-------------------------------------------------------------------
Suspect In Fatal Shootout With Police Pleads Innocent ('Associated Press'
Update On Portland Marijuana Task Force Shootout Says Attorney Andrew Bates
Will Represent Suspect)
Associated Press
Sat, Feb. 7, 1998
Suspect in fatal shootout with
police pleads innocent
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - With the gurgling sound of
chest tubes in the background, Steven Douglas Dons
pleaded innocent from his hospital bed to all 13 charges in
a fatal shootout with police last week.
Dons, 37, was arraigned Friday at Adventist Medical
Center, where he is recovering from a gunshot wound to
the chest suffered during the Jan. 27 marijuana raid that
left Officer Colleen Waibel dead.
Waibel, Sgt. Jim Hudson and Officer Kim Keist were
shot soon after entering Dons' rented home in the belief
that Dons was destroying evidence by burning marijuana
plants.
Multnomah County Circuit Judge Joseph Ceniceros read
Dons the 13-count indictment, which includes charges of
aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder and
assault.
Dons, appearing pale but alert, nodded as Ceniceros
detailed the charges while his attorney, Andrew Bates,
entered innocent pleas to each count.
Before the hearing started in his hospital room, Dons saw
a television camera and asked his lawyers for a comb. He
used a brush to straighten his hair.
Also Friday, new details surrounding the shootout were
released:
The final search warrant affidavit shows that the officers
smelled marijuana smoke at Dons' home and, when no
one answered, decided to go in. Hudson grabbed a
cement block and forced open the front door of the
house.
Before entering, they yelled several times that they were
police officers and that someone needed to come to the
front door. Hudson held open the door for Officer Kim
Keist, who went in first. Officers Colleen Waibel and
Steve Morrow followed her.
Inside the house, officers saw a partially open door in
front of them. Suddenly, they heard gunfire from inside
the house, and the door in front of them splintered.
Keist and Waibel were hit. Morrow carried the mortally
wounded Waibel outside. Keist, critically injured, pulled
herself outside and hid behind a parked car as Hudson
provided cover fire, the affidavit said.
The document said police had been to the house four or
five times before the final confrontation. Each time they
had knocked on the door, there had been no answer.
Portland police spokesman Lt. Cliff Madison could not
give dates the visits occurred.
The affidavit included a neighbor's statements to police
that Dons had talked about killing people on several
occasions, particularly killing police officers.
Dons' roommate Jeffrey H. Moore told a detective that
Dons talked about killing a police officer and that Dons
had a problem with a police officer while he was in the
U.S. Air Force. Moore said Dons memorized the officer's
name and said he always intended to get even with the
officer, the affidavit said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Dons Arraigned On Murder Charges ('The Oregonian'
Notes Alleged Marijuana Grower Who Shot Police After Warrantless Break-In
By Portland Marijuana Task Force Has Book Thrown At Him)
found at:
oregonlive.com
February 7, 1998
letters@news.oregonian.com
Dons arraigned on murder charges
Portland police officers decided to enter his house
because they suspected evidence was being
destroyed, court records show
By David R. Anderson
of The Oregonian staff
Officers knocked on the front door for two
minutes. They had smelled the marijuana smoke
and decided it was time to go in.
When no one answered, Portland police Sgt. Jim
Hudson grabbed a concrete block and forced
open the front door at 2612 S.E. 111th Ave.
Before entering, they again yelled that they were
police officers. They yelled that someone needed
to come to the front door. And they yelled that
they were concerned that evidence was being
destroyed.
Hudson held open the door for Officer Kim Keist,
who went in first. Officers Colleen Waibel and
Steve Morrow followed her.
About 3 feet into a mudroom, a refrigerator on
one side, officers saw a partially open door in
front of them. Suddenly, they heard gunfire from
inside the house, and the door in front of them
splintered.
Keist and Waibel were hit. Morrow carried the
mortally wounded Waibel outside. Keist, critically
injured, pulled herself outside and hid behind a
parked car as Hudson provided cover fire.
Those new details of a tragic police raid Jan. 27
emerged Friday as court officials released a final
search warrant affidavit. Police continued to
refuse comment on other details of the
investigation.
The document said police had been to the house
four or five times before the final confrontation
that Tuesday morning. Each time they had
knocked on the door, there had been no answer.
Portland police spokesman Lt. Cliff Madison
could not give dates the visits occurred.
The suspect in the shootings, Steven Douglas
Dons, 37, was arraigned Friday as he lay in his
hospital bed at Adventist Medical Center.
