-------------------------------------------------------------------
Summit On Medical Marijuana Finds Efforts Disjointed
('San Francisco Chronicle' Describes The Legislature's Medical Marijuana
'Summit' Yesterday, Suggesting Most Came To The Conclusion
That Without The Cooperation Of The Federal Government, Therapeutic Pot
Is Stone Cold Dead In California - Alice Mead, The General Counsel
For The California Medical Association, Said The Organization
Recently Decided To Support The Rescheduling Of Marijuana
From Schedule One To Schedule Two)
Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 09:58:06 -0700
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US CA: Summit on Medical Marijuana
Finds Efforts Disjointed
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: compassion23@geocities.com (Frank S. World)
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Pubdate: Wed, 27 May 1998
Author: Glen Martin, Chronicle Staff Writer
SUMMIT ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA FINDS EFFORTS DISJOINTED
Police, prosecutors and lawmakers from all over California conferred with
advocates of medical marijuana at the state capitol yesterday to thrash out
strategies, and rapidly came to a glum conclusion -- without the
cooperation of the federal government, therapeutic pot is stone cold dead
in California.
And that was the catch -- the federal officials who could make the
difference snubbed the conference.
The summit was called by state Senator John Vasconcellos, D-Santa Clara,
after a recent order by federal appellate court Judge Charles Breyer that
prohibited San Francisco Cannabis Cultivator's Club owner Dennis Peron from
selling medical marijuana at his Market Street outlet.
Breyer issued the order in response to a suit brought by the federal
government. Meanwhile, San Francisco sheriff's deputies closed the latest
incarnation of the club -- called the Cannabis Healing Center -- Monday.
Peron's Cannabis Cultivator's Club had been closed by a court order last
month, but the dispensary reopened almost immediately as the healing center
under the management of Hazel Rodgers, a friend of Peron's.
Breyer concluded that the methods Peron used to distribute marijuana
violated federal law.
The ruling sent a chill through the numerous medical marijuana clubs that
had been operating in the state under Proposition 215, the medical
marijuana initiative passed in 1996.
Vasconcellos opened the summit by declaring that the federal government was
``the crux'' of the medical marijuana issue in California and said he had
sent a letter to President Clinton urging him to stop federal action
against marijuana dispensaries.
Although marijuana may now be cultivated, possessed and used by ill
Californians under Proposition 215, under federal law it remains a
``Schedule One'' drug -- a designation reserved for heroin and LSD.
Schedule One drugs are illegal in all circumstances, unlike Schedule Two
drugs, such as morphine and amphetamines, which can be prescribed by a
physician.
Bill Zimmerman, the director of Americans for Medical Rights, said the
summit was long overdue. ``This problem is not going to go away.'' he said.
``None of us want to continue spinning our wheels (on a situation) that
leads to court cases, arrests and (club) closures.
We need to solve the problem for the benefit of patients here and across
the country.'' Many of the participants concluded that a necessary first
step would be to persuade the federal government to reclassify marijuana
from Schedule One to Schedule Two.
Alice Mead, the general counsel for the California Medical Association,
said the organization has recently decided to support the rescheduling of
marijuana from Schedule One to Schedule Two. A Schedule Two designation
would allow physicians to directly prescribe marijuana to patients,
obviating the private dispensaries. Participants also acknowledged that the
federal government is unlikely to undertake such a move in the near future.
Some advised resistance by state and county governments to federal actions.
Dan Abrahamson, the director for the pro-medical marijuana Lindesmith
Center, said the U.S. drug code grants state and local officials immunity
from prosecution when enforcing state and local drug laws. `
`They can't make local authorities enforce federal law,'' he said. ``When
it comes to local distribution, local communities must be able to address
local conditions.''
Most of the participants seemed friendly toward medical marijuana -- but
not all.
``If (the problems associated with marijuana clubs) are characteristic of
this movement, I want no part of it,'' said state Senator Quentin Kopp,
independent-San Francisco. ``I prefer clinics, hospitals or drugstores as a
means of distribution.''
Some local police agencies opposed the clubs. Testifying by speakerphone,
Arcata police Lieutenant Randy Mendoza said his city has avoided problems
with the implementation of Proposition 215 because the Police Department
issues medical marijuana cards to patients, not privately owned clubs.
``We check up on the physician's recommendations, and we issue the cards,''
he said. ``If someone produces the card during a (drug) stop it is a very
brief encounter.
Otherwise, we enforce all drug violations.'' At the end of the summit,
Vasconcellos announced that the Senate Appropriations Committee had just
passed a bill that would create a panel of experts to consider all
distribution alternatives raised in the meeting. The panel would ultimately
present their findings to the federal government, Vasconcellos said.
San Francisco Supervisor Tom Ammiano said last night that the city's public
health department should begin emergency distribution of medical marijuana
following the closure of the pot club. Ammiano's proposal may be reviewed
later this week, when city officials meet to further discuss the medical
marijuana dispute.
1998 San Francisco Chronicle Page A16
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Medical Marijuana Use Unresolved ('Chicago Tribune' Version
Opens With A Patient Interview And Provides More Background)
Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 12:02:47 -0700
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US CA: Medical Marijuana Use Unresolved
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: Steve Young
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Contact: tribletter@aol.com
Website: http://www.chicago.tribune.com/
Pubdate: 27 May 1998
Author: Suzanne Marmion
MEDICAL MARIJUANA USE UNRESOLVED
SAN FRANCISCO -- In a room painted purple just above a busy San Francisco
street, Wayne Justmann nibbles on gingerbread cookies laced with marijuana
as part of an effort to save his life.
A former schoolteacher who moved to California from Cicero, Ill., Justmann
is HIV-positive and volunteers full-time as a security guard at the
Cannabis Healing Center on Market Street.
The five-story building serves as one of more than 20 sites distributing
marijuana for medicinal use in California.
State voters approved possession and use of the drug for gravely and
terminally ill patients in 1996 with passage of Proposition 215.
But legal use of marijuana by patients remains a quandary.
State and federal law enforcement consider selling the drug illegal, in
spite of the passage of Proposition 215.
This week, sheriff's deputies raided the Cannabis Healing Center and shut
it down, under orders from a San Francisco Superior Court judge.
That decision followed a federal judge's ruling that six clubs should close
down because California's medical marijuana initiative does not overrule
federal statutes declaring marijuana an illegal drug, regardless of who
uses it.
Like many patients, Justmann says he needs marijuana to keep his weight stable.
Eighteen months ago, the weight on his 6-foot, 1-inch frame dropped to 208
pounds, and he said that left his body vulnerable to full-blown AIDS.
"Because my body doesn't have the energy to fight the disease, the immunity
system just weakens," he said at the center, a few days before its closure.
To gain weight, Justmann, 53, was taking a "prescription" of three to four
joints a day, approved via a phone call the center would make to each
client's doctor. Justmann would select from lesser to more expensive grades
of marijuana from a chalkboard menu.
After choosing either a brownie, tincture for tea, a capsule or plain dried
leaves for smoking, his purchase was placed in a plastic Baggie and labeled
"Rx; To be taken for: pain, nausea, muscle spasms, arthritis, glaucoma and
loss of appetite."
Justmann's weight is back up to his usual 260 pounds, for which he credits
a regimen of protease inhibitors and marijuana.
"Whoever thought in the '60s the munchies would be a medical reason to use
marijuana?" laughed the center's founder, Dennis Peron, sitting nearby.
"But it is," he emphasized, turning serious.
Peron's lover died of AIDS and inspired him to open the center, which he
did in 1994.
The center, originally known as the Cannabis Buyers Club, has been a
frequent target of California Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren.
Lungren, a Republican, is running for governor. Peron, who delights in
remaining a thorn in Lungren's side, is also running for governor on the
Republican ticket.
Peron, 53, a leading figure in the '96 campaign on behalf of Proposition
215, hopes to garner votes against Lungren in Tuesday's primary, where
Lungren is an overwhelming favorite to gain the GOP nomination.
Peron's campaign headquarters were located inside the Cannabis Healing
Center. He hopes to find a way to get back inside the padlocked building so
he can continue his campaign in the week before the primary.
This week's raid was not the first time the center has been targeted by law
enforcement officials.
In April last year, state drug enforcement authorities shut down the center
and confiscated 11,000 members' medical records.
The club reopened later under the new name of the Cannabis Cultivators Club
and continued openly selling marijuana until last month. Lungren ordered
the club closed again, and Peron was sent packing with a marijuana plant
tucked under his arm.
But the next day, the club opened again, this time with 79-year-old Hazel
Rodgers installed in Peron's place as director.
The latest shutdown, which Peron had been expecting, isn't seen as all bad
news by supporters of medical marijuana.
"We're looking for the opportunity to defend ourselves to a jury of our
peers--the people who voted for Prop. 215," Peron said.
But the Justice Department also sees the recent court ruling as a victory.
To spokesman Gregory King, the message is straightforward: "It's a
violation of federal law to cultivate or distribute marijuana." He said
California's initiative legalizing marijuana for medical use is irrelevant.
"Federal law supersedes state law," he said.
The department wants to close the clubs as soon as possible to send a clear
message to all states considering legalizing marijuana.
Many states already have relaxed rules on the books about possessing less
than an ounce of the drug, and some laws further favor medical users.
