-------------------------------------------------------------------
Medical Pot Law A Headache For Cops ('San Francisco Examiner'
Notes San Francisco Police Department's Top Anti-Drug Enforcer,
Lt. Mike Puccinelli, Complains Officers Have To Determine
When Pot Is Legitimate, Even Though Rules Aren't Clearly Spelled Out,
But Supervisor Tom Ammiano, Who Held A City Hall Hearing Thursday
On City's Compliance With California Compassionate Use Act, Is Calling For
Coordinated Effort Among City Agencies To Address Everything
From Access To Enforcement)
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 16:06:08 -0800
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: jwjohnson@netmagic.net (Joel W. Johnson)
Subject: MN: US CA: Medical Pot Law A Headache For Cops
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: "Frank S. World"
Source: San Francisco Examiner
Contact: letters@examiner.com
Website: http://www.examiner.com
Pubdate: Fri, 13 Feb 1998
Author: Rachel Gordon of the Examiner Staff
MEDICAL POT LAW A HEADACHE FOR COPS
The San Francisco Police Department's top anti-drug enforcer is calling the
state law allowing the medicinal use of marijuana a giant law enforcement
headache fueled by confusion.
Lt. Mike Puccinelli, who heads the SFPD narcotics division, said officers
have to determine when the use and possession of pot is legitimate and when
it is not even though the rules aren't clearly spelled out.
The district attorney faces a similar dilemma.
Both San Francisco police brass and District Attorney Terence Hallinan have
said they don't want to deprive anyone of marijuana used for medicinal
purposes, but until there are clarifications in the law, confusion reigns.
"We're in a horrible position now," Puccinelli said. "It's a big mess."
Since California voters approved Proposition 215 in 1996 by a 6-4 ratio,
local jurisdictions have been grappling with how to handle it.
Such cities as San Jose and Fairfax in Marin County have provided permits
for pot clubs to operate, and now several elected officials in San
Francisco are contemplating a similar move.
The City's Health Department is on record in support of Prop. 215 and
issued guidelines to local doctors on which patients should be considered
for the therapy and under what circumstances. They also outline the
potential benefits and risks of pot.
The ground-breaking California law allows people to grow and possess
marijuana, if it is recommended by a doctor for treatment of symptoms
related to such illnesses as AIDS, cancer, arthritis, glaucoma and
migraines.
Supervisor Tom Ammiano, who held a City Hall hearing Thursday on San
Francisco's response to the state law, said he has no doubt that there's
the political will in The City to assure sick people access to pot.
"What concerns me is that the nuts and bolts aren't there to withstand the
attacks," Ammiano said.
He's calling for a coordinated effort among city agencies to address
everything from access to enforcement.
Gary Johnson, who has AIDS and is in a constant battle to keep weight on
his fragile frame, pleaded with city officials to defy state and federal
authorities and do everything they can to provide people in need with their
voter-given right to marijuana.
"Don't they know that people are sick and dying?" he asked. "A lot of
people don't know how much this fight has taken out of people. But I'd
rather break the law and give them a joint than watch them starve."
While the Health Department is moving forward through medical channels, the
district attorney and police have put on hold the drafting of their
guidelines, while the fate of Prop. 215 is debated in the courts and the
state Legislature. The law does not address such issues of supply and
distribution, and raises questions in other areas, opening the door to
legal attacks.
Puccinelli recounted a recent incident in which an officer came upon two
men smoking pot in Boedekker Park -- a well-known haven in the Tenderloin
for drugs and related crimes. One of the men said he needed marijuana
because he was sick, and offered to share it with his friend, whose use did
not fall under Prop. 215's jurisdiction. Situations like that, Puccinelli
said, are troublesome for police who don't want to harass sick people but
who also are charged with enforcing anti-drug laws.
Neighbors of such parks as Boedekker and Mission Dolores in the Mission
District, for example, have called on police to crack down on the rampant
use and sale of illegal drugs in their areas.
"If you allow people to smoke marijuana in public, that's going to cause a
problem," Puccinelli said.
There's also dispute over whether San Francisco police are arresting and
citing people who have marijuana for medical purposes. Wayne Justmann,
representing the Cannabis Cultivators Club -- the pot club started by the
father of the movement, Dennis Peron -- said he gets reports two or three
times a week from people who say they were unfairly harassed by cops.
Ammiano said guidelines must be drawn that clearly outline police
enforcement policy.
One speaker said a ban on outdoor use wouldn't be fair to homeless people,
who have a difficult time finding refuge indoors.
An alternative, at least for now, are cannabis buyers clubs, where people
go to smoke or ingest pot. There are five operating in San Francisco, but
federal law enforcers have tried to shut them. Critics of the clubs say
they don't limit their services to the ill. "There's a chilling effect out
there right now," Ammiano said. "Even though some of the cannabis centers
are open, there's still grave concern that there can be a bust."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Satcher Dodges Cannabis Decrim Question ('New York Times' Notes
Dr. David Satcher Sworn In As US Surgeon General For Five-Year Term -
Office Vacant For Three Years, Since Dr. Joycelyn Elders Was Dismissed
In December 1994 After Suggesting Decriminalization Of Marijuana
Be Considered - Satcher Says He 'Doesn't Have The Information
That Would Lead Me To Favor Decriminalization')
Date: Sun, 15 Feb 1998 19:11:05 -0500
To: DrugSense News Service
From: Richard Lake
Subject: MN: US: Wire: Satcher dodges cannabis decrim question
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: David.Hadorn@vuw.ac.nz (David Hadorn)
Source: New York Times news service
Pubdate: Friday, February 13, 1998
AFTER 3-YEAR GAP, SURGEON GENERAL'S POST IS FILLED
WASHINGTON -- Pledging to ``live and to share the fundamental values that
my parents instilled in me,'' Dr. David Satcher, the son of poor farmers
from rural Alabama who grew up to become one of the nation's most prominent
doctors, was sworn in at the White House on Friday and became the first
surgeon general in more than three years.
``There's no doubt,'' Vice President Al Gore said as President Clinton and
Satcher's family looked on, ``that from today forward, all Americans will
truly be able to say that the doctor is in.''
After the vice president had administered the oath in the Oval Office,
Satcher, who until Friday was director of the federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, said, ``It is a privilege to have this opportunity
to give back to America what America has given me.''
The ceremony came on the heels of a bitter confirmation battle in which
conservative senators led by John Ashcroft, R-Mo., attacked Satcher for
opposing a ban on ``partial birth abortion'' that did not provide an
exception to protect a pregnant woman's health. A bipartisan coalition
nonetheless won Senate confirmation for the nominee Tuesday, and in his
remarks Friday, Satcher thanked the senators who had supported him.
``I want to especially applaud the Senate for conducting such a lively and
healthy debate,'' he said, drawing laughter. ``I feel good about that.''
Satcher had earlier sailed through his confirmation hearing, and at a brief
news conference after the ceremony he said he had been caught off guard by
the ensuing controversy in the full Senate. He pronounced himself happy to
have ``survived the debate.''
The bearded, bespectacled Satcher wore the distinctive navy blue uniform of
the surgeon general, with its double-breasted jacket, gold buttons and
gold-striped cuffs. It was a particularly triumphant moment for the
56-year-old family-practice physician, sickle-cell expert and medical
school president, who overcame the poverty and segregation of his years as
a black youth in the rural South. He pledged to ``make the greatest
difference for those with the greatest need, regardless of race, color or
creed.''
``The American dream does not end when it comes true,'' he said.
``Achieving this dream presents a new challenge to give others the chance
to achieve their own American dream.''
He quoted Robert Frost -- his wife, Nola, is herself a poet -- saying, ``I
have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.''
The surgeon general's term is five years, and so Satcher should have two
years into the next presidential administration to keep those promises.
Satcher said it was too soon to know what his top priorities would be. He
said he wanted first ``to listen for a while'' to the health concerns of
the American people. But, sounding familiar themes, he said he would spread
awareness of the importance of physical activity, good nutrition, avoiding
drugs and shunning tobacco, ``our leading killer.''
The surgeon general's job has become a political lightning rod, with
incumbents tackling such delicate matters as teen-age sexuality and the
idea of distributing clean needles to drug addicts. The previous surgeon
general, Dr. Joycelyn Elders, was dismissed by Clinton in December 1994 for
making impolitic remarks about masturbation and other matters, including
her suggestion that decriminalization of marijuana be considered.
