-------------------------------------------------------------------

NORML Weekly News (Marijuana Poses Few Health Risks,
New Zealand Health Ministry Says; States Certify More Medical
Marijuana Initiatives For Fall Ballot; California Marijuana Arrests Soar
Despite 215's Passage; Indian Tribe Approves Ordinance Supporting Hemp
Cultivation; Three Recent Polls Reveal Overwhelmingly Support
For Marijuana Reform)

From: NORMLFNDTN@aol.com
Date: Thu, 6 Aug 1998 18:32:08 EDT
Subject: NORML WPR 8/6/98 (II)

The NORML Foundation Weekly Press Release

1001 Connecticut Ave., NW
Ste. 710
Washington, DC 20036
202-483-8751 (p)
202-483-0057 (f)
www.norml.org
normlfndtn@aol.com

August 6, 1998

***

Marijuana Poses Few Health Risks, New Zealand Health Ministry Says

August 6, 1998, Wellington, New Zealand: Smoking marijuana poses few
serious health risks, Health Ministry officials told a Parliament select
committee last week. The ongoing hearings are in response to a report
issued in April by a coalition of New Zealand scientists and health care
professionals who support legalizing marijuana.

"Overall, the current public health risks of cannabis use are small to
moderate in size, and are less than the public health risk of tobacco or
alcohol use," the Ministry said in a written statement.

NORML Foundation Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said the Health
Ministry's position echoes those of other international health
organizations. "Both the World Health Organization and the French
medical institute INSERM concluded earlier this year that marijuana
smoking causes less harm to public health than alcohol and cigarettes,"
he said.

The Ministry also said that most New Zealanders only use the drug
occasionally, and downplayed health dangers even among long-term heavy
users. Dr. Nick Judson, deputy director of mental health, said that no
more than two to three percent of the population were at serious risk
from marijuana abuse.

Dr. David Hadorn, director of the New Zealand Drug Policy Forum Trust,
testified in favor of establishing a system to regulate marijuana
consumption. "By driving cannabis use underground, we surely make the
situation far worse than would be the case under a controlled, regulated
system of cannabis distribution," he said. "Creating a flourishing black
market for a widely used substance inevitably fosters criminal activity."

Assistant Police Commissioner Ian Holyoake told the committee that he
opposed marijuana legalization, but remained open to the possibility of
decriminalization. He admitted that criminalizing the drug had not
reduced marijuana use.

For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul
Armentano of The NORML Foundation @ (202) 483-8751. Dr. David Hadorn of
the New Zealand Drug Policy Forum Trust may be contacted via e-mail at:
David.Hadorn@vuw.ac.nz.

***

States Certify More Medical Marijuana Initiatives For Fall Ballot

August 6, 1998, Washington, DC: Voters in Washington state and Nevada
will decide whether to legalize medical marijuana this fall, state
officials affirmed last week. Voters in five states and the District of
Columbia anticipate voting on this issue in November.

Washington's Initiative 692 and the Nevada proposal seek to exempt
seriously ill patients from state criminal marijuana penalties if they
use marijuana under the supervision of their physician.

State officials in Alaska and Oregon previously certified similar
initiatives for the November 3 ballot.

"These tightly worded proposals recognize that patients who use
marijuana at the advice of their physician should not be victims of the
'war on drugs,'" NORML Executive Director R. Keith Stroup, Esq. said.

Nevada state guidelines mandate the initiative to win voter approval
this November and again in November 2000 before it can become law.
Petitioners qualified for the ballot after a recount determined that more
than 70 signatures disqualified by county officials were actually valid
signatures.

For more information, please contact either Keith Stroup of NORML @
(202) 483-5500 or Dave Fratello of Americans for Medical Rights @ (301)
394-2952.

***

California Marijuana Arrests Soar Despite 215's Passage

August 6, 1998, Sacramento, CA: California law enforcement arrested
more citizens on marijuana charges in 1997 than in any year since 1985,
newly released figures from the Bureau of Criminal Statistics revealed.
The rising number of arrests one full year after voters legalized the use
of marijuana for medical purposes alarmed many activists who question
whether police are continuing to punish patients despite the new law.

"The government has spent more money trying to persecute medical
marijuana patients than trying to implement Prop. 215," charged
California NORML Coordinator Dale Gieringer. "Not only has Attorney
General Dan Lungren ignored Prop. 215's mandate to establish a plan for
'safe and affordable distribution' of medical marijuana, he is wasting
taxpayers' money prosecuting those who do."

Law enforcement arrested 57,667 Californians on marijuana charges in
1997, the data showed. Seizures of cultivated marijuana also rose to
near-record levels in 1997, law enforcement statistics indicated.

"These arrest figures fly in the face of prohibitionist claims that
the passage of Proposition 215 'legalized' marijuana for recreational
use," NORML Executive Director R. Keith Stroup, Esq. said. "Police
continue to arrest marijuana smokers in California -- many of whom are
valid medical patients -- at a record pace despite the protections
allotted by the new law."

For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre of The
NORML Foundation @ (202) 483-8751 or Dale Gieringer of California NORML @
(415) 563-5858.

***

Indian Tribe Approves Ordinance Supporting Hemp Cultivation

August 6, 1998, Pine Ridge, S.D.: Council members of the Oglala Sioux
Indian Tribe approved legislation recognizing hemp as a "safe and
profitable" crop. The ordinance amends the Tribal Penal Code to legally
distinguish between hemp and marijuana, and opens the door for legal
cultivation of the low-THC strain of the plant.

The passage of this ordinance "sets the stage for land-based economic
development on the reservation and probably a legal challenge by the
tribe in federal court," said ordinance spokesman Joe American Horse.

At least one other Indian tribe, the Navajo Nation, has passed
legislation supporting hemp cultivation on sovereign land.

For more information, please contact either Paul Armentano or attorney
Tanya Kangas of The NORML Foundation @ (202) 483-8751. Tom Cook of the
Slim Butte Land-Use Association may be contacted @ (308) 432-2290.

***

Three Recent Polls Reveal Overwhelmingly Support For Marijuana Reform

August 6, 1998, Washington, DC: Three recent polls conducted by the
BBC, Time Magazine, and the Internet news journal IntellectualCapital.com
demonstrate overwhelming public support for marijuana reform.

Ninety-six percent of respondents to a July 28 BBC telephone poll
answered that marijuana should be legalized for medical purposes. The
two American polls examined the broader issue of reforming criminal
penalties against marijuana and other illicit drugs. Over 90 percent of
respondents to the Time Magazine survey answered that the government
should legalize marijuana and other "recreational" drugs for adults only.
More than 80 percent of respondents to the IntellectualCapital.com poll
said that legalizing marijuana and other drugs would be their "next step
... in America's 'war on drugs.'"

Allen St. Pierre, executive director of The NORML Foundation, said
that the polls' outcomes were not surprising. "These results demonstrate
that a significant portion of the public strongly disapprove of arresting
and jailing marijuana smokers, and approve of the medical use of
marijuana under the supervision of a licensed physician," he said.

For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul
Armentano of The NORML Foundation @ (202) 483-8751.

				- END -

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Judge Dismisses Multimillion-Dollar Lawsuit ('The Associated Press'
Says US District Judge Malcolm F. Marsh Has Dismissed The Lawsuit
Filed By Oregon Union Trust Funds Against Tobacco Companies,
Ruling That Individual Union Smokers Could Sue Tobacco Companies To Recoup
The Cost Of Treating Smoking-Related Injuries, But The Union Could Not)

Associated Press
found at:
http://www.oregonlive.com/
feedback (letters to the editor):
feedback@thewire.ap.org

Judge dismisses multimillion-dollar lawsuit

The Associated Press
8/6/98 3:30 AM

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- A federal judge has dismissed a multimillion-dollar
lawsuit filed by Oregon union trust funds against tobacco companies.

