romero_sa@leg.wa.gov
Dave Schmidt 44 schmidt_da@leg.wa.gov
Karen Schmidt 23 schmidt_ka@leg.wa.gov
Mark G. Schoesler 9 schoesle_ma@leg.wa.gov
Pat Scott 38 scott_pa@leg.wa.gov
Barry Sehlin 10 sehlin_ba@leg.wa.gov
Larry Sheahan 9 sheahan_la@leg.wa.gov
Tim Sheldon 35 sheldon_ti@leg.wa.gov
Mike Sherstad 1 sherstad_mi@leg.wa.gov
Mary Skinner 14 skinner_ma@leg.wa.gov
Scott Smith 2 smith_sc@leg.wa.gov
Duane Sommers 6 sommers_du@leg.wa.gov
Helen Sommers 36 sommers_he@leg.wa.gov
Mark Sterk 4 sterk_ma@leg.wa.gov
Brian Sullivan 29 sullivan_br@leg.wa.gov
Bob Sump 7 sump_bo@leg.wa.gov
Gigi Talcott 28 talcott_gi@leg.wa.gov
Les Thomas 31 thomas_le@leg.wa.gov
Brian Thomas 5 thomas_br@leg.wa.gov
Bill Thompson 44 thompson_bi@leg.wa.gov
Kip Tokuda 37 tokuda_ki@leg.wa.gov
Steve Van Luven 48 vanluven_st@leg.wa.gov
Mike Wensman 41 wensman_mi@leg.wa.gov
Cathy Wolfe 22 wolfe_ca@leg.wa.gov
Alex Wood 3 wood_al@leg.wa.gov
Paul Zellinsky 23 zellinsk_pa@leg.wa.gov
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Boston Sheraton Settles Employee Spying Case (ACLU News Reports
Attempted Persecution Of Pot Smokers Costs Boston Hotel $200,000)

Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 22:56:43 EST
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: James Hammett 
To: Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: ACLU News 01-14-98: Employee Spying....

Notice the excuse that management used to start spying on the employee
locker rooms.

>Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 13:19:00 -0500 (EST)
>From: ACLU Newsfeed Owner 
>To: news@aclu.org
>Subject: ACLU News 01-14-98: Employee Spying, Beer Labels, More!
>
>01-14-98
>ACLU Newsfeed -- ACLU News Direct to YOU!
>
> IN THE ACLU NEWSROOM
>Sender: owner-news@aclu.org
>Precedence: bulk
>
> **The Latest News Can Always Be Found At:**
> http://www.aclu.org/news/pressind.html
>
>* Boston Sheraton Settles
> Employee Spying Case

[stuff deleted]

>* Recent Headlines from the ACLU NewsWire
>
> Boston Sheraton Settles
> Employee Spying Case
>
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>Monday, January 12, 1998
>
>BOSTON -- Ending a case that has sparked national attention on the lack
>of workplace privacy rights, the Boston Sheraton has agreed to settle a
>four-year-old lawsuit and pay more than $200,000 to employees who were
>secretly videotaped in a hotel locker room.
>
>The settlement, announced this weekend, was prompted by a suit filed by
>five male employees in February of 1993 when they discovered that hotel
>management had installed a hidden video camera in the locker room and
>spied on employees. At least one worker was videotaped while undressing.
>
>Sheraton officials had claimed that the cameras were installed in
>response to rumors that employees were smoking marijuana in the locker
>room. The videotapes, however, failed to produce any evidence of
>employee misconduct.
>
>"Employers often initiate covert surveillance on the basis of little
>more than rumors," said Jeffrey Feuer, attorney for the Sheraton
>employees. "They need to take a hard look at the evidence to see if it's
>solid and consider less intrusive alternatives before installing hidden
>cameras."
>
>Footage from the hidden cameras has fomented outrage over the paucity of
>laws protecting the rights of employees not to be secretly monitored in
>the American workplace. Despite the explosive growth in employer
>surveillance in recent years, neither Congress nor the states have acted
>to protect employees' privacy.
>
>The only significant law in this area is a 1986 amendment to the federal
>wiretapping act that prohibits employers from deliberately eavesdropping
>on employees' personal telephone calls. The law, however, offers no
>protection from hidden cameras, e-mail monitoring, or other modern forms
>of workplace surveillance.
>
>The settlement was praised by national privacy experts, who hoped it
>would illustrate to employers the danger of invading their employees'
>privacy.
>
>"This serves as a financial warning to employees not to secretly monitor
>their workers," said Lewis Maltby, Director of the American Civil
>Liberties Union's workplace rights office. "Employers should think twice
>before installing surveillance equipment, especially in sensitive
>areas."
>
>The hotel employees said they were pleased with the settlement, but said
>they would rather have been spared the experience.
>
>In court papers, one of the Sheraton workers, Jean L. Clement, stated
>that: "Learning about the secret videotaping made me very scared at work
>because I feel as though I am being watched wherever I go, which is how
>I felt when I lived in Haiti." Clement fled the Haitian dictatorship of
>the Duvaliers to come to the United States.
>
>[NOTE: Footage from the hidden camera in the Sheraton is included on an
>ACLU video, "Through the Keyhole: Privacy in the Workplace - An
>Endangered Right," available at 1-800-775-ACLU or through the ACLU's
>online store at http://www.aclu.org.]
>
>ACLU Newsfeed
>American Civil Liberties Union National Office
>125 Broad Street
>New York, New York 10004
>
>To subscribe to the ACLU Newsfeed, send a message to majordomo@aclu.org
>with "subscribe News" in the body of the message. To terminate your
>subscription, send a message to majordomo@aclu.org with "unsubscribe
>News" in the body of the message.
>
>For general information about the ACLU, write to info@aclu.org.