Satcher, who gamely confessed Friday to having read Dr. Elders'
autobiography, is widely expected to avoid that kind of controversy.
Indeed, when Sam Donaldson, the White House correspondent for ABC News,
tried to bait him into talking about marijuana, Satcher deftly avoided the
decriminalization question.
Donaldson, undaunted, pressed on.
``No,'' the new surgeon general finally said, ``I don't have the
information that would lead me to favor decriminalization.''
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Clinton Launches $17.1 Billion Anti-Drug Strategy ('Reuters' Notes
Proposal For $17.1 Billion Budget For Drug Czar's Office To Do More Of The Same
Comes Despite Its Own Litany Of Failures On Every Front
Of War On Some Drugs - Interesting Statistics Cited
Include $30 Billion Americans Still Spend On Cocaine)
Date: Mon, 16 Feb 1998 08:32:08 -0800
From: Paul Freedom
Organization: Oregon State Patriots
To: Cannabis Patriots
Subject: CanPat> Prohibition lays down victory flag and raises
white flag....17 billion? What a waste of cash!!!!!!!
Sender: owner-cannabis-patriots-l@teleport.com
Date: Mon, 16 Feb 1998 11:19:48 -0500
From: Cheryl Dykstra & Scott Dykstra
Organization: Dykstra Computer Repair Service
To: nepal@teleport.com
CC: phoenix@nospam.lm.com, rumba2@earthlink.net
05:59 PM ET 02/13/98
Clinton launches $17.1 billion anti-drug strategy
(Adds details, drugs background, expert comment)
By Anthony Boadle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Clinton on Friday approved
his drug chief's strategy to halve the use of illegal drugs in
the United States in 10 years and deal with growing abuse among
young Americans.
White House drug policy director Gen. Barry McCaffrey said
the plan's primary goal was to educate U.S. children about the
dangers of taking destructive narcotics such as cocaine, heroin
and, increasingly, methamphetamine.
``The heart and soul of the strategy is to get kids aged
nine through 19 into college and the work place without having
done a lot of pot,'' McCaffrey said in a press briefing.
Clinton's $17.1 billion federal drug budget proposal for the
next fiscal year includes a 14.5 percent increase in funding for
efforts aimed at youth.
Drug experts, however, said 1999 drug budget spends far too
much on repressing drug abusers and too little on preventing
youths taking to drugs.
Clinton will discuss the strategy on Saturday in his weekly
radio address.
It calls for $195 million to be spent on a national media
campaign aimed at young people and their parents to foster
values that reject the use of drugs. It also plans to deploy
1,300 drug prevention coordinators in 6,500 middle schools.
The federal drug budget has risen from $15 billion in 1997
to $16 billion in 1998 and the White House has proposed spending
an additional $1 billion for the next fiscal year.
``The budget is basically another billion dollars for the
same old thing,'' said Mathea Falco, president of the nonprofit
research institute Drug Strategies.
``Prevention remains the smallest portion of the budget,
even though that's where the need is greatest,'' she said.
The government's strategy seeks to lower the number of
Americans regularly using narcotics from six percent, or 13
million people today, to under three percent in 10 years.
Drug officials said the number of regular cocaine users in
the United States had dropped from six million a decade ago to
1.7 million at present.
While cocaine remains the most serious drug threat to U.S.
society -- Americans spend an estimated $30 billion a year on
the drug -- the officials said methamphetamine, a powerful
stimulant first used by bikers in California, was fast becoming
the country's main drug problem.
It is cheap and easy to make, with recipes published on the
Internet, and is known as the poor man's cocaine.
``We are going to see more of that. Meth just exploded from
being a West coast biker drug and it is now the dominant drug
threat in Boise, Idaho, Arizona, California, Hawaii and even
rural Kansas,'' McCaffrey said.
Unlike cocaine, made in South America and smuggled into the
United States across Mexico or the Caribbean, methamphetamine is
mainly manufactured in the United States.
``This isn't a foreign drug problem,'' said Falco. ``It
could easily become as bad as the crack cocaine epidemic was.''
She said one in five sixth-graders in Arizona have used
methamphetamine in the last year.
Falco said the heroin now available in the United States was
so pure and cheap that people were smoking and snorting the drug
as if it was cocaine.
***
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO CANNABIS PATRIOTS
Send e-mail to majordomo@teleport.com
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in the body of the message.
Or e-mail me if you have trouble or
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Paul Freedom
-------------------------------------------------------------------
White House Crafts Plan To Halve Illicit Drug Trade ('Los Angeles Times'
Account Of Drug-War Budget For ONDCP Celebrates Clinton's 10-Year-Plan
To Cut 'Chronic Drug Users' In Half As If It Weren't Just More Of The Same Old
Failed Policies Based On False Assumptions)
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 15:42:28 -0800
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: jwjohnson@netmagic.net (Joel W. Johnson)
Subject: MN: US: White House Crafts Plan to Halve Illicit Drug Trade
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: Jim Rosenfield and David.Hadorn@vuw.ac.nz (David Hadorn)
Source: Los Angeles Times
Contact: letters@latimes.com
Fax: 213-237-4712
Pubdate: February 13, 1998
Author: Robert L. Jackson, Times Staff Writer
WHITE HOUSE CRAFTS PLAN TO HALVE ILLICIT DRUG TRADE
Ambitious strategy for next decade outlines goals based on cooperation
among federal agencies but allocates no additional money.
WASHINGTON--The White House, in perhaps the most ambitious anti-drug effort
the nation has undertaken, has devised a plan that aims to cut illicit drug
supply and demand in half over the next decade.
The plan, to be released Saturday by President Clinton but obtained by The
Times, contains specific 10-year goals for federal agencies involved in
stemming the flow of drugs into the United States, as well as those
departments involved in educating youths about narcotics abuse and reducing
drug use in the workplace. The plan represents the first time the
government has issued specific targets for such sharp reductions in drug
use. However, among criticisms it is likely to encounter is that its lofty
goals are not backed up by money, at least for now. Clinton's latest budget
proposal, for instance, does not envision massive spending increases for
drug control.
The plan, authored by Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, the White House coordinator
of drug-control policy, says a cooperative approach by agencies such as the
Drug Enforcement Administration, the Customs Service, the Coast Guard and
Border Patrol can dramatically cut production of cocaine and heroin abroad
and that new technology can be used to vastly decrease drug smuggling.
"Drug prevention, education and treatment must be complemented by supply
reduction actions abroad, on our borders and within the United States,"
McCaffrey declares in a draft of his "1998 National Drug Control Strategy."
The annual report is being sent to some members of Congress and others in
advance of its official release. Although drug use has decreased in the
United States--from a high of 25 million people in 1979 to an estimated 13
million in 1996--experts believe a much greater reduction can be
accomplished.
Also, the effects of drug use are often felt disproportionately, they
contend. In neighborhoods where illegal drug markets flourish, crime and
violence are more common.
McCaffrey said targets over the next 10 years include reducing "the
availability and demand for illicit drugs" by 50% and cutting the number of
"hronic drug users" in half within the decade.
He also proposed halving "the prevalence of drug use in the workplace"
within the next 10 years and "increasing the proportion of school districts
that have implemented drug programs."
Referring to the dramatic 10-year target of cutting supply and demand in
half, McCaffrey said: "If this goal is achieved, just 3% of the household
population aged 12 and over would use illegal drugs. This level would be
the lowest recorded drug-use rate in American history."
Mark Kleiman, a drug control expert at UCLA's School of Public Policy,
while reserving judgment of the plan until he could review it, questioned
whether its goals, even if achieved, would have as much impact as some
might expect. "The real damage to our well-being and to our kids is caused
by a relatively small number of users and dealers," Kleiman said.
The plan also would institute what McCaffrey called "performance measures
of effectiveness" to gauge progress by executive branch agencies in meeting
his goals. In a separate volume to be released later, departments will be
given specific benchmarks by which their anti-narcotics efforts will be
measured.
In general, according to the report, these goals include efforts to
"increase the percentage of drugs seized, jettisoned or destroyed in
transit and arrival zones" and to disrupt drug-trafficking organizations
to "reduce the rate of specified drug- related violent crimes."