In a decision revealed Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Malcolm F. Marsh ruled
that individual union smokers could sue tobacco companies to recoup the cost
of treating smoking-related injuries but that union trust funds could not.

"The lawsuit details an allegedly sordid history of irresponsible corporate
management and unchecked greed on the part of the tobacco industry," Marsh
wrote. "However compelling these charges may be, there are very sound
judicial policy reasons for limiting legal actions to those parties most
directly injured by the harmful conduct."

Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers is one of about 40 state attorneys
general who have sued tobacco companies in an attempt to recoup state
medical costs for treating smoking-related injuries.

Marsh said states are different from unions "given the state's unique role
relative to the protection of its citizens."

Steve Larson, an attorney representing the union trust funds, did not return
a call seeking comment.

John W. Phillips, a Seattle lawyer for Philip Morris Inc., said there were
40 to 60 union trust fund lawsuits against tobacco companies throughout the
country.

There have been eight decisions -- four dismissals, including Marsh's, and
four other decisions largely favorable to tobacco companies.

But tobacco companies have agreed to pay billions of dollars in settlements
with four states that filed lawsuits -- Minnesota, Florida, Texas and
Mississippi.

(c)1998 Oregon Live LLC

Copyright 1997 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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County Jail Beds Won't Be Enough Without A Shift (A Staff Editorial
In The Vancouver, Washington 'Columbian' Notes Clark County Jail Beds
Are Currently Costing Taxpayers $55,000 Each To Build, Even Before
The Costs Of Filling And Maintaining Them Are Counted)

The Columbian
701 W. Eighth St.
Vancouver WA 98666
Tel. (360) 694-2312
Or (360) 699-6000, Ext. 1560, to leave a recorded opinion
>From Portland: (503) 224-0654
Fax: (360) 699-6033
E-mail: editors@columbian.com
Web: http://www.columbian.com/

In Our View: Thursday, Aug. 6, 1998

County jail beds won't be enough without a shift

By 2-1 vote this week, the Board of Clark County Commissioners acceded to
Sheriff Garry Lucas' assertion that he needs twice as many beds in a minimum
security jail the county aims to build a couple of years from now between
Vancouver Lake and the Columbia River.

Actually, the sheriff insists he never said that 100 beds in the lakeside
lockup would be enough. He does say now that he needs space for 200 rather
than 100 people who don't have to be kept behind steel bars and thick walls
of reinforced contract but should be caged away from the rest of us.

Commissioners Judy Stanton and Betty Sue Morris went along. They felt under
pressure to do so because the present jail behind the County Courthouse is
packed dangerously full even though some people characterized as dangerous
are being released.

Boosting the planned capacity of a facility that cannot open until 2000
won't do a thing to relieve the present jail jam. Indeed, the increase might
have the psychological effect of encouraging the system to put more people
in and keep them in longer.

At root is the supposition that locking up a certain percentage of the
population makes things better for those who happen not to be locked up. The
judges and police and prosecutors who keep that faith do so with apparent
public support. Sympathy for the men and women bad enough, unlucky enough
and poor enough to end up packed away in the jail is not a majority view
these days.

So long as that view prevails, there will not ever be enough jail beds in
Clark County. Already at the planning stage is a 400-bed jail-work facility,
probably also down in the Vancouver Lake wetlands near the garbage-packing
plant. By the time that could possibly get done, maybe 2005 or 2006, the
population of the county could have doubled again. At the present
expectation for percentage of population to be locked up, total jail space
would still be short by 500 or 600 cots.

Can we afford it? The minimum security facility approved this week will hold
200 and cost at least $11 million. That's $55,000 for every cot before the
first guard punches a time clock or the first baloney sandwich is slapped
together.

-- D. Michael Heywood, for the editorial board

-------------------------------------------------------------------

A New Chavez Judge (The Long Beach, California, "Press-Telegram'
Notes Judge Frank F. Fasel Has Replaced Judge Robert R. Fitzgerald
In The Case Of Medical Marijuana Defendant Marvin Chavez, Co-Founder
Of The Orange County Patient-Doctor-Nurse Support Group)

Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1998 18:43:10 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: A New Chavez Judge
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: FilmMakerZ@aol.com
Pubdate: Thurs, 6 Aug 1998
Source: Press-Telegram (CA)
Contact: speakout@ptconnect.infi.net
Website: http://www.ptconnect.com/
Author: Joe Segura, Staff Writer

A NEW CHAVEZ JUDGE

Switch: Vacation plans bring another jurist to marijuana activist case.

Santa Ana -- A new judge was assigned Wednesday to the drug-sales trial of
medical marijuana activist Marvin Chavez, giving his attorneys another shot
at bringing in Prop. 215 as a defense.

Judge Robert R. Fitzgerald, who had scheduled a three-week vacation
starting this weekend, had the Chavez case assigned to Judge Frank F.
Fasel, who said he was willing to revisit the Prop. 215 issue on Aug. 14.

Last week, Fitzgerald sided with the prosecution that Prop. 215 -- known as
the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 -- should be banned from the trial
because the medicinal marijuana measure does not allow for the sale of the
substance.

Chavez was arrested in April after allegedly selling marijuana to an
undercover officer posing as a care-giver for a terminally ill uncle. He is
facing eight felony drug-sale charges, and he was in court Wednesday for a
possible plea bargain deal when the shift in judges occurred.

Fasel's decision pleased both pro bono defense attorneys, Robert Kennedy of
Long Beach and Jon Alexander of Orange County.

"This gives us a second chance," Kennedy said.

The defense attorneys believe that Chavez will be convicted of the
felonies, unless they're allowed to show the jury that his activities were
basically in the spirit of Prop. 215.

Chavez is the co-founder of the Orange County Patient-Doctor-Nurse Support
Group that he says is designed to be a clearinghouse for the seriously ill
who use marijuana medicinally. The organization -- established after the
passage of Prop. 215 legalized the medicinal use of marijuana in the state
-- has about 200 members, people who reportedly have presented a doctor's
recommendation for marijuana use.

Deputy District Attorney Carl Armbrust, head of the Narcotics Enforcement
Team, seized the group's medical records.

After Wednesday's brief hearing in Fasel's courtroom, Armbrust said he
plans to examine them to determine if doctors are involved in the cases --
and if they examined the patients before making the recommendation for
marijuana use.

Armbrust said that undercover officers determined that Chavez was not
taking steps to assure that doctors were involved in all medicinal
marijuana cases. However, he said he had no plans to file additional
charges in the Chavez case.

"I'm not looking at going against any doctor," he said. "And I'm not looking
at going against any patient."

However, numerous members of the Patient-Doctor-Nurse Support Group have
sought the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union, seeking
protection from possible arrest and prosecution, said cannabis club member
Mira Ingram of Garden Grove.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

The Future Of Proposition 215 (A Staff Editorial
In 'The Orange County Register' Notes Recent Hopeful Developments
In The Trial Of Marvin Chavez, The Medical Marijuana Patient And Director
Of The Orange County Patient, Doctor, Nurse Support Group, And Says
However The Chavez Case Turns Out, It Is Time For Orange County
To Establish The 'Safe And Affordable' Distribution System
That Proposition 215 Mandated)

From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: "MN" (mapnews@mapinc.org)
Subject: MN: US: CA Editorial: The Future Of Prop. 215
Date: Thu, 6 Aug 1998 17:54:25 -0500
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: FilmMakerZ@aol.com
Pubdate: Thurs, 6 August 1998
Source: Orange County Register (CA)
Contact: letters@link.freedom.com
Website: http://www.ocregister.com/

EDITORIAL: THE FUTURE OF PROP. 215

It was another day of surprises Wednesday in the case of Marvin Chavez, with
developments that could change the nature of the debate over implementation
of California's medical marijuana initiative.

