-------------------------------------------------------------------
Hemp Activist Stumps For Measure 67 ('The Albany Democrat-Herald'
Interviews Harrisburg, Oregon, Reform Activist William Conde, Who Is Hosting
A 'Cannabis Carnival' At His Harrisburg Property Over Labor Day Weekend
In Support Of The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, And In Opposition To
Ballot Measure 57, Which Would Recriminalize Possession Of Less Than An Ounce
Of Marijuana)
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1998 17:01:12 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US OR: Hemp Activist Stumps For Measure 67
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Olafur Brentmar
Pubdate: Sat, 29 Aug 1998
Source: Albany Democrat-Herald
Section: Front page
Connect: albanydh@proaxis.com
Website: http://www2.mvonline.com/MV/
Author: Les Gehrett - Albany Democrat-Herald
Note: The same article was published in the Corvallis Gazette, OR, titled:
"Harrisburg Man Fights For Marijuana Measure"
HEMP ACTIVIST STUMPS FOR MEASURE 67
HARRISBURG - Critics of statewide Ballot Measure 67, which would legalize
the medicinal use of marijuana, contend the measure is a "back door" for
those who want to end the war on drugs.
But for William Conde, owner of Conde's Redwood Lumber near Harrisburg,
there is nothing back door at all about his reasons for supporting the
measure.
"My long-range goal is to live in a world where my children can live
peacefully, and not have to worry about their government declaring war on
them," said Conde, 55.
To that end, Conde is hosting a "Cannabis Carnival" at his Harrisburg
property over Labor Day Weekend in support of Measure 67.
He also hopes to raise awareness of Ballot Measure 57, which would make
possession of less than an ounce of marijuana a Class C misdemeanor,
punishable by up to 30 days imprisonment. He opposes the measure.
Currently, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana is an infraction
punishable by fines ranging from $500 to $1,000.
These efforts are nothing new for Conde.
"It has taken a major portion of my time and energy over the past twenty
years," Conde said.
His activism began in earnest after he was arrested in Cottage Grove in
1976 for possession of marijuana and spent four months in jail, followed by
three years of probation.
Conde said he thought long and hard about the incident.
"I did a lot of soul searching, because I thought I must have done
something really wrong to have sixteen people break down the door and come
in with all their guns ready," Conde said. "But the more I investigated, I
found it's (marijuana use) not evil, it's good."
In addition to his work on the ballot measures, Conde is also working hard
to legalize the use of hemp. It is a product that Conde thinks could
revolutionize agriculture in the Willamette Valley.
"It's the most useful plant of the face of the planet," Conde said.
It is his work to legalize and popularize the use of hemp which ties
together two seemingly contradictory facets of Conde's life: being an
activist for drug and environmental issues and selling lumber for a living.
"I'm fifty-five, and I've been selling dead Redwood trees for thirty-two
years. I could never figure out why I was conscious and in the timber
industry," Conde said.
He sees hemp as his salvation.
"I believe in karma and this is the only way to cover my soul. If I can be
the one to help push hemp into widespread use, that would be it," Conde
said.
When asked if legalizing medicinal use of marijuana would send young people
the wrong message about drug use, Conde responded by questioning the
messages society is sending.
"What kind of a message is it when people who are suffering and dying are
criminalized for using marijuana?" Conde asked. "Or having DARE go into
schools and tell kids, `We're you're friends,' and then get them to snitch
on their parents. What message is that?"
As with the World Hemp Expo Extravaganja that he hosted in July, Conde does
not plan to acquire a mass gathering permit for the Labor Day weekend
event.
The fee for the three-day festival, Sept. 4-6, is $12.50, which includes
camping, and come-and-go privileges, Conde said. Musical acts will include
Linda Hornbuckle, Rubberneck and Kerosene Dream.
Linn County Commissioner Catherine Skiens said the county has not made any
enforcement decisions at this time.
"We'll just have to see how the carnival plays out this weekend. The board
would then need to discuss what direction we would go in, according to
whatever information we have available," Skiens said.
District Attorney Jason Carlile said no charges have been filed to this
point relating to the July hemp festival.
"I know that no charges have been filed, but whether or not that happens in
the future, I don't know," Carlile said. "I would trust that he would
comply with all county ordinances and not tolerate any violations of the
law."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Parents Sue Hospital For Son's Brain Damage; Morphine Blamed
('The Associated Press' Says The Parents Of A 20-Year-Old Man
Who Underwent Routine Surgery Are Suing Rogue Valley Medical Center
In Medford, Oregon, For $15.73 Million, Claiming The Hospital
Failed To Monitor An Adverse Reaction That Left Their Son In A Coma)
Associated Press
found at:
http://www.oregonlive.com/
feedback (letters to the editor):
feedback@thewire.ap.org
Parents sue hospital for son's brain damage; morphine blamed
The Associated Press
8/29/98 4:11 PM
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) -- The parents of a 20-year-old man who underwent routine
surgery are suing Rogue Valley Medical Center for $15.73 million in damages,
claiming the hospital failed to monitor an adverse reaction to morphine that
left their son in a coma.
C.W. Smith and Gina Lee Smith filed the lawsuit Friday in Jackson County
Circuit Court, alleging negligence by the hospital that left their son,
Morgan, paralyzed and blind.
The complaint says that, during surgery Feb. 2 to repair a hole in his lung,
Morgan Smith suffered brain damage because the hospital staff did not
monitor, recognize or properly treat an adverse reaction to morphine.
The Smiths also claim that the certified nursing assistant monitoring Morgan
did not have the experience, education or qualifications to recognize the
symptoms indicating the morphine reaction.
C.W. Smith, who is the police chief in Talent, and his wife both declined
comment. But they issued a statement through their attorney, saying: "Our
only concern is that Morgan receive the best medical care possible for the
remainder of his life."
The hospital also issued a written statement saying that Morgan Smith
suffered serious post-operative complications, and that Rogue Valley Medical
Center has been "actively participating with the Smith family in Morgan's
recovery and subsequent rehabilitation."
(c)1998 Oregon Live LLC
Copyright 1997 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
National Guard Discovers Largest Pot Operation In State
(According To 'The Contra Costa Times,' Sheriff's Officials
In Santa Clara County, California, Said Friday A National Guard Helicopter
On A Training Exercise Spotted The Largest Marijuana Farm In State History,
With More Than 21,000 Plants They Valued At $4,000 Each,
About $84 Million Total)
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1998 07:28:06 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: National Guard
Discovers Largest Pot Operation In State
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: Contra Costa Times (CA)
Contact: cctletrs@netcom.com
Website: http://www.hotcoco.com/index.htm
Pubdate: 29 Aug 1998
Author: AP
NATIONAL GUARD DISCOVERS LARGEST POT OPERATION IN STATE HISTORY
SANTA CLARA -- A National Guard helicopter on a training exercise spotted
what authorities are calling the largest marijuana farm in state history,
sheriff's officials said Friday.