Drug education goals are grouped under such headings as "pursue a vigorous
media campaign," "provide sound school-based prevention programs" and
"develop community coalitions."
Officials of some agencies reportedly have complained that such measures
represent an unwanted intrusion on their own management prerogatives, and
McCaffrey concedes there are some in government who "are watching this with
differing views."
But he insisted, "Over time this will work." If not, some of the 82
performance goals he lists "may be revised each year" if they prove
unworkable, he said. As recently submitted to Congress, Clinton's budget
for the 1999 fiscal year calls for spending $1.1 billion more for
drug-control measures across all departments, representing slightly less
than a 7% increase over the current year. Of this, the Border Patrol would
be given $163.2 million, including $24.5 million for drug interdiction,
largely along the Mexican border. This budget request includes 1,000 new
officers as well as "funding for new technology which will enable the
Border Patrol to allocate agents more efficiently based on current
information regarding illegal alien traffic," according to McCaffrey's
report.
Some congressional critics question whether McCaffrey's goals are overly
optimistic in view of this relatively modest increase in drug-control
programs. But McCaffrey insisted his ambitious goals were not lightly
drafted. They resulted from consultation with many anti-narcotics experts
both within and outside government and can be achieved without large-scale
spending increases, he said.
Not unexpectedly, McCaffrey's report listed as one of his leading
objectives improved "bilateral and regional cooperation" with Mexico and
other Latin American nations to reduce smuggling of cocaine and heroin.
"Mexico, both a transit zone for cocaine and heroin and a source country
for heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana, is key to reducing the flow of
illegal drugs into the United States," the report says.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bills Get Tough On Drunken Drivers ('Associated Press' Says
Washington State Senate Approves Politically Chic Anti-Drunken Driver Bills,
But Not Money To Enforce Them - As If Legislature Ever Appropriated
All Money Needed To Arrest, Prosecute, Imprison 7 Percent Of Population
Using Illegal Drugs)
From: "W.H.E.N."
To: "Hemp Talk"
Subject: HT: ART: DUI crackdowns not backed by money
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 21:49:07 -0800
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net
Copyright (c) 1998 The Seattle Times Company
Posted at 02:16 a.m. PST; Friday, February 13, 1998
Bills get tough on drunken drivers
by Hal Spencer Associated Press
OLYMPIA - The Republican Senate approved some of the heap of bills to get a
grip on drunken drivers, but not before many warned that the politically
chic proposals could ring hollow without money to enforce them.
The Senate yesterday sent the House four of seven measures on the calendar
intended to keep drunken drivers out of their cars, and to hit them harder
when they do drive.
The remaining three are expected to pass in the coming days.
The proposals range from automatic license suspensions and auto
impoundments before conviction, even for first offenders, to forced
installation of equipment to prevent drunken drivers from starting their
cars. The bills, pushed by Senate Law & Justice Chairwoman Pam Roach,
R-Auburn, also carry heavier fines and more jail time for offenders.
In a rare display of bipartisan concern, one senator after another took the
floor to complain that the legislation was more theater than reality
because there was no money included to help local police, prosecutors,
courts and jails pay to enforce the proposals.
The fight over funding for the package helped stall passage of the
remaining three bills. "It's too hot right now," Roach said. "We'll come
back another day and do the others."
Senators from both parties joined to amend three of the four bills that
passed to specify that state government must cover any additional costs of
the laws to local governments.
"Without the resources to enforce these laws, the public will be no more
safe tomorrow than today," said Sen. Valoria Loveland, D-Pasco.
Sen. Shirley Winsley, R-Fircrest, said that as a child, she lost her father
to a drunken driver, but nonetheless couldn't support the measures without
amendments to provide the money to enforce them.
"None of these proposals will do anything without the funding to carry them
out," she said.
She and others noted that none of the measures was examined by the Senate
budget committee, even though local government lobbyists have insisted that
many of them could have a substantial financial impact on local
governments.
Washington Association of Counties lobbyist Michael Shaw said it is hard to
pin down costs before local governments actually put the new laws into
effect. But there are indications they could run into the millions of
dollars.
Senate budget chief James West, R-Spokane, said he thought the measures'
fiscal impact would not be that great, and that's why his Ways and Means
Committee did not feel it necessary to study the proposals.
Democratic Gov. Gary Locke, West said, also thinks the fiscal impact of the
package would not be significant.
But that isn't the sentiment in the Republican House, where judiciary panel
Chairman Larry Sheahan, R-Rosalia, has proposed a more modest package of
four bills to tighten the grip on drunken drivers.
"We'll look at the Senate bills, but we are concerned that we not send
local governments more mandates than they can afford," he said.
The Senate voted under the watchful gaze of Keith Johnsen of Issaquah,
whose wife, Mary, was killed by a drunken driver last summer. The case had
much to do with the energy behind the legislation. Susan West, the drunken
driver who struck Mary Johnsen as she walked a neighborhood road with her
husband, had a long drunken-driving history, yet still had her driver's
license.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Mexico Drug War Diverts Cocaine Back To Florida ('Reuters'
Quotes DEA Official Alleging Bloody Drug War In Ciudad Juarez, Mexico,
Is Forcing Cocaine Cartels To Shift Smuggling Routes
From US-Mexico Border Back To Florida)
Date: Mon, 16 Feb 1998 11:17:02 -0500
From: Cheryl Dykstra & Scott Dykstra
Organization: Dykstra Computer Repair Service
To: cannabis-patriots-l@teleport.com
CC: rumba2@earthlink.net, phoenix@nospam.lm.com
Subject: CanPat> Profits continue to feed drug war...Prohibition lays in the mud
Sender: owner-cannabis-patriots-l@teleport.com
06:33 PM ET 02/13/98
Mexico drug war diverts cocaine back to Florida
By Jodi Bizar
EL PASO, Texas (Reuters) - A bloody drug war in Ciudad
Juarez, Mexico is forcing cocaine cartels to shift smuggling
routes from the U.S.-Mexico border back to Florida, a U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration official said.
Nearly eight months after the death of drug kingpin Amado
Carrillo Fuentes, executions and in-fighting have left his once
finely-tuned drug cartel in shambles, with the result that
Colombian traffickers are returning to Florida to move their
product into the United States.
``It's a shift in trafficking back to Miami,'' said Tom
Kennedy, DEA agent in charge of the southwest Texas border city
of El Paso. ``It's back to Miami because the Juarez groups are
disorganized.''
Years ago Miami was the main U.S. entryway for narcotics,
but a crackdown in the 1980s forced Colombian drug lords to
shift most of their illegal drug smuggling activities to Mexico
and the U.S. Southwest.
But when Carrillo Fuentes, leader of one of Mexico's most
powerful cartels, died during a botched plastic surgery
operation in Mexico City on July 4, a war erupted between
factions angling for control of the multibillion-dollar illegal
drug empire.
With an estimated 40 to 50 people executed in the Ciudad
Juarez drug war so far, Colombian dealers of cocaine, heroin and
marijuana are finding new drug routes through Puerto Rico.
The drugs go from Puerto Rico to Miami and then throughout
the United States, DEA reports show.
Aside from escaping the chaos in Ciudad Juarez, the
Colombian druglords benefit from Puerto Rico's status as a U.S.
possession because packages sent from the island are less
closely inspected for drugs than those from other countries, the
reports said.
Also, the Puerto Ricans take a smaller cut of the loads --
25 to 40 percent versus 50 percent demanded by the Mexicans,
they said.
Kennedy said the shift to Florida does not mean that
drug-smuggling is a dying business in northern Mexico. In fact,
local officials told Reuters they had noticed no decline in the
quantity of drug seizures.
But intelligence reports indicate the move to Florida, he
said.
Ciudad Juarez' future as a drug gateway remains uncertain,
mostly because it is impossible to know how the drug war will
end, he added.
``The blood bath will reach a crescendo of violence. Then
there will emerge a winner and depending on who the winner is,
it will get better or worse,'' he said.
Although almost all the executions in the war have occurred
in Ciudad Juarez, Kennedy pointed out that the violence is
starting to spill over into El Paso just across the Rio Grande.
He said the execution of a 24-year-old El Pasoan, Humberto Lara,
was related to the killings in Ciudad Juarez.