later,
James
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Pentagon To Scrap Armed Patrols Along Border (The Defense Department
Decision Comes In the Wake Of The Fatal Shooting Of A Teenage Goat Herder
Along The Texas Border Last Year By A US Marine)

Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 01:00:22 EST
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: David.Hadorn@vuw.ac.nz (David Hadorn)
To: Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: Pentagon ends border patrols

Posted at 3:01 p.m. PST Wednesday, January 14, 1998

Pentagon to scrap armed
patrols along border

Scripps Howard News Service

WASHINGTON -- Defense Department officials will
recommend permanently canceling armed military patrols along
the Mexico border in the wake of a fatal shooting of a teenage
goat herder by a U.S. Marine last year, a senior defense official
said Wednesday.

``It's not worth the legal liability for our soldiers, and the actual
amount of drugs seized throughout the performance of those
missions proved to be modest,'' said the senior defense official
who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

An ongoing study of the military's future role along the border has
not yet been presented to Defense Secretary William Cohen. But
that study will advocate that support services including road
building and intelligence gathering continue, while ground
reconnaissance missions in the front lines of the drug war end, the
official said.

The proposed end of the armed patrols drew outrage from Rep.
Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chairman of the House immigration
subcommittee.

``Reducing the already overburdened resources at the border
opens the door for drug smugglers who are now bringing 70
percent of their product across the Southwest border,'' Smith
said.

Last year the House overwhelmingly approved a measure that
would deploy 10,000 more troops along the border, but the
measure died in the Senate.

Less than two dozen troops were involved in armed ground
patrols of the border at any time, so canceling them amounts to
no more than ``a minor adjustment'' to a ``very robust, and we
think very successful program,'' the defense official said.

The armed patrols were halted in July, after a U.S. Marine shot
and killed a high-school sophomore in Southwest Texas. The fatal
shooting occurred after the teen fired two shots from an
80-year-old rifle towards four Marines who were hiding in
riverbank brush on an anti-drug patrol.

A Texas grand jury declined to indict the Marine, but a Justice
Department civil rights investigation has not been completed.

The Defense Department's study on the military's role along the
border, triggered by the death of Esequiel Hernandez Jr., 18, will
not be released until the Justice Department concludes its probe,
sources said.

The moratorium on ground patrols has not prohibited the military
from continuing to provide various kinds of support to the U.S.
Border Patrol, including document analysis, translation, aerial
reconnaissance, engineering, training and secured transportation
of drug evidence, said Lt. Col. Bill Reichert, a spokesman for
Joint Task Force Six, a drug-fighting military detail based at Fort
Bliss, Texas.

National Guard troops also help U.S. Customs agents inspect
trucks at U.S. ports of entry along the border.

Last week the Defense Department revealed plans to send more
than 500 Army soldiers and Marines, along with construction
equipment, to South Texas to build roads and helicopter landing
pads along the border.

All of the military activity is aimed at helping to stop drug
trafficking, not illegal immigration. But any information the military
activity yields about illegal immigration is passed along to the
Border Patrol.

The deployment of military forces along the border has been
controversial since it began under orders from Congress in 1989.
Some critics have said that use of the military comes perilously
close to violating the 1878 Posse Comitatus law, which forbids
the U.S. military from engaging in domestic police work, such as
making arrests.

Others, including many military leaders, say the armed forces are
trained differently than law enforcement officers, and operate
under distinctly different rules. Soldiers learn to fight and kill other
combatants on battlefields, not to detain or apprehend civilians
protected by an array of constitutional rights, the critics say.

Even Barry McCaffrey, the nation's drug czar and a retired Army
general, has said he prefers not to use soldiers in the front lines.
But until Border Patrol ranks can be built up, military help is
essential, McCaffrey has said.

A spokesman for the Office of National Drug Control Policy said
he has seen no plans for future military armed patrols along the
border, but considers the military's current support ``adequate.''

There are generally no more than 125 troops deployed to
border-related missions at any one time, said Maureen Bossch, a
spokeswoman for Joint Task Force Six near El Paso.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Focus On The Family - Marijuana Usage (Dr. Voth Strikes Again! - Notorious
Topeka Anti-Pot Zealot Given Airtime To Spread Lies About Cannabis
By KXXV-TV In Waco, Texas)

Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 22:58:49 EST
To: Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: Voth on "Focus On The Family" Segment, 'Marijuana Usage'.
Newshawk: John F. Wilson 
Source: ABC television affiliate KXXV, News 25, Waco, TX.
Date Aired: January 14, 1998 -- 6:55 AM
Contact: news25@kxxv.com
Attn: Brenda Wallin, AM news director.
Fax: (254) 757-0331

NOTE: Focus on the Family may be contacted by email: mail@fotf.org
And: has a website: http://www.fotf.org

TRANSCRIPT: "FOCUS ON THE FAMILY" SEGMENT, 'MARIJUANA USAGE'.

News anchor, David Keating, introduces the video segment 'Focus on the
Family' by saying, "Dr. Dobson cites some alarming statistics about
marijuana usage." [roll video] transcript:

Dr. Dobson: There's renewed interest in some circles today about the
legalization of marijuana usage. Before we take such a step however, we
should consider a few documented medical facts provided by Dr. Harold Voth,
the Senior Psychiatrist for the Menninger Foundation, in Topeka, Kansas.

He said first, five marijuana cigarettes have the same cancer causing
capacity as 112 conventional cigarettes.

