-------------------------------------------------------------------
Who Should Police East Palo Alto? ('Palo Alto Weekly' Update
On Struggle Between San Mateo County Sheriff's Office And City Police -
Each Has Independently Formed A Special Drug Enforcement Team)
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 10:58:35 -0500
From: "R. Lake"
Subject: MN: US CA: Who should Police East Palo Alto?
To: DrugSense News Service
Organization: The Media Awareness Project of DrugSense
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: Marcus-Mermelstein Family
Source: Palo Alto Weekly
Contact: paweekly@netcom.com
Pubdate: Wedbesday 11 Mar 1998
Website: http://www.service.com/PAW/
WHO SHOULD POLICE EAST PALO ALTO?
Both Sheriff Don Horsley and Police Chief Wes Bowling say they should be
responsible for police work in the community
San Mateo County sheriff's deputies and city police have shared
responsibilities for fighting crime in East Palo Alto since 1993, patrolling
different parts of the city in the late afternoons and nights. In the last
year, however, relations between the two departments have become notably
strained. Each has independently formed a special drug enforcement team to
combat a surge in open drug dealing in the city, instead of working together
to form one unified team.
The creation of two separate drug teams illustrates what is happening in
East Palo Alto, where two separate police forces are patrolling the streets
and arresting suspects, often without much communication with each other.
When incorporation was narrowly approved by East Palo Alto voters in 1983,
supporters cited the need for their own police department as a chief reason
for seeking self-rule.
Before incorporation, the city was patrolled by sheriff's deputies, but
there was strong sentiment in the community that the sheriff provided poor
service to the residents, which helped fuel the drive for incorporation and
local control of the police.
Almost 15 years later, city officials are still wrestling with how to get
and maintain effective police services in the community.
Just as the sheriff's department didn't inspire much confidence back in
1983, the city's police department is being criticized for shortcomings
today.
A San Mateo County grand jury report released last December recommended that
the department be disbanded and the sheriff's department handle police
services in the city for up to five years.
The grand jury report came after the embattled department had had one
officer convicted of brutality and another charged with sexual harassment.
Other officers had gained a reputation--in the law enforcement
community--for being unprofessional.
Defenders of the department, including many residents, say the department
has had a few isolated incidents that have received widespread publicity,
unfairly painting a picture of an incompetent department.
The officers who created the problems--including four who are now in the
process of being fired--are gone, Police Chief Wes Bowling said, leaving
behind a core of dedicated, hard-working officers.
Others in the community, including members of the East Palo Alto Homeowners
Association, who have been at odds with the City Council for years, say that
enough is enough. They say the city should listen to the grand jury and let
Sheriff Don Horsley do the job.
Horsley was not sheriff in 1983, when the sheriff's department was held in
such low esteem by city residents.
The people who will decide the future of policing in East Palo Alto are all
elected officials, including the five members of the East Palo Alto City
Council, the five members of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors--who
have voted to subsidize police services in the city since 1993--and Horsley
himself, who would very much like to add the city to his department's
policing responsibilities.
Now, Horsley is making another pitch to take over police services in the
city as he and the City Council negotiate a new police services contract to
replace the one that expires June 30.
Under the current contract, the sheriff provides about seven patrol officers
each night and most of the detectives in the investigation bureau.
Will the existing contract be continued as is?
Will the council adopt Horsley's plan?
Or will East Palo Alto end up with something different, something in
between?
"The bottom line for us is we will make sure that crime doesn't get out of
control the way it did before," said Vice Mayor Sharifa Wilson. "If it means
contracting out (for police services), that's what it means. I supported
incorporation for local control of the police, but if local control can't
assure safety, then I have to move from that position."
To help the council decide, the city is preparing to commission an
assessment of police services in the community by hiring an outside
consultant to determine what kind of department the city really needs.
The consultant's report will presumably also tell the council whether its
current department can meet the city's public safety needs, or whether the
city should scrap the department and bring in someone else to provide police
services.
In doing a needs assessment for police services, city officials hope to
learn what kind of staffing it will take to provide adequate safety and
protection for the city's residents. "A needs analysis will be crucial (to
determine) what can reasonably be expected, given the resources we have, so
there are no more unrealistic expectations," said City Manager Jerry
Groomes.
But when the idea of bringing in a consultant was first raised during a City
Council study session Dec. 13, Police Chief Bowling thought the results of
the study might be predictable.
"The first thing a consultant will tell you is you have to raise the
salaries," Bowling said. His officers are the lowest paid in San Mateo
County. "We do have a major resource problem. We can't afford to pay them
enough to stay here, so I am constantly short-handed."
Vice Mayor Wilson then replied, "What you are saying is we will never have a
stable department. I don't have any more money to give you."
"I've lost 17 people this year alone," Bowling said.
The council is banking on the Gateway 101 redevelopment project to bring a
measure of financial health to the city, with two other large redevelopment
projects in the planning stages. And police services, like other services,
hinge to a great degree on money.
The city's budget was temporarily helped by a parcel tax that voters
approved by simple majorities in 1989 and again in 1994. But a group of
property owners challenged the validity of the tax, winning in 1997, when a
state appellate court ruled the tax unconstitutional because it failed to
win the required two-thirds majority.
After the parcel tax expired last year, the council attempted to raise
almost $900,000 a year through passage of a new tax for police services.
Although it was one of the best-organized election campaigns in recent years
in the city, Measure I failed to win the necessary two-thirds voter
approval. The measure gained 59 percent of the vote, a vote of support for
the City Council, but little else.
Now, in addition to trying to find enough money for police and other city
services, the city is looking at the daunting task of paying back as much as
$4 million in refunds to property owners.
"The numbers just don't add up,' said Menlo Park Police Chief Bruce Cumming.
He noted that his department has a budget of $7 million for 49 sworn
officers in a city of about 28,000, with a much lower crime rate than East
Palo Alto's.
East Palo Alto, on the other hand, has an annual police budget of $3.5
million for 41 sworn officers in a city of about 24,000 people.
The pay difference is substantial. In East Palo Alto, beginning police
officers earn $31,632 a year, while the top pay for veterans is $38,436 a
year. In Menlo Park, beginning officers earn $45,924 a year and veterans at
the top grade earn $55,776 a year.
Because of the pay differential, the East Palo Alto Police Department has
had all but a revolving door, with 17 resignations last year alone. Seven of
the departing officers joined the sheriff's department. That means the
department is constantly hiring and training new officers, and is often
understaffed.
After incorporation, the city had 24 officers in 1985, the first year for
the police department. The city had 31 officers in 1991, and has generally
budgeted for 41 or 42 officers since then, but in reality it has always been
several officers down. The department is currently budgeted for 41 officers,
but it actually has 35.
"They need to pay competitive salaries and have a full services department,"
Cumming said. "The math doesn't work right now. Maybe it will in the
future."
As a result, Cumming thinks the city should follow the advice of the grand
jury and contract for police services with the sheriff's department.
"I understand the emotional concerns of being self-governing and
self-policing," Cumming said. "I want to see them make it."
Cumming's sentiments were echoed by Palo Alto Police Chief Chris Durkin and
former East Palo Alto Police Chief Burny Matthews, whom Bowling replaced
three years ago, when Matthews took his current job as police chief in
Alameda.
"If the money is not there to pay the officers adequately, maybe a decision
needs to be made to take another approach," Matthews said. Like others, he
has faith that the city will eventually find firm financial footing and be
able to afford the police services it needs. He called the city a "rose
waiting to bloom."
Durkin also expressed faith that the city will eventually pull through.
"(But) there should be a financial plan for success," Durkin said. "When you
look at all the police needs of the city objectively, and look at the city's
resources, it becomes very difficult to provide the service levels that the
community needs. The business plan should include a point in time when the
police department will be fully funded."
Until that time comes, Durkin said that the sheriff's department may be the
option that makes the most financial sense. "As distasteful as it may be, I
think the option of disbanding the police department should be considered,"
Durkin said.
For some residents, the sheriff's department is the preferred option. "I've
basically lost trust in our police department," said Fred Kiani, a member of
the East Palo Alto Homeowners Association, which sued the city over the 1994
parcel tax and won.
Kiani is angry at the city for implementing a tax that was later found to be
unconstitutional. He's also angry at the police for how they have treated
him when he has tried to report crimes.
"I've called a number of times to report drug dealing and gang activity,"
Kiani said. "(They) came and basically used their power to harass me, not
only verbally. They pushed me against the wall and started interrogating me,
asking where I lived, what I did.
"The police department is not properly managed, and all the work is being
done by the sheriff's department, so it's a waste of money. The police
department is not doing its job."
Another critic of the police department, Samuel Rasheed, has been frustrated
with the loitering and disturbances late at night at two convenience stores
near his Weeks Street home.
"We've never had a real police department that's capable of running a city,"
Rasheed said.
Local control of the police department, long a priority for the City
Council, isn't as important to Rasheed. "I don't want local control," he
said. "I want public safety, no matter where it comes from."
Sally Nakai and her husband have owned a nursery in East Palo Alto for 50
years, She, too, would like the city to contract with the sheriff's
department for police services.
"In the long run, we have to have development, and people will feel more
safe and secure with the sheriff's department," Nakai said. "They have all
the resources and all the experience."
