DrugSense Weekly, No. 79 (The original summary of drug policy news from DrugSense starts with a feature article - What the war on drugs is doing to America, by Bob Ramsey of the Drug Policy Forum of Texas. The Weekly News in Review includes several articles about Drug War Policy, including - Groups mobilize to push for lenient drug policies; Teenage use of stimulants levels off in 1998; Lake Worth school districts turning to drug testing; Right this wrong; DC and medical marijuana. Articles about Law Enforcement & Prisons include - New surveillance proposed for bank accounts; Officers' actions attacked in San Jose marijuana trial; Confiscated drugs stolen from under nose of Customs; FBI picks up a prison probe some say was stifled by union; Activist denounces prison system; UN official seeks reforms in US prisons; The mandatory-sentencing mistake. Articles about Drug Use Issues include - The possible link between genes & attention deficit; Prince ponders medicinal value of cannabis. International News articles include - Shan rebels blame Myanmar military for opium boom; Colombia police make record 66-pound heroin bust; Gambians arrested for drug crimes; U.S. aid said used in air raid on Colombia. The weekly Hot Off The 'Net gives the URL for Professor Charles Whitebread's speech on RealAudio. The DrugSense Tip Of The Week details the FEAR On-line Chat group. The Quote of the Week features Charles Dickens. The Fact of the Week cites a reference proving the U.S. government spent only 7% of its drug-control budget on treatment in 1992.)
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Tuesday, December 29, 1998:
Cannabis Proves Itself Medically (A letter to the editor of the Columbian, in Vancouver, Washington, responds to a letter from drug warrior Sandra Bennett, citing a few credible scientific studies in which researchers found non-THC cannabinoids had beneficial affects, such as a reduction in painful muscle spasticity.)
Lockyer to back medical marijuana (The San Francisco Examiner says California Attorney General-elect Bill Lockyer has unrolled a list of 12 priorities that bear little resemblance to those of his Republican predecessor, Dan Lungren. As his 10th priority, Lockyer promises to try to implement Prop. 215, the 1996 initiative that was intended to allow seriously ill patients to grow and use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation.)
Environment And Crime - Major Issues (The San Diego Union Tribune says outgoing Governor Pete Wilson is crediting his support for California's uniquely harsh "three strikes" mandatory minimum law for the state's lowest crime rate in 30 years. Wilson also credits the three strikes law for a drop in gun sales, and for more parolees leaving the state for other regions. But critics note the three strikes law is enforced differently in every county, while crime dropped everywhere, including the 49 other states that generally don't sentence pot smokers and pizza thieves to 25 years to life.)
Fire in Shed Doused, Pot in House Seized (A cautionary tale in the San Francisco Chronicle says a faulty natural gas generator ignited in a San Francisco backyard shed early yesterday, leading prohibition agents to seize 200 marijuana plants they valued at $20,000, or just $100 each.)
VA Legislators Pass Resolution To Grow Hemp (The Associated Press says a Virginia House of Delegates committee voted 9-2 Monday to approve a measure calling for a study of industrial hemp. The resolution, sponsored by Del. Mitchell Van Yahres, D-Albemarle, asks federal officials to let the state's universities experiment with cultivating hemp for commercial use. The General Assembly will consider the measure during the session that begins Jan. 13.)
Narcolepsy Drug Offers Wide Appeal (The San Jose Mercury News says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved modafinil, a new drug manufactured by Cephalon that has few of the side effects associated with caffeine, amphetamines and other commonly used stimulants. Narcolepsy affects one of every 1,000 to 2,000 people - including untold numbers of people who contract it as a sometimes-permanent side effect from prescription antidepressants. The drug is expected to become available in February at a cost of "less than $10 a pill," compared to, for example, less than $1 for Ritalin.)
Review Board Sought For Drugs Gone Awry (A New York Times piece in the San Jose Mercury News says a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine contrasted the government's approach to airplane safety with its approach to drug safety. Noting adverse reactions to medicine kill 100,000 Americans a year - far more than die in plane crashes - the authors suggested that the United States needs an independent drug-safety agency, analogous to the transportation board, to investigate drug "crashes," and a mandatory reporting system to catch adverse drug effects as early as possible. Unfortunately, FDA officials seem to have taken personal offense and don't seem interested in improving the process.)
DrugSense Focus Alert - Hypocrisy in Action (DrugSense asks you to write a quick letter to the editor of the Louisville Courier-Journal, to comment on a recent letter by Ken Singer, a liquor distributor who runs Champions For a Drug Free Kentucky, a state-funded organization. In case you need help, DrugSense includes some interesting quotes on alcohol, incarceration, violence, and marijuana.)
Crusader vows to start pot 'club' for patients (According to The Calgary Herald, Calgary multiple sclerosis patient Grant Krieger said Monday he plans to have his non-profit medical marijuana dispensary - the Compassion club - up and running in two months. Paul Laventure, head of the Calgary police drug unit, said Krieger would be "liable to imprisonment for life.")
Body's 'cannabis' could hold blood pressure key (The British Broadcasting Corporation says medical researchers in Nottingham have received a £120,000 grant from the British Heart Foundation to study endocannabinoids, natural substances produced by the body that are chemically similar to cannabis. Endocannabinoids are known to make blood vessels relax, which can reduce blood pressure.)
Drug-Related Crimes On The Rise In Russia (According to Itar-Tass, Colonel-General Sergei Stepashin, the Russian interior minister, said Tuesday that a sweep by police that ended this week has resulted in the dentention of 62 thousand criminals and 13 thousand other fugitives from police investigations, including many sought for drug-related crimes.)
Pakistan Busts Heroin Smuggling Ring (Reuters says seven mail office employees in Karachi have been arrested this month in connection with a group that sent as much as $1.5 billion worth of heroin out of the country over the last 13 years. The alleged smugglers took wrongly addressed parcels and letters sent to Pakistan, put heroin inside them, changed the return addresses and mailed them back out of the country. Mukhtar Ahmed, regional director of Pakistan's Anti-Narcotics Force, said he wanted drug cases to be tried in special military courts.)
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Monday, December 28, 1998:
Suicide law still draws emotional responses (The Oregonian interviews four doctors who work with dying patients about the Oregon Death With Dignity Act, the state's unique physician-assisted suicide law that took effect in 1997.)
Drugs: A Silent Alarm Prompts The Search Of Robert Evans' San Francisco Apartment (An Associated Press version of yesterday's news about the bust of Rich Evans, a medical-marijuana patient and activist.)
The Last Worst Place (The San Francisco Chronicle visits Florence, Colorado's $60 million ADX prison - governmentese for "administrative maximum." Unparalled in America, it is the only prison specifically designed to keep each of its 400 occupants in near-total solitary confinement.)
VA To Take A Look At How To Treat Pain (The Grand Rapids Press, in Michigan, says beginning in January, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will do what few health-care providers have done. It will assess a patient's level of pain along with other vital signs such as temperature, blood pressure and pulse. Veterans facilities ranging from hospitals to nursing homes to clinics will use the assessments to develop long term strategies for treating both chronic and acute pain. The VA serves more than 25 million veterans, and one third of American medical residents and about half of American medical students are trained in VA facilities.)
First conviction lands man 25 years to life under Rockefeller laws (The Associated Press says Albert Brunner was convicted about 10 years ago of selling nearly two pounds of cocaine. Under New York state's mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines for drug-law violators, the first-time, non-violent offender was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. His younger sister, Margaret Liberatore, a school teacher on maternity leave, is circulating petitions calling for reform, and hopes to gather 3,000 signatures by mid-January to send to Gov. George Pataki.)
Sharp Drop in Violent Crime Traced to Decline in Crack Market (The New York Times discusses the many theories about why new statistics released Sunday by the Justice Department show violent crime has dropped seven straight years after an upsurge in the 1980s. The annual survey, carried out for the Justice Department by the Census Bureau, asks 80,000 people ages 12 and older whether they have been victims of a crime in the past year. The newspaper favors the theories that the decline is due primarily to a withering away of the crack market and police efforts to seize handguns from criminals and juveniles.)
Drug Traffickers Terrorize Upscale Zone In Rio (Reuters says shops and restaurants near the governor's palace in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, reopened on Monday after drug traffickers forced them to close over the weekend to honour a drug lord killed by police. Residents and business owners in the middle-class neighbourhoods of Laranjeiras and Cosme Velho said shootouts between rival gangs in the nearby shantytowns were common, but the forced closings showed a new level of brashness.)
Medical trials of cannabis to start in Britain (The Age, in Melbourne, Australia, notes yesterday's news about the British government planning a series of trials into the medical efficacy of cannabis.)
Top-secret Cannabis Ready For Medicinal Harvest (The Times, in London, says Britain's first crop of government-licensed cannabis is to be harvested secretly this week, in preparation for trials on up to 2,000 people that will begin once medicine has been distilled from the plants.)
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Sunday, December 27, 1998:
Medical marijuana advocate arrested (California NORML corrects and forwards a San Francisco Examiner article about the bust of Richard Evans in San Francisco. Evans, who described himself as director of Americans for Compassionate Use and who was busted previously for operating a medical marijuana club near Cincinnati, was arrested after police found 17 pounds of packaged marijuana, 40 plants being cultivated - and alleged child pornography.)
Re: Rich Evans arrested (A Bay Area list subscriber says he spoke with the accused and the alleged "child pornography" consisted of two art books, not pornography.)
Re: Rich Evans (Another list subscriber provides more information, and identifies the alleged "child pornography" as a book purchased at the Ansel Adams gallery which included nudity of children and others.)
Rich Evans Charges Dropped (That was quick.)
Marijuana Battlegrounds (A staff editorial in the Orange County Register says medical marijuana made significant advances in 1998, but in California the law passed by voters in 1996 remains well short of implementation. Much more effort - and suffering - will be necessary before government at all levels abandons its war on sick people.)
Drug programs imposed by law making a mark (The Arizona Daily Star says Arizonans still can't legally use marijuana for medical purposes, but backers of Proposition 200 confirm the drug treatment programs mandated by the law are having positive results.)
Columbia authorities cracking down on marijuana offenders (An Associated Press article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch says police in Columbia, Missouri, who catch people with even a small amount of marijuana are handcuffing them and taking them to jail as part of a new police policy to get tough on drug offenders. One of the first acts of Police Chief Norm Botsford when he took over the department last year was to create a special narcotics enforcement unit to concentrate solely on drug interdiction.)
Groups mobilize to push for lenient drug policies (A feature article in the Fort Worth, Texas, Star-Telegram, looks at the Drug Policy Forum of Texas and the reform movement nationwide. DPFT recently received a $25,000 donation from billionaire philanthropist George Soros. Other supporters of reform around the nation include Stanley Marcus, the 93-year-old former chairman of Neiman Marcus, and former New York Police Commissioner Patrick Murphy. Plus commentary from list subscribers about Mark Kleiman, a drug warrior and White House policy adviser quoted in the article.)
Re: Groups Mobilize To Push For Lenient Drug Policies (A letter sent to the editor of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram says that if indeed "these groups want the government to drastically change the way it punishes drug users," they have missed the question, as have the newspaper's writers. The larger and far more important issue is why society believes it must "punish" some drug users in the first place.)
Truth About Marijuana (An excellent letter to the editor of the Daily Herald, in Arlington Heights, Illinois, critiques the reasoning of an anti-marijuana zealot who spoke at the College of DuPage, as well as the newspaper's evident bias in printing just one side of the story.)
Rockefeller Drug Law Radio Ads (A bulletin from the Lindesmith Center, in New York, follows up on yesterday's news with the text of advertisements from the new radio campaign urging reform of New York state's mandatory-minimum sentencing laws for drug offenders.)
Clinton Seeks Curbs On Drunken Driving (According to an Associated Press article in the San Jose Mercury News, President Clinton Saturday asked Congress to impose a lower, uniform blood-alcohol standard for drunken driving across the nation, saying the Justice and Transportation departments would use the "leverage" of federal grants to persuade states to adopt low-tolerance standards "on their own . . . . One impaired driver is one too many.")
'Demon Alcohol' - Hatchet-Wielding Do-Gooders Launch Health Crusade (The Washington Times says nearly a century after Carry Nation waged her one-woman saloon-wrecking campaign, the Center for Science in the Public Interest and dozens of other groups are carrying out a multipronged offensive to limit advertising, boost taxes, and get the federal government to label alcohol a carcinogen.)
U.S. 'Cautiously' Boosting Aid To Colombia (Who says the cold war is over? A Washington Post article in the Los Angeles Times says that despite human rights abuses by Colombia's military, and its rampant corruption associated with the illegal-drug trade, the United States is stepping up its involvement with the Colombian armed forces because it fears they are losing a war to Marxist rebels who derive much of their income from drug trafficking.)
U.S. Boosts Aid To Colombian Military (A slightly different version in the San Jose Mercury News)
Colombia To Receive Aid For Drug Squad (The UPI version)
Guard probed for drugs (The Halifax Daily News says a guard at the Halifax Correctional Centre - who can't be identified until he is formally charged - was arrested Christmas Eve after being investigated for smuggling "drugs" to inmates.)
MS patient hails testing of pot (The Calgary Herald says Grant Krieger, a multiple sclerosis patient and Calgary medical-marijuana activist, has given guarded applause to an announcement in Great Britain that more than 1,000 patients will participate in scientific research into the therapeutic uses of cannabis. Last week the British government announced the Medical Research Council and Royal Pharmaceutical Society would set guidelines for the trials Jan. 11 at a closed meeting to be attended by Health Department officials.)
Ministers Approve NHS Cannabis Tests (The Sunday Telegraph, in Britain, says it has learnt that the government is about to sanction a series of trials into the therapeutic uses of cannabis involving more than 1,000 patients. The Medical Research Council and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society will set out the guidelines for the trials on January 11 at a closed scientific meeting to be attended by Department of Health officials. The first trial will be for spasticity in multiple sclerosis patients.)
Medical Cannabis Tests Get Go-Ahead (The version in Britain's Mail on Sunday)
Britons Sip Liqueur Of Poets (The Montreal Gazette says absinthe, once the poison of choice in bohemian Paris, was banned by France and most other Western nations early in this century. The liqueur's controversial reappearance in Britain has sent an illicit sort of thrill through the upscale drinking public, due to the ingenuity of four young rock 'n' roll entrepreneurs who discovered that Britain had somehow never got around to banning absinthe. Were French absinthe addicts suffering delirium and hallucinations because they had simply drunk too much alcohol, or was it because of a chemical in wormwood - thujone - related chemically to cannabis?)
A Storied Drink, Britons Take To The Allure Of Absinthe (The original Philadelphia Inquirer version)
ACM-Bulletin of 27 December 1998 (An English-language news bulletin from the Association for Cannabis as Medicine, in Cologne, Germany, features more details about the recent scientific report that a cannabinoid receptor system may play a role in the regulation of sperm function; and an account of the recent New Zealand parliament report saying the negative effects of marijuana have been overstated.)
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Saturday, December 26, 1998:
Critics launch ad campaign opposing Rockefeller drug laws (The Associated Press says a bipartisan coalition opposing New York state's mandatory-minimum drug laws is launching radio advertisements calling for an overhaul of the rigid 25-year-old sentencing guidelines. Among those on the coalition are one of the original sponsors, former state Sen. H. Douglas Barclay, and Warren Anderson, who was state Senate Majority Leader when the laws were enacted in 1973.)
Grandparents enlisted in war on drugs (The Associated Press says the White House drug czar's Office of National Drug Control Policy has launched an ad campaign to coax grandparents into "talking to their grandchildren about the dangers of drugs" - since at least one of every nine school-age children has at least one parent incarcerated on a drug-related offense, apparently the government feels parents are no longer supporting the war on some drug users.)
Sea urchins and human sexuality (The Toronto Star's ombudsman apologizes for the newspaper running a piece of junk science propaganda from the United States alleging marijuana use reduces male fertility. The story should have said the study involved sea urchins, not humans; that it was funded by the U.S. ministry of propaganda known as the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and that there have been no epidemiological studies showing increased infertility in marijuana-using humans.)
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Friday, December 25, 1998:
Medical marijuana law poses questions (The Oregonian suggests the difference between state and federal marijuana laws has created a mess for employers who subscribe to the government-sponsored myth that marijuana use causes impairment.)
Employers face difficult questions under new law (The Associated Press version)
CRRH will wait to circulate OCTA (A bulletin from Paul Stanford of the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act campaign says the Oregon secretary of state's office has not yet certified the ballot initiative, so signature-gathering will not begin until spring. Also, OCTA's sponsor, the Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp, is preparing to file similar Cannabis Tax Act initiative petitions in Washington and other states.)
Officers' actions attacked in San Jose marijuana trial (A San Jose Mercury News article in The Contra Costa Times says attorneys for medical-marijuana patient Peter Baez asked San Jose prohibition agents pointed questions Wednesday in an attempt to have the charges against the former head of a San Jose-based medical cannabis dispensary dismissed. San Jose police officer Tim Kuchac stated in an affidavit that he was part of the team that served the first warrant and noticed a computer that could have contained business records and other key evidence. In fact, he testified Wednesday, that was not true. He had never been to the center before signing the affidavit. "I was blown away," said defense attorney Gerald Uelmen. "I have very few instances in my life as a lawyer where I had a police officer admit on the stand to perjury.")
Treating The Cause (A staff editorial in the Cincinnati Post claims Hamilton County's drug court has saved taxpayers money, but doesn't explain why more is now needed. Seventeen other Ohio counties now run drug courts; all are modeled after the one pioneered in Cincinnati three years ago. The judge who runs the drug court and other county officials are lobbying the state for a second drug court judge, but the newspaper says the county should reassign one of its 15 other judges.)
Pataki Refuses To Grant Holiday Clemency (The Bergen Record, in New Jersey, says hundreds of prisoners applied for a show of Christmas mercy from New York Governor George Pataki, a former marijuana consumer. In the past three years the Republican governor has commuted the sentences of 13 prisoners, all but two of them sentenced under the state's mandatory-minimum drug laws passed during the Rockefeller era.)
More about House Speaker-in-waiting J. Dennis Hastert (A list subscriber follows up on yesterday's news about the drug-warrior credentials of the new Speaker of the US House of Representatives, noting the Republican leader spoke at a 1997 "International Symposium Against Drugs," in Zofingen, Switzerland, organized by the Swiss psycho cult, Verein Fuer Psychologische Menschenkenntnis, or the Organisation for the Psychological Knowledge of Human Nature.)
Quotes from the Prozac Survivor's web site (A list subscriber forwards citations from Business Week and Time magazine with some disturbing information about the pharmaceutical antidepressant most widely prescribed by American physicians. Plus a first-person account from a former Prozac user able to remember some of the side effects.)
Ann Landers (The annual Christmas message from the syndicated advice columnist says the "war on drugs" has turned out to be a colossal failure.)
Ann Landers Censored (The Tampa Tribune version omits the sentence saying the "war on drugs" has turned out to be a colossal failure.)
A Muslim Celebrates Christmas (A not-so off-topic list subscriber says, according to cable television's History Channel, the most prominent features of Christmas, ever since it began as a pagan holiday in ancient Rome, have been drunkenness and riotous conduct, which caused it to be prohibited at several points throughout history. Like other prohibitions, of course, they were astounding failures.)
No Safe Haven: Children of Substance Abusing Parents (A list subscriber forwards a notice from CASA, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, saying it will release a report at a press conference Jan. 14 at which CASA will propose expanding the war on some drug-using parents.)
Prince Charles Asks Victim Of MS If She Has Tried Pot (An Associated Press version of yesterday's news, in the Everett, Washington, Herald)
Prince in Flap Over Pot Rx (The New York Daily News version)
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Thursday, December 24, 1998:
Poor Police Work Alleged In Pot Case (The San Jose Mercury News says attorneys for medical-marijuana patient Peter Baez asked San Jose prohibition agents pointed questions Wednesday in an attempt to have the charges against the former head of a San Jose-based medical cannabis dispensary dismissed. San Jose police officer Tim Kuchac stated in an affidavit that he was part of the team that served the first warrant and noticed a computer that could have contained business records and other key evidence. In fact, he testified Wednesday, that was not true. He had never been to the center before signing the affidavit. "I was blown away," said defense attorney Gerald Uelmen. "I have very few instances in my life as a lawyer where I had a police officer admit on the stand to perjury.")
Fatal Error: The Pentagon's War On Drugs Takes A Toll On The Innocent (A lengthy account in The Austin Chronicle details the killing of an 18-year-old Texas goatherder, Esequiel Hernandez Jr., by camouflaged US Marines on a drug interdiction mission along the US-Mexico border. The Posse Comitatus Act, passed by Congress in 1878, made it a felony to deputize the armed services for domestic law-enforcement duty. Congress began chipping away at Posse Comitatus in 1982 - the same year then-Vice President Bush was put in charge of the War on Drugs - with a defense bill allowing the military to loan equipment and facilities to civilian law enforcement agencies. A 1989 bill went further, allowing military personnel to work in the field. And a 1991 act authorized the services to conduct armed anti-drug reconnaissance missions. The definition of these missions has been expanded in every defense bill since. The Pentagon spends about $1 billion a year fighting drugs. The United States has pursued violent regeneration through a series of "savage wars," of which the war on some drug users is but the latest.)
"Right This Wrong" (A sidebar to the Austin Chronicle's article about drug warriors killing an 18-year-old Texas goatherder says a scathing 249-page report on the 1997 shooting, prepared by U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, concluded that the U.S. Border Patrol helped aim the gun that killed Esequiel Hernandez Jr., and that both the Defense and Justice Departments obstructed Smith's investigation into Hernandez's death.)
Pot's Hazards (A letter to the editor of The Chicago Tribune from Peter B. Bensinger, the former head of the DEA, blasts the newspaper for its staff editorial saying there is "growing recognition that marijuana may have therapeutic value as medicine." The voters are inacapable of understanding science, and government agencies such as the "Federal Drug Administration" should be left alone to make such decisions because they are the only ones capable of understanding the science, are unbiased, and have only the best interests of everyone in mind. Sheesh.)
A Bad Season For Amateurs (According to The San Francisco Chronicle, the Wall Street Journal reported this week that a new NIAAA survey of 14,000 American workers found inexperienced drinkers caused more problems than veteran drunks. The findings challenge popular wisdom blaming heavy boozers for an estimated $27 billion a year in lost productivity.)
Medical Marijuana - The Six-State Sweep (William Greider in Rolling Stone magazine says the American people want marijuana legalized for medical use. So why isn't Washington listening? Bill Zimmerman of Americans for Medical Rights says, "More than one-fifth of the American electorate has now voted in the majority to give patients the right to use marijuana. If the federal government doesn't respect that vote and change its attitude, we're fully prepared to go to the rest of America with this issue.")
Charles: Why Don't You Try Cannabis? (The Sun, in Britain, says Prince Charles put further pressure on the Government to legalise marijuana for medical use when he asked a multiple sclerosis patient, "Have you tried taking cannabis? I have heard it's the best thing for it." The patient said later, "He is a lovely man. He is really caring." Last night charity chiefs and medics backed the Prince. Rosemary Leonard, the Sun's doctor said: "This shows how well-informed he is." But Charles is not the first Royal to back the use of cannabis for pain relief. Queen Victoria used it to ease period pains.)
Ever Tried Cannabis? Prince Asks MS Sufferer (The version in Britain's Guardian)
Prince Ponders Medicinal Value Of Cannabis (The version in The Times)
Charles: Ever Tried Smoking Cannabis? (The version in The Mirror)
Charles Joins Cannabis Debate (The Scotsman version)
Prince Charles drawn into medicinal marijuana debate (The Associated Press version)
China's Shenzhen Executes 11 For Drug Trafficking (Reuters says China's southern boomtown of Shenzhen executed 11 drug dealers, including a teenaged girl, in the city's second major legally sanctioned bloodbath this year.)
The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue No. 72 (The Drug Reform Coordination Network's original compilation of news and calls to action regarding drug policy, including - A message to our readers; Livingston out as speaker, drug warrior Hastert set to take gavel; Court hears case to decide fate of D.C. medical marijuana initiative; Monitoring The Future survey released; Appalachia: under the gun; and an editorial, Impeach This, by Adam J. Smith.)
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Wednesday, December 23, 1998:
Wounded laborer seeks city settlement (The Oregonian says Ron Barton of Portland is suing the city and three Portland police officers for nearly $3.5 million, contending police illegally entered his apartment while he was asleep and shot him, crippling his left arm. Barton also alleges in the lawsuit that he was falsely prosecuted because the two officers involved in the shooting conspired with Officer Wayne Svilar, who investigated the incident.)
Federal charges against Marin Alliance dropped (A list subscriber forwards news from attorneys for the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana.)
Baltimore Police in Spotlight - Almost everyone agrees that drugs represent the city's biggest hurdle (The Associated Press says the apparent inability of Baltimore, Maryland, to bring its homicide count down below 300 per year, even as other types of violent crime have declined, has thrust a national spotlight on the city's dark side. Baltimore, the nation's 14th-largest city with 650,000 residents, has about 46 homicides per 100,000 people - more than four times the rate such larger cities as New York.)
Ouch! (A list subscriber forwards a urine-testing joke.)
RJR Subsidiary Pleads Guilty To Smuggling (The New York Times says a unit of RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. pleaded guilty on Tuesday and agreed to pay $15 million in penalties to settle federal criminal charges stemming from a scheme to smuggle cigarettes into Canada through an Indian reservation in upstate New York. Authorities said the guilty plea, filed in Federal District Court in Binghamton, N.Y., marked the first time that a tobacco company has been convicted of complicity in the shadowy and growing world of international cigarette smuggling.)
U.S., Mexico Admit Drug War Is Failing (According to a New York Times News Service article in The Chicago Tribune, officials from both the United States and Mexico say an ambitious U.S. effort to help train and equip Mexico's armed forces to pursue drug smugglers is a shambles, as are relations with an ally that Washington has worked intensely to court.)
U.S. Plan to Help Mexican Military Fight Drugs Is Faltering (A lengthier version)
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Tuesday, December 22, 1998:
NORML Foundation Weekly News Release (Will Foster To Spend Another Christmas Behind Bars, Medical Marijuana Patient Remains Incarcerated Despite Parole Board's Plea For Early Release)
Fight Brews Over State's Inmate Work Program (The Oregonian notes Oregon Governor John "Prisons" Kitzhaber wants to cut the state's 1999-2001 prison-inmate forced-labor budget from $14.4 million to $9 million, saying it has become too expensive - apparently it threatens to limit the number of pot growers and other illegal drug offenders the state can lock up. "What is the price for full compliance, and are we willing to pay it?" Kitzhaber said, referring not to the war on some drug users but to Ballot Measure 17, the 1994 ballot initiative that obliges inmates to work a 40-hour week.)
Seattle's war on drugs has priorities mixed up (Seattle Times columnist Michelle Malkin says instead of arresting drug dealers in public parks and streets, city attorney Mark Sidran and the Seattle Police Department have focused their energies on taking away private property from people like the McCoys, owners of Oscar's II, using a 1988 drug-nuisance abatement law. Of approximately 100 total cases brought by Sidran since 1990, roughly two-thirds were secret because of open-records rules or "administrative" reasons. Most of the 28 drug-abatement cases Malkin was able to review were filed against people who were never charged, accused, suspected of, or arrested for any criminal activity. Only one was filed against a white person. Twenty-three were filed against blacks, and four were filed against Asians or Hispanics.)
Lt. Gov. settles ethics charges for $7,000 (The Associated Press says Washington state Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, a longtime drug-war hawk, will pay $7,000 to settle state ethics charges arising from his allocation of state funds to oppose a 1997 initiative to legalize the medical use of marijuana and other controlled substances.)
Alan Carter McLemore (A list subscriber says the former Texas lawyer, disbarred and incarcerated for growing his own medical marijuana, is being transferred to a halfway house, and might be paroled in June.)
7 Officers Cleared In Shooting (The Houston Chronicle says a Fort Bend County grand jury refused to indict seven Houston police officers Monday for the death of Derek Jason Kaeseman, an unarmed man shot 14 times while trying to flee police. The chase started when two officers saw what appeared to be a drug deal between two men. A passenger bailed out before the chase, but the medical examiner's report said the passenger was a male prostitute.)
Subtle As A Frying Pan (Syndicated columnist Jacob Sullum, in The Pioneer Press, in St. Paul, Minnesota, says public discussion of the drug issue is rife with messages that subvert themselves.)
Details of cop's alleged drug deals revealed (The Chicago Sun Times says an FBI agent testified in federal court Monday that Chicago police officer Joseph Miedzianowski, a 22-year veteran of the force, sold up to 330 pounds of crack cocaine to one drug dealer during an 18-month period.)
Ex-Park District Cop Acquitted In Shakedown (The Chicago Tribune says a federal jury on Monday exonerated Andre Williams, formerly with the Maywood Park District Police Department, of charges he shared in a $2,000 payoff from a purported drug dealer in 1996. The acquittal came despite audio tape and videotape of the payoff, the cooperation of Williams' partner, and the fact that the purported drug dealer was an undercover agent.)
The Mandatory-Sentencing Mistake (Washington Post columnist William Raspberry says he was unmoved by the argument of Vincent Schiraldi, director of the Justice Policy Institute, who discovered that during the last 10 years, New York State has increased spending on prisons by very close to the amount by which it has decreased spending on higher education. What persuaded Raspberry that the drug laws constitute poorly thought-out policy, misguided toughness and bad law was Schiraldi's story about Tom Eddy, a classmate of Schiraldi's at the State University of New York in Binghamton who was arrested in 1979 and served 13 years of a 15-to-life sentence for selling two ounces of cocaine.)
NJ Supreme Court Prohibits "Electronic Roadblocks," Curbs Police Power, Upholds Privacy (The ACLU News says a landmark New Jersey Supreme Court ruling earlier this month prohibits police from indiscriminately searching for personal information about innocent motorists by entering their license-plate numbers into mobile data terminals in police cars. "This is the first time that a court has recognized that a government official's search of a government database might violate statutory or constitutional privacy protections," said Eric Neisser of Rutgers Law School.)
Millions At Stake; Drug Tax Refunds Igniting Debates (The Wilmington Morning Star, in North Carolina, says the state has collected $40 million since 1990 from people accused of dealing illegal drugs. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the state's "drug tax" was unconstitutional, but the state attorney general's office has so far prevented any of the victims from getting any money back.)
Board OKs Plan To Test Athletes For Drugs (The Charlotte Observer, in North Carolina, says the Gaston County School Board gave the first round of approval Monday night to testing high school athletes for drugs, alcohol and, possibly, steroids. Board member Kemp Michael said, "The ultimate purpose of this is to use athletics as a way to keep them in the fold." The cost will be $135 per student, or $4,000 to randomly test 10 percent of the county's high school athletes and cheerleaders.)
Judge Rules Scott Chief Planted Fake Drugs To Justify Cash Found (The Advocate, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, says Scott Police Chief Jerry Carpenter planted fake cocaine in a car to justify seizing $55,000 found during an interstate traffic stop.)
Biology Of Behavior - The Possible Link Between Genes, Attention Deficit (Newsday discusses some of the research presented to a panel of scientists convened by the federal government earlier this month to discuss the state of medical research about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD.)
Biker slain in restaurant (The Montreal Gazette says Lawrence Bellas, 38, a Hell's Angels associate, was shot and killed yesterday by a hit man in a busy east-end restaurant, where two innocent diners were also wounded. Police said there was little doubt Bellas was another victim in the continuing war between the Hell's Angels and the Rock Machine for control of the illicit-drug trade.)
Colombia Police Make Record 66-Pound Heroin Bust (Reuters says that with Tuesday's haul, Colombian authorities have seized 836 pounds of heroin this year, a 75 percent increase from 1997. Colombia began to produce and export heroin from about 1991, and officials now estimate Colombia has some 12,000 acres of illegal opium poppy plantations.)
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Monday, December 21, 1998:
Million Marijuana March (A list subscriber seeks volunteers to help organize a rally in Los Angeles scheduled for May 1, 1999.)
Lake Worth School Districts Turning To Drug Testing (The Fort Worth Star-Telegram says the Lake Worth School District in northwest Tarrant County this year joined the small but growing number of school systems across the nation that are drug-testing students who participate in extracurricular activities. School officials strongly believe that the programs help, but finding statistics to confirm their beliefs is problematic.)
U.S. Prosecutors Say Bright Columbia Graduate Had Led Secret Life For Years (With uncharacteristic irony, The New York Times says Zolton Williams isn't likely to pay back his $60,000 in student loans for some time. He sits in a Brooklyn jail awaiting a federal sentence of up to 12 years for smuggling "tens of thousands" of dollars' worth of cocaine from Jamaica to the United States while he was a student at one of the nation's leading law schools.)
His Bail Seized, Coke Defendant Is Still In Jail (The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Gerardo Hernandez's friends and family scraped together $100,000 to bail him out of the Milwaukee County Jail. But before the checks could be credited to Hernandez's bail account, a Wisconsin prohibition agent familiar with the case overheard the transaction as he passed by, intervened and scooped up the checks under the theory that the money was derived from drug dealing. Under current forfeiture laws, his theory counts for more than factual statements from 25 people who put up the $100,000, and Hernandez remains in jail.)
2 ex-officers convicted in drug case (The Associated Press says a jury in Monroe, Louisiana, on Friday convicted Warren Jones and Roderic Oliver, two former police officers in Tallulah, Louisiana, of federal charges in connection with a conspiracy to sell protection to illegal drug dealers.)
U.S. Aid Said Used In Air Raid On Colombia Village (According to Reuters, Human Rights Watch, based in Washington, D.C., charged Monday that Colombia's military used warplanes and rockets bought with U.S. anti-drug aid during a recent raid on a village in rebel-held territory that killed up to 27 civilians, including five children. Under guidelines imposed by Congress, the United States is barred from providing military aid to Colombia for use in counterinsurgency operations.)
Bolivia Eradicates Coca Leaf Fields (The Associated Press says the president of Bolivia, Hugo Banzer, announced Monday that the country had eradicated a record 28,660 acres of coca, or nearly a quarter of the crop. The government had to kill only 13 farmers in the process.)
Most People Say No To Cannabis Law Change (The New Zealand Herald says that, despite the recommendation of a Parliamentary select committee, a New Zealand Herald-DigiPoll survey of 663 people showed 61.8 per cent did not want people to be able to legally grow or buy the drug for their own use. Chris Fowlie of the National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, noting the poll also asked about respondents' personal use, said that might have affected the result. Other polls that had asked whether the use of cannabis should be decriminalised showed clear support. Interestingly, in terms of the "slippery slope" theory, only 3.3 per cent said they had never used cannabis but would if it were legal.)
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Sunday, December 20, 1998:
Anderson Faces Prison for Drugs (According to The Associated Press, an interview with Greg Anderson of the Houston Hawks, in Sunday's Houston Chronicle, says the professional basketball player blames himself for being entrapped by the FBI into participating in a cocaine deal, leading to his imminent prison sentence. Anderson, a 10-year veteran of the NBA who was a first-round draft pick by the San Antonio Spurs in 1987, faces up to 40 years.)