Second, the part of the brain that allows a person to focus, concentrate,
create, learn and conceptualize at an advanced level is still growing
during the teen-age years. Continuous use of marijuana over a period of
time will retard the normal growth of those cells.

Third, a study at Columbia University revealed that female marijuana
smokers suffer a sharp increase in damage to DNA genetic code.

It was also found that reproductive eggs are especially vulnerable to
damage by marijuana.

Fourth, a second Columbia University study found that a control group
smoking a single marijuana cigarette every other day for a year had a white
blood cell count that was 39 percent lower than normal, thus damaging the
immune system and making the user far more susceptible to infection and
sickness.

Given these established medical facts Dr. Voth says we should be very
reluctant to re-write the laws prohibiting the popular use of marijuana.

With "Focus on the Family," this is Dr. James Dobson
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Renewed Call To Decriminalise Cannabis (Britain's BBC Relates What Home
Secretary Jack Straw Heard When His Own Backbencher, Labour MP Paul Flynn,
Urged Him To 'Go Dutch' And Decriminalise Cannabis)

Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 02:00:41 -0800
Subject: MN: UK: Renewed Call to Decriminalise Cannabis
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: adbryan@onramp.net
Source: BBC
Pubdate: Wed, 14 Jan 1998
Website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk
Feedback: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/feedback/default.htm

RENEWED CALL TO DECRIMINALISE CANNABIS

Drugs are central to the teenage culture in Britain. More calls to
legalise cannabis have been made following the cautioning of the Home
Secretary's son for selling drugs.

The Home Secretary, Jack Straw, was urged by one of his own backbenchers,
Paul Flynn, to "Go Dutch" and legalise cannabis after his son William was
cautioned by the police for selling drugs.

The Labour MP for Newport West, who is vice-chairman of the Commons Drugs
Misuse Group, applauded the police's decision not to prosecute the
17-year-old after he admitted supplying cannabis to an undercover reporter.

He said the teenager had had a "lucky escape" and urged his father to adopt
an "intelligent" drugs policy like Holland's, where cannabis has been
partially decriminalised.

Mr Flynn told the Home Secretary: "It was right not to prosecute Jack
Straw's son, although the lives of tens of thousands of other youngsters
have been wrecked for similar and lesser offences.

"Many have lost jobs, been expelled from schools and jailed for possession
or dealing."

Users as young as 13

Drugs have become central to the teenage culture in Britain: not only is
availability becoming more widespread, but the age of people getting
involved in the culture of illegal drugs is getting lower.

Brighton has one of the worst drug records in Britain One of the worst
areas for drug problems among young people is in the south coast town of
Brighton, where children as young as 13 say they have been offered drugs
and some admit having taken them.

A recent survey revealed that more 15-year-olds in Britain were
experimenting with drugs than in any other European country.

Fourteen-year-old Clare started on cannabis when she was 13 years old and
has taken speed and LSD.

"Mainly my older friends get it," she said. "Once you've got it, you go to
someone else's house, shut the door and then you're there."

Anti-drugs campaigns are being ignored Clare, who lives in Brighton, says
she has heard anti-drugs campaigns.

"I listened but I didn't really because my curiosity got the better of me.
It's all part of the culture as well."

Don Brown, who runs a youth club and help service for teenagers on drugs,
says he is in no doubt that the cannabis smoker will move on to harder
drugs.

However, some children say it is a natural progression. One teenager said:
"It's all about children growing up. It's a lifestyle now, it's not a fact
of peer pressure any more and people will gradually make their way through
drugs and it's up to them."

Another youngster said: "Before I tried cannabis I thought it was classed
as a bad drug -- on a level of other drugs such as heroin.

"After I tasted cannabis and saw there wasn't a problem with it I thought
speed will be okay, but that is a lot more damaging."

Sussex police has one of the worst drug beats in the country. Their policy
is to caution first time cannabis users and always to prosecute dealers.

They do not send undercover police into clubs, but rely on closed circuit
television and nightclub bouncers for tip offs.

Jeremy Paine: targeting dealers The Head of Sussex Drugs Squad, Jeremy
Paine, said: "It is readily available, I accept that, but we are doing a
lot of work concentrating on the dealers - these are the people who are
putting our kids at risk by offering them drugs when they're having a good
time, there's lots of peer pressure and they think they ought to try it
because their friends are with them.

"We're doing lots of work in schools with the young kids so they're given
the education so that they can make informed decisions in the heat of the
moment and think about whether drugs are really for them."

However, some believe that anti-drugs campaigns could never solve the
problem. MP Paul Flynn believes the only successful anti-drugs policy is
decriminalisation like in Holland.

He said: "Twenty years of cannabis decriminalisation there has cut all
drugs use. No police, courts or prison time is wasted chasing cannabis
users."

The MP, who visited the Amsterdam last week, said: "In Britain's [EU]
Presidency year we should try humility in lecturing other EU countries on
drugs policy.