Mr. Chavez is director of the Orange County Patient, Doctor, Nurse Support
Group, which is trying to find a way to supply marijuana to patients in pain
in a legal fashion, as authorized by California voters when they passed
Proposition 215 in November 1996. Law enforcement officials see the
situation differently and, in Mr. Chavez's case, have charged him with 10
counts of selling marijuana illegally.

Mr. Chavez decided on Wednesday not to take the plea-bargain deal offered
him even though it was considered generous. He declined largely because he
didn't want to plead guilty to a felony he didn't think he had committed.

Then, in another surprise, the case was transferred to another judge. The
new jurist, Judge Frank F. Fasel, agreed to consider briefs and hear
arguments as to whether the defense may bring up Prop. 215 during the trial.
This is significant because the prior judge, Robert Fitzgerald, had decided
not to allow Prop. 215 arguments.

Judge Fasel's reconsideration on the matter doesn't mean he will decide to
allow such a defense, which would be favorable to Mr. Chavez in particular
and the cause of Prop. 215 supporters in general, but the situation has
changed markedly.

Attorneys for Mr. Chavez and Deputy District Attorney Carl Armbrust will
present arguments to Judge Fasel on August 14, after which he will rule on
whether Prop. 215-related arguments and witnesses can be used by the
defense. The trial is scheduled to begin August 24.

In addition, Mr. Armbrust returned the Support Group's medical records,
which Judge Robert Fitzgerald had ruled the district attorney's office could
have, to Mr. Chavez. Mr. Armbrust confirmed to us that his interest was
simple: an undercover police officer had persuaded Mr. Chavez to give him
some marijuana based on a false doctor's recommendation, and he wanted to
find out if that had happened in other cases. He says he has no interest in
investigating doctors or patients who have complied with the law.

These developments raise the possibility that Mr. Chavez's case could result
in clearer guidelines both for police and for would-be caregivers when it
comes to getting marijuana to which patients have a right to it by some
means other than the black market. Even if Mr. Chavez is eventually found
guilty of selling marijuana, his case could offer guidance on how to set up
a legal and above-board distribution system in the future.

That would be more likely, of course, if Prop. 215 is allowed to be
discussed during the trial so the issues involved - some of them are
ticklish and the wording of the initiative can be subject to different
interpretations - can be aired openly and intelligently.

The best course would be for some city government or for the county
government to pass an ordinance making it clear what kinds of distribution
will be allowed and what won't, with appropriate safeguards to reduce the
likelihood that marijuana used by bona fide patients for medical purposes
will not strengthen or be diverted into the illegal black market.

Oakland passed a law legitimizing the local cannabis club and set out
guidelines for them as has the Northern California city of Arcata.
Admittedly, Oakland's decision to declare workers at the medical-marijuana
co-op to be de jure city employees to shield them from federal and state
prosecution might not be a precedent every city would want to follow. San
Francisco, San Jose and a few other cities are wrestling with the issue.

However the Chavez case turns out - we plan to follow it closely - it is
time for an Orange County jurisdiction to step up to the responsibility the
state has so far avoided, and set up or authorize the "safe and affordable"
distribution system that Prop. 215 mandated.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Co-Op Founder Opts To Take A Gutsy Step ('Orange County Register' Columnist
Gordon Dillow Says Marvin Chavez, The Medical Marijuana Patient And Director
Of The Orange County Patient, Doctor, Nurse Support Group, Is Taking
A Courageous Step By Not Copping A Plea)

Column: Co-op founder opts to take a gutsy step
From: (FilmMakerZ@aol.com) Save Address Block Sender
Date: Thu, 6 Aug 1998 14:59:21 EDT
Newshawk: FilmMakerZ@aol.com
Pubdate: Thurs, 6 August 1998
Source: Orange County Register (CA)
Contact: letters@link.freedom.com
Website: http://www.ocregister.com/
Author: Gordon Dillow

Column: Co-op founder opts to take a gutsy step

No matter where you stand on the issue of medical marijuana, you have to
give Marvin Chavez this much:

The guy's got guts.

Chavez, 42, of Santa Ana, is the founder of the county's first medical
marijuana co-op. Chavez says he has only provided pot to sick people to
ease their pain, not to make money. And he firmly believes that
Proposition 215, the medical-marijuana initiative, allows him to do that
- just as it allows him to use marijuana himself to treat a degenerative
spinal condition.

But the District Attorney's Office says Chavez is a marijuana dealer,
and that while Prop. 215 allows sick people to use marijuana, it doesn't
allow guys like Chavez to provide it.

So now Chavez has been charged with 10 felony counts for giving
marijuana to some sick people - and to some undercover agents who
claimed they were sick people - in return for donations to his
medical-marijuana group. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges -
which could land him in prison for 15 years - and demanded a jury trial.

And that's where the guts come in.

Every year the DA's Office files thousands of felony cases - about
14,000 last year alone. But every year only about four or five hundred
cases actually go to trial. The vast majority of the rest end with the
defendant pleading guilty in return for a reduced sentence.

In Orange County it's usually judges, not the DA's Office, who make
those deals. And of course, the defendant can always refuse the deal
and go to trial.

But everybody knows that if you go to trial and are convicted, you're
almost certainly going to get hammered with a much tougher sentence than
if you had pleaded guilty before the trial began.

You aren't really supposed to be punished for demanding your right to a
jury trial. But if there was no advantage to copping a plea, every year
thousands - not just hundreds - of defendants would go to trial and hope
for an acquittal. That would cost Orange County taxpayers hundreds of
millions of dollars a year, and you and I would be getting summoned for
jury duty about every other week.

Anyway, that's what happened to Chavez. In an effort to dispose of the
case, this week a judge offered Chavez a deal that would put him on
probation and limit his jail sentence to the time he's already served.
No prison time.

It was a very sweet deal, especially since the judge had ruled that
Chavez couldn't use Prop. 215 as a defense in his trial - which probably
would turn the trial into a slam-dunk victory for the prosecution.

But Chavez won't do it.

"I won't take the deal," Chavez, a frail-looking man who wears a chest
and back brace, said as he stood outside the courtroom Wednesday. "I
have to stand up for what's right."

Later he told the judge the same thing. Chavez's jury trial is now set
for Aug. 24.

All of which leaves Chavez's lawyer, Jon Alexander, shaking his head.

"You don't get any better offer than time served," he said.

The lawyer's probably right. Taking the deal would have been the smart
move.

But Chavez would rather stand up for his principles, even if that ends
up with him getting hammered right into prison.

And whether you agree with those principles or not, you gotta admit that
that takes guts.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Best-Selling Author Peter McWilliams Is Victim Of Efforts
To Discredit Medical Marijuana, Libertarians Say (A Press Release
From The Libertarian Party About The California Cancer And AIDS Patient
And Medical Marijuana User Incarcerated By The Federal Government)

Date: Fri, 07 Aug 98 16:51:54 PDT
From: announce@lp.org
Subject: Release: Peter McWilliams
Sender: announce-request@lp.org
Reply-To: announce@lp.org
To: announce@lp.org (Libertarian Party announcements)

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
Washington DC 20037

***

For release: August 6, 1998

***

For additional information:
George Getz, Deputy Director of Communications
(202) 333-0008 Ext. 222
Internet: 76214.3676@CompuServe.com

***

Best-selling author Peter McWilliams is victim
of efforts to discredit medical marijuana, Libertarians say

WASHINGTON, DC -- The arrest of medical marijuana activist
Peter McWilliams proves that the federal government is "fanatically
determined to wage its War on Drugs -- even if it means putting sick
and dying people in jail," the Libertarian Party charged today.

"Peter McWilliams is the latest victim of the federal
government's campaign to arrest and discredit advocates of medical
marijuana," said Ron Crickenberger, the party's national director. "For
the government's Drug Warriors, compassion is a crime, and propaganda
is more important than the truth about the benefits of medical
marijuana."

McWilliams, a #1 bestselling author and Libertarian Party
member, was one of nine people charged in California on July 23 with
conspiracy to grow marijuana plants, which McWilliams said he planned
to distribute to sick people under the state's medical marijuana law.