Lara was gunned down Sept. 4 in his car while driving on
Interstate 10 in El Paso. The case is still being investigated
by police.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Rebagliati Case Message Concerns Educators, Police ('London Free Press'
In Ontario Solicits Drug Warriors' Spin On Canadian Snowboarder
Ross Rebagliati Testing Positive For Pot After Winning Olympic Gold Medal -
'It Says To Young People, This Marijuana Thing's Not So Bad')
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 15:33:25 -0800
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: jwjohnson@netmagic.net (Joel W. Johnson)
Subject: MN: Canada: Rebagliati Case Message Concerns Educators, Police
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: creator@mapinc.org
Source: London Free Press (Canada)
Contact: letters@lfpress.com
Website: http://www.canoe.ca/LondonFreePress/home.html
Pubdate: February 13, 1998
Author: Julie Carl -- Free Press Reporter
REBAGLIATI CASE MESSAGE CONCERNS EDUCATORS, POLICE
'IT SAYS . . . THIS THING'S NOT SO BAD'
Hours of class time spent teaching kids the evils of drugs crashed up
against a very different message awash in nationalistic fervor when
Canadian snowboarder Ross Rebagliati tested positive for pot, a sociologist
says.
"It says to . . . young people 'This marijuana thing's not so bad,' "
University of Western Ontario sociology professor Paul Whitehead said
Thursday. "It sends the message `This is not a big deal.' "
Whitehead, also a school board trustee, said he was surprised by strong
public opinion that the International Olympic Committee should have
overlooked Rebagliati's positive test for use of the illegal drug as "a
minor infraction, almost a technicality."
Rebagliati, of Whistler, B.C., was stripped of his gold medal after testing
positive for marijuana use. The Canadian Olympic Association won its appeal
of the decision and his medal was reinstated.
NATIONALISM
Whitehead credited part of the public's support of Rebagliati to nationalism.
"If this had been an African-American kid from the U.S. who tested positive
and the Canadian kid came second, how willing would we be to say, 'Oh, it's
only a little marijuana?' "
But Whitehead said more than national fervor shaped public opinion in this
case. Canadians' mixed feelings on the effects of smoking marijuana also
played a role, he said.
NO CONSENSUS ON POT
There's less consensus among Canadians on marijuana use than on other
illicit drug use, he said. It could be argued heroin, like marijuana, is
not a performance-enhancing drug, but the public would probably not be so
accepting if Rebagliati tested positive for heroin use, Whitehead said.
Const. Christine Vallee, a London police officer, teaches the VIP program
-- Values, Influences, Peers, -- to Grade 6 pupils and the DAP -- Drug
Awareness Program -- to Grade 11 students.
Vallee said she's not comfortable with students hearing the message
marijuana use is "not a big deal."
"I try to stay away from debates on legalization," she said. "I'm there to
let them know what the law is and what the consequences are if they do
break the law."
Vallee, who's currently wrapping up the six-session VIP program at 22
elementary schools, said she expects Grade 11 students to be more aware of
the case when she begins teaching the DAP program.
Whitehead suggested parents use "the teachable moment" of the Rebagliati
case to talk to their children about it.
A colleague of Whitehead's reported to him his surprise at finding when he
talked to his children -- pupils in grades four, five and six -- they
didn't know marijuana was an illegal drug in Canada.
Discussing the fairness of applying the same standards of drug testing to
all sports could be a jumping off point for parents, Whitehead said.
NO QUESTIONS
Richard Cook, vice-principal of Wortley Road Public School, said pupils had
not been asking about marijuana use or the public's apparent acceptance of
it.
But he had an informal chat this week with some Grade 7 and 8 pupils who
wanted to talk about applying drug testing rules fairly.
Don Varnell, associate superintendent of program services with the Thames
Valley District school board, said school administrators and principals
haven't asked board staff for guidance on how to deal with the issue in the
classroom. But, he said, the VIP program is an appropriate place for any
discussion.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Marijuana Penalty Should Have Stood (Self-Righteous 'Philadelphia Inquirer'
Sports Columnist Says Giving Gold Medal Back To Snowboarder
Who Tested Positive For Cannabis 'Just Reinforced The Impression
Rebagliati Has That A Lifestyle That Involves Regular Exposure To Drugs
Is Accepted In The Olympic Community')
Date: Tue, 17 Feb 1998 23:12:26 -0500
To: DrugSense News Service
From: Richard Lake
Subject: MN: Column: Marijuana Penalty Should Have Stood
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: Tom Gordon
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
Author: Timothy Dwyer, Sports section columnist
Contact: editpage@aol.com
Pubdate: 13 Feb 1998
Website: http://www.phillynews.com/inquirer/
MARIJUANA PENALTY SHOULD HAVE STOOD
NAGANO, Japan -- If David Stern ever decides to retire as NBA commissioner,
there will be a job waiting for him on the International Olympic Committee.
Or if there's no vacancy there, he could always work for the International
Ski Federation (FIS). Stern would fit right in. The NBA, IOC and FIS all
have the same limp-vertebrae policy regarding marijuana.
It took Ross Rebagliati, a Canadian snowboarder, to expose the loophole in
the IOC's drug policy. He won a gold medal for snowboarding in the giant
slalom and tested positive for marijuana afterward, so the IOC wanted the
gold back.
Canada appealed the IOC decision. Officials argued that the IOC's policy on
"social" drugs is to defer to the international federation that governs the
sport of the busted athlete. In Rebagliati's case, that was the FIS. And
the FIS rules state that penalties "may" be imposed if a skier tests
positive for marijuana.
The amount of pot found in the blood of Rebagliati was minimal. He admitted
to having smoked marijuana regularly until last April. He said he had
tested positive because he had inhaled second-hand marijuana smoke at a
party his friends threw for him before he left for the Olympics. He said
his exposure to the second-hand smoke had come over an "extended" period of
time.
Japanese police questioned him. They searched his bags and his room and
found no pot. They believed his story. And he got his medal back.
This morning, at a news confer ence, he promised that he had learned a
great deal from the experience. He said he would now take an anti-drug
stance. That sounded well and good, but when asked for details of exactly
how he planned to do it, he revealed that he had learned nothing at all.
"I'm not going to change my friends for you," he told reporters. "I might
have to wear a gas mask around them."
He said this while wearing his gold medal around his neck. Someone should
have snatched it from him then and there.
Either you have a drug policy or you don't. Olympic athletes are not
allowed to take some cold medicines because they contain drugs considered
performance-enhancing. You can have your gold medal taken away for taking
Sudafed, but if you admit to being a habitual marijuana smoker, they hold a
news conference to celebrate finding a loophole in the drug policy.
I couldn't help but think about Allen Iverson as I listened to Rebagliati
make a fool out of himself this morning.
Iverson was pulled over by a cop on an interstate in Virginia. He was a
passenger in his own car. The driver had been speeding, and the police
officer found a couple of joints under the passenger seat. Iverson said
the marijuana didn't belong to him.
Not many people believed him. Automatically, everybody assumed the worst of
Iverson. Young black man and marijuana equals guilt.
Rebagliati, young white man from the Canadian resort town of Whistler,
admitted to smoking pot -- though he stopped long enough to compete in the
Olympics -- and admitted having been at a party in his honor where there
was so much smoke in the air that someone could get high just from
breathing. Most people assumed that he was a victim of second-hand smoke.
Most Olympic athletes pay supreme sacrifices to get to the Games. Real
athletes -- and snowboarders don't fall into this category -- spend untold
hours training, getting themselves into mega-shape. They are away from
families and friends for months at a time while they train. They make these
sacrifices for the chance to compete at the Games.
The only sacrifice Rebagliati made is to give up smoking dope for 10
months. But he wouldn't even take the small step of staying out of a room
when his pals were lighting up.
Young people make mistakes. Rebagliati said that this morning at his news
conference. He said, rightly, that bad things happen for good reasons, that
lessons are learned.
What exactly had he learned? That, as an athlete, he should take an
anti-drug stand. Yes. He said he would do that. But he refused to send that
message to his closest friends.
Only his first Olympics and he's already in the hypocritical flow of
things. The kid has a future.
So what, exactly, have we learned from this? That "social" drugs "may" be
illegal in the Olympics.
That is an unworkable policy. Either drugs are legal or they're not. And if
they are illegal, then testing positive for even a small amount must mean
disqualification.
