-------------------------------------------------------------------
Volunteer with Portland police linked to bank heist (The Oregonian
says Louie Lira Jr., a gang outreach worker and volunteer with the Portland
Police Bureau, served as a lookout during the Nov. 4 holdup at a Southeast
Portland Wells Fargo bank. Lira was deported in 1985 after being convicted
of robbery and drug charges in California. Police say their background check
didn't include running Lira's fingerprints, begging the question, how many
other criminals have been recruited by the Portland police force?)
The Oregonian
Contact: letters@news.oregonian.com
1320 SW Broadway
Portland, OR 97201
Fax: 503-294-4193
Website: http://www.oregonlive.com/
Forum: http://forums.oregonlive.com/
Volunteer with Portland police linked to bank heist
* Federal records show that Louie Lira Jr., a gang outreach worker, was on
the lookout for police during the Nov. 4 holdup at a Southeast Portland
Wells Fargo branch
Monday, January 25 1999
By Maxine Bernstein
of The Oregonian staff
Federal authorities have linked Louie Lira Jr., a gang outreach worker and a
volunteer with the Portland Police Bureau, to an armed bank robbery that
involved his brother.
Lira acted as a police watchdog for his brother and several other suspects
who have been indicted in the Nov. 4 heist at a Wells Fargo bank branch in
Southeast Portland, federal court records show.
A federal investigation charges that Lira talked with the suspects moments
before the holdup and immediately afterward by cellular phone as he
monitored police movements on a Portland police radio from the bathroom of
the Youth Gangs Program office where he was employed.
The calls Lira made to the suspects were billed to the Youth Gangs Program,
a federal affidavit says. The radio was one Portland police provided to the
program to help its staff monitor gang violence.
Investigators say Lira, 40, who was indicted this month for illegally
re-entering the United States after being deported in 1985, admitted that he
knew a week in advance of his friends' plans to rob a bank. Lira, who also
uses the name Gerardo Morales Alejo, has denied involvement.
Yet others aware of the scheme informed agents from the Federal Bureau of
Investigation of Lira's role as the "lookout."
The FBI subpoenaed Lira's phone records, which confirmed he made several
calls to the suspects as they staked out the bank and again as they fled to
a home to divvy up $122, 923.
Lira's brother, Marcos A. Morales, 34, has confessed and is scheduled to
plead guilty to armed bank robbery today in U.S. District Court. He told
authorities he used his share of the cash to take his family to Disneyland.
Although federal records detail Lira's role as an accomplice to the robbery,
he has not been indicted. Because Lira is in federal custody on an
indictment accusing him of re-entering the country illegally, authorities
say there is no need to rush with a robbery indictment until the
investigation is complete and the stolen money can be traced.
"Until those charges are filed, we can't really comment," FBI spokesman
Gordon Compton said. "His involvement is still being investigated."
A thick file at U.S. District Court weaves the tale of how a teller at the
Wells Fargo branch on Southeast Taylor Street helped her boyfriend and
others plan the heist and later took a cut of the proceeds.
It also reveals how Lira used his work cell phone and connections to
Portland police to help his brother, as well as a former anti-gang
co-worker, pull off the heist.
"Louie monitored transmissions from a police radio which helped the robbers
escape after the robbery," one woman told FBI agents, according to the
federal affidavit.
Lira's brother has admitted to the FBI that he was one of the masked men who
pointed a handgun at a bank teller and demanded that customers raise their
hands over their heads as others cleaned out cash from a bank vault and
tellers' drawers.
The FBI has indicted four others on armed bank robbery charges, including
Robert E. Boyd Jr., 27, whom Lira met when Boyd was on the youth gang
program's graffiti-cleaning task force in the mid-1990s. Three of those four
are awaiting trial, and a warrant is out for the arrest of 21-year-old Aida
Ramos, the suspected driver of the getaway van.
Federal affidavits provide the following account of the robbery, based on
witness statements, searches of suspects' cars and homes, phone records and
statements from the accused.
The strong-arm holdup was the work of several cash-strapped people -- one of
whom was fired a month earlier from her security-guard job at Fred Meyer
after she stole merchandise, and another who was behind several months in
child-support payments.