Arizona in 1996 passed a state law similar to California's, legalizing use
of marijuana for medical purposes.
San Francisco District Atty. Terence Hallinan has vowed to fight the latest
legal challenges.
"I very much resent the fact that state and federal authorities are
sticking their nose into San Francisco and making it very difficult for us
to fulfill the mandate of Proposition 215," Hallinan said.
He and several state officials attended a Medical Marijuana Distribution
Summit in Sacramento on Tuesday to find a way for the state to take over
distributing marijuana if federal authorities succeed in shutting the clubs
down.
Scott Imler, executive director of the Los Angeles Cannabis Buyer's Club,
also attended. "We will ultimately have to find a way to get this medicine
into pharmacies," he said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
We'll Blush To Tell Our Grandchildren (About Cops
Kicking Medical Marijuana Patients Out On The Street,
According To 'San Francisco Chronicle' Columnist Scott Ostler)
Subject: MN: US: CA COLUMN: We'll Blush To Tell Our Grandchildren
Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 08:28:41 -0500
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: compassion23@geocities.com (Frank S. World)
Pubdate: Wed, 27 May 1998
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Author: Scott Ostler
WE'LL BLUSH TO TELL OUR GRANDCHILDREN
The news is more interesting when you read it very carefully.
Careful reader Dan Machak points out a paragraph in yesterday's Chron story
on the shut-down of Dennis Peron's pot club by S.F. Sheriff Michael
Hennessey.
The quote is from Eileen Hirst, Hennessey's chief of staff.
``There wasn't very much marijuana -- maybe two big handfuls,'' Hirst said.
She said it took 30 to 35 people until noon to finish the inventory.
Followed, no doubt, by a giggle-filled, two-hour lunch break across the
street at the donut shop.
Easy prediction: Someday the closing of the med-pot clubs by the feds will
be looked upon with at least a tiny bit of the type of wonderment and shame
we feel now when we see old photos of ``Colored'' drinking fountains. ---
Democrats are giving literal meaning to the thousand-dollar-per-head
fund-raiser.
At yesterday's Barbara Boxer luncheon at the Fairmont, with Hillary R.
Clinton speaking, you paid $1,000 for a head of lettuce.
Reports John Konstin of John's Grill: ``Great speaker, but lunch was a few
pieces of lettuce, a few pieces of sliced, cold chicken, no iced tea, no
Coke, no refills on water.''
In other words, no service except the Secret Service.
John shoulda done what Henny Youngman did when he dined out -- tell the
maitre d': ``I'd like a table near a waiter, please.''
And in other big political news, Al Checchi's campaign people tried to stage
a spontaneous rally in North Beach one recent morning and just didn't stir
up much support.
``North Beach at 10:30 in the morning? Nobody is up,'' says Ed Moose of
Moose's restaurant. ``Everyone knows that. This guy calls himself an
Italian?'' ---
No, if you take Viagra, you will not be shot in a high school cafeteria.
On the KPIX 10 p.m. news last Friday, the story on six Viagra-related deaths
was accompanied by video footage of a body being carried on a stretcher.
(And thanks for the tip, Lois McLean.)
Ooops. Someone decided to illustrate the Viagra-deaths story with video from
the Oregon school shooting.
``It was totally inappropriate, a big screwup,'' KPIX news director Daniel
Webster told me yesterday. ``Our producers are very distraught, and we've
put in some procedures to make sure this kind of thing can't happen again.''
Wow. Honesty and contrition. A bungle handled with dispatch and dignity.
There's hope yet for TV news. --- I'm no conspiracy theorist, but is it
possible that Bill Clinton played a behind-the-scenes role in speeding the
development and marketing of Viagra? Not that Bill himself needs the stuff.
But since Viagra came out, how many Monica jokes have you heard? The
national obsession was instantly diverted from Bill to the pill.
People continue to be fascinated with the ultimate recreational drug.
``In a neat twist,'' Matt Regan says, ``Viagra produces pharmaceutical
firms.''
Ken Warner grumbles about potential drug abuse: ``Using Viagra without a
valid medical condition seems somewhat like stepping up to the plate with a
corked bat.''
Phil Gravitt says, ``I understand that the working name for Viagra in
development was `seven-ELEVEN.' ''
Washington Post columnist Tony Kornheiser asked for suggestions for a brand
name for Viagra. Tony's favorite: Magic Johnson.
And if the Viagra-makers need a slogan, how about borrowing the call made
famous at the Indy 500: ``Gentlemen, start your engines.''
***
Subj: Scott Ostler, SF Chronicle
From: "Tom O'Connell" (tjeffoc@sirius.com)
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 12:19:23 +0100
Scott Ostler is a Columnist for the SF Chronicle. Until fairly recently, he
was a just sports writer with a wry sense of humor. He has now graduated to
a more general type of commentary, and recently seems to have discovered
the injustice in the way medical marijuana is being dealt with. On the
27th, his first paragraph was on the closure of the CBC. Today's entire
column is about the illegal market which is now the only alternative
available to most patients. His e-mail address is so@sfgate.com. I think
we should encourage him with personal e-mail, and of course LTEs to the
Chronicle which has a good record on the issue of medical mj.
Tom O'Connell
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Prison Guard In Drug Deal, Prosecutors Say ('New York Times' Says A Guard
At A Federal Prison In Manhattan Has Been Locked Up Without Bail On Charges
That He Conspired With A Jailed Drug Dealer To Steal More Than 100 Kilograms
Of Cocaine From A Rival Dealer, Then Sell The Drugs Himself On The Street)
Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 10:09:36 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US NY: Prison Guard In Drug Deal, Prosecutors Say
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: emr@javanet.com (Dick Evans)
Pubdate: Wed, 27 May 199
Source: New York Times (NY)
Contact: letters@nytimes.com
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Author: David Rohde
PRISON GUARD IN DRUG DEAL, PROSECUTORS SAY
NEW YORK -- A guard at a federal prison in Manhattan has been accused of
conspiring this month with a jailed drug dealer to steal more than 100
kilograms of cocaine from a rival dealer and to sell the drugs himself on
the street, federal prosecutors said.
The guard, Roy Thomas, 35, of Brooklyn, first made contact with the drug
dealer in February when, federal prosecutors said, he smuggled in contraband
for the dealer in exchange for $1,500 in cash. Thomas was arrested on
Thursday and charged with bribery and conspiring to violate federal
narcotics laws.
U.S. Magistrate Naomi Reice Buchwald ordered Thomas held without bail.
Thomas' lawyer, Paul Madden, could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.
An accused co-conspirator of Thomas was arrested on Monday. The suspect, who
was not identified, was not a prison guard, investigators said. Thomas, an
employee of the federal Bureau of Prisons since 1991, has been assigned for
the last three years as a guard in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in
lower Manhattan.
In early February, an inmate serving time there on narcotics charges told
investigators that Thomas offered to provide him with a supply of specialty
foods, tattoo ink and alcohol in exchange for a $2,000 "retainer," according
to court papers.
Investigators then had the inmate's wife wire $1,000 to Thomas, prosecutors
said, and he later received another $500. Thomas delivered two small airline
vending-size bottles of scotch and rum to the inmate, according to court
papers. On May 19, Thomas conspired to steal 120 kilograms of cocaine that
the inmate said belonged to rival dealers who owed the inmate money,
according to the court papers. But Thomas and three other men fled without
carrying out the robbery.
If convicted on the narcotics charge, Thomas faces a minimum 10 years in
prison and a $4 million fine. If convicted of bribery, he faces up to 15
years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
UV Medical Defense (List Subscriber Posts URL For Research By Alan Gordon,
'High Times' Magazine's Freedom Fighter Of The Month, Showing Why Mammals
Evolved To Use Marijuana As Medicine - Gordon Guarantees
His 'Marijuana License' Provides 'An Almost Unbeatable Justification Defense
That Will Work In Almost Any Marijuana Case')
Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 21:01:44 -0800
To: hemp-talk@hemp.net
From: byoung@pacifier.com (bill young)
Subject: HT: UV medical defense (fwd)
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net
Heicklen's nemesis, Gordon, is proclaiming this defense. I found it on
wash.politics, but it's also on www.marijuananews.com somewhere.
MARIJUANA USE IS JUSTIFIED!
A new scientific discovery shows why mammals evolved to use marijuana as
medicine. It's an almost unbeatable justification defense that will work in
almost any marijuana case--Guaranteed!
Abstract:
Marijuana use in mammals is an ancient defense adaptation to an illness
called excito-toxic neuroendocrine stress response (ENSR). This disease is
caused by harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation and other sources of chemical
free radicals. Almost all marijuana users show signs of ENSR. The
justification clause of the criminal code allows lawbreaking in
circumstances where greater harm is prevented, such as swerving into an
illegal lane of traffic to avoid a collision.
UV-B, the harmful type of UV radiation, causes marijuana to produce THC
pigments (UV-B in color) which reverse 10 symptoms of ENSR in mammals, via a
nerve- and immune-cell receptor similar in its genetic ancestry to the
UV-B-stimulated suntan (melanin) mechanism. UV-B radiation and other free
radical sources have increased since the onset of the Industrial
Revolution and are prevalent enough to cause ENSR in significant portions of
the population, so nearly all marijuana crimes are justifiable, even
distribution and manufacture.