Taking the gold medal away from Rebagliati was a tough penalty for what
sounds like a youthful misjudgment. But it was the right thing to do.
Giving it back, as we witnessed this morning, just reinforced the
impression Rebagliati has that a lifestyle that involves regular exposure
to drugs is accepted in the Olympic community.
And that's just plain wrong.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Golden High - Get Baked, Snowboard, Keep Gold Medal, Not Bad
('Associated Press' Notes Court For Arbitration Of Sport Reinstated
Ross Rebagliati's Olympic Award Thursday)
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 10:09:41 -0800
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: jwjohnson@netmagic.net (Joel W. Johnson)
Subject: MN: US CA: Golden High
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: "Frank S. World"
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Pubdate: Fri, 13 Feb 1998
GOLDEN HIGH
Get baked, snowboard, keep gold medal. Not bad.
By: Ted Anthony, Associated Press
Rebagliati: `I may have to wear a gas mask from now on'
NAGANO, Japan (AP) -- A smiling Ross Rebagliati returned to the public eye
today a gold medalist once more, chastened by his tangle with the Olympic
legal system but vowing not to forsake friends no matter what they might
do, say or ingest.
The Canadian snowboarder, whose medal was reinstated by an appeals board
after the International Olympic Committee stripped him of it when he tested
positive for marijuana, called this week's events a learning experience. He
thanked friends, family and country for standing behind him.
``The worse the sky came down on me, the more they supported me,''
Rebagliati said. ``No matter what the outcome was, I was their champion,
and that was the most important thing -- with or without the medal.''
Confident but not cocky, the 26-year-old with the tousled blond hair wore
his nation's Olympic jacket and the medal that he'd kept safe in his front
pocket while the appeals process played out.
Rebagliati argued successfully that the International Olympic Committee
didn't play by the rules when it stripped him of his prize. He said the
drug traces came from second-hand smoke -- marijuana used by his friends at
a going-away party last month in Whistler, British Columbia.
``I'm definitely going to change my lifestyle. ... I'm not going to change
my friends,'' he said at a news conference. ``I don't care what you think
about that. My friends are real and I'm going to stand behind them.''
But, he quipped, ``I may have to wear a gas mask from now on.''
Rebagliati said he wasn't angry at the IOC and sought no apology. ``Any
time there's a positive test, there's going to be a lot of questions,'' he
said.
The Court for Arbitration of Sport, in reinstating Rebagliati's medal
Thursday, said it ruled only that the IOC, lacking an agreement with the
international ski federation governing marijuana use, could not take back
the medal. The decision did not address the substantive issue of
recreational drugs.
The panel's decision cannot be appealed.
Canadians rejoiced. ``We were proud of Ross before,'' said Whistler's
mayor, Hugh O'Reilly. ``We're really proud now.''
Whistler and other communities in southern British Columbia are reputed to
have some of the world's most potent marijuana. Andrew Pipe, chairman of
the Canadian Center for Ethics in Sport, said the strength of the region's
marijuana is four to five times normal levels.
British Columbia's outspoken premier, Glen Clark, compared the IOC's
attempted disqualification to ``getting the electric chair for a parking
infraction'' -- the trace level of 17.8 nanograms per milliliter found in
Rebagliati's urine.
``You can register a higher rating by watching a Cheech and Chong movie,''
Clark said.
Rebagliati won the men's giant slalom Sunday in the first Winter Games at
which snowboarding has been a medal sport. As a medal winner, he submitted
a urine sample.
On Wednesday, the IOC said it was taking away the medal because the test
came back positive for marijuana.
Marc Hodler, head of the international skiing federation, said his
organization opposes marijuana use, but argued the IOC needs a consistent,
unequivocal policy to prevent an encore of the Rebagliati case.
``If a snowboarder has a girlfriend in skating and they have both taken
marijuana together, the snowboarder would be disqualified and the skater
would get the medal,'' said Hodler, an IOC executive committee member.
``This has to be clearer,'' he said. ``The young people have to know what
the position of the IOC is.''
Tonight, the IOC announced it had appointed a ``working group'' to study
its marijuana policy. Citing the appeals board's call for an explicit set
of rules governing the drug's use, the IOC said it wanted to review its own
rules ``as soon as possible, taking into account all elements of concern.''
At his news conference, Rebagliati refused an opportunity to speak out
against marijuana use specifically, saying he didn't want to judge others.
``I'm not sending out a message for anybody to do what they don't want to
do,'' he said. ``All I'm saying is ... no matter what your decisions are,
you have to live with the things you choose to do.''
And what would have happened to the medal if the appeal hadn't gone his way?
Rebagliati smiled.
``It wasn't going to be easy to get it back from me.''
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Olympic Marijuana Debate - Don't Worry About The Kids ('Halifax Daily News'
Interviews Andrew Nelson, 18-Year-Old Snowboarding Son
Of National Ski Industry Association Executive,
Who Says Parents Shouldn't Worry That Giving Ross Rebagliati His Medal Back
Sends A Message To Kids That Drugs Are OK)
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 02:55:07 -0400 (AST)
Sender: Chris Donald
From: Chris Donald
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
cc: editor@mapinc.org, Cowan1776
Subject: OpED: Olympic MJ Debate: Don't worry about the kids
Halifax Daily News (southam oped)
letterstoeditor@hfxnews.southam.ca
Friday, February 13, 1998
If parents worry that giving Ross Rebagliati his medal back sends
a message to kids that drugs are OK,
They're Wrong
By JEFF HEINRICH Southam News
Like a lot of Canadian high school students, when Andrew Nelson
takes a break from studies and hits the slopes, he brings his
snowboard.
And when he goes, the 18-year-old Royal Vale High School student
knows that part of the anti-conformist culture of "boarders" he'll
find at the hill is illegal drugs.
It's a fact that came to international prominence this week, when
British Columbia snowboarder Ross Rebagliati tested positive for
marijuana and was briefly stripped of his gold medal at the Nagano
Olympics.
But for young snowboarding adepts such as Nelson, along with many
other kids who don't even practise the sport, the issue of
recreational drug use by athletes and other role models is simply
a non-starter.
"I've been to a lot of (snowboarding) parties and stuff like that,
and I'm sure that a lot of drugs are going on, but I don't think
it's that big of a deal," said Nelson, whose father happens to
head the National Ski Industry Association.
If parents worry that giving Rebagliati his medal back sends a
message to kids that drugs are OK, they're wrong, Nelson said.
"If people are going to smoke dope, they're not going to wait to
see some guy do it on a ski hill - they're just going to do it."
In school corridors and classrooms yesterday, students cheered
when Rebagliati got his medal back; the consensus was that dope
hadn't helped him get the medal in the first place, so he deserved
to win.
"Basically, I think the rules for the Olympics have gone way too
far concerning drugs," said Samantha Goldwater-Adler, 16. For
young people, marijuana isn't the issue - "it's something that
lots of teenagers do as a passing thing, to test their boundaries,
like coming home an hour late from curfew.
"As far as drugs go, it's one of the least harmful."
It's little wonder that students back Rebagliati, said Cathy
Schreiber, a guidance counsellor at Royal Vale and at Royal West
Academy, in Montreal West.
"People doing this sport are considered to be anti-conformist -
it's part of the whole image thing," - and adolescent kids relate
to that, she said.
Off the island of Montreal, Grade 11 students at Hudson High
School debated the pros and cons of the Rebagliati case in class
Wednesday.
"Most of us thought he should get his medal back," said Jessica
King, 16, whose economics and moral-and-religious education class
was turned into a forum for the case.
Teacher Ted Duchene asked his students to put themselves in the
shoes of both Rebagliati and the International Olympic Committee,
and argue the pros and cons.
In the end, the students sided with the athlete.
"Because, one, it wasn't a performance-enhancing drug, second, it
was a long time ago, before the Olympics even started, and third,
it was such a low amount that it's possible he could have just
been in the room and got it from that," King said yesterday.
"We believe totally in `innocent until proven guilty,' and you
can't prove anything. So he definitely was right to get it back."
Marijuana is no longer the taboo it used to be - it's almost
mainstream, King said.
"That's the big issue. It's not like he was taking crack or speed
or anything - it's just a small mainstream drug."
Duchene had also asked his class to consider the economic
implications of Rebagliati's medal-stripping.