The indictment alleged that marijuana was grown at four
locations in Los Angeles County, and that McWilliams had provided the
funds for the operation. Prosecutors claim that McWilliams tried to
sell some of the marijuana to the Los Angeles Cannabis Buyer's Club,
which has been distributing medical marijuana since 1996.

But McWilliams vehemently denied the accusations, and released a
letter from prison saying, "I have never sold a drug in my life. . . . I am
a vocal and occasionally effective proponent of medical marijuana -- and
that is why I am in jail."

McWilliams entered a formal plea of not guilty, but remains in
federal custody as he tries to raise a $250,000 bond. If convicted, he
faces a 10-year jail sentence.

At a July 31 hearing in federal court in Los Angeles,
McWilliams' attorneys accused the prison of withholding lifesaving
medication from the author, who is suffering from AIDS and cancer, and
asked that he be released for health reasons.

The judge denied the request, and also rejected a defense
motion to reduce his bond.

McWilliams -- whose book, Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do,
criticizes "consensual crime" laws as immoral, destructive, and a waste
of law enforcement resources -- is a long-time, high-profile advocate
of the benefits of medical marijuana.

Just 19 days before his arrest, McWilliams blasted the federal
government's vendetta against medical marijuana at the Libertarian
National Convention.

In a speech broadcast nationwide on C-SPAN, he said, "Marijuana
is the finest anti-nausea medication known to science, and our leaders
have lied about this consistently. Medical marijuana is the most
hideous example of government interference in the private lives of
individuals. It's an outrage within an outrage within an outrage."

Seven months before that, his home was raided by DEA agents,
who seized his computer and a book-in-progress about medical marijuana,
A Question of Compassion: An AIDS Cancer Patient Explores Medical
Marijuana. His plight was subsequently detailed on the John Stossel
television special, "Sex, Drugs, and Consenting Adults."

Previously, McWilliams had taken out an advertisement in
Variety, the trade publication of the entertainment industry, attacking
the federal government's war on medical marijuana patients.

McWilliams' passion on the medical marijuana issue comes, in
part, from his own life: Suffering from both cancer and AIDS, he uses
the drug to combat the nausea caused by his life-saving medical
treatments.

"Tragically, McWilliams already suffers from two potentially
fatal diseases. Now he suffers from a cruel government that arrested
him for trying to save his own life, and the lives of other sick
people," said Crickenberger. "Given McWilliams' courageous opposition
to the federal government's efforts to attack, imprison, and discredit
anyone who suggests that there are genuine medical benefits to
marijuana, it's not surprising that he's been singled out for
prosecution."

Medical marijuana is legal in California, thanks to Proposition
215, which voters passed in November 1996. The law decriminalized
marijuana when used to treat medical conditions, but was immediately
attacked by the Clinton Administration, which threatened to prosecute
doctors who prescribe the drug, and to arrest medical marijuana users.

Despite Clinton's actions, marijuana has a long history as a
treatment for a variety of ailments, according to Dr. Lester Grinspoon,
author of Marihuanna, the Forbidden Medicine (Yale University Press,
1997). It has been used to cure the nausea and vomiting caused by
chemotherapy, weight-loss syndrome from AIDS, chronic pain, depression,
glaucoma, and muscle spasms.

The drug was the subject of more than 100 papers published in
medical journals between 1840 and 1900, and was recommended as an
appetite stimulant, analgesic, muscle relaxant, sedative, and as a
treatment for migraine headaches.

In 1937, when marijuana was effectively outlawed, the American
Medical Association opposed the ban.

As recently as 1988, the DEA's administrative law judge,
Francis L. Young, described marijuana as "one of the safest
therapeutically active substances known to man." Despite this, the DEA
continued to list marijuana as a Schedule I drug, which means it has no
accepted medical use and is unsafe even under medical supervision.

Efforts by doctors to clinically prove the medical benefits of
marijuana have been stymied by the federal government. In 1994, for
example, researchers at the University of California (San Francisco)
tried to conduct a privately funded study comparing smoked marijuana to
oral synthetic THC (the active ingredient in marijuana). However, the
DEA prevented the researchers from legally obtaining the marijuana
needed for the study.

Ironically, since the 1970s, the federal government has
furnished medical marijuana -- grown at a government pot farm in
Mississippi -- for victims of multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, and other
ailments, at taxpayer expense.

Peter McWilliams, 48, is the owner of Prelude Press and a
multi-million-copy-selling author who has written on subjects as
wide-ranging as curing depression, emotional loss, victimless crimes,
meditation, and computers.

Among his best-known titles are How to Survive the Loss of a
Love (which sold over two million copies); The Personal Computer Book;
DO IT! Let's Get Off Our Buts (with co-author John-Roger), a #1 New
York Times bestseller; and Portraits (a book of photographs).

McWilliams is probably best known to Libertarians for Ain't
Nobody's Business If You Do, a scathing attack on the foolishness of
arresting people for "consensual crimes." First published in 1993, it was
called "highly readable and entertaining" by Hugh Downs of ABC News.

* * *

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

To hear Peter McWilliams' speech to the Libertarian National
Convention, go to:

http://aennet.com/libertarian/mcwilliams.htm

For updates on Peter McWilliams' imprisonment, check:

http://www.marijuanamagazine.com/jail/

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The Libertarian Party
2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite 100
Washington DC 20037
http://www.lp.org/
voice: 202-333-0008
fax: 202-333-0072

For subscription changes, please mail to announce-request@lp.org with the
word "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" in the subject line -- or use the WWW form.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

PWA Lingers In LA Jail Without Medication For Days
('The San Francisco Bay Times' Notes The US Government
Is Killing Peter McWilliams, The Medical Marijuana Defendant
And Person With AIDS)

Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1998 01:59:28 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US CA: PWA Lingers In L.A. Jail Without Medication For Days
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: FilmMakerZ@aol.com
Source: San Francisco Bay Times (CA)
Contact: sfbaytimes@aol.com
Address: 525 Bryant St., San Francisco CA 94107
Pubdate: Thurs, 6 August 1998
Author: Ann Rostow

PWA LINGERS IN L.A. JAIL WITHOUT MEDICATION FOR DAYS

On July 30, the ACLU of Southern California sent a "strongly worded" letter
to U.S. Attorney Nora Manella, demanding that she compel the Federal
Detention Center in Los Angeles to provide AIDS medicine to inmate Peter
McWilliams. McWilliams, a best-selling author and a proponent of medical
marijuana who has both AIDS and cancer, has been in jail since July 23 for
paying the rent on a piece of property where police allege marijuana plants
are being raised for sale. McWilliams takes medication six times a day, a
cocktail regime of protease inhibitors which -- as everyone but his jailers
seem to know -- must be followed without fail to avoid developing
resistance to treatment.

The following day at a bail hearing, ACLU lawyer Taylor Flynn told the Bay
Times that the issue was raised and the "judge was outraged," ordering the
medicines to be resumed at once. As of Aug. 3, Flynn said she understands
that McWilliams is getting some, but not all, of his drugs. "I'm waiting
to get a detailed list of what medications he has and has not received so
that I can call up the prosecutors to make sure he is getting the correct
medications and there's no more dallying around with this."

