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The Need For Weed (Willamette Week, in Portland, belatedly discovers
how the voter-approved Oregon Medical Marijuana Act is so weak
that cancer sufferers and other seriously ill patients still have to resort
to illegal means to obtain medicine - or go without. Even those who can wait
six months to grow plants have to obtain seeds or starts illegally. The free
weekly shopper also promotes the myth that some cannabis buyers' clubs
in California became "notorious hangouts for recreational users" - a
media-generated lie that partly explains why patients in Oregon have to cope
with the ridiculous limitations of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act.)
Date: Sat, 30 Jan 1999 19:37:52 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US OR: MMJ: The Need For Weed
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Newshawk: D. Paul Stanford (stanford@crrh.org)
Pubdate: 27 Jan 1999
Source: Willamette Week (OR)
Contact: mzusman@wweek.com
Website: http://www.wweek.com/
Copyright: Willamette Week 1999
Author: Patty Wentz (pwentz@wweek.com)
THE NEED FOR WEED
Under Oregon's new medical-marijuana law, some patients can legally
use pot. Problem is, there's no way to legally buy it.
Doctor's Orders: Where does Measure 67 leave doctors?
When she voted to legalize medical marijuana early last November,
Nancy didn't know there was a tumor growing in her right breast. A
couple of weeks later, though, she found the lump that pushed her into
a medical free fall. By early December she learned it was malignant.
By Christmas she'd had a mastectomy and was headed for several
grueling chemotherapy treatments.
The first session in early January left her reeling with nausea. Her
doctor prescribed Compazine, which did little to control the nausea
but still left her weak and exhausted. She knew she wouldn't be able
to endure the next treatment, scheduled for this week, without a
better way to control the side effects.
Nancy had heard that Zofran worked better, but at 20 bucks a pill she
couldn't afford it. So she asked her doctor about marijuana.
Nancy's doctor wrote a letter stating that she had
chemotherapy-induced vomiting, an acceptable condition for medical use
of marijuana. The letter, he explained, should keep her from being
arrested for possessing a small amount of the drug until the Oregon
Health Department has a system in place for patients to register.
But Nancy still has a big problem. Although her doctor in effect wrote
her a prescription, he couldn't tell her where to get it filled.
Nancy, a Portlander in her early 40s, says she hasn't smoked dope
since her teens. She has no idea how to get any now.
"I'm not a marijuana user," she says, "and the thought of buying drugs
off the street freaks me out."
Nancy's story is becoming increasingly common as patients come up
against one of the glitches in the medical-marijuana law. Even if they
can find a doctor to approve their use of it (see "Doctors' Orders,"),
there is no established center that provides marijuana.
When California voters approved medical-marijuana use in 1996,
cannabis buying clubs sprung up around the state. Although some were
genuinely geared toward patients, others became notorious hangouts for
recreational users. The Oregon law was written to preclude the
establishment of such clubs here.
That provision helped garner support for the measure, but it left a
gaping hole in the new law. Many patients, like Nancy, are confused.
She assumed the passage of Measure 67 meant that there would be a safe
and stable supply of marijuana for patients like her. "I didn't grasp
that they had no sanctioned way to get it," she says. "I thought there
would be some alternative, getting it through a pharmacy or something."
Instead, she has learned, in order to follow the letter of the law,
she has to grow it herself or be given a supply by another patient.
Nancy doesn't know any other medical-marijuana users. As for growing
her own, she's not in a position to wait for the plants to mature,
even if she could somehow find some seeds.
In Nancy's mind she really has only one choice: the street. Because of
her physician's letter, she's probably safe from prosecution, but
anyone who sells or even gives her pot is in a legal gray area.
Where to get marijuana is a common problem, especially for older
people who have never even seen a joint, says David Smigelski,
spokesperson for Oregonians for Medical Rights.
Smigelski, a former WW reporter, says that while Measure 67 allows
patients to grow up to six plants, getting the seeds or seedlings to
plant is a problem OMR can't help with. "We're getting calls from
people who have expertise in growing who are willing to help people,"
he says, "and we have people who want to know how to get seeds." But
OMR won't play matchmaker. Smigelski says he doesn't know of any
informal networks of patients that have sprung up to meet the demand.
For now, he says, patients are going to have to fend for themselves.
Dr. Mary O'Hearn, an AIDS specialist at Oregon Health Sciences
University, says doctors at her clinic have written three letters for
patients who want to use medical marijuana, which stimulates the
appetite and prevents the slow starvation that is a side effect of
AIDS. She has no idea where those patients are getting their supply.
"I haven't really talked to them about that," she says. "They seem to
have access."
As much as it unnerves her, Nancy says she'll probably have to buy pot
the same way everybody does: through the underground. She says she has
a friend who knows someone who might be able to help. Faced with
another round of chemotherapy, she doesn't have time to grow her own,
and she has nowhere else to turn.
***
Nancy did not want her real name to be used for this story because she
was worried that her employer would judge her harshly for using marijuana.
***
Oregonians for Medical Rights has a toll-free number for people
wanting information about the medical-marijuana law: (877) 600-6767.
***
Since Oregon's medical-marijuana law kicked in on Dec. 3, the folks at
Oregonians for Medical Rights have received more than 400 calls.
"The most often-asked question is 'Where do I find a doctor?'" says
David Smigelski, spokesperson for OMR, which ran the Measure 67
campaign.
Measure 67 doesn't require doctors to prescribe pot in the same way
they would prescribe penicillin. All a patient needs to be legal is a
note from a physician stating that he or she has a condition that is
covered under the medical-marijuana law.
Still, most doctors seem to be skittish about signing a letter. Some
may fear being labeled as a "pot doctor." Others have legal concerns.
Measure 67 did not legalize pot--it simply exempted patients from
prosecution. It remains to be seen what consequences doctors may face.
The Drug Enforcement Agency has remained silent on Measure 67, but two
years ago the feds threatened to yank the drug license of any
California doctor recommending marijuana. A group of physicians sued
and were able to get a stay order from a federal judge, which protects
them from prosecution. Given that, the Oregon Medical Association has
recommended that doctors don't do anything until May 1, when the new
law requires that the Oregon Health Department have a patient
registration system in place.