She added that "the police department's record speaks for itself. We have
too many problems that the local police can't handle. This is not political.
It's all about security and safety."
On the other side of the issue are some residents who have rallied around
the police department to demonstrate their support for continuing local
control. In January, a group of residents organized an appreciation dinner
for the police, which was attended by around 100 residents and several
council members. To the booming sounds of "Bad Boys," 23 uniformed police
officers climbed up onto a stage at Ronald McNair School to introduce
themselves to the cheering crowd.
"We want to assure you that you are the pride and joy of the civic
government that will be here tonight and evermore," Mayor R.B. Jones told
the officers to rousing applause. "The San Mateo County sheriff has to
understand that local control is a keystone to any contract we sign."
Chief Bowling called the appreciation dinner "a shot in the arm" for his
much-maligned police force.
"The job that my folks do is a tough job and oftentimes it's very
thankless," Bowling told the audience. "There's been a lot of lies and
innuendos about the East Palo Alto Police Department. . . . The labels that
have been placed on my folks are unfair. We've been understaffed. The loyal
few who have stayed have worked their hearts out."
Bowling said the police department received around 51,000 calls for service
in 1997, the equivalent of 140 calls per day. That means that each officer
is handling around 20 calls per day, he said.
Anti-drug activist Dennis Scherzer said that the city's police are doing a
good job, considering the lack of manpower and resources.
"They're running, they're tired, they're dealing with a lot of nuts," he
said. "The fact that they're not snarling and biting people's heads off
after 13-hour shifts is incredible."
Like Mayor Jones, some residents are adamant that East Palo Alto should not
give up local control of their police department.
"We risk too much if we lose control of this service," resident Belinda
Rosales recently told the City Council. "It has been a hard struggle. Police
department efforts have had a direct result in reducing the crime rate."
Longtime East Palo Alto resident William Webster said that he encountered
very little hostility toward the police when he canvassed many homes in the
city last summer to enlist support for Measure I, which would have helped
fund the city's police department. A handful of people complained about
lack of courtesy, he said, but very few people complained about response
times, which used to be a common complaint.
Webster said that, although the police could probably use some sensitivity
training, response times were less than two minutes whenever he had called
for help.
"Even though the tax measure failed, support for Measure I reflected a vote
of confidence in the police force," said Webster.
While Webster conceded that there had been problems in the police department
since incorporation in 1983, he said that things had vastly improved over
the last five years.
Webster does not welcome the sheriff's proposal to take over the city's
policing. He lived opposite the sheriff's substation in East Palo Alto for
15 years before incorporation, and he was not impressed by their service.
"My carport was a transit point for drug activity," said Webster, who said
he feared for his life when he came home from work at night during the
1970s. "I called repeatedly to the sheriff's substation across the street
with very inadequate response. It got to the point when I no longer bothered
calling."
Another longtime resident, Bob Hoover, remembers those days, when the
best-known drug-dealer hangout was across the street from the sheriff's
department substation. "I would want to return to that?" Hoover asked. "For
me, it's not even a discussion."
Hoover is helping organize his neighbors in the Gardens area, which is
patrolled by sheriff's deputies every night. He said it is more difficult
for the community effort to link up with the deputies than it is to
communicate with the city's officers.
"I'm strongly in favor of retaining our police department," Hoover said.
Webster is concerned that as soon as the city signs its police service over
to the sheriff, the sheriff's department has the city over a barrel
financially.
"Once the sheriff is the only game in town, they can charge more and say,
'We've been subsidizing you guys.'"
But Sheriff Don Horsley said that the amount of money the city of East Palo
Alto would pay toward the sheriff's services would remain stable from year
to year. "The city would get a subsidy, and the subsidy would remain the
same," he said.
Horsley's proposal would provide 37 police and administrative staff at an
annual cost of $4,994,674, including four sergeants, 20 patrol officers and
seven detectives. The proposal suggests a county subsidy of over $1 million,
which would leave the city with a bill of just under $4 million for its
policing services.
This year, the city is paying $3.5 million for its own police department of
41 officers, and $650,000 for services provided by the sheriff's department,
including patrol officers, detectives and dispatch services. This service is
subsidized to the tune of $1.25 million.
As part of his proposal, Horsley said that he would be prepared to guarantee
a crime rate in East Palo Alto that was equivalent to the rest of San Mateo
County within a time frame agreed with the city. He would also guarantee a
minimum number of six deputies on the streets at any one time. At the
moment, he said, there are sometimes as few as three East Palo Alto police
officers patrolling the city at any one time.
Horsley said that the city deserves better than a police department that
hires brand new officers and then loses them within one year. According to
Horsley, 21 East Palo Alto officers applied last year to work at the
sheriff's department, which pays officers a salary 35 percent higher than
East Palo Alto's, plus benefits. Of those 21, seven East Palo Alto officers
joined the sheriff's department last year, he said.
"Some didn't pass our test," said Horsley, adding that even if they had, he
did not want to strip the department of 21 officers at one time. "We'd
probably be able to hire most of them as long as they don't have lying and
brutality in their background. I'd be derelict in hiring those people."
One East Palo Alto officer who joined the sheriff's department last year,
Heiklti Fakava, said that he did so for financial reasons. He said that his
new job in the main jail was far less stressful than policing the streets of
East Palo Alto, and he received double the salary.
"If there were more officers on the street, the stress level would drop,"
said Fakava, who worked in East Palo Alto from December 1995 until September
1997.
Fakava said that morale was low in the department, particularly when
officers started leaving.
"People were just doing their time," he said. "It's a training ground for
new officers, and at the same time it's a rebound school for officers who
have failed somewhere else."
Fakava's comments are reflected in the grand jury report released last
December. (See sidebar on page XX.)
In recent months, city officials have been concerned that the sheriff's
proposal and efforts seemed to be undermining the city's police department.
"It appears that the sheriff is acting completely independently," said Vice
Mayor Wilson. "The sheriff is supposed to provide service based on what we
say our needs are. . . . When you're (out) to undermine the police
department, it raises the question of your commitment to reduce crime."
However, as the top law enforcement official in San Mateo County, Horsley
said he felt entitled to make suggestions for improving public safety in
East Palo Alto.
"I don't think they've been able to do the job," said Horsley, who said he
didn't seek out the press to make his views known. "If somebody calls me up,
I'll talk.
"I don't think I've been attacking them," he said of East Palo Alto
officials. "But I am the chief law enforcement official in the county, and I
think have a responsibility to say what the solution is."
For Horsley, turning East Palo Alto around would be a final feather in the
cap of his 30-year career in law enforcement.
"I got into law enforcement to help people," he said. "I only have four or
five years left. I think East Palo Alto is the last community (in San Mateo
County) that could benefit from development. We could make that community a
model of social change, and I want to be a part of that."
Horsley said that turning East Palo Alto around is an achievable goal.
"We shouldn't be competing," Horsley said. "I think we have to put aside our
differences. . . . The citizens don't care what the department does as long
as they're safe."
According to Horsley, the line officers on the streets of East Palo Alto
work well together. Horsley said he is committed to improving communication
between himself and East Palo Alto's police chief.
"Wes (Bowling) is basically good-hearted," Horsley said. "He's certainly
capable. He means the best for the community."
But having a good heart is not the issue. Combatting crime is. In 1992, when
the city was considered the murder capital of the United States, there were
42 murders in just one year. In 1996, there was only one homicide, but last
year the murder rate crept up again to 15, including nine people who died in
one arson attack on Fordham Street. This year, there have already been three
murders.
"I see violent crime creeping up," said Horsley, adding that some citizens
had warned him that the latest spate of violence was similar to pre-1992
levels. "I don't think it's a crisis now, but a priority needs to be putting
out the brush fire."
Bowling said that much of the drug activity was a result of a rise in gang
activity. Other activity could be traced to people arrested in 1992 through
1994 who are now back out in the streets, he said.
"We had crooks robbing crooks for their dope," he said. "Some of the
shootings were retaliatory."
Horsley said drug trafficking has become much more sophisticated in East
Palo Alto since 1992. Dealers are careful not to be caught with drugs in
their possession, he said. They keep drug supplies in empty apartments, and
keep a lookout system to warn dealers if the police are approaching.
"The first priority has got to be taking the drug dealers off the streets,"
said Horsley. "The only way to make an impact is to make arrests. That can't
be done by uniformed officers. It needs to be well thought out."
Both the East Palo Alto police department and the sheriff's department have
set up strike teams that sweep well-known drug-dealing locations a total of
four nights of the week. East Palo Alto's Operation Hotspot has been
targeting 18 hot spots throughout the city since November. Starting this
month, the sheriff's department set up a similar strike team that targets
both drug dealers and gang activity in the city, but works on alternate
nights to the East Palo Alto teams.
In addition, the county's Narcotics Task Force supplements the police
department, operating undercover in East Palo Alto to penetrate the drug
dealing that goes on behind closed doors.
Cooperation between the police department and the sheriff's deputies is
crucial in these operations in order to avoid any accidents.
"The worst possible thing that could happen is one strike team mistaking the
others for crooks," said Horsley. "That could put them in serious danger."
According to Horsley, policing strategies have changed from a paramilitary
model since the sheriff was last in charge of public safety in East Palo
Alto. Today, police are more sensitive to a community's needs, he said.