It took deputies more than a day to remove the 21,000 plants, which they
estimated were worth about $84 million on the street.
"Nothing's ever come close to 21,000," said Santa Clara County Sheriff's
Sgt. Jim Arata, who added that most marijuana busts average 10,000 to
12,000 plants.
The marijuana was discovered Wednesday in a remote canyon in a rural area
of the county owned by the San Francisco Water Department. Also found were
three base camps, as well as several pistols.
The plantation was vacant when deputies arrived, and no arrests had been
made as of late Friday.
Authorities said the suspects may be Mexican nationals, because Spanish
reading material was found at the site and radios were tuned to
Spanish-language stations.
The marijuana farm was nourished by an elaborate water system, gravity-fed
from nearby creeks and springs. Arata estimated the plants would have been
ready for harvest within the next two weeks.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Cops Harvest Massive Bay Area Pot Farm ('The San Francisco Examiner' Version)
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1998 18:48:33 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: Cops Harvest Massive Bay Area Pot Farm
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: San Francisco Examiner (CA)
Contact: letters@examiner.com
Website: http://www.examiner.com/
Pubdate: Sat, 29 Aug 1998
Author: Eve Mitchell
COPS HARVEST MASSIVE BAY AREA POT FARM
19 million potential joints cut down
Authorities seized more than 21,000 marijuana plants with a street value of
$84 million this week in Santa Clara County in one of the largest finds of
its kind in state history.
"It's the largest (outdoor) seizure that the Campaign Against Marijuana
Planting program has ever been involved in," said Gil Van Attenhoven,
operations commander for CAMP, which was created in 1983 and involves
state, local and federal authorities.
There were 21,142 plants of high-quality sinsemilla marijuana that were
uprooted late this week from the massive growing operation five miles
southeast of the Calaveres Reservoir, authorities said. The plants have
been destroyed.
The operation was found in a remote canyon area known as Poverty Ridge and
Bl ack Mountain on land owned by the San Francisco Water Department.
"The (growing) organization was definitely impacted," Van Attenhoven said.
"This was a major loss for them. You're looking at over 21,000 plants.
That's a tremendous number of plants."
Just how much marijuana was there? Enough to make 19 million joints, Van
Attenhoven estimated.
It is not the biggest pot farm discovered in the state, however. Glenn
County set the record for the largest seizure of pot plants in 1983 with
60,000 plants valued at $50 million.
No arrests have been made in the Santa Clara County case. "This is very
unusual for the Bay Area to have this kind of find," said sheriff's Sgt.
Jim Arata.
Authorities were notified about the plantation near the Calaveres Reservoir
after the farm was spotted Wednesday by a National Guard helicopter crew on
a routine training flight.
"The hills were starting to turn brown and the color green of marijuana is
very distinguishable from the a Arata said.
When sheriff's deputies and CAMP agents arrived about 6 a.m. Thursday, they
found guns and three abandoned campsites, Arata said.
Arata said all of the plants were chopped down, ground up with other plants
and wood pulp and buried in a landfill.
Van Attenhoven said that the plants were 3 to 5 feet tall and several weeks
away from being harvested.
The find is the second in a week in Santa Clara County.
On Monday, authorities seized 1,590 plants valued at $8.7 million at the
base of Mount Umunhum near Los Gatos.
No arrests have been made in that case, said Arata, adding the marijuana
was burned.
When authorities arrived at the second pot farm early Thursday morning,
they found two handguns, an assault rifle and numerous knives as well as
crude cooking stoves made out of clay.
At both growing sites, caretakers watered the marijuana plants by tapping
into nearby springs and creeks through gravity-fed irrigation systems,
Arata said. "Someone had a sizable investment in (the site outside the
Calaveras Reservoir). I'm sure that someone is very disappointed," he said.
1998 San Francisco Examiner
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Officer's Arrest Triggers Corruption Probe ('The Los Angeles Times'
Says The Arrest Of Los Angeles Police Officer Rafael Antonio Perez
For Stealing Six Pounds Of Cocaine From An Evidence Room Has Broadened
Into A Wider Corruption Probe, With Detectives Receiving Tips From Informants
And Illegal Drug Sellers Who Say The Nine-Year Veteran
And Other Prohibition Agents Stole Drugs And Money From Street Dealers)
From: "W.H.E.N. - Bob Owen" (when@olywa.net)
To: "-News" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: LAPD Officer's Arrest Triggers Corruption Probe
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1998 19:08:43 -0700
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net
Los Angeles Times
Saturday, August 29, 1998
Officer's Arrest Triggers Corruption Probe
* LAPD: Broader investigation focuses on tips from informants who say police
stole drugs and money from dealers.
By MATT LAIT
Times Staff Writer
The criminal investigation into a Los Angeles police officer accused of
stealing six pounds of cocaine has broadened into a wider corruption probe,
with detectives acting on tips from informants and narcotics dealers who say
the nine-year veteran and other officers stole drugs and money from street
dealers.
Some drug dealers allege that they were robbed by Officer Rafael
Antonio Perez and one or more other officers, a police official close to the
investigation said.
The source said detectives are "focusing on several" officers who
worked with Perez at the LAPD's Rampart station.
Since Perez's arrest, detectives have fanned out through the community,
interviewing informants and drug dealers as well as former and recent
partners of the 31-year-old officer in an effort to determine whether there
are other "dirty cops" on the force, several sources said.
According to one knowledgeable police source, informants and people
involved in the illicit drug trade allege that Perez and other officers
would "shake down" dealers under the guise of arresting them. Then, the
officers allegedly confiscated the drugs and money and released the drug
dealers, knowing that the victims would be unlikely to report them.
The source acknowledged, however, that some of the people who have come
forward with information "don't always make the best witnesses" because of
their criminal backgrounds.
Perez, a former Marine, worked undercover narcotics and anti-gang
assignments as well as patrol, police said. Detectives are looking into the
personal contacts he made within and outside the department during all his
assignments, sources said.