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Data give bad news on teen substance abuse (The Oregonian says the 1998
Oregon Public School Drug Use Survey of nearly 20,000 students in grades 6, 8
and 11 at 230 schools across the state showed that 43 percent of 11th-graders
drank alcohol, nearly one in three smoked cigarettes, and nearly one in four
used an "illicit drug" - almost invariably, marijuana - in the month prior to
the survey. The state's most complete indicator of drug and alcohol use among
young people also indicated that among eighth-graders, one in four drank, one
in five used tobacco, and nearly one in five used marijuana. Since there was
no increase in marijuana use, according to an accompanying graph, the
newspaper tries to sensationalize the non-news that drug use cuts across all
socioeconomic groups, while ignoring the startling evidence that current
drug policy has more than doubled deaths from hard drugs since 1993. Both the
survey takers and the newspaper equate marijuana with heroin, cocaine or
methamphetamine, calling it an "illicit drug," while denying that alcohol and
tobacco are drugs, and illicit for teens, yet seem to wring their hands about
how kids aren't listening.)
Newshawk: Portland NORML (http://www.pdxnorml.org/)
Pubdate: Wed, Jan 27 1999
Source: Oregonian, The (OR)
Copyright: 1999 The Oregonian
Contact: letters@news.oregonian.com
Address: 1320 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97201
Fax: 503-294-4193
Website: http://www.oregonlive.com/
Forum: http://forums.oregonlive.com/
Author: Erin Hoover Barnett, the Oregonian
Data give bad news on teen
substance abuse
* A survey of Oregon students
finds "it isn't just the
fringe kids. It's the
athletes. It's the good
students. It's everybody."
Lots of kids are trying it.
That's the bad news from a
survey of alcohol and drug
use among young people in
Oregon.
The 1998 Oregon Public School
Drug Use Survey, which
included nearly 20,000
students, suggests that
drinking, smoking and using
illicit drugs cuts across all
social groups.
"A substantial number of young
people are experimenting, and
what we hear is it isn't just
the fringe kids. It's the
athletes. It's the good
students. It's everybody,"
said Barbara Cimaglio,
director of the state Office
of Alcohol and Drug Programs,
which contracted with a firm
called Northwest Professional
Consortium to do the survey,
released Tuesday.
Close to half (43 percent) of
11th-graders said they drank,
nearly one in three smoked, and nearly one in four used an illicit drug in
the month prior to the survey.
Eighth-graders didn't do a whole lot better. One in four drank, one in five
smoked, and nearly one in five used an illicit drug.
"When you're getting percentages that high, you know it crosses over all the
groups," Cimaglio said.
However, young people have changed in some areas. Alcohol use, for example,
has gone down since the first such survey in 1986. That year, nearly 60
percent of 11th-graders reported drinking in the previous month.
But Cimaglio takes little comfort. "When we see this early experimentation,
it's really frightening because we know that a percentage of these kids are
not going to be able to stop," she said. "There will be more people growing
into adult life with alcohol problems and maybe other drug problems."
The biennial survey, which cost $145,000, is the state's most complete
indicator of drug and alcohol use among young people. A total of 19,970
sixth-, eighth- and 11th-graders from 230 schools across the state participated.
Professional surveyors -- rather than the students' teachers -- were the
primary administrators. Students filled out survey forms anonymously,
helping to ensure the data's accuracy.
Cimaglio said she hopes the survey data will help Oregonians understand the
issue and attempt to help young people avoid or overcome alcohol and drug
abuse problems.
Cimaglio answered questions about the survey:
Q: Why should people care about alcohol and drug use in teens? Isn't it just
youthful indiscretion?
A: We know that use by young people has a lot of side effects. We know about
the car crashes, the violence. Drug and alcohol use also causes health
problems and learning problems and causes kids to lose interest in school.
All it takes is one bad instance -- it's not worth the risk.
And if you look at state services, 60 percent to 80 percent of families with
family members in prison or reliant on welfare have alcohol and drug
problems. We're starting to see multigenerations of alcohol and drug
problems. With young people, we know that cigarettes and alcohol are gateway
drugs. If there are 10 students who all drink and party, at least one or two
of them will go on to develop a drug or alcohol problem.
Q: What illicit drugs besides marijuana are kids using?
A: Inhalants. We just had an incident of a death in Salem, an 18-year-old
man smoking marijuana and inhaling butane. We also see that inhalants are
usually a drug of choice among younger kids because they can get these
products -- CO2 canisters, paint. Yet they can be deadly because these can
be really toxic substances. (One in 10 sixth-graders reported having used
inhalants at least once.)
We also see the popularity of heroin in the young adult population, in the
counterculture, that has become more chic. The heroin that is on the street
now is extremely potent, and the deaths we're seeing are related to that.
(Three percent of 11th-graders reported using heroin at some time in their
lives.)
Q: What is the survey data used for?
A: It helps local organizations plan programs focused on helping young
people who have these problems and preventing others from getting involved.
At the same time we released the survey, we also released profiles of each
county, which is helpful on a local level.
Q: What can be done to stem drug and alcohol use by young people?
A: One of the key factors is parents. We know that in families where parents
give strong messages about no drug use, where they talk to their kids about
alcohol and other drugs, it's far less likely that their children are going
to use these substances. Our office will be doing trainings over the next
year -- training others to train parents how to talk to their kids.
In Portland, print and TV ads have been used in a federal anti-drug use
initiative to raise awareness. Those have been shown to be effective as long
as there are local programs to bring home the message. The idea is that
students who have a negative attitude about drugs and alcohol are less
likely to use them.
The governor plans to focus on teen alcohol use this year through his
ongoing task force on underage drinking.
Q: What can an individual do today to make a difference?
A: If you have children or are a mentor or guardian, use this as an
opportunity to talk about alcohol and drug use. Let the children know that
you're concerned and what your values are about alcohol, drugs and tobacco.
And if you know someone who you think has a problem, get help. Alcoholics
Anonymous, Portland area, 503-223-8569. Narcotics Abuse 24-hour Helpline and
Treatment, 1-800-234-0420.
Q: How can people get a copy of the survey or the county profiles?
A: Contact Pam McVay at the Office of Alcohol and Drug Programs at
503-945-8865. To look at data matched with prevention programs that treat
these problems, try www.unr.edu/educ/cep/casat; go to the CASAT home page,
and click on prevention program planning and best practices.
Erin Hoover Barnett covers people and health issues for The Oregonian. She
can be reached at 503-294-5011, or by fax at 503-294-4150, or e-mail at
ehbarnett@news.oregonian.com.
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Butane sniffing, called huffing, is a growing health threat
(The Associated Press notes prohibition agents are trying to capitalize
on the death of an 18-year-old man in Salem, Oregon, who sniffed butane
after hearing that it would enhance the high from marijuana. Dave Driscoll,
a so-called drug recognition expert for Salem police, said of the fatality
that "It sounds like a typical sad end result of typical huffers.")