Drug Tests Proposed For Gaston Athletes (The Charlotte Observer, in North Carolina, says the Gaston County School Board will consider a countywide drug-testing program Monday night under which high school athletes could lose their right to play if they test positive for the kind of drugs that make them high - but they won't be tested for substances that make muscles grow big and strong.)
Drug Screening Tests Makers Improve Product Tamper-Resistance (The Akron Beacon-Journal, in Ohio, says there is a thriving industry in "drug testing aids" - products designed to beat urine tests. The hundreds of available products and companies that sell them are involved in an elaborate and ever escalating cat and mouse game, with the "cheaters" constantly raising the bar and the drug-testing companies constantly jumping higher, in tandem with the prices of their tests.)
Breaking Addiction's Hold (A Cox news service article in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says the answer to America's drug problem may be ibogaine, which comes from an obscure plant that grows wild in African rain forests. With a single capsule - or perhaps several over a period of weeks - heroin addicts, alcoholics, cocaine users, even smokers might erase or at least interrupt their cravings. Efforts to understand the plant have foundered on a tangle of lawsuits and conflicting scientific results.)
Gang leader gunned down in Vancouver (A Canadian Press article in The Edmonton Journal says Bindy Johal, 27, was gunned down early Sunday at a crowded night club by a gunman who blended into the crowd and escaped undetected. Johal, a self-admitted drug dealer, was one of the men tried for the 1994 murders of brothers Ron and Jimmy Dosanjh. He and five others were acquitted.)
Caught In The Unforgiving Grip Of Thai Justice (A book review in The Miami Herald about "4,000 Days: My Life and Survival in a Bangkok Prison," by Warren Fellows, calls it an "unrelievedly horrible tale." The author, a native of Australia, was sentenced in 1978 to life in prison for smuggling heroin. After a dreadful interrogation, torture and preliminary confinement in unspeakable conditions, he was shipped off to Bang Kwang, the most feared prison in the world. Fellows writes, "While doing my business in Bangkok, I had been aware of the possibility that, if caught, I might be sent to Big Tiger. But somehow it had seemed a distant chance - I did not belong in Bang Kwang. It was a place for the lowest, most hopeless forms of humanity. Nobody thinks of themselves in that way. Not even criminals." Without self-pity, he makes a compelling case that his punishment was wildly out of proportion to his crime.)
Shan Rebels Blame Myanmar Military For Opium Boom (According to Reuters, Colonel Yod Suk of the Shan State Army says frequent attacks by the Myanmar military against the SSA and its followers as they fought for their own homeland and autonomy has caused local production of opium and heroin to expand. Local residents need permanent plots of land to grow rice and other crops, so they have turned to growing poppy because it takes a short time to harvest and they can shift the location of plots easier.)
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Saturday, December 19, 1998:
Legal defense fund for Lina and Gina Savage in detention since 11-20-98 (A Bay Area list subscriber forwards what could be the most disturbing news of the year. Despite Proposition 215, authorities in Contra Costa County, California, have decided that no medical marijuana patient will be allowed to raise children. Please help stand up for the rights of Gina, age 1, and Lina, age 4, taken from their biological parent to a foster home!)
Sacramento Police: Arrest, Kill & Destroy (A list subscriber forwards a witness's account of yesterday's court hearing in the case of Sacramento-area medical marijuana defendant Robert Ames. Two years after passage of Proposition 215, the Sacramento Police Department admitted in open court, in the county's first medical-marijuana cultivation case, that the department's policy is to automatically arrest all medical cannabis patients, kill all immature medical cannabis, and destroy all medical cannabis gardens, regardless of any paperwork documenting a cultivator's medical status. Ames was ordered to stand trial next year on two felony charges - cultivation, and posesssion with intent to distribute.)
Pair Gets Chance To Defend Pot Use (The Press Democrat, in Santa Rosa, California, says that even though Lori Converse, of Guerneville, had two letters from doctors authorizing her marijuana use, she was arrested for growing marijuana and taken to jail, along with her caregiver, William McConnell. For some reason left unexplained by the newspaper, District Attorney Mike Mullins has decided to violate the letter and spirit of Proposition 215 by disregarding the letters from Converse's physicians and making her try to prove her claims of medical use to a physician review board. It's also not clear why Converse's attorney applauded the prosecutor's extralegal demand.)
New Somoma board may get pot case (The San Francisco Examiner version says several physicians from outside Sonoma County had acknowledged Lori Ellen Converse's medicinal marijuana use but never recommended it, as required by Proposition 215.)
Confiscated Drugs Stolen From Under Nose Of Customs (According to an Associated Press article in The San Jose Mercury News, The Union Tribune in San Diego said Saturday that U.S. Customs agents are under investigation for delivering 7 tons of confiscated drugs to an incinerator and then allegedly leaving the drugs unattended and susceptible to theft - a procedure they may have followed on as many as five other occasions.)
Injured Girl Awarded Millions In Bus Wreck (The Anchorage Daily News says a Superior Court jury in Anchorage, Alaska, this week hit Laidlaw Transit Inc. with a $3.5 million verdict in a lawsuit over a school bus accident in which the driver tested positive for marijuana. A drug test on the driver taken some five hours after the accident indicated she had used marijuana, but not how recently, and an attorney for Laidlaw told jurors the company was sure that marijuana use did not cause the accident. The driver showed no signs of impairment and was not feeling impaired when she hit a patch of black ice that morning. The 12-year-old plaintiff's injuries were minor and she quickly recovered, and has since participated in track and field sports events and is a regular runner.)
War On Drugs Is Self-Serving Politcal Policy (A letter to the editor of The Anchorage Daily News cites several little-known aspects of the dubious war on some drugs.)
Judge Hears Pleas, Says Little on Pot Vote (The Washington Post says U.S. District Judge Richard W. Roberts asked plenty of questions yesterday but gave no signals about how he might rule in the lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of backers of Initiative 59, the District of Columbia measure that would permit seriously ill people to use marijuana for medical reasons.)
Judge keeps D.C. marijuana vote under wraps (The Baltimore Sun version)
Needle Exchange Returns to D.C. (The Washington Post says a private firm now carries out the program, funded previously by the District of Columbia. In October, Congress forced the city to stop trying to prevent intravenous drug users from spreading AIDS.)
Teen Drug Use Down Slightly, Study Says (A Knight Ridder news service article in The Orange County Register summarizes the latest results from the annual Monitoring the Future survey, conducted by the University of Michigan for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Used to track teen-age drug use since 1975, the survey conducted by Professor Lloyd Johnston this year found that 10th-graders' use of marijuana dropped from 34.8 percent to 31.1 percent. Thirty-five percent of 10th-graders said they had used some kind of drug, including tobacco, in the past school year, down from 38.5 percent the year earlier. However, Professor Johnston and the federal government apparently do not consider alcohol to be a drug, or illegal for kids - about seven in 10 sophomores said they had consumed alcohol, and one-third of seniors reported being drunk in the past month. Overall "drug" use among eighth-graders dropped from 23.6 percent to 21 percent. But marijuana use held steady at 9.7 percent for that grade and remained at 22.8 percent among 12th-graders. Some 22.4 percent of high school seniors smoked cigarettes daily in the latest survey, compared with 1992's all-time low of 17.2 percent. Black teenagers continue to have the lowest smoking rates, with just less than 15 percent of black seniors saying they smoked in the past month.)
Teens' drug use dips slightly but remains high, survey finds (The Miami Herald version notes, according to the survey, 41.4 percent of high school seniors reported using "drugs" in the last year, down from 42.4 percent.)
Study Finds Decline In Teen Substance Use (The Washington Post version)
Teen Drug Use Stabilizes But Overall Rate Still High, Study Finds (The Sacramento Bee version)
Report: Drug Use Stabilizing Among Teens (A slightly different version in The Omaha World-Herald)
Drug Use Among Teen-Agers Leveling Out, Report Says (The Los Angeles Daily News version)
Drug Use Slows As Teens Heed Dangers (A lengthier version in The Peoria Journal Star)
Teen Drug Use Has Stabilized, Even Dipped, Study Says (The Arizona Republic version)
Dip In Teen Drug Use Called Inadequate (The Philadelphia Inquirer version)
Drug Use Slows As Teens See, Hear More About Dangers (The version in The Commercial Appeal, in Tennessee)
1998 Monitoring The Future Study: Tide Of Youth Drug Use Turns (A press release from the office of the White House drug czar, General Barry McCaffrey, says this year's survey of teen drug use demonstrates that "our balanced approach - focusing on preventing children from turning to drugs, treating drug addicts, and breaking trafficking organizations - works.")
Colombia Seizes 30 Percent More Cocaine, Heroin In 1998 (According to Cable News Network, today's release of an annual crime report by the Colombian National Police shows Colombian prohibition agents seized a record 59 tons of cocaine and 770 pounds of heroin this year, worth about $1 billion wholesale in the United States. However, the area of land covered with illegal drug crops has increased over the past two years. The DEA estimates Colombia supplies 80 percent of the world's cocaine and about 60 percent of the high-grade heroin bought in the United States. The DEA also estimates Colombian cocaine sells for about $17,500 per kilogram in the United States, and heroin for $85,000 to $195,000 per kilogram.)
Bytes: 89,200 Last updated: 3/3/99
Friday, December 18, 1998:
Implementation of Measure 67 (Stormy Ray, a multiple sclerosis patient and chief petitioner for the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act of 1998, provides some potentially helpful advice to other Oregon patients about how to comply with the voter-approved law.)
Task Force: New office needed to improve pain management (The Associated Press says a state task force has recommended that Oregon should set up a new office to improve pain management and ease doctors' fears about treating pain with narcotics. The recommendations will be given to Governor John Kitzhaber and the legislature next month in hopes that lawmakers will act on them.)
Raid yields guns, ammunition, drug paraphernalia (An Oregonian account of North Portland residents being awakened at 5:30 a.m. Thursday by a police raid characteristically fails to say what the "paraphernalia" consisted of or whether the weapons were illegal, or on what evidence Portland police charged Leroy Sylvester Long with conspiracy to commit first-degree distribution of a controlled substance, or how one person could engage in a conspiracy and/or why nobody else was apparently charged.)
County considers taking cars of drunken drivers (The Oregonian says the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners unanimously endorsed a resolution Thursday to consider forfeiting vehicles operated by drivers who have suspended or revoked licenses as a result of driving under the influence of alcohol or "drugs." The resolution, introduced by Commissioner Lisa Naito, allows Sheriff Dan Noelle to appoint a committee to consider the ramifications and potentially recommend a county ordinance.)
Medical Pot Not A Problem (A letter to the editor of The Columbian, in Vancouver, Washington, responds to an op-ed against medical marijuana by Sandra Bennett, the notorious local drug warrior.)
Illegal Plant Grown For Medicine, Man Claims (An Associated Press article in The Houston Chronicle notes Musa Ahmed Gelan of Prunedale, California, pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in San Jose to charges related to growing more than 1,000 khat plants. Gelan's lawyer said the native of Yemen used khat to help control his diabetes. Prohibition agents said Gelan's garden was the first such outdoor "plantation" discovered in the United States.)
Not Guilty Plea In Exotic Drug Case (A lengthier San Jose Mercury News version)
Texas reporter was murdered in Mexico, authorities say (The Dallas Morning News says an autopsy shows Philip True, the Mexico City correspondent for the San Antonio Express News, was strangled and may have been sexually assaulted before his death. The newspaper says American law enforcement sources "privately" suspect drug smugglers.)
US Journalist In Mexico Sexually Assaulted, Slain (The Chicago Tribune version in The Orange County Register says True was indeed sexually brutalized, but that he may also have stumbled upon an illegal logging operation.)
American Journalist Is Killed In Mexico (The original Chicago Tribune version - slightly different)
Express-News news release relating to Philip True (The San Antonio Express-News says news reports that the newspaper's slain Mexico City correspondent was investigating drug trafficking or cultivation are false. There is no evidence to suggest he was the victim of foul play by drug traffickers or cultivators. Also contrary to published reports, True's wallet and other effects were missing, suggesting robbery may have been a motive.)
Texas Lawyer Battles Highway Department, Anti-drug Police (A Dallas Morning News article in The San Jose Mercury News says Pat Barber of Colorado City, Texas, erected a big billboard on his ranch at the edge of town next to Interstate 20 saying, "Just Say NO to Searches! 915-728-5505." Law enforcement officials were not amused and the Texas Department of Transportation said the billboard violated the Highway Beautification Act and threatened to fine Barber $1,000 a day if he didn't remove it. "Nobody wants to see us turn into a Third World police state," says Barber. "Police may want it, but people don't want it.")
Drake nurse allegedly stole patient's morphine (The Cincinnati Enquirer says the woman had a history of substance abuse when a temp agency placed her at the Drake Center, raising questions about the effectiveness of an Ohio law requiring background checks for health care workers. "We arrest a health professional every six days," said Sgt. John J. Burke, commander of Cincinnati's pharmaceutical diversion squad. About 70 percent of the health workers the squad arrests are nurses. The rest are pharmacists, doctors and other health care workers.)
Taylor Turns Himself In On Drug Rap (UPI says former New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor, a virtual lock to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame next month, faces crack cocaine charges in Teaneck, New Jersey.)
Dealer's house is officer's - Drug conduit's forfeited Hilltown Twp. home is sold to Philadelphia policeman (The Morning Call, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, gives a quick history of Bucks County District Attorney Alan M. Rubenstein's campaign since 1986 to forfeit people's homes for illegal-drug-related offenses. It's still not clear though how Ralph Mirarchi is able to afford a $315,000 house on a policeman's salary.)
Joe Hart - Key West Buyers Club (A list subscriber says the case against one of the founders of a medical marijuana club in Key West, Florida, was thrown out today by a judge who ruled that the "no-knock" raid on his apartment was illegal.)
Judge Hears Medical Marijuana Case (The Associated Press says U.S. District Judge Richard Roberts will hear oral arguments today by lawyers for the District of Columbia and the American Civil Liberties Union, who want to overturn the move by Congress to censor the results of medical-marijuana Initiative 59 in November's election.)
Anti Climax (A list subscriber notes U.S. District Court Judge Roberts didn't issue a decision today regarding Initiative 59, but provides the URL for "almost all" the written arguments presented by the various parties.)
Study finds smoking marijuana and cocaine can cause cancer (CNN apparently failed to ask for an objective interpretation of the science while conveying the latest US government anti-marijuana propaganda released Tuesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Supposedly the study was the first of its kind, and found that smokers of marijuana and crack cocaine show the same kinds of precancerous conditions caused by smoking tobacco. Unfortunately, neither CNN nor the phony scientists explained why the government has never able to point to a single person who has contracted lung cancer by smoking cannabis.)
Teenage use of stimulants levels off in 1998 (An Associated Press article in The Seattle Times says the annual Monitoring the Future survey of teen drug use conducted by the University of Michigan was released today. According to the summary, it paints an optimistic picture of American teenagers, with a few exceptions. Use of marijuana, by far the most popular "drug," dropped among 10th-graders. But there was an increase in the number of 8th-graders who had tried crack or cocaine.)
Teen Drug Use Steady In 1998 (The CNN/Associated Press version)
Teen Use Of Pot, Booze, Cigarettes Down Slightly (The San Francisco Chronicle version)
Highlights Of Teen Drug Use Survey (The Associated Press cites some selected statistics from the annual Monitoring the Future survey of teen drug use. Among high school seniors, 54 percent had used an "illegal drug" at least once. Apparently that didn't include alcohol or tobacco, though both are illegal for kids.)
UN Official Seeks Reforms In US Prisons (Reuters says Radhika Coomaraswamy, a top United Nations official concerned with violence against women, on Friday called for stronger monitoring of women's prisons in the United States to control widespread sexual misconduct.)
Wiseman Noble cancels all Hemp and Non-Wood Fibre projects (A company press release from Wiseman Noble, the research-based events and publications company in Vancouver, British Columbia, whose aim is to facilitate change through consensus, cites financial losses. Wiseman Noble produced seven events across Canada related to hemp and non-wood fibres since 1997, and published eight issues of Commercial Hemp magazine.)
Illegal Drug Trade Is Tool Of Power Elite (An op-ed in The Victoria Times-Colonist, in British Columbia, by Jim Hackler, a professor of sociology at the University of Victoria and the author of "Crime and Canadian Public Policy," says it is difficult for Canada to have a sensible drug policy when its neighbor, the United States, the most powerful country in the world, supports the drug trade and then lies about it. Clearly, enough powerful people are benefiting from the current drug policy that it will be hard to develop intelligent alternatives.)
Torture Scandal Stirs Dominicans (The Associated Press says a videotape of a drug suspect being beaten in the presence of the Dominican Republic's top anti-drug official, General Humeau Hidalgo, is drawing public outrage.)
Cannabis Ifs And Butts (The New Zealand Herald says that after eight months of deliberation, the New Zealand parliament's health select committee released its report on the mental health effects of cannabis yesterday. "Based on the evidence we have heard in the course of this inquiry," the committee concluded, "the negative mental health impact of cannabis appears to have been overstated . . . . Cannabis should be viewed as a lesser threat to cognitive functioning than alcohol." The committee said the evidence also suggested that cannabis did not cause behavioural difficulties, rather that cannabis was frequently used by youths who misbehaved. Neither was it a cause of suicide.)
Cannabis Laws Should Be Reviewed (The version in The Press, in New Zealand.)
Britain Is Drugs Capital Of Europe (Britain's Independent says the 1998 Annual Report on the State of the Drugs Problem in the European Union, carried out by the European Commission, shows that the war against drugs is being lost, and that proportionately more people in the United Kingdom use cannabis, ecstasy, amphetamines and solvents than in any other country in Europe.)
Gambians Arrested For Drug Crimes (A translation of an article from Dagens Nyheter, in Sweden, says the illegal heroin and khat trade in Stockholm is growing at an immense rate - despite the most repressive anti-drug laws in Europe - with police alleging that 400 of the county's 900 Gambians are involved.)
The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue No. 71 (The Drug Reform Coordination Network's original summary of drug policy news and calls to action, including - Diana McCague sentenced for syringe exchange - including McCague's statement to the court and links to prior coverage of the Chai Project; Action opportunity: protest on steps of New Jersey Statehouse; Bills seeking to decriminalize marijuana, legalize medical marijuana and legalize hemp cultivation to be introduced in New Hampshire legislature in 1999; Patient who was denied liver transplant for using medical marijuana dies; Media spotlight: drug smuggling by U.S. Marines a growing problem; and an editorial by Adam J. Smith, Unrighteous indignation.)
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Thursday, December 17, 1998:
The NORML Foundation Weekly Press Release (Increasing Marijuana Reform Legislation Anticipated In 1999 State Legislatures)
Medical Marijuana Act: Don't Act Yet (Stat, the newsletter of the Oregon Medical Assocation, says that despite the passage of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, Oregon physicians should not "take action" until "all the issues" are resolved - like maybe a thousand years from now - even though the new law requires only that a physician express the opinion on a patient's chart that marijuana may help the patient's condition.)
Re: Medical Marijuana Act: Don't Act Yet (Dr. Rick Bayer, a chief petitioner for the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, comments on the advisory from Paul Frisch, the Oregon Medical Association's director of medical legal affairs. When the federal threat no longer looms large, the OMA will mellow. By spring, things will work out if reformers keep up their educational efforts.)
Trooper thankful to escape close call (The Oregonian interviews an Oregon state trooper who is trying to recover from a devastating wreck caused by a drunken driver. The drunk got 60 days for maiming a state trooper - a lot less time than most convicted marijuana growers.)
Advocates seek assurance of adequate pain treatment (The Oregonian says the Portland-based Compassion in Dying Federation is leading other advocacy groups in pushing the federal government to assure that patients entering hospitals clearly understand their right to request adequate pain treatment.)
Acquittal shows difficulty of prosecuting gang murder suspects (The Associated Press says it took a jury just 30 minutes Wednesday to find a Portland man not guilty of murder in a 1995 gang shooting after two key witnesses refused to cooperate with prosecutors during the trial.)
Please Send Dave Herrick a Card or Letter in Jail (A list subscriber notes this is the second Christmas behind bars for the California medical marijuana martyr and former San Bernardino County deputy sheriff.)
Ex-Tucson cop indicted on charges stemming from corruption probe (The Arizona Daily Star says Jose Ernesto "Ernie" Medina was indicted yesterday on charges stemming from a federal investigation into corruption in the Tucson police department.)
Court upholds cash forfeiture of $9 million (The Houston Chronicle says the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld the forfeiture of more than $9 million in cash deposited in a Houston bank by Mario Ruiz Massieu, a former Mexican official who was in charge of investigating drug cartels.)
Police Find $1 Million During Traffic Stop (The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, in Missouri, says two police made the largest seizure of suspected drug money in St. Louis County's history after stopping a man on Interstate 44 for two moving traffic violations and because one of his headlights wasn't working.)
Suburban Drug Force Disbanding (The Chicago Tribune says the Cook County Metropolitan Enforcement Group, an alliance of state, county and local police that for years was some suburban cities' only weapon against small-time drug dealers, will disband at the end of the month after 21 years. Reasons for the group's slow death over the last two years include the proliferation of law-enforcement task forces at the county, state and federal levels - some of whose duties overlap those of MEG. As these task forces have formed, some of the local departments that assigned officers to MEG pulled them out and redeployed them to the other groups. The reason is economics: By having officers take part in task forces that seize more assets, local departments typically get more money.)
County Drug Unit Loses Officers, May Shut Down (The version in The Daily Herald, in Arlington Heights, Illinois)
Policeman Accused Of Running Drug Ring (The Orange County Register version of yesterday's news about Joseph Miedzianowski, the veteran Chicago police officer who was charged Wednesday with running a drug ring that allegedly distributed millions of dollars worth of cocaine and heroin between Chicago and Miami.)
Cop Charged In Drug Ring (The Chicago Tribune version)
$750,000 Awarded In False Arrest Case (The Miami Herald notes the war on some drug users just got more expensive locally Wednesday as a federal jury in Broward awarded the judgment to a man in Hollywood, Florida, after a judge ruled his civil rights were violated by two police officers in a 1996 drug arrest. In a rare decision, U.S. District Judge Wilkie Ferguson Jr. held Sgt. Jeff Marano and former Officer Tony Fernandez responsible for violating Dwight Edman's rights before the jury could even deliberate the matter. The judge based his verdict Tuesday on Marano's admission that police had no probable cause to arrest Edman.)
Human Body Makes Own Version of Chemicals Found in Marijuana (A scientifically illiterate but nonetheless interesting article from Knight Ridder News Service in The Salt Lake Tribune grapples with the belated realization that our brains and bodies are flooded with a natural form of cannabis. Called cannabinoids, after the euphoria-inducing plant Cannabis sativa, this family of compounds blocks pain, erases memories and triggers hunger. Newer studies show they also may regulate the immune system, enhance reproduction and protect the brain from stroke and trauma damage.)
Natural Form Of Marijuana In Humans A Medical Mystery (A lengthier version in The Chicago Tribune)
Just Say 'Wait a Minute' (The New York Review of Books discusses "The Fix," by Michael Massing, and "Drug Crazy - How We Got Into This Mess and How We Can Get Out," by Mike Gray. Malcolm Gladwell writes, "Drugs" really aren't that much fun - at least not in the way that straitlaced adolescents and anxious parents think that they are. This is a critical point, but so often overlooked that it is worth examining in more detail.)
Marijuana Can Affect Fertility, Damaging Sperm, U.S. Study Says (A Reuters article in The Toronto Star uncritically passes along Tuesday's news about the latest drug-warrior junk science from the United States suggesting cannabis may have medical utility as a birth-control adjunct - plus commentary from list subscribers, including a letter to The Toronto Star faulting the newspaper for publishing propaganda from US ideologues.)
MPP's view of the Monitoring the Future survey data (A press release from the Marijuana Policy Project, in Washington, DC, critiques the federally funded survey to be released tomorrow, and says the MPP's newly released online report, "Marijuana Prohibition Has Not Curtailed Marijuana Use by Adolescents," examines the government's data and concludes that criminal penalties have had no effect on adolescent marijuana use rates. "When teen marijuana use is down, the drug warriors say, 'Our policies are working, so let's stay the course.' When use is up, they say, 'We blame the legalizers! We must stay the course.' They can't have it both ways. It's time for the drug warriors to take full responsibility and admit that prohibition is a useless, wasteful, cruel strategy.")
Stripped in search, teens sue police (The Toronto Sun says two Toronto high school students are alleging they were strip-searched, assaulted, threatened and falsely imprisoned while being investigated for possessing marijuana.)
Woman Drops Pants In Airport After Customs' Smuggling Claim (According to The Edmonton Sun, workers at Pearson Airport in Toronto say a Toronto woman, 20, who arrived on a flight from Jamaica was accused by a Customs officer of smuggling drugs in her body cavities. The irate woman suddenly removed her pants and underwear in front of about 30 stunned people and bent down in front of the officer to show she had no drugs, workers said.)
Huge Pot Bust York's Largest (The Toronto Sun says prohibition agents raided two homes in Markham yesterday and shut down what police estimate was the largest-ever pot-growing operation in York Region, with 6,000 plants.)
Today in the history of the drug war (A list subscriber notes in 1973, the Canadian deputy minister of health confirmed that Health Department officials had been ordered to make no comment on the the LeDain Report.)
New Zealand Select Committee Report Recommends Law Review (A press release from New Zealand NORML says New Zealand's parliamentary inquiry into the mental health effects of cannabis has resulted in a recommendation that "the Government review the appropriateness of existing policy on cannabis and its use and reconsider the legal status of cannabis.")
Alcohol And Drug Problems Rife In Jails (The Advertiser, in Australia, says a national study conducted by the Australian Medical Association has found that up to 83 per cent of the nation's prisoners continue to suffer from alcohol and other drug problems while in jail, and as many as one in four inmates continues to use heroin when in jail, while half of all prisoners suffer from hepatitis C and hepatitis B.)
Parole Officers Back Heroin Trial (An op-ed in The Daily Telegraph, in Australia, by Greg Oates, the president of the Probation and Parole Officers' Association of New South Wales, says "We are filling our jails in NSW faster than they can be built. There is no hope of stemming the flow of illicit drugs into the country. People are not safe on the streets and parents mourn their children, dead or imprisoned. It is a disaster. We believe all political parties have a moral obligation to stop politicking on this subject and to introduce an on-going inquiry into how to combat the use of illicit drugs with emphasis on early intervention, treatment and harm minimisation. We support a heroin trial.")
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Wednesday, December 16, 1998:
Urban Pulse - Flesh and Blood (Willamette Week, in Portland, says local doctors estimate that as many as 70 percent of Portland's injecting drug users are carriers of Hepatitis C, and during the last six months, 11 heroin users in the city have been afflicted with necrotizing fasciitis - better known by its tabloid nickname, "flesh-eating bacteria.")
Re: Urban Pulse - Flesh and Blood (A letter sent to the editor of Willamette Week says the shopper's suggestion that diseases associated with heroin use are "drug-related" is to miss, or deny, the central problem, which is the unregulated market.)
kxlporwamcar1 (An Associated Press article with a garbled headline at the Eugene, Oregon, Register-Guard web site says Harrison Bletson, the Portland crack addict who murdered his mother when she refused to give him money, has been sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years.)
Bread Control - It's No Longer Just About Guns (A sarcastic letter to the editor of Willamette Week uses the logic of prohibitionism to call for a ban on bread, urging readers to "Think idiotically, act globally!")
Marijuana arrests soar for students on Gig Harbor peninsula (According to The Associated Press, sheriff's officials say at least 16 students in the area of Gig Harbor, Washington, have been caught with marijuana at school over the last 10 days. "Marijuana is back to the time when it was in its heyday" on the Gig Harbor Peninsula, said Pierce County sheriff's Sergeant Ross Herberholz.)
Wash. sting describes bargain-hunting smokers as smugglers (The Spokesman-Review, in Spokane, Washington, notes smokers in eastern Washington are upset over a half-day sting Monday near Stateline, Idaho, where agents of the Washington Liquor Control Board confiscated cigarettes and wrote $250 citations for bargain-hunters who preferred Idaho's tax of 28 cents per pack over Washington's tax of 82.5 cents per pack.)
Cross-border holiday shoppers may be breaking law (An Associated Press story on the same topic, in the Eugene, Oregon, Register-Guard)
Couple arrested for Web site classified ads for cocaine, sex (An Associated Press article in The Register-Guard, in Eugene, Oregon, says a couple in Bothell, Washington, was arrested after police investigated classified advertisements on a popular Web site that offered and solicited sex and cocaine.)
Cocaine, Sex Listed Among Web Site's Classified Ads (The Seattle Post-Intelligencer version)
WSU frat suspended after alcohol-related incident (An Associated Press article in The Register-Guard, in Eugene, Oregon, says Kappa Sigma, a Washington State University fraternity in Pullman, Washington, that is already on probation for its role in last spring's riot, is being suspended and faces closure because of members' party habits.)
Medical marijuana court hearings . . . (A bulletin from the Sonoma Alliance for Medical Marijuana asks concerned Californians to show their support for Proposition 215 by attending hearings Dec. 18 and Dec. 21 regarding two separate medical-marijuana cases in Sonoma County. The first case involves Lori Converse and William McConnell, and the second involves Ed Learn and Will Larson.)
FBI Picks Up A Prison Probe Some Say Was Stifled By Union (The San Mateo County Times says the Federal Bureau of Investigation has taken up an investigation into brutality by guards at Pelican State Prison in California. State officials had pledged to reform the supermaximum penitentiary in 1995, but just a few months after investigators started working, the warden cut short their probe and the investigators then found themselves the subject of repeated investigations by the Corrections Department.)
DARE Still Finds Support With Pueblo-Area Principals (The Boulder Daily Camera says that while some cities and districts are dropping Drug Awareness Resistance Education, principals in at least one corner of Colorado say they plan to stick with the program.)
Drug Survey (A staff editorial in The Ft. Worth, Texas, Star-Telegram notes a full 10 percent of the members of the Class of 1998 at Keller and Fossil Ridge high schools said in a survey taken last spring that they had used heroin. In response, school district officials are working with Keller Police Chief Bill Griffith on a comprehensive plan to replace the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program that is taught to most of the district's fifth graders.)
Prosecutors: Chicago police officer ran cocaine, heroin ring (The Associated Press says Joseph Miedzianowski, a 22-year police veteran and member of the gang crimes unit, brokered drug deals, served as a go-between with feuding drug lords, and eventually took over daily control of a drug ring that allegedly distributed millions of dollars worth of cocaine and heroin between Chicago and Miami.)
Veteran Chicago Police Officer Charged In Drug Ring (The Chicago Tribune version)
An Experiment Gone Awry Half Of State's 400 Breweries (The Wisconsin State Journal presents a brief but interesting history of alcohol Prohibition in the state, where 400 breweries flourished in 1920, but fewer than 200 re-opened in 1933. Some breweries managed to stay in business by manufacturing their own malt and selling to home brewers, who worked around Prohibition by fermenting in their basements or cellars. Pabst, in particular, created a healthy demand for its malted barley by openly marketing to home brewers. Prohibition did little to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed by Wisconsinites.)
Ex-coach pleads guilty to sex, drug charges (The Cincinnati Enquirer says Thomas Oswald, a former Little League coach in Hamilton accused of giving a 16-year-old girl "drugs" and money to induce her to have sex with him and to pose naked for photos, pleaded guilty Tuesday to 15 criminal charges.)
Facing charge, he stops playing Santa (The Philadelphia Enquirer says for the last eight years, Michael Maltman has brought joy to the hearts of Westville youths by dressing as Santa Claus and parading up and down Broadway in the days leading up to Christmas. This year, he is facing five years in prison on charges of possessing crack cocaine. However, in the spirit of the holidays, many of the borough's 5,000 residents have come out in support of Maltman, and 50 of them rallied behind him Monday at a special council meeting on the issue.)
Liquor/Beer Regulations (A letter to the editor of the Louisville, Kentucky, Courier-Journal, from the president of Expressway Liquors, who is also president of Champions For a Drug Free Kentucky, responds to news about local college students who died in an alcohol-related incident by pointing out the hypocritical double standards and regulations allowing beer to be purchased more easily than hard alcohol.)
Cops Sued Over Drug Arrest Await Verdict (The Miami Herald says a federal jury in Broward is deliberating today whether two police officers in Hollywood, Florida, violated the civil rights of a man who claims he was wrongly arrested on drug charges in 1996.)
U.S. study shows marijuana can affect fertility (Reuters uncritically passes along yesterday's news about the latest drug-warrior junk science from the United States suggesting cannabis may have medical utility as a birth-control adjunct.)
Army Role In Mexico Rights Abuse Alleged (According to The Irish Times, Mrs Rosario Ibarra, 71, a leading campaigner for "disappeared" persons who is currently visiting Ireland, said disappearances are increasing in Mexico as a result of intensified military efforts against drug trafficking. Mrs Ibarra, who was the first woman candidate for the Mexican presidency, and a senator for the Democratic Revolutionary Party between 1994 and 1997, also criticised the UN Human Rights Commission for being reluctant to challenge Mexico over documented abuses. A commission investigation into disappearances announced last August had yet to begin, she said.)
Mitch Damage Seen Upping Drug Traffic In Caribbean (Reuters quotes Derek Haines, Chief Superintendent of the Caymans Drugs Task Force, saying Tuesday that the destruction of roads and bridges in Central America by Hurricane Mitch may force South American traffickers to move more illegal drugs through the Caribbean rather than over land, through Mexico.)
Italian Researchers Say The Sweet Doesn't Mimic Marijuana (According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, scientists in Italy said today that, contrary to earlier reports, certain substances in chocolate do not appear to mimic the effects of marijuana on the brain. "Furthermore, they said, most of the substances - known as endocannabinoids - are broken down in the digestive system before they reach the brain.")
Chocolate "Addiction" a Fiction? (Reuters says research by Italian scientists, reported in the journal, Nature, suggests the much-touted marijuana-like properties of chocolate may not contribute to chocolate cravings after all. The researchers found milk and cocoa do contain substances that mimic marijuana's effects, but not enough to have psychoactive effects. However, the research team apparently wasn't very sure, and recommended studies to determine if low doses of such substances could affect behavior.)