Flynn calls the situation appalling. "It's tantamount to a death sentence.
It's unconscionable for anyone, but this is someone who hasn't been
convicted of a crime."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Mayor - 'I'm Not Anti-Prison, I'm Not Anti-Growth'
('The Bakersfield Californian' Says California City Already Has One Prison,
And The Nashville-Based Corrections Corporation Of America Is Building
Another, Private Prison To Open Next Summer With Up To 3,000 Inmates,
While The State Still Plans To Build A 4,500-Bed Prison Within City Limits -
In A Letter To The Planning Commission, Mayor Larry Adams Said He Thought
The City Council Should Reconsider Approving More Private Prisons
Because Of The Likely Strain They Pose To The City's Infrastructure)

Date: Sun, 09 Aug 1998 19:52:31 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US CA: Mayor: "I'm Not Anti-Prison, I'm Not Anti-Growth"
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Jo-D Harrison
Pubdate: Thu, 06 Aug 1998
Source: Bakersfield Californian
Section: Local
Contact: opinion@bakersfield.com
Website: http://www.bakersfield.com
Author: Debby Badillo Californian Correspondent

MAYOR: "I'M NOT ANTI-PRISON, I'M NOT ANTI-GROWTH"

CALIFORNIA CITY -- Hot on the heels of intense scrutiny by residents about
Mayor Larry Adams' letter to the Planning Commission last week came this
disclaimer Tuesday night, "I'm not anti-prison, I'm not anti-growth."

The mayor made that comment during discussion of an informal report from
Economic Development Corp. President Jack Stewart to the City Council about
the state budget's effect on prison-building and the issues facing the city
as it contemplates approving more prison sites, including a state prison and
one or two small, private prisons.

Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America is already building its
private prison on Virginia Boulevard, slated to open next summer and house
up to 3,000 inmates.

Stewart said the state still plans to build a 4,500-bed prison within city
limits, but the prison hasn't been funded. According to Stewart the state
also plans prisons for Delano, San Diego and Needles. Those also don't have
funding yet, he said.

In his letter to the Planning Commission, Mayor Adams said he thought the
City Council should reconsider approving the private prisons because of the
likely strain they pose to the city's infrastructure, especially the sewer
system. Planning Commissioner Paul Condon agreed and presented a lengthy
memo detailing his similar concerns.

Tuesday's discussion brought out a few lone voices to speak against the
city's efforts to bring at least one more prison here. Until now the
overwhelming majority of residents, city officials and business owners have
voiced nothing but anticipation for the economic development expected to
follow prison construction.

The city is already smacking its lips at the thought of new jobs, a
resurrected real estate market, a supermarket, more retail stores, maybe
even a fast-food place.

But at what price do we want these things, asked a few opponents of more
prisons.

"One prison is enough," said resident Al Guidet. "Otherwise, build a brick
fence around the city and change the name from California City to
Correctional City."

Councilman Harry Bailey, who has campaigned vigorously for a state prison,
was inclined to agree.

"I've made about 12 trips to Sacramento, begging for help to bring a state
prison here. But I didn't go up there to make this a prison city. One is
enough."

California City began its bid to become a state prison site in 1989. The
private prison is being built next to the site that would likely be used for
a state prison. Stewart said about 300 acres of Bureau of Land Management
land is under negotiation to be used by the state.

In defense of community correctional facilities, Management & Training Corp
- Marketing Director Mike Murphy said his company's small prison would be
designed to work as a supplement to the state's prison system.

"We can offer the minimum security beds that are in short supply, and we
provide a rehabilitation program," said Murphy.

He said his company has already spent $30,000 on environmental reports for a
site on Neuralia Boulevard, and the company plans to proceed with its bid to
the state once the state releases its request for proposals, which won't
happen until the state budget is approved.

"Now's the time for the city to determine where it's going and how to get
there," said Stewart. "We have to figure out what is real and what is fantasy."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Initiative Qualifies (A Staff Editorial In 'The Las Vegas Review-Journal'
Applauds Nevada Secretary Of State Dean Heller For Painstakingly
Following The Law In Certifying The Medical Marijuana Ballot Measure
Sponsored By Americans For Medical Rights)

Date: Thu, 06 Aug 1998 13:15:37 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US NV: OPED: Initiative Qualifies
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: compassion23@geocities.com (Frank S. World)
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV)
Contact: letters@lvrj.com
Fax: 702-383-4676
Website: http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/
Pubdate: Thu, 6 Aug 1998

INITIATIVE QUALIFIES

And Mr. Heller makes sure it gets done right.

After months of petition-passing in 13 of Nevada's 17 counties, activists
seeking to place a medical marijuana question on Nevada's November ballot
were told they had fallen short by just 43 signatures, in Nye and Lyon
counties.

Representatives of Americans for Medical Rights appealed to Secretary of
State Dean Heller, asking for a review of hundreds of signatures which had
been disallowed due to illegibility, or for lack of addresses or dates, or
because it was unclear the signers had been registered voters at the time
they signed.

Some signatures, the petitioners argued, had even gone uncounted through a
simple mathematical error. Mr. Heller dug in. A mathematical error was
indeed discovered, and 30 signatures resultantly added to the count in Nye
County.

Then, the secretary cited a 1994 ruling which called for county officials
to credit another 400 signatures which were missing dates or addresses, so
long as they could be determined to be those of legitimate, registered voters.

In Lyon County, a slim 25 signatures, previously rejected, were validated
upon instructions from Mr. Heller, bringing that county's total to 1,000 --
18 more than legally required. In Nye County, as it turned out,
petition-passers had exceeded their required quota -- by a mere 15.

The proposal that patients suffering cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, and other ills
shall be allowed to use marijuana for medical purposes upon the advice of a
physician will now be on Nevada's November ballot.

Because an amendment to the Nevada Constitution is proposed, however,
voters would also have to approve the initiative a second time, in the year
2000, for it to become law.

Said Mr. Heller: "In this entire process, from its inception to its
conclusion, two principles stand without question: The first is the right
to petition. The second is that the end result be valid."

It requires no pre-judgment of the merits of the proposal to make sure the
citizens are guaranteed their say. And it is certainly in everyone's
interest that careful attention be paid to the legal requirements at each
step in the process -- so neither side can cry "foul" at a later date,
after vast resources have been spent on a public debate. From all
appearances, Mr. Heller has done the job for which he was elected, and done
it with considerable diligence. Now, as he says, "Let the debate begin."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Facts From The Dutch Embassy (Statistics Posted At The Dutch Embassy Web Site
Refuting Assertions Made By That Ugly American, General Barry McCaffrey)

Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 17:07:10 EDT
Errors-To: jnr@insightweb.com
Reply-To: friends@freecannabis.org
Originator: friends@freecannabis.org
Sender: friends@freecannabis.org
From: Richard Lake (rlake@mapinc.org)
To: Multiple recipients of list (friends@freecannabis.org)
Subject: Facts from the Dutch Embassy

Forwarded from the sweden@legalize.org list:

Source: the Dutch Embassy web site August 6, 1998
http://www.netherlands-embassy.org/drug-inf.htm

Press, Public and Cultural Affairs

DRUG POLICY AND CRIME STATISTICS

Recent accounts in the U.S. press about the Netherlands drug policy have
included incorrect and misleading statistics about drug use and
drug-related crimes in the Netherlands. What follows is a short list of
facts and comparisons to refute those accounts, and sources are given to
permit and encourage third party verification of facts.