Associated Press
found at:
http://www.oregonlive.com/
feedback (letters to the editor):
feedback@thewire.ap.org
Butane sniffing, called huffing, is a growing health threat
The Associated Press
1/27/99 12:51 AM
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Health officials say new kind of drug abuse is tempting
young Oregonians -- sniffing butane fumes.
The practice is called huffing, and it claimed the life of James Mitchell
Stolberg, 18, on Sunday.
Stolberg and two teen-age friends were filling plastic bags with vapors from
disposable lighters Sunday, then inhaling the fumes from the bags, Salem
Police Lt. Dan Deitz said.
According to authorities, Stolberg had stopped breathing three times before
one of the friends called medics. By the time the ambulance arrived, he was
already dead.
"It sounds like a typical sad end result of typical huffers," said Officer
Dave Driscoll, a drug recognition expert for Salem police. "People will try
pretty much any chemical. Unfortunately, they may not survive it the first
time."
Huffing is most common among young people age 11 to 19, Driscoll said. While
butane is often used, huffers also seek other cheap inhalents, such as spray
paint, air freshener and nonstick cooking spray.
Some Salem-area grocery stores have had problems with teens who inhale the
propellant from cans of whipped cream. When a buyer tries to dispense the
whipped cream at home, nothing but liquid comes out.
In Stolberg's case, the teens had heard that the butane fumes would enhance
their highs from the marijuana they were smoking.
What makes huffing so dangerous is that people inhale substances based on
rumors that the practice is safe, said Oregon State Police Lt. Chuck Hayes,
who heads the state's Drug Recognition Expert training program.
Most inhalants act as depressants that slow down the central nervous system,
Driscoll said. The effects kick in almost instantly, often causing the
huffer to pass out. Symptoms can include dizziness, drowsiness, distorted
vision that may alter shapes and colors, feelings of floating or spinning,
distorted spatial perception and nausea.
"It varies greatly from inhalant to inhalant, and nobody really goes out and
studies these real hard because they are so dangerous," Driscoll said.
Some inhalants also coat the inside of the lungs and cause the huffer to
suffocate. Often, people who pass out die from choking on their own vomit or
on the bag they use to collect the vapors. Just a few uses can cause
long-term damage to the central nervous system, as well as decreased memory,
concentration and coordination.
Police are taught to recognize drivers who may be under the influence of
inhalants, but Oregon's laws still do not include inhalants in its
definition of driving under the influence of intoxicants despite their
prevalence.
"Without a doubt, we've had many incidents in the state where people have
been driving under the influence of paint, paint thinner, gases," Hayes
said. "And yet we cannot charge them with DUII because the law does not
cover those offenses."
Hayes and Driscoll said huffers' deaths will probably end only through
education. Hayes hopes a current radio campaign that warns of the dangers of
inhalants will help inform young people.
"It's really unfortunate that people have to die to bring this information
out," Driscoll said.
(c)1999 Oregon Live LLC
Copyright 1999 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Honor Student Charged in Robbery (The Associated Press says a high school
honor student and gymnast in the Detroit suburb of Berkley, Michigan, has
been charged with armed robbery and is a suspect in several others, allegedly
to support a heroin habit. Sarah Plumb, 16, is in a juvenile lockup, awaiting
trial as an adult on charges that could land her a life sentence.)
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 08:06:39 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US MI: Wire: Honor Student Charged in Robbery
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Wed, 27 Jan 1999
Source: Associated Press
Copyright: 1999 Associated Press
Author: David Goodman Associated Press Writer
HONOR STUDENT CHARGED IN ROBBERY
BERKLEY, Mich. (AP) A high school honor student and gymnast in this
Detroit suburb has been charged with armed robbery and is a suspect in
several others, allegedly to support a heroin habit.
Sarah Plumb, 16, is in a juvenile lockup, awaiting trial as an adult on
charges that could land her a life prison sentence.
In all of the stickups, the robber said she had a weapon but did not show
it, police said. Michigan law requires only the threat of a weapon for an
armed-robbery conviction.
Defense attorney Howard Arnkoff said Ms. Plumb should have been handled as
a juvenile and should have been charged with something less than armed
robbery, since no weapon was displayed.
"If she gets convicted, its a non-probational offense. She must be
incarcerated. She must be sent to prison. And I seriously doubt she could
get the help she needs," he said.
Police said she had a $200-a-day heroin habit a figure one expert said
was significant.
"That's a pretty chronic stage of their addiction. Generally, clients buy
in $10 increments," said Bruce Goldberg, a therapist at Botsford General
Hospital's Eastwood Clinic who said Ms. Plumb likely was sharing the drug
with other people.
News of her arrest shocked the low-crime community of 16,000 that typically
only has a half dozen stickups each year.
"This is very scary," said Berkley High School spokeswoman and media
instructor Gwen Ahearn. "The kids were surprised about the heroin."
"Typically, hard drugs are few and far between," Detective Sgt. Ray Anger
said Wednesday. "Possibly a couple other kids are users of serious drugs,
but I don't know."
Though she denies committing the robberies, Ms. Plumb admits she is a
heroin addict. She was arrested Dec. 21.
She told police she began using the drug at 14 when a co-worker at a pizza
parlor introduced her and her boyfriend to heroin.
Last June, she got caught cashing a forged check stolen from the high
school and confessed she was using the money to buy heroin, Anger said.
The robberies began last month, police said.
About 6 p.m. on Dec. 2, wearing a skull Halloween face mask, she allegedly
entered an Amoco station next to the high school and told the 17-year-old
clerk a fellow student that she had a weapon.
Ms. Plumb made off with $300, then went to her gymnastics team practice,
police say.
She later tried to rob a BP station in Royal Oak on Dec. 14, then robbed a
beer and wine store in Berkley the same day, a pizzeria in Clawson on Dec.
15 and another pizzeria in Southfield on Dec. 16, Anger said. She has not
been charged in those holdups.
A friend tipped police to Ms. Plumb as a suspect in the first robbery.
The arrest created such a buzz among Berkley High School's 1,300 students
Wednesday that the administration took to the PA system to discourage
rumor-mongering about it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Colombia's Internal Security (Jane's Defence Weekly gives the more-or-less
official US interpretation of Colombia's civil war as a struggle between
democratic nationalists with the government against Communist drug
traffickers with FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. "It is
believed" that FARC charges a 20 percent tax on coca in the regions it
controls, adding up to $230 million in 1997. "It is widely believed" that
FARC and the cartels can only be dealt with by the police and military acting
together. Now, US policy is beginning to warm to this view and as a result
greater ties are being formed between the US armed forces and its Colombian
counterparts.)