"I'm sorry if the sheriff didn't respect the community in the 1970s," he
said. "But we've changed."
To that end, Horsley, Bowling and the City Council are all advocating a
model of community policing in East Palo Alto.
"There are a lot of neighborhood groups willing to work with you as long as
you're a consistent presence," said Horsley.
According to former East Palo Alto police officer Fakava, one of the major
problems that the police encounter is the reluctance of citizens to speak up
and cooperate with the police.
"For the community to open up to them will be a little bit difficult," he
said. "You won't get anyone to assist you for fear of retaliation."
Fakava said that, with minimum staffing levels, it would be difficult to
address the minority communities of East Palo Alto who often don't speak
English.
"The drug battle will not be won without the help of the people. I don't
care if you bring the National Guard in here," said Montel Yarborough,
chairman of the city's public safety commission.
Mayor Jones said that he had been in favor of community policing since he
ran for City Council in 1992.
"I'm enthusiastically campaigning to convince my people it's a sound
process," he said.
During January's police appreciation dinner, Bowling announced the formation
of a Citizen's Academy. The Academy would encourage citizens to find out
more about what the police department does, he said, and expose young people
to the public safety process. The first Academy begins the week of March 29.
Horsley said that the sheriff's department makes sure that each team of
deputies has at least one Spanish-speaking member to reach out to the Latino
community. He advocates mentoring programs for kids and anti-drug activities
in schools, such as DARE.
Anti-drug campaigner Scherzer, who runs his own citizen's group called
Turnaround East Palo Alto, said that East Palo Alto has been a tolerant city
for too long.
"East Palo Alto has become a haven for people who aren't tolerated
elsewhere," he said. "It used to be a good-time party place. Now, the party
is over."
With the Gateway 101 redevelopment project scheduled to be completed by the
end of 1998 or early 1999, city officials know that the clock is ticking for
establishing the perception in people's minds that East Palo Alto is a safe
place to come to shop. "We're under a lot of time pressure," concedes City
Council member Duane Bay.
The city has stumbled into one obstacle after another in its efforts to
create a tax base and financial stability for the city government.
Gateway has taken much longer to get off the ground than originally planned,
thanks to one of the former anchor stores reneging on its original deal and
pulling out.
The Gateway project, the office building and hotel complex planned for
Whiskey Gulch, and a likely redevelopment project in the Ravenswood
Industrial Area should provide a long-term financial solution, eventually.
But getting through the next few years may prove difficult.
And the public perception of safety is necessary for the redevelopment
projects to work.
The grand jury report in December added to the public perception that the
police department may not be up to the tasks it faces.
"It's an issue of perception," Mayor R.B. Jones said. "If people don't
believe we can ever handle it, we won't, no matter how many officers we
have."
Others in the community wonder whether the sheriff's department and police
department can continue mutually sharing the job of providing police
services. "The sheriff and police department do not get along, period," said
resident William Branner.
"It's real clear that there needs to be some improved communication (between
the two departments)," said Vice Mayor Sharifa Wilson.
"There needs to be an integrated command of police services in the community
under our leadership," Jones said.
Bowling said that problems between his department and the sheriff's
department only started in 1997, when Horsley made another public pitch to
take over police services in the city. "The problems and finger-pointing
surfaced when we got closer to a new contract in 1997," Bowling said.
However, the logistics of two police forces working in the same city at the
same time can be awkward.
Most East Palo Alto patrol officers work a 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. shift,
when a smaller detachment comes on duty to cover part of the city. The
sheriff's deputies working patrol come in at 3 p.m. and work until 3 a.m.,
so there is overlap between the two, although they cover different parts of
the city.
But no one from the sheriff's department is part of the two daily patrol
briefings that the city police hold, and no city officers are at the daily
sheriff's department patrol briefing.
"If we're going to have another contract, I'd like to sit down and talk with
the sheriff's department about some things," Bowling said. "We share with
them what the problems are and what the issues are. But we do our thing and
they do their thing."
Horsley and Bowling say they don't have difficulty getting along.
"I have nothing personal against Don, and I don't think he is doing anything
personal against me," Bowling said. "But I believe he is doing what any
sheriff is doing, which is to expand his area for patrol services."
The pair even went out and had a game of golf together in January.
No word on who won.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Drugs Drive Repeat Offenders ('Standard-Times' In Southern Massachusetts
Says That, According To The Sentencing Project, 57 Percent Of Those Sentenced
To Jail In 1989 Said They Were Under The Influence Of Alcohol Or Other Drugs
At The Time They Committed Their Offense, And According To The Bureau
Of Justice Statistics, A Study Of 108,580 Persons Released From Prisons In 1983
Found That 62 Percent Were Arrested For A Felony Or Serious Misdemeanor
Within Three Years, 46 Percent Were Reconvicted And 41 Percent Were Sent Back
To Jail Or Prison)
Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 01:11:22 -0800
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: Olafur Brentmar
Subject: MN: US MA: Drugs Drive Repeat Offenders
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: John Smith
Pubdate: Wed, 11 Mar 1998
Source: The Standard-Times, Serving the South Coast of Massachusetts
Contact: YourView@S-T.com
WebPage: http://www.s-t.com
Author: Maureen Boyle, Standard-Times staff writer
DRUGS DRIVE REPEAT OFFENDERS
Substance Abuse Seen By Law Officials As Common Thread
NEW BEDFORD -- Robert Perch was led away in ankle chains and handcuffs
yesterday, to spend at least five years in state prison for stealing a
jacket, a gold chain and $10 at knifepoint.
The crime mirrored one the 29-year-old committed just three years ago.
Mr. Perch is one of thousands nationally and locally who, while on
probation for one crime, commit yet another.
"It's the same people over and over again, committing the same
crimes," Acushnet Police Chief Michael Poitras said.
And studies back up that thinking.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, a study of 108,580
persons released from prisons in 1983 found that 62 percent were
arrested for a felony or serious misdemeanor within three years, 46
percent were reconvicted and 41 percent were sent back to jail or prison.
"Some people keep making the same mistakes and it's hard to learn any
new modes of behavior when you are in jail in a social structure very
unlike anything you might find on the street," said Alan Zwirblis,
regional supervisor for the Committee for Public Counsel. "They find
themselves in the same predicament that they were in when they went in."
Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh said prosecutors see
the same faces over again -- sometimes for the same types of crimes.
"Particularly on the small-fry cases, the poorly planned crimes of
opportunities, they never seem to learn," Mr. Walsh said. "As prosecutors,
we shake our heads and say, 'I just sent him to jail two years ago.'"
Wareham Chief Probation Officer Thomas Cummings said substance abuse
appears to be a key factor in recidivism.
"What brings them back before the court very often is the substance that
they are using," Mr. Cummings said.
According to the Sentencing Project, an independent criminal justice policy
group, 57 percent of those sentenced to jail in 1989 said they were under
the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time they committed their offense.
Gene Monteiro, Bristol County chief probation officer, said probation
officers try to "stem the tide, so to speak" of recidivism by intensifying
supervision.
"We use various techniques to put people on the right track, address
certain minor violations, conduct administrative reviews, give the
probation a booster shot" he said.
But with some people that just doesn't work.
"I'm optimistic that a great deal of them will succeed but we don't have a
perfect system here," Mr. Monteiro said.
Mr. Walsh said probation departments in the past two years appear to be
taking tougher stands on those who violate probation. "Going back 18 months
to two years ago, probation was nowhere near as effective as it could have
been," he said.
But a proposal by the governor's office to move probation from the
judiciary to the executive branch shook things up, Mr. Walsh said. "They
are much more aggressive now."
And it may be getting even more aggressive.
Mr. Cummings said a committee of district court judges, clerks and
probation officers put together a 50-page draft for surrender procedures
recently and statewide officers are getting tougher.
"The goal is to give a person an opportunity to change their behavior, but
if they can't, to protect the community and have that person taken off the
street," he said.
In the case of Mr. Perch, substance abuse appears to have contributed to
his crimes, said Stewart Grimes, his attorney.
Mr. Perch was convicted in 1995 of robbery in connection with the theft of
hats and given a 4- to 6-year suspended state prison term.
But while on probation, he was arrested on two counts of armed robbery --
charges he pleaded guilty to yesterday.
In one case, he robbed a man at knifepoint of a gold chain, on the street
at midday; in the second case, a month later last year, he robbed a man at
knifepoint of a jacket and $10, said Assistant District Attorney Cynthia
Vincent.
"He knew the victims and the victims knew him," Mr. Grimes said. "What does
that tell you?"
He said offenders who commit street crimes must be identified at an earlier
age to prevent recidivism.
"We need to look at these types of crimes much earlier and have
intervention at an earlier age," Mr. Grimes said.
Mr. Perch -- in a plea bargain -- was sentenced yesterday by Judge Phillip
Rivard-Rapoza to a 5- to 7-year state prison term. His probation was also
revoked and is also serving -- concurrently -- the
4- to 6-year prison term imposed in 1995.
Judge Rivard-Rapoza stayed execution of the sentence until Monday,
keeping Mr. Perch at the Ash Street jail until then, at the request of
the defense attorney.