Please visit:
http://www.groovyweb.com/adhi
To browse the research of Alan Gordon, High Times' Magazine 'Freedom Fighter
of the Month' (3/98 issue), and learn how you can receive a "GUARANTEED
MARIJUANA LICENSE" which entitles you to expert witness testimony in the event
you are charged with a marijuana offense. Alan has tested his justification
defense on several occasions to prove that it really works:
1) State College, PA 7/3/97 Alan Gordon walked into magistrate's office with
160 live marijuana plants (enough for a 5 year minimum sentence) after being
ordered by magistrate 7/2/97 to not break any marijuana laws as a condition of
unsecured bail in prior possession bust. After lengthy prosecution in which
Gordon acted as his own attorney, all charges dropped 11/3/97.
2) Athens, GA, 5/1/97 Gordon planted 150 moistened marijuana seeds on
Athens-Clarke County Courthouse steps in front of Sheriff's Deputies and City
Police Officers at televised rally coinciding with National Prayer Day
celebrations at same location. Gordon thanked by Christian church leaders for
prior public offer to fund crime prevention programs with marijuana proceeds.
Gordon later claimed at public meeting of County Commissioners that he planted
10,000 pre-moistened split marijuana seeds on abandoned property in area. He
was not arrested at any time.
3) Chapel Hill, NC, 11//22/96 Gordon arrested for smoking marijuana cigarette
in front of police officer at televised medical marijuana rally at University
of North Carolina. Charges dropped by municipal court judge at 2/17/97 trial
in which Gordon himself.
4) Near Henderson, NC, 7/ 23/96 Gordon planted several thousand pre-moistened,
split marijuana seeds in Pisgah National Forest. When Gordon called
authorities to turn himself in, neither FBI nor US Attorney's office would
prosecute.
5) Asheville, NC, 7/15/96 Gordon planted fifteen marijuana seeds at Federal
Building in front of two US Marshals. He was not arrested.
6) Philadelphia, PA, 9/11/93 Gordon arrested at Independence National Park,
within sight of Liberty Bell, for smoking a joint, then passing joint to
crowd, at rally in front of 2 network affiliate stations, TV cameras, and
press photographers. Due to familial conflict of interest (immediate relative
of Gordon employed by National Park Service), he quietly accepted
non-reporting probation in exchange for having charges dropped.
Additional Links:
http://www.pitt.edu/~rmwst11/medicine.html
Links to Alan Gordon's research, and the homepage of Penn State Professor
Julian Heicklen, who holds weekly marijuana smoke-outs in State College, PA.
30 Hour Marijuana Smoke out
Central Pa Festival of the Arts
July 9, 10, 11, 1998 noon to 8 pm
July 12, 1998 noon to 6 pm
State College, Pa
Corner of College Ave. and South Allen St
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Mays' Life Hangs On Debate Over Marijuana Use ('The News & Observer'
In Raleigh, North Carolina, Says Attorneys For Kawame Mays Tried To Save Him
From The Death Penalty By Arguing He Is Brain-Damaged From Smoking Marijuana
And Was Under Its Influence When He Killed Two People Last Year)
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 01:46:44 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US NC: Mays' Life Hangs on Debate Over Marijuana Use
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: CS Ford
Pubdate: Wed, 27 May 1998
Source: The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC)
Website: http://www.news-observer.com/
Contact: forum@nando.com
Author: Craig Jarvis, staff writer
MAYS' LIFE HANGS ON DEBATE OVER MARIJUANA USE
RALEIGH -- Hoping to spare their client's life, defense attorneys presented
testimony Tuesday that Kawame Mays is brain-damaged from smoking marijuana
and was under its influence the day he killed two people last year.
For a full day in the sentencing hearing, the focus was on the young New
York man's background. Jurors, who convicted him Friday of the first-degree
murder of Michael Walker, will deliberate today on whether to sentence him
to death or life in prison.
Jurors deadlocked last week over whether Mays committed first-degree murder
in the killing of Raleigh police Detective Paul Hale, so the judge declared
a mistrial. No date has been set for retrying that case, which will be heard
by a different jury.
As the sentencing proceeding opened, Mays' attorneys called relatives,
school officials, psychologists and an academic in their effort to convince
the jury of factors that would mitigate against the death penalty.
The lawyers hope jurors see him more sympathetically when they consider not
only his marijuana use but also his learning disabilities and what the
defense witnesses said was a troubled childhood.
The marijuana testimony came from Antonio Puente, a UNC-Wilmington professor
who also works in a private clinic and specializes in neuropsychology. He
said Mays told him that he had been smoking an average of an ounce of
marijuana daily since he was about 12 years old.
Puente said Mays had been smoking the drug during most of his waking hours.
That, along with his learning disabilities and other psychological problems,
would make Mays brain-damaged, Puente said. In fact, a toxicology report
showed that a urine sample taken about an hour after he killed Hale -- and
about 13 hours after killing Walker -- indicated that Mays had marijuana in
his system that was 2 1/2 times the amount that would normally cause impairment.
District Attorney Colon Willoughby objected strongly to Puente's testimony
and cross-examined him with a contentiousness he hadn't displayed during the
trial.
"Is it your opinion that if you smoke enough marijuana you can't tell if it
is right or wrong to shoot someone?" Willoughby asked.
Puente said it would have interfered with Mays' ability to make split-second
decisions.
A principal and a counselor at the special-education school Mays attended in
New York City from 1992 to 1994, however, acknowledged in cross-examination
that, in almost daily conversation with him, they never detected that he was
under the influence of any drug. Mays' attorneys had called the two to the
stand to bolster their contention that Mays had a troubled childhood.
Tuesday's testimony outlined Mays' life, starting with his birth to an unwed
15-year-old who gave him up for adoption. He spent the first year of his
life in a foster home, where the foster mother never hugged her foster
children because she didn't want to become attached to them.
After six miscarriages and a stillbirth, Lemard and Guelda Mays adopted the
baby and brought him home to their solid middle-class neighborhood in
Queens, N.Y. But his parents found they had an infant who violently banged
his head against his crib. He began having problems in school and eventually
was diagnosed with attention-deficit disorder.
Psychologists and school officials testified that Mays did not have a good
relationship with his father, who they said was distant and authoritarian.
Lemard Mays bowed and rubbed his face and appeared to struggle for composure
during the uncomfortable testimony.
Guelda Mays also fought back tears as she testified about their efforts to
get their son all the help he needed. She and other relatives said they
visited a remorseful Mays in jail in January.
"He cried and kept repeating over and over, 'I can't believe what happened
to my life,' and he kept saying he was sorry," his aunt, Sonya Clark,
testified. Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens would not allow jurors to
hear the testimony of UNC-Chapel Hill sociology professor James H. Johnson,
who has national credentials studying the problems of young black men.
Johnson has testified in numerous death-penalty cases about how murderers
from disadvantaged backgrounds can blame some of their actions on societal
forces beyond their control.
Johnson testified recently in the Fayetteville trial of Kevin and Tilmon
Golphin, who were convicted of killing a state trooper and a sheriff's
deputy. Stephens said Johnson's opinion was no more valid than anyone else's.
Jurors begin deliberating Mays' fate this morning after hearing closing
arguments.
Craig Jarvis can be reached at 829-4576 or cjarvis@nando.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------
KSU Researchers Investigating Hemp As Food For Catfish (Lexington, Kentucky
'Herald-Leader' Says Kentucky State University Scientists Are Using Hemp Meal
Provided By Craig Lee Of The Kentucky Industrial Hemp Association
To Find Potential Savings)
Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 01:47:39 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US KY: KSU Researchers Investigating Hemp
As Food For Catfish
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: Joe Hickey
Pubdate: Wed, 27 May 1998
Source: Lexington Herald-Leader (KY)
Contact: hledit@lex.infi.net
Website: http://www.kentuckyconnect.com/heraldleader/
Author: Janet Patton Herlad-Leader Business Writer
KSU RESEARCHERS INVESTIGATING HEMP AS FOOD FOR CATFISH
At Kentucky State University, Carl Webster and Laura Tiu have been giving
about 150 blue catfish a kind of hemp diet torture test.
"This is the worst-case scenario," Webster said. The aquaculture
investigators have been feeding the 6-month-old fish hemp meal mixed with
vitamins, minerals, oil and fatty acids -- pretty much the bare minimums the
fish need to survive.
"They seem to like it. I think they're on par with normal growth for blue
catfish. If you can feed them something straight like this, you've got a
pretty good ingredient," Webster said.
Using more hemp meal provided by Craig Lee of the Kentucky Industrial Hemp
Association, Webster and Tiu are going to start another study on channel
catfish in June using formulations closer to commercial feed. They'll try
substituting hemp meal for soybean meal, a main ingredient in fish feed.
"If we think it's a good feed ingredient, we'll publish it," Webster said.
They'll let economists worry about whether it's feasible to use.
"There's 400 million pounds of channel catfish commercially produced each
year. At 2 pounds of feed for each pound of catfish, that's about 800
million pounds of feed," Webster said. "So, if you only have a little part
of that market, you've got a good market."
Right now, hemp meal wouldn't be very practical for catfish farmers. "Forty
to 70 percent of a producer's cost is feed," Webster said.