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 07:43:56 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Colombia's Internal Security
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Paul Lewin http://www.csdp.org/
Source: Jane's Defence Weekly
Copyright: 1998 Jane's Information Group Limited
Pubdate: Wed, 27 Jan 1999
Website: http://jdw.janes.com/
Author: Bryan Bender
Note: Bryan Bender is JDW's Washington Bureau Chief
COLOMBIA'S INTERNAL SECURITY
For more than 40 years, the Colombian government has been in conflict with
left-wing guerrilla forces. While some of these groups have withered away
or demobilised and joined the mainstream political process, the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Colombia's largest rebel
group, has become stronger and presents a serious threat to the government.
The FARC's success has been attributed in part to the emergence of a new
leader, Jorge Briceno, known as 'El Mono Jojoy', partly to the
ineffectiveness of the previous administration under President Samper, but
mainly to the FARC's links with Colombian drug cartels and the money it
receives from protecting cartel operations.
The FARC's success against Colombia's armed forces led the new president,
Andres Pastrana, to concede the creation of a demilitarised zone in the
rebel's heartland. This was a FARC precondition to the holding of peace
talks with the government.
During negotiations between Pastrana's government and FARC leaders on 11
January, the two sides presented their respective 10-point agendas for a
peaceful settlement to the continuing conflict.
The FARC proposal calls for a political solution to the conflict. It seeks
a military doctrine based on the defence of Colombia's borders rather than
internal repression together with a reduction in the size of the armed
forces and a greater respect for human rights.
As well as a revision of Colombia's military treaties, FARC wants a 10-year
moratorium on the country's debt, and insists that a solution must be found
to the "phenomenon of production, marketing and consumption of narcotics
and hallucinogens". FARC does not want this solution to be exclusively
military; instead, one that addresses issues of demand from large states
such as the USA.
The government's proposals similarly call for the unconditional protection
of human rights, highlighting the need for hostage-taking to cease. To
eradicate drug trafficking, special legal standards would be needed
together with agrarian reforms to help substitute illegal crops.
Against this background of negotiations, the FARC's attacks continue and
the country's security forces are considering new ways to deal with the
dual threats of guerrilla insurgents and drug-trafficking cartels.
Bogota has seen insurgent groups such as FARC, and the smaller National
Liberation Army (ELN), extend their operations over nearly 40% of the
country. Cocaine production in Colombia continues to rise rapidly, even
though it is declining in other Andean nations.
Both FARC and the drug cartels operate predominantly in the southern
regions and have a mutual interest in establishing an autonomous zone in
which Bogota cannot realistically interfere.
It is believed that FARC charges a 20% tax on coca crops, paste production
and transportation through the regions it controls. This is in effect
protection money paid by the cartels and it goes towards the arming of FARC
with Stinger manportable surface-to-air missiles, mortars, heavy machine
guns and night-vision equipment.
The FARC's income which is believed to have risen to $230 million in 1997
also goes towards paying good 'wages' to its members: 'wages' that are
higher than a farmer could earn and may be more than a Colombian soldier's
pay.
"I think the connection between the insurgents and the narco-traffickers
has been very clearly demonstrated," says US Marine Corps Gen Charles
Wilhelm, commander-in-chief of Southern Command which oversees US military
activities and assistance in South America. "This is an insurgency that has
been sustaining itself for a number of years, so I think the linkage is
definitely there."
Taking the view that the drug cartels and FARC represent two fronts in the
same war, President Pastrana has formulated a new policy to deal with both.
Pastrana has been receiving increased aid and support from the USA. In
recent years the USA had distanced itself from previous Colombian
governments because of their ties to the drug cartels.
"A new stage has begun in the relationship between the two countries and
clearly we are being treated completely differently than was the case in
the previous four years," Pastrana said in December after meeting with US
Defense Secretary William Cohen.
As in the past, however, US aid, including $230 million in additional
funding authorised by the US Congress late last year, has been earmarked
only for anti-drug operations conducted by the Colombian National Police.
US aid has been forbidden, with few exceptions, from being used by the
Colombian Army for counterinsurgency efforts because of concern about human
rights abuses. The USA is also determined to avoid being drawn into a
political and military quagmire.
"We do not have any interest in getting involved in a counter-insurgency
programme in Colombia," a senior US Department of Defense official told
Jane's Defence Weekly. However, the symbiotic relationship between the FARC
and the drug cartels and Pastrana's 'two fronts, one enemy' approach have
begun to blur the distinction between counter-insurgency and anti-drugs
operations.
It is widely believed that FARC and the cartels can only be dealt with by
the police and military acting together. Now, US policy is beginning to
warm to this view and as a result greater ties are being formed between the
US armed forces and its Colombian counterparts.
Central to Pastrana's policy is a major effort to co-ordinate the military
and police operations, and to lay the ground for a wide-ranging reform of
the armed forces.
An example of the integration of the police and armed forces is the
newly-established Joint Inter-Agency Task Force based at Tres Equinas.
Here, air force, army and navy aircraft operate jointly with assets of the
Colombian National Police.
Colombia, with US funding and training, has also begun to establish the
first of several 1,000-strong counter-narcotics battalions within the army.
"We have proposed to the US government that it is important to set up a
new, special unit within the army in order to give support to this police
eradication effort," Defence Minister Rodrigo Lloreda told JDW. "We have to
put in army forces first before we come in with the police."
Gen Wilhelm says that there has been "remarkable progress in a relatively
short time and some very creative thoughts about new directions in
restructuring certain portions of the armed forces to make them more
effective in this integrated campaign and strategy against the dual threat
of the narcotics traffickers and the insurgents".
Concluding that the army's human rights record must improve if it is to
receive additional US military aid, Pastrana has also put forward a plan to
professionalise the armed forces. The aim is to replace 15,000 conscripts
with regular troops and to increase human rights training with the aid of
US Army Special Forces instructors.
Lloreda stresses that much progress has already been made. In 1998 only
four charges of human rights abuses were brought against military personnel
and Lloreda expects that at least three will prove false: "that's a
remarkable achievement when you consider this is a country at war" he said.
Apart from questions of professionalisation and reform, the Colombian armed
forces is severely lacking the modern systems it needs to counter the
guerrillas. "There are fairly well recognised deficiencies in things like
mobility, intelligence collection capabilities, direct attack capabilities
and certain aspects of command and control," says Gen Wilhelm. "This is a
mobility issue to a large extent, or how to effectively confront the
traffickers and insurgents."
The armed forces "need direct attack systems and that means attack
helicopters of one kind or another. They need improved command and control,
better vehicles for intelligence analysis, production and dissemination.
They really need to make some overhauls to the riverine mobility
requirements. Look at a map of the country ... you see all blue lines. So
surface mobility is frequently riverine mobility."