Details of the widening probe into other officers comes one day after
prosecutors revealed that a pound of cocaine was discovered missing from the
Rampart station in February. Prosecutors also accused Perez of criminal
activity beyond the March 2 theft of the six pounds of cocaine from an LAPD
property room.
In addition to the charges stemming from the property room theft,
prosecutors allege that Perez tried to sell a kilogram of cocaine "through a
confidential informant" in December. Prosecutors further allege that Perez
"obtained leniency" in the sentencing of two convicted drug dealers who,
police now believe, helped him distribute the cocaine. Veronica Quesada, one
of the two suspects for whom Perez allegedly sought leniency, is his
girlfriend, prosecutors say. The other alleged associate was her brother,
Carlos Antonio Romero, whom Perez once arrested on a drug charge.
Prosecutors, however, have only charged Perez with the theft of drugs
from the property room. Perez, who is married and has a young daughter,
faces eight years and four months in prison if he is convicted. Earlier this
week, he pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Attorney Winston McKesson, who represents Perez, said his client is
innocent and is "shattered" by the accusations. McKesson said the district
attorney's case against Perez is weak and is not based on any eyewitness
account or fingerprints linking the officer to the crime.
Investigators, however, contend that they have solid evidence against
Perez, including handwriting samples they say match the signature used to
check out the cocaine from the property room. Police allege that Perez
impersonated another officer with the same last name to obtain the drugs.
According to a search warrant affidavit, which was made public Friday
at The Times' request, witnesses place Perez at the LAPD property room on
the day of the theft.
The property room clerk remembered that Perez was "rude and
condescending" when she handled a transaction for him, but she did not
recall if it involved the three individually wrapped kilograms of powder
cocaine, which is equivalent to 6.6 pounds.
One LAPD colleague also helped investigators focus on Perez when he was
interviewed about Rampart's missing pound of cocaine. Investigators
questioned the colleague, a former Rampart officer, because he was initially
under suspicion for checking out the drug from a property room, the
affidavit shows.
Officer Armando Coronado convinced investigators that he had nothing to
do with the missing pound of cocaine, the records show. However, during the
interview, he revealed to investigators that he left Rampart's anti-gang
unit and was transferred to another division because of personality problems
with some of the officers, including Perez.
Coronado said he complained to a supervisor that Perez "was conducting
narcotics searches without concern for proper LAPD procedures or tactics . .
. [and] without appropriately documenting his findings," according to court
documents. After his complaint, Perez and his partner gave Coronado "the
cold shoulder," according to a statement he made to investigators.
Coronado also told investigators that a paid LAPD informant told him
that Perez "had tried to convince the informant to work exclusively for
Perez" because "he could pay him immediately for the cases they worked
together and that the informant would not have to wait until the
[department] paperwork was completed to get paid," the affidavit states.
The informant said Perez offered him "some of the dope and some of the
money" if they worked together, according to the court documents. Coronado
said he initially discounted the informant's story because the person
"B.S.'d a lot," the court documents show.
Investigators interviewed the informant, who confirmed to them that
Perez wanted to get involved in "large cases involving 10-20 kilos of
narcotics," court records show.
"Perez offered to pay the [informant] out of his own bank account so
that [the informant] would not have to wait," according to the affidavit.
In December, the documents contend, Perez said he would pay the
informant $1,000 from his own pocket if the informant could find a buyer for
a kilogram of cocaine.
Sting operations involving undercover drug buys are routinely
documented by officers and must meet department approval. But investigators
said Perez did not have formal approval for the transactions he was
allegedly arranging.
Suspecting that Perez was involved in the theft, investigators started
following him in April, the search warrant affidavit says. During this
surveillance, Perez was spotted driving in an "erratic manner," which
investigators believed was intended to lose the officers who were following
him, the documents state. A couple of times, Perez drove erratically while
he was accompanied by another LAPD officer.
On April 15, Perez told his supervisor that he believed he was being
tailed by FBI investigators because of his friendship with another LAPD
officer, David A. Mack, who was charged with robbing a bank in December.
Moreover, Perez had reported that he believed gang members wanted to kill
him, the affidavit shows.
The court documents also allege that Perez frequently used telephones
and pagers in a manner characteristic of drug dealers. The documents also
allege that Perez made calls to and received calls from numbers listed under
the names of suspected drug dealers.
As part of the investigation into Perez, detectives interviewed Quesada
and Romero. During that interview, according to court records, investigators
discovered that Romero was carrying a "plastic baggy which contained what
appeared to be powder cocaine . . . [that] appeared to have been broken off
from a larger brick." A subsequent search of the siblings' apartment turned
up a photo of Perez "in plain clothes apparently giving a gang hand
gesture," and his pager number, the documents state.
The searches of Perez's LAPD locker, cars and home did not yield any
drugs, according to court records.
Copyright 1998 Los Angeles Times. All Rights Reserved
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Inmate Numbers Worry Officials ('The Tulsa World' Says The County Jail
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, Had Its Highest Ever Monthly Average Number Of Inmates
Last Month - 'We Have 881 Beds, And We Were At 113 Percent Of That Today,'
Chief Deputy Bob Mackechney Said Friday - 'We Can't Go Beyond 125 Percent'
Because Of A Federally Imposed Limit On Overcrowding)
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1998 07:05:26 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US OK: Inmate Numbers Worry Officials
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Michael Pearson (oknorml@swbell.net)
Source: Tulsa World (OK)
Contact: tulsaworld@mail.webtek.com
Website: http://www.tulsaworld.com
Pubdate: 29 Aug 1998
Author: Tim Hoover World Staff Writer
INMATE NUMBERS WORRY OFFICIALS
The Tulsa Jail's inmate population could exceed federally imposed limits,
officials warn.
The Tulsa Jail had its highest ever monthly average number of inmates last
month, provoking concern among jail authority members Friday.
If the trend for July continues through the rest of the year, Tulsa County
sheriff's officials warned, the inmate population could break records and
exceed federally imposed limits at the lockup.
"We have 881 beds, and we were at 113 percent of that today," Chief Deputy
Bob Mackechney said Friday. "We can't go beyond 125 percent."
Officials also worry that if the trend continues, it could threaten efforts
to contain the population at the new, still-under-construction Tulsa Jail,
filling the facility's 1,476 beds long before projections.
Sheriff's officials have been sounding increasingly louder alarms for the
last several months as the inmate population in the old jail system crept
up well past a monthly average of 900 inmates to almost 1,000.
For July, the average was 1,003 inmates, a 3.8 percent increase over the
previous month, and a 16.22 percent increase over July 1997, when there was
an average of 873 inmates.