"Our so-called 'tough' policies continue to fail with soaring drug use and
crime. In Holland, 'intelligent' policies have reduced all harm."
-------------------------------------------------------------------

DrugSense Weekly, Number 29 (Summary Of Drug Policy News For Activists)

Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 15:13:30 -0800
To: mgreer@mapinc.org
From: Mark Greer 
Subject: DrugSense Weekly January 14, 1998 #029

DRUGSENSE WEEKLY

DrugSense Weekly January 14, 1998 #029

A DrugSense publication
http://www.drugsense.org

***

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

* Feature Articles

War on Patients to Escalate: Federal Government Announces Plan to Raid
Cannabis Buyers' Clubs, by the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP@MPP.ORG)

and

These People Made a Difference: A Eulogy, by Chuck Thomas


* Weekly News In Review

Domestic News -

Adolescents

Washington a Test Market for Anti-Drug Ads


Cannabis Clubs

Marijuana Clubs Vow to Continue Operations
Government Moves To Close Marijuana Clubs
U.S. Launches Drive To Close Marijuana Clubs
Federal Drug Laws, State Initiative Are At Odds
U.S. Acts To Close Pot Clubs
U.S. Attorney Files Suits To Close Cannabis Clubs


Heroin

Another Look At Methadone Maintenance

Hemp News

Farmers To Debate Hemp
California Petition Drive Begins to Make Hemp Use Legal


Medical Marijuana

Help Sought For Medical Pot Users
Galbraith Asks Judges OK Pot as "Natural Remedy"


The Drug War

Drug Testing Of Workers Keeps Rising
FBI Completes Probe Of Fatal Shooting Of Border Teen By Marine
Clinton Will Require States To Cut Drug Use In Prisons
There's No Justice In The War On Drugs
Study Links Drugs To 80% Of Incarcerations


International News -

Needle-exchange Programmes in the USA: Time To Act Now


Hot Off The 'Net

Peter Gorman on the Art Bell Show
Former NORML Head Launches On-Line Magazine
Second Conference on Pain Management and Chemical Dependency

***

FEATURE ARTICLE

War on Patients to Escalate: Federal Government Announces Plan to Raid
Cannabis Buyers' Clubs

by the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP@MPP.ORG)

On January 9, The U.S. Department of Justice filed civil suits to shut
down six of the not-for-profit medicinal marijuana dispensaries, known
as Cannabis Buyers' Clubs (CBCs), throughout Northern California. CBC
workers who refuse to comply will be arrested. One of these workers
specifically named in the federal suit is an AIDS patient, Barbara
Sweeney.

The Clinton administration is subverting the will of California voters
by these suits against the courageous caregivers who help seriously ill
patients obtain medicinal marijuana. Ironically, CBCs would not even be
needed if the federal government would allow licensed pharmacies to
distribute medicinal marijuana.

Proposition 215, passed by California voters in November 1996, calls on
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." While state and federal prosecutors have been working to
subvert Proposition 215, numerous city and county governments throughout
California have established regulations to allow tightly controlled CBCs
to operate.

Local governments have passed laws or entered into agreements which
allow CBCs to give patients a safe, affordable supply of marijuana. CBCs
undercut organized crime - patients no longer need to buy their medicine
from drug dealers on street corners. How dare the cruel, power-hungry
federal government interfere with local laws that work? This
'Washington-knows-best' attitude results in drug policies that do
nothing but harm.

When the government starts raiding CBCs, the Marijuana Policy Project
hopes that the media will resist the urge to focus on the one or two
flamboyant CBCs. The public should know that the vast majority are
professional, well-regulated, and tightly controlled.

***

These People Made a Difference: A Eulogy by Chuck Thomas

Two of the medicinal marijuana patients and activists who passed away in
1997 that I had the pleasure of working with were Lucie Bergmann Shuster
and Andrew Hasenfeld, Ph.D. Despite their suffering, both testified
before a National Institutes of Health (NIH) medicinal marijuana panel
last February. This influential government panel made strong statements
supporting marijuana's medical value, including, "We know that for some
people, it makes a difference."

Many of the NIH panelists would not have fully understood this fact - or
had the courage to publicly state it - if not for the heartfelt
testimony of Lucie, Andrew and several other patients who testified. The
NIH panel's supportive statements will be cited by medicinal marijuana
advocates for years to come, arguing that if marijuana "makes a
difference," then patients should not be arrested for using it. It's
only a matter of time before the laws are changed and marijuana is made
legally available to seriously ill people. Lucie and Andrew truly made a
difference.

Lucie Bergmann Shuster, a middle-aged, married woman from San Jose,
California, was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago. She
suffered debilitating nausea from her chemotherapy, despite having tried
all of the legal anti-emetics. Like TV character Murphy Brown, Lucie
reluctantly tried marijuana - and it worked. A couple of puffs was all
that she needed. After several bouts of chemotherapy, she barely
finished an eighth-ounce baggie, and she had no interest in using
marijuana recreationally. She was politically active in health care and
breast cancer issues.

Lucie passed away on September 18, 1997.

Andrew Hasenfeld, a 40-year-old man from Amherst, Massachusetts,
suffered from multiple sclerosis for nearly 20 years. Andrew earned a
Ph.D. in physics and had developed useful medical technology during his
career. Ironically, the only substance that controlled his spasticity
was a naturally growing plant that had been used as a medicine thousands
of years before Isaac Newton's time.

Andrew participated in numerous medicinal marijuana advocacy efforts in
Massachusetts. His testimony at the February 1997 NIH conference was
compelling, cutting right to the core of the issue when he asked the
panel, "I'm in a wheelchair already. Do you want to see me in jail?"

Andrew passed away on December 21, 1997, from MS-related complications.

Andrew and Lucie were a pleasure and inspiration to work with. Their
serious, respectable attitudes were complimented by their good-natured
sense of humor. Throughout the two-day NIH conference, Lucie kept busy
helping the other patients, many of whom were in wheelchairs or nearly
blind. Andrew, even when barely able to hold his head up, would ask, "Is
there anything else I should do?"

The lesson that Andrew and Lucie taught by example was that no matter
how stacked the odds are against you, you can always do something to
help others. Over the years, countless healthy, financially secure
people have declined to help change the marijuana laws, fearing legal
hassles, a damaged reputation, or claiming that they "can't afford" the
time or money. Some say, "It's too much work, so why bother?"