DrugSense Weekly, No. 78 (The weekly summary of drug policy news from DrugSense leads with the feature article - The U.S. Supreme Court and your rights, by Mark Greer. The Weekly News In Review includes several articles on Effective Activism - Drug war; The main thing; Drug crusade has produced everything but success. Articles about Policy include - McCaffrey blasts medicinal marijuana; New FDA chief vows to put science first; Column: Dumping DARE a good start; Texas tobacco-suit lawyers reportedly get $3.3 billion. Articles about Law Enforcement include - Editorial: Three-strikes' economics; Corruption in the system; Drug probes find smugglers in the military. Drug Use Issues are discussed in - Teen meth use outpaces treatment; Rise in cigarette smoking doesn't bother Burma government; Toxic markers called 'poor man's drug.' International news includes - UK: Drugs and weapons seized as police arrest 70 in dawn raids; UK: Drugs-related deaths double in Glasgow; UK: Drug smugglers' European Union; Mexico: Brazen drug dealers frustrate Mexico, US; Heroin use going up among US teen-agers. The weekly Hot Off The 'Net section has yet another full page ad in The New Republic. The DrugSense Tip Of The Week features a hot tip on searching the DrugNews Archive. The Quote of the Week cites Tom Armstrong. The Fact of the Week shows treatment beats interdiction.)
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Tuesday, December 15, 1998:
Patient Who Was Denied Liver Transplant For Using Medical Marijuana Dies (A press release from California NORML notes medical malfeasance has caused the death of Ed Plotner, who was removed from a liver transplant list for using medical marijuana. Plotner suffered from multiple hepatitis infections, and had used marijuana to combat severe appetite and weight loss. Unlike alcohol and other drugs such as cocaine and heroin, marijuana is not a risk factor for hepatitis, nor does it cause liver damage.)
We Kill Them With Kindness (An op-ed in The San Francisco Chronicle says "compassionate" programs such as welfare are only making life worse for street people, who just spend their checks on alcohol and other drugs. The author says in the last decade, San Francisco has spent well more than $1 billion trying to "solve" the homeless problem, yet it is worse today, despite the healthy economy.)
Heroin Big Killer In San Francisco (The Associated Press says a health department study released Tuesday says that out of 86 drug-related deaths among the homeless last year, 40 were connected to heroin. Neither AP nor, apparently, the health department, mentions the number of homeless who died from hunger, exposure, lack of medical care, or prohibition, since apparently those are not considered public health issues.)
Underage drinking cases clogging Vermont courts (The Associated Press says Vermont's crackdown on underage drinking is clogging the state's courts and forcing court officials to stop offering diversion programs to some offenders.)
Committee Endorses Call for Hemp Study (The Associated Press says a Virginia House of Delegates committee endorsed a measure Monday calling for a study of industrial hemp. The resolution, sponsored by Mitchell Van Yahres, a Democrat from Albemarle, asks federal officials to let the state's universities experiment with cultivation of industrial hemp for commercial use. The General Assembly will consider the measure during the session that begins Jan. 13.)
Must State Become A Criminal to Fight Drugs? (A letter to the editor of The Richmond Times-Dispatch, in Virginia, responds to the recent article about Customs Service agents violating airline passengers while engaging in drug-seeking behavior.)
Pot-Like Agents May Affect Fertility (UPI says investigators from the University at Buffalo in New York told the annual meeting of the American Society of Cell Biology in San Francisco that they had discovered that sperm contain receptors for cannabinoids such as THC, the most prevalent of the dozens of psychoactive substances found only in cannabis. Unfortunately, the researchers then ignored the epidemiological evidence and engaged in speculation that led them to revive the drug-warrior myth that heavy pot use may reduce fertility.)
Teens, Depression & Drugs (According to Washington Post columnist Abigail Trafford, Alan I. Leshner, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, divides teenage "drug abusers" into two categories: the Sensation Seekers, who are the majority, and the depressive Self-Medicators, supposedly a minority, even though an estimated 8 million to 10 million children have an untreated mental illness. Traditional drug-prevention strategies aren't designed for depressives and aren't effective with them - but Trafford and Leshner still want to lock them all up. Both fail to acknowledge, or just flat-out lie about the fact that society isn't about to provide universal psychiatric care on demand; that pharmaceutical antidepressants don't work for some people, and can cause severe, permanent, debilitating side effects, unlike cannabis; that a large body of historical and medical research documents the utility for many people of treating mood disorders with cannabis; that cannabis is not a drug of abuse, and to the extent it may raise dopamine levels like drugs of abuse, it does so in the same manner as some pharmaceutical antidepressants; and that it is cruel as well as counterproductive to treat depressive teens who self-medicate with cannabis as "drug abusers," when self-medication with cannabis may allow them to function more productively, happily, and normally than otherwise.)
Errors, Sensationalism Hurt Papers' Credibility (According to The Associated Press, a nationwide survey released today by the American Society of Newspaper Editors found that about 80 percent of adults said newspapers sensationalize the news. Those who had firsthand experience with reporters and editors are some of their biggest critics. And the public thinks reporters are out of touch with their readers. Thirty-one percent said they had been the subject of a news story or had been interviewed by a reporter. Of that group, 24 percent said they were misquoted and 31 percent found errors in the story.)
It's A Question Of Trust (A staff editorial in The Victoria Times-Colonist, in British Columbia, says the president of the University of Victoria is right to seek the dismissal of Jean Veevers, the sociology professor convicted of commercial cultivation marijuana charges.)
Re: It's a question of trust (A letter sent to the editor of The Victoria Times-Colonist says that if politicians, police, teachers, and priests should be held to a higher level of accountability, then politicians should represent their constituents. A majority of Canadians believe that cannabis should be decriminalized, so why is cannabis still prohibited?)
Colombian may be extradited to U.S. (An Associated Press article in The Dallas Morning News says Jaime "Jimmy" Orlando Lara, an alleged drug boss accused of shipping heroin to U.S. cities, could be the first person extradited to the United States under a December 1997 Colombian law that restored extradition of citizens for trial abroad.)
Judge Acclaims Ability of Cannabis Grower (The Irish Times says a horticulturist who grew four-foot cannabis plants in his home was commended for his technical ability by Judge Kieran O'Connor at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court - who gave Wayne O'Connor a three-year suspended sentence and fined him £100 for possession of the herb.)
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Monday, December 14, 1998:
Brownie Mary Could Use a Pick-Me-Up (San Francisco Chronicle columnist Scott Ostler notes "Brownie" Mary Rathbun, the 69-year-old grandmother who baked pot brownies for AIDS patients she knew from volunteering at San Francisco General Hospital, has been hospitalized herself after a recent fall. She'll be at Ralph K. Davies Medical Center a long time, but hardly anyone stops by. "It's sad," says a friend. "No one has brought Mary her favorite medicine.")
Inmates On Hold Burden Jails (The San Jose Mercury News says that even as crime in California falls to its lowest levels in decades, a ballooning population of prisoners awaiting trial is filling the state's county jails to record levels. Unsentenced inmates - men and women whom judges have refused to release until their cases go to trial and who cannot come up with bail - were once a minority in the state's jails. But in the past 10 years, their ranks have swollen by 50 percent, surpassing those jailed for minor crimes, according to statistics from the California Board of Corrections.)
Texas Ranger Says Military Acted To Obstruct Border Death Inquiry (According to an Associated Press article in The Houston Chronicle, Sergeant David Duncan, who investigated the killing of 18-year-old goatherder Esequiel Hernandez Jr. along the Mexican border by camouflaged Marines on a drug-interdiction mission, told the San Antonio Express-News that the military obstructed an inquiry into the death and says he wants a grand jury to consider the case a third time.)
DC & Medical Marijuana on All Things Considered (A transcript of a National Public Radio newscast about Congress quashing Initiative 59, the District of Columbia medical-marijuana initiative.)
Have You Been Drinking or Using Drugs? Police Officers Will Soon be Able to Answer Both Parts of This Question in Just Minutes (A former prohibition agent's press release on Business Wire says LifePoint Inc., a Rancho Cucamonga, California-based company will soon be marketing a saliva test that will allow police to check drivers for the ingestion of illegal drugs. The former Los Angeles cop also asserts that alcohol is not a drug, and cites two articles from The Journal of Forensic Sciences, in 1993, and The New England Journal of Medicine, in 1991, which he claims show about 50 percent of drivers under the influence are actually under the influence of drugs other than alcohol, disregarding evidence from around the world showing that cannabis users are safer than drivers who use no substances at all.)
New Surveillance Proposed for Bank Accounts (Reuters and Wired say a proposed government plan that has drawn fire as an Orwellian intrusion into Americans' privacy would require US banks to monitor their customers and alert federal officials to "suspicious" behavior.)
Marijuana Advocates Continue Push For Legal Use (Reuters summarizes the recent annual conference in Washington, DC, sponsored by the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws. Activists do not agree on the best way to legalize marijuana, but all agree that the success of multiple medical marijuana initiatives Nov. 3 marks a watershed for their movement. Some believe medical marijuana should be the first goal and the acceptance of marijuana at a grass-roots level will lead ultimately to wider progress for personal freedoms.)
Rx: Marijuana (Dan Baum, author of "Smoke and Mirrors," writes in The Nation that he once thought the main problem for medical marijuana patients was marijuana's classification under Schedule I of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse and Control Act of 1970, which describes it as having a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use. Moving it to Schedule II would make clinical research possible and eventually permit prescriptions. In the present political climate, however, this course seems unlikely.)
Herbal Medicine (A letter to the editor of Time wonders why the magazine's special issue on herbal medicine never mentioned marijuana, the one herb thousands of Americans take for anxiety, fatigue, chronic depression, nausea, pain and other ailments.)
Loud music as addictive as drugs, study says (The Ottawa Citizen says a study published last week in Ear and Hearing, by researchers at Northeastern University, supposedly found that people who "need" high-decibel music experience the same withdrawal symptoms as substance abusers. The group adapted a 32-question survey used to diagnose alcoholism and recruited 90 self-professed loud-music lovers, eight of whom showed signs of addiction. However, according to Will Hunter, a substance-abuse specialist and one of the researchers, "There really is no need to be worried. It needs to be clinically significant distress or impairment - which means pretty serious.")
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Sunday, December 13, 1998:
Drug Probes Find Smugglers In The Military (The Los Angeles Times says the American military has encountered an unexpected enemy in its war on drugs: U.S. servicemen smuggling marijuana and cocaine into California for Mexican drug rings. At least 50 Marines and sailors have been investigated "in recent years" for drug running, according to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Eight military probes involving 20 Marine and Navy suspects were launched in the past year alone. And here's an interesting statistic: Out of an active duty force of 1.4 million, 4,888 servicemen and women were discharged in fiscal 1998 for drug-related misconduct - mostly marijuana and cocaine use.)
Marines Reportedly Smuggled Drugs (The Associated Press version)
State Corrections Program Is Failing Us (Two letters to the editor of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel call for a blue-ribbon commission to be appointed to reconsider Wisconsin's rapidly expanding correctional system.)
Failing To Police Their Own - Win At All Costs series (The tenth and final part of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette series about the newspaper's two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors break the law routinely. The Office of Professional Responsibility is the arm of the US Justice Department that is supposed to enforce the law and ethics among federal prosecutors. That's why Roger Pilon, a former Justice Department official, was surprised to learn that the men who leaked erroneous information about him to newspapers - leaks that violated federal privacy laws - included top attorneys at the OPR. No one was ever punished.)
Hyde Amendment Makes Violations Costly - Win At All Costs series (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues its series about the newspaper's two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors break the law routinely. Last year, Congress provided a measure of recourse for some victims of overzealous federal prosecutions. Legislation introduced by U.S. Representative Henry Hyde now allows defendants to recover reasonable defense costs if they can show a federal case was "vexatious, frivolous or in bad faith." The claims are starting to add up to serious money.)
Congress Steps In To Protect Whistleblower - Win At All Costs series (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues its series about the newspaper's two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors break the law routinely. Dr. Frederick Whitehurst, an FBI chemist, began reporting his concerns to OPR in 1986 that FBI Crime Laboratory managers lacked proper training, routinely ignored or tried to cover-up problems in handling evidence, that lab employees sometimes lied as witnesses to bolster government cases, and that some lab officials had rewritten reports he and others had produced. In response, the Justice Department suspended and publicly humiliated him.)
Aggressive Attorney At OPR Targets Prosecutor, Loses On All Counts - Win At All Costs series (Part of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette series about the newspaper's two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors break the law routinely. The US Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, in one of its largest investigations ever, spent two years looking into charges against William R. Hogan, a prosecutor in the Chicago U.S. Attorney's office. Based on OPR findings, he was fired in 1996, but vindicated last August by a judge who determined that the exhaustive OPR investigation showed he was guilty of no wrongdoing.)
Win At All Costs series - sidebars end the series (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette concludes its series on corruption in the Justice Department with an invitation to write to two key congressmen asking for stronger oversight.)
'Strong-Willed' Prosecutor Unmoved By Spotlight (The Roanoke Times, in Virginia, portrays Joan Ziglar, the tough local prosecutor who extradited Alfred Martin, a businessman and father of three, from Michigan because he walked away from his 10-year jail sentence in 1974 after being sentenced for selling $10 of marijuana.)
Marijuana's Relief, Etc. (Four letters to the editor of The News & Observer, in North Carolina, find fault with the reasoning of Linda Bayer, the hack from the White House drug czar's office who criticized syndicated columnist Molly Ivins' recent apostasy on the drug war.)
Border Agency Protects Its Own Despite Misdeeds (The Miami Herald says its investigation of the U.S. Customs Service's employment practices in Florida found that the agency has promoted officers caught dating drug smugglers, wrecking an agency car after drinking, tampering with evidence, and helping a key witness leave the country. The newspaper's investigation, prompted by disclosures that the Customs Service's head agent in South Florida got the job after 2 1/2 years of failed management elsewhere, reveals a culture that often protects favored employees from their own mistakes yet hammers those who go public with criticism.)
FBI: Serious Crime Rates Dropping (The Associated Press says the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported Sunday that serious crimes dropped another 5 percent in the first half of 1998, extending a six-year trend. The half-year report comes weeks after the FBI's final 1997 figures, which showed the national murder rate reaching its lowest point in 30 years.)
Justices Limit Searches By Police In Traffic Stops (The Philadelphia Inquirer notes the US Supreme Court has ruled that a routine traffic violation doesn't automatically give police the right to search an automobile.)
A Selective Drug War (A letter to the editor of The Washington Times says Viagra enthusiast Bob Dole is a recreational drug user.)
University President Wants Pot-Growing Professor Fired (The Miami Herald notes the president of the University of Victoria, in British Columbia, wants to fire Jean Veevers, a sociology professor convicted of growing and selling marijuana who was fined $15,000 and given a conditional 12-month sentence to be served in the community.)
Veevers is a threat (The first of two letters to the editor of The Times Colonist, in Victoria, British Columbia, calling for the dismissal of sociology professor Jean Veevers, recently convicted of running a marijuana-grow operation, says "if we are able to remove all drug pushers, our community would be less-crime-ridden and a far more pleasant place to live.")
Brazen Drug Dealers Frustrate Mexico, US (The Washington Post begins the annual debate over certification of Mexico as an ally in the United States' drug war with an article about suspected corruption in Quintana Roo, "the first narco-state in Mexico," according to one U.S. official.)
ACM-Bulletin of 13 December 1998 (An English-language news bulletin from the Association for Cannabis as Medicine, in Cologne, Germany, features more details about the recent medical research in Spain showing that THC induces programmed death in certain brain tumor cells, but not in healthy cells.)
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Saturday, December 12, 1998:
Man found guilty of killing his mother now faces death penalty (The Associated Press says a jury in Portland, Oregon, convicted Harrison Lee Bletson of aggravated murder Thursday. Witnesses said Bletson went on a crack cocaine binge the day before his mother was killed, but the possibility that he was a sociopath before using crack isn't mentioned.)
Jury convicts Portland man of felony murder at illegal club (The Oregonian says Edwin Lasaun Williams faces a minimum of 25 years in prison for a gunfight at an after-hours drinking and gambling club in Northeast Portland.)
Australian Study Finds Marijuana Not a Significant Driving Hazard - Evidence Contradicts Drug Czar McCaffrey, Impugns Rationale for Drug Testing (A press release from California NORML provides more details about "The Prevalence and Role of Alcohol, Cannabinoids, Benzodiazepines and Stimulants in Non-Fatal Crashes," a study published in May of this year by researchers at the Department of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology at the University of Adelaide, the largest and latest research to contradict claims by U.S. drug warriors, led by Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey, that marijuana is a major road safety hazard.)
Governor Backs Medicinal Marijuana (According to an Associated Press article in The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Hawaii Governor Ben Cayetano said Thursday night he would propose a bill when the Legislature convenes next month to make it legal for people to use marijuana if they have a legitimate medical reason to do so. Cayetano said the state needs to be a leader in the issue if it hopes to become a health and wellness center for the Pacific.)
Drug Crime Punishment Bill Filed (The Oklahoman says a Republican state representative, John Sullivan of Tulsa, has introduced a bill in the legislature that would give the death penalty to adults who sell "drugs" to minors.)
2nd Officer Placed on Paid Leave in Shakedown Probe (The Dallas Morning News says another Dallas police officer, Quentis R. Roper, a former local football standout, is suspected of stealing thousands of dollars from drug dealers and undocumented Mexican immigrants and has been placed on paid leave pending the outcome of a criminal investigation. The investigation into the alleged shakedowns became public Sunday night when Officer Daniel E. Maples Jr. turned himself in because he feared drug dealers would hurt his loved ones.)
Was Justice Denied On The Border? (The San Antonio Express-News says a senior FBI agent and a Texas Ranger who investigated the killing of an 18-year-old goatherder, Esequiel Hernandez Jr., by a camouflaged Marine leading an anti-drug patrol near Redford, Texas, contend the military obstructed an inquiry of the death. They want a grand jury to consider the matter for a third time.)
Lawyers In Tobacco Case Will Receive $8.2 Billion (The New York Times says dozens of attorneys who represented the first three states to settle with the tobacco industry over alleged health care costs - Florida, Mississippi and Texas - were awarded $8.2 billion in fees Friday, the richest legal payday in the nation's history. The fees will be paid by cigarette smokers, who weren't represented in the legal wranglings.)
Tobacco Case Lawyers Awarded Billions In Fees (The Associated Press version in the New Bedford, Massachusetts, Standard-Times)
Forfeiture To Aid Narcotics Bureau (The Oklahoman says a judge in Grady County Thursday allowed the forfeiture of $122,210 in cash that will benefit the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics.)
Failed Drug Policy (A letter to the editor of The Minneapolis Star-Tribune ridicules Linda Bayer, the hack from the White House drug czar's office who criticized syndicated columnist Molly Ivins' recent apostasy on the drug war.)
Groom who brought marijuana to court gets married - and sentenced (The Associated Press says a judge in Edwardsville, Illinois - where marijuana is not decriminalized - presided over the marriage of a man, then sentenced him minutes later for bringing marijuana into the courthouse. The groom, Ewel Simon Greene, had been arrested at the courthouse Friday when a deputy using a metal detector discovered a metal pipe in his pocket. Greene got one year's probation and a $100 fine on misdemeanor charges of marijuana and drug paraphernalia possession.)
Activist Denounces Prison System (The Cincinnati Enquirer says Angela Davis, best known for the trails she blazed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, spoke to a packed auditorium at Northern Kentucky University Friday night and criticized today's prison system.)
Pfizer hires Dole to talk about health (The Associated Press says the pharmaceutical company has hired former senator and presidential candidate Bob Dole for a television advertising campaign to raise awareness about impotence, hoping to improve sales of Viagra.)
In D.C., Marijuana Dispute Hits A Raw Nerve (The Philadelphia Inquirer suggests District of Columbia residents are less upset about the ramifications for medical-marijuana patients than they are about the lack of local control evidenced by Congress's quashing of Initiative 59, the medical-marijuana initiative that won handily, according to exit polls.)
Free Speech Becomes Drug War Casualty (Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robyn Blumner says first the drug warriors took away the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches. Now Congress has decided that the right of citizens to be heard in an election is disposable - that is, if Congress doesn't like the election results. Our government's doomsday rhetoric about drugs is no longer being swallowed whole. Which makes the powers that be very nervous, and correspondingly makes this a dangerous time for free speech.)
US Gang Threatens To Kill Toronto Cops (The Toronto Sun says Toronto police have assigned heavily armed emergency task force officers to protect their drug squad colleagues after Rema Posse, a violent gang based in New York City and Jamaica, made threats to kill Toronto cops - including one phoned in to the newspaper. Toronto prohibition agents executed 75 warrants and filed more than 169 charges against gang members between May and September.)
UVic poised to fire pot-growing prof (The Times Colonist, in Victoria, British Columbia, says the president of the University of Victoria is calling for the dismissal of a sociology professor found guilty of operating a marijuana grow operation. Under the Human Rights Code, it is discriminatory to fire someone for an offence unrelated to their employment.)
Yeoman Of The Weed (An account in The Economist, in Britain, about the marijuana growers on the Caribbean island-nation of St. Vincent who have organized against the United States' eradication efforts there, says the farmers' plea for regulation is not as reasonable as it sounds. Ignoring the example of Cayman Islands banks, the magazine says the United States would never agree to decriminalisation, and if it did, or itself legalised marijuana, the price of ganja would probably collapse.)
Medicopolitical digest - Lords criticise government's response to cannabis report (The British Medical Journal says the chairman of the House of Lords science and technology committee, which produced a report last month saying physicians should be allowed to prescribe herbal cannabis to patients, has called on the government to "give more mature consideration to our recommendations.")
Ecstasy Users Face Consequences Of Neurotoxicity (The Lancet, in Britain, says "experts" who met at the Novartis Foundation conference in London on Dec. 4 asserted that the drug methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA, also known as ecstasy, is a human neurotoxin, and one dose could be enough to damage serotonergic neurons. The "experts" said the functional consequences of such lesions remain unknown, but could include mood disorders and memory difficulties. A decade of research has shown that MDMA causes a deficit of brain serotonin in every animal species tested, said George Ricaurte of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, though such lesions have persisted for no more than 7 years in any animal.)
More On Serotonin System (A related article in The Lancet notes there are actually at least 14 distinct types of serotonin receptors. This week, US scientists report that genetically engineered mice lacking the 5-HT1A inhibitory serotonin receptor are more anxious than their normal littermates and that they behave like mice that have been given antidepressants. "Our speculation," says senior author, Laurence Tecott, of the University of California at San Francisco, "is that both these abnormalities - anxiety and antidepressive responses - can be accounted for by disinhibition of serotonin system activity.")
Drug Smugglers' European Union (The Guardian, in Britain, says the arrest of Gungor Tekin, a famous Turkish soccer player who started serving a 23-year sentence in a British jail this week after being convicted of heroin smuggling, has cast light on the new international links of the heroin trade. What has emerged from the case and other recent operations is that there is now a European criminal community that is cooperating far more successfully than their ministerial counterparts.)
Myths Stubbornly Resist Debunking - "Character weaknesses" demolished (A translation of an article from Tages Anzeiger, in Switzerland, presents a brief historical overview of current American drug policy, emphasizing its basis in myth, and the harm caused by myths that stubbornly endure. They lead to false generalisations, faulty assumptions, half-truths, cliches, and repression, yielding ground but slowly to rational argument and the sweet voice of reason.)
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Friday, December 11, 1998:
Trap and trace device at American Agriculture (An investigative list subscriber reports the Marijuana Task Force in Portland has been using its illegal "trap and trace" device at the American Agriculture hydroponics store to bust cannabis cultivators all over Oregon. A busted grower in Bend allegedly has a tape recording of MTF Officer Nathan Shropshire spilling the beans.)
Hemp jewelry kit for kids at Sears (Paul Stanford, a chief petitioner for the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act, a proposed initiative that would legalize industrial hemp, notes at least one Portland franchise of the nationwide retailer is offering kids something new for Christmas this year.)
Veteran acquitted on marijuana charge (An Associated Press article in The Contra Costa Times says a jury on Thursday acquitted Charles Lepp in connection with his cultivation of 131 marijuana plants. Lepp's was the first medical marijuana case taken to trial in either Lake or Mendocino counties since voters approved Proposition 215 in 1996.)
Media Culpa - Cracking the CIA (Seattle Weekly columnist Mark Worth says the Central Intelligence Agency is finally admitting what the San Jose Mercury News and many independent political journals have been saying for more than two years - that the CIA, at the very minimum, turned a blind eye to the Nicaraguan Contras' cocaine-for-weapons operation.)
Committee Debates Sentences For Small-Time Drug Dealers (According to an Associated Press article in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the soon-to-retire Wisconsin Department of Corrections secretary, Michael Sullivan, told the 18-member Criminal Penalties Study Committee that it should consider sending small-time drug dealers to rehabilitation and training programs instead of prison. However, the committee is examining ways to make the state's sentencing guidelines tougher under "truth-in-sentencing" legislation signed by Governor Tommy Thompson in June.)
Elderly Brothers Face Drug Charges (The Washington Post says police arrested Russell Bailey, 79, and his brother, Oliver Bailey, 83, after a Talbot County narcotics task force raided their house in Trappe, Maryland. Police say the two found an enterprising way to stretch those Social Security checks - by selling crack cocaine and marijuana out of their rural home.)
Crack Mom Seeks Release From Prison (The Rock Hill Herald, in South Carolina, says the case of Cornelia Whitner, a South Carolina woman convicted of child neglect because she used crack cocaine while pregnant, has become a rallying point for women's groups and doctors who say jailing pregnant women with substance abuse problems discourages them from seeking proper prenatal care.)
Court Official's Arrest (UPI says Bennie Hugh Frazier, the chief of U.S. District Court pretrial services in Miami, Florida, where he manages a staff of about 50 officers and is responsible for recommending bail amounts for those charged with federal crimes, was busted in Liberty City trying to buy $50 worth of crack cocaine.)
Hidden Danger in Your Milk? Reporters File Suit To Thwart Fox-TV Coverup (A list subscriber forwards the URL for a web site where two veteran investigative reporters have posted documentation about their lawsuit alleging they were fired by FOX-owned WTVT Channel 13 in Tampa, Florida, for refusing orders to broadcast false and slanted stories about BGH, the dairy hormone banned in Europe and elsewhere because of human health concerns.)
Cold kills more than 700 Americans a year (A list subscriber forwards an Associated Press item noting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that about 700 more Americans die every year from cold weather than from marijuana. No word when the government plans to launch a war on hypothermia.)
Alcohol-Linked Traffic Deaths Still In Decline (The Orange County Register says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta attributed 16,189 traffic deaths in the United States in 1997 to alcohol, a 6 percent decline from 1996. Alcohol was a factor in 39 percent of traffic deaths.)
FBI housecleaning: 19 fired last year for misconduct (An Associated Press article in The Miami Herald says the Federal Bureau of Investigation fired 19 employees for misconduct last year, including an unspecified number of agents charged with drunken driving and "drug" use.)
Strip searchers transferred (A Canadian Press article in The Toronto Sun says trustees for the Greater Essex County District School Board have decided that a vice-principal and a gym teacher who strip searched 19 students in Grade 9 at Kingsville District Secondary School will be suspended without pay for 10 days and transferred to different schools.)
Give Authority Figures An Inch - They'll Take A Mile (Calgary Herald columnist Debra Harper comments on the strip-search of 20 boys in Grade 9 near Windsor, Ontario. How ironic, as the world celebrates the 50th anniversary of the United Nations human rights declaration, to be reminded how easily, swiftly and righteously those rights can be swept away. This is what authoritarianism looks like. This is how it treats our children. This is what they have come to expect. If you are disgusted by this kind of abuse, where were you when half your neighbours were baying for harsher punishment when teenagers break the law? If we want kids to learn values and responsibilities, civility and civilization, they have to see it first.)
Medium 'Uses Cannabis To Talk To The Dead' (The Eastern Daily Press, in Britain, says it took just a few minutes for a jury in Norwich Crown Court to convict a spiritual medium of possessing cannabis, despite her claim that she uses it to "get to the other side.")
The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue No. 70 (The Drug Reform Coordination Network's original summary of drug policy news and calls to action, including - Exemplary citizen to be extradited on 25-year-old $10 marijuana conviction; Supreme Court strikes down car search law; Congressional report - Citibank facilitated Salinas money laundering; Exciting resources available online; Job opportunity; Fellowships and academic opportunities; Giving the gift of hope; and an editorial by Adam J. Smith, Human rights declared but not observed.)
Bytes: 77,600 Last updated: 12/21/98
Thursday, December 10, 1998:
The NORML Foundation Weekly Press Release (High Court Overturns Iowa Blanket Search Law, Marijuana Conviction; Clinton Administration Calls Amendment Nixing DC Medical Marijuana Vote "Sensible"; Michigan Man Must Return To Virginia Jail To Serve Out 24 Year Old Marijuana Conviction; Jamaican Custom Officials To Order Drug Tests For Airline Passengers; Congress Allocates $23 Million To Develop Anti-Marijuana Fungus)
State outlines medical pot use (An Associated Press article in the Eugene, Oregon, Register-Guard, says state Attorney General Hardy Myers issued a set of guidelines for the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act Wednesday, spelling out how police should comply with the voter-approved law. A spokesman for Oregonians for Medical Rights said the guidelines follow the law closely.)
Smoke Clears On Medical Marijuana (The Yahoo! version)
Medical marijuana law stymies police (The Oregonian version hides behind unnamed sources in order to assert that nonmedical users will take advantage of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act to escape prosecution, without explaining how such recreational users would get a physician to stand up for them in court.)
Court upholds Rider's marijuana conviction (An Associated Press article in The Register-Guard, in Eugene, Oregon, says an Oregon appeals court on Wednesday upheld the 1997 conviction of Portland Trail Blazers guard Isaiah Rider for marijuana possession.)
Memorial fitting for officers who died in duty (A staff editorial in The Columbian, in Vancouver, Washington, speaks favorably about a proposed memorial for public safety officers in Clark County who have died in the line of duty, including two Prohibition agents killed in 1932, B.W. Turner and Edward Vlasich, whose misfortune is recounted.)
Help Keep Marvin Chavez Free: Write the Probation Department (A list subscriber says your letter could help save the medical marijuana patient and founder of the Orange County Cannabis Co-op from wasting years in prison. Complete instructions included.)
Teen Crime Wave Called Myth (The San Francisco Chronicle says the MacArthur Foundation's two-year study of juvenile crime statistics found that laws aimed at youthful lawbreakers are based on "deeply flawed analyses of juvenile violence statistics." "We're not any more violent than we were 10 or 20 years ago. We're just paying more attention to the violence," said Franklin Zimring, author of the study and a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley. Zimrlng's findings will be published as a book by Oxford University Press but were released at a news conference yesterday.)
Three-Strikes' Economics (A staff editorial in The Orange County Register says the California legislature should take small but definite steps to reform the voter-approved "three strikes" law, so the third strike must be violent to trigger a lengthy sentence.)
Supreme Court Prohibits Police From Routinely Searching Vehicles (The Denver Post notes the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that police officers cannot routinely search motorists and their cars after stopping them for traffic violations.)
No Blanket Searches (A staff editorial in The Las Vegas Review-Journal applauds the US Supreme Court's unanimous ruling that a routine traffic violation doesn't justify a warrantless search of a vehicle.)
Pot Use 'No Big Deal' To Teens (The Daily Herald, in Arlington Heights, Illinois, gives the usual one-sided coverage of an anti-marijuana conference Wednesday at the College of DuPage, where 200 people from throughout the area supposedly learned how to teach teens to shun pot.)
Man Sues Drug Task Force (The Dayton Daily News, in Ohio, says Howard Johnson of Spring Valley has filed a $13 million lawsuit charging the Greene County Drug Task Force engaged in a "pattern of corrupt activity" to finance itself. In April, Johnson's brother, Fairborn businessman Bobby Johnson, filed a $10.4 million lawsuit against the task force, alleging it similarly engaged in a pattern of corrupt activity by trying to force him to pay it money and surrender property in order to have false charges dismissed.)
Texas Tobacco-Suit Lawyers Reportedly Get $3.3 Billion (According to an Associated Press article in The Seattle Times, The Dallas Morning News said today that the lawyers involved in the Texas tobacco settlement have been awarded nearly $3.3 billion by a national arbitration panel, the largest attorney-fee award in US history.)
Take a toke, minimize stroke, research says (According to a Knight-Ridder news service article in The Calgary Herald, a study reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says researchers at the National Institute of Health, led by A.J. Hampson, found that cannabidol, one of a class of marijuana constituents called cannabinoids, is a powerful antioxidant. When tested on rat neurons in a lab dish, the substance prevented the death of brain cells during conditions simulating a stroke.)
Five Months In Jail For Pot Promoter (The Edmonton Journal says Alberta provincial court Judge David Tilley sentenced Ken Kirk to five months in jail Wednesday, even though Kirk uses cannabis to help control his epilepsy and other medical problems, including bipolar disorder and a chronic inflammation of the lower back. The judge said Kirk's crimes were aggravated by the large amount of pot police seized from him, the fact he re-offended while on bail and because he sold to a minor.)
Pot-for-Health Claim Still Draws Jail Term (The Edmonton Sun version)
Drug trade violence stalks Tijuana (An Associated Press article in The Detroit News says Tijuana sits between the haves and the have-nots: those in Mexico who have cocaine, marijuana, heroin and speed, and those in the United States who do not but will pay lots for it. With 2 million people, there is an average of one murder every 30 hours, the overwhelming majority connected to the smuggling of drugs, arms or undocumented workers. US officials seized more than 188 tons of drugs worth an estimated $308 million at five Mexico-California border crossings in the 1998 fiscal year - up 44 percent. Struggles between mid-level and emerging dealers have made 1998 the bloodiest on record: 156 homicides in Tamaulipas state, 49 in Chihuahua, and 216 in Sinaloa.)
Drugs-Related Deaths Double In Glasgow (According to The Independent, in Britain, a new police report says illegal-drug-related deaths in the Scottish city have more than doubled in the past year. The increase - to 63, of which 55 were directly linked to heroin - breaks a downward trend over the previous three years. No word on whether more people die from falling down stairs, as is the case in the United States.)
Weekly Action Report on Drug Policies, Year 4, No. 41 (A summary of European and international drug policy news, from CORA in Italy)
Bytes: 79,900 Last updated: 1/1/99
Wednesday, December 9, 1998:
Recommendations for the Implementation of Ballot Measure 67, Medical Use of Marijuana (The text of the guidelines proposed for state law enforcement officials' compliance with the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, released today by the Oregon Attorney General's Work Group on Medical Marijuana - plus a favorable introduction by Dr. Rick Bayer, a chief petitioner for the ballot measure.)
Statewide Activists Meeting in Eugene 12/12/98 (The Cannabis Liberation Society in Eugene sponsors a meeting for Oregon marijuana-law and drug-policy-reform activists, 1-4 pm Saturday at Grower's Market.)
Heroic Stand in Court (A list subscriber forwards a successful motion for dismissal of a marijuana case, filed by an Oregonian who was charged in Humboldt County, California.)
Corruption In The System (The San Mateo County Times rewrites the recent favorable review of "The Prison-Industrial Complex" in The Atlantic Monthly, by syndicated columnist Molly Ivins.)