About one week before the holdup, Lira said one of the suspects told him he
planned to rob a bank where his girlfriend worked as a teller, and asked
Lira whether he could help supply guns. Lira has told federal authorities he
refused the request, but he admitted that he never reported his friend's
plans to law enforcement.
On Nov. 2, five of the suspects met with the teller, who described the
bank's layout and told them where the surveillance cameras were and the
number of employees. Lira was not at that meeting, but the others were
informed that he was to notify the robbers if the bank alarm was activated
and if Portland police were on their way.
About 8:30 a.m. Nov. 4, the five suspects parked across the street from the
bank in a van and watched customers enter and leave for about two hours.
During the stakeout, they placed five calls to Lira's cell phone: at 8:30
a.m., 8:41, 8:50, 9:17 and 10:25. Two minutes later, the four burst into the
bank and held two tellers at gunpoint.
As the suspects fled in a stolen van, Lira phoned them twice within five
minutes and again at a Southeast Portland home where they went to split the
cash.
In an interview with FBI agents, Lira said he learned of the robbery while
monitoring his police radio in his office but said he did not suspect his
friends. He said his cell phone conversations with the people indicted in
the robbery were "small talk."
Lira had worked as a Hispanic Outreach Specialist with the city's Youth
Gangs Program since 1991. At least four years ago, he became an unpaid
volunteer with the Portland Police Bureau's Crisis Response Team, helping
defuse gang violence.
Police said they did a background check on Lira before his volunteer work
began and knew of his former gang activity but decided to give him a chance.
"We knew he had contacts with police, but we were not aware he was illegally
in the country," Northeast Cmdr. Derrick Foxworth said. "But just because he
had contact with police is not going to preclude someone from being involved
with police.
"At what point do you give a person an opportunity and let them demonstrate
to you that they have changed? Whenever he did get called out, he acted
appropriately."
A complete background check would have shown that Lira was a convicted felon
working in the United States illegally. Police did not run Lira's
fingerprints, which would have shown he was deported in 1985 under the name
Morales Alejo after robbery and drug convictions in California.
Portland records also show Lira was arrested several times by city police.
In 1990, he was charged with aggravated assault with a firearm and in 1993
with disorderly conduct, but he was not convicted. Between 1990 and 1993, he
was cited several times for driving uninsured, driving while suspended and
for ripping up a traffic citation.
Now, Portland police are re-examining whether they need to do more extensive
background checks on civilians they entrust to work closely with them.
"We're asking ourselves, 'Is there anything we could have done to have
avoided this?' " Foxworth said. "Something we're recommending is running
fingerprint checks as part of the background investigation. If fingerprint
checks were done, we would have found he was here illegally."
John Canda, director of the Youth Gangs Program, said he was unaware Lira
was an illegal immigrant.
"I had no idea. It was very disturbing," Canda said. But Canda said he is
standing by Lira, whom he praised for his diligence on the street trying to
steer youth from gang violence. As to Lira's suspected involvement in a bank
heist, Canda said he is reserving judgment.
"I know Louie for his hard work on the street and tireless hours he's put
into his job," Canda said. "We're very interested in the outcome and will be
watching this closely."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Doctors prescribe more antidepressants than any other drug, records show
(According to the Associated Press, an investigation of Oregon Health Plan
records by the Statesman Journal, in Salem, Oregon, shows that doctors
prescribe more antidepressants for poor children in Oregon than any other
drug, although such drugs have not been tested or approved for children by
the Food and Drug Administration. The use of such drugs is increasing.
Administrators of the Oregon Health Plan, which covers poor Oregonians,
say doctors supplied nearly 10,000 Oregon children with psychotherapeutic
drugs last year.)
Associated Press
found at:
http://www.oregonlive.com/
feedback (letters to the editor):
feedback@thewire.ap.org
Doctors prescribe more antidepressants than any other drug, records show
The Associated Press
1/25/99 10:50 AM
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Doctors prescribe more antidepressants for poor children
in Oregon than any other drug despite the fact that some of the medicine has
not been thoroughly tested or approved for children by the Food and Drug
Administration, the Statesman Journal reports.
The newspaper said Oregon Health Plan records show that even very young
children -- those still in elementary school -- are commonly dispensed
antidepressants, including anti-psychotics.
And the numbers are increasing.