With the gurgling sound of chest tubes in the
background, Multnomah County Circuit Judge
Joseph Ceniceros summarized the 13-count
indictment, which includes charges of aggravated
murder, attempted aggravated murder and assault.
Dons, appearing pale but alert, nodded as
Ceniceros detailed the charges.
"We enter pleas of not guilty to each and every
count," his attorney Andrew Bates, said.
Dons' spoke clearly only once during the
four-minute hearing, saying, "Yes, sir," when
Ceniceros asked him whether his name was
Steven Douglas Dons.
Before the hearing started. Dons saw a television
camera and asked his lawyers for a comb. He
used a brush to straighten his hair.
The search warrant affidavit sworn by homicide
Detective Sgt. Dave Rubey after the shooting, did
not say why police initially suspected marijuana
was in the house. On the morning of Jan. 27, four
members of the Portland police Marijuana Task
Force and an Oregon State Police detective
arrived at the house.
Three left to get a search warrant leaving Hudson
and Keist. When they saw smoke coming from a
chimney that smelled like marijuana smoke, they
called for uniform officers because they feared
evidence was being destroyed.
Waibel and Morrow, along with Offficers Jeffrey
Parker and Wayne Gwilliam arrived. Parker went
to the back door, and Gwilliam went to the side
of the house. Officers knocked and said they had
a search warrant, the affidavit said, even though a
judge apparently had not yet signed the warrant.
After two minutes with no response, Hudson
decided it was time to go in, the document said.
The affidavit included a neighbor's statements to
police that Dons had talked about killing people
on several occasions, particularly killing police
officers.
Dons' roommate Jeffrey H. Moore told a
detective that Dons talked about killing a police
officer and that Dons had a problem with a police
officer while he was in the U.S. Air Force. Moore
said Dons memorized the officer's name and said
he always intended to get even with the officer,
the affidavit said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Medicinal Marijuana Initiatives Will Go To Voters Again ('Associated Press'
Says Two Competing Washington State Initiatives On Tap - The Ralph Seeley
Medical Marijuana Initiative Filed Friday By JoAnna McKee Of Green+Cross
Patient Co-op, And Another Being Drafted By Dr. Rob Killian,
Modeled After Jeanne Kohl's SB 6721, Which Died Friday In State Senate)
From: WWonders@aol.com
Date: Sat, 7 Feb 1998 23:03:06 EST
To: hemp-talk@hemp.net
Subject: HT: ART: Medicinal marijuana initiatives will go to voters again
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net
Medicinal marijuana initiatives will go to voters again
February 07,1998
Hunter T. George
The Associated Press
http://search.tribnet.com/archive/0298.2/0207b31.htm
Measures - 1 filed, 1 being drafted - are simplified
(Pierce, Thurston County edition)
OLYMPIA - The head of a Seattle-based group that distributes marijuana to the
sick filed an initiative Friday that asks Washington voters for a second
chance.
JoAnna McKee, co-founder of the Green Cross Patient Co-op, said she designed
her one-page marijuana initiative to appeal to compassionate voters who
rejected a sweeping ballot measure last year that included the potential
legalization of heroin and LSD.
But hers won't be the only marijuana initiative seeking a place on the
November ballot.
Dr. Rob Killian, the Tacoma physician who sponsored last year's Initiative
685, is drafting a new version that will be modeled after legislation that
died Friday in the Senate.
McKee and Killian expressed regret that bitter disagreements between them
could lead to competing proposals on the fall ballot. He called her a liar;
she said he's "tactless." Both accused each other of being driven by ego.
Each measure needs the signatures of 179,248 voters by July 2 to earn a place
on the November ballot. The secretary of state's office recommends collecting
more than 200,000 signatures to protect against duplication and fraud.
McKee named her proposal the "Ralph Seeley Medical Marijuana Initiative" in
memory of a Tacoma attorney who suffered from cancer and took his case all the
way to the state Supreme Court, which ruled against him last year.
Seeley, who received marijuana from the co-op, died last month after a painful
decade battling the disease.
McKee's proposal, which has not yet been assigned a number by the state, would
legalize the use of marijuana if it's recommended by a physician for the
treatment of cancer, HIV and AIDS, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, migraines
"or other specific medical conditions or illness."
It would offer legal protection for patients, physicians and anyone designated
by a patient to grow marijuana.