S. Texas sheriff arrested for theft - He's accused of taking drug money (An Associated Press article in The Dallas Morning News says Frio County Sheriff Carl Henry Burris was arrested Tuesday on charges that he stole nearly $12,000 in drug money and tried to replace it by selling marijuana.)
FBI Arrests South Texas Sheriff (The UPI version)
Heroin bust largest in state history (The Associated Press says a 23-year-old New Jersey woman was arrested Wednesday with about $250,000 worth of heroin in the largest such bust in New Hampshire's history. Evelyn Abreu faces life in prison.)
The Drug War's Political Climate (An op-ed in The Hartford Courant by a co-founder of the NORML chapter at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury says the most damaging aspect of the drug war political climate, and the one most in need of change, is not the ignoring of evidence, but the demonization of those who express dissent. The United States is one of the worst offenders in this category.)
Two officers suspended in separate incidents (The Associated Press says two New York City police officers were suspended without pay Wednesday - one for allegedly shooting his wife and the other for charges stemming from a drunk driving accident that killed his girlfriend. Both officers were off-duty at the time and are suspended for a maximum of 30 days.)
Press Clips - Joint Effort (The Village Voice, in New York, paints an ugly portrait of media hacks who crashed an election-night party in Washington, DC, sponsored by the Marijuana Policy Project, and pestered guests for marijuana.)
Get the Guest? The Supreme Court Protects Some Visitors From Searches (A staff editorial in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette comments on the U.S. Supreme Court's decision that the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches don't always cover short-term visitors to a private residence. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who contributed a fifth vote to the ruling, wrote that the majority opinion is "consistent with my view that almost all social guests have protection against unreasonable searches, in their host's home." The "almost all" qualification invites police to test the limits.)
D.C. Fires 19 School Bus Drivers (An Associated Press article in The Las Vegas Sun says District of Columbia school officials discovered some of the school-bus drivers had drunken-driving convictions or had tested positive for "drug" use. Three administrative clerks were also dismissed for tampering with bus driver records.)
New FDA Chief Vows To Put Science First (The Orange County Register says Dr. Jane Henney of the US Food and Drug Administration was responding Tuesday to criticism that the agency was too easily influenced by pressure from the pharmaceutical industry.)
Effective Medical Treatment Of Opiate Addiction (The Journal of the American Medical Association describes how a panel of medical experts was created to reach consensus on how best to provide effective medical treatment for opiate addiction. The objective was to provide clinicians, patients, and the general public with a responsible assessment of the effective approaches to treat opiate dependence. The panel concluded that opiate dependence is a brain-related medical disorder that can be effectively treated, with significant benefits for the patient and society. The panel also concluded society must make a commitment to offer effective treatment - including methadone - for all who need it - and the law should be changed so doctors can prescribe methadone more widely.)
Sparks Fly at Hemp Shop Hearing (The Vancouver Sun describes the city council hearing yesterday in Vancouver, British Columbia, where municipal officials and lawyers tried to deny a business license for Hemp BC.)
City Hearing about Cannabis Cafe turns into Kangaroo Court (Vancouver Sun columnist Ian Mulgrew says the city council hearing Tuesday in Vancouver, British Columbia, regarding Hemp BC's business license turned into a farcical kangaroo court.)
Parents want strip-search teachers gone (A Canadian Press article in The Halifax Daily News, in Nova Scotia, says the board of education in Kingsville, Ontario, has asked the vice-principal and teacher who led the humiliating strip search of 19 Grade 9 students to leave Kingsville district high school and work at home until the board decides what else to do. Parents say they don't want the pair back - ever.)
School Strip Search Outrages Premier (UPI says Mike Harris, Ontario's provincial premier, says he finds it abhorrent that a group of Grade 9 students were strip searched in a school in the Windsor area.)
'A flight from common sense' (Toronto Sun columnist Heather Bird comments on the strip-search of 19 students in Kingsville, Ontario. What may be at the root of school officials' bizarre behaviour is a recent high court ruling that condoned searches of students and their lockers for weapons or drugs.)
Kingsville incident 'abuse of power' (According to The Toronto Star, educational law experts and school administrators agree the strip-search of 20 teenage boys at a Windsor-area school was an abuse of the broad powers granted to school officials. The newspaper implies the search would have been legal and proper if the object of the search had been guns or "drugs." Last month, the Supreme Court asserted there was an increasing problem with weapons and drugs in schools and declared that Canadian school authorities had the right to carry out warrantless searches.)
Board bans strip-searches (The Toronto Star says strip-searches have been banned by the Greater Essex school board as trustees try to determine the fate of a vice-principal and a gym teacher accused of strip-searching 20 teenaged students.)
Education minister orders new guidelines (The National Post, in Canada, says Dave Johnson, Ontario's education minister, has ordered the creation of new guidelines to ensure that teenagers are never again strip searched at school. Outrage over the strip search cut through all political lines with the general consensus being that the students' rights were violated by overzealous teachers and all urged the government to establish strict guidelines.)
School visits turn up drugs (The New Brunswick Telegraph Journal says random searches at six schools have turned up small amounts of marijuana recently. Police say students and parents should be aware that any school could be searched at random by drug-sniffing dogs at any time.)
Bloods take a DARE (The Lethbridge Herald, in Alberta, says Blood Tribe Police Constable Dale Murphy believes he's the first aboriginal police officer in Canada to instruct the 17-week Drug Abuse Resistance Education course on his own reservation.)
Panama Pull-Out May Hurt DoD's Anti-Drug Mission (Jane's Defence Weekly says US military counter-narcotics operations in Latin America are expected to suffer, at least temporarily, when the Department of Defense pulls its forces out of Panama next year.)
DrugSense Weekly, No. 77 (The weekly summary of drug policy news from DrugSense leads with a feature article - Protecting your privacy during a drug-war strip search. The Weekly News in Review includes such articles about Prisons as - The prison-industrial complex; Our prisons have bigger problems; Jail guards smuggled contraband, paper says; and Shipping inmates no solution. An article about Law Enforcement - Selling lies - win at all costs series. Articles about Drug Policy include - Eye at the keyhole; School board to ask the US Supreme Court to reinstate drug testing; Customs Service drug searches prompt outrage, lawsuits; Book Review of "Whiteout" - The C(ocaine)I(mportation)A(gency). Articles about Medical Marijuana include - Groups seek results of marijuana vote; Pot center founder fights charges; Cannabis buyers' co-op to reopen, but not sell pot; and Rx - marijuana. International News includes - Cocaine flood raises fears of HIV upsurge; Congress steps up aid for Colombians to combat drugs; Hitman's victim had links to drug gang. Hot Off The 'Net focuses on the group Family Watch, as well as the topic of breaking news stories. The Quote of the Week cites William Lloyd Garrison. The Fact of the Week - Prohibition Pollutes.)
Bytes: 136,000 Last updated: 12/17/98
Tuesday, December 8, 1998:
Oregon Cannabis Tax Act petition (Paul Stanford, a chief petitioner for the proposed ballot measure, which would regulate the sale of cannabis through state liquor stores, abolish laws against private cultivation, and allow farmers to grow industrial hemp, forwards three Adobe Acrobat .pdf files featuring the text of the initiative, a ballot title with instructions for signature gatherers, and a blank signature sheet. Download them here, collect signatures of everyone you know, and mail them in to the OCTA office.)
Toxic Markers Called 'Poor Man's Drug' (The Orange County Register tries to launch a nationwide drug menace, saying Magnum 44 marker pens are being used as inhalants by kids.)
Dare To Do Better (A staff editorial in The Denver Post comments on the dwindling local support for DARE. Last year, Delbert Elliott and other researchers at the University of Colorado's Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence reviewed 400 programs aimed at reducing youth violence and "drug" use. They cited 10 such programs - not including DARE - as worthy of emulation. The newspaper believes "drug education" should be part of the curriculum at all levels, not just elementary schools, and that preventing "drug abuse" through "education" is "far more effective" than belatedly treating or incarcerating those who miss or ignore that message - though the newspaper doesn't say on what evidence that opinion is based.)
Dumping DARE A Good Start (Denver Post columnist Diane Carman says that like most aspects of the war on drugs, DARE has been a colossal waste of money. Since 1971, the US has spent an estimated $1 trillion on the war against some drug users. In that time, illegal drug use has mushroomed and black-market prices have soared. More than 400,000 Americans are in prison on drug charges. One in nine American schoolchildren has at least one parent in prison. If we really cared about protecting our children, we'd demand that the government abandon the war on drugs and employ some of the cheaper and vastly more effective programs under way in other countries.)
'High' Road Is Full Of Pot Holes (Arizona Republic columnist E.J. Montini revisits cancer patient and medical-marijuana user Josh Berner. Now that Arizona voters have again voted to endorse medical marijuana, Berner is unable to find two physicians willing to recommend cannabis to him - most doctors are afraid they'll be busted by federal authorities for prescribing an illegal drug. And no pharmacy stocks it. "Without an implementation plan to go along with the proposition, the situation of people like me hasn't changed a bit since we passed the first proposition back in '96," Josh said. "So, that's my job now. To get it implemented.")
Officer in theft case surrenders - He feared drug dealers' retaliation, source says (The Dallas Morning News says Daniel E. Maples Jr., a Dallas police officer accused of stealing thousands of dollars from drug dealers, turned himself in Sunday night because he apparently feared some dealers were about to retaliate by killing his girlfriend. Maples was not charged and was not in custody late Monday, having been placed on paid administrative leave.)
McCaffrey blasts medicinal marijuana (United Press International says the White House drug czar, General Barry McCaffrey, told those attending the Council of State Governments' annual convention in San Antonio, Texas, today that victory in the war on some drug users is being jeopardized by the medical marijuana "movement" - and by an increase in "drug" use among teenagers. Misrepresenting both doctors and patients who have experience with medical marijuana, McCaffrey said "pain management is not best done with a joint and two vodkas.")
Drug czar targets meth crisis (The San Antonio, Texas, Express-News says General Barry McCaffrey told the annual gathering of the Council of State Governments Tuesday that America is winning the war against cocaine, but losing the war against chemically produced methamphetamine. All of the speakers agreed government should focus on rehabilitation and curbing drug use among children, but the White House drug czar admitted that current policies had only tripled the number of eighth-graders taking "drugs" in the past six years.)
Turning good kids to bad? (A letter to the editor of The Houston Chronicle says the newspaper's recent article about inmates going to school to warn students about drinking and "drugs" ignored the most obvious fact. As kids, the inmates had problems before they started using alcohol and other drugs. The article seems to say, "We were all good kids until we used alcohol and other drugs. Now look what these substances have done to us." But it is impossible for an inanimate object to "make" us do anything.)
Methadone ruled as cause in N. Richland Hills death (The Ft. Worth Star-Telegram says Christopher W. Bryant, 18, had started taking methadone to kick his heroin habit days before his uncle found him dead. On the day after Bryant's death, his mother said she had heard that he had exaggerated the amount of his daily heroin usage when he went to a treatment clinic in Fort Worth, Texas, for his first of four methadone doses.)
Long-Ago Fugitive To Be Extradited (The Associated Press says a judge in Detroit, Michigan, ruled Monday that Alfred Martin, a businessman who has led "an exemplary life" since being convicted of selling $10 worth of marijuana 25 years ago, should be extradited to Virginia, where he once walked off a prison farm.)
New Bills Would Decriminalize Marijuana, Reduce Size of N.H. House (The Keene Sentinel, in New Hampshire, notes the 400 members of the state house of representatives still have another week to raise issues for consideration in January. Among the bills being drafted is one that would permit the medical use of marijuana, and another that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of cannabis, both sponsored by Timothy N. Robertson. In the past, Robertson has sponsored legislation to legalize hemp production in New Hampshire. Another effort will be spearheaded this year by other representatives. Robertson said it was a strategic decision to separate the hemp bill from marijuana-related proposals because hemp cannot be used as a drug and the issues are not related, yet many lawmakers and citizens confused the two issues.)
Rolling Back Stiff Drug Sentences (The Christian Science Monitor says 25 years after New York ushered in the nation's first mandatory-minimum drug-sentencing laws, it and several other states are considering modifying such laws - a trend with far-reaching ramifications for the American criminal-justice system. At the same time, however, states are enacting even stricter sentencing laws and abolishing parole for dangerous felons, particularly violent sex offenders.)
Wrath Of Vengeance - Win At All Costs series (The ninth part of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's 10-part series about its two-year investigation showing that federal agents and prosecutors break the law routinely. When Congress enacted a series of get-tough-on-crime laws in the 1980s, no one realized defense attorneys would become such easy targets. The case of Patrick Hallinan is illustrative. Hallinan is a prominent defense lawyer and an accomplished archeologist in San Francisco. His father was considered to be one of the finest lawyers to emerge from the city. His brother was head of the city's law department, and is now District Attorney. After Hallinan reduced the sentence faced by one client to 10 years, instead of life, federal prosecutors met with the client privately and offered to let him walk if he could implicate Hallinan. In early 1996, Hallinan was acquitted when his lawyers were able to prove that the government had coached his client's testimony and that he was lying about Hallinan's direct knowledge of his drug activities and money laundering.)
Court Rules Against Car-Search Law (The Associated Press says the US Supreme Court, in a rare win for privacy rights, unanimously struck down an Iowa law Tuesday that allowed police to search people and their cars after merely ticketing them for routine traffic violations. The decision overturned the conviction of Patrick Knowles, who was pulled over for speeding in 1996. An officer gave him a ticket and then searched Knowles and his car. He was charged with possessing marijuana, convicted, and sentenced to 90 days in jail.)
US Supreme Court Bans Searches In Traffic Cases (The Reuters version)
Knowles v. Iowa (A list subscriber forwards the summary and posts a URL with the full text of the US Supreme Court's ruling that police cannot search people and their cars merely on the basis of a ticket for a routine traffic violation.)
Search Warrant Should Not Be A Press Pass (An op-ed by Robyn Blumner of the St. Petersburg Times in The Arizona Daily Star notes the US Supreme Court will decide this term whether a being served with a search warrant means suspects have to let true-crime television cameramen or other media who tag along with police enter their homes to record and then publicly broadcast or print photographs of their bust for private profit. In a ruling that defies common sense, the 4th US Court of Appeals, by a 6-5 vote, said inviting the press into a private home to photograph an innocent couple in their nightclothes did not violate their constitutional rights.)
Hearings Requested on Marinol Rescheduling (A news release from Jon Gettman, former director of NORML, says he and High Times magazine have asked the Drug Enforcement Administration to delay reclassifying Marinol to Schedule III, subject to public hearings on the drug's relationship with marijuana and industrial hemp. High Times and Gettman are co-petitioners in another action to reschedule marijuana, THC, and Marinol. A hearing has been requested to determine if DEA's proposal rescheduling Marinol satisfies legal requirements for such a move, and whether it is prejudicial to the Gettman/High Times petition.)
Full Text of Marinol Hearing Request Available (The full text of the request by High Times and Jon Gettman that the DEA conduct hearings on the rescheduling of Marinol is online at the magazine's web site, http://www.hightimes.com/ht/new/petition/index.html.)
Re: Marinol Rescheduling (Jon Gettman and other list subscribers discuss the request by High Times and Jon Gettman that the DEA conduct hearings on the rescheduling of Marinol.)
Our National Epidemic (In These Times magazine says the United States, the world leader in imprisoning its own people, is in the midst of an incarceration epidemic. Nearly 1.9 million people are behind bars. According to the Sentencing Project, the rate is now 645 inmates per 100,000 people - six to 10 times the rate of most European countries. The rate in Britain, for example, is 100 per 100,000. In Norway and Greece it's 55 per 100,000. In Japan it's 37. Although China has about 10 times the US population, we imprison nearly half a million more people. Because crime rates have been falling, the incarceration explosion seems wildly incongruous. It can be explained in three words: war on drugs.)
Scientists urge expanded use of methadone (An Associated Press article in The Houston Chronicle notes today's issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association includes a report by a panel of scientists who call heroin addiction a "treatable disease," and who urge the government to expand the availability of methadone treatment and allow more doctors to dispense the synthetic narcotic.)
Heroin Use Going Up Among US Teen-Agers (The Orange County Register publishes a much more sensational account than Reuters summarizing a new report in Pediatrics.)
Human safety in medical studies inadequate, experts say (According to The Associated Press, a report published in Wednesday's edition of The Journal of the American Medical Association says people used as subjects in medical studies are inadequately protected from risks, with hazards often poorly explained and scientists often snared in conflicts of interest.)
A radical idea - Why can't people sue politicians for their deadly programs? (A news release from Libertarian Party headquarters in Washington, DC, says that if attorneys general in 41 states can sue tobacco and gun companies for alleged damages to the public, why can't members of the public sue politicians for specific damage caused by bad laws?)
Students protest strip-search (A Canadian Press article in The Edmonton Sun says about 200 high school students in Kingsville, Ontario, staged a walkout yesterday to protest the strip-search of about 20 teenage boys.)
Charges Dropped In Drug Sting (The Toronto Sun says a Crown attorney abruptly stayed hashish smuggling charges against a Toronto woman yesterday following testimony from Constable Lorelei McIvor, which showed the undercover cop to be lying.)
Ganja-Ho Operation Faces Spliff Resistance (The Scotsman recounts recent news about the United States using its military to eradicate cannabis plants that make up a major portion of the economy of the Caribbean island-nation of St. Vincent, and the Marijuana Farmers' Movement that opposes the invasion.)
Drugs And Weapons Seized As Police Arrest 70 In Dawn Raids (The Scotsman says prohibition agents in Lothian and Borders claimed a big victory in the fight against heroin dealers yesterday. An operation aimed at stopping a huge rise in the use of the drug snared 70 people, more than £300,000 in illegal substances and assets, and an arsenal of weapons.)
O'Donoghue Rules Out Decriminalising Drugs (The Irish Independent says the comments by the Irish justice minister, John O'Donoghue, came in response to a statement by the National Crime Forum that it would be happy to see the issue discussed in a calm and dispassionate manner.)
Think About It (A staff editorial in The Irish Independent says that when a body with the status of the National Crime Forum comes out in favour of discussing the de-criminalisation of so-called soft drugs we should take heed. Drugs are a huge issue for society, yet one which is rarely if ever debated in a non-hysterical or unemotional way. The Forum is correct, if science has a case it should be heard.)
Bytes: 157,000 Last updated: 12/17/98
Monday, December 7, 1998:
Investigation finds liquor agency badly understaffed (According to The Associated Press, The Statesman-Journal newspaper in Salem says the Oregon Liquor Control Commission is crippled by inadequate staffing and soft penalties, and unable to monitor thousands of bars and restaurants. The agency is asking the legislature for $1.5 million to hire 14 new inspectors.)
Trend To Be Discerned From The 1998 Elections (Orange County Register columnist Alan W. Bock says the mainstream media have missed most significant political trends until they have already become well-established. Bock suspects the media have also missed the most significant trend to be discerned from the 1998 elections - every single ballot measure that promised some kind of drug policy reform passed by a comfortable margin. He recommends two ballot measures for the next election - one mandating the introduction of federal legislation to reschedule marijuana, and another mandating a challenge to the constitutionality of federal drug laws.)
Teen Parties Today - "Cigarettes, Beer, Weed" (The San Francisco Examiner asks, what gives with Pleasanton teens and strippers? Are the adolescents all turning into drunken sailors, conventioneers and bachelor-party wannabes? And what goes on at a teen party these days anyway? Teenagers surveyed at Berkeley High and Stone Ridge Mall in Pleasanton said strippers are hardly the usual form of party entertainment. Teenage parties today seem to be just like they were when kids' parents were growing up. Loud music. Beer. Some hard liquor. Some sex. Cigarette smoking. And pot.)
Wiretap Operation Sheds Light On LAPD Tactics (According to The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles prohibition agents were convinced that John Lopez and his small storefront telephone company, Atel Cellular and Paging, were in cahoots with drug dealers, so they wiretapped the customers' and Atel's phones. Starting with just his business lines and a handful of customers, the operation spread like kudzu, eventually covering hundreds of phones and thousands of conversations, becoming the largest wiretap operation in the history of Los Angeles County. When the three-year probe ended in March, police had arrested dozens of Atel's customers, but not Lopez or any of his employees. The Atel taps are at the center of the nine-month controversy over whether prosecutors have been improperly concealing their wiretapping operations and the information derived from it. Also at issue are charges by defense lawyers that the allegations against Atel Cellular are a sham created to win court orders permitting an electronic fishing expedition against their clients.)
Belpre Community Upset By Fatal Raid (A United Press International article in The Columbus Dispatch says a controversy has erupted in southeast Ohio concerning a marijuana raid in which law enforcement officers shot a man eight times. Delbert Bonar's family contends the dead man was unarmed. Sheriff's deputies say the family is lying. They found a small amount of the illegal weed, enough for personal consumption.)
3 Detroit Police Officers Wounded In Ambush (The Chicago Tribune says three cops were wounded early Sunday, two of them critically, while the officers were investigating the kidnapping of a woman and her child, an abduction that appeared to be connected to "drugs.")
Teen Marijuana Use On Rise In DuPage (The Daily Herald, in Illinois, cites various drug-warrior myths about marijuana while publicizing a two-day anti-marijuana conference this week in DuPage County, sponsored by a Hazelden drug-treatment business that "serves" young adults.)
Calculated Abuses - Win At All Costs series (The eighth part of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's 10-part series about its two-year investigation showing that federal agents and prosecutors break the law routinely. Federal prosecutors frequently rely on promises of leniency when they use criminals to snare other criminals, but the government's word isn't necessarily its bond. Deceived into thinking her brother was dying, Mary Ann Rounsavall testified against him, resulting in James Rounsavall being sentenced to life in prison. In return, Mary Ann Rounsavall had been promised about eight years. But the prosecutors in her case reneged on their pledge. They made no request that her sentence be reduced based on her cooperation, and the judge had no choice under federal mandatory sentencing guidelines but to give her a 20-year sentence based on her own confession.)
German Criminal Finds A Lucrative Life As Federal Informant (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues its 10-part series about its two-year investigation showing that federal agents and prosecutors routinely break the law. When Helmut Groebe, a German citizen, offered his services as an informant to the US government in 1989, he was wanted in four countries for crimes ranging from fraud to drug smuggling to arranging a South American jail break. The DEA signed him up. Despite a criminal history that would bar his legal immigration, the DEA offered him permanent residency in the United States, turned him loose with little supervision, promised to pay him more than $600,000, then ensured that charges against the people he entrapped would stick by unlawfully withholding from defense attorneys information about Groebe's criminal background and government payoffs.)
Under Consent Decree, FBI Still Violates Order - Win At All Costs series (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues its 10-part series about its two-year investigation showing that federal agents and prosecutors routinely break the law. A group of Chicago residents who supported an organization called the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, which opposed US policy in that country, discovered that between 1983 and 1985 the FBI had spied on them and listed them as suspected terrorists because of their affiliation - even though a 1981 court decree had ordered the agency to stop.)
Government Goes Back On A Deal - Win At All Costs series (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues its 10-part series about its two-year investigation showing that federal agents and prosecutors routinely break the law. It took federal prosecutors more than seven years to live up to their promise to free Alberto San Pedro from prison after he went undercover and helped snag the mayor and a commissioner in Hialeah, Florida, who were involved in an influence-peddling scam.)
Agents Dug Up More Problems For Archaeologist - Win At All Costs series (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues its 10-part series about its two-year investigation showing that federal agents and prosecutors routinely break the law. Peter Larson was sentenced to two years in prison based on charges that were filed in retaliation for Larsen's outspoken reaction to the federal government's tactics in a separate civil case.)
Heroin Said To Be Making Inroads Among US Teens (Reuters says an analysis of more than 80 existing studies and other resources on substance abuse, published Monday in the December issue of "Pediatrics," the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, turned up one study which found that heroin use by high school seniors rose from .9 percent in 1990 to 1.8 percent in 1996 and 2.1 percent in 1997. Out of 80 studies, one other report found the drug being used at an earlier age.)
Why it Takes a Village to Afford a Prescription (An op-ed in The San Jose Mercury News by a physician and former FDA official says prescription drugs now cost much more than they used to because of excessive government regulation. The example cited is the FDA's recent announcement that drug companies will be required to test in children the medicines they sell for adults, and to put the pediatric dosages on the label. That might sound benign, or even desirable, but these new requirements ignore the realities of drug testing. They may actually be detrimental to kids and could actually delay the availability of new drugs, if FDA withholds approval for adult uses while data from pediatric studies are being collected.)
The Lindesmith Center Web Site Additions (A news release from the New York drug-policy-reform group - part of the Drug Reform Coordination Network - publicizes lots of new and interesting research papers on a variety of issues.)
Hemp BC Hearing at City Hall, December 8 (A news release from Cannabis Culture magazine asks supporters of the hemp store in Vancouver, British Columbia, to show support Tuesday at a city council hearing where police officers and city officials are expected to ask that Hemp BC not be granted a business license, and that it be forced to close permanently. Meanwhile, Hemp BC lawyers have appeared before a judge to testify that Vancouver Police Officer Mark Bragagnola possessed cannabis on April 30, 1998, contrary to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. A similar statement was made against US Navy operative Stacy Sherman, who allegedly trafficked in cannabis on April 25, 1998. Both of these charges relate to the Vancouver Police and US Navy "joint investigation" of Hemp BC, when Vancouver Police and US Navy officers tried to buy pot at Hemp BC and failed. So instead they bought some pot on the street and smoked it in Hemp BC themselves.)
Medicinal marijuana club in Bradford, Ontario (A list subscriber forwards a coming-out announcement and URL for the Marsh Marijuana Club.)
Lords Back Cannabis For Pain Relief (Chemistry & Industry Magazine, in Britain, notes the recent report by the science and technology select committee of the House of Lords, calling for doctors to be legally allowed to prescribe marijuana for multiple sclerosis and chronic pain.)
Iran No Longer A Drug-Problem Country (The San Jose Mercury News says President Clinton today removed Iran from the official list of drug problem countries, concluding the Islamic republic has carried out a successful program to eradicate opium poppies - and hanged hundreds of traffickers under a law that mandates the death penalty for anyone possessing more than a small quantity of narcotics. Clinton also deleted Malaysia from the list. The number of drug problem countries is now 28.)
Rise in Cigarette Smoking Doesn't Bother Burma Government (The International Herald-Tribune says free handouts and slick advertising tactics never before seen in Burma have enticed young people across the country to take up cigarettes. Smoking is also on the increase in other countries in Southeast Asia where cash-strapped goveraments have a financial stake in tobacco sales. The Burmese govemment likes dealing with multinational cigarette companies because it can more readily collect revenue from large factories or importers than it can from small-time producers of hand-rolled smokes. "The cinema is censored, and there are no nightclubs or live shows. Beyond smoking there is no entertainment," says one young man.)
Bytes: 136,000 Last updated: 12/17/98
Sunday, December 6, 1998:
S.F. cops arrest 3 in drug inquiry (The San Francisco Examiner says San Francisco undercover police officers slipped into a popular South of Market night club, the Sound Factory at 525 Harrison St., and arrested three disc jockeys for allegedly selling the stimulant ecstasy, part of a continuing probe of illegal drug sales in area dance venues.)
Second Thoughts On 'Three Strikes' Law (The Orange County Register says support is growing in California for a requirement that third-time felons must commit a violent crime before a sentence of 25-years-to-life can be handed down. Families to Amend California's Three Strikes, or FACTS, is lobbying legislators to support a bill to study the successes and failures of California's three-strikes law, believing that such a study will illuminate the law's failures and injustices and bolster support for reform. As of March 31, 4,076 felons had been sent to prison under the law, mostly for nonviolent offenses, including 18.8 percent for drug crimes.)
State Leads Nation In Housing Inmates At Out-Of-State Sites (The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Wisconsin ranked third among states a year ago when it came to shipping criminals to prisons beyond its borders. But today, with nearly 2,600 convicts in exile, it has no rival for the dubious title. James Austin of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, in Washington, DC, said that instead of saving money, states such as Wisconsin spend more on transportation, monitoring and costly litigation when something eventually goes wrong at a prison thousands of miles away.)
Shipping Inmates No Solution (A staff editorial in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Wisconsin legislature is responsible for prison overcrowding and making the housing of inmates out of state a permanent feature of state corrections policy. Crime is not rising. Lawmakers dramatically lengthened sentences without adequately dealing with the predictable jump in prison population.)
'Gang loitering' law headed for Supreme Court (An Associated Press article carried by Nando Media says Chicago's anti-loitering ordinance designed to combat drug trafficking by street gangs, used to make 45,000 arrests to date, goes before the US Supreme Court this week for arguments on whether it endangers individual rights.)
Teen Meth Use Outpaces Treatment (According to The Des Moines Register, officials in Iowa say methamphetamine has replaced unspecified "other hard drugs" as the preferred high among adolescents in Iowa. While fewer than 25 youths sought help for meth addiction five years ago, 113 did so during the state's last fiscal year, said Dr. Ron Eckoff, the medical director for the Substance Abuse and Health Promotion Division of the state Department of Public Health. The article contradicts itself, saying marijuana and alcohol remain the drugs abused most often by Iowa teens, which would seem to omit tobacco, but in any case the comparative number of teens who sought help for alcohol addiction is omitted.)
Snitches Come With A Price (The Times Union, in New York, says that as the war on some drug users has escalated in recent years, so has the use of informants. But this dependence is making the criminal justice system vulnerable to challenge from defense attorneys.)
Inside Information Was Grist For Warrants (The Times Union, in Albany, New York, describes how informants sent a small-time seller of cocaine and marijuana to prison for 11 to 22 years - without the informants having to testify at trial.)
As Setups Go, This Informant Knows His Role (The Times Union, in New York, interviews an unnamed snitch who sets up the people who sell him illegal drugs.)
When Safeguards Fail - Win At All Costs series (The seventh part of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's 10-part series about its two-year investigation showing that federal agents and prosecutors break the law routinely. The American justice system has made it simple for federal prosecutors to use a grand jury to win an indictment against almost anyone. But it has made it nearly impossible to punish them when they abuse that right.)
Businessman Goes To Prison When Agent's False Testimony Isn't Corrected - Win At All Costs series (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues its 10-part series showing that federal agents and prosecutors break the law routinely. It wasn't until after he was incarcerated that Eugene Kent learned that a grand jury had erred in bringing indictments against him. A federal agent had testified falsely before the secret panel, but since defendants and their lawyers aren't allowed to be present at grand jury sessions, the false information was never corrected.)
Promoter Says Attractive Property Made Him A Target - Win At All Costs series (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues its 10-part series showing that federal agents and prosecutors break the law routinely. Federal prosecutors tried to forfeit a $7 million property owned by professional wrestler Vince McMahon, and persuaded a federal grand jury to indict McMahon for buying muscle-building steroids in 1989 that were not banned until 1991.)
Georgia's Other Nasty Congressman (Atlanta Journal-Constitution Editorial Page Editor Cynthia Tucker says Newt Gingrich isn't the only Georgia Republican with a persona guaranteed to chill voters, frighten small children and upset family pets. There's also US Representative Bob Barr, who attached an amendment to a District of Columbia appropriations bill that prohibited the Board of Elections from spending any money to count the votes on Initiative 59, the DC medical marijuana initiative. Supporters of the referendum figure the cost would be about $1.64.)
Unindicted Inmates Add To Crowding (The Ledger-Enquirer, in Georgia, says more than 80 Muscogee County Jail inmates have been held without indictment for more than three months, with some unindicted more than nine months after being jailed.)
Drug War Does More Harm Than Good (A letter to the editor of The Palm Beach Post applauds Molly Ivins' recent syndicated column coming out against the drug war.)
A Basic Disrespect for Democracy (An op-ed in The Washington Post by a law professor and law student protests the amendment added to the omnibus appropriations bill in October, introduced by Representative Robert L. Barr Jr., which prohibited the District of Columbia from spending any money to count the votes for Initiative 59, the local medical marijuana measure.)
Suing For Drugs (A staff editorial in The Washington Times applauds the Clinton Administration for asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit which would force the District to reveal the vote count on Initiative 59, the District of Columbia medical-marijuana initiative.)
Medical Officer Removed After Opposing Drug's Approval (According to The Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times said Sunday that Dr. John L. Gueriguian, a veteran medical officer who opposed approval of the popular diabetes drug, Rezulin, was removed as its chief reviewer by the Food and Drug Administration. The drug, manufactured by Warner-Lambert Co., has been linked to at least 26 deaths worldwide.)
Drug Documentary Aired On CBS Said To Be Fake (The Washington Post says an independent panel ruled Friday that "The Connection," a documentary about Colombian drug-runners that was broadcast on "60 Minutes," was a fake. Produced by Carlton Communications, a prominent British television and film company, and sold to CBS in 1997, the production was broadcast around the world and has won eight journalism awards, including three in the United States.)
'Hypocrisy kills no-drug message' (The Launceston Examiner, in Australia, interviews Westhury nursing sister Heather Donaldson, a mother of four and author of a small book of aphorisms titled, "Drugs: High Hopes And Sudden Silences." "Zero tolerance doesn't work because of the hypocrisy of parents saying not to take drugs when coffee, alcohol, tobacco and chocolate all contain drugs." When a message contains hypocrisy, youngsters tend to dismiss the whole message. She said that concentration on hard drugs defied the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse statistics, which showed that 97 per cent of the 25,500 drug deaths a year were due to alcohol and tobacco and just 2 per cent to opiates and 1 per cent to other illicit drugs.)
Heart Charity Invests In Tobacco Industry (The Independent on Sunday says the British Heart Foundation, one of Britain's leading health charities that researches links between smoking and heart attacks, has invested £6 million of its employees' pension contributions in a fund that buys and sells shares in companies such as British American Tobacco, Gallaher and Imperial Tobacco.)
Ex-Mountie's low profile hid life on the run (The Toronto Star says Jorge Leite moved to Calhandriz, Portugal, in 1991 after being corrupted by the Cali cartel while a member of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police drug squad in Montreal. Portugal refused to extradite him back to Canada, since Leite has dual citizenship, but it is willing to jail him without bail and put him on trial early next year with secret Canadian evidence in a Portuguese court, where the burden of proof is on the accused.)
US Trains Colombian Military To Resist Rebels (A Cox syndicate article in The Austin American-Statesman says that officially, Washington classifies military instructor training missions in Colombia as counternarcotics aid, but in practice, the Green Berets from the 7th Special Forces group at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, are teaching skills the Colombian military needs to fight its civil war.)
Bytes: 151,000 Last updated: 12/18/98
Saturday, December 5, 1998:
Pot Center Founder Fights Charges (An update in The San Francisco Chronicle on pretrial motions and hearings involving the prosecution of Peter Baez, the former operator of Santa Clara County's only medical marijuana dispensary. The next hearing is Dec. 23.)
Cop Questioned At Hearing (The San Jose Mercury News version notes defense attorney Gerald Uelmen did not complete his initial questioning of San Jose police Sergeant Scott Savage as Friday's hearing ended. Supporters of Peter Baez have said the criminal case against him stems from a vendetta by Savage.)