Taken together, the integration of military and police forces for anti-drug
operations that will involve conflict with insurgents is drawing the USA
closer to Colombia's armed forces. Assistance in creating counter-narcotics
battalions, help in setting up a new intelligence centre and the sharing of
US satellite data on the de-militarised zone constitute steps along a path
towards US involvement in Colombia's counter-insurgency, though the USA
insists that any military-to-military involvement is restricted to
counter-drug operations.
The outcome of the current peace talks could be decisive in the future of
US policy. If they collapse, as many experts expect, the FARC is certain to
continue its relationship with the cartels. If there is a determination to
stem the flow of drugs from Colombia to US streets there is little doubt
that military aid will need to be increased if the cartels and their FARC
allies are to be confronted.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
DrugSense Weekly, No. 83 (The original summary of drug policy news from
DrugSense opens with a note - About this week's issue. The weekly feature
article explains the Significance of the Kubbys' arrest, by Thomas J.
O'Connell, M.D. The Weekly News in Review features Medicinal marijuana
advocate, wife busted; Outrage in law; Lockyer won't get involved in
prosecution of gubernatorial candidate. Recently published letters to
newspaper editors include - Medical marijuana and the legal mess; Pot laws
and big brother; Maine doctor should look at the facts of marijuana; Lockyer
on medical pot; Failed drug policies and the heroin glut; Drug tests a waste;
It's time to honestly review drug policy; and Let users get drugs at corner
store. The weekly Hot Off The 'Net feattures the Free The Kubbys Web Action
page. The DrugSense Tip Of The Week looks at subscribing to and unsubscribing
from various services and lists. The Quote of the Week cites Bill Clinton.)
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 15:00:50 -0800
To: mgreer@mapinc.org
From: Mark Greer (MGreer@mapinc.org)
Subject: DrugSense Weekly, January 27, 1999 #083
***
DRUGSENSE WEEKLY
***
DrugSense Weekly, January 27, 1999, #83
A DrugSense publication
http://www.drugsense.org
TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, DONATE OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS PLEASE
SEE THE INFORMATION AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS NEWSLETTER
This Publication May Be Read On-line at:
http://www.drugsense.org/dsw/1999/ds99.n83.html
NEW: Reading the DrugSense Weekly on-line allows you to "jump" to any of the
items below that interest you with just a mouse click. Try it!
Please consider writing a letter to the editor responding to any of the
articles below using the E-Mail addresses provided.
***
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
* About this Week's Issue
* Feature Article
Significance of the Kubbys' Arrest
By Thomas J. O'Connell M.D.
* Weekly News in Review
(1) Medicinal Marijuana Advocate, Wife Busted
(2) Outrage In Law
(3) Lockyer Won't Get Involved In Prosecution Of Gubernatorial Candidate
* Recently Published Letters
(4) Medical Marijuana and The Legal Mess
(5) Pot Laws and Big Brother
(6) Maine Doctor Should Look at the Facts of Marijuana
(7) Lockyer On Medical Pot
(8) Failed Drug Policies and the Heroin Glut
(9) Drug Tests a Waste
(10) It's Time to Honestly Review Drug Policy
(11) Let Users Get Drugs At Corner Store
* Hot Off The 'Net
Free The Kubby's Web Action Page page
* DrugSense Tip Of The Week
Subscribing to and Unsubscribing From Various Services and Lists
* Quote of the Week
Bill Clinton
***
ABOUT THIS WEEK'S ISSUE
***
Mark Greer had planned to do this issue in order to give our senior
editor Tom O'Connell a short break. Unfortunately, Mark's electric
power and Internet access became uncertain with the arrival of a highly
unusual snowstorm on Monday evening, so this will be a rather
spontaneous, last minute issue - different in format than usual. The
feature is a discussion of the significance of last week's arrest of
Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Steve Kubby.
In place of the usual COMMENTS on 17 or so excerpted drug news and
opinion pieces, we'll print the full text of several recently published
letters to editors.
***
FEATURE ARTICLE
***
Significance of the Kubbys' Arrest
Without question, Steve and Michele Kubbys' arrest at their Lake Tahoe
home was the most significant news event last week. The Kubbys had
known for six months that they were under surveillance; throughout his
campaign for governor on the Libertarian ticket, Steve made no secret
of his advocacy for medical cannabis, nor of his own use. Their arrest
came on the heels of another, less publicized arrest, in San Francisco,
of Richard Evans - also a high-profile medical marijuana user and
advocate. When taken together and considered in detail, these arrests
suggest a pattern of police harassment of otherwise law-abiding
citizens for continuing to advocate medical marijuana, a pattern
occurring despite recent assurances from newly-elected AG Bill Lockyer
that he wants Proposition 215 to work as voters intended.
It didn't surprise when local officials, highly supportive of marijuana
prohibition, went after distributors of medical marijuana before
November 1998. After all, AG Dan Lungren, Governor Pete Wilson, and
Drug Czar McCaffrey (despite empty promises to "leave to it science")
were openly hostile to the idea; Lungren's office had initiated a
series of successful legal actions to narrowly restrict the activities
of buyers' clubs. The rulings he obtained allowed maximum local
enforcement of those restrictions and culminated in several felony
trials and convictions of distributors. Finally, a delayed federal
court challenge had all but shut down the few surviving clubs by
November 1998. As a result of this feverish combined attack on
Proposition 215, California patients unable to grow cannabis had to
obtain it from the criminal market. Either way, they were fair game for
arrest, just as before passage of the initiative.
This should have changed after November, 1998; Lungren was defeated in
his bid for governor and Stirling, his hard-line designated successor
as AG lost by a wide margin to medical marijuana supporter Bill
Lockyer; in the background, several other state initiatives had passed
handsomely. Nevertheless, there were signs that local California
officials wouldn't accept change readily: the high-profile felony
prosecutions of distributors Peter Baez in San Jose and Marvin Chavez
in Orange County continued as if nothing had happened; Chavez was
convicted and awaits sentencing on Jan 29th; Baez' trial on multiple
felony charges continues.
Both cases betray extreme police and prosecutorial hostility for the
accused; they involved police "stings," with planted "patients" using
forged doctor recommendations. They also involve disputed police access
to patient records, maximum charges and (in Chavez' case), a blatantly
unfair attempt to prevent the jury from even hearing about medical
marijuana.