That will allow Mr. Perch -- who hadn't been allowed visits -- to see
his 12-year-old daughter for the first time in months, his attorney said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Everyone Wants To Do Something About Tobacco, But Few Agree
On What ('New York Times' Update On Congressional Negotiations
Over Fate Of Tobacco Industry And Tobacco Consumers)
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 10:45:29 -0500
From: "R. Lake"
Subject: MN: US: NYT: Everyone Wants to Do Something About Tobacco,
but Few Agree on What
To: DrugSense News Service
Organization: The Media Awareness Project of DrugSense
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: Kevin Zeese
Source: The New York Times
Author: David E. Rosenbaum
Pubdate: Wed, 11 Mar 1998
Contact: letters@nytimes.com
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
EVERYONE WANTS TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT TOBACCO, BUT FEW AGREE ON WHAT
WASHINGTON -- Normally, when Congress considers legislation that would bring
on big changes in society, there are two main sides: those who want the bill
to pass because they favor change, and those who hope to block the measure
to preserve the status quo.
Tobacco legislation is an exception. No one favors the status quo. Everyone
wants a bill passed this year. But few of the lawmakers and lobbyists
involved are confident that the goal can be reached.
In the Senate on Wednesday, the Commerce Committee will hear testimony from
senators representing various factions, and the Labor and Public Welfare
Committee plans to draft the section of the overall legislation involving
regulation of tobacco by the Food and Drug Administration.
The tobacco companies want the predictability that legislation would give
them about how much money they will have to spend to settle legal claims in
the years ahead. They favor a bill along the lines of the agreement they
signed last June with 40 state attorneys general.
The industry is beginning a nationwide advertising campaign this week on
television and radio and in newspapers and magazines touting the June
agreement.
Public health advocates believe that a tough new law regulating tobacco is
the best way to reduce the number of teen-agers who get hooked on smoking.
President Clinton and nearly all of the Democrats in Congress see a
political bonanza in the issue. They think legislation to limit smoking
would be enormously popular, and they believe they will get credit if such a
measure is enacted.
The Republicans who control Congress also favor passage of a bill, in part
because they fear they will be faulted if legislation fails.
So this is one of the rare instances in Congress when inertia is not a
central force. But that does not mean the smart money is necessarily on a
bill being passed.
The differences in what the parties want in legislation are so vast and the
degree of trust between some of them is so slight that it is difficult to
fathom what the bridges are that can bring them together.
"If we get anywhere, and that's a huge 'if,"' said Sen. John McCain, the
chairman of the Commerce Committee, it's going to be because "we move
together with the White House and the Democrats and the attorneys general
and the public health community."
McCain, R-Ariz., was tapped last week by the Senate Republican leadership to
draft a bill that falls under the jurisdiction of his committee and several
others. He said he hoped to have finished writing a bill by the end of this
month that would command enough support in the Senate that its passage would
not be in doubt.
"There's no way we're going to put out a package that will be defeated on
the floor," he said in an interview.
Work in the House of Representatives is moving more slowly. The Republican
leadership may be waiting to see what happens in the Senate. If the Senate
cannot agree on a bill, there is little point in the House taking up an
explosive issue in an election year. But if the Senate does pass a bill, a
top Republican staff assistant said, "we will certainly move quickly and
decisively."
Clinton has begun to speak out on the issue almost daily. In Connecticut on
Tuesday, he declared that there was an "urgent need for action" on tobacco
legislation and suggested that money raised from cigarette manufacturers
could be spent to improve child care.
The White House chief of staff, Erskine Bowles, and Democratic leaders in
the Senate and House plan to hold a news conference on Wednesday to
challenge the Republican leaders to move more quickly on a tobacco bill.
The issue is a difficult one for Republicans, who have received more
campaign money from tobacco interests in recent years than from any other
single source.
Shortly after Republicans won control of Congress in the 1994 elections, the
party's leaders in the House announced that they would end an investigation
of the tobacco industry that Democrats had begun. Speaker Newt Gingrich
called Dr. David Kessler, the former commissioner of food and drugs and one
of the nation's leading spokesmen against smoking, a "thug" and a "bully."
Things have changed this year. McCain said that many of his colleagues
learned when they were home during the three-month break between last year's
congressional session and this year's that their constituents had become
much more concerned about smoking than the lawmakers had realized.
Now, the tobacco industry has little more support in Congress than the
Mafia, and being on the wrong side of the smoking issue would be like being
on the wrong side of communism.
Republican leaders have begun to change their tune. On Monday, Gingrich and
the Senate leader, Trent Lott of Mississippi, indicated that they favored
some form of tobacco legislation. They spoke out against large legal fees
for lawyers in tobacco suits, and they challenged Clinton to be more
specific on his views on particular elements of the legislation.
But Republicans cannot shake their past quickly. "If a tobacco bill gets
passed," said a Republican congressman who insisted on not being identified,
"we won't get any credit. But if no bill is passed, you can bet we'll get
blamed."
The disagreements among the politicians involve issues like how much and how
fast cigarette prices should be raised, how the money from higher prices
should be distributed and spent by the federal government and the states,
how the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission should
regulate tobacco products and what kind of assistance tobacco farmers and
their communities should receive to ease their financial burden.
But those matters, each of them delicate and divisive, can probably be
resolved if the lawmakers can settle the principal dispute over how much
protection the tobacco companies should be given against future lawsuits
seeking damages for illness caused by smoking.
Under the agreement between the industry and the state attorneys general,
the spark that ignited the current interest in tobacco legislation, the
companies would be given permanent immunity from class-action lawsuits and
considerable shelter from other legal liability.
In exchange, the companies agreed to severe restrictions on advertising. Ads
featuring cartoon characters and celebrities, for instance, would be
discontinued, outdoor advertising and sponsorship of sports events would be
ended and print ads would be restricted to publications read primarily by
adults.
The prevailing view in public health circles is that advertising restraints
are essential to dissuade young people from smoking. A study published last
month in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that
advertising was an even more important reason than peer pressure in
explaining why teen-agers started to smoke.
Lawyers for the tobacco companies insist that they have a constitutional
right of free speech and that Congress cannot impose broad restrictions on
their advertising. The only way cigarette advertising will be restrained,
the companies say, is if they do so voluntarily, and that will happen only
if Congress gives them the legal protections they want.
Some prominent lawmakers, including McCain and Sen. Orrin Hatch, the
chairman of the Judiciary Committee, believe that Congress has little
alternative but to accede. "Absent liability provisions," Hatch, R-Utah,
said last week, "we will be unable to change materially the way in which
these products are advertised and marketed."
The White House takes a similar stance. In an interview, Bruce Reed,
Clinton's chief adviser on domestic policy, suggested that the president was
not enthusiastic about giving the tobacco companies legal protection but
thought it was the only way to obtain adequate restrictions on advertising.
But this view has powerful opponents. The country's most prominent public
health authorities, Kessler and Dr. C. Everett Koop, the former surgeon
general, argue strenuously against giving the tobacco companies legal
protection. Their public standing is so high that after meeting with them
for more than an hour last week, McCain said that no tobacco legislation
could move forward without their stamp of approval.
Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota has offered a bill endorsed by Kessler and
Koop and sponsored by 29 other Democratic senators. It is much tougher on
the tobacco companies than any other measure under consideration. "We should
not give privileged protection to this industry, of all industries," Conrad
said.
He suggested that Congress set annual goals for reductions in youth smoking
and impose stiff fines on the tobacco companies if the goals were not
reached. That way, he said, the companies could not afford to advertise.
The Conrad bill stands no chance of passage. No legislation drafted in the
Democratic caucus will be passed by the Republican-controlled Senate.
A bipartisan measure to be offered this week by Sens. Tom Harkin of Iowa and
Bob Graham of Florida, both Democrats, and John Chafee of Rhode Island, a
Republican, follows lines similar to the Conrad bill but would place an
annual ceiling on the total amount of damage claims the tobacco companies
could be required to pay.
Any measure passed by the Senate must be supported by Conrad and his allies
as well as those backing the bipartisan measure, McCain insisted. "We have
to move in lock-step," he said. "Otherwise, it flies apart. The whole thing
is too fragile."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The Record Crop A City Isn't High On - Nowhere East Of Vancouver
Has More Grass Growing Under Its Feet Than Winnipeg (Toronto 'Globe And Mail'
Says More Locally Grown Marijuana Was Seized In The Capital Of Manitoba
Last Year Than In Any Other Canadian City Outside Vancouver -
Sergeant Trakalo And His Colleagues In The Drug Squad Also Grow Their Own Pot
But Last Year Broke Up 106 Other Grow Operations And Carted Off
A Record $11-Million Worth Of Weed, Compared With Vancouver's $26 Million
And Edmonton's $2.5 Million - Police In Toronto,
With Five Times The Population, Came Up With Little More Than Half
Of The Winnipeg Figure)
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 09:04:49 -0500
From: Carey Ker
Subject: Canada: The record crop a city isn't high on
To: mattalk@islandnet.com
Priority: Normal
Delivery-Receipt-To: Carey Ker
Newshawk: carey.ker@utoronto.ca
Pubdate: Wednesday, March 11, 1998
Source: Globe and Mail, Page A2
Contact: letters@globeandmail.ca
Website: http://www.globeandmail.ca/
COMPASS
The record crop a city isn't high on
Nowhere east of Vancouver has more grass growing under its
feet than Winnipeg
Wednesday, March 11, 1998
By David Roberts
in Winnipeg
Winnipeg -- WINNIPEG gardeners suddenly have a reputation as
growers of great grass. Unfortunately, it has nothing to do
with their lawns.