Prior to July, the record high monthly average was 999 inmates in May 1995.
And though 1998 is only a little more than halfway over, the yearly jail
population average of 932 inmates already is the highest it has been since
1995, when crowded conditions resulted in a yearly average of 946 prisoners.
The inmate population average has increased for the past four months in
1998, reversing a trend for almost the last three years in which sheriff's
officials, prosecutors and judges have worked to keep the average
population below 900 inmates.
This has included work-release efforts, sentencing alternatives and quicker
release of those serving time for fines and misdemeanors.
Mackechney said sheriff's officials weren't sure what was contributing to
the increased number of inmates, noting mainly an increase in the number of
arrests.
"We've also had an increase in the numbers of people who just refuse to pay
their fines, and a judge just gives them jail time," he said.
Jail authority members also wondered about the higher numbers.
"I fear a change of attitude among our criminal judges," County
Commissioner Lew Harris said.
Tulsa Mayor Susan Savage shared the same concern, saying, "We're in an
election year, and you get somebody demagoguing about letting people loose."
The new jail -- located in the northwest corner of downtown -- is set to
open in April. With every cell filled, it could hold more than 1,800 inmates.
To do so, though, would violate the standards of the American Correctional
Association, which says that some 30 percent of a facility's bedspace
should be reserved for single-cell use. Governments typically use the ACA
standards as a benchmark in defending themselves from civil rights lawsuits
and federal intervention.
So, without triggering this ACA pressure valve, there are effectively 1,476
beds available at the new jail.
But officials don't want to come anywhere near that total until after the
turn of the century. That's why the budget for Corrections Corporation of
America to run the new jail is only for 1,100 inmates.
Anything above 1,100, and the county must pay the private corrections
company more money, though the amount per inmate, per day actually decreases.
County Commissioner John Selph said the lockup is "dangerously close" to
noncompliance with a 1995 federal settlement order that mandated the
county's inmate population not go beyond 125 percent of its bed capacity.
"We've got to look at other options, whether it's jailing people on
weekends rather than during the week or other programs," Selph said. "When
you have people sitting in jail for failure to pay a fine, it becomes very
costly to keep them there.
"I want to have room in the jail for people accused of committing serious
crimes."
Tim Hoover can be reached at 581-8336.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Failure - DARE To End Ineffective Anti-Drug Program In Houston
(A Staff Editorial In 'The Houston Chronicle' Endorses Ending The Drug Abuse
Resistance Education Program, Which Several Studies Have Found
To Be Ineffective Or Worse - The 63 Police Officers It Costs $3.7 Million
A Year To Send Out To Teach 27,000 Houston Fifth-Graders
And 24,000 Seventh-Graders Should Be Out Patrolling Unsafe Neighborhoods)
From: adbryan@ONRAMP.NET
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1998 08:32:11 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: EDITORIAL: DARE to end ineffective anti-drug program in Houston
To: "DRCTalk Reformers' Forum" (drctalk@drcnet.org)
Cc: editor@mapinc.org
Reply-To: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: owner-drctalk@drcnet.org
This editorial will give you a warm fuzzy feeling.
WAYTOGO to the Houston Chronicle's editorial staff!!!!
Now, if their next editorial would address the other ineffective
anti-drug program called the war on drugs......
***
8-29-98
Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com
viewpoints@chron.com
Failure - DARE to end ineffective anti-drug program in Houston
It is safe to assume that few people would want to continue a program
that costs millions of dollars but helps only a few people. That is
especially true if the program's costs are borne by taxpayers. For some
reason, though, years of studies showing the anti-drug program DARE does
not keep students off drugs have failed to persuade Houston city
officials to stop funding it.
Launched in 1983 by Los Angeles police and schools, DARE, which stands
for Drug Abuse Resistance Education, costs Houston taxpayers $3.7
million a year, including $3.3 million to pay salaries and benefits for
the 63 police officers who teach the program. Along with lectures, "Hugs
not Drugs" bumper stickers, T-shirts, pencils and other paraphernalia
are part of the DARE curriculum for about 27,000 fifth-graders and
24,000 seventh-graders.
Meanwhile, the evidence of DARE's ineffectiveness keeps mounting. In
1994, the Research Triangle Institute, a university-affiliated research
organization in Durham, N.C., concluded that DARE's short-term
effectiveness is small and less than the success of programs that
emphasize social skills and use interactive teaching strategies, such as
role-playing. A study presented at the 1997 American Psychological
Association found that DARE failed to lessen students' use of alcohol,
cigarettes or marijuana six years later.
In an independent report, University of Houston social science professor
Bruce Gay found Houston's DARE program "only marginally successful" at
its primary goal. Nor does DARE increase homework time, prevent truancy,
raise educational aspirations or improve attitudes toward school.
According to Gay, Houston's DARE program actually increased negative
feelings toward law enforcement.
Today's students have heard anti-drug messages their whole school
careers, yet drug use is increasing. These findings have prompted DARE
advocates only to call for increasing the funding and scope of DARE
lessons. But fine-tuning DARE is something program advocates have had 12
years in Houston schools to do.
It makes no sense to continue funding DARE or any other program with a
track record for failure. The 63 police officers in the program would be
better employed patrolling unsafe neighborhoods, while community
volunteers could be used to lecture children about the dangers of drugs.
It is time to just say no to DARE in Houston.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Crack Cocaine Babies Aren't Doomed To Failure, Studies Find -
Poverty Is Main Factor In Child's Ability To Learn ('The Houston Chronicle'
Belatedly Discovers That 'Crack Babies' Are A Media-Generated Myth)
From: "W.H.E.N. - Bob Owen" (when@olywa.net)
To: "-News" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: Study: Crack babies aren't doomed
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1998 20:20:28 -0700
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net
6:57 PM 8/29/1998
Crack cocaine babies aren't doomed to failure, studies find
Poverty is main factor in child's ability to learn
By SHANNON WRIGHT
Copyright 1998 Houston Chronicle
To see Shelly Williams dance around her living room and laugh fondly at her
little sister's antics, you would never guess she was a crack baby.
And believing she recently tested into the gifted program at her HISD
elementary school might be very difficult to accept.
But recent studies on children born addicted to crack cocaine indicate that
this scenario is not rare. Bright, good-natured Shelly, who likes to read
and wants to be a dancer and a nurse, is not an anomaly.
When crack cocaine first flooded the streets of urban America in the
mid-1980s and with arrival of the first wave of crack babies soon after,
doctors noticed unsettling things about the newborns.