People like Andrew and Lucie are the reason to bother - people who risk
losing their medicine and their freedom by outing themselves as
criminals for using medicinal marijuana, so that someday, long after
they're gone, other people in the same situation won't have to suffer or
be arrested.

In 1997, Andrew and Lucie made a difference at NIH. In 1998, will their
legacy make a difference for the entire reform movement?

Chuck Thomas is the Communications Director of the Washington, D.C.
based - Marijuana Policy Project.

For more information please visit the Marijuana Policy Project web site
at http://www.mpp.org

***

WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW

Domestic News

***

Adolescents

Subj: US DC: Washington a Test Market for Anti-Drug Ads
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n026.a06.html
Source: Washington Post
Contact: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm
Pubdate: Friday, January 9, 1998

The woman in the commercial smashes an egg to show what a brain on drugs
looks like, then claims the yolk dripping from the frying pan is what a
body on drugs feels like. Then she goes on a rampage breaking plates and
glasses, declaring: "This is what your family goes through."

The television ad - part of a $195 million anti-drug advertising
campaign launched by the White House and aimed at America's youth - was
one of four spots previewed yesterday by 200 fourth-, fifth- and
sixth-graders at Lafayette Elementary School in Northwest Washington.
The fast-paced, thought-provoking ads, which began airing on local
television stations in Washington last night, will be viewed locally in
11 other cities before they are shown nationally in June.

The goal of the five-year campaign is to encourage adults to talk openly
with children about illegal substances and to stir children to talk with
their peers about drugs, said Barry R. McCaffrey, White House national
drug policy director.

"I thought [the advertisement] was kind of strange, and it caught my eye
because it was interesting," said Aaron Laporte, 11, one of the
awestruck sixth-graders who watched the ad in the school auditorium.
"It's saying, Don't take drugs, because they hurt your body."

[continues: 43 lines]

***

Cannabis Clubs

Subj: US CA: SFX: Marijuana Clubs Vow to Continue Operations
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n027.a01.html
Source: San Francisco Examiner
Pubdate: Sunday, January 11, 1998
Contact: letters@examiner.com

California's cannabis clubs vow to continue distributing marijuana -one
way or another-despite a formidable attack by the U.S. Justice
Department.

Almost all 17 clubs in the state said they are seeking new ways to
continue serving their estimated 6,300 clients, either by restructuring
their organizations, opening under new management or creating
clandestine distribution routes.

"We'll devise a plan to help people (get marijuana)," said Dennis Peron,
whose Cannabis Cultivators' Club was targeted in the federal probe. "We
cannot abandon the sick and dying.... This will not stop medical
marijuana."

In a broad and sweeping effort to close the clubs, the U.S. Justice
Department filed suit Friday to enjoin pot distribution by six clubs in
Marin, San Francisco, Oakland, Santa Cruz and Ukiah.

Officials would not say why those six clubs were singled out, but they
did not rule out investigating activities at the others.

[continues: 102 lines]

***

Subj: US CA: Government Moves To Close Marijuana Clubs
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n025.a04.html
Source: Orange County Register
Contact: letters@link.freedom.com
Pubdate: 10 Jan 1998

San Francisco - The federal government renewed its battle against the
state's medical marijuana law Friday,moving to shut down six marijuana
buyers' clubs in Northern California.

U.S. Attorney Michael Yamaguchi filed civil suits seeking to halt
operation of the clubs - two in San Francisco and one each in Oakland,
southern Marin County, Santa Cruz and Ukiah - for violations of federal
laws against the possession, cultivation and distribution of marijuana.

"The issue is not the medical use of marijuana. It is the persistent
violation of federal law," Yamaguchi said at a news conference. He said
the civil suits, which target only the clubs and their operators and not
individual patients, were a "measured approach" short of criminal
charges.

Undercover drug agents had bought marijuana at each club and had seen
purchases by other customers, according to court papers.

[continues: 47 lines]

***

Subj: US CA: LAT: U.S. Launches Drive to Close Marijuana Clubs
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n025.a05.html
Source: Los Angeles Times
Pubdate: 10 Jan 1998
Contact: letters@latimes.com

SAN FRANCISCO - For the first time since California voters approved the
use of medical marijuana, the federal government Friday mounted a legal
battle to shut down six Northern California clubs that sell the weed.

The government wants to "send a clear message regarding the illegality
of marijuana cultivation and distribution," said Michael Yamaguchi, the
U.S. attorney for Northern California.

His office filed civil lawsuits Friday accusing the clubs and 10 of
their operators of distribution of marijuana, and seeking permanent
injunctions to close centers in San Francisco, Oakland, Santa Cruz,
Ukiah and Marin.

The move comes as medical marijuana advocates in other states are
pushing to follow California's lead, seeking similar ballot initiatives
to allow patients to grow and use marijuana with a doctor's
recommendation.

[continues: 121 lines]

***

Subj: US CA: Federal Drug Laws, State Initiative Are At Odds
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n025.a06.html
Source: San Jose Mercury News
Contact: letters@sjmercury.com
Pubdate: Sat, 10 Jan 1998

SAN FRANCISCO - Putting its weight for the first time behind efforts to
undercut California's voter-approved Proposition 215, the Clinton
administration Friday filed a flurry of lawsuits seeking to shut down
six Northern California marijuana clubs.

The U.S. Justice Department filed the lawsuits in federal courts in San
Francisco, Oakland and San Jose, attempting to finally resolve a
conflict between federal drug laws and the state ballot initiative
voters approved in November 1996 allowing sales of marijuana for
medicinal purposes.