Last month use of cannabis (marijuana) by high school seniors: 18.1% in the
Netherlands (1996); 23.7% in the U.S. (1997). (Sources: The Trimbos
Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Monitoring the Future Survey,
University of Michigan and White House Office of National Drug Control Policy)

Any lifetime use (prevalence) of cannabis by older teens (1994): 30% in the
Netherlands; 38% in the U.S. (Sources: Center for Drug Research, University
of Amsterdam; Monitoring the Future Survey, University of Michigan and
White House Office of National Drug Control Policy)

Recent (last month) use of cannabis by 15 year olds (in 1995): 15% in the
Netherlands; 16% in the U.S.; 24% in the U.K. (Sources: Trimbos Institute,
Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Monitoring the Future Survey, University of
Michigan and White House Office of National Drug Control Policy; Council of
Europe, ESPAD Report)

Any lifetime use of cannabis by 15 year olds (in 1995): 29% in the
Netherlands; 34% in the U.S.; 41% in the U.K. (Sources: Netherlands
Institute of Health and Addiction, U.S. National Institute for Drug Abuse;
Council of Europe, ESPAD Report)

Heroine addicts as a percentage of population (in 1995): 160 per 100,000 in
the Netherlands; 430 per 100,000 in the U.S. (Sources: Netherlands Ministry
of Health, Welfare and Sport; White House Office of National Drug Control
Policy)

Murder rate as a percentage of population (in 1996): 1.8 per 100,000 in the
Netherlands; 8.22 in the U.S. (Sources: Netherlands Bureau of Statistics;
White House Office of National Drug Control Policy)

Incarceration rate as a percentage of population (1997): 73 per 100,000 in
the Netherlands; 645 per 100,000 in the U.S. (Sources: Netherlands Ministry
of Justice; White House Office of National Drug Control Strategy)

Crime-related deaths as a percentage of population: 1.2 per 100,000 in the
Netherlands (1994); 8.2 per 100,000 in the U.S. (1995). (Sources: World
Health Organization; Uniform Crime Reports, U.S. Federal Bureau of
Investigation)

Per capita spending on drug-related law enforcement: $27 per capita in the
Netherlands; $81 per capita in the U.S. (Sources: Netherlands Ministry of
Justice; White House Office of National Drug Control Strategy)

More Dutch Data

Results of public health policy

There were 2.4 drug-related deaths per million inhabitants in the
Netherlands in 1995. In France this figure was 9.5, in Germany 20, in
Sweden 23.5 and in Spain 27.1. According to the 1995 report of the European
Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction in Lisbon, the Dutch figures
are the lowest in Europe.

The Dutch AIDS prevention-program was equally successful. Europe-wide, an
average of 39.2% of AIDS victims are intravenous drug-users. In the
Netherlands, this percentage is as low as 10.5%. The number of addicts in
the Netherlands has been stable at 25,000 for many years.

Expressed as a percentage of the population, this number is approximately
the same as in Germany, Sweden and Belgium. There are very few young heroin
addicts in the Netherlands, largely thanks to the policy of separating the
users markets for hard and soft drugs. The average age of heroin addicts is
now 36.

In most EU countries, such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Sweden
and the Netherlands, the use of cannabis has increased in the past few
years. A similar trend is, unfortunately, discernible with regard to
synthetic drugs. Evidently, international youth culture has more influence
on the use of these substances than government policies. International
cooperation is therefore vital in tackling this problem.

***

Forwarded by: Richard Lake
Senior Editor; MAPnews, MAPnews-Digest and DrugNews-Digest
email: rlake@MAPinc.org
http://www.DrugSense.org/drugnews/
For subscription information see:
http://www.MAPinc.org/lists/
Quick sign up for DrugNews-Digest, Focus Alerts or Newsletter:
http://www.DrugSense.org/hurry.htm

***

The FACTS are at:
http://www.drugsense.org/factbook/

***

"DRUG CRAZY: How We Got Into This Mess and How We can Get Out," is a
gripping and dramatic review of the drug war over the last 100 years. It is
being published by Random House. From the opening scene, a shoot out
between police and drug gangs in Chicago, the book draws you in with human
stories, amazing revelations and the whole sordid history of the drug war.

More at:
http://www.drugsense.org/crazy.htm
.........................................
We also sponsor an interactive chat room for activists. Point your web
browser to:

http://www.legalize-usa.org/

And join the discussion. This is a new location which also supports IRC
chat programs. The chat starts at about 9:00 p.m on Saturday and Sunday
night Eastern time. Folks drop in and leave as their time allows over about
a three hour period.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

AIDS Patient Fights For Legalized Pot - Immunity From Arrest,
Reliable Supply Sought ('The Toronto Star' Covers Wednesday's Proceedings
In The Constitutional Challenge Of James Wakeford)

From: LawBerger@aol.com
Date: Thu, 6 Aug 1998 18:23:21 EDT
To: dpfor@drugsense.org
Subject: DPFOR: Fwd: Canada Rising
Sender: owner-dpfor@drugsense.org
Reply-To: dpfor@drugsense.org
Organization: DrugSense http://www.drugsense.org/
From: CUTLERMJ@aol.com
Subject: Canada Rising
Date: Thu, 6 Aug 1998 14:40:46 EDT
The Toronto Star Thursday, August 6, 1998
lettertoed@thestar.com

AIDS patient fights for legalized pot
Immunity from arrest, reliable supply sought

By Wendy Darroch
Toronto Star Staff Reporter

The Canadian government discriminates against AIDS patients by denying them
easy, legal access to marijuana, a court has been told. James Wakeford, 53,
who was diagnosed with HIV in 1989 and had full-blown AIDS by 1993, is seeking
an order exempting him from arrest on marijuana charges.

He battled chronic fatigue, extreme diarrhea, weight loss, insomnia, night
sweats, loss of appetite, herpes and dehydration with massive amounts of
anti-viral medication. But the medication left him with constant nausea and a
loss of weight known as wasting, so he turned to marijuana, an Ontario Court,
general division, judge was told yesterday. Wakeford found marijuana gave him
an appetite and eased the nausea.

Alan Young, a professor at Osgoode Hall who is representing Wakeford, urged
Mr. Justice Harry LaForme to grant an order exempting Wakeford and his
caregivers from arrest and prosecution on marijuana charges. He also asked
that the federal government be ordered to immediately establish a program that
would provide clean, inexpensive marijuana so people such as Wakeford, who is
dying, won't have to go to the black market and possibly get contaminated pot.

He argued that his client, a co-founder of the Ontario Association of the
Children's Mental Health Centres, was having his Charter rights violated.
Marijuana, like many other drugs, is a controlled drug. People who are ill
can be prescribed controlled drugs, but marijuana is not one of them. This is
discrimination, Young argued.

Although there is a way to get an exemption, Young said ``the red tape is
so massive it mummifies. You can't breathe through it.'' Court was told it
is theoretically possible to get access to medicinal marijuana through a
Health Canada program. But the applicant must specify a legal, licensed
manufacturer for the drug, and there isn't a manufacturer in the world that
would satisfy Health Canada's criteria, Young said.

Crown lawyer Chris Amerasinghe said Wakeford's facts do not fit the legal
test in order to get a constitutional exemption. The onus is on him to
prove his life, liberty and security are at risk. ``Without marijuana will
his life be in danger?'' he asked. Young said marijuana won't save, but ease,
Wakeford's life. His liberty is at risk because he is subject to arrest and
prosecution if he uses it
illegally.

The case continues.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Patient Fights For Medical Marijuana ('The London Free Press' Version
In 'The Toronto Sun')

Date: Thu, 06 Aug 1998 13:19:00 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: Canada: Patient Fights For Medical Marijuana
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: creator@mapinc.org
Source: Toronto Sun (Canada)
Contact: editor@sunpub.com
Website: http://www.canoe.ca/TorontoSun/
Pubdate: Thursday, August 6, 1998
Author: Sam Pazanno, Sun Media Newspapers

PATIENT FIGHTS FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA

TORONTO -- A Toronto AIDS patient and activist fought in court yesterday
for his right to use marijuana for medicinal purposes.

James Wakeford, 53, also asked Mr. Justice Harry LaForme to order Ottawa to
establish a program to supply uncontaminated marijuana for AIDS patients.

Wakeford's lawyer, Alan Young, argued that marijuana "lifts the spirits and
for a terminal patient, that isn't a bad thing."

"I'm not a pothead. I only smoke before dinner," Young quoted Wakeford as
saying.

Wakeford, creator of Casey House Foundation, was diagnosed as HIV positive
in 1989 and has had AIDS since 1993.

He smoked marijuana to combat the "unbearable nausea" and weight and
appetite loss triggered by anti-AIDS medication, said Young.

"The greatest danger to Mr. Wakeford (last month) was starvation," Young
quoted Wakeford's doctor, John Goodhew, as saying.

Wakeford credited his increased appetite and weight gain to pot smoking.