McKee, who runs her patient co-op out of a West Seattle house with little or
no problems from police, said her proposal is short and simple, unlike
Killian's initiative last year that covered a variety of illegal drugs and
liberalized criminal drug policies to encourage treatment over prison.
Voters rejected the initiative 60 percent to 40 percent.
"I'm trying to get everybody down to one page so voters know it's down to
patients, doctors and protected growers," said McKee, who supported I-685 but
had nothing to do with writing it.
"I felt if it got bigger, voters were going to be suspicious."
Killian, who received generous financial support last year from a New York
billionaire and millionaires from Ohio and Arizona who support legalizing
marijuana, said his new initiative will be modeled after Senate Bill 6271,
filed by Sen. Jeanne Kohl (D-Seattle).
The bill, which would have legalized the medical use of marijuana if a patient
gets a written recommendation from a physician, essentially died Friday when
it failed to make it out of a Senate committee.
Killian hopes to file the initiative next week.
Comments via e-mail to webmstr@tribnet.com
Mailing Address:
The News Tribune
P.O. Box 11000
1950 S. State St.
Tacoma, Wa. 98411
Phone: (253)-597-8742
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Medicinal Marijuana Backer Files Initiative ('Associated Press' Story
In 'The Olympian' On Washington State Ballot Measure Filed By JoAnna McKee
Of Green Cross Patient Co-op Notes Dr. Rob Killian Hopes To File
Second Initiative Next Week)
From: "W.H.E.N."
To: "Hemp Talk"
Subject: HT: ART: JoAnna files Med mj initiative
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 1998 21:02:52 -0800
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net
Medicinal marijuana backer files initiative
The Olympian 2/7/98 The Associated Press
* ONE-PAGE PLEA: The co-founder of Green Cross files a pared-down
initiative to legalize some uses of marijuana.
The head of a Seattle-based group that distributes marijuana to the sick
filed an initiative Friday that asks Washington voters for a second chance.
JoAnna McKee, co-founder of the Green Cross Patient Co-op, said she
designed her one-page marijuana initiative to appeal to compassionate
voters who rejected a sweeping ballot measure last year that included the
potential legalization of heroin and LSD.
But hers won't be the only marijuana initiative seeking a place on the
November ballot.
Dr. Rob Killian, the Tacoma physician who sponsored last year's initiative
685, is drafting a new version that will be modeled after legislation that
died Friday in the Senate.
McKee and Killian expressed regret that bitter disagreements between them
could lead to competing proposals on the fall ballot. He calls her a liar;
she said he's "tactless." Both accused each other of being driven by ego.
Each measure needs the signatures of 179,248 voters by July 2 to earn a
place on the November ballot. The Secretary of State's Office ,recommends.
collecting more than 200,000 signatures to protect against duplication and
fraud.
McKee named her proposal the "Ralph Seeley Medical Marijuana Initiative" in
memory of a Tacoma attorney who suffered from cancer and took his case all
the way to the state Supreme Court, which ruled against him last year.
Seeley, who received marijuana from the co-op, died last month after a
painful decade battling the disease.
McKee's proposal, which has not yet been assigned a number by the state,
would legalize the use of marijuana if it is recommended by a physician for
the treatment of cancer, HIV and AIDS, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain,
migraines "or' other specific medical conditions or illness."
It would offer legal protection for patients, physicians and anyone
designated by a patient to grow marijuana.
McKee, who runs her patient coop out of a West Seattle house with little or
no problems from police, said her proposal is short and simple, unlike
Killian's initiative last year that covered a variety of illegal drugs and
liberalized criminal drug policies to encourage treatment over prison.
Voters rejected the initiative 60 percent to 40 percent.
" I'm trying to get everybody down to one page so voters know it's down to
patients, doctors and protected growers,". said McKee, who supported 1-685
but had nothing to do with writing it. "I felt if it got bigger, voters
were going to be suspicious."
Killian, who received generous financial support last year from a York
billionaire and million from Ohio and Arizona who support legalizing
marijuana, said his new initiative will be modeled after Senate Bill 6271,
filed by Sen. Jeanne Kohl, D-Seattle.
The bill, which would have legalized the medical use of marijuana if a
patient recommendation essentially died Friday to make it out of a Senate
committee.
Killian hopes to file the initiative next week.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Yelm Man Turned In By Daughter Faces Pot Charge ('The Olympian'
Says 11-Year-Old Girl In DARE Class In Yelm, Washington, Turns In Dad
For Growing Cannabis - Doesn't Even Get A Bumper Sticker)
From: "W.H.E.N."