Federal officials did not move to close San Jose's Cannabis Center,
although word of the Justice Department's offensive created some panic
among the club's operators and patrons. "I'm relieved (we were not
sued), but I know we're not out of the woods," said Peter Baez, the
center's executive director. "The federal government will do everything
it takes. I'm sure our time will come."

[continues: 116 lines]

***

Subj: US CA: SFX: U.S. Acts To Close Pot Clubs
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n025.a07.html
Source: San Francisco Examiner
Pubdate: January 10, 1998
Contact: letters@examiner.com

In a major strike in the federal government's war on California's new
medicinal marijuana law, U.S. Attorney Michael Yamaguchi filed suits to
close six cannabis clubs that distribute the drug to hundreds of
Northern Californians each week.

Despite the state's Proposition 215, passed by voters in 1996, Yamaguchi
said the federal Controlled Substances Act made it unlawful to
cultivate, distribute or possess marijuana.

"California's medical marijuana status has no effect on the
applicability of federal drug laws," Yamaguchi said in a Friday press
conference.

"Although California appears to have decriminalized marijuana ... the
federal law governing the distribution, cultivation, and possession of
marijuana has not changed," he said.

Marijuana activist Dennis Peron, whose San Francisco-based club is
targeted by the probe, said he would fight the action in court and, if
necessary, with civil disobedience.

[continues: 56 lines]

***

Subj: US CA: BEE: U.S. Attorney Files Suits To Close Cannabis Clubs
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n025.a10.html
Source: Sacramento Bee
Pubdate: January 10, 1998
Contact: sacbedit@netcom.com

SAN FRANCISCO - The federal government struck a broad blow against
advocates of medical marijuana Friday, moving to shut down six major
marijuana dispensaries operating in Northern California.

Michael J. Yamaguchi, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District, filed
separate civil lawsuits charging the six "cannabis clubs" and 10 of
their operators with violating federal drug laws. The suits seek
permanent closures of two outlets in San Francisco and others in
Oakland, Ukiah, Santa Cruz and Marin County.

"The issue is not the medical use of marijuana," Yamaguchi said. "It is
the continued violation of federal law."

Calling the move a "measured approach," Yamaguchi said the suits stem
from an ongoing federal investigation into club activities, and do not
rule out the filing of future criminal charges.

[continues: 60 lines]

***

Heroin

Subj: US: PUB OPED: Another Look at Methadone Maintenance
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n025.a01.html
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Pubdate: Thursday, 8 Jan 1998

Last week, Supervisor Gavin Newsom called for changing federal
regulations to endorse private physicans' prescribing of methadone to
heroin addicts.

Newsom is right for many reasons. Endorsing private physician
prescription and pharmacy dispensation would allow patients stabilized
on methadone to leave the clinic setting, thus freeing up slots for
addicts closer to the street who may need more supervision initially.
Treatment by private physicians would be cheaper, and would allow
patients to lead more normal lives.

Citing increased overdose deaths and long waiting lists for treatment,
Newsom wants to "start looking at the problem as a medical one." It's
about time. Today, less than 20 percent of the nation's heroin addicts
are enrolled in methadone maintenance, largely because programs are
mired in red tape and regulations, or are inaccessible because of cost
or location.

In the late 1960s, after working with heroin addicts, Drs. Vincent Dole
and Marie Nyswander argued that addiction was a physiological disease.
Methadone, it was found, could lessen the physical craving for heroin,
and its daily use would enable a patient to stop using heroin and become
a productive member of society. According to Dr. Robert Newman of Beth
Israel Hospital in New York, the media heralded methadone as a
"Cinderella drug" that could be economically applied to hundreds of
thousands of addicts, and, in short order, solve the narcotics problem.

[continues: 35 lines]

***

Hemp News

Subj: US NC: Farmers To Debate Hemp
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n030.a08.html
Source: The News and Observer Raleigh, North Carolina
Contact: forum@nando.com
Pubdate: January 12, 1998
Website: http://www.news-observer.com/daily/

CHARLOTTE - The nation's largest farmers' group is buzzing about hemp
production as it meets to hash out stands on pocketbook issues such as
property rights, taxes and foreign imports.

Delegates to the American Farm Bureau Federation's annual convention,
which began Sunday in Charlotte, will revisit a policy statement
supporting research into the economic potential of industrial hemp
production in the United States. The group has 4.6 million members.

Farmers supporting the current policy say they just want to explore a
hardy crop that shows promise for use in fibers, fuel and foods.
Opponents of hemp production and research are citing the concern of
law-enforcement agencies, which say it would be difficult for agents to
distinguish between hemp and its cousin, marijuana.

[continues: 53 lines]

***

Subj: US CA: California Petition Drive Begins to Make Hemp Use Legal
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n030.a02.html
Pubdate: Monday, 12 January 1998
Source: (1) San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune (2) The Sacramento Bee (3)
San Jose Mercury News
Contact: (1) slott@sint01.sanluisobispo.com (2) sacbedit@netcom.com (3)
letters@sjmercury.com

A proposal to legalize the growing of hemp for industrial purposes is
the 38th initiative certified to collect voter signatures for a place on
California's 1998 general election ballot.

The petition drive, which started Friday, must collect verified
signatures of 433,269 registered voters by May 18.

The proposal by Sam H. Clauder II of Garden Grove would legalize the
growing, harvesting, storage and use of hemp for use as a building
material or in the production of cloth, paper, fuels and various
building materials and industrial chemicals.

It contends that California's current ban on hemp, a member of the same
plant family as marijuana, prohibits the state from participating in a
thriving global market for industrial hemp.