Police here have discovered, somewhat to their surprise,
that more locally grown marijuana was seized in Winnipeg
last year than in any other Canadian city outside Vancouver.
They claim that so much cannabis is blossoming in the
Manitoba capital that they broke up 106 "grow operations"
and carted off a record $11-million worth of weed (compared
with Vancouver's $26-million) without really trying.
"I had no idea we'd be breaking records," said Detective
Sergeant Ron Trakalo of the drug squad. "It seemed pretty
much routine. It wasn't really a priority."
Others are impressed. "If they weren't trying and got four
times as much as we did . . . wow!" said Kelly Gordon,
spokesman for the Edmonton Police Service, which seized
$2.5-million worth last year.
And police in Toronto, with five times the population, came
up with little more than half of the Winnipeg figure.
The local drug squad, which estimates that it intercepts 10
per cent of the city's production, now assumes that Manitoba
is a net exporter of marijuana, giving the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Agency even more reason to declare Canada --
along with Columbia and Nigeria -- a "source country" for
drugs.
Why the sudden upsurge? For six months of the year, cannabis
sativa simply can't be kept outdoors in Manitoba. "It's cold
so it has to be grown indoors," Sgt. Trakalo said. Thanks
to cheap electricity, he added, growers who can master
hydroponic cultivation wind up with plants that "aren't so
prone to disease" and are highly valuable. A single specimen
can fetch as much as $1,680, and small operations can
generate 20-plant harvests three or four times a year.
"People are making a lot of money growing pot around here,"
Sgt. Trakalo said. "All kinds of people are getting into it,
from the top echelons of society to the lowest." Even the
police have joined the crowd. Sgt. Trakalo and his
colleagues in the drug squad actually grow their own pot --
within the confines of the police station -- so they can
offer expert evidence when testifying in court.
It seems the Manitoba-grown variety has garnered a
reputation for being highly potent. Sgt. Trakalo said that,
on average, marijuana contains 5 to 10 per cent THC
(tetrahydrocannabinol, the plant's active ingredient) but
police have come across home-grown with double that level.
While the Winnipeg police are proud of their last haul, they
admit they're far from nipping the local pot trade in the
bud. If they really did shut down only 10 per cent of the
production, the home-grown crop was worth $110-million and,
they argue, far outstripped what's needed for domestic
consumption.
So far this year they have busted about 20 hydroponic
operations, including one in a vacant corner store worth at
least $250,000. The neighbours had no idea what was going on
-- and that's unusual. A large residential hydro bill can
pique the interest of police, but Sgt. Trakalo says there's
no substitute for a good tip. The smell from growing
operations can be powerful, and sometimes neighbours get
suspicious and call the police.
"In the large scheme of things, Winnipeg doesn't really have
a drug problem compared with lots of other places," said
Sgt. Trakalo, adding that despite its record catch, the
force doesn't really focus on marijuana. The real effort
goes into halting distribution of crack cocaine and such
prescription drugs as Ritalin, a nervous-system stimulant,
and Talwin, a narcotic painkiller.
For example, one night last week, undercover officers tried
to make a deal for a half-pound of home-grown marijuana,
hoping their suspect might lead them to a bigger supplier or
even a grower. When the deal fell through, they quickly
decided to contact a local taxi driver suspected of dealing
in cocaine. They called him on his cellular telephone,
placed an order and then waited.
When the driver showed up at a local hotel, the drug squad
pounced. Six plainclothes police surrounded his cab, pulled
him and another man out, handcuffed them and impounded the
taxi (which could be sold under new laws that allow police
to auction off the proceeds of crime).
As it turned out, the driver was carrying cash and
drug-related paraphernalia -- a razor blade, a portable
torch for free-basing, and several vials of white substance
that tested negative for cocaine.
"He dumped it, he's smart," said Sgt. Trakalo with a hint of
frustration. He suspected that the suspect, perhaps
anticipating a sting, had stashed his drugs nearby. After
being questioned downtown, the driver and his companion were
released.
In many cases, the police find themselves dealing with
people a lot younger, whether they be drug users, couriers
or suppliers. "We've had kids as young as 11 years old
selling drugs," Sgt. Trakalo said.
This is one reason that he and many other law-enforcement
officers disagree with the rising call for the
decriminalization of marijuana.
"I have no problem with its therapeutic use for cancer
patients," he said. "But the fact is, it slows your reaction
time and your focus and concentration. You start to lose
interest in things. You lose your motivation in life.
"I tell young kids that it can make a big difference in your
life as to whether you're going to be a success or not."
David Roberts is Manitoba and Saskatchewan bureau chief of
The Globe and Mail.
(Sidebar)
Crashing the party
One night last week, the Winnipeg drug squad executed a
search warrant at a rundown house in the city's north end.
Eight officers riding in a van and a four-by-four truck
slipped into an alley behind a forlorn little dwelling a
couple of doors from the Sisters of Charity mission. It took
them seven smacks with a battering ram to break down the
steel-reinforced rear door.
As the police banged away, two men and two young women
inside screamed and shouted in alarm. "The big thing is
speed and surprise," said Detective Sergeant Ron Trakalo.
Inside, the place smelled of urine and disinfectant, and was
unfurnished except for a pair of blood-stained mattresses in
the living room. In the bathroom, the dry, discoloured
bathtub contained feces. There were several used condoms on
the floor.
Throughout the house there were hundreds of syringes, some
used. One filled with blood fell from the jacket of one of
the women as she was taken away to be searched. "These girls
work the corner as hookers," said Sgt. Trakalo. "I'm
surprised we didn't find any 14- or 15-year-olds in here."
If there had been much cocaine, most went down the toilet
before the officers could gain entry. Wearing plastic
gloves, they searched the house from top to bottom and
finally uncovered a small bag containing perhaps $100 worth
of the drug.
The four suspects were recorded and released, although
charges may result if the police find fingerprints on the
bag.
As the squad left, having ensured the place was boarded up,
a familiar van cruised past. It was from a local volunteer
service that combats the spread of AIDS by allowing drug
users to turn in their used syringes for new ones.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Brazil Battles Drugs On Borders, Streets ('Washington Post'
Notes Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso Has Ordered The Creation
Of A Special Government Body To Coordinate Drug Policy - Brazil's Congress
Already Has Passed Legislation Aimed At Curbing Traffickers' Activities
By Identifying 'Dirty' Money And Setting Prison Terms Of Three To 10 Years
For Money Laundering.- Cardoso Also Approved A Law Thursday
Authorizing Government Agencies To Shoot Down 'Hostile' Aircraft)
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 09:36:14 -0500
From: "R. Lake"
Subject: MN: Brazil: WP: Brazil Battles Drugs on Borders, Streets
To: DrugSense News Service
Organization: The Media Awareness Project of DrugSense
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: Kevin Zeese
Source: Washington Post
Author: Daniela Hart, Special to The Washington Post
Pubdate: Wed, 11 Mar 1998
Contact: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
BRAZIL BATTLES DRUGS ON BORDERS, STREETS
New Agency Will Coordinate Control Effort at National Level for First Time
SAO PAOLO, Brazil-Rapid increases in drug-related crime, especially drug
trafficking, have prompted President Fernando Henrique Cardoso to order the
creation of a special government body to coordinate drug policy.
The planned Special Secretariat on National Policies for the Control of
Drugs, which would be accountable to Cardoso, will coordinate the activities
of government agencies fighting drugs on three fronts: trafficking, use and
production. Final plans for the secretariat's operations are expected to be
presented to Cardoso this week, and the office may be operational before the
end of June, officials said.
The move to create the special secretariat signals a new urgency by the
government to address drug abuse, which has grown serious on the fringes of
society, and drug trafficking, which takes advantage of the country's long
and porous border.
Studies show that between 70 percent and 80 percent of all crimes are
related to drugs. Occasional drug use among public school students has
increased from 17 percent in 1987 to 24 percent in 1997 (a number that rises
to 90 percent among street children). And Brazil has become the main
corridor for cocaine export from Colombia to Europe and the United States.
Until now, however, Brazil's states have worked independently to combat the
problem. The secretariat will coordinate the activities of state and local
security agencies with 14 federal agencies that combat drugs. The
secretariat also will develop strategies and national policy on drug
control.
"To fight organized crime, we need organized action," said Gen. Alberto
Mendes Cardoso, chief of the Military Office of the Presidency, who is
responsible for initial studies on the secretariat.
"Public security problems such as robberies, murders and kidnappings are
increasingly related to drug taking or drug smuggling," he said. "This will
increase the scope and efficiency of our actions."
Closer cooperation with the United States and other Latin American countries
is also planned.
Brazil's Congress already has passed legislation aimed at curbing
traffickers' activities. The law, which the president signed at the end of
February, created mechanisms to identify "dirty" money and set prison terms
of three to 10 years for money laundering.
In addition, Cardoso approved a law Thursday authorizing government agencies
to shoot down hostile aircraft. Drug traffickers frequently smuggle drugs
over Brazil's borders by plane, but until now only warning shots were
allowed, and then only when all other warnings had failed.