Smoking and the Self-Righteous (Los Angeles Times columnist Susan Self says you know the tide has turned in the war on tobacco when a nonsmoker like her starts to feel sympathy for cigarette companies. But someone has to take a stand for principle. There have been 34 studies of the effects of secondhand smoke noted by the Congressional Research Service and only seven found significant negative health effects. One actually found benefits. What these studies mean, in the words of the Economist magazine, "is that the effects are so small as to be hard to pin down with any certainty at all." Virtue no longer seems to be its own reward.)
Man convicted of drug dealing says voodoo made him do it (According to The Associated Press, Olakunle A. Osoba was convicted in Columbus, Ohio, of heroin trafficking, but said voodoo made him do it. The judge didn't buy it and sentenced him Friday to 2 1/2 years in federal prison.)
Legal Office Didn't Seek Aid (The Baltimore Sun says state public defender Stephen E. Harris was accused yesterday of placing political concerns over constitutional rights. The Maryland Office of the Public Defender, which provides lawyers for the poor, requested $750,000 in October to hire eight additional lawyers in the current fiscal year, but the request came months after it sent letters to 350 defendants who were charged with drug offenses, telling them they were eligible for free attorneys but that the office could not provide them.)
2 DeKalb cops shot during raid of alleged drug house (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says the two DeKalb County prohibition agents were recovering at home from minor gunshot wounds they suffered during a Thursday night raid on a suspected drug house in Belvedere. The suspected shooter, Dwight Brown, surrendered to police, who charged him with aggravated assault and marijuana possession.)
US Court Convicts Fugitive Haitian Of Drug Smuggling (Reuters says Joseph Michel Francois, a top police official and reputed death squad leader under Haiti's former military regime, was convicted in absentia by a federal court in Miami on Friday of cocaine smuggling and money laundering. Eight other people were convicted in the case in US District Court, four of whom are fugitives. One of those convicted was Joel Audain, a US immigration officer who allowed traffickers to pass through secure areas of Miami airport.)
A Newcomer in the Liberal Arts - Criminal Justice (The New York Times says students are flocking to criminal-justice courses, making criminal justice the fastest-growing major in the United States. From an obscure discipline scorned by most academics, with only two small doctoral programs as recently as 1970, criminal justice has exploded to 350,000 undergraduate majors at colleges and universities. In part, the appeal of criminal justice is a result of the huge growth in crime since the 1960s, the prison-building boom and the fascination with criminals.)
Pot-Growing Professor Hopes To Teach Again (The Victoria Times-Colonist, in British Columbia, says Professor Jean Veevers, just fined $15,000 and given a conditional 12-month sentence she can serve at home, hopes to greet her sociology class at the University of Victoria on Jan. 4 and resume her teaching career. British Columbian Supreme Court Justice Dean Wilson said Veevers, who suffers from chronic depression and fatigue syndrome, arthritis and fibromyalgia, does not pose a risk to the community.)
Antiepileptic Drug Blocks Rats' Taste For Nicotine (The Lancet, in Britain, says scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York, have discovered that the antiepileptic drug vigabatrin blocks nicotine-induced brain dopamine release in rats and primates. Further, vigabatrin treatment disrupts rats' preference for an environment previously associated with nicotine; pretreatment with the drug blocks the development of such a preference. Vigabatrin also blocks the biochemical and behavioural effects of alcohol, morphine, amphetamine, and methamphetamine in animals.)
Ecstasy Use May Cause Brain Damage, Say Scientists (The Guardian, in Britain, says scientists last night warned that ecstasy, or MDMA, could trigger long-term damage to vital brain cells called serotonin neurons, although there is still no hard evidence. Rat brain cells seem to recover. But Professor Una McCann of the US National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland, said that seven years after being treated to a four-day course of drugs, every monkey in a series of labs across the world had shown signs of irreversible damage. Now, she and colleagues told a conference in London yesterday, tests and brain scans on human volunteers show similar damage. The catch is that scientists can only work with volunteers who have already become worried about the drug's effects. The researchers are faced with other variables - they cannot be sure about the amount, the frequency or the quality of the MDMA taken, or the role of other drugs that might have been used.)
Bytes: 54,400 Last updated: 12/16/98
Friday, December 4, 1998:
Officials still have to iron out the details of how legal marijuana users will be protected (A slightly different version of yesterday's Associated Press article about the implementation of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, in the Salem, Oregon, Statesman Journal)
Audit - Review $1 billion expansion of prison system (The Oregonian says auditors for the state of Oregon are urging a thorough review of the state's $1 billion prison expansion plan because of concerns that it could bring a surplus of prison beds at construction costs that are nearly 70 percent higher than in other states.)
The Dire Consequences Of DARE (Boulder Weekly columnist Wayne Laugesen says Police Chief Mark Beckner and Boulder County Sheriff George Epp should be applauded for recently dumping DARE. Laugesen called psychologist William Hansen, whose research formed the basis for DARE. Hansen said the LAPD took an anti-drug model he had developed while it was in its infant stages and ran with it. "DARE was misguided as soon as they adopted our material, because we were off base," Hansen said. "It's outdated material that does not work." Dare to have no drug intervention program at all. The results will be astounding. Fewer children will use drugs, more classroom time will be spent on legitimate education, and police will be able to focus on crime.)
Drug Crusade Has Produced Everything But Success (An op-ed in the Fort Worth, Texas, Star-Telegram comes out against the war on some drug users. Among other things, the war has led to a 20 percent increase in substance addiction.)
DARE Officer's Wife Arrested For Drugs Possession (The Chicago Sun-Times says the Chicago's cop's wife was charged with possession of crack cocaine and marijuana.)
Our Prisons Have Bigger Problems Than Escapees (Syndicated Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Molly Ivins discusses "The Prison-Industrial Complex," in the current issue of The Atlantic Monthly, an article revealing the out-of-control and increasingly corrupt American political, judicial and correctional system.)
DuPage Prosecutors File Lawsuit To Stop So-Called 'Head Shops' (The Daily Herald, in Illinois, says DuPage County prosecutors filed suit Thursday, claiming two alleged "head shops," as prosecutors called them, in Downers Grove and Westmont are selling drug paraphernalia.)
Supreme Court Hears Arguments In Case About Drinking Pregnant Woman (The Associated Press covers oral arguments before the Wisconsin Supreme Court Thursday in the challenge to a new law passed by the legislature allowing a woman to be imprisoned if police determine that her alcohol or "drug" habit endangers her fetus.)
Angela Davis' new crusade (Boston Globe columnist Derrick Z. Jackson says the tenured professor who was once placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List on false charges and jailed for 16 months before being acquitted, is calling for the abolition of prisons. For every black male eliminated from California universities in the 1990s, the state added 57 to its prisons. Prison has become less an institution for hardened criminals and more of an instrument of social control for low-income people.)
Government Ignores Teenage Alcohol Use (A letter to the editor of The Daily Star, in Oneonta, New York, notes the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and the White House drug czar's office focus their advertising dollars on marijuana, which never killed anyone. Meanwhile, they ignore the harm to young people attributable to ignorance about alcohol. For example, Michigan State University student Bradley McCue recently died on his 21st birthday from acute alcohol poisoning, after drinking 24 shots of liquor in less than two hours.)
Jail Officials Indicted (UPI says a major drug ring operating within two Miami-Dade County jails in Florida has been busted with the indictments and arrests of 26 people, including nine corrections officers and a jail counselor. The FBI says that in addition to smuggling "drugs," inmates, officers and others were charged with illegally bringing in cigarettes, worth $175 a carton.)
43 people charged in drug network run from behind bars (The Associated Press version says those charged in connection with smuggling illegal drugs in Miami-Dade County jails included 13 corrections officers - and the smuggling ring was run by a jailed dealer.)
Probation For Former Mayor (UPI says Todd Deratany, the former mayor of Indialantic, Florida, and the son of former state legislator Tim Deratany, has been sentenced to two years of probation after pleading no contest to a charge of attempting to sell cocaine.)
Nonprofit Cleared for DC Needle Exchange (The Washington Post says that six weeks after Congress ordered the District of Columbia to stop paying for a needle exchange program to reduce the spread of HIV and AIDS among drug users, the city's top lawyer yesterday cleared the way for the exchange to be taken over by Prevention Works, an independent nonprofit group that was spun off by the Whitman-Walker Clinic so as not to endanger its substantial city and federal grants.)
DEA Reconsiders Hemp Regulations (A letter from Thomas Constantine, head of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, to Hawaii Senator Daniel Inouye, says DEA is "determining the feasibility of establishing a production level of cannabis that is consistent with the public interest in controlling drugs of abuse and recognizes the commercial interest in the cultivation of Cannabis sativa L. for fiber." Unfortunately, Constatine sidesteps the issue of why DEA officials have been lobbying against industrial hemp agricultural research in Hawaii.)
Secondhand Smoke, Alcohol Recommended As Carcinogens (The Associated Press says a subcommittee of the National Toxicology Program's Board of Scientific Counselors voted unanimously on Wednesday to affirm the recommendations of two groups of government scientists that secondhand smoke should be labeled a carcinogen. The panel also concluded that alcohol can cause cancer. The subcommittee's vote seems to have been motivated by a July decision by a federal judge in North Carolina which found that the EPA's similar conclusion in 1993 was biased and unscientific.)
Citibank Role Criticized In Mexican Money Case (According to The Chicago Tribune, a report by the General Accounting Office says Citibank executives ignored some of the bank's safeguards against the laundering of illicit funds in order to do business with Raul Salinas de Gortari, a brother of the former President of Mexico.)
Citibank Cut Corners for Salinas (The Cox Interactive Media version in The Austin American-Statesman)
Mexico Cops Arrest Man For Massacre (The Associated Press says Tijuana police have arrested Hector Flores Esquivias, an alleged member of the gang blamed in the September massacre of 19 people in the city of Ensenada. Also arrested was Cruz Medina Perez, believed to be the wife of the gang's alleged leader, Arturo Martinez Gonzalez. Apparently the evidence linking Flores to the massacre hasn't been disclosed yet.)
Oaxacan Police Chief Resigns (The Associated Press says Jose Mendez Rico, the chief of police for Mexico's southern Oaxaca state, resigned after two days on the job and one day after news reports linked him to a powerful drug cartel.)
US, Caribbean Troops Prepare for Marijuana Mission (The Associated Press says six US Marine Corps helicopters will ferry more than 120 troops from the Caribbean Regional Security Service and local police next week to uproot and burn marijuana plants on the Caribbean island nation of St. Vincent. The Marijuana Farmers movement, which claims to have 800 members, sent a letter to President Clinton on Thursday demanding compensation for lost marijuana plants.)
IOC Attempt To Resolve Doping Dilemma (Reuters says FIFA president Sepp Blatter and his International Olympic Committee counterpart Juan Antonio Samaranch will meet in Switzerland next month in an attempt to resolve their differences on proposed common rules regarding doping offenders.)
The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue No. 69 (The Drug Reform Coordination Network's original summary of drug policy news and calls to action includes - DRCNet projects and campaigns; Alert - show of support needed for New Jersey needle exchange; US Congress triples military aid To Colombia; Report - New York state now spending more on prisons than higher education; Drug war perjury highlighted in Congressional impeachment hearings; Thousands protest at US Army School of the Americas; Swiss legalization referendum fails, but provides hopeful signs for future; Coalition seeking DC election results grows; and an editorial, Criminalizing our children, by Adam J. Smith.)
Bytes: 119,000 Last updated: 1/1/99
Thursday, December 3, 1998:
Medical Marijuana Legal Today (The Oregonian notes the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act and a similar voter initiative in Washington state go into effect today. Dr. Rick Bayer, principal sponsor of Measure 67, said patients who were considering using marijuana should first talk to their doctors. "It will be imperative that the patient educate the doctor. That education won't be coming from Eli Lilly or Merck." Patients or doctors who want more information can contact Oregonians for Medical Rights through its Web site, www.teleport.com/~omr, or its toll-free telephone number, 1-877-600-6767.)
Oregonians light up as medical marijuana law takes effect (An Associated Press article on the same subject interviews a patient who uses cannabis for arthritis, glaucoma and post-traumatic stress from her years as a nurse in Vietnam.)
Marijuana Law Takes Effect Now, Prosecutors On Lookout (According to an Associated Press article in the Everett, Washington, Herald, King County Prosecutor Dan Satterbert said yesterday that his office will be on the lookout for people trying to abuse the voter-approved law legalizing the medical use of marijuana. Satterberg said prosecutors anticipate the biggest problems will involve people who try to defend large growing operations on behalf of a friend or relative who is sick.)
Marijuana Law Takes Effect Now Prosecutors On Lookout (A lengthier version in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
Pot for pain (An MSNBC story broadcast by KHQ-6 in Spokane, Washington, notes Sam Diana, who uses a wheelchair because of multiple sclerosis, is awaiting sentencing in federal court for a marijuana conviction. Despite voters' approval of Initiative 692, Spokane police say they will arrest anyone who dares to smoke marijuana and will let judges decide who is legal and who is not.)
Estimated 500 Pounds Of Pot Were Stolen From Burn Pile (According to The Arizona Daily Star, Sergeant John Sanders of the Pima County Sheriff's Department said a tip from a confidential informant and an examination of the amount of ash left at an incinerator have led him to conclude that thieves made off with about 500 pounds of a seven-ton load of marijuana transported by US Customs Service agents from El Paso to Tucson for incineration.)
DrugSense Focus Alert No. 90 - Dallas Morning News on "Speed" (DrugSense asks you to write a letter to The Dallas Morning News about yesterday's misleading and sensational article on "Nazi" meth labs in northern Texas.)
Nazi Meth (A list subscriber says that, according to the Topeka Capital Journal, the "Nazi" method of manufacturing methamphetamine is named after a cook operating in south central Missouri who distributed his recipe on stationery adorned with white supremacist images.)
School Board To Ask The US Supreme Court To Reinstate Drug Testing (The Indianapolis Star says the school board in Anderson, Indiana, voted Tuesday night to appeal a US 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling to the Supreme Court, seeking to reinstate the school corporation's drug testing policy. Board member Irma Hampton Stewart, who is a lawyer, cast the only dissenting vote, which could entail legal fees close to $60,000.)
Eye At The Keyhole (A staff editorial in The Chicago Sun-Times says Tuesday's ruling by the US Supreme Court - that short-term visitors to a private home have no reasonable expectation of privacy - again has narrowly interpreted privacy rights. The decision further erodes the widely held expectation that one's home is one's castle and an inviolable bastion of privacy, and that those protections extend to one's invited guests.)
Medical marijuana group sues over ouster from polling place (The Associated Press notes Floridians for Medical Rights is suing Duval County's sheriff and top elections official after being ordered away from a polling place. Supervisor of Elections Tommie Bell said Wednesday that the group is correct in arguing it should have been allowed to remain at the polling place on Nov. 3. She also disputed the claim of a sheriff's spokesman that police had first checked with her office.)
Medical Marijuana Supporters Sue Officials (The UPI version)
Geronimo Guilty Of Drug Charge (The Washington Post says raunch-radio host Don Geronimo, half of the "Don and Mike" afternoon show, syndicated to 58 stations in 30 states, was found guilty yesterday of marijuana possession and pleaded guilty to reckless driving after a 90-minute trial in Fairfax County General District Court. The marijuana was found after Geronimo tried to bolt from the scene and an officer drew a gun on him. Prosecutors in Fairfax County, Virginia, asked that Geronimo be sentenced to jail because he already has a 1996 conviction for possession of cocaine.)
An Unholy Alliance (Washington Post columnist Steve Twomey discusses the ironies implicit in the Clinton Administration's support for the disenfranchisement of voters in the District of Columbia and the quashing of Initiative 59, the DC medical marijuana initiative, by conservative Republican US Representative Robert L. Barr Jr. Clinton came into office gushy for statehood as a way to end two centuries of congressional control of the city.)
Customs Service drug searches prompt horror tales, lawsuits (The Associated Press says the US Customs Service strip-searched hundreds of airline passengers last year and transported 675 to hospitals for X-ray inspections, usually in handcuffs, and some were detained for days without being allowed to call a lawyer or family members, but only about a fourth were caught with illegal drugs. Sixty percent of those pulled aside last year for body searches or X-rays were black or Hispanic.)
Customs Service Drug Searches Prompt Outrage, Lawsuits (A slightly different Associated Press version in The Orange County Register)
Tossounian Is A Hero (A letter to the editor of The Kitchener-Waterloo Record, in Ontario, says Jeannette Tossounian, a Kitchener dispenser of medical marijuana, is like Florence Nightingale, or those who helped Jews escape from Nazi death camps.)
Parents 'Grew Drugs For Kids' (The Courier-Mail, in Australia, says a Queensland couple accused of supplying marijuana to their children allegedly told police they did so to prevent them from buying drugs elsewhere. Police also will claim that homegrowing the drugs allowed the parents to know what type of drugs their sons were taking, as well as controlling their drug intake, stopping them from stealing and sneaking around the house.)
Hashish Therapy for AIDS? (A translation of an article from Suedkurier Konstanz, in Germany, says doctors attending an international medical marihuana convention in Frankfurt have asked that cannabis be made available via prescription, just as opiates are.)
Weekly Action Report on Drug Policies, Year 4, Number 40 (A summary of European and international drug policy news, from CORA in Italy)
Bytes: 78,200 Last updated: 1/1/99
Wednesday, December 2, 1998:
Corrections budget turns toward crime prevention (The Oregonian admits the biennial budget for Oregon corrections submitted by Governor John "Prisons" Kitzhaber is up almost 21 percent from the last biennium, but it characteristically refuses to print the actual figure. Kitzhaber wants to save money by nullifying the prisoner-work law passed by voters, but he won't rock the boat by ignoring the older and more ridiculous laws that oblige the state to spend more than $26 billion to lock up all the illegal-drug users in Oregon.)
Sonny Bono (Three letters to the editor of The Los Angeles Times comment on allegations by the widow of the late Congressman and pop singer that his death may have been attributable to his abuse of prescription painkillers.)
The Main Thing (An emotional staff editorial in The Fort Worth Star-Telegram recommends that parents ignore calls for drug policy reform. Kids are dying of heroin, so we have to ratchet up the drug war even more - as if that's worked in the past.)
Drug War (Another staff editorial in The Forth Worth Star-Telegram says the attempt to mount a coordinated police effort against drug traffic across Northeast Tarrant County, Texas, is crumbling. It still exists, but only a handful of communities are participating. The problem isn't money - it's people.)
Alcohol And Ignorance (A letter to the editor of The Times Journal, in Cobleskill, New York, notes the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and the White House drug czar's office focus their advertising dollars on marijuana, which never killed anyone. Meanwhile, they ignore the harm to young people attributable to ignorance about alcohol. For example, Michigan State University student Bradley McCue recently died on his 21st birthday from acute alcohol poisoning, after drinking 24 shots of liquor in less than two hours.)
Groups Seek Results of Marijuana Vote (According to The Washington Post, The District of Columbia chapter of the League of Women Voters and eight other local organizations filed friend-of-the-court briefs this week in support of the ACLU's lawsuit asking a federal judge to release and uphold the results of DC's Nov. 3 referendum on the medical use of marijuana.)
So Much For 'The Will Of The People' (An op-ed in The San Diego Union Tribune by former Congressman Lionel Van Deerlin recounts the recent electoral victories for medical marijuana patients, taking note of the fear shared by many conservatives that marijuana usage is a first step on the path to perdition. Yet what became of the earlier concern among conservatives to get government off the backs of the people?)
Makeshift Methamphetamine Labs Spreading In N. Texas (A ludicrous piece of drug-warrior fear-mongering in The Dallas Morning News says crank cooks in northern Texas are whipping up batches of methamphetamine using a method once employed by Adolf Hitler's Nazis - but it's hard to imagine "nomadic" hordes of uniformed SS troopers hitting "large discount stores" to stock up on cold remedies containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, automobile starter fluid, drain cleaner, denatured alcohol, and other over-the-counter products. North Central Texas Narcotics Task Force Investigator Dan Coltrain is quoted saying the drug is so addictive that "Once it's got you, it's got you. I've never worked with anyone who's gotten off. They always go back to it.")
Rockers Play For Pot On 'Hempilation II' (An upbeat review by UPI notes "Hempilation," a 1995 music compilation, raised more than $90,000 for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Now comes "Hempilation 2 - freetheweed," released just after the recent election. It's more varied then the first album, and includes country, hip-hop and reggae along with rock.)
Germany Is Not Punishing Hashish Users (A translation of an article from Svenska Dagbladet, in Sweden, notes the new German government, formed by a coalition of the Social Democrats and the Green Party, is implementing new harm-reduction policies, in agreement that the hardline policies of the previous Kohl government have failed.)
DrugSense Weekly, No. 76 (The weekly summary of drug policy news leads with a feature article by Mike Gray, author of "Drug Crazy" - Medical marijuana initiatives shift the front of the drug war. The Weekly News in Review includes such Drug War Policy articles as - On the web - a virtual breeze comes to Washington; The San Francisco Examiner editorial, Pro Bono; Rep. Bono gets burned for honesty; Drug policy is sound, despite what Molly Ivins may think. Law Enforcement & Prison articles include - Prison shootings unjustified; Prison tour doesn't sway lawmakers; Feds sought bigger drug deal to ensure a stiffer prison term; and Double standard on drug sentences. International News articles include - Black passengers targeted in Pearson searches?; Mexico seizes three hotels from drug cartel; Australia - Uphill struggle on trail of record heroin bust; 55 percent of smuggled cocaine world wide being transported by express services; Swiss voters block bid to legalize narcotics; Dutch to extend free heroin hand-outs to addicts; Drugs - cacophony in the European Union. Hot Off The 'Net publicizes a CD recording, From the mouths of drug war prisoners; New Republic ads by Common Sense for Drug Policy. The Quote of the Week features Tacitus. Plus Special Notices, including an interview with Jane Marcus, "NewsHawk of the Month," and thanks to DrugSense DrugNews Screeners Don Beck and Kevin Fansler.)
Bytes: 75,700 Last updated: 12/23/98
Tuesday, December 1, 1998:
The NORML Foundation Weekly Press Release (Premiere British Medical Journal Pronounces Marijuana Safer Than Alcohol, Tobacco; Louisiana Drug Testing Statute Unconstitutional, Federal Judge Rules; Body Shop Hemp Product Line Continues To Meet Opposition Abroad; DEA To Rule Shortly On Reclassifying Synthetic THC)
Governor's budget highlights crime, schools (The Associated Press omits the cost of corrections, and the percentage increase, in a story about Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber's biennial budget proposal.)
DARE Losing Out In Metro Area (The Rocky Mountain News, in Denver, says at least four metropolitan-area police departments are dropping their Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, although it is still expanding statewide. The Boulder County sheriff's office, Boulder police and Wheat Ridge police are replacing DARE with homespun courses that allow more flexibility. Louisville police scrapped DARE two years ago. Russ Ahrens, executive director of the statewide DARE program, said 88 police departments in Colorado used DARE in 1996. That figure is now 102.)
Study Contrasts NY Prison, Education Priorities (The Washington Post says research conducted by the Justice Policy Institute and the Correctional Association of New York and released today showed that New York state has increased spending on prisons in the last decade by nearly as much as it has decreased spending on higher education. Spending for city and state universities has fallen since 1988 by $615 million, to $1.48 billion, while funding for the Department of Correctional Services has risen by $761 million, to $1.76 billion. New York's spending pattern reflected a national trend of prison expansion. States spent 30 percent more on prison budgets and 18 percent less on higher education in 1995 than they did in 1987.)
Switching Sides - Win At All Costs series (The sixth part of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's 10-part series about its two-year investigation showing that federal agents and prosecutors break the law routinely. Agents sometimes must make deals with the devil - criminal informants - to fight crime. The temptations to become partners with these criminals can be great. And the safeguards to prevent their defections are few. Abuses are common. For example, more than a dozen New York mobsters have been acquitted after juries learned the FBI conspired with criminals to commit crimes.)
A Troubling Pioneer - Win At All Costs series (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues its 10-part series about its investigation showing that federal agents and prosecutors break the law routinely. Daniel Mitrione, an FBI agent in the bureau's South Florida offices from the mid-1970s to early 1985, was the first FBI agent ever charged with joining a Colombian drug-smuggling ring - a ring he was duty bound to try to shut down. But because of prosecutorial misconduct, another man went to prison for a bomb he allegedly planted under a car.)
Unique Way Of Solving Mystery - Win At All Costs series (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues its 10-part series about its investigation showing that federal agents and prosecutors break the law routinely. When three civil rights activists were reported missing and probably murdered near Philadelphia, Mississippi, in 1964, the FBI's traditional investigative techniques failed to discover where the bodies were buried. So the FBI hired Gregory Scarpa, a New York mobster, who tortured the truth out of an alleged Ku Klux Klan member.)
Surprise Response To Newspaper Ad - Win At All Costs series (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues its 10-part series about its investigation showing that federal agents and prosecutors break the law routinely. Kenneth R. Withers, 33, a seven-year veteran of the FBI who was charged in June 1994 with trying to sell 100 pounds of heroin he'd stolen from the bureau's evidence room, is still awaiting trial.)
Giving In To The Temptation - Win At All Costs series (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues its 10-part series about its investigation showing that federal agents and prosecutors break the law routinely. Rene De La Cova, the DEA agent who had served an arrest warrant on Manuel Noriega after the US invaded Panama, was sentenced to only three years in prison for laundering money. Ordinary people would have received 20.)
Agents Can't Keep Hands Off Drug Evidence - Win At All Costs series (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues its 10-part series about its investigation showing that federal agents and prosecutors break the law routinely. When federal agents broke up the "Blue Thunder" heroin ring in New York City in 1991, the biggest crooks included at least two agents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration who were involved in the arrests. The agents, through illegal arrests and seizures, destroyed the lives of innocent people.)
Medical research showing cannabis' neuroprotective effects (A list subscriber cites a July 1998 National Academy of Sciences report.)
Today's Congressional testimony by Dershowitz on police perjury (A list subscriber says Harvard law professor Allen Dershowitz ripped police perjury and the drug war in testimony before the House Judicial Committee's impeachment hearings, which were supposed to emphasize the seriousness of lying on the witness stand. Dershowitz noted it was absurd to be concerned with the President lying about a sexual affair when hundreds of thousands of cops commit outright perjury in drug cases, and such perjury is allowed by prosecutors and judges who know the cops are lying but ignore it.)
Testimony of Alan M. Dershowitz before the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee (A transcript of the Harvard law professor's comments details numerous cases of law enforcement officials who were caught lying but never prosecuted for perjury. "I believe that no felony is committed more frequently in this country than the genre of perjury and false statements." Cases often are decided "according to the preponderance of perjury.")
Court - Short-Term Guests Not Protected From Unreasonable Police Searches (An Associated Press article in The Saint Paul Pioneer Press says the US Supreme Court reinstated two Minnesota men's cocaine convictions today, ruling that short-term guests at someone's home generally are not constitutionally protected against unreasonable police searches. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote for the court that "An overnight guest in a home may claim the protection of the Fourth Amendment, but one who is merely present with the consent of the householder may not.")
Court Rules Guests Lack Privacy Rights (The Reuters version)
The Prison-Industrial Complex (An article in the December issue of The Atlantic Monthly, by Eric Schlosser, notes real crime in the United States is falling while the correctional population continues to swell with nonviolent drug offenders. Lots of people are making a living - or a killing - on the phenomenon.)
The Swiss Fix (A letter to the editor of The Washington Monthly responds to the October issue's article about Joseph Califano and CASA, pointing out that the crime and violence Califano attributes to drug abuse is really caused by prohibition, as the experience of Switzerland's heroin-maintenance experiment shows.)
Congress Steps Up Aid for Colombians to Combat Drugs (The New York Times inadvertently notes that while the nation is lulled to sleep by zippergate, the stories that should be covered are being widely ignored. A recent congressional initiative to increase aid to Colombia, spurred by direct appeals to conservative Republicans from the Colombian national police, has more than doubled drug-fighting money to Colombia and made the country a top recipient of US foreign aid. Critics fear that the huge jump in aid and the heightened US interest in attacking the drug trade at its source will lure Washington into intervening in the civil war between Colombia's armed forces and the nationalist guerrillas that The New York Times calls "leftist.")
US Pledges Military Cooperation to Colombia (The New York Times says US Secretary of Defense William Cohen and Colombia's new president, Andres Pastrana, announced Monday that the two countries would increase military cooperation in the war on some drugs, including a pledge to increase Pentagon training of Colombia's armed forces and to share more aerial and satellite intelligence data. The increasing aid and cooperation has blurred the line between the two wars Colombia is fighting, raising concerns among some human rights advocates that the United States is involving itself in Colombia's civil war.)
Veterans Of The CIA's Drug Wars (The December issue of High Times says despite last spring's orgy of coordinated condemnation of Gary Webb's "Dark Alliance" series in the San Jose Mercury News about the CIA-Contra-cocaine scandal in the 1980s, media prostitutes at the Washington Post, New York Times, and Face The Press were reduced to purveying the truth after the CIA made its belated admission last November that Webb was essentially correct.)
Hitman's Victim Had Links To Drug Gang (According to The Times, in London, police said yesterday that Solly Nahome, a Hatton Gardens diamond dealer and financial adviser to one of London's most powerful underworld gangs, was shot dead on his doorstep.)
Bytes: 219,000 Last updated: 1/5/99
Monday, November 30, 1998:
Five States Now Demand Medicinal Marijuana (A staff editorial in The Sacramento Bee says a congressional confrontation seems unavoidable between the long-standing federal law that finds no medicinal purpose for marijuana and five Western states who strongly disagreed in the Nov. 3 elections.)
Legal marijuana measure progresses - "Our mission is popular with Alaskans" (A letter to the editor of The Fairbanks Daily Newsminer says Alaskans for Drug-Abuse Medicalization, a group seeking to decriminalize marijuana and end criminal treatment of drug addiction in favor of medical treatment, failed to meet the constitutionally imposed one-year deadline for signature gathering and must forgo placement on the August 2000 primary ballot. Another effort is being planned.)
Surrendering To A Calling (The Dallas Morning News portrays Dale Stinson, who retired from the DEA after concluding that the federal government wasn't really interested in eradicating narcotics traffic. He became an Anglican pastor at St. Paul's Church in Midland, Texas.)
Selling Lies - Win At All Costs series (Part of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's 10-part series about the newspaper's two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors have pursued justice by breaking the law routinely. Prosecutors thrive on inmates in federal prisons who routinely buy, sell, steal and concoct testimony and then share their perjury with federal authorities in exchange for a reduction in their sentences.)
Inmate Exploited Prosecutors' Need For Witnesses - Win At All Costs series (Part of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's 10-part series about the newspaper's two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors have pursued justice by breaking the law routinely. With prosecutors' help, Jose Goyriena, who was serving a 27-year prison sentence in Florida for cocaine smuggling, sent four men to prison for life with perjured testimony in exchange for a sentence reduction.)
Feds Finally Use Safeguards But Only To Protect Their Own - Win At All Costs series (Part of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's 10-part series about the newspaper's two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors pursue justice by breaking the law routinely. There is a system in place to keep prisoners from trading lies for leniency. Informants are supposed to be given polygraph tests to determine if they are telling the truth. But that safeguard is often ignored unless the person being accused is a law enforcement official.)
A Crowd On This 'Bus' - Win At All Costs series (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues its 10-part series about its two-year investigation showing that federal agents and prosecutors pursue justice by breaking the law routinely. Israel Abel said that among the dozens of witnesses who testified against him at his 1992 Miami drug smuggling trial were several people he'd never laid eyes on.)
Jail Guards Smuggled Contraband, Paper Says (The Chicago Tribune account of The Miami Herald's scoop about a yearlong, secret probe by police and the FBI, which found that Miami-Dade county jail officers took part or looked the other way as marijuana and cocaine were brought to inmates in exchange for cash, jewelry and sporting equipment.)
Drug War Costing More Than It Saves (An eloquent and original op-ed in The Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, in Florida.)
The Age Of Ritalin (Time magazine's cover article examines Americans' rapidly increasing use of methylphenidate to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children. Production of Ritalin has increased more than sevenfold in the past eight years, and 90 percent of it is consumed in the United States.)
Ritalin - How Does It Work? (Time magazine says surprisingly little is known about how Ritalin acts on the brain or why it helps people with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. For that matter, even ADHD is still something of a mystery to doctors. The National Institutes of Health tried to cut through some of the confusion last week by playing host to a consensus conference to determine what - if anything - the experts agree on.)
Swiss Reject 'Legalizing' Illicit Drugs (A New York Times article in The Orange County Register says nearly 74 percent of voters in Switzerland rejected the "Droleg" referendum Sunday.)
Voters Turn Down Legalization Of Narcotics (A different New York Times version in The International Herald-Tribune)
Swiss Voters Reject Legalization of Marijuana, Heroin and Cocaine (The actual New York Times version)
Fearing Change To User Haven, Swiss Reject Legalizing Drugs (An Associated Press version in The Daily Herald, in Illinois)
Swiss voters just say No to legalizing narcotics (The Toronto Star version)
Swiss Voters Reject Legalisation Of Heroin And Other Narcotics (The version in The Examiner, in Ireland)
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Sunday, November 29, 1998:
California NORML Conference - Pismo Beach Feb. 13-14 (A press release from California NORML publicizes "Organizing to Legalize - Medical Marijuana and Beyond.")
Medical Marijuana And The Legal Mess (A letter to the editor of the Orange County Register says efforts to limit the scope of Proposition 215 has resulted in needy patients not being able to get marijuana through any legal channels, and being forced to get it through the black market. This is what the voters wanted to put and end to. "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.")
Rep. Bono Gets Burned For Honesty (The Chicago Tribune says the widow of the late Sonny Bono wishes she hadn't told The Associated Press on Friday that the Congressman and former pop singer had a prescription drug problem.)
Pot law confusion blooms - Patients, police ask about enforcement (The Anchorage Daily News discusses the uncertainties about how Proposition 8, Alaska's medical marijuana law, will be implemented.)
Raising ire - Area group supports legalization of drugs (The Fort Worth, Texas, Star-Telegram says that at a time when school districts, law enforcement agencies and parents are wringing their hands about how to halt the escalating use of heroin and other illegal drugs among young people, members of the Drug Policy Forum of Texas aren't afraid to stir things up or share their unpopular viewpoint. Police call their opinions dangerous.)
DA Stoutly Backs Grand Jury No-Bill In Pedro Oregon Navarro Shooting (A Houston Chronicle update on the aftermath of the shooting death of Pedro Oregon Navarro by Houston prohibition agents who broke into his home without a warrant says Mayor Lee Brown has called for a federal investigation and the police chief has fired the six officers involved, but District Attorney John B. Holmes Jr. doesn't think the six should be prosecuted. In recent interviews, Holmes denied allegations that he soft-pedaled the case because it involved law enforcement.)