Often they were underweight. They cried incessantly and jerked at the
slightest noise. They went through agonizing withdrawals, stiffening like
boards and rejecting any touch.
Doctors and sociologists offered dire predictions about these children.
Crack would affect their heart, lungs and nervous system; it would affect
their cognitive abilities and ability to empathize, thus producing ruthless
predators; it would reduce them to genetic inferiors, forever burdens on
society.
But as the children grew, and researchers followed their progress through
babyhood, preschool and elementary school, evidence was providing a
different story.
The children are not misfits. In fact, they perform on par with peers,
scoring at the same level or only slightly below them on standardized tests.
The problem is their peers are performing poorly, too.
Jacquelyn Edwards directs the Cradles program, a service that identifies
drug-addicted newborns and then works with their mothers to rehabilitate
them and to teach them to parent. Edwards notes that the peers of crack
babies tend to be, as the crack babies usually are, from single-parent,
impoverished homes. Their education is inadequate; their environment is
often violent.
The equalizing factor may be poverty, Edwards said.
Dr. Susan Robbins, associate professor at the University of Houston's
Graduate School of Social Work, argues poverty is the only factor.
"There is no such thing as a crack baby," asserts Robbins, who calls it all
"media hype."
"Crack, by itself, has no long-lasting detrimental effects. What does have
long-term effect is poverty," Robbins said. When compared to middle-class
cocaine users who maintained good nutrition and prenatal care throughout
their pregnancy, crack babies lagged behind because of the ill effects of
poverty, not crack cocaine.
"The most important factor (in a child's development) is a stable
environment, and you don't have that in an impoverished environment, drugs
or not," Robbins said.
But other experts argue there are definite cognitive differences between
drug-exposed children and nonexposed peers.
"The gap is just a few points, maybe 3-6 points. If you're starting with an
IQ of 120, that doesn't matter. If you're starting in the 80s, it makes a
significant difference. Those few points are enough to push a child over the
edge into abnormality or to require special education," said Dr. Barry
Lester of Brown University, who has conducted extensive research of
cocaine-exposed children. Lester also agrees that poverty is probably the
most crippling factor.
The findings of Dr. Gideon Koren of Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children
confirm this. Koren is studying 47 cocaine-exposed children who were adopted
as infants. As they entered school, an IQ gap of 10 points opened up between
the crack-exposed children and their non-exposed peers. That still left
them, at 106, more than 20 points higher than the 82 averaged by non-exposed
children raised in disadvantaged homes.
Robbins argues that the brain is adaptable enough to recover from infant
addiction. While cocaine is in the system, the brain ceases to produce its
own dopamine, a neurotransmitter, and its receptors disappear. When cocaine
is removed from the system, the brain returns to producing its own dopamine
and the receptors reappear.
Other experts maintain that crack cocaine affects the prenatal brain in ways
we don't yet fully know.
The reliability of some of the studies showing crack babies to be no
different from their peers is being called into question by these scholars
because children are tested in small rooms with no distractions -- a far cry
from the crowded, rowdy classrooms they enter in school.
Since the part of the brain believed to be most affected by prenatal cocaine
exposure is the part that enables children to screen out unwanted stimuli,
these experts assert, it is impossible to determine from IQ tests how the
children will fare in school. And of 119 studies tracking crack babies, only
six have followed them past the age of 3.
"Isn't that ridiculous? Ninety percent of what we know is confined to the
first month of life. This problem has been going on for so long, you'd think
we'd know by now what's going on with these kids," Lester said.
"There is so much contradictory evidence," Lester said. "Much of what we're
seeing is the effects of poverty. And many of the mothers who use cocaine
also use other drugs. So are we looking at just cocaine use or a polydrug
effect?"
Lester is involved in a study commissioned by the National Institute of
Health, which will track 20,000 infants from four hospitals in Providence,
Detroit, Miami and Memphis over seven years.
He is hopeful the long-term commitment of the study and its broad scope will
enable researchers to "tease out these confounding, intervening factors."
Previous studies may not be reliable because they were not geared toward
drug-affected children.
"We just pulled whatever IQ test or motor skills test we had off the shelf
without considering if it was applicable to drug-exposed children," Lester
said. Now researchers are composing a new battery of tests that will examine
what Lester calls the four A's: Attention (how well a child can pay
attention and screen out stimuli), Arousal (how much a child cries and his
consolability), Affect (interaction with parents and peers) and Action
(motor activity and coordination).
"With these tests, if we discover there's nothing wrong with these kids,
there's really nothing wrong," Lester said.
Much of the evidence so far is anecdotal.
Natalye Henderson, children's activities coordinator at Star of Hope
Transitional Living Center, said, "My observation is that the children I
know to have been exposed to it are more hyperactive and have shorter
attention spans. Even if you put them in a room with no distractions,
they'll get bored faster than other children. They'll use their own bodies
as distractions: play with their hair, look at their hands."
Lester agreed.
"We know we're no longer losing a generation. But when they do show effects
is when you stress them out, tweak them a little bit," he said.
These observations are affirmed by a pilot study at Wayne State University
in Detroit, in which teachers, not knowing which children were crack-exposed
and which were not, rated the exposed children as significantly less
attentive than their non-exposed peers.
Robbins calls the children's conformance to the crack baby stereotype the
"self-fulfilling prophecy syndrome."
"The worst thing you can do to a kid is label them. We see these behaviors
in children because we expect to see them, and we reward them when we do see
them. So the children live up to our expectations for them. Even infants are
very adept at learning to play to expectations," Robbins said.
As the first "crack babies" enter high school, the prognosis is better than
anyone anticipated, with one caveat. "If there's early intervention, these
children can catch up to their peers. But the home environment has to
change. If they go back to violence and chaos and neglect they won't catch
up," Edwards said.
She echoed what national experts are saying: The biggest hazard for these ch
ildren is not that they are born as crack babies but that they are raised by
crack mothers. That is immensely more difficult to overcome.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
No Disability Benefits For Vets Who Smoked ('The San Francisco Examiner'
Says The US Veterans Administration Has Prohibited Vietnam Veterans
From Receiving Disability Payments If They Develop Lung Cancer, Emphysema
Or Other Diseases From Smoking The Cigarettes The Government Packed
Into Their C-Rations While They Were In Service)
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1998 16:17:42 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: No Disability Benefits For Vets Who Smoked
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)
Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA)
Contact: letters@examiner.com
Website: http://www.examiner.com/
Pubdate: 29 Aug 1998
Author: Kathleen Sullivan, Examiner Staff
NO DISABILITY BENEFITS FOR VETS WHO SMOKED
Troops in Vietnam were given cigarettes in their C-rations
During the Vietnam War, the U.S. government tucked miniature packs of
cigarettes into boxed meals for combat soldiers and dropped cartons of
cigarettes by helicopter to troops on long-range reconnaissance missions in
the jungle.