It raises the number of initiatives in circulation for the November
ballot to 38. Five initiatives are expected to be certified for the June
ballot.

***

Medical Marijuana

Subj: US CA: Wire: Help Sought For Medical Pot Users
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n029.a01.html
Source: United Press International
Pubdate: Mon, 12 Jan 1998

SACRAMENTO, Jan. 12 (UPI) - State Sen. John Vasconcellos has stepped up
his effort to get help for users of medical marijuana.

The Santa Clara Democrat held a Capitol news conference today to
announce a half-dozen measures to implement Proposition 215, the medical
marijuana law approved by 6 million California voters in November 1996.

Vasconcellos says he's outraged by state and federal efforts to thwart
distribution of marijuana to patients of AIDS, cancer and other diseases
who want the drug to ease their pain.

He cited the recent U.S. Justice Department closure of northern
California cannibis clubs under a federal law that conflicts with
Proposition 215 - an action he promises to appeal.

The lawmaker also announced plans for a Public Safety Committee "summit"
on the distribution issue in hopes of reconciling diverse viewpoints,
and new implementing legislation based on the meeting.

Vasconcellos promised renewed efforts to move a bill off the Assembly
floor that would authorize a three-year University of California study
on medical use of the drug.

The Senate passed it last year, but it fell short in the Assembly
despite support from state Attorney General Dan Lungren.

Vasconellos is also asking colleagues to sign a protest letter to
President Clinton, and appealing to citizens to do the same.

***

Subj: US KY: Galbraith Asks Judges OK Pot As "Natural Remedy"
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n030.a09.html
Source: Lexington Herald-Leader
Contact: hledit@lex.infi.net
Pubdate: Monday, January 12, 1998
Website: http://www.kentuckyconnect.com/heraldleader/

Prosecutors in five counties want to put Gatewood Galbraith's
marijuana-smoking clients on trial.

So, in his inimitably colorful and passionate way, Galbraith plans to
seize the initiative and put Kentucky's marijuana laws on trial instead.

Galbraith - a Lexington lawyer, occasional gubernatorial candidate and
self-proclaimed lover of the weed - has filed a flurry of motions in the
criminal cases in Allen, Butler, Clark, Rowan and Trimble counties. He's
asking the judges to recognize marijuana as a medicine and "the safest
therapeutic substance known to man."

Each of Galbraith's clients claims to have cultivated and used marijuana
for personal medical use, not for sale to the public. It's illogical to
deny people access to a plant that grows naturally in the ground if it
can improve their conditions, Galbraith said this week.

"If Jack Kevorkian can walk around and dispense his particular brand of
medical cure, I don't see why my clients can't use this God-given,
all-natural remedy," said Galbraith.

[continues: 64 lines]

***

The Drug War

Subj: US IL: Drug Testing Of Workers Keeps Rising
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n029.a03.html
Source: Chicago Sun-Times Pubdate: Jan. 11, 1998
Contact: letters@suntimes.com

Though it was virtually unheard of 15 years ago, mandatory drug testing
in the workplace has spread faster than marijuana smoke at a Grateful
Dead concert.

Testing requirements now blanket millions of people nationwide -
especially job seekers. And technology is improving to the point that
it's difficult, if not impossible, for drug users to escape the net of
some advanced tests.

"It's becoming more accepted and more widespread. And it's still
growing," said Daryl G. Grecich, a spokesman for the Institute for a
Drug-Free Workplace, a pro-testing group in Washington, D.C.

The Chicago Police Department is the most recent employer here to crack
down on drug users. But the latest sweep isn't in the streets - it's now
screened through hair samples, a cutting-edge technology that can extend
the reach of a drug test almost 90 times for most substances.

[continues: 117 lines]

***

Subj: US: FBI Completes Probe Of Fatal Shooting Of Border Teen By Marine
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n028.a04.html
Source: Houston Chronicle
Contact: viewpoints@chron.com
Pubdate: Sat, 10 Jan 1998
Website: http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/

PECOS (AP) - The FBI has completed its investigation into the fatal
shooting of a border teen-ager by a U.S. Marine and forwarded the case
to federal civil rights investigators, an FBI spokesman said Friday.

The Department of Justice is trying to determine whether there were any
civil rights violations during the May 20 shooting of Esequiel Hernandez
Jr. in Redford, a rural community about 200 miles southeast of El Paso.

"Unless the Department of Justice requires additional information, our
investigation is complete," said Terry Kincaid, agent in charge of the
FBI office in Midland.

Military officials say Cpl. Clemente Banuelos killed Hernandez after the
teen-ager began shooting at a four-man Marine team conducting anti-drug
surveillance along the Rio Grande.

A Presidio County grand jury last year cleared Banuelos and the other
three Marines of any wrongdoing in the case.

The Justice Department then stepped up its investigation and a federal
grand jury in Pecos began hearing from witnesses.

Daryl Fields, a U.S. Attorney's spokesman in San Antonio, declined to
comment on the case beyond saying the investigation was continuing.

***

Subj: US: Clinton Will Require States to Cut Drug Use in Prisons
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n030.a06.html
Source: New York Times
Contact: letters@nytimes.com
Pubdate: Monday, January 12, 1998

Seeking to cleanse prisons of illegal drugs, the Clinton administration
plans to tell the states that they have to determine and report the
extent of illicit drug use among their inmates before they can receive
more federal money to spend on prisons.

The information that the states provide will be used to create a
baseline to measure their progress in reducing drugs inside prison,
which in turn will qualify them for more federal money.