In 1997, doctors signed 839 more prescription slips for Prozac and related
antidepressants than the previous year. While most of the patients were
adolescents, one-third of the prescriptions were for children ages 12 or
younger, records showed.
Administrators of the plan, which covers poor Oregonians, say doctors
supplied nearly 10,000 Oregon children with psychotherapeutic drugs last
year. While the category includes anti-psychotic drugs, most prescription
were for antidepressants, such as Prozac.
Some private plans also reflect growth in the numbers of children being
prescribed antidepressants.
Regence/Blue Cross officials report a 16 percent increase in antidepressant
prescriptions written for teen-agers between 1996 and 1997, and a striking
29 percent jump for children under the age of 13, all at a time when
children's memberships in the company's plans were on the decline.
Across the country in 1997, about three-quarters of a million kids were
popping Prozac and its sister pharmaceuticals -- 130,000 more than the year
before, according to IMS America, a pharmaceutical research company.
But most pediatricians aren't shocked by the numbers, which they regard as a
positive indication that children suffering from clinical depression are
finally getting help they've been denied for years.
"The big change is that 20 years ago people thought that if kids were a
little down, it doesn't mean anything," said Glen Elliott, a psychiatrist
with the San Francisco-based Langly Porter Psychiatric Association. "Now we
know kids can have very serious depressions."
Child psychiatrists say they're now better at identifying mental disorders
in children. What they're finding is alarming, said Tim Murphy, program
director for Salem Hospital's Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Medicine clinic.
Depression and attention deficit disorder are becoming commonplace, along
with some serious cases of bipolar disorder.
Dee Kathryn Bauer, director of school health services for the Multnomah
Education Service District, said psychiatric disease is the fastest-growing
category of illness school nurses face.
"Everyone thinks it's head lice, but truly, reports show us that children
are beginning to have more fear, anger, anxiety and depression," Bauer said.
Other experts agreed that mental illness in children has accelerated
dramatically over the past five years.
Cathy Jarman, an elementary school counselor for Salem-Keizer school
district who retired last year, said she's seen children as young as six
attempting suicide.
Last year, there were three who were suicidal -- a little boy in first grade
who attempted to take some aspirin, and a fourth grader and sixth grader who
made serious suicide attempts.
"We hear about kids who are jumping off of high bars, or running in front of
cars," Jarman said.
The growing problem has spurred many doctors to conclude that the use of
antidepressants is a lesser evil -- even as they prescribe them "off-label,"
or without the FDA's approval.
Still, some caution restraint because simple fatigue can be mistaken for
symptoms.
"Kids get over-stimulated," said Sandy Jordan, past president of the Oregon
School Nurses Association. "They're doing sports and not eating until 7:30,
and it's 10 or 11 before they go to bed."
(c)1999 Oregon Live LLC
Copyright 1999 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Federal claims on tobacco settlement make Oregon's share uncertain
(The Associated Press says the federal Health Care Finance Administration
claims it is entitled to $109 billion of the $196 billion settlement that 46
states hope to receive over the next 25 years. That means Oregon's annual
share of the extorted funds - originally estimated at $2.2 billion - will
come out to $71.9 million during the coming budget cycle instead of $180.6
million.)
Associated Press
found at:
http://www.oregonlive.com/
feedback (letters to the editor):
feedback@thewire.ap.org
Federal claims on tobacco settlement make Oregon's share uncertain
The Associated Press
1/25/99 7:25 PM
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- How much Oregon will get from its $2.2 billion
settlement with the tobacco industry depends on a fight between the states
who struck deals and the Clinton administration, which wants its own share.
Oregon was among 46 states that arrived at settlement with four leading
tobacco companies in November, ending lawsuits aimed at recouping Medicaid
dollars spent treating smokers who were ill.
The Clinton administration is basing its claim on a requirement that the
government recoup its share of Medicaid dollars from any legal settlement.
The federal Health Care Finance Administration claims it is entitled to $109
billion of the $196 billion the states will receive.
For Oregon, which is being paid out over 25 years, that means getting just
$71.9 million during the coming budget cycle instead of the $180.6 million
it expected.
U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., announced bipartisan legislation to block
the administration from intervening, and states are threatening to sue if
Gorton's plan fails.