About 30 years later, the government has decided those soldiers "smoked on
government time" and has prohibited them from receiving disability payments
if they developed lung cancer, emphysema or other diseases from smoking.
A law banning disability pay for ailments tied to tobacco use was
added as an amendment to the 800-page Transportation Equity Act for the
21st Century. The bill was signed by President Clinton in June.
The Department of Veterans Affairs requested the law, which amends federal
statutes governing veterans benefits.
"The VA believes veterans' compensation benefits were designed to assist
veterans who become ill or are injured in service to their country," said Ozzie
Garza, a VA spokesman. "It goes beyond the government's responsibility to
pay compensation for veterans just because they smoked on government time."
Michael Blecker, executive director of Swords to Plowshares, a San Francisco
veterans' rights group, says it is ironic that the government has decided
to deny smoking disability claims given its role as a purveyor of cigarettes.
Blecker, who served two years in Vietnam, says the
military tucked tiny cigarette packs in every C-ration box, which contained
the canned meals soldiers ate in the field.
"In the packet with the napkins there would always be a package of four
cigarettes -- Newports, Chesterfields, Lucky Strikes, Winstons, Pall Malls
or another one of the brands of the time," he said.
Blecker says cartons of cigarettes were also dropped by helicopter to
soldiers on long-range reconnaissance missions.
"If you were 18 or 19 years old, you could pick up a habit big time," said
Blecker, who started smoking in Vietnam and quit several years later. "They
were free in the field, and back in the PX they were very, very cheap."
The military discontinued the practice in 1975, eight years after the U.S.
surgeon general issued a report saying smoking was the principal cause of
lung cancer.
"Sure, a lot of veterans have (medical) conditions as a result of that
practice," said VA spokesman Ken McKinnon, "but the VA's position is that the
government cannot be held responsible for all the sins of smoking."
Richard Daynard, chairman of the Tobacco Products Liability Project, a
public health advocacy group at Northeastern University in Boston, says the
ban on smoking claims is an "ugly response" by a government unwilling to take
responsibility for its actions.
"It's ironic, it's unfair, and, to understate the situation, it's in very bad
grace for the government to say: "We've tracked this (smoking and health)
problem down pretty far, and we're certainly going to hold the tobacco
industry responsible -- but when it comes to our own responsibility,
forget it,' " he said.
Tobacco industry documents made public in recent years have shown that
cigarette companies knew 30 years ago that nicotine was addictive and that
smoking caused numerous health problems. But the industry hid the evidence
from the public.
In 1993, a legal opinion by the VA's general counsel opened the door to
smoking claims from veterans. But the agency didn't begin processing most of
the cases until 1997, when another opinion clarified the ground rules for
granting benefits.
In the 1997 opinion, VA general counsel Mary Lou Keener said the agency
should approve the claims if three conditions were met: if nicotine
dependence was a disease; if veterans started smoking while they were in the
service; and if smoking was considered the cause of the disability or death.
The opinion immediately raised financial concerns at the VA, which began
lobbying Congress to change the law.
The VA said it would be deluged with claims - 350,00 over the next five
years - and swamped with $17 billion in bills if the agency followed the
ruling.
The VA delivered a draft bill prohibiting such claims to House Speaker
Newt Gingrich on March 30, and within two months the ban became part of the
massive highway bill. While the House and Senate veterans' affairs committees
had held hearings to discuss the possibility of banning claims, they did not
conduct hearings on the veterans' smoking amendment after it was attached
to the highway bill.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., the ranking minority member on
the Committee on Veterans Affairs, tried to kill the amendment as the
highway bill made its way through Congress, but was thwarted, said Don
Marshall, a spokesman for Rockefeller.
"Sen. Rockefeller objected to the fact that they were robbing from veterans'
programs to offset the cost of highway spending," Marshall said.
The VA's McKinnon says the agency is processing cases filed before the law
was enacted and reviewing rejected claims.
By June, the VA had received 8,830 smoking claims from veterans, or from
their surviving spouses or children, he says.
Of the 4,977 cases the VA has decided, the agency has denied 4,618 claims
and awarded payments in 359, he says.
The VA's regional office in Oakland has 250 pending claims.
McKinnon says the VA expects to approve most of the 8,830 claims filed
before the new ban went into effect, even those already denied. A majority
of the rejected claims were missing documents that veterans should be able
to provide when they resubmit their claims, he says.
However, no new claims will be accepted now that Congress has changed the
law, McKinnon says.
David Ewing, managing attorney at Swords to Plowshares, was stunned to hear
that most of the previous claims will be accepted.
"That's unbelievable," said Ewing, who helps veterans file claims. "These are
extremely difficult cases to win, because they have such a difficult
evidentiary burden. They're so difficult to prove, and as an attorney, I know
they're difficult for the VA to analyze. The idea that nearly all of the claims
would be awarded benefits would be preposterous."
If it's true, the situation would be "staggeringly unfair" to veterans
with smoking disorders who didn't file claims before the statute was
changed, Ewing says.
"It's almost like a reward for people who made a deadline and punishment for
those who didn't -- even though no one knew what the deadline would be," he
said. "It's completely arbitrary."
Ewing is helping James Epps, a 54-year-old Vietnam veteran with
emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, fight for benefits.
Epps filed his claim in 1997.
"James should be rated 100 percent disabled," Ewing said. "He's
extremely ill. He has a legitimate claim. But will it go his way or not?
It's hard to know what the VA will do. It's an uphill battle."
Epps, speaking from his bed at a VA hospital in Martinez, where he is
awaiting lung surgery, says he started smoking at 18 at a Marine Corps
boot camp, where a cigarette break was a reward for a job well done.
"When we did well, our drill instructor allowed us to march to the corner of
the parade deck and stand at ease and have a smoke," Epps said. "That was
part of the initiation ritual of Marine boot camp -- learning how to smoke
and be a tough guy."
Ewing says the prohibition on smoking claims threatens to undermine
confidence in the VA's compensation system.
"If smoking claims can be denied because they're deemed too expensive,
what else can be deemed too expensive," he asked.