President Clinton is scheduled to sign the directive in the Oval Office
on Monday. A draft copy, which is addressed to Attorney General Reno,
was provided by a senior administration official who said that it had
been circulating in the White House, the Justice Department and other
interested agencies for the last month or two.

The document reflects a belief within the administration that crimping
the supply of drugs in prison will cut the demand for them after the
convicts are released. "With more than half the individuals in our
criminal justice system estimated to have a substance abuse problem,"
the draft says, "promoting coerced abstinence within the criminal
justice system offers us a unique opportunity to break this cycle of
crime and drugs."

[continues: 81 lines]

***

Subj: US: NYT OPED: There's No Justice In The War On Drugs
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n026.a04.html
Source: New York Times
Contact: letters@nytimes.com
Pubdate: Sun, 11 Jan 1998

STANFORD - Twenty-five years ago, President Richard M. Nixon announced a
"War on Drugs." I criticized the action on both moral and expediential
grounds in my Newsweek column of May 1, 1972, "Prohibition and Drugs":

"On ethical grounds, do we have the right to use the machinery of
government to prevent an individual from becoming an alcoholic or a drug
addict? For children, almost everyone would answer at least a qualified
yes. But for responsible adults, I, for one, would answer no. Reason
with the potential addict, yes. Tell him the consequences, yes. Pray for
and with him, yes. But I believe that we have no right to use force,
directly or indirectly, to prevent a fellow man from committing suicide,
let alone from drinking alcohol or taking drugs."

That basic ethical flaw has inevitably generated specific evils during
the past quarter century, just as it did during our earlier attempt at
alcohol prohibition.

[continues: 83 lines]

***

Subj: US: USA Today: Study Links Drugs To 80% Of Incarcerations
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n027.a04.html
Source: USA Today
Pubdate: 9 Jan 1998
Contact: editor@usatoday.com

WASHINGTON - Eighty percent of people behind bars were involved with
alcohol or other drugs at the times of the crime, a report says.

And, alcohol plays a role in a greater number of violent crimes than
crack or powder cocaine, according to the report by the National Center
on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University in New York.

The three year study released Thursday found that 1.4 million of the 1.7
million people serving time in the nation's jails and prisons committed
crimes while they were high, stole property to buy drugs, have a history
of drug or alcohol abuse or are in jail for violating drug or alcohol
laws.

The 281-page report concludes that criminal activity because of drugs
and alcohol is the overwhelming reason the nation's prison population
has risen nearly 239% since 1980, when 501,886 people were behind bars.

"People think prisons are full of James Cagney types and psychopaths,
but they are actually full of alcoholics and drug addicts, and we can
deal with that through treatment," says Joseph Califano Jr., president
of the center and former secretary of Health, Education and Welfare.

[continues: 36 lines]

***

International News

UK: The Lancet Editorial: Needle-exchange Programmes in the USA:
Time To Act Now

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n027.a07.html
Source: The Lancet - Volume 351, Number 9096
Pubdate: Sat, 10 Jan 1998
Contact: lancet.editorial@elsevier.co.uk

One in three of the more than 570,000 AIDS cases reported in the USA
since the beginning of the epidemic has been caused, directly or
indirectly, by injection drug misuse. Although HIV-infection rates among
homosexual men have fallen, rates due to intravenous drug misuse have
soared and about half of new HIV infections now can be traced to that
source. Those affected are not only the drug misusers infected by
contaminated needles but their sexual partners (most of whom have been
poor, black, and Hispanic women) and the children of women infected by
drug misuse or sexual contact with infected drug misusers. Injection
drug misuse is now the leading primary cause of paediatric AIDS.

Yet, despite this epidemic, the USA remains one of the few
industrialised countries that refuses to provide easy access to sterile
syringes. Of the 100 or so US needle-exchange programmes most are small
and underfunded, and some are illegal. Most US states still have laws on
drug paraphernalia or syringe prescription that make it a crime to give
a drug misuser a clean needle.

The Clinton Administration now has an opportunity to address this
problem. In 1997 the US Congress banned the use of Federal funds for
needle-exchange programmes until March 31, 1998, but after that date the
legislation allows funding if the Secretary of Health and Human Services
determines that exchange programmes are effective in preventing the
spread of HIV and do not encourage the use of illegal drugs. But with
the deadline fast approaching, the Secretary of Health and Human
Services, Donna Shalala, has yet to make an official determination,
causing AIDS activists to wonder whether the Administration will refuse
to endorse needle-exchange programmes out of fear that the step will
open the President to the charge that he is "soft on drugs".

[continues: 33 lines]

***

HOT OFF THE 'NET

Peter Gorman on the Art Bell Show

High Times' Peter Gorman was interviewed Monday night (1-12) on the Art
Bell Show. Art and Peter discuss our failing drug laws. This is a must
hear!

For anyone who uses RealAudio the following link will take you to the
AudioNet archives page where you'll find the link for the 1-12 show.

http://ww2.audionet.com/artbell/archive.html#jan98

Those of you who do not yet have the RealAudio software can obtain a
free copy of RealPlayer 5.0 at http://www.real.com

***

Former NORML Head Launches On-Line Magazine

A new on-line journal examining marijuana prohibition is now available
on the Internet at http://www.marijuananews.com

Former NORML National Director Richard Cowan is heading the project.
Cowan calls his new site "a personal newsletter on the cannabis
controversies." The site will feature daily updates on marijuana news.

***

Second Conference on Pain Management and Chemical Dependency: Evolving
Connections

January 15-17, 1998, New York City

For more information visit the conference site at Imedex
http://www.imedex.nl/congresses/inc20.htm

Or contact Imedex by e-mail imedex@aol.com

***

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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