Drug trafficking has increased markedly in Brazil, particularly in the last
five years, though combating it remains somewhat easier than in neighboring
countries because "the evil has not yet taken root here," Cardoso said.
"But we must act now before it is too late, before what is a problem becomes
an emergency," he said.
Some think it is already an emergency. While serious drug use generally is
acknowledged to be largely limited to certain segments of society -- notably
the urban poor, prisoners and street children -- in a nation of 160 million
people even a fraction can represent a significant problem.
Journalist Claudio Julio Tognolli, author of a prize-winning book on the
drug trade, "The Century of Crime," says Brazil has become the main base for
the export of cocaine from other Latin American countries -- notably
Colombia -- to the rest of the world, and all major international mafias
have significant presences in the country.
The author, who traveled widely when doing research for his book, emphasized
the ease of crossing Brazil's border with Peru, Bolivia and Colombia.
Running mostly deep in the Amazon jungle, it is difficult to monitor.
"There isn't the slightest control. The frontiers are unguarded, the police
are easily corrupted -- it's great for the traffickers," Tognolli said.
Border surveillance and control will be a priority when the new secretariat
becomes operational in the next few months, officials said. The task still
will fall to the federal police and internal revenue service, with army
patrols in some areas, but the secretariat will help coordinate the
agencies' activities.
Further complicating the situation is the support drug traffickers sometimes
enjoy from Brazil's poor, who receive free medicines or even sports and
day-care facilities from the outlaws.
There are no reliable statistics on drug use among the general population;
the first household survey by the Brazilian Center for Information on
Psychotropic Drugs will take place later this year. But it is not thought to
be high.
"Only around 3 percent of schoolchildren are regular users of drugs," said
Elisaldo Carlini, director of the center, "but there is a steady growth in
the use of amphetamines, marijuana and cocaine. The secretariat comes at a
good time; hopefully we can keep numbers low."
(c) Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company
-------------------------------------------------------------------
DrugSense Weekly, Number 37 (Summary Of Drug Policy News For Activists,
Including Original Commentary And Articles Such As Feature Piece,
'Harm Reduction and Hepatitis C, Part 3 - What Must We Do,
To Change What We Do . . . ?' By Joey Tranchina and Dr. Tom O'Connell)
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 19:52:38 -0800
To: mgreer@mapinc.org
From: Mark Greer
Subject: DrugSense Weekly March 11, 1998 #037
***
DRUGSENSE WEEKLY
***
DrugSense Weekly March 11, 1998 #037
A DrugSense publication
http://www.drugsense.org
***
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
* Feature Article
Harm Reduction and Hepatitis C: (Part 3)
What must we do, to change what we do...?
Joey Tranchina, M.A. and Tom O'Connell, M.D.
* Weekly News In Review
Marijuana-
UK: Lords To Study Cannabis Risks
Tobacco-
Reinventing American Tobacco Policy: Sounding the Medical
Community's Voice
Law Enforcement-
No Charges In Candy Bar Shooting
Day of Humiliation
Drug Testing-
Oral Drug Test Screens For Use Of Marijuana
Court Clears Drug Tests To Protect PresidencyMarkG
Corrections-
Planned Intake Center Reshapes Prisons
State Prisons Spin Out Of Control
Forfeiture-
Seizure of hotel sets precedent
Brokers Put on Notice Over Laundering
International News -
Prisons Plan To Sterilise Needles For Drug Users
UK: Drugs Tsar Targets Jails And Schools
Colombian Army Suffers One Of Worst Defeats In Combat With
Rebels
* Hot Off The 'Net
Suppressed World Health Organization Report Posted
Electronic Law Library
* DrugSense Tip Of The Week
Posting news articles to the DrugSense editor editor@mapinc.org
* Quote of the Week
William F. Buckley
***
FEATURE ARTICLE
***
Harm Reduction and Hepatitis C:
What must we do, to change what we do...?
Joey Tranchina, M.A. and Tom O'Connell, M.D.
Our collective first reaction to HCV, has been to do what we did for HIV,
only more. Just as in Sinclair's novel, "The Jungle," -- the more plant
management pushed the slaughterhouse assembly line, the more workers pushed
themselves, with the mantra "I will work harder." More work fails to
address the epidemic for the same reasons the meat packers failed -- an
inappropriate plan for a significantly different situation.
We must, of course, continue exchanging syringes, counseling and
referring our clients to ever more threadbare services, but we must also
realize that those activities alone won't halt progression of the HCV
epidemic.
How do we know that measures taken to contain HIV will fail to prevent the
spread of HCV? If what we've been doing for ten years, which has
demonstrably reduced spread of AIDS, did the same for HCV- 80 to 90% of NEP
clients wouldn't be infected. This is not to say that participation in a
syringe exchange doesn't reduce the chance of HCV infection- excellent
studies in Washington state demonstrate significant reductions in new HBV
& HCV. Yet, even with participation in exchange we are speaking about a
population that is overwhelmingly HCV positive and one that continues to
become infected at an alarming rate.
We know that syringe exchange offers access to a hard-to-reach and hidden
community of men and women living at great risk of blood borne disease
and other maladies. Most of them are isolated and stigmatized; well
beyond reach of conventional medical interventions. Targeted outreach
remains essential, and syringe exchange is the most efficient contact
point for the simple reason it offers something drug injectors want and
need.
How can we use this access to slow the epidemic of HCV infections?
We must examine the reasons standard syringe exchange practice has failed
to have a similarly dramatic effect on spread of HCV:
1) Injection is inherently high risk behavior- there is no evolutionary
precedent for parental drug administration- and humans have limited
native defense against blood borne pathogens.
2) HCV is a different virus, more persistent in the environment and orders
of magnitude more abundant in the blood of infected individuals.
3) Most IDUs have already been infected with HCV before reaching a NEP.
This virus is routinely acquired early in an injector's career. A
Seattle study suggests that 30% people who inject become infected from their
first experience. What possible intervention would protect such young
people, who have never even heard of a syringe exchange?
One of us (JT) has discussed this issue, for over a year, with many
experienced outreach workers, most significantly Dave Burrows in
Australia. To the questions: "What could be done to enable uninfected
injectors to protect themselves from HCV infection? What can we do to
effectively prevent regular injectors from infecting novice partners who
begin injecting with them?" Our unfortunate answer is PROBABLY NOTHING.
Among people, who continue to inject, a significant percentage will
become HCV infected no matter what we say, teach, or do. HCV is
problematic even in hospitals where up to 30% of kidney dialysis patients
are HCV positive, along with an high percentage of dialysis nurses;
therefore, it's easy to understand why adequately sterile injection
conditions can't be achieved by needle exchange customers. As always,
social class and economic status will affect the conditions under which
one injects, but HCV will spread even given the relatively sanitary
injection practices of more privileged IDUs. The best answer seems to be
that there is no safe way to inject drugs. After many lengthy
discussions with many thoughtful and experienced workers, these are our
recommendations:
o Discourage injection, by encouraging any other means of drug use.
Anything that lowers the number of injectors or reduces frequency of
injection reduces opportunity for spread.
o Demand that all NEP clients have access to anonymous HCV testing , with
appropriate and competent pre & post test counseling. Ideally, this would
be accompanied with an offer of vaccination for Hepatitis A & B and
combined with referral to treatment, as indicated.
o Teach the truth: there is no safe use of alcohol by HCV positive
patients.
o Teach clients the risk they pose to their partners if they help them to
inject --- the risk from the overwhelmingly HCV positive cohort of
established IDUs to newbies, who have never injected is extreme.
o Begin outreach to snorters, to alert them to HCV risk in sharing straws.
o "Wash your hands." Cleanliness offers a significant --- and often
difficult to achieve --- barrier to infection, but the standard is VERY
high.
o Advocate for inclusion of drug users, former users and substitute drug
users at all levels of HCV treatment, including liver transplants and
clinical trials. The standard for retention should not be drug status, but
compliance with protocol.
o Recognition of the intimate connection between HCV and autoimmune
disorders will provide better medical care for needle exchange clients.
o Recognize the critical impact of nutrition on the health of HCV positive
people
o Expand the mission of existing HIV Organizations to incorporate the
needs of Hepatitis C patients.
o Demand an adequate funding stream for HCV treatment, prevention,
research and care.
o Help develop an activist core of HCV positive patients, to become experts
in their disease. Our experience with HIV and AIDS demonstrates that
knowledgeable patients and advocates receive more appropriate treatment.
This unfunded epidemic requires informed advocates for their own health
care.
***
WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW
***
Marijuana
***
UK: Lords To Study Cannabis Risks
COMMENT:
This is far more hopeful than the studies proposed on this
side of the Atlantic. Given the history of such
commissions always recommending that cannabis laws be
softened, if not repealed, the probability that this one
will come to similar conclusions is high. The pressure
generated by such a report would be enormous in the
present political climate.
LORDS TO STUDY CANNABIS RISKS
THE scientific risks of taking cannabis for medical and
recreational purposes are to be examined by a Lords
investigation, it was announced yesterday.