The VA's monthly disability payments range from $95 (10 percent disabled)
to $1,964 (100 percent disabled), and are meant to compensate for the loss
of working ability.
If disability claims are approved, veterans win a coveted
"service-connection" rating, which guarantees free VA medical care. "That's
really why they're so important," Ewing said.
Veterans with smoking disorders may also obtain free VA medical care if they
fit into one of six priority groups -- for example, if they are disabled from
another injury or illness, are former prisoners of war, or are impoverished.
Otherwise, they are charged co-payments, said Dr. Josh Adler, assistant chief
of staff at the San Francisco VA Hospital.
But they will never be turned away, Adler said.
"Any veteran can always get medical treatment here," Adler said. "If they
don't have a service-connected illness and do not fit into one of the
priority groups, we will still provide the care, but we are obligated to
send them a bill."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Mexico City Police Chief Fired Amid Scandals, Crime Rate
('The Dallas Morning News' Says Mayor Cuauhtemoc Cardenas On Friday
Fired His Military-Trained Police Chief, Lt. Col. Rodolfo Debernardi,
After Eight Months Of High Crime Rates And Police Department Scandals)
From: "W.H.E.N. - Bob Owen" (when@olywa.net)
To: "-News" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: Mexico City police chief fired amid scandals, crime rate
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1998 19:20:06 -0700
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net
Mexico City police chief fired amid scandals, crime rate
08/29/98
By Laurence Iliff
The Dallas Morning News
MEXICO CITY - The mayor of Mexico City fired his military-trained police
chief Friday after eight months of high crime rates and Police Department
scandals that included the gang rape of three young women by officers on
horseback.
Mayor Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, an opposition leader who took office in December
promising to reduce crime, sacked retired Lt. Col. Rodolfo Debernardi amid
calls by all three major political parties for the police chief's
resignation.
In his place, Mr. Cardenas named a prominent lawyer and private university
rector to head the Mexico City Public Safety Ministry, as the police
department is called.
The new chief, Alejandro Gertz Manero, has served on a civilian police
commission during the last several months and said he quickly realized the
capacity of the city's corrupt police force to resist change.
"We cannot accept for even one more day security forces that are a symbol of
inefficiency and, in many cases, a constant threat to the population," Mr.
Gertz said after assuming his new post.
Last month, members of a police horse patrol abducted three young women,
ages 13, 15 and 18. More than a dozen officers allegedly gang raped them in
the stables at their police station before the young women escaped,
according to authorities.
In addition, the number of reported crimes in Mexico City has hovered at
about 700 per day, twice the level of four years ago.
Analysts said that Mr. Cardenas - a two-time presidential candidate widely
expected to seek the office again in 2000 - so far has failed in his promise
to "take back the city" from criminal gangs and cannot afford to hold on to
his ineffective police chief any longer.
"There is enormous pressure on the Cardenas government because of crime
levels that have become a form of social terrorism," said Homero Aridjis, a
political columnist and well-known poet.
The mayor's choice of Mr. Debernardi was controversial from the start, given
that during his mayoral campaign Mr. Cardenas had criticized the widespread
use of military officers to run the city's police force.
Mr. Cardenas has now turned to a civilian as had been expected from the
start of his term on Dec. 5, when he became the first elected mayor of
Mexico City.
President Ernesto Zedillo maintains some constitutional responsibilities
over the capital, including the right to name the police chief. Hence, Mr.
Cardenas and Mr. Zedillo agreed on Friday's changes in the police
department, according to the president's office.
On Friday, Mr. Debernardi defended his performance, saying he was satisfied
with his progress in fighting crime.
The removal of Mr. Debernardi, who was not a member of Mr. Cardenas'
center-left Party of the Democratic Revolution, comes two days after the
president and all of the nation's governors signed a national $350 million
anti-crime plan.
Mr. Cardenas, as the nation's most important mayor, also signed the plan.
Within its formal boundaries, the capital, called the Federal District, has
a population of 8.5 million. Another 9.5 million live in the metropolitan
area.
Meanwhile, some opposition parties in Mexico City repeated their calls
Friday for the resignation of Mexico City Attorney General Samuel Del
Villar, who is a close friend of Mr. Cardenas' and a prominent member of his
party.
As city attorney general, Mr. Del Villar is the commander of his own
investigative police force, which has been accused of corruption and
botching investigations.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bringing In The Hemp ('The Financial Post' Says Canada's First Legal Harvest
Of Non-Hallucinogenic Cannabis In 60 Years Is Just Underway And Will Continue
Through September, But It Will Be A Couple Of Years
Before The Agricultural Community Finds Out Whether Hemp
Will Reshape The Industry)
From: "Dave Cull" (dcull@island.net)
To: "nozone-L" (no-zone@fornits.com)
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1998 20:21:48 -0600
Reply-To: "Dave Cull" (dcull@island.net)
Subject: Canada: Financial Post, Aug 29-31/98 -- Bringing in the Hemp
Bringing in the hemp
The Financial Post
Weekend Aug 29-31, 1998
by Ian McKinnon, Calgary Bureau
First there was hemp, hope and hype -- now comes the harvest.
Canada's first legal reaping of non-hallucinogenic cannabis in 60 years is
just underway and will continue through September.
However, it will be a couple of years before the agricultural community
finds out whether hemp is the canola of its generation, reshaping the
fundamentals of the industry.
It's almost a chicken-and-egg propositions for true believers trying to
develop hemp as a legitimate alternative crop to oilseeds and cereals, says
Peter Brown, senior manager of agriculture for Bank of Montreal.
Farmers won't grow the crop unless they are confident of demand, and buyers
won't alter manufacturing processes and equipment unless they are assured of
supply and quality. "I think there will be a tug and pull for two, three of
four years until volumes get up to a point that people will commit to that
fibre," he says.
If supply and demand cna be balanced, hemp should provide a reasonable
return and be competitive with other alternative crops, including canary
seed, peas and lentils, says Brown from his Toronto office.
Far from Bay Street, in the picturesque valley that cradles Dauphin, Man.,
Don Dewar hopes farmers will gamble on hemp -- and use his seeds. The owner
of Dewar Seed Farms Ltd. has dedicated 16 hectares to hemp because all of
the seed growing in Canada today is imported from Europe. However, generous
European Union subsidies for growing hemp have driven up the price there.
That and rising transportation costs are creating a niche for Dewar, who
raises a variety of seeds on his 1,400 ha farm.