"The state would be unwise to budget money that they aren't certain of
getting," said Mark Gibson, health policy adviser to Gov. John Kitzhaber.
The settlement leaves the Legislature free to spend its settlement money
however it wants. But the Clinton administration has signaled that it's more
likely to allow states to keep their tobacco money if they promise to spend
it strictly on public health.
"We want to work out something that would be acceptable to all," said Chris
Peacock, a spokesman for the Health Care Finance Administration. He said the
administration "has always said that tobacco funds should be spent on public
health and to assist children."
In Oregon, legislators want the money for the state health plan, but also
for such needs as public transit, consumer fraud protection and a "rainy
day" fund to smooth state finances in an economic recession.
One way around the Clinton administration's bargaining position could be to
label these other programs as health-related.
"We consider ourselves part of health care," said Jacqueline Zimmer, a human
services lobbyist pushing for $30 million in settlement money for senior and
disabled transit.
"I don't think we have any idea how much we're going to get or when we're
going to get it," said Senate Majority Leader Gene Derfler, R-Salem.
Jon Yunker, Kitzhaber's budget planner, said the uncertainties mean the
money should maintain existing programs, not start new ones.
Because the tobacco settlement led to higher prices, cigarette consumption
is less than predicted. The state now predicts cigarette tax revenues will
fall $30 million short of expectations. Kitzhaber would like to cover that
shortfall with the tobacco settlement, Yunker said.
Also, Kitzhaber would consider the tobacco money for a rainy day fund so if
the settlement falls short, the budget wouldn't have to be cut, Yunker said.
(c)1999 Oregon Live LLC
Copyright 1999 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Spending tobacco money proves tricky for lawmakers (The Oregonian version)
The Oregonian
Contact: letters@news.oregonian.com
1320 SW Broadway
Portland, OR 97201
Fax: 503-294-4193
Website: http://www.oregonlive.com/
Forum: http://forums.oregonlive.com/
Spending tobacco money proves tricky for lawmakers
* With the Clinton administration seeking a 56 percent share, the
Legislature considers how to budget settlement money it might not get
Monday, January 25 1999
By Steve Suo
of The Oregonian staff
SALEM -- With an array of interests lining up before the Oregon Legislature
to tap the state's multibillion-dollar legal settlement with
cigarette-makers, an emerging legal battle could hamper lawmakers' ability
to spend the money for public transit, consumer fraud protection and other
programs.
The state expects to receive about $2.2 billion in the next 25 years, $180.6
million of which is due during the coming 1999-2001 budget cycle.
That cash infusion, equal to almost 2 percent of the $10.7 billion state
budget, is comparable to the cost of the proposed women's prison in
Wilsonville or a tax cut Republicans in the Senate are proposing.
But how much money Oregon receives, how soon legislators can spend it and on
what now depends on the outcome of a fight between the 46 states in the
settlement and the Clinton administration, which is now trying to get its
own cut of the money.
The administration is basing its claim on a law that requires the government
to recoup its share of Medicaid dollars from any legal settlement. The
federal Health Care Finance Administration wants to take $109 billion, or 56
percent, of the $196 billion in payments states will receive through the
deal reached last year.
For Oregon, that means the state would receive just $71.9 million during the
coming budget cycle, a loss of $108.7 million.
U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., announced bipartisan legislation this week
to block the administration from intervening, and state attorneys general
are threatening to sue the government if Gorton's plan falls through.
But getting a bill passed could take a long time, potentially leaving
Oregon's settlement payment in legal limbo until after lawmakers finish the
budget this summer.
"The state would be unwise to budget money that they aren't certain of
getting," said Mark Gibson, health policy adviser to Gov. John Kitzhaber.
Oregon and 45 other states arrived at the settlement with four leading
tobacco companies in November, ending state lawsuits claiming that the
industry violated unlawful trade and other statutes. The suits were aimed at
recouping Medicaid dollars the states spent treating smokers who were ill.
Particularly galling to the state attorneys general who negotiated the
agreement is that Congress had the opportunity to sign off on an earlier
tobacco settlement last summer and
"The states fought the battle, they won the war, and it's their money. Liz
Mendizabal, spokeswoman for Washington Attorney General Christine Gregoire "
balked.