To: "Hemp Talk"
Subject: HT: ART: DARE kid's parent faces pot charge
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 1998 21:06:20 -0800
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net
Yelm man turned in by daughter faces pot charge
* D.A.R.E.: The man says officers at his daughter's school were just doing
their jobs.
The Olympian
February 7, 1998
By Elise Gee
A Yelm man whose 11-yearold daughter turned him in for growing marijuana in
December will be prosecuted.
George Phillips, 33, and his roommate, Donald Chapman, 39, were charged
Jan. 30 with unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance, said Phil
Harju, Thurston County senior deputy prosecuting attorney.
Phillips' daughter was in the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program at
Mill Pond Intermediate School.
She talked to her D.A.R.E. officer, Todd Stancil, about the situation and
had pleaded with her parents to stop their behavior before acting, Yelm
Police Chief Glenn Dunnam has said.
The girl and her sister were initially turned over to their grandmother but
were returned to the home shortly after the incident and have remained
there since.
The mother has not been charged, Harju said. Police visited the home after
the girl talked to a teacher at the school.
A marijuana, growing operation and 20 starter plants were discovered in an
underground room, a Thurston County sheriff deputy's report said.
Stancil had said the girl probably didn't anticipate the consequences of
turning her parents in.
"She wishes it would have never happened," Phillips said Friday. "We've
all just gotten over it and gone on with our lives."
Phillips and Chapman will appear in Thurston County Superior Court at 9
a.m. Wednesday. Neither has a defense attorney yet.
Although critics of the D.A.R.E. program have argued that police are
grooming children to become informants, Phillips said he has no animosity
toward the police.
"They were doing their jobs," Phillips said. "I was doing something
wrong."
Elise Gee covers law enforcement for The Olympian. She can be reached at
754-4226.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
US, Mexico Reach Agreement On Drug Fight ('Dallas Morning News' Says Pact,
Coming After Nearly Year Of Negotiation, Lacks Specific Commitments)
Date: Sat, 7 Feb 1998 21:52:56 -0800
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: jwjohnson@netmagic.net (Joel W. Johnson)
Subject: MN: U.S., Mexico Reach Agreement On Drug Fight (in two papers)
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: David.Hadorn@vuw.ac.nz (David Hadorn) and Zosimos
and Marcus-Mermelstein Family
Source: (1) Dallas Morning News; (2) San Jose Mercury News
Title: (1) U.S., MEXICO REACH AGREEMENT ON DRUG FIGHT
Contact: (1) letterstoeditor@dallasnews.com
Website: (1) http://www.dallasnews.com
Title: (2) U.S., MEXICO MAKE PACT ON EFFORTS TO FIGHT DRUGS
Contact: (2) letters@sjmercury.com
Website: (2) http://www.sjmercury.com/
Pubdate: Sat, 7 Feb 1998
Author: David Lagesse of the Dallas Morning News
WASHINGTON -- The United States and Mexico announced an agreement Friday
that administration officials and outside analysts said would help to
ensure continued U.S. certification of the Mexican anti-drug effort.
Coming after nearly a year of negotiation, the pact outlines broad areas of
cooperation between the governments. But it lacks specific commitments and
is unlikely to silence the sharp congressional criticism of Mexico's
commitment, one skeptic said Friday.
``It's fine ... we should have bilateral agreements,'' said Rep. John Mica,
R-Fla. ``But it's funny that their little agreement is coming as we are
looking at the certification process again.''
By the end of the month, President Clinton must rate the effort of U.S.
allies in the fight against drug trafficking. Congress then has 30 days to
overturn the administration's assessments, a process that has led in recent
years to fractious debates over the efforts of Mexico and Colombia.
Colombia ranks as the largest producer of cocaine that makes its way to the
United States, while Mexico serves as the leading transportation pipeline,
according to U.S. analysts. The Clinton administration has given Colombia a
failing grade the past two years, which cost the country some U.S.
financial aid.
The administration, however, approved Mexico's efforts despite widespread
reports of corruption among top-ranking Mexican officials.
Lawmakers concede it is nearly impossible to decertify Mexico, which shares
a 2,000-mile border and is the United States' third-largest trading
partner.
But an embarrassing incident last year, plus continuing criticism of
Mexico's efforts from the Drug Enforcement Administration, has fed a lively
debate in recent years within the Clinton administration.