Many prominent Canadians and Americans praised marijuana for reducing
nausea caused by cancer treatments.

The list of endorsers included Toronto lawyer Tim Danson (who has quit
smoking since beating cancer in 1981), best-selling author Peter McWilliams
and Harvard geology professor Stephen J. Gould.

"The politicians just wish I'd die and go away," Wakeford said in an
interview.

"I'm doing this for AIDS patients who live on fixed incomes and cannot
afford the relief."

Government lawyer Chris Amerasinghe argued that Wakeford's application
should be dismissed since he stopped taking AIDS medications in May.

"His evidence is that he feels wonderful (and) no longer suffers nausea,"
said Amerasinghe.

The hearing continues today.

Copyright (c) 1998 The London Free Press

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Potheads Take Tories To Court ('The Toronto Sun' Says The Reverend Brother
Michael Baldasaro, The Leader Of A Church That Holds Pot As Its High
Sacrament, And Reverend Brother Walter Tucker Have Applied
For A Judicial Review By The Federal Court Of The Tories' $30,000 Deposit
Requirement For All Leadership Candidates)

Date: Thu, 06 Aug 1998 13:20:23 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: Canada: Potheads Take Tories To Court
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: creator@mapinc.org
Source: Toronto Sun (Canada)
Contact: editor@sunpub.com
Website: http://www.canoe.ca/TorontoSun/
Pubdate: Thursday, August 6, 1998
Author: DAVID GAMBLE, OTTAWA BUREAU

POTHEADS TAKE TORIES TO COURT

OTTAWA -- Two pot-puffing "churchmen" are going to court after their bid
for the Tory leadership went up in smoke.

Rev. Brother Michael Baldasaro, the leader of a church that holds pot as
its high sacrament, said he and Rev. Brother Walter Tucker have applied for
a judicial review by the Federal Court of the Tories' $30,000 deposit
requirement for all leadership candidates.

"The (leadership selection) process, it's undemocratic and it's unfair,"
Baldasaro said yesterday.

The men have received a "donation" from former Tory leadership candidate
John Long to cover costs.

Baldasaro, who lives on a disability pension resulting from a head injury,
said the main plank of his platform is the legalization of marijuana and
the cancellation of all pot-related criminal charges.

Copyright (c) 1998, Canoe Limited Partnership.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Colombian Rebels Blast Anti-Drug Base (A 'Reuters' Article
In 'The International Herald Tribune' Says The Revolutionary Armed Forces
Of Colombia And The National Liberation Army Carried Out More Than 40
Coordinated Attacks In Over Half Of Colombia's 32 Provinces This Week -
About 50 Policemen And Soldiers Were Wounded And More Than 100
Might Have Been Killed Or Taken Prisoner In Just One Assault On The Base
In The Town Of Miraflores, Where Rebels Possibly Thought US DEA Agents
Were Holed Up)

Date: Sat, 08 Aug 1998 09:57:48 +0000
To: press@drugtext.nl, drctalk@drcnet.org, maptalk@mapinc.org,
Mattalk@Islandnet.com, ukcia-l@sorted.org
From: Peter Webster (vignes@monaco.mc)
Subject: Conspiracy Theory
The International Herald Tribune
Aug 6

COLOMBIAN REBELS BLAST ANTI-DRUG BASE

Reuters

BOGOTA --- A 500-strong rebel force killed at least 30 security officers
in a raid on an anti-drug base in southeast Colombia, taking the death toll
in a nationwide guerrilla offensive to more than 100, the police reported
Wednesday.

About 50 policemen and soldiers were wounded, and military sources said
that more than 100 might have been killed or taken prisoner in the assault
on the base in the town of Miraflores.

The raid this week was the worst of more than 40 coordinated attacks in
more than half of Colombia's 32 provinces.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the National Liberation
Army, Latin America's oldest and largest rebel groups, appear to have timed
the strikes as a show of strength before President-elect Andres Pastrana
takes office Friday.

An unofficial military source said he believed a group of U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration agents had been in Miraflores, but a spokesman
at another anti-drug base in the provincial capital of San Jose denied the
report.

"All the U.S. personnel are safe here in San Jose," he said. "There were
none in Miraflores."

***

Well, how nice! How convenient for the Drugstapo! The "rebels" were
enticed, perhaps, to believe they could capture some hi-ranking DEA, (as
rumors had it that the U.S. ambassador had told Saddam the U.S. wouldn't
interfere in "border disputes" and so encouraged him to invade Kuwait,
setting up Desert Storm); if Oliver Stone wrote the screenplay I'm afraid I
could easily be sucked in to believing that the U.S. is setting up the
situation which will justify an invasion of Colombia.

peter

-------------------------------------------------------------------

'Nothing Left' Of Police Base In Colombia ('The Miami Herald' Version)

Date: Sat, 8 Aug 1998 10:23:32 -0700
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: Colombia: `Nothing Left' of Police Base in Colombia
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Ginger Warbis (WebMistress@Fornits.com)
Source: Miami Herald (FL)
Contact: heralded@herald.com
Website: http://www.herald.com/
Pubdate: Thu, 06 Aug 1998
Author: Tim Johnson - Herald Staff Writer

'NOTHING LEFT' OF POLICE BASE IN COLOMBIA

BOGOTA, Colombia -- The faint voice crackled over the two-way radio: ``The
base has been destroyed. There is nothing left. The police have been taken
away as hostages, and the soldiers, too.''

The voice of Luis Rodriguez, a resident of Miraflores, related a tale of
catastrophe in a jungle village that hosts Colombia's largest police
anti-narcotics base.

Little, if anything, remains of the base at Miraflores, which bore the
brunt of a nationwide rebel offensive that began Monday night, U.S. and
Colombian authorities said. At last tally, the guerrilla onslaught had cost
the lives of 64 police, soldiers and civilians. More than 100 other police
and army troops may have been taken captive or killed, officials said.

Stunned politicians urged Colombians not to give up hope that
President-elect Andres Pastrana may still begin peace talks with guerrillas
after he comes to office Friday. But the offensive underscored that any
talks may occur amid the heat of battle.

The destruction and high death toll from this week's offensive made it one
of the most brutal ever waged by Colombia's guerrillas since they took up
arms in 1964.

Rebel attacks continued well into Wednesday. Guerrillas swarmed into
Silvia, a mountain town in southern Cauca state, peppering a police station
with gunfire, and placed a car bomb in front of an army training school in
Bogota. The bomb was deactivated. In Medellin, a man tossed a grenade in a
crowded street, killing one person and wounding 11 others.

In Uribe, 95 miles south of Bogota, a town official, Ernesto Rodriguez,
said 46 people had been killed during the rebel offensive.

Most eyes were on Miraflores, though, a speck in the vast savannas of
eastern Guaviare state, a region thick with insurgents and coca plantations
that feed Colombia's drug trade.

On Tuesday, all contact was lost with a joint police-army base, which
normally houses 150 to 200 anti-narcotics agents and soldiers. About 500
guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the
nation's largest insurgency, overran the base in a prolonged attack with
rockets, mortars and high-caliber weapons.

Up to 200 police and army personnel in Miraflores ``are missing and
presumed dead or captured,'' said a U.S. government official, who spoke on
condition of anonymity. ``Colombian government efforts to reinforce and
counterattack the beleaguered base were hampered by poor weather.''

Uncertainty

A police spokesman, who also requested anonymity, said authorities are
still unsure of what happened, and whether there are any survivors.

``There are two hypotheses: One is that the agents are hiding in the
jungle. The second is that no one is left alive,'' he said.

Miraflores, 275 miles southeast of Bogota, is a hub for U.S.-financed
fumigation planes dropping herbicide on coca fields. The village is
accessible only by air. A dirt strip serves as a runway, surrounded by
crude wooden homes. About 4,000 to 8,000 people live in and around
Miraflores.