Now, even if the states succeed in getting their money, it could come with
significant strings attached.
The terms of the settlement leave the Oregon Legislature free to spend its
settlement money however it wants. But the Clinton administration has
signaled that it's more likely to allow states to keep their tobacco money
if they promise to spend it strictly on public health.
"We want to work out something that would be acceptable to all," said Chris
Peacock, a spokesman for the Health Care Finance Administration. He said the
administration "has always said that tobacco funds should be spent on public
health and to assist children."
Squeaky tax wheel gets grease
That could prove a big disappointment to lawmakers in states such as
Missouri, where Republicans already have set out to apply the tobacco
settlement toward a tax cut.
In Oregon, in addition to the Oregon Health Plan, legislators and lobbyists
have suggested earmarking the money for elderly and disabled people who rely
on public transit, for consumer fraud protection or for a "rainy day"
reserve account to smooth state finances in an economic recession.
One way around the Clinton administration's bargaining position could be to
label these other programs as health-related expenditures.
"We consider ourselves part of health care," said Jacqueline Zimmer, a human
services lobbyist pushing for $30 million in tobacco settlement money for
senior and disabled transit. "We're not taking them to the movies; we're
taking them to the doctors."
But both Kitzhaber and legislative leaders are reluctant to lock up the
money too quickly.
"I don't think we have any idea how much we're going to get or when we're
going to get it," said Senate Majority Leader Gene Derfler, R-Salem.
Jon Yunker, Kitzhaber's budget planner, said uncertainties surrounding the
settlement mean the money should be targeted toward maintaining existing
programs, not starting new ones.
First, because the tobacco settlement led manufacturers to increase prices,
cigarette consumption is less than predicted.
The state now forecasts that cigarette tax revenues will fall $30 million
short of what the governor projected in his December budget proposal.
Kitzhaber would like to cover that shortfall with the tobacco settlement,
Yunker said.
Second, Kitzhaber would consider the tobacco money for a rainy day fund.
Putting the money there rather than in other programs would mean if the
settlement money fell short, the budget wouldn't have to be cut, Yunker said.
A question for next session
If the amount of the payment remains unresolved through the end of the
legislative session this summer, lawmakers might decide to do nothing. If
the money then came in during the legislative interim, none of it could be
spent without a special session of the Legislature. Instead, it would build
up until the 2001 Legislature.
Much depends on what happens in Washington, D.C. A federal law dating to the
1960s says that the government must recoup a pro-rated share of payments
made by third parties to Medicaid, the federal health insurance program for
the poor that states administer.
For example, in the case of Medicaid fraud, the government would be entitled
to recoup what it lost in Medicaid payments. Nancy-Ann Min Deparle, the
federal health care finance administrator, testified before Congress in 1997
that the law would apply to a state tobacco settlement. But states now are
reacting angrily to the move.
Fighting for the whole pot
Leading the effort to block federal intervention is Washington Attorney
General Christine Gregoire.
"The states fought the battle, they won the war, and it's their money," said
Liz Mendizabal, a spokeswoman for Gregoire. She plans to lobby for Gorton's
legislation, which would exempt the tobacco settlement from existing federal
law.
Further frustrating Oregon officials is the fact that President Clinton on
Tuesday announced that the government would file a separate lawsuit against
the tobacco industry to recoup federal Medicare dollars.
Why, then, does the administration want to take the states' settlement money
as well, asks Mark Gardner, special counsel to Oregon Attorney General Hardy
Myers.
Gardner said the state is ready to sue the government to protect the settlement.
Cigarette sales a factor
Even if the dispute is resolved, the amount of money coming to Oregon could
fluctuate. The tobacco settlement says companies will pay out less if their
volume of cigarette sales goes down.
Furthermore, smaller tobacco companies accounting for 1 percent of the
market have not signed the legal settlement, allowing them to undercut
companies that have signed and raised prices to pay for it.
The settlement says legislatures in Oregon and other states must pass laws
to prevent that from happening -- or lose a portion of their money. Bills to
do so probably would increase prices for companies that haven't signed the
settlement by making them pay into an escrow account that would cover their
legal costs if sued.