A year ago, Mexico arrested its top drug fighter -- Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo
-- on charges of taking trafficker bribes, sharpening congressional
criticism of its counterdrug efforts. That incident chagrined U.S. drug
czar Barry McCaffrey, who had previously embraced Gutierrez Rebollo as a
champion in the fight against narcotics.
McCaffrey on Friday endorsed another Mexican official who was accused of
associating with traffickers. ``The Washington Times'' this week said a CIA
report fingered Mexico's new interior minister, Francisco Labastida Ochoa,
with ``long-standing ties'' to drug dealers when he was governor of the
Mexican state of Sinaloa.
``I personally have no evidence of allegations of this nature that I would
find compelling, and we have no intention of going to the Mexican
government about allegations of this nature on this gentleman,'' McCaffrey
said. ``We intend to work with him.''
The allegation surprised many policymakers within the administration.
Several agreed with McCaffrey and said Mexico is expected to again win full
certification, a finding they said was helped by Friday's agreement.
Leaks of allegations against Mexico's government are becoming a regular
part of the certification debate, analysts said.
But John Bailey, an expert on Latin American affairs at Georgetown
University, said the two countries should be applauded for their effort to
work more closely together, even if Friday's agreement lacks specifics.
Friday's agreement is the product of a senior-level group of officials from
both countries that has met regularly over the past year.
``They've created a forum that didn't exist before for law-enforcement
issues,'' Bailey said. ``Police worry about making arrests -- but the
senior group is now worrying about the long-term political and strategic
consequences.''
The bilateral agreement itself gives the U.S. government stronger
justification for certifying Mexico as cooperating, said Peter Smith,
director of Latin American Studies at the University of San Diego.
``Mexico is guaranteed certification, certainly this year and probably
next,'' he said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Police Frustrated By Rejection Of Money-Laundering Evidence
('Victoria Times-Colonist' Follows Up On Yesterday's News
About British Columbia Judge's Dismissal Of Illegal-Drug Cases)
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 1998 08:04:00 -0800 (PST)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
From: arandell@islandnet.com (Alan Randell)
Newshawk: Alan Randell
Pubdate: February 7, 1998
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist
Contact: times@interlink.bc.ca
Police frustrated by rejection of money-laundering
evidence.
"It gets harder and harder to get (drug cases) to court."
Staff Sgt. Pat Convey.
By Sandra McCulloch, Times-Colonist Staff
Police have one less weapon at their disposal to fight
against Victoria's growing drug problem.
A B.C. Supreme Court justice has ruled the RCMP didn't
comply with the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) Act
because they encouraged, aided and abetted the people who
used a police-run currency exchange in Vancouver.
Project I Spy resulted in more than 60 charges of drug
sales through the Pacific Rim International Currency
Exchange. The ruling jeopardizes money-laundering charges
against 60 people nabbed in the sting.
Victoria defence-lawyer Jeff Green applauds the court
decision, saying, "It's perfectly legitimate for the
police to enforce the law. But the question the judge
addressed in this case is, is it legitimate for the police
to go around posing as criminals to test the virtue of
various citizens to find out which one of them will be
willing to sin?"
But local police are frustrated by the ruling, seeing one
more tool snatched from their arsenal.
"It's beyond frustrating," said Staff Sgt. Pat Convey of
the Victoria RCMP drug section.
"I haven't read the ruling or how the judgment was
rendered but this appears to put us completely in limbo.
"I've been doing this game for a long long time," Convey
said, "and it's like 'There goes another one.' Once a drug
case goes into the courts, God knows what's going to
happen. There's a hell of a lot of cases being thrown out
and that has pretty significant impact on law enforcement
and society as a whole."
Green says the police have to stop tempting people to
commit crimes who otherwise wouldn't be tempted.
"The police may, through their actions, actually persuade
people to do something illegal that they might otherwise
not have done without the intervention of the police.
"We have to decide what kind of society we want to live
in. I think (the judge) was entirely correct in finding
that the police do not have a proper role in creating
crime."
Convey believes the effect of the ruling will be far-
reaching.
"The drugs on the street here haven't decreased - they've
increased. It gets harder and harder to get (drug cases)
to the courts. Then you get a decision thrown at you from
out of the blue and you've no idea where it came from.
"Frustrating? It's more than frustrating."
Drug-trafficking isn't, as some people believe, a
victimless crime, Convey said. "When you see a 14-year-old
kid down there on the street and she's hooking so she can
get another fix of heroin and cocaine, there's your
victim. The victims are the users."