U.S.-produced soybean meal, about 50 percent to 60 percent of the fish food
market, costs about $170 a ton, plus delivery. Hemp meal, with its higher
shipping cost, is about $1,200 a ton. Prices fluctuate with the crop
availability.
Don Wirtshafter, owner of Ohio Hempery in Athens, Ohio, said that as people
find more uses for hemp seed cake, demand is driving up the price.
At this point, it's a specialty product because of the shipping from
overseas, Wirtshafter said. "We could get rid of two-thirds of the cost
simply by growing it in Kentucky."
Or the hemp meal could replace fish meal -- ground up "trash fish" --
another fish feed ingredient. Because of El Nino's changes in ocean
temperature, fish meal has skyrocketed to $600 a ton.
Although Wirtshafter has contracted to begin buying Canadian hemp seed, most
of it now comes from China.
Unless laws against growing hemp change, there probably won't be many
catfish eating it. Because it's illegal, U.S. farmers can't grow it; because
U.S. farmers don't grow it, it's too expensive for fish farms to use.
"I don't think there'd be any feed mill making it cheap enough to use
commercially," Webster said. Like a lot of people, he found the idea was a
little eyebrow-raising.
"I was very unfamiliar with it (hemp). In fact, I thought it was illegal. I
said, 'Can you have that in the states?' " Webster said.
All Contents Copyright 1998 Lexington Herald-Leader. All Rights Reserved
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Hemp - From Seed To Feed (Lexington, Kentucky, 'Herald-Leader'
Describes Washington County Farmer Donnie Colter's Successful Tests
Of Hemp Meal As A Feed Supplement On His 1,000-Acre Farm Near Willisburg)
Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 21:47:44 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US KY: Hemp: From seed to feed
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: kevzeese@laser.net (kevin b. zeese)
Source: Lexington Herald-Leader (KY)
Contact: hledit@lex.infi.net
Website: http://www.kentuckyconnect.com/heraldleader/
Pubdate: Wed, 27 May 1998
Author: Janet Patton Herald-Leader Business Writer
HEMP: FROM SEED TO FEED
Farmer says hemp-fed cows happier, healthier
If Kentucky farmers ever get to grow hemp again, they might not have to go
very far to find a market for their product.
With the help of Kentucky Industrial Hemp Association, Washington County
farmer Donnie Colter has been testing hemp meal as a feed supplement on the
1,000-acre farm near Willisburg.
"We've fed it to everything from guppies on up. I've never fed it to
nothing that won't eat it," Colter said.
Including people. His wife, Cheryl, has used the hemp meal to make
breakfast muffins. "Even folks that eat my wife's muffins -- they'll just
stand right over the box," Colter said. He said one friend told him, " 'You
know, you could founder on those muffins.' "
Colter is convinced his hemp meal is making happier, shinier animals. He
says they have more energy, his horses have better hooves, and both horses
and cattle seem less stressed.
Although his farm grew hemp in the 1940s, it's illegal to grow hemp in the
United States today. Colter would like to grow certified seed for the world
market.
The hemp meal he uses comes from seed grown in China. Ohio Hempery in
Athens, Ohio, crushes the seeds. About 31 percent, mostly oil, is
extracted, and Colter buys the rest straight off the cold press. He grinds
it into meal and mixes it with regular animal feed.
The pressed or seed cake was originally just a by-product of hemp oil
production. But now demand for the protein-rich seed cake has surpassed
that for the oil.
"We had been selling to various farmers since we started producing in
1993," said Don Wirtshafter, owner of Ohio Hempery. "One dairy farmer here
says his cows won't come in the barn unless he has hemp for them."
The hemp association got some of the lumps for their museum and had several
feed analyses done.
Now Colter markets the feed supplement -- either as meal or lumps -- under
the name Nutrahemp from Circle C Farm Enterprises. He has customers in
Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and Indiana.
"Folks that will help with the research documentation, we'll sell it for
$1.25 a pound. Folks that just want to use it as feed, we'll sell it for
$1.80 a pound," Colter said.
In February 1997, Colter started feeding ground hemp seed cake to horses.
"Horses loved it," said Colter, who breeds and trains spotted saddle
horses. He sells to a trainer in Alabama who uses the lumps as "candy" to
reward horses.
His first shipment of hemp meal was a lucky accident. The hemp had been
destined for a Frederick, Md., brewery, but the meal was ground too fine to
ferment properly. So Colter bought it, at a bargain price, to see what he
could do with it.
He began an experiment with 22 of his Simmental-Santa Gertrudis-Angus cross
calves. He fed half the calves 3 ounces of hemp each day for 112 days.
He sold 18 heifers at Bluegrass Stockyards on May 18 and got about $13 more
for each hemp-fed calf.
"We really didn't know how they would do," Colter said. "Imagine if you had
100,000 head fed on that."
People at the stockyards were a little surprised at the unusual feed
supplements.
"They were fed what?!" said James Hicks, manager of Bluegrass Stockyards.
"I hear the quackiest things coming through here. I thought, 'Somebody's
pulling my leg.' "
Gene Barber, who bought the heifers for Barber Cattle Co., which will ship
them west to a feed lot, thought Colter's heifers that hadn't been fed hemp
looked better, but ended up paying a higher price for the heavier hemp-fed
ones.
University of Kentucky researchers will get a chance to study the results
of Colter's feed trial next month to determine whether the hemp made any
difference.
"I'm amazed that there's a supply of the stuff," said Scott Smith, chairman
of UK's agronomy department. "People will feed cattle almost anything, and
they'll eat it. I don't know if there's enough of the stuff out there to
use as a supplement."
Many agricultural scientists question how important hemp really is or could
be, Smith said. "Lots of (researchers) are skeptical that it's worth their
time."
The use of pressed cake for animals is thousands of years old, Wirtshafter
said. "But nobody's ever done feed studies like Donnie's doing. With his
research ... we're going to be able to actually see how efficient it is,
whether it has special properties."
Patrons at the White Light Diner in Frankfort can taste for themselves.
Owner Rick Paul will be serving hamburgers and steaks by Thursday. He's
also going to start selling Cheryl Colter's hemp muffins next week.
"The main idea is just to serve (the beef). I want to see what it tastes
like," Paul said. "This should taste better. It's bound to be healthier."
Heifers and hemp
On May 18, Donnie Colter sold 18 heifers (9 fed hemp, 9 not) at Bluegrass
Stockyards in Lexington. On average, the hemp-fed ones, at a price 3 cents
a pound better, paid $13 more for each heifer.
*Hemp-fed heifers (9 head)
Total weight 6,975 lbs
Average weight 775 lbs
Price per head $499
Price per pound 64 cents
*Heifers without hemp (9 head)
Total weight 6,840 lbs
Average weight 760 lbs
Price per head $486
Price per pound 61 cents
Right to grow hemp being considered
It is illegal for hemp, a relative of marijuana, to be grown in the United
States, but hemp products are becoming popular. It is generally considered
legal to have any hemp product that does not contain "viable" seed =96 that
could be planted and grown into hemp.
On May 15, a group of Kentucky farmers and hemp activists filed a suit
against the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Justice Department
seeking the right to grow hemp. A federal response is pending.
All Contents Copyright 1998 Lexington Herald-Leader. All Rights Reserved
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome To Pharma Fantasyland ('Halifax Daily News' Essay
On Pfizer's New Impotence Drug, Viagra, Says Pharmaceutical Companies
Know Lifestyle Drugs Such As Viagra Or Prozac Could Expand
Worldwide Drug Spending From $300 Billion US Today To $1 Trillion US
By 2010 - And Alleges That Many Healthy People Who Were Not Prone
To Clinical Depression Have Used Prozac To Induce Improved Feelings
Of Well-Being)
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: "MN"
Subject: MN: US: Welcome To Pharma Fantasyland
Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 08:32:48 -0500
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: creator@mapinc.org
Pubdate: Wednesday, May 27, 1998
Source: Halifax Daily News
Contact: letterstoeditor@hfxnews.southam.ca
Author: Brian Flemming
WELCOME TO PHARMA FANTASYLAND
Both jokes du jour on late-night TV and conversations among the chatterati
have recently shifted from Bill, Hill, and Monica to Viagra, the latest
lifestyle drug to rivet the attention of a society that is healthier than
ever, but is still abnormally anxious about health issues.
Since the United States FDA approved the "cure" for male impotence several
weeks ago, more than one million Viagra prescriptions have been filled in
America. Shares in Viagra's manufacturer, Pfizer, have mimicked the drug's
effect on consumers and gone up too. No Viagra ads yet appear on TV, or in
tiny print in newspapers or magazines alongside those for Zocor, Zantac 75,
or Zyban, but the Internet is alive with activity. A visit to
www.thepillbox.com/buyviagra.htm will provide forms for prescriptions which,
once obtained, will allow one to buy 10 Viagra pills for $105.09 US.
At related Web sites, you can tap into a plethora of pharmacological
information that was once found only in the libraries of physicians and
pharmacists, but that is now available to netizens on both Viagra and other
drugs. Family doctors are under increasing pressure, not just from drug
companies which flood them with samples and brochures on new medications,
but from patients who appear in their waiting rooms, clutching clippings for
the latest "wonder" drugs and demanding prescriptions for them.
Driven by the demographics of aging baby boomers, physicians are
increasingly being jammed between the "rock" of their ethical responsibility
for proper patient care and the "hard place" of acceding to the wishes of
patients who often may be superficially better-informed than their doctors.