Prison Tour Doesn't Sway Lawmakers (The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says four of the five Wisconsin legislators who toured a private prison in Whiteville, Tennessee, where Wisconsin inmates had been abused, said Saturday they saw no reason to stop sending inmates to prisons run by the Corrections Corporation of America. When the assault occurred, the prison had 556 Wisconsin inmates. On Friday, it held 1,024. Under its contract with the company, Wisconsin will pay $18.4 million a year to imprison 1,200 inmates in Whiteville, about $15,333 per inmate per year.)
Special Prosecutor Will Join Inquiry Into Drug Task Force (According to an Associated Press article in The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, a circuit judge in Clarksville, Arkansas, says he will appoint a special prosecutor to look into allegations of misconduct related to the evidence room of the Fifth Judicial District Drug Task Force.)
Changing His Story To Fit The Case - Win At All Costs series (Part of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's 10-part series about the newspaper's two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors have pursued justice by breaking the law routinely.)
The Damage Of Lies - Win At All Costs series (Part of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's 10-part series about the newspaper's two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors have pursued justice by breaking the law routinely. Lying has become a significant problem in federal court cases because the rewards to federal law enforcement officers can be so great and the consequences so minimal. Perjurers are seldom punished; neither are the law enforcement officers who ignore or accept their lies.)
Fish Tale Was One Of Many Stretches - Win At All Costs series (Part of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's 10-part series about the newspaper's two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors have pursued justice by breaking the law routinely.)
Thwarting Attempts To Check On Witness - Win At All Costs series (Part of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's 10-part series about the newspaper's two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors have pursued justice by breaking the law routinely.)
A Question Of Whom To Trust - Win At All Costs series (Part of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's 10-part series about the newspaper's two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors have pursued justice by breaking the law routinely.)
He Committed The Murder - Or Did He? Win At All Costs series (Part of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's 10-part series about the newspaper's two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors have pursued justice by breaking the law routinely. Thomas Farese was convicted of murder in 1994, two years before his attorneys learned that the same informant who claimed he had confessed had also given government agents an almost identical statement when implicating another man in the same murder.)
Probe - Miami Jailers Smuggled Drugs (According to the Associated Press, The Miami Herald said Sunday that a yearlong, secret probe by police and the FBI found that Miami-Dade county jail officers took part or looked the other way as marijuana and cocaine were brought to inmates in exchange for cash, jewelry and sporting equipment. At least 15 corrections employees and 20 alleged drug dealers are scheduled to be arrested.)
Voters Speak Out On Medical Marijuana (Syndicated San Jose Mercury News columnist Joanne Jacobs writes in The York Daily Record, in Pennsylvania, that politicians are having a hard time getting the message behind November's election victories for medical marijuana. Our nation's capital is the site of the most outrageous attempt to keep the people from being heard. If the District of Columbia votes are recorded, Congress can veto the law. So the only point of blocking the vote-counting is to make sure the sense of the people isn't expressed.)
Crime Drop Mirrors Falling Popularity of Crack Cocaine (St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Lance Williams theorizes that what's responsible for the nation's recent drop in juvenile crime is the decline in the use of crack cocaine. It's not the drug itself that sparks violence, he suggests, but the frequency of purchases from an illicit market.)
Black passengers targeted in Pearson searches? (Toronto Star columnist Royson James says a survey of Air Canada flights from Jamaica to Toronto reveals that black passengers are far more likely than white travellers to be searched by Canada Customs - 56 percent compared to 10 percent. The survey results are expected to be introduced in a Brampton court Monday by lawyers defending an Ottawa man who was charged with importing 710 grams of marijuana from Jamaica. McLeod says his law firm, Hinkson & Sachak, will argue that the Charter rights of blacks are being systematically violated by the practice of "racial profiling" by customs officials.)
New Fix For Brain Damage Is Cannabis (The Sunday Telegraph, in Australia, notes the recent report in The Lancet about researchers discovering that dexanabinol, a synthetic cannabinoid, can limit the brain damage caused by head injuries.)
Dutch town goes to pot for festival - Marijuana lovers converge yearly (An Associated Press article in The Houston Chronicle previews the 11th annual Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam sponsored by High Times magazine, and follows a group of aficionados who travel to the Cannabis Castle in Oosterhout, Holland, a museum, restaurant and nursery where the Sensei Seed Company hybridizes the world's most prized varieties of marijuana.)
Sweden Increasingly Alone In The Fight Against Drugs (Svenska Dagbladet, in Sweden, suggests Sweden's promotion of its rabidly harsh drug policies is "tempering" an EU commission currently attempting to formulate a less punitive European Community drug policy.)
Drug Czar Asks For Debate Of Cannabis As Medicine (An Associated Press translation of a German Press Agency article in Rheinische Post says the German drug czar, Christa Nickels, a member of the Green Party, has asked Sunday for a debate on the acceptance of medical marijuana. "The suffering of patients with illnesses such as MS, cancer or AIDS could be eased with cannabis," she said. "Cannabis is really a soft drug.")
Crime Is Key as Swiss Vote on Legalizing Hard Drugs (The New York Times previews today's "Droleg" referendum in Switzerland.)
Swiss vote on decriminalization of all drug use (The transcript of a CBS News broadcast says voters in Switzerland today rejected the "Droleg" referendum by a ratio of three to one.)
Swiss Reject Proposal To Legalize Drugs (The CNN version)
Swiss Reject Legalization of Drugs (The Associated Press version)
Swiss Voters Block Bid To Legalize Narcotics (The Reuters version)
Bytes: 142,000 Last updated: 2/17/99
Saturday, November 28, 1998:
Cannabis Club Re-Opens To Sell Hemp Products (The Orange County Register notes the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, shut down by a federal judge pending its appeal, has reopened at 1755 Broadway to provide hemp goods and such services as photo identification cards that protect medical marijuana patients from prohibition agents.)
Pot Club Says It Will Reopen In Oakland (A slightly different San Francisco Chronicle version)
Cannabis Buyers' Co-op To Reopen, But Not Sell Pot (The Associated Press version in The Los Angeles Times)
Drug Push Is On (A letter to the editor of The Omaha World-Herald, in Nebraska, from Susie Dugan, the director of PRIDE-Omaha, reiterates a patently false but widely repeated drug-warrior lie promoted by the DEA, that there are "10,000 studies" showing marijuana to be harmful.)
Political, Social, Religious Aspects Of The Rasta Life (The San Jose Mercury News tries to explain the Rastafarian religion. Leonard E. Barrett, author of "The Rastafarians," estimates there are 800,000 Rastas worldwide, more than 2 million if one counts followers of the lifestyle but not the faith. No one has tracked the growing number of Rastafarians in the United States. It was second-generation converts in Jamaica who instituted dreadlocks and ganja.)
Double Standard on Drug Sentences (Atlanta Constitution columnist Cynthia Tucker writes in The San Francisco Chronicle that the United States is no better off for a shameless double standard that celebrates the privileged athlete, actor or businessman who licks his drug habit in a ritzy sanitarium, while imprisoning the crackhead too broke to afford drug treatment. That policy guarantees a permanent underclass.)
Prof 'Masterminded' Pot Operation (The Victoria Times-Colonist, in British Columbia, recounts the prosecution of University of Victoria sociology professor Jean Eleanor Veevers, 55, who pleaded guilty Friday to cultivating marijuana and possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. Sentencing was delayed by Justice Dean Wilson of the provincial Supreme Court.)
Illegal Medicine - Kitchener Organization Dispenses Marijuana to Chronic Pain Sufferers (A feature article in The Kitchener-Waterloo Record, in Ontario, focuses on 23-year-old Jeannette Tossounian of Kitchener and her club, MUM - Marijuana Used for Medicine - which dispenses the illegal herb to about 50 registered members.)
Bytes: 38,600 Last updated: 12/23/98
Friday, November 27, 1998:
Prosecutor In Pot Case Suspended, Investigated (The Associated Press says Assistant US Attorney John Lyons, the prosecutor in a marijuana smuggling case in San Francisco against a onetime member of Thailand's Parliament, has been suspended for a month during an investigation of his conduct. The lawyer for Thanong Siriprechapong, who is charged with smuggling four tons of marijuana into the United States, accuses Lyons of concealing the fact that a US Customs agent who was the chief investigator and sole grand jury witness for the prosecution took a $4,000 kickback from an informant.)
Prisons - Shootings by Guards in 24 of 31 Cases - Seven of Them Fatal - Were Unjustified, Investigators Say (According to The Associated Press, a report released Wednesday by an independent panel in response to a Los Angeles Times request filed under the California Public Records Act, concluded that two dozen shootings of inmates at Corcoran State Prison from 1989 to 1995 were unjustified.)
NORML Benefit in Las Vegas on Saturday Nov. 27 (The Las Vegas Review-Journal publicizes an evening of local entertainment at Legends Restaurant & Lounge.)
Is Pacifism a Mental Problem? (Terry Mitchell, director of the Greenpanthers, protests pacifists' "control" of the marijuana-law-reform movement.)
Medical marijuana initiatives shift the front of the drug war (An op-ed in The Philadelphia Inquirer by Mike Gray, author of "Drug Crazy," says the electoral earthquake that rocked the Republican Party this month also jolted the foundations of another prominent ideological temple - the federal drug war establishment. No longer can politicians count on automatic support for the war on marijuana users.)
How a DC Referendum Wound Up in Limbo - Marijuana Ballots May Never Be Tallied (The Washington Post presents a history, including recent developments, of Initiative 59, the medical marijuana initiative quashed by a voice vote in the House of Representatives. This week, the Justice Department announced it would fight the ACLU's lawsuit seeking to certify the election results.)
Binge Drinking Tied to Rise in Russian Death Rate (An Associated Press article carried by foxnews.com says a British and Russian study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health suggests an increase in binge drinking in Russia over the last decade has played a large role in the rise in sudden cardiac deaths and deaths due to violence, accidents, and alcohol poisoning.)
Cocaine Flood Raises Fears Of HIV Upsurge (The Australian says cheaper and purer cocaine is flooding Sydney. A survey commissioned by the federal government, titled the Illicit Drug Reporting System, to be released today, reveals that six in 10 heroin users surveyed have injected cocaine in the past six months, while one in five has injected cocaine daily - an eight-fold increase from last year.)
Bytes: 41,800 Last updated: 12/12/98
Thursday, November 26, 1998:
CBS' 60 Minutes "Smoking to Live" on-line (Paul Stanford of the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act initiative campaign says the 1991 television special on medical marijuana, updated and re-broadcast with Morley Safer on July 12, 1998, can now be viewed in real-time at the crrh.org web site.)
New Leaf For Pot Club (The Orange County Register interviews medical marijuana patient Marvin Chavez, recently convicted for distributing pot in connection with his role as founder of the Orange County Cannabis Co-op. In response to the district attorney's office doing anything and everything it can to make sure Proposition 215 is narrowed down to the size of a needle's eye, the cooperative has gone underground.)
A Late Bloomer Joins the Marijuana Debate (A patronizing and intellectually dishonest feature article in The New York Times about Lynn Zimmer, the sociology professor at Queens College in New York, and the recent book she co-authored, "Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts - A Review of the Scientific Evidence," claims that "academic experts" have not been favorable when reviewing the book, "calling it a well-researched compilation of opinion that occasionally leaves out information that might cast marijuana in a negative light," without even citing the source of such alleged nonsense, or mentioning that even the Journal of the American Medical Association admitted the book was "'extraordinarily well-researched.")
Weekly Action Report On Drug Policies, Year 4, Number 39 (A summary of European and international drug policy news, from CORA in Italy)
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Wednesday, November 25, 1998:
US Drug Policy is Sound, Despite What Molly Ivins Might Think (A factually challenged and intellectually tortured op-ed in The Oregonian by a shill from the White House drug czar's office responds to the syndicated columnist's recent apostasy on the drug war.)
Cigarette Price Hikes May Ignite Inflation Surge (According to The San Jose Mercury News, an economist at the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday's 45-cent-per-pack increase in the price of cigarettes probably will push up consumer inflation about 0.2 percentage points in December.)
Viagra Gets Expanded Health Warnings (The San Jose Mercury News says the Food and Drug Administration is adding new labels warning that men with heart problems and very high or very low blood pressure should be carefully examined before getting a prescription for Pfizer's new anti-impotence drug. Since it was approved in April, 130 deaths have been linked to Viagra out of 3 million men who have used it. The FDA said Tuesday it still considers Viagra "safe" - the problem is the sexual activity it facilitates.)
Court Awards Smuggler $50,000 (The New Brunswick Telegraph Journal says a New Brunswick court has awarded a convicted cocaine smuggler nearly $50,000 because of injuries he suffered when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police cruiser carrying him to court smashed into another police car four years ago.)
Blitz Fails To Halt Drug Flow (According to The Herald Sun, Mick Palmer, the Australian federal police commissioner, admitted yesterday that the country's biggest-ever heroin haul last month had not dented local supply of the drug, or increased its price.)
Melbourne Mayors Call For ACT Heroin Trial (The Canberra Times says mayors from 10 inner Melbourne communities called yesterday for the Australian Capital Territory's proposed heroin maintenance trial to proceed as part of a plan to minimise the harm caused by illegal drugs. The plan signed by the mayors also sought the "gradual spread" of the caution system, under which small-time cannabis users receive warnings rather than criminal charges.)
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Tuesday, November 24, 1998:
The NORML Foundation Weekly Press Release (Marijuana Arrests For 1997 Most Ever - FBI Data Confirm Clinton's Marijuana War To Be Toughest In Nation's History; Medical Marijuana Patient Linda Jean Marlowe Freed From Jail.)
Scoreboard - This week's winner and losers - Medical marijuana users lose (Willamette Week, in Portland, notes the National Institutes of Health last week refused once again to sponsor human medical trials on cannabis.)
Complaint forms now in other languages (The Oregonian says that after months of prodding by city officials and citizen advisers, the Portland police bureau has translated its citizen complaint form into Cambodian, Chinese, Spanish, Laotian, Vietnamese and Russian. According to the newspaper, any group or person interested in obtaining the form can call the internal affairs division at 503-823-0236.)
Marijuana Arrests (A letter to the editor of The Los Angeles Times from Rob Kampia of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, DC, notes 695,201 people were arrested for marijuana in the United States in 1997 - 87 percent of arrests were for simple possession.)
Justices Expand On Pot Decision (The Denver Post says a divided Colorado Supreme Court explained Monday why it refused to allow a marijuana initiative on the November ballot. The two dissenting justices suggested the decision could erode the initiative process.)
Hiding The Facts - Win At All Costs series (Part of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's 10-part series about the newspaper's two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors have pursued justice by breaking the law hundreds of times.)
Few Of Case's Twists, Shady Deals Revealed In Court - Win At All Costs series (Another installment in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's 10-part series about federal agents and prosecutors routinely breaking the law.)
Federal Misconduct Creates An Incident In Costa Rica (Another installment in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's 10-part series about federal agents and prosecutors routinely breaking the law.)
Feds Buy Into Deal With Known Drug Trafficker - Win At All Costs series (Another installment in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's 10-part series about federal agents and prosecutors routinely breaking the law.)
Smuggler Sells Out His Lawyer To Strike A Deal - Win At All Costs series (Another installment in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's 10-part series about federal agents and prosecutors routinely breaking the law.)
Medical Marijuana Patient Jean Marlowe Released from Jail! (A bulletin from NORML says federal district judge Lacey Thornburg released Jean Marlowe - detained since Nov. 9 - from jail during a sentencing hearing today in Asheville, North Carolina, and sentenced her to six months of home confinement for receiving a package of marijuana from Switzerland, which she had obtained for her personal medical use.)
Mexico Seizes Three Hotels From Drug Cartel (According to Reuters, Reforma newspaper said Tuesday that Mexican police, with the help of US agents, have seized about $200 million in assets from the so-called Juarez cartel, including three luxury hotels, two of them in the Caribbean resort of Cancun.)
Dutch To Extend Free Heroin Hand-Outs To Addicts (According to Reuters, the Netherlands' health ministry said on Tuesday it would extend an experiment to distribute free heroin to hard-core addicts after a three-month pilot scheme proved a success.)
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Monday, November 23, 1998:
Tell The Whole Story (A letter to the editor of The Bulletin, in Bend, Oregon, protests the newspaper's recent biased editorial about Keith Green and his anti-marijuana article in the Archives of Ophthalmology.)
Feds Sought Bigger Drug Deal To Ensure A Stiffer Prison Sentence (Part of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's 10-part series about the newspaper's two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors have pursued justice by breaking the law hundreds of times. The government entrapped Michael Staufer into a bigger LSD deal than he could really handle, just so they could double his prison term.)
Federal Sting Often Put More Drugs On The Streets - Win At All Costs series (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues its 10-part series about its two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors have pursued justice by breaking the law hundreds of times. Not only did Rodney Matthews have the government's permission to fly 700 kilograms of cocaine into a remote Houston airstrip on New Year's Eve in 1989. He had their permission to sell it, too.)
Informant Lured Him Into A Costly Deal - Win At All Costs series (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues its 10-part series about its two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors have pursued justice by breaking the law hundreds of times. Bobby Thomas, who had no prior criminal record, was sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison after being entrapped into drug trafficking by a professional government informant.)
Drug Charge Beaten, But At High Price - Win At All Costs series (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues its 10-part series about its two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors have pursued justice by breaking the law hundreds of times. John Gardner, a 33-year-old Pittsburgh postal employee, was arrested on drug charges in 1989 after a government informant with an expensive drug habit talked him into buying drugs to help feed the informant's drug habit.)
Fighting To Prove Innocence Led 3 To Stiffer Sentences (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues its 10-part series about its two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors have pursued justice by breaking the law hundreds of times. Three men, all about 60 years old - Loren Pogue, George Pararas-Carayannis, and Beryl L. Johnston, who were entrapped by government sting operations were successful in their careers and active in their communities. After refusing plea bargains and fighting to prove their innocence, their lives are ruined, their assets gone. Two are serving long prison terms. The third expects to begin serving his sentence soon.)
Trapped Into Trying To Settle Vendetta - Win At All Costs series (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues its 10-part series about its two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors have pursued justice by breaking the law hundreds of times. Qubilah Shabazz, daughter of assassinated black leader Malcolm X, was arrested in June 1995 and charged with plotting to kill Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, the man she thought murdered her father 30 years before. The story behind the headlines was even more bizarre.)
A Sting Gone Awry - Win At All Costs series (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues its 10-part series about its two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors have pursued justice by breaking the law hundreds of times. Seven small companies employing more than 100 people went bust after "Operation Lightning Strike," an expensive government sting operation that at first yielded no results. So the government set out to entrap the little guys to save face.)
Assistant principal gets 30 years for dealing drugs near his school (An Associated Press article found at Tampa Bay Online says Willie James Young Jr., 52, an assistant principal at North Miami Community Middle School, was sentenced Monday to 30 years in prison for trying to buy 66 pounds of cocaine from undercover drug agents two blocks from his middle school.)
An After-Hours Lifestyle Can Mess Up Your Style At Work (The St. Louis Post-Dispatch surveys lifestyle protection laws around the nation. In states with no such legal protections, your company can use what you do on your own time to determine how well you perform your job. Only three states - New York, North Dakota and Colorado - have statutes protecting employees from job discrimination based on any legal activity they choose to engage in after work. In half the states, the only protected after-hours activity an employee can engage in is smoking. In his just-published book, "Job Discrimination II," Jeffrey Bernbach, an attorney in New York City who specializes in workplace law, writes that an employer might terminate workers for such offenses as "drinking six martinis before dinner or riding your Harley-Davidson or taking herbal medications for your arthritis, which may label you as a 'health nut,' or even seeking counseling to get through a bad relationship, divorce, or the death of a loved one.")
On the Hill, Barring Democracy (Washington Post columnist Dick Evans contrasts the noble words about democracy posted at the web site of US Representative Robert L. Barr Jr. with the Georgia Republican's ignoble quashing of Initiative 59, the District of Columbia medical marijuana initiative.)
Five states approve medical marijuana (The American Medical News says the success of all five medical marijuana initiatives in the Nov. 3 elections means doctors must now decide whether they want to recommend the drug to patients. Under the new laws, physicians need only write their recommendation in patients' medical records. Patients can then request a copy to protect against prosecution.)
The Online Drug War - A virtual breeze comes to Washington (USA Today columnist Sam Vincent Meddis heaps praise on the Drug Reform Coordination Network online library and the web sites and organizations that belong to it, including Common Sense for Drug Policy, the Lindesmith Center, NORML and DrugSense. "The Internet is starting to level the playing field between drug warrior and reformer.")
DEA Agent From Texas Slain In Colombia Bar Fight (The Dallas Morning News says Frank Arnold Moreno, 37, was shot once in the chest about 1 am outside the El Divino bar in downtown Bogota after what one US Embassy official called "a bar brawl.")
NT Drugs Shock - They're Rife Among Pupils (According to The NT News, in Australia's Northern Territory, a national survey taken in 1996 suggests that students' cannabis use in the territory was as prevalent as tobacco use, though no more prevalent than in other states or the Australian Capital Territory. The survey found 75 per cent of 17-year-old males had used cannabis at some time in their lives, and half had used cannabis in the seven days before the study.)
DrugSense Weekly, No. 75 (The weekly summary of drug policy news leads with a feature article by Keith Stroup, director of NORML - So, no one goes to jail for marijuana offenses and they don't arrest medicinal users, about the case of Jean Marlowe. The Weekly News In Review features such articles about Medical Marijuana as - Chavez found guilty in pot club bust; Democracy takes a blow for medical marijuana; Research on medical marijuana still politicized; In England the Lords say yes to medical marijuana, the government no and police arrest patient. Articles about Drug War Policy include - Reform of drug policy - an idea whose time has come; MAMA says education not law enforcement; Family of Mexican slain by Texas police files suit; Arrests soar in crackdown on marijuana; Poppy seeds - everything you wanted to know about growing poppies in your backyard; Bribery of informants questioned in court; Supreme Court looks at need for warrants in auto searches; Drug testing loses a round in Louisiana; No one shows up for national drug testing conference; Home drug test marketers still pushing home testing; Nearly 10 percent of truckers fail Oregon drug test; Random drug testing comes home. Several International News articles include - Germany appoints a czarina who wants to treat drug use as a health matter; Germany moves to open drug injection rooms; Germany moves to begin heroin prescription trials; Australia federal and local elected officials call for heroin trials; England debates whether to expel students involved with drugs or not; Colombia - a new start or the same old problems. The weekly Hot Off The 'Net points to - Prosecutorial abuse examined in ten part series; Marijuana Policy Project analyzes arrests and incarceration of marijuana offenders. The Quote of the Week cites Abraham Lincoln. The Tip Of The Week points to - USA Today conducting on-line poll on drug testing now! The Fact Of The Week notes a Yahoo! online poll supports marijuana law reform by a whopping 84 percent to 15 percent margin.)
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Sunday, November 22, 1998:
Nearly 10% Of Truckers Fail Oregon Drug Test (The Los Angeles Times version of yesterday's news about Oregon State Police randomly detaining and urine-testing professional truck drivers in Southern Oregon fails to explain why such unconstitutional infringements wouldn't be tolerated in California.)
Drag Net - Cigarette Buyers May Go Online To Avoid New Taxes (The San Jose Mercury News says that when the 50-cent-per-pack cigarette tax increase mandated by Proposition 10 kicks in on January 1, authorities in California fear many tobacco aficionados will find ways of avoiding the tax - even if it means breaking the law. The state already loses up to $50 million a year in unpaid cigarette taxes. Armed with an editor's credit card, a reporter bought three cartons of Marlboro, Kools and Lucky Strike cigarettes for $18.50 per carton from Riverbend Discount Cigarettes, located on the Allegany Indian Reservation in Salamanca, New York. "We haven't made an estimate yet as to what the impact is going to be" under Proposition 10, said Monte Williams of the California Board of Equalization.)
Pro Bono (A staff editorial in The San Francisco Examiner says Mary Bono's revelation that her husband Sonny died because of his dependence on prescription drugs underscores the insanity of this country's "war on drugs.")
Police Officers Are Wearing Badges Of Dishonor (The Los Angeles Times focuses on the rise and fall of Ralph Riley, a Georgia policeman convicted of drug-war corruption, to examine the growing nationwide problem of cops being convicted of serious crimes, most of them involving drugs. The number of federal, state and local officials serving time in federal prisons, mostly for drug-related offenses, has multiplied five times in four years to nearly 550 this year, according to government data.)
Dealer Goes Undercover on Underworld Odyssey (The Los Angeles Times says that when Roberto Rodriguez went on the lam in 1989 after being sentenced to 12 years in prison, he embarked on an odyssey through the drug underworld of the Americas that ultimately led to revelations of official corruption in several US cities.)
Two Years Later, CIA-drug Controversy Continues (The San Jose Mercury News notes two years have passed since the newspaper ignited a firestorm of controversy with its "Dark Alliance" series, primarily written by Gary Webb, which exposed the CIA-Contra-cocaine scandal. The US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee is expected to hold hearings next year.)
Marijuana Isn't A Harmless Drug (An op-ed in The Boston Globe by Alan Leshner, the director of the US National Institutes of Health, makes a claim that New Scientist previously said "cannot be taken seriously," and asserts other long-discredited research supports his contention that "marijuana is not a benign drug, and its use should not be encouraged," as if that justified busting almost a million Americans a year.)
New FBI Report Reveals More Marijuana Arrests in 1997 Than Any Other Year in US History (The Marijuana Policy Project, in Washington, DC, says there were 695,201 marijuana arrests last year, 87 percent of which were for possession.)
The 'Win At All Costs' series list (An index hyperlinked to all the stories making up The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's 10-part series published Nov. 22 through Dec. 13, about the prevalence of perjury and other malfeasance federal prosecutors routinely engage in.)
Out Of Control - Win At All Costs series (The first part of a 10-part series by The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says a two-year investigation by the newspaper has found that during the past 10 years, federal agents and prosecutors have pursued justice by breaking the law hundreds of times. They lied, hid evidence, distorted facts, engaged in cover-ups, paid for perjury and set up innocent people in a relentless effort to win indictments, guilty pleas and convictions. New laws and court rulings that encourage federal law enforcement officers to press the boundaries of their power provide few safeguards against abuse. Victims of this misconduct sometimes lost their jobs, assets and even families. Some remain in prison because prosecutors withheld favorable evidence or allowed fabricated testimony. Some criminals walk free as a reward for conspiring with the government in its effort to deny others their rights.)
From Beginning Of Cases To End, Rule Changes Led To Misconduct - Win At All Costs series (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues its 10-part series about its two-year investigation that found federal agents and prosecutors have pursued justice by breaking the law hundreds of times. New laws and court rulings over the past two decades have made it easier for federal law enforcement officials to arrest, convict and imprison the guilty.)
Poll on Drug Testing of Students (List subscribers alert you to USA Weekend online and call-in polls continuing through Nov. 26. Is it unreasonable to require urine tests of high school students in order for them to join clubs or athletic teams?)
Hemp seed - perfect for the munchies (The Toronto Star says hemp seed has long been a food source in Europe and Asia, and has undergone a resurgence in North America in the last five years. Outlawed in Canada in 1938 because of its association with marijuana, hemp has made a comeback thanks in part to Health Canada allowing its commercial cultivation. Hemp seed is good for you - it contains essential fatty acids, is of much higher quality than flax seed, and is 22 percent protein.)
Uphill Struggle On Trail Of Record Heroin Bust (The Sun Herald, in Australia, says that despite an international hunt, police have yet to identify the criminal masterminds behind last month's record heroin seizure in Australia.)
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Saturday, November 21, 1998:
Police check shows one trucker in 10 testing positive for drugs (According to The Associated Press, the results are in from last October's 48-hour check of 367 truck drivers along Oregon's southern border. Nearly one in 10 drivers tested positive for "drug" use, according to an Oregon State Police report )
Oregon accepts tobacco settlement (The Oregonian says Attorney General Hardy Myers announced Friday that Oregon would join 45 other states in accepting an agreement with the tobacco industry to end court battles over the costs of medical treatment for smokers. Under the agreement, the state would receive an estimated $2.1 billion during the first 25 years, then about $81 million a year in perpetuity - assuming smokers continue choosing to pay exorbitant new taxes levied on them without their consent.)
Bus shuttles passengers to visit loved ones in distant lock-ups (A Salem, Oregon, Statesman Journal article syndicated by The Associated Press notes the state of Oregon doesn't pay for families to visit inmates at the remote Snake River Correctional Facility near Ontario, so a private business began just over a month ago, offering a 24-hour, 830-mile round-trip bus trip allowing relatives from the Willamette Valley to spend a few hours visiting loved ones behind bars.)
Voters And Drug Policy Collide (Los Angeles Times columnist Robert Scheer writes in The San Francisco Examiner that what makes the war on drugs so nutty is that it's more about maintaining the coercive power of anti-drug bureaucrats than treating those who suffer from serious drug abuse. Voters have been vilified as naive, but that appellation belongs to a war-on-drugs crusade that has filled our jails while leaving illegal drugs more plentiful and cheaper. It drives the anti-drug bureaucracy mad that voters in six states have now decided to ever so slightly challenge its total grip on the awesome power of government, but it bodes well for our representative system of government.)
DARE study (A list subscriber posts the URL for an Adobe Acrobat .pdf version of the report titled "Attitudes and Beliefs about DARE - A survey interview with full program graduates in Cedar City, Utah," by Joseph Donnermeyer of Ohio State University.)
Newspaper - federal prosecutors break law to pursue convictions (The Associated Press says a two-year investigation has culminated in a 10-part series beginning Sunday in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that shows federal agents and prosecutors around the country have repeatedly broken the law over the past decade in pursuit of convictions. The newspaper said it found examples of prosecutors lying, hiding evidence, distorting the facts, engaging in cover-ups, paying for perjury and setting up innocent people to win indictments, guilty pleas and convictions. Federal officials rarely were punished for their misconduct. Some victims went to prison because prosecutors withheld favorable evidence or allowed fabricated testimony, while some criminals walked free as a reward for conspiring with the government.)
Update on Jean Marlowe's case - please don't call the prosecutor (A news release from NORML says Jean Marlowe, a medical marijuana patient in Mill Spring, North Carolina, will be sentenced Tuesday for receiving a package of cannabis from Switzerland.)
Califano implicates pot in alcohol deaths (Joseph Califano of CASA is quoted on television's "Politically Incorrect" saying the antiemetic qualities of cannabis prevent drunks from throwing up, killing them.)
Loerrach Applies To Join The New Drug Project (According to a translation excerpted from Stuttgarter Zeitung, in Germany, the district of Lorraech has made formal application to the German Ministry of Health for permission to establish safe injecting-rooms for addicts. The Catholic Workers Party recently asked for 50,000 marks to plan such clinics.)
55% Of Smuggled Cocaine World Wide Being Transported By Express Services (According to an article translated from Die Welt, in Germany, German Customs authorities say private transport services such as FedEx, UPS, and DHL are being used "to a considerable extent" for the international transport of illegal drugs. Of the total European air-freight traffic in 1997, around 40 percent was done by couriers, 27 percent by air-freight and 33 percent by parcel post. 55 percent of smuggled cocaine discovered was being transported by express services; 11 percent by air freight, and 34 percent by parcel-post. The figures for marihuana were: 40 percent for express services; 38 percent via air freight, and 12 percent via parcel post. 88 percent of the hashish was being transported by air-freight.)
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Friday, November 20, 1998:
MAMA crusade urges clear-eyed look at crutches, cures (A Cox News Service article about Mothers Against Misuse and Abuse and its founder, Sandee Burbank of Mosier, Oregon, an anti-drug abuse crusader who also crusades for legal medical use of marijuana and a re-examination of the nation's get-tough drug laws.)
Pot Trial Guilty Verdict (The Long Beach Press-Telegram says a jury in Orange County, California, found medical marijuana patient Marvin Chavez, the founder of a local medical marijuana dispensary, guilty Thursday of eight of 10 counts of drug-sales and drug transportation.)
Cannabis Club Co-Founder Convicted (The Regional Review version)
OC Cannabis Club Activist Found Guilty (The Los Angeles Times version)
Pot-Club Founder Convicted (The Orange County Register version)
Medical-Pot Activists Protest Conviction Of Co-Op Founder (The Orange County Register says advocates for patients who use marijuana as medicine condemned the conviction of Marvin Chavez Thursday and vowed not to let their fight fade away. Some particularly ineffective activists wore cannabis-leaf leis and lit up pipes outside Orange County Superior Court in Westminster, about 100 feet from the Police Department.)
Deputy DA Goes Out With A Victory (The Orange County Register notes Deputy District Attorney Carl Armbrust capped his 26-year career Thursday by convicting Orange County Cannabis Co-op founder Marvin Chavez of selling marijuana.)
Chavez Faces Prison (A staff editorial in The Orange County Register says it is not surprising that the jury in the Marvin Chavez case returned the verdicts it did, given its instructions, not to consider Proposition 215. Those instructions were unfortunate for two reasons - Mr. Chavez's personal fate, given that he now faces up to seven years in prison, and, more broadly, because they deprived the jury of the opportunity to offer some guidance to confused officials and patients as to just how the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 should be implemented.)
Verdict In, Jury Still Out On Prop. 215 (Los Angeles Times columnist Dana Parsons says he doubts the jurors or police or judge or even the prosecutors who convicted medical marijuana patient Marvin Chavez really thought he was a threat to anyone. He suspects prosecutors are really trying to stamp out a social movement toward liberalizing marijuana usage, but they won't say that, because it butts heads with the public's will.)
SJC Deals Blow To State Law Imposing Tax On Drug Dealers (The Boston Globe says the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled 7-0 yesterday that the state's "controlled substances tax" constitutes double jeopardy when applied in concert with a criminal prosecution.)
Federal court strikes down Louisiana drug test law (The Associated Press says a federal judge in New Orleans on Friday struck down a Louisiana law requiring random drug testing of elected officials, saying the state failed to show a special need to single them out.)
How Drug Testing Has Changed The Job Market (The Christian Science Monitor says the rise of mandatory drug testing at businesses across the United States during the past decade has radically changed the size and makeup of many companies' applicant pools. After all, who wants to work for a company committed to reducing its productivity by nearly 20 percent?)
Drug-Test the Chess Club? (USA Weekend says school districts around the United States are increasingly requiring high-school students to submit to urine tests in order to participate in extracurricular activities.)
Saying 'No' To Drug Surveys (The Colony Leader, in Texas, says Lewisville Independent School District officials have refused to administer a Texas A&M University drug-use survey for students in grades seven through 12, saying the survey is unscientific and too easy to manipulate.)