Victoria may look clean and free of crime, but the crime
is definitely there, he added. Victoria's drug problem "is
as bad as that of any city in this country, population-
wise. We've got some significant players here. The climate
and everything entices them.
"A lot of people we see in court are out on bail or on
appeal. You just keep meeting the same kinds of people.
It's a business, a sub-culture all of its own.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
It's Time For Proper Debate On Marijuana (Op-Ed In 'Lethbridge Herald'
Addresses Canadian Prohibitions On Both Medical And 'Recreational' Use)
Date: Sat, 07 Feb 1998 09:44:36
To: Mattalk@islandnet.com
From: Kathy galbraith
Subject: Art:Leth Herald:time for proper debate..
Feb.7,Sat.
The Lethbridge Herald
Contact: lherald@lis.ab.ca
Column on today's editorial page by Marlene Dean, Community Comment:
It's time for Proper Debate on Marijuana
There is a growing movement in Britain to decriminalize
the use of cannabis for medical purposes and for personal use.
The London Independent recently stated that the new Labour govt.
would like to legalize the drug, but fears a backlash from the
middle class.
Many people still carry the "reefer madness" stereotype
when it comes to marijuana, failing to distinguish this soft drug
from harmful, addictive drugs such as heroin and opium.
Proponents of decriminalization say the old idea of cannabis
as a "gateway" drug which leads to the use of hard drugs is based
only on prejudice and fear. They point to the Dutch experience.
In Holland, where the use of cannabis is now legal, licensed "coffee
houses" serve marijuana in edible form or for smoking to anyone over
16.
A recent Dutch report shows that very few young people in
Holland who use cannabis go on to take hard drugs. In fact, the
use of hard drugs has actually fallen since cannabis was legalized.
Also, solvent abuse and glue sniffing among teenagers is now
unheard of.
An editorial in a leading British medical journal, the Lancet,
goes so far as to say,
Cannabis per se is not a hazard to society, but driving it
further underground may well be."
Many advocates of decriminalization, in our own country as
well as Britain, point out that the law has not proved any more
effective in trying to stop the use of cannabis than prohibition
was in trying to stamp out the use of alcohol. The so called
"war on drugs" has simply resulted in an expanded illegal drug
empire and the enrichment of criminals.
The biggest irony in this whole situation is the fact that
patients who need marijuana for medical purposes are unable to get
the drug legally when it is so readily available on the black market.
Last July, the British Medical Association voted overwhelmingly
for cannabis to be made available for medical reasons. There is a
large body of evidence that marijuana helps reduce tremors in MS
patients and that it is useful in the treatment of glaucoma.
Scientists are being frustrated in their research on the
medical benefits of cannabis because its medical use is unlawful.
Clearly, to deny the use of a drug which may be beneficial and have
fewer side effects than those used for the same conditions seems a
disservice to society. Furthermore, to block scientific research in
this area is counter-productive.
As the debate over the legalization of cannabis for recreational
and medical purposes heats up in Britain, we can expect some
ripple effects in North America, particularly in the event the
movement for decriminalization succeeds.
We will certainly see a growing interest here in reviving
the debate over whether marijuana should be legalized. It is a
debate long overdue, and it deserves good, honest argument which
focuses on issues and facts rather than emotion.
Marlene Dean
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Missed Problems And Missed Opportunities For Addicted Doctors
('British Medical Journal' Editorial Says Britain's Current Lack
Of Rehab Services Designed For Doctors Leaves Many Addicted Physicians
Unchallenged, Untreated, And Abandoned)
Date: Mon, 09 Feb 1998 19:02:38 -0500
From: "R. Lake"
Subject: MN: UK: BMJ Editorial: Missed problems and missed opportunities
for addicted doctors
To: DrugSense News Service
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: Zosimos Source: British Medical Journal
Authors: John Strang, Michael Wilks, Brian Wells, Jane Marshall
Contact: bmj@bmj.com
Pubdate: Sat, 07 Feb 1998
Edition: BMJ No 7129 Volume 316
Editorial
MISSED PROBLEMS AND MISSED OPPORTUNITIES FOR ADDICTED DOCTORS
We need a special service for doctors addicted to drugs or alcohol
Every few days another addicted doctor comes to light in Britain. A report
from an alliance of health professional bodies, led by the British Medical
Association and published last month,(1) highlights the risk posed by such
doctors to the general public and calls for better preventive education and
awareness. It fails, however, to prioritise the need for improved treatment
for addicted doctors.(2) This need arises from the special problems facing
addicted doctors compared with other addicts and their special treatment
needs, which ordinary addiction services do not serve well.