Pharmaceutical companies, through widespread advertising to a well-informed
laity, have undermined physicians with ads that make reader-patients feel
empowered with their new-found source of medical information - and more
determined than ever to get what they want.
Because Viagra is not yet available generally in Europe, stories in UK media
tell of desperate men driving to drugstores in Andorra, the tiny
principality wedged in the Pyrenees between France and Spain, where the drug
can be had.
Soon, our media will carry similar stories of men streaming south to the
U.S. in search of tumescence, or flying to "drug havens" to get what their
doctors cannot, or will not, give them. The news of six Viagra-related
deaths in the last six weeks will not deter them. After all, horny Hugh
Hefner took it and is still alive. The revolution of rising (double
entendres are hard to avoid!) expectations that pharmaceutical firms are
deliberately inducing through aggressive advertising presents an enormous
ethical problem society can no longer ignore.
That won't be easy because these companies know lifestyle drugs such as
Viagra or Prozac could expand worldwide drug spending from $300 billion US
today to $1 trillion US by 2010, and send robust ripples throughout the
economy, especially through increased medical-research spending that would
benefit many Canadian cities. Dangers inherent in the rush to lifestyle
drugs are similar to those encountered with any new medication --
overmedicating oneself or improper usage by normal people seeking a medical
"bonus" rather than a cure.
Many healthy people who were not prone to clinical depression have used
Prozac to induce improved feelings of well-being, just as many potent men
will take Viagra to try to enhance their normal sexual functions.
There are many examples of this sad syndrome in recent history, the most
notable being Halcion, a sleeping pill that harmed people who took it beyond
the recommended seven to 10 days. Yet many ignored the danger and were
damaged as a result.
Even well-balanced stories such as the one on a "new" cancer cure that
recently appeared on The New York Times's front page was the cause of a huge
over-reaction by many patients who were desperate for simple survival and
not merely people looking for happy pills like Prozac or potency promoters
like Viagra.
These (often sad) stories of hopes raised or dashed demonstrate society's
urgent need to set some ethical guidelines for finding our way around the
new Pharmaceutical Fantasyland which the western world has now clearly
entered.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
'The Celling Of America - An Inside Look At The US Prison Industry'
('San Francisco Bay Guardian' Reviews A New Book Collecting Articles
From The Prisoner-Written And -Produced Magazine, 'Prison Legal News')
Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 11:37:24 EDT
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: Gerald Sutliff
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: Book on prisons by prisoners reviewed
Dear Talkers,
The following is a book review published in the May 27th issue of the S.F.
Bay Guardian (in its lit. insert).
vty, jerry sutliff
THE CELLING OF AMERICA:
AN INSIDE LOOK AT
THE U.S. PRISON INDUSTRY.
Edited by Daniel Burton-Rose, Dan Pens, and Paul Wright.
Common Courage Press,
249 pages, $i9.95.
Reviewed by HELENE VOSTERS, a Bay Area writer
Incarceration is a growth industry -- for some people, it seems, crime does
pay. And who better to expose the private interests that both fuel and
profit from our nation's prison proliferation than prisoners themselves?
"The Celling of America" collects articles from the prisoner-written and
-produced magazine Prison Legal News; taken together, these pieces present
a searing indictment of not just the criminal justice system but the
society that has spawned it.
The coeditors of Prison Legal News, Dan Pens and Paul Wright, along with
Daniel Burton-Rose, have given us a glimpse into a hidden world. This
insider perspective and the collection's well-informed, hard-hitting
journalism lend "Celling" its uniquely qualified voice.
In Cesling's opening article Wright debunks claims of grass-roots support
for "citizens' anti-crime initiatives. Leading the pack of major
contributors to such devastating initiatives as Three Strikes is the
Institute for Legislative Action, a political arm of the National Rifle
Association. Wright points out that prisoners are not the only ones denied
a say in our democracy; with big money required to put initiatives on the
ballot, the poor are also excluded from political discourse.
Some of Celling's most illuminating moments are when its writers step back
and let the money-makers speak for themselves. In "America's Private
Gulag," Ken Silverstein shares these words from a brochure for a conference
on private prisons: "arrests and convictions are steadily on the rise,
profits are to be made - profits from crime." The state has its own
marketing campaign. "Can't find workers? A Willing Workforce
Waits," reads a flyer distributed by the Wiscojisin Department of Corrections.
In "Working for the Man" Pens demonstrates who's being "screwed" by prison
industry jobs - and it's not just prisoners. States offer corporations the
same incentives as do third-world governments. No rent, taxes, or unions.
No workplace safety standards or health or unemployment benefits, and the
bottom line is low wages. Pens suggests that while this may be a
satisfactory arrangement for the CEOs and stockholders of Microsoft,
Starbucks, and Costco - all of whom have used prison labor to package their
products - laborers might see things differently, especially when they
realize that the only way they can get a job might be by going to prison."
"The Downward Spiral" places Alabama's resurrection of chain gangs in
historical perspective. When African-Americans were first released from
slavery, special laws-"black codes"-were enacted that criminalized "a broad
spectrum of harmless behavior to assure state and private interests a
continued source of slave labor," write Pens and Wright.
Inflated penalties for crack convictions act as black codes of the '90s. As
part of its war on drugs, Congress passed mandatory sentencing guidelines
that for the first time made a distinction between crack and powdered
cocaine. A minimum five-year sentence is imposed on anyone convicted of
possessing 5 grams of crack; to receive the same sentence for cocaine
possession, it takes 50O grams. "The War on Drugs is in reality a racist
war being waged against poor blacks," argues Petis in Celling's closing
article.
Ceiling is not without its problems. Voices from women -- America's fastest
growing prison population -- are sorely lacking. In addition, it
occasionally gets mired in its own rhetoric. But Ceiling is all important
book that pushes the reader to make connections between what goes on
within cells and what goes on outside of them. Its prisoner journalists do
more than chronicle the increasingly cruel and vindictive nature of
America's criminal justice system. By following the money, they broaden
the usually narrow "crime debate."
Political prisoner Ray Luc Levasseur writes: 'Society reflects itself in
the microcosm of prison. From a class-based, economically driven, racially
motivated construct devolves life as a series of Chutese boxes --a set of
boxes, decreasing in size so that each box fits inside the next larger box.
I'm in the smallest box."
Ultimately "The Ceiling of America" is not a request for compassion, nor
simply a condemnation of America's prison system; it is a reminder from those
in the smallest of boxes that capitalism in one form or another imprisons
us all.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
New List - DARE-LIST (New E-Mail List Forms
To Monitor Developments Regarding The Government-Funded
Drug Abuse Resistance Education Program)
Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 11:35:42 EDT
Errors-To: manager@drcnet.org
Reply-To: lists@mojo.calyx.net
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: Nicholas Merrill (lists@mojo.calyx.net)
To: Multiple recipients of list (drctalk@drcnet.org)
Subject: PLEASE DISTRIBUTE: New List: DARE-LIST
Please distribute:
There is a new mailing list whose topic is the D.A.R.E. program which is
being used in schools in the U.S. and abroad. Studies have shown that the
D.A.R.E. program is not effective at keeping kids off of drugs. Some of
these studies were even commissioned by D.A.R.E. itself. Meanwhile some
estimates put D.A.R.E.'s annual budget at over $750 million raised from
tax revenue, private donations, and royalties from the sale of
merchandise.
Its executive director is Glenn Levant, a former policeman, who received a
base salary of $165,000 per year in 1993. The gist of the DARE program is
that uniformed police officers come into mostly fifth-grade classrooms for
one hour a week for seventeen weeks, "educating" students to "resist drug
abuse." At the beginning of the program, students are required to sign a
pledge that they will "keep their body free from drugs." (DARE officers
are not required to take the same pledge.) At the end of the seventeen
weeks, a "culmination ceremony" is held, DARE songs are sung and students
are presented with DARE T-shirts, a certificate, a pin, and a wallet-sized
plastic card identifying them as DARE graduates.
Despite its popularity, in recent years local communities have begun to
look closely at the DARE program, questioning its content, cost and
effectiveness. Some, including Oakland, California, and Fayetteville,
North Carolina, have concluded that it was not delivering as promised, and
terminated it. A small town in New England, Ashfield, Massachusetts,
appointed a curriculum review committee to review DARE and the other
tobacco/alcohol/other substances programs and recommend changes in the
curriculum.
Parents around the country have begun to express serious misgivings about
the content of the curriculum, and are particularly worried about its
treatment of parents and other (civilian) adults, especially in the
introductory DARE video, Land of Choices and Decisions. This video, which
is shown to all children as part of lesson 2, is widely criticized for
depicting all adults as senile, drug pushers or drug abusers...with the
exception of the DARE officer.
The DARE-LIST was originated by, and is hosted for free as a public
service by Calyx Internet Access Corp. (http://www.calyx.net) using a
server which was partially funded by the Drug Policy Foundation
(www.dpf.org).