Steve Suo can be reached at 221-8234 or by e-mail at
stevesuo@news.oregonian.com.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Court Date Set For Medical Marijuana Activists (MSNBC/KNBC, in Los Angeles,
says the federal trial of Todd McCormick, Peter McWilliams and other
defendants who thought they were protected by Proposition 215 will begin
Sept. 7 in Los Angeles. McCormick is also due in court March 17 for a bail
revocation hearing.)
Subject: US CA: Court Date Set For Medical Marijuana Activists
Newshawk: compassion23@geocities.com (Frank S. World)
Source: MSNBC/KNBC (Los Angeles, CA)
Contact: msnbc.tvsknbc@nbc.com
Website: http://www.nbc4la.com/
Pubdate: Mon, 25 Jan 1999
COURT DATE SET FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA ACTIVISTS
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 25 - Todd McCormick, Peter McWilliams and others accused
of growing pot for medical marijuana clubs say they have the right to do so
under Proposition 215. On Sept. 7, they'll have to defend that claim in
federal court.
U.S. District Judge George H. King will preside over the trial.
McCormick was arrested in July 1997 after authorities discovered more than
4,000 marijuana plants growing in a rented Bel-Air mansion.
McWilliams and four others were arrested nearly a year later, after
authorities said they had evidence that he and McCormick were plotting to
grow and sell thousands of pounds of pot to sell to buyers' clubs.
McCormick, who suffers from complications brought on by several bouts with
a rare form of cancer, and McWilliams, who has AIDS, claim they have the
right to grow marijuana under Proposition 215, the state ballot initiative
passed in 1996 that decriminalized pot for medical use in some cases. Both
deny alleged plans to sell pot.
McCormick is due in court on March 17 for a bail revocation hearing.
Prosecutors say he tested positive for marijuana use several times while
free on $500,000 bail, which actor Woody Harrelson posted.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Pete Brady also busted in California (A list subscriber says the bust
of Steve & Michelle Kubby has obscured the bust of a visitor to the Kubbys'
house, a writer for High Times, Hemp Times and Cannabis Culture magazines
and a bona fide medical marijuana user under Proposition 215. On probation
for a 1994 marijuana cultivation charge, Brady faces much more trouble
than the Kubbys.)
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1999 11:14:54 -0500
From: Don Wirtshafter (don@HEMPERY.COM)
Organization: Ohio Hempery 1-800-BUY-HEMP
To: "DRCTalk Reformers' Forum" (drctalk@drcnet.org)
Subject: Pete Brady also busted in California
Sender: owner-drctalk@drcnet.org
With all the attention being directed at the raid on the home of Steve
and Michelle Kubby, one companion bust has gone unnoticed. Pete Brady
was caught in the same net, probably because he was observed visiting
the Kubbys during the time they were under surveillance. Because Brady
is on probation for simillar conduct, he seems to be in much more
trouble than the Kubbys.
ACTION ALERT ABOUT ARREST OF PETE BRADY, WRITER FOR HIGH TIMES, HEMP TIMES
AND CANNABIS CULTURE MAGAZINES.
BY LEN GOLDING
On January 21, 1999, police in Butte County, California visited the
home of noted cannabis activist and journalist Pete Brady.
Brady is a medical marijuana user with a bona fide Proposition 215
prescription. He is on probation for a 1994 marijuana cultivation
charge.
Police told him that they were going to conduct a "probation search" of
his home, but their actions and questions quickly indicated that the
visit was not a probation search but instead was connected to the arrest
of Libertarian politician Steve Kubby and his wife Michele, which took
place earlier that week.
Kubby, an outspoken author and activist who campaigned to be
California's governor last year, was instrumental in ensuring the
passage of Proposition 215, and is himself a cancer survivor and medical
marijuana user.
On January 19, the Kubbys were arrested in their Olympic Valley,
California home by a multi-agency task force that charged them with
serious marijuana crimes, including cultvation and cultivation for sale.
According to sources, agents had been surveilling the Kubbys and
recording license plate numbers of people who visited them. Brady had
visited them three times in 1998 while working on an article and book
about Kubby, and also while working on an article for Kubby's Alpine
World magazine. They traced Brady's address, and apparently believed
they could convince him to implicate himself or Kubby in some vast
marijuana conspiracy.