Champion Shop Pulls Out Of Cannabis Cup Contest (The Associated Press says the unspecified winner of last year's "Cannabis Cup" in Amsterdam, Holland, withdrew from this year's competition Friday, saying the annual marijuana-cultivation competition sponsored by "High Times" magazine had become a "commercial circus" in which only about 20 of Amsterdam's 356 coffeeshops could afford to participate.)
First Question - What Are The Implications For Health? (A translation of excerpts from an article in Frankfurter Rundschau, in Germany, says the newly appointed federal 'drug czar,' Christa Nickels, will proceed on the principle that addiction is a sickness. The new 'Red-Green' federal government will have a more liberal drug policy than its predecessor, and will follow the example of the Swiss, emphasizing education and assistance, not punishment.)
The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue No. 68 (The Drug Reform Coordination Network's original summary of drug policy news and calls to action, including - Federal court to decide on legality of testimony for leniency deals; Amnesty International report - too many children incarcerated in America; Government health officials deny marijuana and pain study, again; Swiss to vote on drug legalization; Australian officials call for heroin maintenance; Methadone support and advocacy network request for proposals - RFP; Philadelphia Bar Association holding medical marijuana forum Dec. 1; And the winner is . . .; plus an editorial by Adam J. Smith, Thanksgiving in a time of drug war)
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Thursday, November 19, 1998:
The NORML Foundation Weekly Press Release (Government Health Officials Deny Marijuana and Pain Study, Again; House of Lords Backs Prescription Cannabis, But Parliament Balks; Drug Testing Negatively Impacts Employee Productivity, Study Concludes.)
Groups want to snub out tobacco deal (The Oregonian says the three most influential anti-smoking organizations in Oregon are urging Attorney General Hardy Myers to reject a $206 billion multistate tobacco settlement - the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society and the American Lung Association.)
Tobacco sales to minors increase despite pressures from authorities (According to the Associated Press, the Oregon Human Resources Department said Wednesday that the Oregon Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs reported minors were able to buy tobacco 29 percent of the times they tried this year, up from 23 percent in 1997. The state inspections involve youths 14-16, accompanied by police, who try to buy tobacco products.)
The C(ocaine)I(mportation)A(gency) (Seattle Weekly reviews the book, "Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs, and the Press," by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair, calling it more than just a history of the US government's role in international drug dealing. Whiteout is an encyclopedia of covert psychological and sociological research and experimentation performed on unknowing subjects since the early 1900s. And it's the kind of expose that people like Katherine Graham, former publisher of The Washington Post, don't think should be available in bookstores.)
Marvin Chavez Trial Update - Jury's Still Out (A local correspondent says there has been a full day of deliberations in the trial of the founder of the Orange County Patient Doctor Nurse Support Group.. It seems jurors are having a hard time defining what a "sale" is.)
Jury reaches verdict in trial of Marvin Chavez (A local correspondent says the medical marijuana patient and founder of the Orange County Patient Doctor Nurse Support Group has been convicted of eight out of 10 charges.)
Marvin Chavez Verdict (Another version from a different local correspondent. Sentencing will be Jan. 8.)
Judge Breyer Raises Interesting Questions . . . (Ellen Komp of The 215 Reporter says US District Court Judge Charles Breyer, the person officiating the federal government's dispute with the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative and other Northern California medical marijuana dispensaries, asked a federal prosecutor Tuesday if the Clinton Administration would be "fashioning an appropriate response" to what he called the "handwriting on the wall" - the passing of medical marijuana initiatives in five states besides California.)
The Poppy Paradox (The San Luis Obispo County NewTimes recounts the bust of local medical marijuana activists and cultivators Tom Dunbar and Jo-D Harrison - for growing poppies - amid a discussion about the peculiar laws that let people buy, sell and grow the ubiquitous Papaver somniferum, but only if they don't know it's the opium poppy.)
San Francisco Cabbies, NORML Persuade Supervisors to Reconsider Drug Testing Proposal (A press release from California NORML follows up on two of its previous bulletins - the first, about a new report that shows drug testing workers reduces productivity nearly 20 percent, and the second, about California NORML testifying before a San Francisco Board of Supervisors committee about a proposal to require urine testing for Communication Workers of America and San Francisco taxi drivers.)
Hemp Shampoo Maker Sues For Defamation (The Los Angeles Times says Alterna Inc., of Westwood, California, filed a civil suit against Glenn Levant of DARE America, Inc., the private organization that promotes the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, alleging Levant made false and malicious statements when he said that the company's Alterna Hemp Shampoo "is a subterfuge to promote marijuana" because its ads feature a cannabis leaf.)
Cal Poly Survey Linked Alcohol, Violence (The San Luis Obispo County Telegram-Tribune says a 1996 survey found that 80 percent of students who reported they were victims of unwanted sexual intercourse had consumed alcohol or other drugs. Quotes from several people suggest the real problem is alcohol, but the newspaper annoyingly refuses to break down the figures for "alcohol" and "other drugs.")
Prescription drugs contributed to Sonny Bono's death (The Associated Press says the widow of Sonny Bono, Mary Bono, who replaced him as a US representative from California, told TV Guide that he was taking 15 to 20 pills a day for chronic back pain and neck problems, and the prescription drugs contributed to his death in a skiing accident last January.)
Sonny Bono's widow blames drugs for his death (The Reuters version)
Tobacco Agreement Criticized (The San Jose Mercury News says that with Friday's deadline to approve the $206 billion tobacco settlement fast approaching, California health professionals and anti-smoking advocates lambasted Attorney General Dan Lungren Wednesday, saying it does little to stop the industry from recruiting new smokers and will cover less than 50 percent of the state's smoking-related health costs.)
Dutch student sent home after drug bust (The San Antonio Express-News says a Dutch foreign exchange student was yanked out of a high school math class Thursday in Universal City, Texas, and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia after his host parent called police Nov. 2, suspecting his mail from back home contained more than warm wishes. Something that wouldn't get a second look back home will get his visa terminated in America.)
Former Sheriff's Deputy And Wife Are Indicted On Drug Charges (The Houston Chronicle says Lawrence Rhea Underwood, a former Harris County sheriff's deputy who was fired when cocaine was found in his system, and his wife, Lisa Jannell Underwood, were indicted Wednesday on charges of possessing methamphetamine and cocaine.)
Smoke-Out Seen As Joke (A letter to the editor of The Houston Chronicle responds to yesterday's news of a 28 percent increase in cigarette smoking among college students over the last four years, saying the increase shows the utter hypocrisy of lawsuits demanding billions in damages from tobacco companies. It also ridicules the vast education efforts to stem the tide of smoking and, in effect, reduces the Great American Smoke-Out to a giant joke.)
Number Of Pregnant Smokers Dropped 26 Percent In '90s (The Associated Press says a study released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found 13.6 percent of pregnant women smoked in 1996, down from 18.4 percent in 1990.)
A Slave Of Smoke In An Anti-Smoke Land (The New York Times examines extreme anti-smoking attitudes in America through the eyes of a widow whose husband died from smoking and lung cancer, leaving her with two daughters who hate her because she herself can't quit smoking. Medical experts say nicotine has a powerful effect on the chemistry of the brain, improving mood and in some cases masking depression.)
There Are None So Blind As Ophthalmologists Who Don't Want to See (Richard Cowan of marijuananews.com debunks the recent "research" about cannabis and glaucoma, by Keith Green, PhD, of Georgia, with a devastating line-by-line rebuttal of the original Nov. 13 Augusta, Georgia, Chronicle story on which the AP story was based.)
Cannabis Co-Op Man Arrested (The Guardian, in Britain, says Colin Davies, of Stockport, Greater Manchester, the founder of a co-operative intended to supply free cannabis to people with multiple sclerosis and other illnesses, has been arrested on cultivation-related charges.)
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Wednesday, November 18, 1998:
AIDS increasing among minorities, women (The Associated Press says AIDS-related deaths in Oregon dropped 62 percent from 1996 to last year, from 238 to 90, according to the annual AIDS/HIV report released Tuesday by the state Health Division. However, a greater percentage of women and minorities have contracted the disease. No mention is made of what proportion of new cases were attributed to intravenous drug users sharing needles.)
Medical-Pot Advocate's Trial Now In Jury's Hands (The Orange County Register says the outcome of the trial of Marvin Chavez, founder of the Orange County Patient, Doctor, Nurse Support Group, on trafficking charges, could determine police conduct in future medical-marijuana cases.)
Final Arguments Made In Pot Case (The version in The Long Beach Press-Telegram)
NORML Opposes Drug Testing of Taxi Drivers (A press release from California NORML follows up on its bulletin Monday about a new study showing companies that drug test employees have lower productivity. California NORML will cite the study Thursday at a hearing before the San Francisco Board of Supervisors' Housing and Neighborhood Services Committee. At issue is a proposal to require urine testing for employment and renewal of licenses for Communication Workers of America and San Francisco taxi drivers.)
Alterna Hemp Hair Care Company Sues President Of DARE America In Support of Salons - Alterna Seeks Public Retraction of False Statements (A company press release says the lawsuit was prompted by a statement in the Nov. 6 Los Angeles Times by Glenn Levant, president and founding director of DARE America, Inc., which nationally promotes the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, or DARE. Levant said Alterna was "promot[ing] an illegal substance.")
War on Crime (The San Francisco Bay Guardian describes the The San Francisco Police Department's use of SWAT-style equipment to carry out a drug raid Oct. 30 on a Western Addition housing project. At a Nov. 4 police commission meeting, a train of furious and sobbing residents from the raided housing complex - all of them African American - described how officers slapped them, stepped on their necks and put guns to their heads while other officers ransacked their homes. Weeping and terrified children, some as young as six, were handcuffed and separated from their parents. SFPD narcotics lieutenant Kitt Crenshaw said the operation was designed to "put fear in the hearts" of a gang called the Knock Out Posse. "The raid went off, more or less, without a hitch," Crenshaw said. "I feel bad for the innocent women and children that were there, but in a way they do bear some responsibility for harboring drug dealers.")
Session On Drug Tests Is A Bust (The Deseret News, in Utah, says a national school-athlete drug-testing conference came to Salt Lake City Monday, but no Utah school representatives showed up, and only about two dozen officials from neighboring states attended. American Bio Medica Corp., a pharmaceutical and drug-testing company, funded the appearance of Randall Aultman, the retired principal of Vernonia High School in Oregon, where random drug-testing of athletes was endorsed by the US Supreme Court in 1995.)
Common sense and drug woes (Houston Chronicle columnist Thom Marshall previews a local presentation on drugs and the drug war by Sandee Burbank of Mosier, Oregon, founder of MAMA, Mothers Against Misuse And Abuse. Sandee believes that education and individual common sense can be far more effective than the government's oppressive war on drugs.)
Congressman's Son Sentenced In Marijuana Conspiracy (Reuters says Randall Todd Cunningham, 29, of San Diego, the son of US Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, was sentenced Tuesday to two-and-a-half years in prison for his role in a conspiracy to distribute marijuana.)
Oregon's Kin File Suit Against City, 6 Officers (The Houston Chronicle says the family of Pedro Oregon Navarro filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Tuesday against the city of Houston and six Houston police officers, alleging the officers acted as "judge, jury and executioner" when they killed the Mexican immigrant in a botched drug raid July 12."I think the forensic, physical and photographic evidence will clearly point to a man who was not in a position to resist, did not resist, had no reason to resist and was gunned down, indeed probably executed, without cause," Oregon family attorney Richard Mithoff said at a news conference.)
Congress Lands A Historical Blow To Democracy (River Cities Reader columnist Jenny Lesner provides an Iowan's perspective on Congress's decision to quash Initiative 59, the District of Columbia medical-marijuana ballot measure.)
NYC Parade Permit Law Is Struck Down (The Boston Globe version of Monday's news about a federal judge ruling that New York City unconstitutionally stymied the Million Marijuana March. US District Judge Leonard Sand said guidelines that allow police to delay their response to permit requests raise a "risk" of censorship.)
Two soldiers arrested after fleeing pot deal (According to the Associated Press, the soldiers from Fort Polk, Louisiana, were stopped for speeding and told police they were trying to flee "drug peddlers" from whom they had taken money without delivering marijuana.)
Study Finds A Sharp Rise In Smoking Among College Students (According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, a study released in today's Journal of the American Medical Association says the smoking rate among students at four-year colleges rose by 28 per cent from 1993 to 1997. In previous studies, students were less likely to smoke than adults or peers who were not in college. In the new study, however, 25 per cent of the students surveyed said that they had become regular smokers while they were in college.)
28% Jump In College Smokers - Researchers Alarmed (The Los Angeles Times version)
Trial Of Marijuana Crusader Delayed By Wait For Ruling (The London Free Press, in Ontario, says the trial of multiple sclerosis patient Lynn Harichy, for sitting on the police station steps and lighting up a joint, was postponed again yesterday, to Feb. 3. The Ontario Court of Appeal continued to ponder its long-awaited decision in the medical marijuana case of Terry Parker, a 43-year-old Toronto epileptic who won the first round of a constitutional challenge to Canada's ban on medical marijuana after being busted for cultivation in 1996.)
Heads In Clash With Minister On Drugs (The Times, in Britain, says Estelle Morris, the Schools Minister, defended the government's new guidelines recommending that schools not adopt a zero tolerance approach. The minister's suggestion that possession of drugs should not automatically lead to exclusion caused disquiet among some heads who felt that she had created a conflicting message for pupils.)
Christa Nickels New Federal Drug Czar (According to a translation and summary of an article from Schwaebische Zeitung, in Germany, the former state health minister said she would be tackling drug addiction as a health problem rather than a law-enforcement problem, and that a bill would be drafted to establish safe injection rooms for addicts.)
Countdown To The First Fixing Rooms (A translation of excerpts from an article in Sueddeutsche Zeitung, in Germany, says an "emergency room" will be opened in Sshwabingen next summer with the support of the red-Green coalition government. However, the Catholic Party threatens to force a referendum over the proposal.)
DrugSense Weekly, No. 74 (The weekly summary of drug policy news features a special edition, "The Pendulum Swings Toward Reform," linking news with original commentary. The Feature Article discusses the Swiss vote on complete decriminalization of drugs later this month. The Weekly News In Review includes Medical Marijuana news articles and editorials such as Get your hands off those ballots; A man caught in a Kafkaesque trap; Mainstream voters buying into medical marijuana; Pot politics - Lords back cannabis use for patients suffering pain. Other articles on Drug War Policy include Nixon had it right; A big-time bust; Report criticizes probe of Texas border shooting; Transcript - Jesse Ventura on "Meet the Press." International News includes And what if the state should take charge; Weighing pot legalization; Drugs Tsar tells customs to go soft on cannabis smugglers; Drug reform - US says yes; Vetter wants to give Heroin to sick addicts; Heroin on prescription as addiction solution urged; War on drugs has failed; Editorial in The Lancet - Dangerous Habits. The weekly Hot Off The 'Net features UK Cannabis Internet Activists. The Quote of the Week cites Thomas Jefferson. The Tip of the Week gives you the URL for the recent NORML conference. The Fact of the Week notes letters to the editor are the second most read feature in print media.)
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Tuesday, November 17, 1998:
Defendant In Pot Trial Testifies (The Long Beach Press-Telegram says Marvin Chavez, a medical marijuana patient and founder of the the Orange County Patient Doctor Nurse Support Group, took the stand in his trafficking trial Monday and told jurors that his activities were part of a mission of mercy for those needing the drug for severe pain. Undercover detective Hector Rios admitted he was lying when he said Chavez had asked for a donation when the defendant provided medicinal marijuana Jan. 8.)
The Chavez Trial (A staff editorial in The Orange County Register says the most interesting comment during Marvin Chavez's trial came from Hector Rios, an investigator with the District Attorney's Office. Asked by defense attorney James Silva if he had studied the new medical-marijuana law, Proposition 215, now section 11362.5 of the California Health and Safety Code, before joining the undercover investigation of Mr. Chavez, Mr. Rios said he hadn't and the to this day he has no idea what the medical-marijuana law says in any detail.)
The Drug War Isn't About Combating Use (Los Angeles Times columnist Robert Scheer says the drug warriors' recent battle against medical-marijuana initiatives was motivated by the fact that, without the war on marijuana, the budget for the war on drugs would be much smaller.)
Arrests Soar in Crackdown on Marijuana (The New York Times says New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's "zero tolerance" policies have led to a record number of arrests on marijuana charges. Law enforcement officials project that at the current pace, the New York City Police Department could chalk up eight times the number of arrests this year from just six years ago. "We are asking the Legislature for an increase of 23 judges citywide to address the larger caseloads," said Mai Yee, a spokesperson for the Office of Court Administration. No word on how many new jails will be needed, or how many real criminals are freed to make room for pot smokers. Plus - Giuliani quotes.)
Experts say hundreds of thousands of cases hinge on ruling (The Dallas Morning News notes lawyers for Sonya Singleton on Tuesday will ask a federal appeals court in Denver to rule that prosecutors who offer leniency in exchange for testimony against others are guilty of bribery. If the court agrees, legal experts say it could throw the war on some drugs into immediate upheaval. Hundreds of thousands of cases could be dismissed, and law enforcement could be stripped of its most powerful investigative tool. Singleton's chances of winning are good, according to analysts. Since July, four separate federal courts, including a Denver appeals court, have ruled that it is illegal for paid informants to testify during a trial.)
Court to decide legality of rewarding informants (The Dallas Morning News version)
Family Of Mexican Slain By Texas Police Files Suit (Reuters says family and friends of Pedro Oregon Navarro, an illegal Mexican immigrant shot and killed by police during a botched drug bust, sued the city of Houston Tuesday, seeking unspecified damages.)
Random Drug Testing Comes Home (The New York Times recounts the experiences of Sunny Cloud, an insurance saleswoman and single mother in Marietta, Georgia, whose discovery that her son smoked cannabis led her to distribute the first at-home urine-testing kit for worried parents. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration approved the latest of these kits, the QuickScreen at Home Drug Test made by Phamatech, a San Diego manufacturer.)
Exposing drug-war pseudo-scientists (A physician and list subscriber responds to the recent propaganda about cannabis and glaucoma published in the Archives of Ophthalmology by suggesting the reform community desperately needs a credible and recognized source of unbiased scientific information concerning the health and social effects of drugs and drug policies. This group would serve as a "rapid response truth squad" which ideally the media would learn to consult prior to publishing articles about "new drug studies" and the like.)
More Anti-Medical Marijuana Research Propaganda (A bulletin from the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies says an opinion piece in today's New York Times by Jim McDonough of the White House drug czar's office makes several factual misrepresentations of Dr. Donald Abrams' medical marijuana study.)
Justices considering drug search legalities (The Houston Chronicle says the US Supreme Court on Monday delved into the constitutionality of the war on some drugs by agreeing to decide whether police need a warrant before searching a car suspected of having been used in a cocaine deal. The case, from Florida, questions the extent to which police may examine the automobiles they impound while investigating illegal drug activity. While courts have upheld the right of police to seize the vehicles, a question remains whether officers may then search them without first getting a judge's permission.)
NPR poll on marijuana through Friday (A list subscriber urges you to vote on a "legalization" poll sponsored on the web by National Public Radio.)
Study finds side-effects to new anti-depressants (According to a Canadian Press article in The Halifax Daily News, a review published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal today says antidepressants such as Prozac, hailed since the 1980s for having no unpleasant side-effects, can actually cause everything from nausea and insomnia to anorexia, diarrhea, nervousness, anxiety, and agitation. Researchers found that the newer drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are no safer or more effective than other drugs used for treating people with severe depression.)
Give A Second Chance, Says Minister (The Times, in Britain, says government guidelines to be published tomorrow will tell educators that children who experiment with drugs should not be expelled from school automatically, despite some parents' desire for zero tolerance. The new guidelines, produced in consultation with Keith Hellawell, the government's drugs czar, aim to reduce expulsions, which have doubled in the past five years to more than 12,000 a year in state schools.)
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Monday, November 16, 1998:
It's Time For New Tactics In America's War On Drugs (Syndicated columnist Molly Ivins writes in The Star-Telegram, in Fort Worth, Texas, that she thinks we're starting to see a major change in the old 'Zeitgeist' on the issue of drugs. This is one of those seismic shifts when the unsayable suddenly becomes sayable, when we notice that the emperor is wearing no clothes. The main problem with the war on drugs - you've probably noticed - is that we're losing. We're also seeing the start of a consensus that it's time to try something else.)
Judge Finds New York Parade Rule Unconstitutional (Reuters says a federal judge, ruling on a lawsuit brought by a member of the Million Marijuana March, which was denied a permit to march down Fifth Avenue in New York City, struck down part of the city's parade ordinance because it could be used to restrict free speech. US District Judge Leonard Sand said a provision of the ordinance was unconstitutional because it failed to set a deadline for the approval of parade permits. The lack of a time frame could allow the police department to delay action on granting a permit, stopping or altering some marches.)
Study Finds Companies With Drug Testing Have Lower Productivity (A press release and abstract from California NORML summarize a new study by Edward M. Shepard and Thomas J. Clifton of the Le Moyne College Institute of Industrial Relations, "Drug Testing and Labor Productivity - Estimates Applying a Production Function Model." The survey of a sample of 63 firms in the computer and communications equipment industries found that both pre-employment drug testing and random drug testing had a significant negative effect on worker productivity.)
It's An Entirely New Game In Colombia (An op-ed in The Chicago Tribune by Eric Farnsworth, a former White House policy adviser, summarizes the official view that Ernesto Samper was the devil incarnate and Colombia's new president, Andres Pastrana, will be a US ally in the war on some drug users.)
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Sunday, November 15, 1998:
Pot and glaucoma (A scientifically illiterate staff editorial in The Bulletin, in Bend, Oregon, finds undue significance in the recent survey of the literature on cannabis and glaucoma published by a biased Georgia professor who failed to address, among other things, the science evidenced in court rulings that Elvy Musikka and Robert Randall have a right to use marijuana because it's the only thing that preserves their eyesight. The newspaper imagines Measure 67's backers are happy that the vote on the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act occurred almost two weeks ago.)
Re - Pot and Glaucoma (A letter sent to the editor of The Bulletin notes Bob Randall receives 300 cannabis cigarettes per month from the federal government for his glaucoma, about 10 cigarettes per day, while Keith Green at the Medical College of Georgia thinks marijuana is bad medicine based on his contention that patients need 12.)
2 Lawmen Who Favor Marijuana Are Elected (Actually, according to the Associated Press, Norman Vroman, the district attorney-elect of Mendocino County, California, and Tony Craver, the sheriff-elect, favor only decriminalization of the herb, and that won't stop them from busting or prosecuting people.)
Hemp fest - a sobering show of potential (The San Francisco Examiner covers the San Francisco Industrial Hemp Expo '98, examining the economic potential and broad range of uses for industrial hemp, as well as some historical background. Vendors included Jason Davis and his mom, Rose Marie Reeder, who drove down from Oregon to peddle Hemp Pops. The lime-green candy, which is made in Switzerland, tastes a bit like marijuana without the attendant brain buzz. Reeder said the confection is popular with baby boomers such as herself. She quit smoking grass long ago but still has a nostalgic feel for the flavor. "I brought one to my Bible study group," she said. "And they fought over it.")
New Bar Has LA Waiting To Inhale (A Los Angeles Times feature article on O2, Los Angeles' first oxygen bar, which is co-owned by Woody Harrelson, the hemp promoter and former bartender on television's "Cheers.")
Goatherd's Killing Calls For Changes (A staff editorial in The Chicago Tribune comments on the report by the US House of Representatives on the killing of Esequiel Hernandez Jr., an 18-year-old goatherder from the tiny border town of Redmond, Texas, by camouflaged US Marines on an anti-drug mission. The House report is missing one crucial ingredient - a proposal for legislation or policy changes to ensure that such a tragedy never occurs again.)
Herbal remedies starting to take root (The Bergen Record, in New Jersey, takes note of last week's special edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, which focused on alternative medicine, with a feature article about the herbal remedy market. One in three Americans is said to use herbal remedies, a $4 billion industry. Warner-Lambert and other pharmaceutical giants are starting to put out their own products, making the market "mainstream." Doctors are beginning to bone up on the approximately 200 medicinal herb products available, if only to know how to advise patients who use them. Meanwhile, the FDA - and some in the business - bemoan the lack of government regulation.)
Activist wants young to focus on personal rights (A letter to the editor of The Centre Daily Times, in Pennsylvania, by convicted marijuana possessor Julian Heicklen, the civil liberties activist and retired Penn State professor, rejects a previous letter writer's suggestion that his weekly marijuana-smoking protests were subtle and indirect.)
Drug toll worsens, political willpower still missing (Vancouver Province columnist Jim McNulty notes British Columbia's death toll from so-called heroin overdoses has passed 300 for the year, overlooking the exponentially greater toll from cigarettes and alcohol. Government officials who are about to discuss the issue should read up on European successes with harm reduction, which includes safe-injection sites in Germany, Switzerland and Holland. In Frankfurt, drug overdose deaths fell to 31 in 1996 from 147 in 1991. Trafficking, smuggling, drug-related crime and costly court appearances have all been reduced. Canadians ignore these victories and continue to rely on the failed, criminal-based "War on Drugs.")
May the Lords be with us (Columnist Jim Meek in The Halifax Chronicle-Herald, in Nova Scotia, marks the occasion of the British House of Lords' recommendation that marijuana be legalized for medical purposes with an essay on prohibition that recognizes most people have a natural inclination to alter consciousness, or "get off.")
Reputed Jailed Druglord Slain In A Vendetta-Style (The Chicago Tribune says Jose Orlando Henao Montoya, the imprisoned leader of the Norte del Valle drug gang in Colombia, was shot six times in the head by Jose Manuel Herrera Moncada, a fellow inmate and brother of Helmer Herrera, one of the leaders of the Cali drug cartel who was also recently assassinated while serving time. Supposedly, the murder had all the hallmarks of a personal vendetta to avenge the murder of Herrera.)
Heroin To Be Distributed First In Hamburg And Frankurt (A translation of an article from Siegener, in Germany, says Federal Health Minister Andrea Fischer told the German newsmagazine, Der Spiegel, that preparations were already well advanced for a heroin-maintenance trial program in the two cities.)
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Saturday, November 14, 1998:
DARE Right to be Dropped (A letter to the editor of The Statesman Journal, in Salem, Oregon, applauds the decision by the Salem-Keizer School District to reduce the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program.)
Grand jury returns no indictment in death (The Oregonian notes law enforcement officials are still able to get a grand jury in Portland to do anything they want, including sanctioning the murder of a mentally ill man.)
WSU hosts conference on alcohol and violence (The Associated Press says people at more than 100 colleges and universities in 41 states and one Canadian province tuned in Friday to a national conference originating at Washington State University in Pullman that focused on recent campus riots related to alcohol. One speaker noted the first reference to a student alcohol riot was in 1355, when students and townspeople in Oxford, England, rioted for three days after accusing a tavern owner of watering down the wine.)
Tobacco Settlement Would Give State $4.02 Billion (The Seattle Times says that's how much Washington state stands to gain over the next 27 years from the nation's biggest tobacco companies under a 30-state, $200 billion agreement that is being negotiated to settle fraud and antitrust lawsuits.)
Tobacco Accord Would Aid SJ (The San Jose Mercury News says a proposed $200 billion nationwide settlement with the tobacco industry would generate an estimated $23 billion for California over the next 25 years, including roughly $287 million for San Jose.)
Top Marijuana County Now Has Sympathetic Views In High Places (An Associated Press article in The Herald, in Everett, Washington, notes voters in Mendocino County, California, recently elected Norman Vroman, an ex-con, as the new district attorney, and Tony Craver as the new sheriff, who also backs the decriminalization of cannabis.)
California County's DA, Sheriff Hold Soft Stance On Pot (The Associated Press version in The Dallas Morning News)
Tobacco Sellers Near State Line Welcome Prop 10 (An Associated Press article in The San Jose Mercury News says California's new ballot measure adding 50 cents to the cost of a pack of cigarettes could raise the price of a 10-pack carton to as much as $30. Because cartons are available for around $21 at several businesses just across the state line, retailers in Arizona, Nevada and Oregon expect Californians will start buying and smuggling cigarettes.)
Suit filed over pot initiative (The Denver Post says backers of a medical marijuana ballot initiative filed suit late Friday against Colorado Secretary of State Vikki Buckley, requesting that she be ordered to immediately certify the measure for the 2000 general election ballot. The lawsuit in Denver District Court claims proponents submitted 56,067 legally valid signatures earlier this year, 1,825 signatures more than the constitutionally required minimum to have it placed on the Nov. 3 ballot.)
No Threat From Oregon (A letter to the editor of The Houston Chronicle says the Houston prohibition agents who broke into the home of Pedro Oregon Navarro without a warrant and shot him 12 times from behind used the innocent man for target practice.)
FBI Chief Meets With Oregon Family (The Houston Chronicle says FBI Director Louis Freeh met with the family of Pedro Oregon Navarro Friday about the federal investigation into his fatal shooting by Houston police. Freeh said he didn't know when the FBI and federal grand jury investigation would be completed.)
Shooting Probe Still Devoid Of Solutions (A staff editorial in The San Antonio Express-News says the new Congressional report on the killing of Ezequiel Hernandez Jr., a 19-year-old goatherd in Redford, Texas, by US Marines on a drug interdiction mission, won't prevent future tragedies if the problems identified in the report aren't addressed.)
Bellaire Files Lawsuit to Force Slain Teen's Family to Accept Offer (The Houston Chronicle says the parents of 17-year-old Travis Allen signed a $90,000 settlement on July 25 in the wrongful death suit they filed in 1996. But two days later, the Allens and one of their lawyers, Graydon Wilson, told US District Judge David Hittner that the parents were bullied into accepting the ostensibly meager sum by the mediator and the opposing lawyers. A police officer in Bellaire, Texas, fired two shots into the boy's back while he was immobilized, allegedly under the influence of "drugs.")
Hemp Legalization Attempt (The San Jose Mercury News says the Kentucky Court of Appeals on Friday sent Woody Harrelson's marijuana possession case back to Lee County District Court, agreeing that Kentucky's ban on industrial hemp was too broad, but leaving unanswered a question about whether the seeds planted by Harrelson were capable of producing cannabis plants.)
Woody Harrelson Hemp Case Returned To Lee District Court (The Lexington Herald-Leader version)
Court - Delete pot smoking expulsions from student's records (Tampa Bay Online says the 2nd District Court of Appeal found Friday that the Pinellas County school system in Florida had not "even a scintilla of evidence" that two St. Petersburg High School seniors went to class intoxicated when it expelled them for smoking marijuana on the way to school. In the past two years, 90 Pinellas high school students were disciplined for violating the school district's zero-tolerance policy on alcohol. Numbers were not immediately available for other drug violations.)
Medical Marijuana Research News (A bulletin from the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies says NIH, the National Institutes of Health, has rejected Dr. Ethan Russo's second MAPS-supported application to study the use of marijuana in the treatment of migraine sufferers.)
Marijuana Benefits Disputed (The Globe and Mail, in Toronto, notes the propaganda published recently about cannabis and glaucoma, in the Archives of Ophthalmology, by Keith Green, a professor of ophthalmology at the Medical College of Georgia.)
Colombian Says US Mishandled Bust (An Associated Press article in The Houston Chronicle says Colombian President Andres Pastrana accused the United States of mishandling a drug bust on a Colombian air force plane in Florida, saying US officials should have told his government before the plane took off from Colombia that it carried cocaine. Pastrana also questioned why US authorities seized the plane at the Florida airport, rather than trying to gain more information by tracking the shipment to its final destination.)
Cannabis Beats Fags, Grog (The NT News, in Australia's Northern Territory, notes the influential British medical periodical, The Lancet, says the evidence indicates cannabis is less of a threat to health than tobacco or alcohol.)
Heroin Trials Urged (The Advertiser, in Australia, says a group of state and federal politicians, as well as the nation's lord mayors, came together for the first time yesterday in Adelaide to issue a united call for controlled heroin-maintenance trials. The group will compile a direct submission to Prime Minister Howard, urging him to relax his opposition.)
UK Report Recommends Medical Trials Of Cannabis (The British Medical Journal notes a report published this week by the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee recommended that cannabis should be reclassified as a schedule 2 drug, allowing research and prescription by doctors on a named patient basis.)
Lords Reckon It's High Time For A Change (The New Scientist version)
Website Of The Week - http://www.ukcia.org/ (The British Medical Journal recommends the site of UK Cannabis Internet Activists. Edited by partisans, but responsibly, it incorporates links to information from many reputable sources. The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act site also gets a mention.)
Dangerous Habits (A staff editorial in The Lancet says the British scientific journal is qualifying its opinion of three years ago, that cannabis smoking, even long-term, is harmless. The medical evidence available still suggests moderate indulgence in cannabis has little ill-effect on health, but decisions to ban or to legalise cannabis should be based on other considerations.)
Adverse Effects Of Cannabis (The Lancet publishes an Australian review of the medical literature on the adverse effects of cannabis, which finds a lot of evidence that cannabis is harmless, but rehashes discredited "research" from Sweden and other drug warrior bastions - unreplicated elsewhere and unsubstantiated by the epidemiological literature - suggesting, for example, that cannabis just might cause an increase in automobile accidents or a significant increase in schizophrenia cases.)
Marijuana Special Report: Let's chill out (New Scientist, in Britain, says the biggest obstacles everywhere to the reform of medical marijuana laws are political.)
Drugs - Cacophony in the European Union (A translation of an article from Le Figaro, in France, seems surpised that, on the eve of the European Week for the Prevention of Drug Addiction, which begins Monday and continues through the 22nd of November, legislation varies from one country to the next. In France, the debate on decriminalisation of certain substances has never been able to be conducted calmly.)
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Friday, November 13, 1998:
"Cannabis Conversations" at Reed College (A bulletin from Portland NORML publicizes a public seminar on medical marijuana 7 pm Friday, Dec. 4, in Portland. Speakers include Dr. Tod H. Mikuriya of Berkeley, the author of "Marijuana: Medical Papers (1839-1972)" who was formerly in charge of marijuana research for the federal government; and Dr. Rick Bayer, the chief petitioner for the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act.)
Internal police report says police gave man CPR (According to The Associated Press, Portland police say they gave CPR to Richard "Dickie" Dow after beating him senseless. But witnesses say they're lying.)
Oregon could gain $2 billion from national settlement (The Associated Press says Oregon stands to gain as much as $2 billion over 25 years under a new national tobacco settlement, some of which could be used to shore up the Oregon Health Plan, the state's low-income health-insurance program.)
Southern California news briefs (According to The Associated Press, Los Angeles prohibition agents seized 54 marijuana plants Tuesday night and arrested Josh Bempechat, who said police refused to look at a note from his doctor showing he needs marijuana for medicinal purposes.)
Cast Of Characters In The Chavez Trial (Alan W. Bock, the senior editorial writer for The Orange County Register, shares his impressions of the judge, defendant, prosecutor and defense attorneys at the trial of Marvin Chavez, the medical marijuana patient and founder of the the Orange County Patient Doctor Nurse Support Group.)