"This young man had the potential of being on every Wheaties box
in Canada, he was in line to receive probably millions of dollars
in endorsements - he won the loto, but then he lost the ticket."
The students were able to see the implication, a sign of their
mature approach to reasoned argument, Duchene said.
In other schools, students' approach to the drug issue has also
been mature, said McGill University child psychologist Jeffrey
Derevensky.
High school students aren't shocked by "soft" drug use - but the
Rebagliati episode underscored the fact society still doesn't
condone it.
"Some of them come away from this with the lesson that, well, they
didn't take away the gold medal so therefore marijuana's not such
a big deal," Derevensky said yesterday.
"And the other group is saying, no, it is a big deal; look how it
can come back and haunt you; you really should be drug-free."
Kids still have "some major concerns" about drug use, he added.
The 1996 cocaine death of Trafalgar School for Girls student
Laurel Faigelman, 16, led to a new abolitionist tendency in the
student body, he said.
"That really set off a whole wake-up call to the kids, saying, you
know, you can't keep doing this. And many of the kids who knew
her, swore off (drugs) as a result."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Overworked Police Have Given Up Solving Petty Crime ('Ottawa Citizen'
Says Crime Isn't Rising, But With Police Resources Limited Now
Because Provincial Government Has Made Municipalities Fully Responsible
For Police Funding, In Most Major Cities, Police Have Effectively Given Up
On Property Crimes)
From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: Overworked police 'have given up' solving petty crime
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 08:35:52 -0800
Lines: 119
Source: Ottawa Citizen
Contact: letters@thecitizen.southam.ca
Pubdate: Friday 13 February 1998
Author: Richard Foot and Randy Boswell, The Ottawa Citizen
Overworked police 'have given up' solving petty crime
TORONTO -- When your home gets burgled or your car gets ripped off,
who are you going to call? The police, most would say.
Good luck, responds David Griffin, president of the Ontario Police
Association, which represents Ontario's 23,000 rank-and-file police
officers.
"In most major cities in this province, police have effectively given
up on property crimes," he admits.
"In most police forces ... the only thing the police force does is
take a report and the report is simply filed to the insurance
company."
But an Ottawa-Carleton police investigator says that's not quite the
way it works here. "I wouldn't say they don't get investigated," said
Const. Gerry Kinnear. He acknowledges the prospects of an arrest for
some common crimes -- stolen bicycles, for example -- are often so
slim there's not much point in investigating.
But he says whenever similar petty crimes occur in a certain area,
police can flood the nieghbourhood with patrols and work to identify
"rings" of thieves.
He says investigators constantly comb through theft reports to
determine whether such patterns are taking shape.
Sometimes, he says, the arrest of just one culprit can yield a cache
of stolen goods or lead police to other thieves, ultimately solving
several cases that would have been difficult to crack individually.
"The problem in many of these cases is that there's no suspect," says
Const. Kinnear. "If someone throws a rock through a school window,
it's important, but there's usually nothing to go on."
Mr. Griffin, who once had a beat in Peel Region outside Toronto, says
that because of low policing budgets, officers are so busy dealing
with violent crimes or responding to emergencies that theft, vandalism
and other common crimes just don't get investigated.
That means the culprits know they'll never get caught, he says.
He made his frank admission at a gathering of crime experts in Toronto
yesterday, hosted by the provincial Tory government's new Crime
Control Commission.
Ontario Solicitor General Bob Runciman, who also attended, agreed with
Mr. Griffin's assessment.
"No question, it's a real problem," Mr. Runciman said. "Insurance
companies have talked to me about the fact that police aren't
responding to a lot of property crimes.
"Instead, the police are saying (to victims), 'Give us a report on the
crime and we'll call your broker.'
"It's also one of the reasons why people do not feel confident any
more about public safety."
Getting tough on crime and boosting confidence in police forces are
two goals of the crime commission.
One U.S. expert at the conference warned police, prosecutors and
municipal officials that minor crimes such as theft and vandalism must
not be ignored.
Left unchecked, minor violations of the law breed major crimes, said
American author George Kelling, the man who helped eliminate much of
the intimidation and vandalism that plagued New York City subways and
neighbourhoods in the late 1980s.
Mr. Kelling says the best way to prevent violent crime is to crack
down on minor crimes such as property offences. His theories are
explained in his book, Fixing Broken Windows.
Mr. Griffin agreed with Mr. Kelling, commenting that "there is clearly
a link between minor disorderly behaviour and more serious crime."
Mr. Runciman said Mr. Kelling's focus on minor crimes should be
considered carefully in Toronto.
"You can't ignore criminal behaviour even though it may be considered
minor," Mr. Runciman said. "Squeegee kids, minor theft, whatever it
is, you have to deal with it."
But he didn't offer more money and resources to police forces to deal
with such matters. He said local authorities should consider new ways
of solving problems with the resources they have now.
Those resources are especially limited now because the provincial
government has made municipalities fully responsible for police
funding.
Most crime rates are not on the rise in Canada. Murder rates fell in
most cities in 1997; property crime rates have held steady over the
last 10 years.
A spokesman for the Insurance Bureau of Canada said the industry isn't
upset about the soft line on property crimes because the number of
insurance claims for stolen property isn't increasing.
But Mr. Griffin says he believes fewer people are reporting thefts
today because they know the police can't or won't help. That
perception is right, said Mr. Griffin, and that's too bad.
"The message we are conveying now is that respect for other people's
property is not that important," he said. "We live in a society now
that says, 'Just buy a new one, buy an alarm system, and don't worry
about the problem.' "
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The Week Online With DRCNet, Issue Number 29 (News Summary For Activists,
From The Drug Reform Coordination Network - Articles Include
ONDCP 1999 Drug Strategy To Be Released This Saturday; 69th Anniversary
Of The St. Valentine's Day Massacre; Penn State Professor
Continues Marijuana Civil Disobedience For Fourth Consecutive Week;
And Editorial By Adam J. Smith - Give Us Just One Good Reason
Why The Olympic Committee Is Testing Athletes For Marijuana)
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 13:10:14 EST
Originator: drc-natl@drcnet.org
Sender: drc-natl@drcnet.org
From: DRCNet
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue #29
***
Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet)
Rapid Response Team
***
Please copy and distribute.
***
THE WEEK ONLINE WITH DRCNet
ISSUE #29 - FEBRUARY 13, 1998
(Copies of Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts still available!
Free with donation of $30 or more -- mail to DRCNet, 2000 P
St., NW, Suite 615, Washington, DC 20036, or use
http://www.drcnet.org/drcreg.html on the web.)
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. ONDCP 1999 DRUG STRATEGY TO BE RELEASED THIS SATURDAY:
Another "ten year plan" but a lot more of the same.
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/2-13.html#ondcp
2. 69TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE:
The incident that caused national outrage, and led to the
end of alcohol prohibition pales in comparison to today's
prohibition-related violence.
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/2-13.html#massacre
3. CANADIAN, AMERICAN OFFICIALS MEET TO DISCUSS SMUGGLING:
But which way are the drugs flowing?
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/2-13.html#smuggling
4. JUDGE MOVES DENNIS PERON'S TRIAL BACK TO OAKLAND: But
Peron says he'll not be convicted in any venue.
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/2-13.html#peron
5. PENN STATE PROFESSOR CONTINUES MARIJUANA CIVIL
DISOBEDIENCE FOR FOURTH CONSECUTIVE WEEK: Yet to be
arrested, Heicklen wants a trial by jury.
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/2-13.html#heicklen
6. COOPERATION, CERTIFICATION, AND CORRUPTION: U.S., MEXICO,
AND DRUG WAR RELATIONS: An agreement is released in the
wake of more corruption charges against a high ranking
Mexican official. Just in time for the annual
certification fight.
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/2-13.html#mexico
7. OLYMPIC SNOWBOARDER STILL HIGH ON NAGANO GOLD:
Rebagliati gets to keep his medal.
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/2-13.html#olympics
8. ALLEGATIONS OF CORRUPTION LEVELED AGAINST AUSTRALIAN
ANTI-DRUG POLICE UNIT
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/2-13.html#australia
9. EDITORIAL: Give us just one good reason why the Olympic
Committee is testing athletes for marijuana.