Doctors are at special risk of developing addiction problems,(3-5) owing to
the strain of medical practice, erosion of the taboo against injecting and
opiates, and, particularly, access to supplies.(6) Once addicted, they pose
a particular risk to the general public, forcing consideration of whether
they need urgent removal from their work. Ordinarily, many patients with
drug or alcohol problems receive outpatient treatment while continuing to
work, but the same level of disability may be incompatible with medical
practice. In addition, since most doctors who become addicted to drugs
misappropriate them from work, removing the doctor from his or her work
environment may be necessary to protect both the doctor and the public.
Membership of the medical profession normally enhances access to treatment,
through knowledge of providers and the old boy network, but addicted doctors
face major problems in accessing effective treatment. Addiction fosters
isolation and denial: when present in a medical culture that prizes self
reliance and has deficient mechanisms for intervention and treatment, the
paradoxical consequence is impaired access to health care. Doctors find it
particularly difficult to access help for stigma bound problems, fearing
breaches of confidentiality and jeopardy to their reputation, professional
accreditation, and employment. The NHS reforms have further aggravated the
problem with their requirement for identifying patients referred outside
normal contracts.
The identification of addiction problems is often characterised by crisis -
perhaps following removal from the operating theatre or surgery after being
deemed intoxicated, complaints from patients, or discovery stealing drugs
from the workplace. The problem may be chronic, but the circumstances around
public exposure give the condition an acute on chronic character. Internal
investigations are often inefficient, protracted, and inhumane for a doctor
who essentially has a health problem. It is easy to see why addicted doctors
feel they cannot seek treatment. Nevertheless, such crises provide excellent
opportunities for healthcare intervention.
Providing treatment to the addict-doctor also poses challenges. Doctors have
difficulty accepting the role of patient. Clinical staff may deal with
addicted doctors differently - for example, treating them more as colleagues
and holding higher expectations for recovery, compliance, and participation
in treatment. Nevertheless, despite these complications, when addicted
doctors are comprehensively treated the outcome is good.(3)(5)(7)
Thus addicted doctors are deflected from obtaining help by numerous
obstacles and eventually come to light through distorted routes of referral
- via distraught colleagues, friends, or family seeking secret consultations
or informal opinions. Existing provision, as listed in the BMA report,(1)
falls far short of an accessible and appropriate and adequate service. A
dedicated service for addicted doctors is now long overdue.
Three distinct components of care are essential. Firstly, entry routes into
treatment should be simple and well publicised and must include crisis
intervention. Responding to a crisis such as police proceedings or exposure
at work with a distant appointment is manifestly inadequate. Not only is it
compassionate to offer urgent admission; it is also valuable to capitalise
on the motivation generated by the crisis.
Secondly, though immediate admission for assessment and detoxification is
desirable, existing addiction units often have major difficulties in
providing this care. Doctors who have committed crimes and other acts
shameful to their professional standing may have difficulty sharing these
episodes with a non-medical peer group. Other patients may express outrage
at a fellow patient who is a doctor. The addict-doctor may therefore need
treatment in a dedicated unit - probably alongside other addicted healthcare
professionals.
Thirdly, special arrangements for supervision and post-treatment monitoring
are essential, especially if the recovering addict-doctor returns to work.
Progress may need to be "policed" by a supervising consultant in liaison
with the recovering doctor's employer or senior colleagues. Support systems
such as peer groups(8) and counselling are pivotal factors in maintaining
recovery.(9) Monitoring should include random collection of supervised urine
or hair samples for analysis(10) and should generally continue for some two
years.
The phenomenon of the addicted doctor may shock and offend. Nevertheless, it
must be addressed by both the profession and employers as an important cause
of impaired performance through ill health. In America, state level
"impaired physician" schemes(7)(11,12) ensure that addicted doctors are
confronted, receive adequate treatment, and return to work under
supervision. Other countries may feel less comfortable with such
interventions, but, as the BMA report illustrates,(1) greater professional
awareness at all levels and visible dedicated services will enable many
doctors to avoid the tragic consequences of drug and alcohol dependence that
can so affect their patients, their family, and their careers. The current
lack of a dedicated service leaves many addicted doctors unchallenged,
untreated, and abandoned: the BMA report's failure to deal with comment on
this point is an important shortcoming in an otherwise excellent document.
With good outcomes from treatment of this group (on whose training so much
has already been expended), there are compelling grounds for such a
development. The addicted doctor, the profession, and the general public
would all benefit.