Witness accounts

Limited news from Miraflores arrived via ham radio conversations with two
local residents. Contacted by the Radionet station, Luis Rodriguez said he
was speaking from a building across the street from the base.

``The base was taken over and destroyed. We no longer have any soldiers or
any policemen,'' he said.

What happened to the police on the base, he was asked.

``The few who were left [alive] were taken away,'' came the answer.

The guerrillas took them?

``Yes, sir. Yes, sir.''

How many were taken away?

``We don't know.''

`A lot of bombs'

Rodriguez said ``a lot of bombs'' exploded during the two days of fighting,
and that ``terrified'' residents were still huddling in their homes.

``There's not a single soldier in the town, nor any police. They took them
all away. We don't know how many people are dead and how many alive,'' he
said.

Then came a plaintive request: ``We need help from the Red Cross and the
government. We are all scared and don't know what will happen.''

A second Miraflores resident, who identified himself only as ``Mr.
Guavita,'' spoke by two-way radio with the Caracol radio network.

``Some houses were hit three or four times by rocket blasts and people are
dead,'' he said. ``My son's house was destroyed.

Exhaustion at hospital

``We need help because I think they are exhausted at the hospital,'' he
added. ``The hospital personnel have been working more than 24 hours.''

A U.S. official said no U.S. civilians or Drug Enforcement Administration
agents were believed to be at the base when it was attacked, contrary to a
report on Colombian television Tuesday night.

``The weather was terrible yesterday. Planes flew over but they couldn't
land. It's too dangerous to land. . . . The strip is full of guerrillas,''
said the Rev. Belarmino Correa, bishop in San Jose de Guaviare, the state
capital.

Correa said FARC rebels have been spreading the word for three months that
they would attack any settlement in Guaviare state that housed a military
base.

``This takeover was completely foretold,'' he said.

The offensive prompted some Colombian peace supporters to suggest that
greater violence always precedes the onset of negotiations.

``What has happened is terrible,'' said Sabas Pretelt, head of the
country's Federation of Shop Owners and member of a national peace
commission. ``But we Colombians must insist on a peace process. While we
are in the darkest part of the night, we should have hopes for the dawn.''

Awakening Bogota

Others suggested that the offensive may awaken residents of Bogota, the
capital of six million people, to the violence wracking the countryside.

``One has to understand, first, that we are at war, an atrocious war, and
that just because it hasn't touched Bogota yet doesn't mean we aren't at
war,'' said Gustavo Alvarez Gardeazabal, governor of Valle del Norte state
where Cali, the nation's second-largest city, is located.

Copyright 1998 The Miami Herald

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Rebel Offensive Leaves 130 Dead In Colombia (A Different 'Reuters' Account
In 'The San Francisco Chronicle')

Date: Sat, 8 Aug 1998 14:55:57 -0800
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: Colombia: Rebel Offensive
Leaves 130 Dead in Colombia
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: tjeffoc@sirius.com (Tom O'Connell)
Pubdate: Thu, 06 Aug 1998
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Page: A14
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Author: Reuters

REBEL OFFENSIVE LEAVES 130 DEAD IN COLOMBIA

Bogota -- A wave of leftist rebel attacks has killed more than 130 people
in Colombia since Monday, in what apparently is intended to be a show of
strength before President elect Andres Pastrana takes office tomorrow.

Pastrana has said that ending Colombia's internal conflicts will be his top
initial priority.

The country's two main guerrilla groups, the oldest and largest in Latin
America, unleashed a coordinated offensive starting Monday night, and
fighting was still raging in some areas yesterday.

The offensive caught the army and police off guard. It is believed to be
the worst outbreak of political violence in outgoing President Ernesto
Samper's four-year term.

In this week's fighting across the country, at least 106 members of the
security forces, 15 insurgents from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia (FARC) and the smaller National Liberation Army (ELN), and nine
civilians have died in more than 40 attacks, military and civilian
authorities said.

One of the bloodiest incidents was in the town of Miraflores in southeast
Guaviare province. A

500-member rebel force killed at least 30 police and soldiers in a raid on
an anti-drug base, police said.

Residents told local media that the guerrillas pounded the base with
rockets and mortar bombs for more than 24 hours, leaving just a smoldering
ruin.

More than 100 security force members are reported missing at Miraflores,
and military sources fear they may have been killed or taken prisoner.

Elsewhere, the army reported intense fighting near the town of La Uribe, in
eastern Meta province, close to a traditional FARC stronghold in the
foothills of the Andes mountains.

La Uribe Mayor Nestor Rodriguez said 38 soldiers and eight FARC fighters
were killed.

The municipality is one of five - which cover a total area about twice the
size of El Salvador - that Pastrana has agreed to demilitarize in order to
make way for peace talks with the FARC during his first 90 days in office.

Both rebel groups have said they are prepared to negotiate an end to the
uprising. But in the light of their latest offensive, military leaders have
questioned the rebels' real desire for peace.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Anti-Drug Base Destroyed By Colombia Rebels
(The Knight Ridder Newspapers Version In 'The Orange County Register')

Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1998 15:25:52 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: Colombia: Anti-Drug Base Destroyed By Colombia Rebels
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John W.Black
Source: Orange County Register (CA)
Contact: letters@link.freedom.com
Website: http://www.ocregister.com/
Pubdate: 6 Aug 1998
Author: Tim Johnson-Knight Ridder Newspapers

ANTI-DRUG BASE DESTROYED BY COLOMBIA REBELS

Offensive: A strong push by guerrillas leaves nothing left of the nation's
largest facility fighting the cocaine trade.

Bogota, Colombia - The faint voice crackled over the two-way radio:The base
has been destroyed. There is nothing left.The police have been taken away
as hostages,and the soldiers,too."

The voice of Luis Rodriquez, a resident of Miraflores, related a tale of
catastrophe in a jungle village that hosts Colombia's largest police
anti-narcotics base.

Little, if anything, remains of the base at Miraflores, which bore the
brunt of a nationwide rebel offensive that began Monday night, U.S. and
Colombian authorities said. At last tally, the guerrilla onslaught had cost
the lives of 64 police, soldiers and civilians. More than 100 other police
and army troops may have been taken captive or killed, officials said.

Stunned politicians urged Colombians not to give up hope that
President-elect Andres Pastrana may still begin peace talks with guerrillas
after he comes to office Friday. But the offensive underscored that any
talks may occur amid the heat of battle.

The destruction and high death toll from this week's offensive made it one
of the most brutal ever waged by Colomia's guerrillas since they took up
arms in 1964.

Rebel attacks continued well into Wednesday, hitting the towns of Silvia,
Medellin and Uribe and including a car bomb outside an army training school
in Bogota itself.

In Uribe, 95 miles south of the capital, a town official, Ernesto
Rodriguez, said 46 people had been killed during the rebel offensive.

Most eyes were on Miraflores, though, a speck in the vast savannas of
eastern Guaviare state, a region thick with insurgents and coca plantations
that feed Colombia's drug trade.

On Tuesday, all contact was lost with a joint police-army base, which
normally houses 150 to 200 anti-narcotics agents and soldiers. About 500
guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the nation's
largest insurgency, overran the base in a prolonged attack with rockets,
mortars and high-caliber weapons.

Miraflores, 275 miles southeast of Bogota, is a hub for U.S.financed
fumigation planes dropping herbicide on coca fields. The village is
accessible only by air. A dirt strip serves as a runway, surrounded by
crude wooden homes. About 4,000 to 8,000 people live in and around Miraflores.

A U.S. official said no U.S. civilians or Drug Enforcement Administration
agents were believed to be at the base when it was attacked.

"What has happened is terrible," said Sabas Pretelt, head of the country's
Federation of Shop Owners and member of a national peace commission. "But
we Colombians must insist on a peace process. While we are in the darkest
part of the night, we should have hopes for the dawn."

Others suggested that the offensive may awaken residents of Bogota, the
capital of 6 million people, to the violence.