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/2-13.html#editorial
***
1. ONDCP 1999 DRUG STRATEGY TO BE RELEASED
On Saturday, 2/14 President Clinton will announce the
release of his 1999 Drug Strategy during his weekly radio
address. The plan will include a budget of $17.1 billion.
The Week Online has net seen the plan in its entirety, but
some details are available. The plan envisions a 50%
reduction in both the availability and the use of drugs in
the US over the next 10 years. In a new twist, the 1999
plan calls for agencies involved in anti-drug efforts to
develop and be held to productivity goals, such as number of
seizures and arrests. These goals will be re-evaluated
annually, but Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey told the Washington
Post that there would be no mechanism for punishing agencies
which fail to reach their stated goals, but instead he was
counting on the news media and congressional oversight.
There is no indication that goals relating to the protection
of individual rights will be included in the plan.
Rob Stewart, a spokesman for the Drug Policy Foundation,
told The Week Online, "Yet another ten year plan. What's
new about this? Ten year plans have the advantage of
insuring that no one who is in power now will be around to
answer for the inevitable failure. It's totally
meaningless. It's a way of trying to make believe that
there has been a fresh start, and that no one ought to
question the strategy for the next several years because
it's somehow new and improved. The federal government is
still suffering from the illusion that national drug use
trends can be controlled from Washington."
The Drug Strategy will be posted by sometime this weekend at
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov
You can visit the Drug Policy Foundation's web site at
http://www.dpf.org.
***
2. FEBRUARY 14TH MARKS THE 69TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ST.
VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE
On Feb. 14, 1929, in Chicago, six members of the Bugs Moran
gang were killed by Al Capone's henchmen for hijacking a
truck of bootleg beer. An innocent bystander was also
gunned down for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The gory execution-style killings made the link between
Prohibition and violence undeniable for most Americans.
Historians regard the incident as one of the turning points
in public attitudes toward Prohibition, which was repealed a
few years later.
Americans who were shocked by this level of violence in 1929
could have had no idea that the prohibition which remained
after repeal would lead to the level of bloodshed that the
nation now endures in and around illegal drug markets. It
is estimated that today, over 30% of all killings, and an
even higher percentage of all violent and property crime are
either directly or indirectly related to Prohibition.
(Chicagoans can attend the 2nd Annual St. Valentines Day
Massacre Memorial Drug Policy Conference, at the Chicago
Historical Society, 1601 N. Clark Street, 9:00am - 6:00pm.
Admission is $25 regular and $10 for students (with ID), and
includes a reception. Call (773) 588-8900 for more
information and to verify.)
***
3. CANADIAN, AMERICAN OFFICIALS MEET TO DISCUSS SMUGGLING
In what could prove to be a sign of things to come,
officials from western Canada and western US states met last
weekend (Feb. 8-9) to discuss cross-border crime, especially
drugs. The drug trade is apparently flourishing in both
Washington State and British Colombia, which concerned
representatives from both countries. But far from finding
solutions to smuggling along the border, which stretches for
more than 2,000 miles encompassing vast stretches of
wilderness, mountains, and parts of the Great Lakes,
officials couldn't even seem to agree on which direction the
drugs are flowing.
Christine Gregoire, attorney-general for Washington State,
told The Vancouver Sun "The border county prosecutor told me
there is a new strain of heroin and cocaine of a magnitude
we've not seen before." The Sun reports that Gregoire
thinks it is coming down from Canada. But Ujjal Dosanjh,
British Colombia's Attorney-General, told the Sun that he
thought that the drugs were coming north from the states.
***
4. JUDGE MOVES DENNIS PERON'S TRIAL BACK TO OAKLAND
On Monday, (2/10) California's 1st District Court of Appeals
ruled that the criminal trial of the state's most outspoken
medical marijuana advocate would be held in Oakland, where
it was brought, rather than san Francisco, where the
majority of the alleged offenses occurred. Peron was
indicted in Oakland by state attorney-general Dan Lungren,
despite the fact that his Cannabis Cultivators Club operated
in San Francisco, and that the raid from which the criminal
charges arose took place there.
Peron's club had operated for years with the implicit
consent of city authorities. The raid, which was criticized
by many as politically motivated, was executed by Lungren's
(state) agents in August of 1996, just a few months before
proposition 215 would be voted on (and passed) by the
citizens of California. Lungren was an outspoken critic of
Prop 215 during the campaign. In perhaps the most bizarre
twist to this ongoing bit of political and legal theater,
Peron is currently running against Lungren for the
Republican nomination for governor of California.
The case was originally transferred from Oakland to San
Francisco by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Dean
Beaupre last October, who ruled that there was almost no
connection between the charges against Peron and the city of
Oakland (Alameda County). Beaupre also noted that there was
"an appearance of improper forum-shopping" by Lungren. Upon
the new ruling, moving the case back to Alameda, Peron told
reporters, "I really believe we're going to win no matter
where we are."
A source close to the situation, who asked not to be
identified, told The Week Online, "Lungren is so pissed off
about the whole Peron thing. He knows that he shot himself
in the foot by busting Dennis in the first place. All the
publicity, all of the patients on the news, it turned out to
be the best thing that happened to the 215 campaign. Then
he goes and holds a press conference to debate a cartoon
character (the Doonesbury comic strip ran an entire week's
worth of material supporting 215 and criticizing Lungren,
who in turn called a news conference about the matter) which
made him look like an embarrassment. He knows that he would
have never, ever gotten a conviction in San Francisco, so he
made sure the case stayed in Oakland. If you ask me, with
the way Lungren's luck is running when it comes to Dennis, I
wouldn't be shocked if the case ends up creating a political
miracle and Peron makes him sweat in the primary. Wouldn't
that be a kick in the ass."
***
5. PENN STATE PROFESSOR CONTINUES MARIJUANA CIVIL
DISOBEDIENCE FOR FOURTH CONSECUTIVE WEEK
Julian Heicklen, the retired Penn State professor who has
smoked marijuana in front of the campus gates every Thursday
since January 22 to protest the injustice of marijuana
prohibition, was at it again this week. A large crowd,
estimated at well over 200 was on hand to witness the event,
including several people who joined the professor in civil
disobedience. "I want to be arrested for marijuana"
Heicklen said, "but I am not exactly an advocate for it -- I
represent the fight for freedom. I'd like to ask for a
trial by jury and have a quick one (trial). It's immoral to
prosecute a person for using a vegetable: it's our business,
not the government's to decide what we put into our
systems.... I want to nullify the Marijuana laws in the
United States."
Heicklen was not arrested on Thursday, although several
uniformed and plainclothes officers did approach the crowd
and forcibly grab lit marijuana cigarettes out of the hands
of some protesters, stepping them out on the ground. Other
students, however, reportedly lit joints of their own in
defiance of the police action. Local sources report that
charges are being filed against Professor Heicklen and five
others who were in attendance.
***
6. COOPERATION, CERTIFICATION, AND CORRUPTION: U.S., MEXICO,
AND DRUG WAR RELATIONS
- Marc Brandl for DRCNet
On February 6th, the U.S. and Mexico unveiled a plan for
closer cooperation in battling the drug war. The 39-page
document comes amidst allegations of further drug related
corruption in the highest levels of the Mexican government,
and an upcoming battle in Congress over continued
certification of Mexico as a drug war ally. Drug Czar
General Barry McCaffrey said the report was, "a conceptual
outline and guide to action." In the report, the two
governments plan to cooperate on three important issues:
fighting organized crime involved in the drug trade,
stopping corruption of government and law enforcement
officials and reducing prohibition-related violence along
the border.
A Washington Times article printed a day before the plan was
released to the public claimed a CIA report ties former
Mexican governor and newly appointed interior minister to
international drug traffickers. The article states,
"Francisco Labastida Ochoa has 'long-standing ties' to drug
dealers since serving as governor of Sinaloa for six years."
Not only is this the newest in a long line of scandals
involving Mexican officials causing concern on the Mexican
side, it also makes a Congressional fight over whether to
re-certify Mexico as a drug war ally even more likely.
According to Coletta Youngers, a senior associate at the
Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), in an interview
with This Week Online, "Mexican certification faces a pretty
tough battle in Congress. There is no read yet on [House
Speaker] Gingrich's position." Last year Gingrich's support
was key in getting many House republicans to vote against
certification.