Meanwhile, Lockyer had made several well-publicized statements
supporting the concept of medical marijuana; however, he cautioned its
supporters not to expect miracles and cited continued federal hostility
as a problem. The ink on these assurances was hardly dry when Evans and
the Kubby's were arrested. Although there is no suggestion that the two
are linked by anything more than common police motivation, the
similarities are chilling: they both involved long preparation, lavish
use of resources, obvious specific targeting of medical marijuana
advocates, and use of numerous police personnel to make sudden arrests;
both sought maximum humiliation and discomfort for those arrested, and
finally, both sought excessive bail.
These cases represent a clear challenge to the new AG. A large, well
informed activist community in California will be following
developments carefully, not only in terms of what happens, but in terms
of how fairly and completely they are covered in the media. There is
little question that local law enforcement has become used to the "pot
bust" as a source of revenue and power, just as the incarceration
industry has thrived on a steady stream of marijuana "felons;" their
implacable resistance to the idea of medical marijuana reveals their
motive, which is clearly not protection of "kids, " but of turf and
income.
These events have national implications; it was no accident that
California, long the birthplace of new national trends, passed the
first medical marijuana initiative. Police in states with their own
newly passed initiatives will take their lead from events here. So far
the Golden State has not proven a very good model, unless you are
against patients and all for cops and prisons.
Tom O'Connell
***
WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW
***
COMMENT:
Three wire services and multiple California newspapers carried the
story of the Kubby's arrest; the Orange County Register was the first
to weigh in with a strong editorial denunciation, one which also
offered an opinion on what the AG should be doing.
What the AG proposes to do is covered in the last item: exactly
nothing. One wonders at his mental gymnastics: "I didn't campaign for
this measure, therefore I don't have to restrain sheriffs and
prosecutors who oppose it, even when they flout laws I'm charged with
upholding."
***
(1) MEDICINAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATE, WIFE BUSTED
OLYMPIC VALLEY -- Gubernatorial candidate Steve Kubby, an outspoken
supporter of marijuana legalization, and his wife were arrested
Tuesday after narcotics agents found about 300 marijuana plants in
their home.
Kubby, 52, a Libertarian Party candidate who received more than
65,000 votes and finished fourth in his bid for governor in
November, and his wife, Michele, 32, were arrested at their Olympic
Valley home following a search by a narcotics task force.
Investigators found four growing rooms in the residence from which
they confiscated the plants with an estimated street value of about
$420,000.
The couple were being held at the Placer County Jail in Auburn,
where they were booked on suspicion of possessing marijuana for
sale, marijuana cultivation and conspiracy. They remained jailed
Wednesday night on bail of $100,000 each. Arraignment was set for
today at Tahoe Municipal Court in Tahoe City.
[snip]
Source: Sacramento Bee
Copyright: 1999 Sacramento Bee
Pubdate: Thu, 21 Jan 1999
Website: http://www.sacbee.com/
Contact: http://www.sacbee.com/about_us/sacbeemail.html
Forum: http://www.sacbee.com/voices/voices_forum.html
Author: Barbara Barte Osborn, Bee Correspondent
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n079.a03.html
***
(2) OUTRAGE IN LAW
Steven Kubby, the Libertarian Party candidate for governor and an
acknowledged medical marijuana patient, and his wife Michele were
arrested Tuesday ..
[snip]
The real outrage is that Mr. Kubby was arrested at all. As Robert
Raich, an attorney who is a member of the city of Oakland's medical
marijuana working group, told us, "I can't think of anybody to whom
Prop. 215 more directly applies than Steve Kubby.
[snip]
Bill Lockyer's press representative, Hilary McLean, told us that
the attorney general's policy is usually not to intervene in local
decisions on prosecution and she knew of no plans to intervene in
Mr. Kubby's case.
It should be the attorney general's job to make sure that law
enforcement officials abide by the statewide law. California
voters passed Prop. 215 more than two years ago. The proposition
itself hasn't been challenged in court and has not been overturned
-- although various law enforcement agencies have nibbled at its
edges in the way they have treated patients.
It's time for law enforcement and the courts to respect that law.
Source: Orange County Register (CA)
Pubdate: Thu, 21 Jan 1999
Copyright: 1999 The Orange County Register
Website: http://www.ocregister.com/
Contact: letters@link.freedom.com
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n079.a02.html
***
(3) LOCKYER WON'T GET INVOLVED IN PROSECUTION OF GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE
(01-26) 17:29 PST TAHOE CITY, Calif. (AP) -- Attorney General Bill
Lockyer won't intervene in the prosecution of the 1998 California
Libertarian candidate for governor and his wife, who are accused
of growing marijuana plants at their home.
[snip]
"Mr. Lockyer voted for Prop. 215 and supported it, but he did not
go out and campaign for the measure," press secretary Hilary
McLean said.
[snip]
PubDate: Jan. 26,1999
Source: AP Wire
Tuesday, January 26, 1999
URL:http://www.sfgate.com/
(included too late for a MAP URL, click DrugNews at http://www.mapinc.org)
***
RECENTLY PUBLISHED LETTERS
***
COMMENT:
In planning this issue, Mark and I wanted to recall that long before
the Drug News archives were established, the original purpose of MAP
had been to generate LTEs in an effort to educate and influence the
media on drug policy. One of the unfortunate side effects of the
growth of our archives has been to crowd LTEs out of the newsletter.
The following are but a few of the diverse comments on drug policy
published in the past few weeks.They reflect a steady stream of
information and opinion tending to balance the self-serving dogma
editors receive from official sources every day. This stream will have
to become a torrent before we can ever prevail.
A large and ever-growing archive of the impressive array of published
LTEs resulting from the DrugSense MAP (Media Awareness Project) effort
can be reviewed and searched at: http://www.mapinc.org/lte/ The "ad
value" of this collection currently tops $1.3 million
***
(4) MEDICAL MARIJUANA AND THE LEGAL MESS
It sickens me to think that the voters of this state passed Proposition
215,only to have law enforcement and our courts thwart the will of the
people and do everything possible to keep medical marijuana from those
in need ["Chavez faces prison," Opinion, Nov. 20].
Instead of prosecuting those in need, it's time the law makers of this
state find a means of providing marijuana to the sick and dying instead
of turning them and the doctors into criminals.
We have enough criminals without having to create a new class of
criminals. Look at how it's set up and then try to find a legal way of
getting marijuana to those in need. You can't sell or give it away; you
can't buy it legally; you can grow it with a doctor's prescription, but
if a doctor prescribes it, he/she could lose his or her license. And if
you grow too much you could face charges of cultivation with intent to
sell.
In other words, those in need aren't able to get marijuana through any
legal channels and are forced to get it through the black market. This
is what the voters wanted to put and end to. So, in reality, our courts
want to keep drug dealers in business and put those in need in jail.