Instead, they found slightly more than ounce of dried marijuana, some
marijuana food, and seven small cacti which police claim are peyote
cacti. Brady was charged with felony possession of peyote, possession of
marijuana, and probation violations on both a state and federal level.
He faces several years in prison.
Brady has written several signed articles in High Times that have been
critical of Butte County authorities. Unlike more progressive California
jurisdictions, Butte County and many Northern California counties
routinely violate Prop. 215 guidelines, due process and civil liberties.
During a three-hour interrogation, police revealed that they were
aware of Brady's marijuana journalism and didn't approve of it. In 1998,
law enforcement officials threatened Brady after he wrote in High Times
about homophobic local police harassing a gay medical marijuana user.
Thus, the case involves First Amendment issues, along with those raised
by Prop. 215.
Brady at present lacks the funds to hire a competent attorney.
Contributions to his defense fund can be sent to L. Wilson, P.O. Box
5354, Chico, Ca. 95927.
***
Don Wirtshafter, Ohio Hempery Inc.
Products the Earth Can Afford
Call or write for our free catalog:
Order Line 1-800-BUY-HEMP
7002 S.R. 329, Guysville, OH 45735
(740) 662-4367
fax (740) 662-6446
shop on line:
http://www.hempery.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Balto. County To Provide Drug Test Kits (The Baltimore Sun says the Baltimore
County Bureau of Substance Abuse will begin a pilot urine-testing program
this week that will let parents know within minutes if their child has taken
"drugs" and, if so, provide immediate counseling. But the newspaper doesn't
discuss the ramifications of its revelation that the test to be used is only
95 percent accurate. So unless more than 5 percent of those tested have
actually used prohibited substances, more kids will yield false positives
than true positives.)
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1999 20:59:08 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US MD: Balto. County To Provide Drug Test Kits
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Rob Ryan
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Copyright: 1999 by The Baltimore Sun, a Times Mirror Newspaper.
Website: http://www.sunspot.net/
Forum: http://www.sunspot.net/cgi-bin/ultbb/Ultimate.cgi?action=intro
Contact: letters@baltsun.com
Pubdate: 25 Jan 1999
BALTO. COUNTY TO PROVIDE DRUG TEST KITS
Results immediate for parents requesting exam for children; 1st such
program in state; Product can identify 6 drug categories, says abuse agency
Baltimore County is about to unveil its latest weapon in the war on drugs:
instant drug testing for children.
The Baltimore County Bureau of Substance Abuse will begin a pilot program
this week that will let parents know within minutes if their child has
taken drugs and, if so, provide immediate counseling.
It is the first government program in Maryland to offer such a service, and
it is being launched in a county where more than half of all high school
seniors admit to having used an illegal drug at least once. And it might
become a model for similar efforts statewide.
"We intend to follow the program's progress and, if it's successful, to
what extent it might be replicated in other areas of the state," said
Thomas W. Davis, director of the state Department of Health and Mental
Hygiene's alcohol and drug abuse administration.
Michael M. Gimbel, director of the county substance abuse bureau, said that
most commercial drug test kits must be sent to a lab and that results
generally aren't available for a week or 10 days. Results are often given
over the telephone -- sometimes with counseling over the phone.
Gimbel said telephone counseling is not as effective as having a therapist
in the room to help deal with the problem.
"By having a counselor there, you have someone in the room who knows how to
deal with a positive result, how to handle a family in crisis," Gimbel
said. "If a parent gets results and they're positive, they don't
necessarily know what to do."
The benefit of having a counselor was evident last week when a
seventh-grader expelled from Pine Grove Middle School in Carney for
possessing marijuana showed up with his mother at the bureau's drug
counseling center in Timonium to be tested.
The mother, who asked that her name not be used, said her 12-year-old son
has admitted to experimenting with marijuana in the past. But she is
convinced that her son was only holding a small amount of marijuana for
another pupil who took it home and smoked it.
`I told you so'
The youth and his mother were interviewed by counselor Jacqueline Foreman,
and the boy filled out an extensive questionnaire. He was then brought into
Foreman's office, where he and his mother were presented with a plastic cup.
"Here, I think you know what to do," Foreman said, handing the cup to the boy.