To join DARE-LIST, send an email to listproc@calyx.net with the subject
blank and the BODY of the email containing nothing but the following line:
subscribe DARE-LIST name
to post to the list, send email to DARE-LIST@calyx.net
The list is archived in a publicly-available FTP site at
ftp://ns2.calyx.net/pub/mailing-lists/dare-list/
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Viagra Available Only On Black Market In Much Of Arab World
('Associated Press' Article In 'The Dallas Morning News'
Says Pfizer's Male Potency Pill Sells For $100 A Tablet On The Black Market
In Kuwait And Last Week Egypt Ordered The Confiscation
Of Thousands Of Viagra Pills Being Sold Illegally - The Drug Has Become
The Subject Of Wishful Cartoons And Religious Debate)
Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 01:36:46 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: Egypt: Viagara Available Only on Black Market
in Much of Arab World
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: adbryan@onramp.net
Pubdate: Wed, 27 May 1998
Source: Dallas Morning News
Contact: letterstoeditor@dallasnews.com
Website: http://www.dallasnews.com
VIAGRA AVAILABLE ONLY ON BLACK MARKET IN MUCH OF ARAB WORLD
Associated Press
CAIRO, Egypt - The male potency pill Viagra sells for $100 a tablet on the
black market in Kuwait and has become the subject of wishful cartoons and
religious debate as word of its power spreads through the Arab world.
But at least five Arab countries have banned the pill on medical grounds,
saying they must conduct their own health tests before it can go on the market.
Many men in the Middle East - the sexually frustrated and the merely curious
- are angry that government bureaucracy is preventing them from benefiting
from the new performance-enhancing drug.
Last week, Egypt ordered the confiscation of thousands of Viagra pills being
sold illegally, and Viagra also has been banned in Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Even Israel ordered doctors to stop
prescribing Viagra after the pill's manufacturer, Pfizer Inc., reported six
deaths among users in the United States.
"Has medicine in Egypt ... advanced beyond medicine in the United States and
Europe, such that (we) reject what medical circles there have approved?"
columnist Salah Montasser wrote in the daily Al-Ahram on Monday.
Hatem Kamal, a 28-year-old English teacher in Cairo, agreed.
"Egyptians today face countless problems, not the least of which is sexual
frustration," Mr. Kamal said. "If this (drug) is going to help, then why not
give them the chance for relief?"
The bans have spawned a black market that charges $35 a pill in Egypt and
$100 a pill in Kuwait; in the United States, one tablet costs $10. And they
helped make Viagra the subject of cartoons and a source of debate in
roadside cafes, mosques and the Egyptian Parliament.
A cartoon in Kuwait's al-Rai al-Amm newspaper shows a soldier telling his
officer: "Sir, the weapons are ready. All they need is Viagra." The
soldier's gun and the barrels of three tanks behind him are all limp.
The Egyptian Parliament's health committee is scheduled to discuss a draft
law Thursday calling for a year in jail and a $1,500 fine for selling Viagra.
But Zakaria Gad, head of Egypt's pharmacist union, said the drug is being
sold "by the cartons" in working-class neighborhoods and warned that a ban
will not halt its distribution.
In Egypt alone, Viagra could benefit 3.5 million men, sexologist Khaled
Lotfy was quoted as saying in an article in the weekly magazine Rose El-Youssef.
In conservative Saudi Arabia, the clergy joined the debate and came out in
support of those seeking to legalize Viagra.
A leading judge issued a fatwa, or religious decree, approving Viagra's use
in certain cases, noting that "potency is required" of men.
Viagra can be used "for the sake of marriage and to have children," said
Sheik Ibrahim al-Khadeiry, adding that Islam's Prophet Mohammed had an
active sex life with his wives.
But the fatwa is not binding, and the Saudi government has refused to budge
in its prohibition of the drug.
After the six U.S. deaths, Pfizer repeated its warning that patients on
nitroglycerine and related heart drugs shouldn't use Viagra. There also have
been reports of health complications in the Middle East.
Three elderly men were hospitalized Monday in Cairo because of a severe drop
in blood pressure after taking Viagra. Four Saudi men also were reported
hospitalized Tuesday, including one who suffered a heart attack. It wasn't
clear whether the illnesses were related to the drug.
Regardless of whether the Arab world's caution is medically justified,
Egypt's Health Minister Ismail Salam argues that impotence is, in the end,
determined by a higher authority.
"God created the weakness with old age as a kind of balance ... to reduce
desire on a level appropriate with age," he said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
DrugSense Weekly, Number 48 (Summary Of Drug Policy News
For Activists, From DrugSense)
Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 14:00:15 -0700
To: mgreer@mapinc.org
From: Mark Greer (MGreer@mapinc.org)
Subject: DrugSense Weekly, May, 27, 1998 No. 48
***
DRUGSENSE WEEKLY
Invest 10 Minutes a week to be better informed
on drug policy issues worldwide.
***
DrugSense Weekly
May, 27, 1998 No. 48
A DrugSense publication
http://www.drugsense.org/
***
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
* Feature Article
Canada - What Are G8 Leaders Smoking?
* Weekly News In Review
Drug Policy-
Drug Policy Chief Is Facing Some New Foes
Drug War's Labor Battle
Deaths Of Six Viagra Users Reported By Drugmaker
Law Enforcement-
Audit Assails Lapd's Accounting For Seized Valuables
Notorious Pair Fail to Avert Drug Trial
Drug Agency On Defensive At Hearing On Pot Spraying
Esequiel Hernandez-
Teen's Death Illustrates the Danger of Border Militarization
Subpoena Planned In Border Shooting
House Back Military Patrols of US Borders
Amnesty International Human Rights Abuses on the Border
Alcohol-
Unified alcohol policies for campuses statewide under discussion
Scientists Locate Neighborhood of Alcoholism Gene
Medical Marijuana-
Sheriff Planning to Close Down S.F. Pot Club by Tuesday Night
Tobacco-
Tobacco Bill Suffers Setback Over Liability-Limit Vote
International News-
Colombian General Denies Abuses As U.S. Cancels Visa
Mexican Banks Indicted In Drug Money Probe
South Africa: Gangsters Declare War On Mandela
* Hot Off The 'Net
* DrugSense Tip Of The Week
***
FEATURE ARTICLE
***
EDITORS NOTE:
In order to increase involvement and focus for our important letter
writing efforts, we have decided to include selected news articles
with contact information in the Feature Article section at times. When
you see this you are encouraged to take action by writing a short
letter to the editor responding to this article and using the Email
address provided.
Also please send a copy of your letter to MGreer@mapinc.org This will
help us monitor our effectiveness.
We will also continue occasional guest editorials from important
reform leaders in this section.
Thanks, as always, for your help
PLEASE WRITE A LETTER TO letters@globeandmail.ca IF YOU CAN
***
Canada: What Are G8 Leaders Smoking?
Pubdate: Mon, 18 May 1998
Source: Globe and Mail
Contact: letters@globeandmail.ca
Website: http://www.globeandmail.ca/
WHAT ARE G8 LEADERS SMOKING?
There is something very special about illicit drugs. If they don't
always make the drug user behave irrationally, they certainly cause
many non-users to behave that way. -- Harvard professor of medicine
Lester Grinspoon.
IRRATIONALITY is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting
different results. Judged by this yardstick, the illicit-drug policies
of most Western governments are indeed irrational. These policies do
not achieve their stated aims -- reducing the supply of drugs, cutting
crime, making citizens safer or weakening organized crime -- but rather
the reverse. And yet British Prime Minister Tony Blair put a more
vigorous prosecution of the international war on drugs high in the
agenda of the leaders of the G8 nations meeting this past weekend in
Birmingham.
Illicit-drug prices show a long-term decline, indicating plentiful and
growing supply of a commodity that the UN estimates represents about 8
per cent of international trade. At the same time, prohibition makes
drugs far more expensive than their cost of production. The price of
pure heroin for medicinal purposes is about one-30th of the street
price, and the difference goes straight to organized crime, a
state-dictated subsidy to gangsterism.
The criminalization of drug use has massively increased crime,
particularly of the victimless variety. Thousands of people in North
America are in prison solely because they bought, sold or were in
possession of illicit drugs. Many real crimes against persons and
property are carried out by people whom drug-criminalization has
marginalized and who have no other way of paying the
prohibition-inflated costs of their drugs. In countries like Canada,
citizens are endangered by street violence and the rise of blood-borne
diseases like HIV and hepatitis C. Internationally, armed insurrections
have been financed by drug money in countries like Peru, Afghanistan
and Cambodia, and in Latin America and the Caribbean, judges,
ministers, police and even presidential candidates are murdered by drug
cartels.
Throughout the world, drug money finances corruption on a massive
scale, undermining the rule of law and transferring power to those
segments of the population brutal, clever and ruthless enough to supply
a need that governments have naively tried to suppress. Raise the
stakes by stepping up the war effort, and the outcome must be more
lives ruined for victimless crimes and even fatter profits for even
scarier people.
Of course drugs are harmful and their use has social costs, but
reasonable people weigh these against the human and social cost of
prohibition, which is measured not only in dollars, but in lost
liberty, the coarsening of the law, the courts, the police and the
prisons. According to one recent Canadian university study, the total
cost of illicit drugs to the Canadian economy is a small fraction of
the cost of alcohol use ( $7.5-billion) or tobacco use ( $9.6-billion).
Many of the ills we traditionally associate with drug use are in fact
the fruit of our drug policy, and a calmer policy would meliorate these
ills.