Dewar, who was convinced by his son Mark to try the crop, has encountered a
few obstacles leading up to this virgin harvest: a late and time-consuming
process to obtain a licence, poor germination and slow initial growth.
His leafy two-metre-tall plants form a canopy and scent the air with a
fragrence some describe as minty and others liken to that of its illegal
cousin.
The next few weeks will be a challenge as the tries to use conventional
equipment to harvest a distinctly unconventional crop. For instance, hemp
stalks gum up the works in a regular combine. Alternative settings and extra
sharp blades are being tested.
Drought and grasshoppers are reducing the prospects for Jerome Scory, who
works 880 ha with his father, Ivan, near Oyen in east-central Alberta. He
planted 4 ha to gain experience collecting seed and fibre, but a losing
battle with Mother Nature wiped out the seed side of the trial. He intends
to try again next year.
The experiment, partially funded by the Alberta Department of Agriculture,
attracted a fair bit of attention in the small town.
"It was quite a deal, quite the snicker factor," Scory relates with a laugh.
"There was a well beaten path to the field. If it wasn't for the signs
(describing the test and its sponsors), I'm sure people would have walked
off with leaves stuffed in their pockets."
Showing a farmer's typical tenacity, he is holding off on his harvest,
hoping additional rain will prompt renewed growth.
There are still many unknowns when it comes to raising hemp, says Stan
Blade, a scientist with Alberta's agriculture department.
This is the fourth year he and his colleagues have conducted trials on
planting density, fertilizer and varietal suitability for Canadian
conditions. This work, which he calls standard agronomic research, hasn't
solved the key issue: how to ease the tradeoff between seed and fibre
production.
Farmers interested in seed, for growing or for crushing into vegetable oil
with an attractive essential fatty acid profile, have different timetables
from fibre seekers. The best fibre comes about six weeks before optimal seed
production. "Farmers are still hoping they can get a dual-purpose seed where
they can get both seed and fibre." says Blade. "I think the data indicates
the fibre quality declines as you wait."
Despite the uncertainties, interest behind the farm gate is high. Health
Canada has issued 262 licences to individuals, companies and co-operatives
to plant 2,500 ha. Commercial cultivation is taking place in every province
except Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, with Manitoba and Ontario
receiving 96 and 98 permits respectively.
Hemp is a strain of cannabis low in delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the
chemical that gives marijuana its high. To keep out drug traffickers,
licence holders have to provide geographic co-ordinates of their fields,
which can be used by police and government officials for inspection.
Mandatory testing is required and hemp that contains more than 0.3% THC is
subject to seizure and destruction.
Some of the farmers' interest sprouted from the missionary zeal of hemp
enthusiasts, who tout the crop as a miracle plant that grows like a weed,
dosn't need costly herbicide and fertilizer inputs, and has almost as many
end uses as duct tape.
Gordon Scheifele is quashing some of these claims. The University of Guelph
researcher is spending $200,000 this year, with much of the money coming
from the provincial government, to study the suitability of hemp for
Northern Ontario. From his station in Thunder Bay, he supervises 28 plots,
of 2 ha each, on farms in six distinct micro-climates scattered across the
province.
A well-prepared, moist and fertilized seed bed is required by the plant,
which doesn't fare well in compacted or poorly drained soil, he says.
Comparing hemp to a young child who hasn't learned to hide emotions, he says
farmers learn quickly how their plants are doing. "It's an extremely
sensitive and unforgiving crop."
Grasshoppers love hemp, which is also susceptible to sclerotinia, a disease
that effects canola and soybeans, he says.
Another big obstacle to hemp commercialization is the cost of
transportation. Brown says shipping the light, but bulky, fibres further
than 80 km is uneconomic. A series of small processing plants across
Canada is one possible solution.
He says hemp needs to capture only a small portion of existing markets -
such as clothing, carpet or pressed board - to create strong, sustainable
demand. The wealth of opportunities is attracting entrepreneurs and should
alleviate concerns about finding buyers, he says.
California-based Consolidated Growers & Processors Inc. is eager to fill the
gap between growers and users. the two-year-old public company, with offices
in Winnipeg, the U.S. and Europe, intends to build at least one plant in
Canada, perhaps as many as three, each worth $10 million to $20 million and
employing 30 or more people.
General manager Douglas Campbell says CGP's committment to help farmers
master the new crop is evident from the more than $250,000 it spent to
import a specialized Dutch combine.
While not wishing to hype hemp, he says major players in the automotive,
pulp and building sectors have serious interest in incorporating it into
their products.
Global competition means everyone is looking for an edge, he says. "And in a
whole series of areas, hemp looks like it could be lighter, or stronger, or
cheaper than existing parts of the manufacturing chain."
The Canadian hemp industry is in its infancy, but he predicts over the next
few years it will make increasingly confident steps toward becoming and
established option for farmers.
"This kid is standing up and just left the coffee table and is going
somewhere," says Campbell. "It's not going in a straight line, but it's
moving."
Producers seeking to develop markets should look locally first, says Jean
Laprise, president of Kenex Ltd., near Chatham, Ont. The private firm is
pouring millions of dollars into developing diversified hemp seed, grain and
fibre operations. Laprise says co-operation between growers and processors
is essential to ensure the yield coming off the land is of the quality and
and form to suit users.
"We're at the birth of a new industry and there has to be some very close
relationships between growers and processing plants," he says. "Buyers, like
in any other industry, are very concerned with quality, consistency and the
continuity of supply."
Kenex has contracted to buy about 800 ha of hemp from southern Alberta
farmers this year with hopes of doubling that in 1999. It has a seed
division that researches, grows and imports seed, a press operation to
extract oil, a hulling line so the hemp nut can be sold for cooking and
several fibre enterprises, including a material that can be used by
automotive makers for door panels. Building on its proximity to the
manufacturing might of Detroit and a huge portion of the U.S. and Canadian
population, Kenex is conducting research on value-added products to stay
ahead of the competition.
As well as being president, Laprise is also a contract grower for Kenex on
his 600 ha Laprise farms Ltd. and therefore understands both sides of the
new industry. Like many others, he would like to see federal regulations
streamlined to ease cultivation. But generally, he is optimistic hemp is
here to stay.
"I think if there are enough people doing a good job on marketing, there
will be good opportunities for people in the agricultural community. Is it a
get-rich-quick for every farmer in Canada? No way, it doesn't work like
that."
For farmers hard pressed by the slump in commodity prices, a reasonable
return will be reward enough.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
[End]
to the 1998 Daily News index for August 27-September 2