[snip]
The inquiry by the Lords Committee on Science and
Technology, half of whose members are medically qualified,
will be advised by Leslie Iverson, visiting Professor of
Pharmacology at Oxford University, who specialises in the
effects of drugs on the brain. The two key questions to be
addressed are:"How strong is the scientific evidence in favour of
permitting medical use?" and "How strong is the scientific evidence
in favour of maintaining prohibition of recreational use?"
[snip]
Source: The Independent
Pubdate: Friday, 6 March 1998
Author: Anthony Bevins, Political Editor
Contact: letters@independent.co.uk
Website: http://www.independent.co.uk/
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n158.a04.html
***
Tobacco-
***
Reinventing American Tobacco Policy: Sounding the Medical
Community's Voice
COMMENT:
In this exercise in futility, three medical luminaries
attempt to discuss tobacco policy without any reference to
drug prohibition. The result is an unfocused vilification
of cigarette makers devoid of a single coherent policy
recommendation, despite the ambitious title.
REINVENTING AMERICAN TOBACCO POLICY
1998 may be the most important moment in the history of
the tobacco wars, a moment when America chooses between a path toward
social repair or one toward irrevocable public loss.
[snip]
The extent that the tobacco industry has gone to
secure special privilege and protect itself, individually
andcollectively, from liability from past and future health
effects from tobacco use has raised a red fag in the public health
community. With such a glaring difference between what is
right and wrong for the public, Congress should have little
difficulty in choosing a course that contains no deals and no trades. We
support tobacco legislation by Congress, but are opposed to
granting any concessions to the tobacco industry
Pubdate: Thu,18 Feb 1998
Source: JAMA Vol. 279, No 7
Koop EC, Kessler DC, Lundberg, GN.
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n157.a10.html
***
Law Enforcement-
***
Day of Humiliation
No Charges In Candy Bar Shooting
COMMENT:
Two more cases of trigger-happy cops on drug cases
shooting at innocent (black) citizens. As usual, the
shootings were given official OKs and both victims were
lucky to have escaped with their lives.
DAY OF HUMILIATION
Ellis Elliott was awakened suddenly by an insane pounding
on the metal door of his Bronx apartment. It was clear that
someone was trying to break the door down.
Terrified, Mr. Elliott leaped naked from his bed and
grabbed the unlicensed .25-caliber pistol he kept in a night stand.
[snip]
Panicked, Mr. Elliott fired a warning shot over the top of
the door. That shot was answered by a fearful barrage of gunfire.
Mr. Elliott dived behind a table and squatted there, trembling.
[snip]
Somehow they invaded the wrong apartment. Mr. Elliott, 44,
had never been in trouble with the law and is due to serve
on a Bronx grand jury in the spring.
It was an honest mistake, the police would later say.
[snip]
Source: New York Times
Pubdate: Sunday, 8 Mar 1998
Column: In America, Bob Herbert
Contact: letters@nytimes.com
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n164.a05.html
***
NO CHARGES IN CANDY BAR SHOOTING
NEW YORK, March 4 (UPI) -- A grand jury has decided not to file
charges against a white U.S marshal on a drug stakeout who
shot a black New York City teenager who was carrying a
silver-wrapped Three Musketeers candy bar.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown says William Cannon
and his partner did nothing criminal when they mistook the candy
bar for a semi- automatic pistol and shot high school student Andre
Burgessin the leg on Nov. 6, 1997,
[snip]
Source: United Press International
Pubdate: 4 Mar 1998
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n164.a11.html
***
Drug Testing-
***
Oral Drug Test Screens For Use Of Marijuana
COMMENT:
Greater emphasis on routine testing in prisons has been
touted by the prohibition establishment, notably Kleiman
and Califano. A compliant Supreme Court has allowed the door
of the schoolhouse to be widely opened. Now we have a method
which removes much of the embarrassment of urine testing. Look
for wider use of testing in the coming months.
ORAL DRUG TEST SCREENS FOR USE OF MARIJUANA
Beaverton's Epitope and its partner have added to the sophisticated
methods available
Drug testing for marijuana just became as simple as sucking a
lollipop.
Thanks to a Beaverton biotech company and its Pennsylvania partner,
the nation's first high-tech marijuana test using oral fluid is
moving closer to reality. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration
this month approved the new test, which uses a lollipop-like
collection device made by Epitope Inc.
[snip]
Source: Oregonian, The
Pubdate: Sat, 28 Feb 1998
Author: Steve Woodward of The Oregonian staff
Contact: letters@news.oregonian.com
Website: http://www.oregonlive.com/
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n150.a02.html
***
Court Clears Drug Tests To Protect Presidency
COMMENT:
The theory that routine drug testing of certain White
house employees would "protect" the Prez and Al Gore
proves that Reefer Madness is alive and well in Washington
sixty-one years after passage of the MTA. It wasn't
announced if the rules would be changed to include
interns.
COURT CLEARS DRUG TESTS TO PROTECT PRESIDENCY
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court allowed random drug testing
yesterday of certain federal employees, to protect the
safety of the president and vice president.
[snip}
The suit was brought by Arthur Stigile and Ellen Balis,
economists with the OMB..(who).... said that hundreds of interns and
visitors had access to the Old Executive Office Building
who were not required to go through the "humiliating"
experience.
[snip}
The government responded that the search was justified as
a means of protecting the safety of the president and vice
president.
Source: Boston Globe (Reuters)
Pubdate: Tue, 3 Mar 1998
Contact: letters@globe.com
Website: http://www.boston.com/
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n153.a04.html
***
Corrections-
***
Planned Intake Center Reshapes Prisons
COMMENT:
From their famed "prison blues" (prisoner manufactured
denim fashions), to a shiny new intake center, Oregon-
also a major participant in Unicor, has become a veritable
laboratory for testing new ways to exploit
prisoner-generated revenue. Given projections on prison
growth in the near future, one can see why.
PLANNED INTAKE CENTER RESHAPES PRISONS
OREGON CITY - Two guards in gun-metal gray jump suits and
polished black boots get the word first.
The Blue Bird is on its way in.
[snip]
A blue-and-white bus, with the manufacturer's "Blue Bird"
emblazoned in silver letters across the front, quickly
disgorges the two dozen newest initiates to the state's burgeoning
prison population.
[snip]
Oregon prison administrators have hustled furiously for
four years to comply with ballot measures calling for longer prison
sentence sand requirements that inmates log the same 40-hour work
weeks that most voters do. Taken together, the initiatives have
swelled the state's inmate population to record numbers and created a
more diverse, and therefore more difficult to manage, mix of
prisoners.
[snip]
The department forecasts that Oregon's prison population
will top15,000 within a decade. Accommodating those inmates will
mean building as many as seven new prisons by 2007.
Source:The Oregonian,
Pubdate: Mon, 2 Mar 1998
Author: Dana Tims of The Oregonian staff
Contact: letters@news.oregonian.com
Website: http://www.oregonlive.com/
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n153.a08.html
***
State Prisons Spin Out Of Control
Corcoran Prison Guards Have Advantage, Experts Say
COMMENT:
The first piece, an Op-ed, written originally for the
Sacramento Bee, was republished in both the San Jose
Mercury News, and the San Diego Union-Tribune. It
documents growing dissatisfaction with conditions in
California's sprawling prison system.
The second, a more analytical piece in the Orange County
Register is probably more correct in suggesting that
federal convictions will be hard to come by.
Look for prison issues to loom large in the coming race
for governor.
STATE PRISONS SPIN OUT OF CONTROL
THE eight Corcoran State Prison guards indicted last week
on federal cruelty charges must, of course, be held
personally responsible for their own actions, whatever they were.
But the semi-official line from the state Department of
Correction sand Gov. Pete Wilson's administration -- that if there was
wrongdoing, it was solely the misdeeds of rogue guards --
is notacceptable. There's something more fundamentally amiss
with the department.
As any business executive knows, one of the most perilous
circumstances is unbridled, unmanaged growth, and the
Department of Corrections has been, by a wide margin, the state
government's fastest-growing segment.
[snip]
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Author: (Dan Walters (Sacramento Bee)
Pubdate: Fri, 6 Mar 1998
Contact: letters@uniontrib.com
Source: San Jose Mercury New (CA)
Contact: letters@sjmercury.com
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n161.a06.html
Corcoran Prison Guards Have Advantage, Experts Say
***
Forfeiture-
***
Seizure of hotel sets precedent
Brokers Put on Notice Over Laundering
COMMENT:
Two articles portend further extension of the legalized
extortion known as forfeiture. In the first instance, the
police seem to be penalizing hotel owners for failing to
do their (the cops) jobs.
In the second, although brokers themselves seem to be the target of
prosecution, can confiscation of shares be far behind?
SEIZURE OF HOTEL SETS PRECEDENT
'Tacit consent' for drug deals alleged
By STEVE BREWER
Copyright 1998 Houston Chronicle
Keith English sells home theater systems, but most days he
can catch a real action show right next door.
"It's like watching the TV show Cops," he said, "but it's
live."
English works next to the Red Carpet Inn, a hotel at 6868
Hornwood in southwest Houston seized by federal agents
Feb. 17. Houston police bust dealers there regularly and
there's no dispute the hotel has been used as a drug
market.
[snip]
Defense attorneys and legal experts say the seizure --
only the second of its kind in the country -- sets a bad
precedent, since there are no allegations the hotel owners
took part in any crimes.