This isn't what I voted for when I voted in favor of Prop. 215. And,
yes, I did know what I voted for. Why vote at all, if what you vote for
won't be implemented. This just makes people more angry at an already
poor legal system.
William Jameson
Laguna Niguel
Pubdate: Sun, 29 Nov 1998
Source: Orange County Register (CA)
Contact: letters@link.freedom.com
Website: http://www.ocregister.com/
Copyright: 1998 The Orange County Register
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n093.a08.html
***
(5) POT LAWS AND BIG BROTHER
To the editor:
Pot laws, right or wrong, are here to stay, but five western states
demand medicinal marijuana now. So? So, in order to keep our 32 prisons
full and correctional officers employed, this unjust prohibition will
remain.
Yes, Hitler would be proud of the U.S. Remember ... control is Big
Brother's way of doing business.
Bob Holmgren, Cayucos
Source: San Luis Obispo County Telegram-Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 1999 San Luis Obispo County Telegram-Tribune
Website: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/
Contact: sduerr@telegram-tribune.com
Section: Letters to the editor
Pubdate: Mon, 25 Jan 1999
Author: Bob Holmgren
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n096.a09.html
***
(6) MAINE DOCTOR SHOULD LOOK AT THE FACTS OF MARIJUANA
To the editor:
Your 1/11/99 article "Mainers likely to vote on medical use of
marijuana" included some very questionable comments about marijuana and
glaucoma by Dr. Dora Ann Mills, director of Maine's Health Bureau, that
require a response.
Dr. Mills claims that the research on how much marijuana helps glaucoma
is "very weak," and "There is no medical efficacy in marijuana for
treating glaucoma." She also quotes the American Academy of
Ophthalmology as saying that although it appears marijuana can provide
possibly short-term relief of intraocular pressure from glaucoma, there
are no long-term benefits.
In a chronic illness like glaucoma, all medication-derived relief is
short-term. There is no medication that will cure glaucoma. Once the
effects wear off, symptoms return.
In my case, the long-term benefit is that I can still see after a
lifetime of glaucoma. I was born with glaucoma nearly 44 years ago. I
have been using marijuana medicinally to treat my glaucoma for over 25
years, ever since my doctor noted a significant reduction in my eye
pressure after I smoked marijuana. I am currently on four prescription
medications for glaucoma that, like marijuana, only provide short-term
relief.
If marijuana has no medical efficacy in treating glaucoma, why does the
federal government provide three of the eight surviving patients in the
discontinued Compassionate IND Program with 300 joints per month to
treat their glaucoma?
When one is faced with serious illness, shouldn't every option be
available?
I suggest Dr. Smith investigate the facts instead of spouting
disinformation that can only deceive and confuse sick people already
dealing with the pain and stress of ill health.
More information and studies detailing marijuana's medical efficacy can
be found at on the Internet at: http://www.lindesmith.org/mmjcsdp.html .
Gary Storck
Madison, Wis.
Source: Foster's Daily Democrat (Dover, NH)
Copyright: 1999 Geo. J. Foster Co.
Contact: letters@fosters.com
Website: http://www.fosters.com/
Pubdate: Mon, 19 Jan 1999
Author: Gary Storck
Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n054.a07.html
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n072.a10.html
***
(7) LOCKYER ON MEDICAL POT
Bravo for Attorney General Bill Lockyer's commitment to enforce
California's Proposition 215, and hats off to you folks for a very good
article on the matter ("Lockyer to back medical marijuana,"
Dec. 29).
Former Attorney General Dan Lungren was far too heavy into "reefer
madness" and I am glad to have Lockyer replace him. Maybe now the will
of the voters will be done.
Tom Hawkins Jr.
Fresno
Pubdate: Wed, Jan 13, 1999
Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA)
Contact: letters@examiner.com
Website: http://www.examiner.com/
Forum: http://examiner.com/cgi-bin/WebX
Copyright: 1999 San Francisco Examiner
Page: A 18
Author: Tom Hawkins Jr.
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n051.a04.html
***
(8) FAILED DRUG POLICIES AND THE HEROIN GLUT
Editor -- Last week, The Chronicle reported breathlessly on the
phenomenon of increased heroin use by the "young, middle- and
upper-middle class-kids like the 21-year-old son of blues rocker Boz
Scaggs" ("Young, Rich And Strung Out," Chronicle, January 9). They also
reported that the price of heroin in the Bay Area has fallen so
dramatically that a heroin high is not much more expensive than "a
six-pack of beer."
What they failed to report is that the heroin glut isn't limited to the
Bay Area, or even the United States; it's global and occurring despite
record budgets for such never-proven concepts as "drug interdiction"
and "source country control," or more recently appropriated extra
billions to Madison Avenue for "demand reduction" ads.
Heroin overdose deaths have been setting records from Sydney to Glasgow
and points in between, including Vancouver. B.C., and Plano, Texas, as
well as here in San Francisco.
The glut should be seen as another convincing indicator of the failure
of prohibition; instead it will be cited by demagogues in Washington as
an urgent reason for taxpayers to pour more billions down the drug war
rat-hole, for beefed-up police forces to send more poor people to
prison, and for newspapers like The Chronicle to write more uncritical
drug scare stories -- free advertising for the lucrative criminal
market created by a witless policy.
TOM O'CONNELL, M.D.
San Mateo
Pubdate: Sat, 16 Jan 1999
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 1999 San Francisco Chronicle
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Forum: http://www.sfgate.com/conferences/
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Author: Tom O'Connell, M.D.
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n057.a05.html
***
(9) DRUG TESTS A WASTE
TO THE EDITOR:
Drug testing in schools is not a panacea that will halt illicit drug
use. Drug testing gives a green light to use drugs. After a test is
administered, children know it will be weeks or months until the next
one. Weekly testing of students would be extremely expensive. Instead
of spending money on drug tests, let's spend it on rehab for students
with drug problems. Why should we waste money testing the majority of
children that don't use drugs?
Another reason drug testing isn't a good idea: The least dangerous drug
-- marijuana -- is the one that stays in the system the longest.
Knowing they may be tested, children might resort to more dangerous
substances that aren't detectable after a few days of use, such as
methamphetamine and heroin. Also, a "false positive" can occur on any
drug screen. Can you imagine what it would be like to be falsely
labeled a drug user?
The only people who benefit from drug testing are the companies that
sell drug test kits.