Fortunately, a few courageous governments are beginning to say that the
drug-war general has no clothes. Recent Swiss experiments with
medically controlled heroin use, for example, show that many addicts
were able to participate fully in society while paying the cost of
their habit. Decriminalization allows strategies of harm reduction
through regulation to be used with success, such as needle exchanges,
making access for underage users more difficult and restricting sources
of supply and acceptable venues for use.
Even in the United States, popular revulsion against the excesses of
the war on drugs is making inroads. Four states now allow medical use
of marijuana. Two of them -- Arizona and California -- decided this
policy recently by strong popular votes in referendums.
Prohibition does not work and cannot work, and its costs are higher
than those of a policy of properly supervised and regulated access to
drugs. Given that the elimination of drugs from our society is not an
option, the G8 leaders should have been asking themselves how they can
minimize the harm that drugs represent. As it is, their policies
maximize the damage.
Copyright ( c) 1998, The Globe and Mail Company
***
WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW
***
Domestic News- Drug War Policy
***
COMMENT:
The drug czar has become a questionable asset for an embattled
president. One wonders how long Clinton can tolerate a less than
compliant McC's blend of disloyalty (needle issue) and ineptitude
(Mexican foot-in-mouth syndrome) in the face of an overt Republican
move to make the drug war a political issue.
As for labor agreements, it should hardly surprise us that
Congressional drug warriors are untroubled by such niceties when
there's a drug war to be fought.
The last article speaks for itself. Clearly safety becomes an elastic
concept when comparing profitable legal drugs to illegal pot, where
government profit is found in suppression, not sales.
***
DRUG POLICY CHIEF IS FACING SOME NEW FOES
McCaffrey's 'Tactics' on Needle Exchange Program Prompt Anger Among
Advocates
National drug policy chief Barry R. McCaffrey staked out his
position on needle exchange programs, made his point to President
Clinton and won his battle last month. But the retired general may
have made new enemies.
[snip]
Some in the administration were outraged when they learned
McCaffrey had enlisted Republicans in his effort. Five members of
the Congressional Black Caucus called for his resignation.
[snip]
Source: Washington Post
Contact: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Pubdate: Mon, 18 May 1998
Author: Terry M. Neal, Washington Post Staff Writer
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n368.a03.html
***
DRUG WAR'S LABOR BATTLE
House Bill's Provisions to Help Chase Traffickers Stumble Over
Suspension of Customs Service's Union Agreements
The war on drugs is producing a labor battle on Capitol Hill, where
Republicans and Democrats are locked in combat over some federal
workers' union contracts and charges that the Clinton administration is
bowing to union pressure at the expense of drug interdiction efforts.
At issue is a provision in a far-reaching drug enforcement bill,
scheduled for a House vote today, that would, in some cases, allow the
commissioner of the U.S. Customs Service to override collective
bargaining agreements if he believes they are detracting from the
agency's ability to put its officers on the front lines of the drug war.
[snip]
Source: LEGI-SLATE News Service
Pubdate: Tue, 19 May 1998
Author: Molly Peterson, LEGI-SLATE News Service
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n368.a04.html
***
DEATHS OF SIX VIAGRA USERS REPORTED BY DRUGMAKER
Six patients who had taken the wildly popular impotence pill Viagra
have died since the drug hit the market last month, the Food and Drug
Administration confirmed yesterday.
It remains uncertain, however, whether the medication played a role in
the deaths or if it was coincidental that victims had taken the pill.
The fear is that a combination of Viagra and the heart medication
nitroglycerin, used routinely to treat chest pain, can lead to a fatal
drop in blood pressure. It was a drug interaction that Viagra maker
Pfizer Inc. had warned of, but that patients might not have taken
seriously in the giddy popular embrace of the new treatment. ``I knew
this was coming,'' said Dr. Myron Murdock, director of the Impotence
Institute of America,
[snip]
Murdock said he hoped that the deaths -- if confirmed to be related
to Viagra -- will not lead the FDA to pull the drug from the
market, because it has proven itself so effective for its intended
use.
[snip]
Pubdate: Fri, 22 May 1998
Source: San Francisco Chronicle ( CA)
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Author: Sabin Russell, Chronicle Staff
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n374.a09.html
***
Law Enforcement
***
COMMENT:
The policing of the drug war seems to bring out the worst in law
enforcement agencies; the LAPD's casual treatment of seized property
shouldn't surprise OJ veterans, the judge in Sacramento was upset
because the cops couldn't account for the speed produced from
ingredients supplied in the sting, and finally, in Hawaii, Don Topping
got a chance to make some common sense points to the good guys.
AUDIT ASSAILS LAPD'S ACCOUNTING FOR SEIZED VALUABLES
Police - Although conceding that gains have been made since the last
survey in 1992, report says storage problems raise temptation of theft
and abuse.
The Los Angeles Police Department is "sloppy" when it comes to storing
and accounting for guns, drugs, jewelry, electronic equipment and other
property seized by police, the city's controller said Wednesday.
[snip]
Each year, the LAPD's property division processes about 250,000 pieces
of property, ranging from weapons, cash and guns to blood- and
semen-stained clothing. Officials said the LAPD's 18 police stations
received, on an annual basis, about 13,000 guns, $2 billion worth of
drugs and as much as $5 million in currency.
Auditors discovered that some of those items were either misplaced or
missing with no explanations. Other property, such as drugs, were not
always kept in the most secure locations.
In one case, some "high-value drugs" and cash were stored next to
employees' snack foods in a vault.
[snip]
Pubdate: May 21, 1998
Source: Los Angeles Times ( CA)
Contact: letters@latimes.com
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Author: By Matt Lait
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n373.a02.html
***
NOTORIOUS PAIR FAIL TO AVERT DRUG TRIAL
Judge rips agents, but won't dismiss charges
A federal judge in Sacramento declined Tuesday to dismiss charges
against two notorious drug dealers, even though he concluded that state
agents engaged in "outrageous" conduct in an effort to target the men.
[snip]
But prosecutor Nancy Simpson said the agents followed internal
regulations and performed the "reverse sting" operation with "a lot of
consideration and thought" about the public's welfare.
"There are a limited number of ways in which you, as a narcotics agent,
can effectively investigate these types of cases," she emphasized.
[snip]
Source: Sacramento Bee ( CA)
Contact: opinion@sacbee.com
Website: http://www.sacbee.com/
Pubdate: Wed, 20 May 1998
Author: Cynthia Hubert Bee Staff Writer
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n370.a05.html
***
DRUG AGENCY ON DEFENSIVE AT HEARING ON POT SPRAYING
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is soliciting public comment on
its continuing use of herbicides to eradicate marijuana plants.
But most speakers at a hearing last night at the Ala Moana Hotel urges
legalization of the drug, down sizing of the drug agency and government
promoting of a hemp-production industry.
[snip]
About 20 people spoke at the hearing on an environmental impact
statement supplement detailing the chemicals used and procedures
followed in spraying the illegal plant on land and from the air.
[snip]
The impact statement says "the human health risk assessment...
indicated that no effects to humans were likely to occur from the
normal use of glyphosate in the cannabis eradication program."
"Marijuana users also are unlikely to be subject to health effects from
glyphosate-contaminated marijuana," it said.
However, a spokesman for the state Agriculture Department urged the
federal agency to be aware of the potential of contaminating the water
source of many Big Island residents who use open rain-catchment tanks.
Donald Topping, president of the Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii,
asked, "If the herbicide is so safe, why are there so many caveats,
such as 'not expected to', 'is unlikely that,' rather than offering
guarantees?"
***
Esequiel Hernandez-
***
COMMENT:
The unpunished killing of an 18 year old schoolboy by US Marines on
"drug patrol" continues to have important after-effects a year later;
a Texas congressman was still seeking answers, even as his colleagues
were voting overwhelmingly to allow continued militarization of the
border. Most significantly, this issue may have finally provoked
scrutiny of the drug war by Amnesty International.
***
TEEN'S DEATH ILLUSTRATES THE DANGER OF BORDER MILITARIZATION
This month, families across the country will gather to celebrate
their children's graduations. But one family, instead of marking a
son's high school achievements, will observe the one-year
anniversary of his death.
On May 20, 1997, Esequiel Hernandez of the border town of Redford,
Texas, became the first U.S. citizen killed by U.S. troops on U.S.
soil since Kent State.
The high school senior was stalked, shot and left to bleed to death
by a four-member Marine unit in camouflage.
[snip]
Source: Daily Arizona Star
Contact: letters@azstarnet.com
Website: http://www.azstarnet.com/
Pubdate: Tue, 19 May 1998
Authors: Isabel Garcia and Demetria Martinez
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n374.a01.html
***
SUBPOENA PLANNED IN BORDER SHOOTING
Congressman vows legal action to get Justice Department files on death
of Esequiel Hernandez
WASHINGTON -- Frustrated with the answers he has received so far, Rep.
Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, said Tuesday that he will seek to subpoena
the Justice Department for more information about the shooting death
last year of a Texas teen-ager by U.S. Marines patrolling the border
with Mexico.
[snip]
Source: Austin American-Statesman
Pubdate: 20 May 1998
Contact: letters@statesman.com
Website: http://www.Austin360.com/
Author: Christi Harlan American-Statesman Washington Staff
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n373.a06.html
***
HOUSE BACKS MILITARY PATROLS OF US BORDERS
Politics: Opponents in the $270 billion defense bill, is a waste of
scarce resources.