Using a broad interpretation of drug forfeiture laws, the
U.S. attorney's office seized the hotel and is attempting
to obtain a forfeiture on the grounds that its owners gave
"tacit consent" to illegal activity by not stopping it
when notified by police and the city.
[snip]
Source: Houston Chronicle, page 1
Contact: viewpoints@chron.com
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n161.a05.html
***
BROKERS PUT ON NOTICE OVER LAUNDERING
WASHINGTON --- The U.S. Treasury Department will propose rules
requiring securities brokers to report evidence of possible money
laundering, as banks now must do Treasury and Securities and
Exchange Commission officials said.
The proposal, to be issued in the next three months, comes
as criminal prosecutors are stepping up their investigations
of securities fraud. At least two brokers were charged with
money laundering following an FBI sting in October 1996 that led
to the arrest of 45 stock promoters, company of ficers and
brokers.
[snip]
Source: International Herald-Tribune
Pubdate: Tue, 03 Mar 1998
Contact: iht@iht.com
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n153.a03.html
***
International News
***
Prisons Plan To Sterilise Needles For Drug Users
COMMENT:
This is one headline we'll never see in the US. The
practical British, acknowledging that drug use in prison
occurs, are at least taking measures to reduce AIDS.
Our doctrinaire bureaucrats would fire any warden who
suggested such heresy.
PRISONS PLAN TO STERILISE NEEDLES FOR DRUG USERS
PRISONS are planning to introduce a "clean needle" scheme
to prevent the spread of hepatitis and HIV among drug-taking
inmates.
Joyce Quin, the Prisons Minister, is considering a pilot
scheme in which sterilizing equipment would be used on prison wings
to cut the risk of spreading disease. Doctors are already
permitted to prescribe condoms to inmates, to reduce the danger of
infection among them.
[snip]
Source: Times The (UK)
Pubdate: Wed, 04 Mar 1998
Author: Richard Ford, Home Correspondent
Contact: letters@the-times.co.uk
Website: http://www.the-times.co.uk/
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n156.a10.html
***
UK: Drugs Tsar Targets Jails And Schools
COMMENT:
This seems meant to prove that despite some softness at
the margins, the drug war still survives in England. It also
shows that Tony Blair and Bill Clinton have come up with
very similar drug policies which are heavy on the testing of
vulnerable populations- schoolchildren and prisoners. Bob
DuPont must be ecstatic.
DRUGS TSAR TARGETS JAILS AND SCHOOLS
THE government is preparing its biggest assault on drugs
with a £50m plan to take the anti-drug message to children as
young as six and to segregate addicted prisoners in Britain's jails.
The strategy will be unveiled in the spring by Keith
Hellawell, the former chief constable of West Yorkshire, who was
appointed "drugs tsar" by Tony Blair last October.
[snip]
Other measures include compulsory drug testing and
treatment for burglars and others who steal to feed their drug
habit, and streamlining of government initiatives to cut
duplication of effort.
One of Hellawell's priorities is to target children before
they fall under the influence of youth drug culture.
[snip]
Source: Sunday Times (UK)
Author: Nicholas Rufford - Home Affairs Editor
Contact: editor@sunday-times.co.uk
Pubdate: Sun, 08 Mar 1998
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n165.a04.html
***
Colombian Army Suffers One Of Worst Defeats In Combat With
Rebels
COMMENT:
The badly overmatched Colombian Army suffered a major
defeat last week. This is sure to put pressure on McC &
Co. to "do something." Military options are limited by the
incompetence of Colombia's army and, hopefully, no one
wants a Viet Nam style operation involving GIs in South
America.
COLOMBIAN ARMY SUFFERS ONE OF WORST DEFEATS IN COMBAT WITH
REBELS
FLORENCIA, Colombia -- Low on rations, their radios dead,
and pinned down by 400 guerrillas, members of an elite
Colombian army counterinsurgency battalion were picked off..
[snip]
The guerrillas also earn millions of dollars annually by
taxing coca leaf farmers and providing protection for drug
traffickers.
"The reason (for the attack) was obvious. That is the
largest center for the production of coca leaves and coca paste in
the world," Echeverri, the defense minister, said Saturday.
Last month, concerns about the rebel threat prompted the
Clinton administration to lift U.S. economic sanctions against the
Colombian government.
[snip]
Source: Houston Chronicle
Pubdate: Sun, 08 Mar 1998
Page: 24A
Author: John Otis
Contact: viewpoints@chron.com
Website: http://www.chron.com/
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n165.a06.html
***
HOT OFF THE 'NET
Suppressed World Health Organization Report Posted
Suppression of a WHO document by US agencies created considerable fuss when
alleged in a recent issue of New Scientist. The document (WHO Project on
Health Implications of Cannabis Use: A Comparative Appraisal of the Health
and Psychological Consequences of Alcohol, Cannabis, Nicotine and Opiate
Use)can now be read in its entirety at Chris Clay's website:
http://www.hempnation.com/library/recreational/who-index.html
You may also wish to review the evidence supporting Chris Clay's
Constitutional Challenge, which will eventually reach the Supreme Court of
Canada. It consists of affidavits and other documents by an impressive
group of Canadian and American experts: Senator Sharon Carstairs, P. James
Giffen, Marie Andree Bertrand, Eugene Oscapella, Hans-Jorg Albrecht,
Patricia Erickson, Diane M. Riley, Neil Boyd, Bruce Alexander, Eric Single,
Dr. Lester Grinspoon, Robert Randall, Neev Tapiero, Heinz Lehmann, and John
P. Morgan.
http://www.hempnation.com/politics/challnge/motion.html
***
Electronic Law Library
Check out the sight below It is an electronic law library--mainly labor law
but They have a lot of drug war information. They claim to provide both
sides of the trenches but as you wander throughout their site, they
certainly seem more on our side of the fence. Especially check out their
"Periodical Reading Room" which has an entire section dedicated to the war
on drugs. It is exciting to find others outside the immediate reform circle
talking war on drugs. Check it out.
http://www.lectlaw.com/rotu.html
***
TIP OF THE WEEK
Posting news articles to the DrugSense editor editor@mapinc.org.
It is important that everyone know about forwarding all drug related
news articles to the DrugSense editors. Please join over 100 NewsHawks
worldwide that are helping the entire movement to stay aware and informed
on breaking drug related new.
We request that all news or magazine articles and published Letters to the
editor on any drug related issue be posted to editor@mapinc.org (please do
NOT post press releases, newsletters, or non published material to this
address)
It would be easiest if you post articles that you wish to discuss on
whatever other list you wish with a CC to editor@mapinc.org on that
article so that we know that it has been sent. This saves us from
forwarding them and cuts down on duplications received by our editor. It is
very helpful if you can post the text as opposed to a URL if possible. This
helps spread the work load among a lot of NewsHawks.
This is also important for a number of other reasons:
Your article will be synopsized and put in our daily DrugNews-Digest (DND),
a brief over view of all articles with links to the full article, to which
any interested reformer can subscribe see
http://www.drugsense.org/
for easy subscription info. You will be credited for posting it.
Your article will be put in DrugNews, our list of current (last 2 weeks)
articles for quick look up on timely news stories See
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/
They will also be reviewed for inclusion in our widely distributed
DrugSense Weekly Newsletter and be permanently stored in our long term
searchable archive for future research and review.
Taking the time to scan, copy or transcribe an article is the first step
towards insuring that our movement is both informed and able to respond in
force to all breaking drug news.
Thanks for your help.
***
Quote of the Week
"Narcotics police are an enormous, corrupt international bureaucracy ...
and now fund a coterie of researchers who provide them with 'scientific
support' ... fanatics who distort the legitimate research of others. ...
The anti-marijuana campaign is a cancerous tissue of lies, undermining law
enforcement, aggravating the drug problem, depriving the sick of needed
help, and suckering well-intentioned conservatives and countless
frightened parents." -- William F. Buckley, 'Commentary' in The National
Review, p. 495, April 29, 1983.
***
DS Weekly is one of the many free educational services
DrugSense offers our members. Watch this feature to learn
more about what DrugSense can do for you.
Editor: Tom O'Connell (tjeffoc@drugsense.org)
Senior-Editor: Mark Greer (mgreer@drugsense.org)
We wish to thank all our contributors and Newshawks.
NOTICE:
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this
material is distributed without profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research and educational purposes.
REMINDER:
Please help us help reform. Send any news articles you
find on any drug related issue to editor@mapinc.org
PLEASE HELP:
DrugSense provides this service at no charge BUT IT IS NOT
FREE TO PRODUCE.
We incur many costs in creating our many and varied
services. If you are able to help by contributing to the
DrugSense effort please Make checks payable to MAP Inc.
send your contribution to:
The Media Awareness Project (MAP) Inc.
d/b/a DrugSense
PO Box 651
Porterville,
CA 93258
(800) 266 5759
MGreer@mapinc.org
http://www.mapinc.org
http://www.drugsense.org
***
Mark Greer
Media Awareness Project (MAP) inc.
d/b/a DrugSense
MGreer@mapinc.org
http://www.DrugSense.org/
http://www.mapinc.org
-------------------------------------------------------------------
[End]
to 1998 Daily News index for March 5-11