John Strang, Professor of the addictions National Addiction Centre,
Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF
Michael Wilks, Chairman Medical Ethics Committee, British Medical
Association, London WC1H 9JP
Brian Wells, Medical director Riverside Mental Health Trust, London W6 8DW.
Jane Marshall, Consultant psychiatrist in the addictions National Addiction
Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF
References
1 Working Group on the Misuse of Alcohol and Other Drugs by Doctors. The
misuse of alcohol and other drugs by doctors. London: British Medical
Association, 1988.
2 British Medical Association. Chemical dependence in the medical
profession. London: British Medical Association, 1995.
3 Vaillant G E, Brighton J R, McArthur C. Physicians' use of mood-altering
drugs: a twenty-year follow-up report. N Engl J Med 1970;282:365-70.
4 McAuliffe W E. Nontherapeutic opiate addiction in health professionals: a
new form of impairment. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse 1984;10:1-22.
5 Brooke D, Edwards G, Andrews T. Doctors and substance misuse: types of
doctor, types of problem. Addiction 1993;88:655-63.
6 Winick C. A theory of drug dependence based on role, access to, and
attitudes towards drugs. In: Lettieri DJ, Sayers M, Pearson H, eds. Theories
on drug abuse: selected contemporary perspectives. Rockville, Maryland:
National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1980.
7 Talbott G D, Gallegos K V, Wilson P O, Porter T L. The Medical Association
of Georgia's impaired physicians program: review of the first 1000
physicians, analysis of specialty. JAMA 1987;257:2927-30.
8 Chappel J N. (1991) The use of alcoholics anonymous and narcotics
anonymous by the physician in treating drug and alcohol addiction. In:
Miller NS, ed. Comprehensive handbook of drug and alcohol addiction. New
York: Marcel Dekker, 1991:1079-88.
9 Coombs R H. Drug-impaired professionals. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press, 1997.
10 Strang J, Black J, Marsh A, Smith B. Hair analysis for drugs:
technological breakthrough or ethical quagmire? Addiction 1993;88:165-8.
11 Shore J H. The Oregon experience with impaired physicians on probation:
an 8-year follow-up. JAMA 1987;257:2931-4.
12 Pelton C, Ikeda R M. The California physicians diversion program's
experience with recovering anesthesiologists. J Psychoactive Drugs
1991;23:427-31.
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Boy, 10, Found Taking Cocaine (Actually, According To Britain's 'Guardian,'
Leeds Boy's Use Was Discovered By Social Workers Using Urine Tests,
And Director Of Leeds Social Services Suggests Boy Was Experimenting -
No Suggestion Regulating Adult Use Might Work Better At Protecting Children)
Date: Mon, 09 Feb 1998 18:50:04 -0500
From: "R. Lake"
Subject: MN: UK: Boy, 10, found taking Cocaine
To: DrugSense News Service
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: Zosimos
Pubdate: Sat, 07 Feb 1998
Source: The Guardian
Author: Ruaridh Nicoll
Contact: letters@guardian.co.uk
BOY, 10, FOUND TAKING COCAINE
A 10-year old boy has been taken into care after social workers found out he
had a cocaine habit.
The social workers were ordered to hand the boy over to foster parents after
Leeds magistrates' court heard evidence last week of his "abysmal"
attendance record at school and his drug abuse.
"This case is extremely disturbing," said Keith Murray, Director of Leeds
Social Services. "It is unusual to come across a boy on hard drugs at this
age.
"Courts do not allow us to remove children if there is not enough evidence
to show the welfare and health of the young person is at risk."
A urine sample from the boy revealed the presence of the drug.
Care workers said they could not remember coming across a younger child in
the county who had taken hard drugs.
"As a father I find this extremely worrying," said Mr Murray. "If he were to
experiment too often, he would become addicted."
Officials in Leeds, struggling to control the city's drugs problem, are
worried about the implications that the boy's case raises.
"The really worrying fact is that a person of this age could get access to
this drug," said Mr Murray. "It suggests there are unscrupulous pushers who
couldn't care less whom they damage."
The boy told social workers he had discovered the drugs at home, a claim
police have not been able to prove. Detective Chief Inspector Gerry
Dickinson, head of West Yorkshire drugs squad, said the boy could have died
if the drug was pure.
Last month Allan Harper, a 13-year-old from Glasgow, died from an suspected
heroin overdose.
to 1998 Daily News index for February 5-11