Washington-The House passed a $270 billion defence bill Thursday
that includes authorizing the military to help patrol U.S. borders
in the war against drug smuggling and illegal immigration.
Opponents said the plan - an amendment approved 288-to-132 - could turn
the U.S. Mexican border into an armed corridor.
[snip]
Source: Orange County Register ( CA)
Contact: letters@link.freedom.com
Website: http://www.ocregister.com/
Pubdate: 22 May 1998
Author: Tom Raum, Associated Press
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n379.a04.html
***
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES ON THE BORDER
HARLINGEN, Texas ( AP) -- Amnesty International will release its
first-ever report this week on human rights abuses by Immigration and
Naturalization Service agents on the U.S-Mexico border.
The report's international release will coincide with the first
anniversary of the death of Esequiel Hernandez -- the Texas teenager
shot and killed by a Marine patrolling the Mexican border.
[snip]
Pubdate: Mon, May 18 1998
Source: The Associated Press
Author: Madeline Baro, AP writer
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n371.a06.html
***
Alcohol-
***
COMMENT:
Alcohol remains an unsolved problem, especially in the form of
excessive underage drinking on campuses.
News from animal labs continues to suggest that drug taking behavior
is heavily dependent on genetic endowment. Perhaps some day we'll have
a policy which reflects that understanding.
***
UNIFIED ALCOHOL POLICIES FOR CAMPUSES STATEWIDE UNDER DISCUSSION
INDIANAPOLIS ( May 19, 1998) -- Bill DeLong likens how colleges tackle
alcohol abuse on campus to "preaching chastity in a brothel."
Why should students listen, he asks, when they're bombarded with "happy
hour" promotions, bars sell to those under age 21, alumni get drunk on
campus and officials are afraid to suspend or expel students for
violations?
[snip]
Source: The Indianapolis Star
Contact: stareditor@starnews.com
Website: http://www.starnews.com/
Pubdate: Wed, 20 May 1998
Author: Barb Albert, Indianapolis Star/News
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n370.a10.html
***
SCIENTISTS LOCATE NEIGHBORHOOD OF ALCOHOLISM GENE
WASHINGTON -- Researchers mapping the highway of human heredity
have found some streets that may lead to alcoholism.
Their work could lead to ways of identifying youngsters most at risk of
becoming alcoholics and helping them avoid that future.
An estimated 14 million Americans suffer from alcoholism and it has
long been known that the problem runs in families. But it had not been
clear if it was inherited or a result of environment, Dr. Enoch
Gordis, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and
Alcoholism, said yesterday.
Now, he said, researchers have concluded that inheritance plays a role
and they have located likely neighborhoods for the genes that can lead
to trouble.
[snip]
Source: Standard-Times ( MA)
Contact: YourView@S-T.com
Website: http://www.s-t.com/
Pubdate: Thu, 21 May 1998
Author: Randolph E. Schmid, Associated Press writer
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n374.a04.html
***
Medical Marijuana
***
COMMENT:
In California, the operating clubs still clung to a tenuous existence,
but were looking at almost certain closure this week. The future
largely depends on how California voters respond to what's been done
(and not done) with Proposition 215.
***
SHERIFF PLANNING TO CLOSE DOWN S.F. POT CLUB BY TUESDAY NIGHT
Says he has to follow judge's order
He won't say when, but Sheriff Michael Hennessey is putting together a
plan to forcibly close and lock the Cannabis Healing Center sometime
before Tuesday afternoon, taking everything that isn't nailed down with
him.
Hennessey said he has no choice but to obey a ruling by San Francisco
Superior Court Judge William Cahill, issued Thursday, that ordered the
club shut down within five days.
[snip]
Source: San Francisco Examiner ( CA)
Contact: letters@examiner.com
Website: http://www.examiner.com/
Pubdate: Sat, 23 May 1998
Author: Ray Delgado of the Examiner Staff
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n380.a12.html
***
Tobacco
***
COMMENT:
The Senate continued its unenlightened debate over the tobacco bill.
The vote to limit liability leaves the McCain Bill in bad shape and
suggests that there will be long, bitter battles in both houses before
a bill emerges.
***
TOBACCO BILL SUFFERS SETBACK OVER LIABILITY-LIMIT VOTE
WASHINGTON - A bipartisan Senate majority uniting liberals and
conservatives stripped a key provision from the sweeping
tobacco-control bill yesterday, raising new doubts about Congress'
ability to pass any tobacco measure this year.
The Senate, in a 61-37 vote, in essence eliminated the legal
protections from damage suits for the tobacco companies that were
included in the tobacco bill sponsored by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.,
[snip]
The setback appears to have left the legislation in critical condition.
Its sponsors had hoped to complete Senate action on it this week,
before Congress begins a week long Memorial Day recess.
Instead, the measure was to be pulled off the Senate floor today for
more urgent legislation. Plans are to take it up anew at some
unspecified time in June, and many contentious amendment battles are
still ahead. The Senate's June schedule is already crowded with many
must-pass appropriations bills.
[snip]
Source: Seattle Times ( WA)
Contact: opinion@seatimes.com
Website: http://www.seattletimes.com/
Pubdate: Fri, 22 May 1998
Author: Robert A. Rankin, Knight Ridder Newspapers
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n379.a08.html
***
International News
***
COMMENT:
Look for the need to support Colombia's corrupt and incompetent
military in an ever-expanding civil war create giant headaches for
spin doctors in ONDCP.
With typical arrogance, we carried out a sting against Mexican banks
without telling them. What would be our response if they checked out
Citibank and Wells Fargo the same way? What might they find?
Illegal drugs are a prime source of criminal finance the world over;
newly enfranchised black South African are among the newer players.
***
COLOMBIAN GENERAL DENIES ABUSES AS U.S. CANCELS VISA
BOGOTA, Colombia -- The United States has revoked the visa of a
senior Colombian general who human-rights groups say has a lengthy
record of backing paramilitary forces involved in death squad
activity.
[snip]
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Contact: tribletter@aol.com
Website: http://www.chicago.tribune.com/
Pubdate: 16 May 1998
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n366.a07.html
***
MEXICAN BANKS INDICTED IN DRUG MONEY PROBE
Operating out of a storefront in a gritty neighborhood of Santa Fe
Springs, undercover agents from the U.S. Customs Service carried out a
three-year sting that ended Monday with the indictment of three Mexican
banks and 107 people on charges of laundering millions of dollars for
Latin American drug-smuggling cartels.
The indictments returned by a Los Angeles federal grand jury represent
"the culmination of the largest, most comprehensive drug money
laundering case in U.S. law enforcement history," said Treasury
Secretary Robert Rubin.
[snip]
Source: Los Angeles Times ( CA)
Contact: letters@latimes.com
Fax: 213-237-4712
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Pubdate: Tue, 19 May 1998
Author: David Rosnzweig, Mary Beth Sheridan - Times Staff Writers
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n369.a08.html
***
GANGSTERS DECLARE WAR ON MANDELA
IN THE Little House on the Prairie, an illegal drinking den less than
30 minutes' drive from the centre of Cape Town, the rich and powerful
of the "new" South Africa gathered last week to talk politics and
money. As the wind whipped sand across the Cape Flats, a desolate plain
that is home to 3m impoverished people, members of the Sexy Boys and
Hard Living gangs sipped cold beers and announced that they were going
to war.
Brandishing an AK-47 assault rifle, Sticks "The Mongrel" Nbugane, a
self-confessed mob hit man, leapt to his feet and fired bullets into
the wall. "This is what they have got coming," he cried.
The gangsters who control South Africa's burgeoning prostitution, drugs
and protection rackets have been angered by the plan of President
Nelson Mandela's government to seize their assets.
[snip]
Pubdate: Sun, 17 May 1998
Source: Sunday Times ( UK)
Contact: editor@sunday-times.co.uk
Author: Andrew Malone, Cape Town
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n366.a03.html
***
HOT OFF THE 'NET
***
This newly released site at
http://www.drugsense.org/CCUA/
Is a great resource on the California Compassionate Use Act (Prop 215
medical marijuana). It has actual text, an interesting chronology and could
be useful as a model for other state based organizations.
Check it out!
***
TIP OF THE WEEK
***
Using the DrugNews Archive Effectively.
The DrugNews Archive at
http://www.drugsense.org/drugnews/
or
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/
can be an excellent information resource if properly used. We occasionally
get comments that information could not be found. In many cases this is due
to "pilot error." The default for your search is "Current News" this is
only a very small percentage of the 10,000 articles that are archived. If
your initial search does not yield what you are after, click on the
arrow next to "Current News (30 days)" and do a search on the "Older
News 1998" archive or the "Older News 1997" archive.
Using multiple search words like "McCaffrey and DARE" (don't use the quotes
in your search) will help narrow your search down.
This massive but very easy to search archive can help you in many and
varied ways from finding inconsistent quotes from drug warriors to
enhancing your letter writing efforts with facts and cites.
Please use it.
***
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.
News-COMMENTS-Editor: Tom O'Connell (tjeffoc@drugsense.org)
Senior-Editor: Mark Greer (mgreer@drugsense.org)
We wish to thank all our contributors and Newshawks.
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[End]
to 1998 Daily News index for May 21-27