President Clinton must decide each year which countries will
be "certified" as allies in the Drug War, but Congress has
authorization to overturn certification. Certification had
never been a problem for Mexico until last year when several
prominent politicians such as California Senator Diane
Feinstein attacked Mexico's record of fighting drugs and
questioned its level of motivation to win the drug war.
Mexico's position as the key transit nation for
international drugs entering the US puts it in the untenable
position of being a held responsible for a problem that even
the US has had little success in managing.
The release of the joint-strategy report and the leak of the
alleged CIA report are considered the opening salvos in the
political battle over certification. The report was
released nine months after promised but less than two months
before the re-certification decision. Youngers said, "The
two events are certainly linked. It's not any coincidence
the report was released when it was."
***
7. OLYMPIC SNOWBOARDER STILL HIGH ON NAGANO GOLD
26 year-old Canadian Ross Rebagliati came in first in the
slalom snowboard competition at the Winter Olympics at
Nagano, Japan and was awarded the gold medal. Until, that
is, a post-race drug test came back positive for marijuana.
Despite Rebagliati's protestations that he must have inhaled
second-hand smoke at a going away party held for him in late
January (he admitted that he had smoked marijuana in the
past, but not in some nine months), the International
Olympic Committee (IOC) immediately stripped him of the
medal.
But Rebagliati appealed his case on Wednesday (2/12) to the
Court for Arbitration of Sport, which re-instated the medal
in a narrow ruling which relied only on the fact that the
IOC had no prior agreement in place with the International
Ski Federation regarding marijuana use. Although both
bodies list marijuana as a banned substance, the absence of
a formal agreement, and the fact that the Ski Federation
never asked the IOC to test for it, left the IOC with no
authority to strip Rebagliati of his medal.
NOTE: For a discussion of some of the issues involved,
please see this week's editorial by DRCNet associate
director Adam J. Smith, at bottom.
***
8. ALLEGATIONS OF CORRUPTION LEVELED AGAINST AUSTRALIAN
ANTI-DRUG POLICE UNIT
On February 8, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's
"Four Corners" television program aired a show which alleged
that members of Victoria's anti-drug squad were paid
$250,000 to steal files out of investigators' offices and
had accepted thousands of dollars in protection money. Neil
Comrie, Police Chief Commissioner, told the Canberra Times,
"There was not one new allegation raised (on the program)
and all of those allegations have been addressed
previously." Commissioner Comrie was referring to a 1996
finding by internal police investigators which found no
wrongdoing.
***
9. EDITORIAL: Who's Sending the Wrong Message?
Now that Canadian snowboarder Ross Rebagliati has had his
gold medal returned to him on what was essentially a
technicality, the question remains: Why is marijuana on the
International Olympic Committee's list of banned substances
in the first place? Steroids, amphetamines, ephedrine,
these we can understand. Because although it has become
nearly impossible to develop tests which will catch an
athlete who is trying to gain an unfair advantage through
chemistry, those who are caught cheating in this way have
clearly undermined the intent of athletic competition. But
marijuana?
The IOC, to this point, has not maintained that marijuana
has the potential to enhance performance. That doesn't
prove, of course, that it might not for some. Many highly
successful athletes are well-known smokers. Robert Parrish,
who cheated father time over a remarkable 18 year career in
the National Basketball Association, was arrested late in
his career for accepting delivery of a UPS package that
turned out to contain a large quantity of marijuana. Did
Parrish feel that it helped?
More recently, a New York Times article estimated that over
70% of current NBA players are regular marijuana smokers.
These are among the best and most successful athletes in the
world. Other athletes, in other sports, have been caught
with the forbidden plant, and no doubt an even larger number
of prominent athletes have eluded detection. At the least,
it would be hard to argue that marijuana is significantly
detrimental to athletic performance.
Growing up playing and coaching on the basketball courts of
Queens, New York, I knew a number of good players, some of
whom went on to play Division I ball, who swore that their
game rose to another level after a few puffs. Perhaps the
smoke had simply clouded their judgment, but they seemed
convinced. As for snowboarding, it would be reasonable to
think that the prospect of hurtling down a mountain at
speeds in excess of eighty miles an hour on a piece of
fiberglass could lead even a teetotaler to request a
sedative of some sort.
If marijuana is, in fact, an unfair advantage, a performance
enhancing substance, than the IOC needs to come out and
justify its policy by stating as much. The feeling here,
though, is that such a statement by the world's most visible
athletic commission would outrage the world's drug warriors,
particularly the zero-tolerance Americans. In the absence
of such a statement, the question still remains. What
justification does the IOC have in testing for it?
Their are two possible justifications, but neither is
tenable. The first is that we cannot have our athletes
using marijuana because it is, in some sense, immoral. The
problem here is that despite the lofty goals of the Olympic
Games, morals, or the lack thereof, has never been a
disqualifier. Are athletes ineligible for competition if
they have previously been convicted of a violent crime?
What of those who have served in the army of a nation with a
horrific record of human rights abuses? What if they have
admitted to beating their children? Certainly these acts
would be viewed by the majority of rational people as being
on a lower plane of morality than the act of inhaling the
smoke from some burning vegetable matter?
The second possible but equally absurd justification is that
allowing an athlete who has tested positive for marijuana to
leave the Games with a gold medal hanging proudly around his
or her neck would send the wrong message to our children.
Well, why is allowing the child-beater to wear the gold a
more appropriate message? Ahh, the warriors might proclaim,
but children watching the Olympics would have no idea that
the athlete on the medal stand had ever done such a thing.
Right. But while we can agree that kids should not be
smoking pot, how many of the world's children would know
today that it is possible to smoke marijuana and still be
the greatest snowboarder on earth, unless the IOC took the
absurd and utterly irrelevant step of testing for it?
The truth is, that unless evidence is uncovered which proves
performance-enhancement, there is absolutely no
justification to test athletes for marijuana. It is not
relevant to the issues of competition. Some Olympic
athletes live under the rule of governments which couldn't
care less about their personal use. Others live under
governments which spend billions of dollars to hunt users
down and put them into cages. In either case, it is not the
business of an international athletic committee to choose
sides.
The IOC should not be in the business of enforcing the laws,
or even the mores of any nation unless they are directly
relevant to the fairness of the games themselves. Having
attempted to do so, however, and being that the gold medal
hangs today from the neck of the rightful winner of the
competition, perhaps we ought to thank them for their
misjudgment. The IOC's witch hunt has put another hole in
the credibility of those who assail marijuana as the devil's
weed. And the bounty of their hunt has given us the
opportunity to ask, again and again, of the zealot drug
warriors: "How can one possibly come to be the best in the
world at something as difficult as snowboarding, while
suffering from amotivational syndrome?"
Adam J. Smith
Associate Director
***
DRCNet
***
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-------------------------------------------------------------------
[End]
The Multnomah County grand jury also added
drug charges and child neglect and
endangerment charges against Steven Douglas
Dons, pictured, who police say shot and killed
Portland Police Officer Colleen Waibel and
injured two other officers Jan. 27.
Police suspected a marijuana operation was in
the house and broke in when they thought
marijuana was being burned in the fireplace.
Dons allegedly opened fire.
The new charges relate to 51 marijuana plants police say they found
in the house the men shared in southeast Portland.
Police allege that Moore and Dons had Moore's children, ages 7 to 9, near
marijuana and unsecured guns. Moore's children were visiting in January from
Nevada.
In an interview with The Oregonian last week, Moore denied knowing about the
marijuana operation behind what he said was a locked door. He is being held
in the Justice Center jail, with bail set at $125,000.
Dons, who was shot during the standoff, was moved Tuesday from the hospital
to the Justice Center jail. He is being held in the medical unit in good
condition but suffers from partial paralysis, police say.
Previous stories:
Feb. 06: Dons Arraigned In Hospital Room
Feb. 05: Dons Faces Aggravated Murder, Assault Charges
Feb. 03: Cameras May Have Caught Shootout
Jan. 30: Almost 5,000 Pay Respects to Slain Officer
Jan. 30: Funeral Today for Slain Officer
Jan. 28: Shooting Sparks Gun Control Issue
Jan. 28: City Mourns Officer's Death
Jan. 27: Katz and Moose Respond to Tragedy
Jan. 27: Police Officer Fatally Shot
Copyright 1998 by The Associated Press
to 1998 Daily News index for February 12-18