When the youth came back a few minutes later, Foreman, wearing surgical
gloves, twisted the cap onto the cup until it gave a few clicks, which
started the testing process. The cup includes a tiny thermometer to prove
that the urine is at body temperature and just provided.
Within a few minutes, two bars began appearing next to the labels for each
of six drug categories, showing that the boy was drug-free.
The youth showed no signs of surprise as he turned to his mother.
"I told you so," he said.
FDA officials say there are at least a half-dozen such "rapid result drug
test kits" being marketed for use by emergency rooms, personnel
departments, parole boards, public safety officials, transit agencies and
others.
Most of them, including the one being used by Baltimore County, are
restricted to use by doctors and counselors working under a doctor's
supervision, said Sharon Snider, a spokeswoman for the Food and Drug
Administration.
Gimbel came up with the idea for the Baltimore County program about six
months ago, when a sales representative for Point of Care Technologies of
Rockville visited his office with the company's version of a urine-based
drug test.
As a drug counselor and administrator for 18 years, Gimbel had seen his
share of such kits. He liked this one -- called the Genie Cup -- because it
offered immediate results.
"If someone has to wait five to seven days, anything could happen. The
child could run away. There could be violence in the home or wherever
people get their results," Gimbel said.
Gimbel calls the program PASS, an acronym for Prompt Adolescent
Substance-abuse Screening. It will be available to the public starting this
week at the offices of the bureau's Northern Area Treatment Program, 2 W.
Aylesbury Road in Timonium, and the Eastern Area Treatment Program, 9100
Franklin Square Drive in Rosedale.
Drug counselors will be available at the centers during office hours and
three nights a week, and appointments will be made within 24 hours of a
parent's phone call, Gimbel said.
Gimbel said no parents will be turned away for an inability to pay, but a
$50 break-even fee helps pay for the staff time and for the cups, being
supplied to the county at a discount by Point of Care Technologies, the
Rockville manufacturer.
"Every kid is vulnerable right now, and if this gives parents a way to feel
comfortable that their kids are clean, then it will be well worth it,"
Gimbel said.
Gimbel's office performs about 300 drug assessments a year on youths who
must complete a mandatory drug counseling program because they have been
expelled from school for drugs or ordered to drug treatment by juvenile
courts.
Gimbel said PASS is intended for parents who want to bring their children
in voluntarily, whether they are in trouble or headed that way.
Spokesmen for Point of Care Technologies say they probably will use the
results of the Baltimore County program to help sell their product, but say
the 3-year-old company is performing a public service.
What makes the company's product unique, spokesmen say, is that it can test
for six categories of drugs, that the counselor needs only to twist a
tightly sealed cap for the results and that the sealed cup makes for a
clean testing process.
"Every other drug test you have additional steps, you either have to tilt
the cup, or stick a card into the cup to get a reading. With this, all you
do is seal the cap," said Michael R. Pratt, president and chief executive
officer of Point of Care Technologies.
95 percent accurate
The Genie Cup, approved by the FDA in July, is about 95 percent accurate,
and positive test results should be confirmed with more thorough clinical
laboratory tests, he said.
Gimbel said it will be up to the parents to decide if they want a follow-up
test at a lab to confirm a positive result.
He said that one problem with all drug testing is that for the most part,
the tests offer only a "snapshot" of what the person taking it recently
consumed. Most narcotics will stay in the bloodstream for only 72 hours, he
said, but marijuana remains detectable for up to three weeks.
Gimbel has ordered 300 Genie Cups from Point of Care Technologies, at a
discount price of about $3 a cup. He acknowledges that he has no idea how
many parents will call for appointments.
"We could get 300 in a week, we could get a lot less than that. We have no
way of knowing if this thing will take off or not," he said.
In a society where about half of all high school seniors acknowledge in
surveys trying marijuana, sales of home drug test kits have been brisk.
Another manufacturer of such tests, Phamatech, of San Diego, has sold about
1,000 of its QuickScreen at Home Drug Tests since the FDA approved the test
for sale in October, according to Lorraine Cogan, a Phamatech spokeswoman.
"It's the kind of product that generates a lot of interest," Cogan said.
The number to call for appointments for Baltimore County's PASS adolescent
drug testing program is 410-887-7671.
to the 1999 Daily News index for Jan. 22-28