Alan Bryan, Drug Policy Forum of Texas, Dallas
Source: Oklahoman, The (OK)
Pubdate: 10 Jan 1999
Contact: http://www.oklahoman.com/?ed-writeus
Website: http://www.oklahoman.com/
Forum: http://www.oklahoman.com/forums/
Author: Alan Bryan, Drug Policy Forum of Texas, Dallas
Note: The DPFT website is at: http://www.mapinc.org/DPFT/
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n067.a04.html
***
(10) IT'S TIME TO HONESTLY REVIEW DRUG POLICY
I agree with almost everything Robert Whitcomb said in his Jan. 1 editorial
commentary attacking the "drug war" as a failure.
As a father, attorney and elected official (Barnstable town councilor) it
has become obvious to me that, like alcohol prohibition before it, the
policy of criminalizing drug use, and particularly marijuana use, has created
far more harm to the user and society than the use of the substance(s) ever
could.
I would, however, question Mr. Whitcomb's opinion that mandatory or
coercive treatment should be relied upon to wean the users of their drugs.
The history of substance abuse treatment programs makes clear that those who
are most likely to maintain their sobriety are those who have made the
decision themselves that the substance abuse must end.
It is especially cruel and indefensible to be incarcerating marijuana users
when both the National Academy of Sciences and the World Health
Organization have concluded that marijuana is one of the least dangerous
drugs, legal or otherwise, and creates less of a public health danger than
either alcohol or tobacco.
It is time to honestly look at how the present drug policy, with its focus
on exaggerated rhetoric and reliance on prohibition over regulation, has
failed. Unless we are willing to objectively evaluate our options, including
various de-criminalization strategies, we will never find the best solution
to the problems of substance abuse. We must change the drug war from a jobs
program for the drug warrior bureaucracy to a model of education and
treatment - the approaches most of the medical experts (rather than the
politicians) tell us are the only truly effective and moral solutions.
RICHARD D. ELRICK, Centerville
Source: Standard-Times (MA)
Contact: YourView@S-T.com
Website: http://www.s-t.com/
Copyright: 1999 The Standard-Times
Pubdate: 9 Jan 1999
Author: Richard D. Elrick, Centerville
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n033.a07.html
***
(11) Let Users Get Drugs At Corner Store
Editor -- Our heart goes out to Boz and Carmella Scaggs as they try to
come to terms with the tragic death of their son, Oscar (Chronicle,
January 13).
However, as grieving parents of a son who died at 19 years of age after
ingesting street heroin back in 1993, we reject completely Mr Scaggs'
understandably emotional notion of a ``plague of heroin.'` Heroin is
not a poison. Contrary to conventional wisdom and the war on drugs
propaganda, there are no known irreversible physical side-effects of
opiate drugs.
As America's disastrous experiment with the prohibition of alcohol
clearly showed, it is the prohibition of various substances that
poisons users and spawns murder and mayhem in the streets, not the
substances themselves. Today, the prohibition of marijuana, heroin and
a other drugs is exerting precisely the same effects, and yet Mr Scaggs
and others cannot, or will not, see that the problems will only
diminish when we end prohibition and allow all drug users to purchase
cheap, clean drugs at the corner store.
Piling tragedy upon tragedy, Boz Scaggs' ill-considered comments,
together with your one-sided account of them, will increase public
support for the disastrous war on drugs and thus condemn even more of
our children to die. Oscar and our Peter have seemingly died in vain.
ELEANOR and ALAN RANDELL Victoria, B.C.
Pubdate: Saturday, 23 January 1999
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Forum: http://www.sfgate.com/conferences/
Copyright: 1999 San Francisco Chronicle
Author: ELEANOR and ALAN RANDELL Victoria, B.C.
***
HOT OFF THE 'NET
***
Free The Kubby's web action page
As we send out this edition of the Weekly a "Free The Kubby's!!!
National Call/Fax-in Day Wednesday, January 27, 1999" is under way.
DrugSense is proud to be one of the sponsors of this effort. We thank
all who have already responded.
Please consider participating. All the details are at:
http://www.levellers.org/sk_callin.htm
***
TIP OF THE WEEK
***
SUBSCRIBING TO AND UNSUBSCRIBING FROM VARIOUS SERVICES AND LISTS
Overworked list managers are constantly inundated with messages
requesting to be subscribed or unsubscribed from this list or that but
the fact is that in most cases it is much easier and quicker to simply
do it yourself. This is an indirect way to help reform as the list
managers could often be accomplishing something much more productive
than engaging in other folks list management.
DrugSense has provided a some links and web pages that will help you
accomplish what you want to do simply and easily.
http://www.mapinc.org/lists/ for example will enable subscribing to or
unsubscribing from numerous popular reform email lists.
http://www.drugsense.org/hurry.htm will allow quick and easy sign on
for this newsletter, MAP Focus Alerts, and the DrugSense Weekly digest.
http://www.drugsense.org/unsub.htm allows easy unsubscribing for the
items above.
http://www.drugsense.org/lists/ provides a list of web sites and
describes many of the varied lists that DrugSense supports such as
state focused lists many of these links lead to directions to list
subscription as well.
Most list managers go to a lot of trouble to insure that getting on or
off various lists is very easy. With just a little effort you can help
unburden overworked key reform personnel by just doing it yourself.
***
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
***
"If the personal freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution inhibit the
government's ability to govern the people, we should look to limit those
guarantees." -- President Bill Clinton
***
DS Weekly is one of the many free educational services DrugSense offers
our members. Watch this feature to learn more about what DrugSense can
do for you.
TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS:
Please utilize the following URLs: http://www.drugsense.org/hurry.htm
And http://www.drugsense.org/unsub.htm
***
News/COMMENTS-Editor: Tom O'Connell (tjeffoc@drugsense.org)
Senior-Editor: Mark Greer (mgreer@drugsense.org)
We wish to thank all our contributors and Newshawks.
***
NOTICE:
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
***
REMINDER:
Please help us help reform. Send any news articles you find on any drug
related issue to editor@mapinc.org
***
NOW YOU CAN DONATE TO DRUGSENSE ONLINE AND IT'S TAX DEDUCTIBLE
DrugSense provides many services to at no charge BUT THEY ARE NOT FREE TO
PRODUCE.
We incur many costs in creating our many and varied services. If you
are able to help by contributing to the DrugSense effort visit our
convenient donation web site at http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm
-OR-
Mail in your contribution. Make checks payable to MAP Inc. send your
contribution to:
The Media Awareness Project (MAP) Inc.
d/b/a DrugSense
PO Box 651
Porterville,
CA 93258
(800) 266 5759
MGreer@mapinc.org
http://www.mapinc.org/
http://www.drugsense.org/
***
Mark Greer
Executive Director
DrugSense
MGreer@mapinc.org
http://www.drugsense.org
http://www.mapinc.org
-------------------------------------------------------------------
[End]
to the 1999 Daily News index for Jan. 22-28