No Prop. 215 Defense (The Orange County Register summarizes Thursday's proceedings in the trial of Marvin Chavez.)
Young Voters Rule (Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page suggests in The San Jose Mercury News that Jesse Ventura's upset victory in the Minnesota governor's race heralds the rise of an alternative party that appeals to young people. Minnesota had the highest voter turnout of any state in this off-year election, largely because of Ventura, who opposes current drug policy and favors industrial hemp.)
Maryland Orders Drug Tests For Addicts On Parole - 25,000 to Face Biweekly Checks, Escalating Penalties (The Washington Post says Maryland has begun ordering every drug addict released on parole or probation to report for urine tests twice a week in an ambitious attempt to force about 25,000 criminals statewide to undergo drug treatment and kick their habits, or face a series of quick, escalating punishments. More than a million tests annually might be required, compared with the 40,000 tests the state administered last year.)
Actor's Hemp Case Returns to Trial (The Associated Press says the Kentucky Court of Appeals on Friday sent Woody Harrelson's challenge to the state's prohibition on industrial hemp back to Lee County District Court, where he was first cited for marijuana possession after he planted four hemp seeds in June 1996.)
MD Scoffs At Medical Marijuana (The Associated Press says a study published Thursday in the American Medical Association journal, "Archives of Ophthalmology," by Keith Green, a Medical College of Georgia professor of ophthalmology, claims it is a "fallacy that marijuana is of any value at all in the treatment of glaucoma." Plus commentary from list subscribers.)
Study casts doubt on marijuana's effectiveness as glaucoma treatment (The CNN version - plus more commentary from list subscribers)
White House Fact Sheet on Honoring, Protecting Law Enforcement (A White House press release on US Newswire says President Clinton signed two bills into law today, one providing college scholarships to the families of police killed in the line of duty, and another increasing penalties for "drug traffickers" who possess, brandish, or discharge a gun when committing a crime.)
House Report Assails Agencies In Shooting Of Teen Near Border (The Chicago Tribune notes a 249-page report released Thursday by the US House of Representatives blames the shooting death of 18-year-old Esequiel Hernandez Jr. on negligence by the Justice and Defense Departments, who set the stage for the May 1997 homicide of the West Texas teenager as he herded his family's goats near a Marine Corps drug-interdiction mission. The report also accuses the two departments of obstructing investigations.)
Lawmaker Faults Justice, Defense In Goatherd's Death (A lengthier version of the same article, attributed to The Associated Press.)
Negligence Alleged In Fatal Border Shooting (The San Antonio Express-News version in The Orange County Register)
Cover-Up Alleged In Death Probe (The Houston Chronicle version)
Are you willing to pay for more police officers? (Constable Mark Tonner, a Vancouver Province columnist, wants your feedback about whether an overwhelming police presence is necessary to "impose order" on the east side of Vancouver, British Columbia, and whether you agree with him that if voters knew a tax increase would be devoted solely to police patrols, they'd authorize more than the one per cent the city proposes.)
Drugs Taint Mexican City (A Chicago Tribune article in The San Jose Mercury News says a "full-scale drug war" has broken out in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, just across the border from El Paso, Texas, home to more than 1 million people. To hear police officers tell it, there is not much they can do. Despite an army of Mexican and US law enforcement officials stationed along the border, authorities from both countries say their actions are doing little to stem the flow of drugs into the United States.)
The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue No. 67 (The Drug Reform Coordination Network's original summary of drug policy news and calls for action, including - 84 percent of mandatory minimum drug sentences in Massachusetts served by first-time offenders; Protesters in District of Columbia call for release of I-59 results; Students fight back against Higher Education Act drug provision; Medical marijuana signature gatherers harassed by sheriff in Florida; Oregon police illegally tapped agricultural supply store's phones - perhaps for years; British House of Lords committee calls for medical marijuana access; New German government to consider legalizing cannabis; Quote of the week; And an editorial by Adam J. Smith, Remembering veterans, ignoring lessons)
Bytes: 120,000 Last updated: 11/21/98
Thursday, November 12, 1998:
War On Drugs Has Failed (The Province, in Vancouver, British Columbia, says Canadian and US civic officials at a conference in Seattle agreed that the war on some drug users has been a dismal failure and new tactics are needed. However, Seattle Mayor Paul Schell probably spoke for a lot of derelict public officials when said he didn't wish to "inflame the situation" by suggesting that drug use be decriminalized.)
Losing The Border War On Drugs (An Associated Press version in The Herald, in Everett, Washington)
Stinging The Defense (A staff editorial in The Orange County Register notes Marvin Chavez's trial on 10 counts of marijuana sales - or, depending on your point of view - of trying to implement Proposition 215 - resumes today, although Superior Court Judge Thomas Borris has already ruled that the defense may not use a Prop. 215 defense on the first two charges. On four other charges the defense will argue that police engaged in illegal entrapment.)
SCU law professor tackles another high-profile issue (A San Jose Mercury News feature article focuses on Gerald Uelmen, the Santa Clara University law professor who is helping the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative appeal a federal shutdown order, and also aiding in the defense of Peter Baez, the co-founder of a San Jose medical marijuana dispensary.)
Smoke From The West - Five States Now Demand Medicinal Marijuana (The Sacramento Bee says the favorable votes for medical marijuana this month in Arizona, Alaska, Washington, Oregon and Nevada make a "congressional confrontation" seem unavoidable.)
Tobacco-Tax Backers Claim Victory (The San Jose Mercury News says propoents of California's Proposition 10, which raises cigarette taxes 50 cents a pack beginning Jan. 1, declared victory Wednesday and began anticipating their spoils. At the same time, it was reported that tobacco firms had tentatively agreed to raise the price of a pack 35 cents nationally as part of a $200 billion deal to settle lawsuits against them, meaning the average $2.55 cost of a pack of cigarettes in California could soon hit $3.40.)
Officers Will Be Exonerated (A letter to the editor of The Houston Chronicle about the six Houston prohibition agents who were let off by a grand jury after breaking into the home of Pedro Oregon Navarro without a warrant and killing the innocent man suggests nobody is safe because police know such episodes will be white-washed.)
Pot Smokers Vs. Uncle Sam (The Hartford Advocate, in Connecticut, describes the class-action lawsuit filed by Philadelphia civil rights attorney Larry Hirsch seeking to end the US government's ban on medical marijuana.)
Get Your Hands Off Those Ballots (Washington Post columnist Steve Twomey again blasts Congress for prohibiting the release of results for Initiative 59, the District of Columbia medical marijuana ballot measure. "A city that sought to settle an issue by the most democratic means possible, a vote of its people, has been thwarted by 535 men and women who surely view themselves as the very symbol of liberty." Rep. Robert L. Barr Jr., the Georgia Republican who proposed the amendment that aborted Initiative 59, didn't return a phone call seeking clarification of how Congress might square the murder of an election with America's image as the model of modern democracy. But why should Barr call back? He doesn't have to explain himself to city residents. They're not his constituents.)
Home Rule And Initiative 59 (A letter to the editor of The Washington Post says the District of Columbia Election Board is mistaken that the congressional rider in the fiscal 1999 DC budget prevents funding to count ballots for the medical marijuana initiative. The appearance of Initiative 59 on the ballot is purely an election matter having nothing to do with implementing the law. It is strictly a matter of voter rights at this point.)
DrugSense Focus Alert No. 88 - the NORML Conference on C-Span II (DrugSense alerts you to a broadcast likely to be repeated later in the day, and gives you what you need to send a "thank you" to the network for featuring the reform event.)
$200 Billion Tobacco Settlement Expected (The San Jose Mercury News says sources close to the negotiations between a group of attorneys general from eight states, including California, and four companies said the deal would call for the companies to pay about $200 billion over 25 years, including a large upfront payment, in part to cover costs associated with Medicaid treatment of sick smokers. In related news, tobacco companies won a key legal battle Tuesday as a federal appeals court refused to reconsider a decision barring the US Food and Drug Administration from regulating cigarettes and smokeless tobacco.)
States Strike $200 Billion Tobacco Deal (The Arizona Republic version)
JAMA theme issue on alternative medicine (A list subscriber posts the URL for this week's special issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, noting all of the articles are relevant to cannabis.)
Researchers take a serious look at herbal therapies (The Oregonian version)
Marijuana for Christmas? (List subscriber Dave Ford publicizes a special deal on his widely praised book, "Marijuana - Not Guilty As Charged.")
Reviews of "The Fix," by Michael Massing (A list subscriber posts several critiques gleaned from amazon.com, the online bookseller. "The Fix" makes a case for the return of the community-based drug treatment clinic model that was a cornerstone of US drug policy under President Nixon.)
Book Review - "Ending the War on Drugs - A Solution for America," by Dirk Chase Eldredge (A list subscriber posts a couple of articles, from Booklist and Kirkus Reviews, about a conservative Republican's proposal for carefully controlled "legalization.")
Book Review - "Romancing Mary Jane" (FFWD Weekly, in Calgary, Alberta, says "Romancing Mary Jane - A Year in the Life of a Failed Marijuana Grower," by Michael Poole, recounts the author's immersion in the cannabis culture of British Columbia and paints a markedly different picture than that of your local police force.)
Colombia Fires Air Force Officers (The Associated Press says five members of the Colombian air force were arrested Thursday after US authorities seized a Colombian air force plane in Florida carrying more than 1,600 pounds of cocaine.)
Brit Panel Backs Medical Marijuana (The Associated Press version of yesterday's news about the report released by the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology recommending that physicians be allowed to prescribe medical cannabis.)
Cannabis Pills (The Times version)
Lords' Call For Medical Cannabis Rejected (The Times, in Britain, says George Howarth, the Home Office Minister, ruled out a call from the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee for doctors to prescribe cannabis now. The peers said thousands of people suffering muscle spasms and terminal cancer could benefit from the drug's painkilling properties.)
Judge Warns Against Lifting Cannabis Ban (Yahoo! News says Old Bailey Judge Graham Boal QC was presiding over the case of a 27-year-old man who smoked the herb heavily on a daily basis who was charged with butchering a young artist with a kitchen knife in an unprovoked attack outside a London pub. Commenting on the report issued by the House of Lords, the judge said, "In the current debate on whether cannabis should continue to be a prohibited substance, perhaps more attention should be given in some quarters to cases such as this." The defendant was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 1989.)
Judge Warns On Cannabis (The version in The Irish Independent)
Heroin On Prescription As Addiction Solution Urged (According to The Irish Times, a member of the National Drugs Strategy Team, Father Seen Cassin, said yesterday that a Swiss project prescribing heroin to addicts had "significantly good" results, and the Government should consider new approaches to the drug problem, including prescribing legal heroin.)
Bytes: 106,000 Last updated: 12/16/98
Wednesday, November 11, 1998:
Meth lab cleverly hidden in blackberry thicket near county fairgrounds (The Associated Press characterizes as "clever" a man in Central Point, Oregon, who allegedly built and operated a methamphetamine lab within the confines of the Jackson County Expo Park, the site of the Jackson County Fair.)
Defense Attorneys Contend That The Cannabis Co-Op Leader Was Entrapped (An Orange County Register update on the trial of Marvin Chavez says Superior Court Judge Thomas Borris changed his mind Tuesday and ruled that the founder of the Orange County Cannabis Co-Op may not invoke Proposition 215 to defend himself against pot-sale charges. Defense lawyers at Chavez's trial plowed on in the wake of the decision by mounting an entrapment defense.)
The Chavez Trial Defining 'Caregivers' (A staff editorial in The Orange County Register provides more details about the trial of Marvin Chavez, particularly the unresolved issue of who qualifies as a "caregiver" under Proposition 215.)
Santa Clara County Approves Pot Clubs With Strict Limits (The San Francisco Chronicle says the Board of Supervisors of Santa Clara County, California, voted 4 to 0 yesterday to extend the county's medical marijuana ordinance indefinitely, after adding more regulations to it. Although no medical marijuana dispensaries now exist in Santa Clara County, officials will allow them in unincorporated areas if they meet strict regulations, and pay more than $6,000 in fees.)
County Makes Pot Law Tougher (The San Jose Mercury News version)
Medical Marijuana Initiatives Passed (Three letters to the editor of The Los Angeles Times lead with AIDS patient Peter McWilliams' tearful thanks to the newspaper for endorsing the reclassification of cannabis to Schedule II.)
Ex-Sheriff Jailed In Drug Case (The Tulsa World says Burlen Glenn, the former sheriff of Latimer County, Oklahoma, remained in Haskell County Jail Tuesday in lieu of $500,000 bail after his arrest last week on charges of arranging to buy one pound of methamphetamine for $10,000 from an undercover prohibition agent.)
Nothing Keeps A Driver And His License Apart For Long (The Tulsa World says the newspaper's review of thousands of DUI cases shows that Oklahoma drunk drivers by law have a right to drive, no matter what the body count, no matter how destructive, and no matter how many times they are caught.)
Beyond Rehabilitation? (The Tulsa World says a review by the newspaper of more than 10 years of DUI cases from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Cleveland counties suggests that court-ordered substance-abuse treatment is the exception, not the rule. Out of more than 50,000 drinking and driving cases in those three counties since 1988, court records indicated that fewer than 1,500 offenders were ordered into treatment programs, even though two out of five drunk drivers supposedly have "chronic drinking problems.")
Slain Man's Family Wants Police Shooting Re-Examined (According to The Tulsa World, a police officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, says he was only trying to protect himself when he fatally shot an armed Edwin Levall Vines outside a "drug house" last week. However, the dead man's family, backed by the Tulsa chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, wants an investigation by the city's Citizens Review Board because some witnesses said Vines was not armed and had his hands in the air when he was shot.)
Sheriff Seeks Outside Probe (According to The Tulsa World, in Oklahoma, Delaware County Sheriff Jim Earp said Tuesday that he had asked a state agency to take over an investigation looking into whether Undersheriff Bill Stout tampered with drug evidence. Stout was suspended last week after three deputies said Stout brought more methamphetamine to a court hearing than what was actually seized.)
Redford slaying probe blasted (The San Antonio Express News says a congressional report to be made public today is critical of a Justice Department investigation into the death of Esequiel Hernandez Jr., the 18-year-old goatherder in Redford, Texas, who was shot last year by camouflaged US Marines on a drug-interdiction mission along the US-Mexico border. "They simply did not do their job," said Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, of the Justice Department's investigation. "A number of actions were taken to prevent justice from being carried out.")
Lawyer to depict drug as a weapon (The San Antonio Express-News says prosecutors plan to make a unique legal argument against a man in New Braunfels, Texas, charged with giving cocaine to his 14-year-old daughter. He faces up to 99 years in prison.)
Pot - Medicine Or Malevolence? (The Evansville Courier, in Indiana, is seeking letters to the editor about the advisability of medical marijuana initiatives for Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois. The deadline for submissions is Tuesday.)
Is drug testing students a good idea? (Cityview, in Iowa, recounts the brief history of random urine tests for high school students - a fad begun in Vernonia, Oregon - noting that no school in Iowa currently requires such tests. Randy Aultman, the Vernonia high school principal who instituted the nation's first such program, was in Des Moines Thursday during a nationwide tour advocating student drug testing, and a local audience's response suggests the state will soon require urinalysis of its athletes.)
Cocaine Is Found On Military Plane (The Washington Times version of yesterday's news about the seizure in Florida of 1,639 pounds of cocaine aboard a Colombian air force plane)
Protesters Demand Marijuana Vote Tally (The Washington Post says about 50 people protested yesterday outside the DC Board of Elections and Ethics offices, demanding the release of results from last week's vote on legalizing marijuana for medical purposes.)
Seven Deadly Sins - the student stoner dilemma (An op-ed in Salon magazine by a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University protests the provision in the Higher Education Act of 1998 which prohibits non-violent drug offenders - particularly pot smokers - from receiving federal loans or other financial aid.)
TV Has Become Drug Companies Medium (The Associated Press says that just a year after the federal government relaxed restrictions on prescription drug advertising to consumers, the industry spent $306 million on television advertisements during the first half of 1998, or $5 million more than it spent in all of 1997. Television now accounts for 48 percent of drug company's direct-to-consumer advertising, compared to 44 percent for magazines and 8 percent for newspapers. Advertising is said to be causing demand for drugs to soar - while spending nationwide on health care grew by 4.8 percent in 1997, the lowest rate since 1960, spending on pharmaceuticals increased 14.1 percent on top of a 13.2 percent the year before, the federal goverment reported Tuesday.)
Alternative medicine moves into mainstream (The Miami Herald says Tuesday's special edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association focusing on alternative medicine includes a new study by David Eisenberg of Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, which says four out of 10 Americans used alternative medicine last year to treat mainly chronic conditions, spending an estimated $27 billion out of pocket. There were more visits in 1997 to alternative medicine practitioners than to primary care physicians, and more money was spent on alternative medicine than on patients' expenses for hospitalizations.)
Police say hashish bust biggest ever in BC (According to the Associated Press, Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Tuesday that the seizure last week of 12 metric tons of hash on a fishboat, and another 2.8 metric tons on a mother ship, in Fanny Bay, northwest of Victoria, British Columbia, was the biggest interdiction of its type in provincial history.)
Mexican Authorities Link Massacre Of 19 To Drug Gang (According to an Associated Press article in The Orange County Register, the Mexican attorney general's office said Tuesday that the massacre of 19 people near the northern city of Ensenada Sept. 17 has been linked to the Arellano Felix brothers, who run Mexico's most violent drug gang.)
Mexican Authorities Link Massacre To Violent Drug Gang (A different Associated Press version)
Tijuana Massacre Traced To Drug Deal Gone Bad Between Rival Gangs (The Houston Chronicle version.)
Mexico Nabs Three Ensenada Drug Massacre Suspects (The Reuters version)
New Laws For Police To Search Cars (According to The Daily Telegraph, in Australia, last week's drive-by shooting at the police station in Lakemba has prompted the state government to announce it would introduce legislation into State Parliament this week allowing police the power to erect road blocks, pull over drivers, search their vehicles and demand IDs.)
Drug Boffins Put A Sock In It (The Australian says heavies from the New South Wales Health Department and the office of its minister have issued a decree censoring workers in the drug field, particularly those in the sensitive area of illicit drugs. With an election in the offing, the government is keen to keep the focus on law and order and away from anything that might portray it as soft on drugs.)
IOC Drug Policy Overhaul Predicted (According to The Chicago Tribune, Dr. Ken Fitch, a member of the International Olympic Committee's medical commission, said in Sydney, Australia, that a "radical" overhaul of the IOC's drug policy would take place at a meeting next month, including the removal of some narcotics from the banned list.)
Lords Back Cannabis Use For Patients Suffering Pain (The Guardian, in Britain, discusses the report published today by the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology saying doctors should be legally allowed to prescribe cannabis to multiple sclerosis sufferers and other patients who find it helps relieve pain.)
Peers Support Cannabis Use (The Independent version)
Legalise Cannabis For Sick, Say Peers (The Telegraph version)
Lords Call To Make Cannabis Legal For Pain Relief (The Times version)
Out On A Limb Over Beneficial Joints (Guardian columnist Sarah Boseley says the report on medical marijuana published this morning by the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology "admits" there is no scientific evidence that cannabis relieves the pain of multiple sclerosis sufferers and others. But the committee believed the evidence from patients themselves, and felt it was wrong that those in pain should have to break the law and that their doctors should be under pressure to connive with them. The committee said that its recommendation was not scientific, but compassionate.)
Cannabis Therapy (A letter to the editor of The Independent, in Britain, from a multiple sclerosis patient who uses marijuana as medicine, implores the government to heed today's report from the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology.)
Let GPs Prescribe The Weed (A staff editorial in The Guardian, in Britain, rejects the British Medical Association's criticism of today's report from the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology, which recommends that General Practitioners be allowed to prescribe herbal cannabis for medical use. "The Lords should be congratulated for listening to patients rather than researchers. Knowing why it works would be helpful but making it illegal until we know why is wrong.")
Select Committee on Science and Technology Report (The text of the report on medical marijuana commissioned by the House of Lords says the Government should allow doctors to prescribe cannabis for medical use. "Far from being a step towards general legalisation, our recommendation would make the ban on recreational use easier to enforce.")
Concern Over Drug Testing At Work (Two letters to the editor of The Times, in Britain, rebut an enthusiastic recent op-ed endorsing urine testing of workers for illegal drugs.)
Judge gives 30 days on drug charge (The Bangor Daily News says a judge in Ireland rejected a prosecutor's call for extended jail time and sentenced John Thompson of Frankfort, the town's road commissioner, to 30 days in jail for unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs. Waldo County Superior Court Justice William S. Brodrick indicated that the Food and Drug Administration had determined that marijuana was less addictive than caffeine.)
Bytes: 303,000 Last updated: 12/3/98
Tuesday, November 10, 1998:
Medicinal pot's win in 5 states stuns backers (An Oregonian article whose headline shows the newspaper's tendency to engage in projection quotes Dave Fratello saying Americans for Medical Rights plans to back campaigns in Colorado, Florida and Maine in 2000. Phil Lemman, executive director of the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, predicts that the Legislature will amend the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act. But Oregon's legislative leaders said they first will monitor the law, which won in 16 of the state's 36 counties.)
Truck drivers now supervising inmate deliveries in cost-cutting plan (The Associated Press says the Oregon Department of Corrections, in order to save money, now allows inmates who help deliver laundry to hospitals, schools and nursing homes to be supervised by truck drivers instead of corrections officers.)
The Chavez Trial (The Orange County Register covers the trial of Marvin Chavez, the medical marijuana patient and founder of the Orange County Patient Doctor Nurse Support Group, on trafficking charges. Judge Thomas J. Borris allowed jurors to hear references to Prop. 215, the medical marijuana initiative voters passed in 1996, but will not make a final ruling as to what laws the jury will be allowed to consider as relevant to the charges until the end of the case.)
Pot Club's Owner Cites Prop 215 (A second article in The Orange County Register on the same trial says Superior Court Judge Thomas Borris has already tentatively ruled that Chavez is legally a caregiver under Prop. 215, but only for two of the 10 sale or transportation charges he faces.)
Letter to Gray Davis (A letter to the Governor-elect of California from California NORML asks the Democratic victor to support efforts to fulfill the mandate of Proposition 215 to assure "safe and affordable" access to medical marijuana for all patients in need; to consider measures to reduce the number of marijuana prisoners, which increased 1,200 percent during 16 years of Republican misrule with no change in marijuana use rates; and to support decriminalizing cultivation of small amounts of cannabis for personal use, as recommended by the state Research Advisory Panel in 1990.)
Justices Let Two Sue Irvine Police (The Orange County Register says the US Supreme Court reinstated the lawsuit by two Orange County men against police in Irvine, California, on the grounds that officers illegally obtained their blood samples after arresting them on suspicion of drunken driving. Attorney Jeffrey Wertheimer, who represents the city of Irvine, said the court's decision would not change police DUI policies.)
Marijuana Vote Secret Pending Dec. 18 Hearing (The Washington Post says US District Judge Richard W. Roberts refused yesterday to order the immediate release of results from last week's vote on a medical marijuana initiative in the District of Columbia in order to take a comprehensive look at the legal issues.)
Drug Courts Reduce Crime And Save Money, Study Says (An Associated Press article in The Seattle Times says the Physician Leadership on National Drug Policy, a bipartisan group of health experts, released findings today from a study on so-called drug courts purporting to show that programs allowing nonviolent offenders to undergo treatment rather than serve time - programs that coerce nonviolent "drug abusers" into rehabilitation instead of prison - help them "kick the habit" while saving taxpayers' money.)
Good News? / Drug Courts (One list subscriber is reticent about criticizing drug courts. Another says they are a desperate measure to save prohibition, and a self-evident pointer to the fact that drug "crimes" are not crimes at all.)
US nabs cocaine-laden Colombian air force plane (According to Reuters, Colombian President Andres Pastrana accepted the resignation of Air Force chief Gen. Manuel Sandoval late Tuesday after a Colombian air force plane was seized at a Florida airport with more than 1,600 pounds of cocaine.)
Colombia Air Force Chief Resigns Over Drug Flap (A different Reuters version)
Customs Agents Find Cocaine On Colombian Air Force Plane (The CNN version)
The Politics Of Prescribed Prohibition (An excellent op-ed in The Canberra Times, in Australia, notes the scientific and scholarly evidence we have about drugs and drug use are routinely overlooked in favour of policies based on ideas that are the intellectual and academic equivalent of a belief in witchcraft. The overwhelming bulk of scientific and scholarly evidence suggests that prohibition has greatly exacerbated the problems associated with drugs, drug use and drug users. Even so there are still those who try to argue that reliance on prohibition has prevented an explosion in availability and usage, and that any change in policy would send out the wrong message. There is no evidence to support this. Indeed, what evidence there is suggests the exact opposite.)
Bytes: 62,800 Last updated: 12/23/98
Monday, November 9, 1998:
Drug War Deceptive (A letter to the editor of The Register Guard, in Eugene, Oregon, says it is the government and its emptyheaded mouthpieces who "deceive and scare," not proponents of medical marijuana and opponents of recriminalizing marijuana possession.)
A Man Caught In A Kafkaesque Trap (Alan W. Bock, the senior editorial writer for The Orange County Register, recounts how, instead of obeying the mandate of Proposition 215 and working with Marvin Chavez, the founder of an Orange County medical marijuana dispensary who was trying to operate within the law, local officials arrested him.)
Customs Conviction Muddies Drug Trial (The San Francisco Chronicle says attorneys for Thanong "Thai Tony" Siriprechapong, a former member of the Thai parliament accused of smuggling more than 45 tons of hashish into the United States, have asked that the case be dismissed because the charges are based on false grand jury testimony by a US Customs agent convicted of taking money from a key prosecution witness. The lawyers also said the US attorney's office in San Francisco improperly asked other federal prosecutors to delay bringing criminal charges against the agent in an attempt to protect the hashish case.)
Nicotine called promising for relief of brain disorders (The Miami Herald says research presented Sunday at a Los Angeles conference featuring many of the 20,000 scientists worldwide who study the brain hinted that nicotine-based drugs may one day provide relief for Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia and anxiety disorders.)
Pension? No Problem (A staff editorial in The San Jose Mercury News says Johnny Venzon Jr., in jail awaiting trial on charges that he stole from people while on duty as a San Jose cop, does not deserve a disability pension because of his gambling addiction. He refused treatment - and it was breaking the law and not his gambling that got him fired.)
Examples Of Sentencing In Fatal Drunk-driving Crashes (The Tulsa World cites a number of instances in which drunken drivers in Oklahoma have killed people without being sentenced to jail or prison - and finds some disparity in sentencing, too.)
Blind Obedience Perilous (A letter to the editor of The Houston Chronicle objects to a previous letter writer's seeming endorsement of Houston prohibition agents who broke into the home of Pedro Oregon Navarro without a warrant and killed him.)
Five States' Marijuana Approval Illustrates Gullibility of Voters (A staff editorial in The Omaha World-Herald says voters in five states who elected Tuesday to let marijuana be "prescribed" as a "painkiller" were pawns of a movement to decriminalize the use of marijuana.)
Mandatory Sentencing A Big-Time Bust (The Boston Globe says some original research by the newspaper has turned up figures showing that more than 84 percent of those serving mandatory minimum sentences on drug charges in Massachusetts are first-time offenders in the state. For the most part, these are drug users who are at the bottom of the supply chain. They are also overwhelmingly Hispanic and black. The big-time dealers avoid mandatory minimums because they have information to trade with prosecutors, or money that is forfeited upon their arrest - which makes law enforcement look upon them more kindly. The federal system - which operates under its own mandatory mimimum sentence law - is similarly filled with small-time offenders.)
Pot Politics (A staff editorial in The Times Union, in New York, says the Clinton Administration should reconsider its opposition to medical marijuana. Voters in more states are allowing it, and scientific evidence is on the popular side.)
Undercover troopers arrest 21 for marijuana at Bills-Jets game (The Associated Press says narcs targeting illegal drug users at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, arrested 21 people on minor marijuana charges during Sunday's football game between the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets.)
Judge Won't Release Vote Results (According to The Associated Press, US District Judge Richard Roberts refused on Monday to order the District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics to immediately release the results of a Nov. 3 vote to legalize marijuana for medical purposes in the nation's capital, saying the federal government should be given more time to decide whether it wants to act as a party in the case and argue against the release of the vote results.)
Oranges with THC in 'em (A list subscriber posts the URL for a South to the Future article, from The Bay Area Guardian, about a Florida biochemist who claims to have designed a citrus tree that produces THC. Plus the article itself - including the weekly's weak disclaimer.)
Re - Oranges that get you high (A letter sent to the editor of The San Francisco Bay Area Guardian suggests the weekly might have made its hoax a little more transparent, explaining why THC can't be synthesized in oranges. Few of the enzymes involved in cannabinoid biosynthesis have been identified, and cannabinoids are not proteins.)
Research into pain gives hope for chronic sufferers (The Associated Press covers the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, in Los Angeles, with an update on what scientists know about chronic pain and what researchers are currently working on. Low-dose anti-depressants have been found effective among some sufferers of chronic pain syndromes. But there's also great interest in harnessing the body's own natural painkillers.)
Olympic gold medalist Hall cited for marijuana use (CNN and Sports Illustrated say the world's fastest swimmer in 1996, Gary Hall Jr., and two other US swimmers, were cited by the sport's world governing body Monday for drug offenses. Hall was handed a three-month suspension by the doping panel of the international federation for testing positive for marijuana.)
Germany may legalize cannabis (According to The Kitchener-Waterloo Record, in Ontario, the new German government has said it will study the case for making the possession of small quantities of soft drugs such as cannabis legal.)
Four "No"s from the Catholic People's Party (An excerpt from an article in Neue Zuricher Zeitung, in Zurich, Switzerland, says the CDU has recommended that voters reject all four "Droleg" issues on the Nov. 29 ballot regarding the decriminalization - for Swiss citizens - of drugs that currently are illegal.)
And What If The State Should Take Charge of the Market in Prohibited Drugs? (Several articles and writers in Le Temps, in Switzerland, examine the pros and cons to "Droleg," the Nov. 29 Swiss referendum on depenalizing illegal drugs.)
Bytes: 95,500 Last updated: 12/26/98
Sunday, November 8, 1998:
Medical marijuana proponents move toward mainstream (The Associated Press suggests Dr. Rob Killian and supporters of Initiative 692 in Washington state won at the ballot box last week because they put away their tie-dye clothing and cut their long hair. Apparently something more is required in Nevada, where the state attorney general, Frankie Sue Del Papa, says she won't enforce her state's new constitutional amendment - if it's reaffirmed as required in 2000 - without federal approval.)
A Look At The Political Leaders Behind Three Winning Ballot Measures (The Seattle Times suggests Dr. Rob Killian became the prime mover behind Initiative 692, Washington state's medical marijuana ballot measure, because of his cousin's death from AIDS. Previously he had aspired to become the first Mormon senator from Washington state.)
Pot Case Delayed (The Press-Telegram, in Long Beach, California, notes a sick juror delayed the beginning of the trial scheduled for Friday of Marvin Chavez, the founder of the Orange County Patient-Doctor-Nurse Support Group.)
California marijuana growers flourish (A sensational and factually challenged article in The Miami Herald says armed and dangerous marijuana growers in Northern California are flourishing and cannabis is the lifeblood of some towns. Marijuana is being cultivated not only in remote, camouflaged plots, but brazenly in cornfields, next to farms and along roads and highways. Pot cultivation has become so rampant in some counties that federal agents often ignore groves with less than a thousand plants.)
Transcript - Jesse Ventura on "Meet the Press" (The Reform Party governor-elect of Minnesota tells NBC that he does not support decriminalization of marijuana at this time, though he does support industrial hemp and medical marijuana. "I believe you've got to fight the war from the demand side, not the supply side. I mean, for goodness sake, we have Stillwater State Penitentiary here and we can't keep drugs out of there, and these people are locked up 24 hours a day. You get people to be smart and intelligent. It's like a business. You don't create a product because of supply; you create it because there's a demand for it.")
Marijuana Is One Of The Least Dangerous Drugs (A letter to the editor of The Boston Globe says 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.)
Be free, but be careful about what you say (A letter to the editor of The Centre Daily Times, in Pennsylvania, from a junior in high school, says retired Penn State Professor Julian Heicklen's pot-smoking protests violate the "undisputed sagacity" of prohibition by "countering the efforts of literally millions to keep children healthy and drug-free.")
Medicinal Weed Makes A Stand In Tallahassee (The Tallahassee Democrat says about 1,500 people signed petitions at polling places Tuesday to put a statewide referendum on the ballot in 2000 legalizing the medical use of marijuana. Fort Lauderdale-based Floridians for Medical Rights needs 435,000 signatures by Aug. 1, 2000, to get the issue on the ballot. So far, statewide volunteers have collected more than 20,000 signatures.)
Groundswell For Medical Marijuana (A staff editorial in The Chicago Tribune says the opponents of medical marijuana have yet to make a convincing case why cannabis should not be available to people who need it to relieve serious ailments. The medical potential of pot is undeniable by now.)
Nearly No Research Done on Pot (The Associated Press notes that, despite ongoing controversy over marijuana's medical efficacy, almost no research is being done on the topic, despite an expert panel established by the Institutes of Health which found in August 1997 that existing research showed some patients could be helped by the herb, principally to relieve cancer patients' nausea after chemotherapy, to increase AIDS patients' appetites, and to help some patients control glaucoma.)
Nixon Had It Right (An op-ed in The Washington Post by Michael Massing, author of "The Fix," says that of the District of Columbia's estimated 65,000 "substance abusers," barely 10 percent can be accommodated by local treatment programs today. It wasn't always like this. A little more than 25 years ago the District fought the drug war successfully with a comprehensive drug treatment system that was considered a model for the nation.)
UK Lords call to legalise cannabis - Lords call for cannabis to be legalised as painkiller (The Observer, in Britain, says a 70-page report to be released this week by the Science and Technology Committee in the House of Lords urges a change in the law to allow cannabis derivatives to be used legally. Labour MP Paul Flynn, whose wife, Samantha, has endured a year of painful chemotherapy which he says could have been relieved if cannabis had been legally available, said yesterday, "This is a major breakthrough. I'm very pleased." However, "The report is defective in that it deliberately excluded evidence that legalising cannabis leads to a reduction in heroin use, because it takes away the need for users to go to the criminal market.")
Drugs Tsar Tells Customs To Go Soft On Cannabis Smugglers (Scotland on Sunday says Keith Hellawell has ordered British customs officers to take a softer approach to cannabis smugglers and to concentrate their resources on interdicting heroin and cocaine.)
Germany Weighing Pot Legalization (According to Reuters, Germany's new coalition government said it will study the case for legalizing possession of small quantities of soft drugs such as cannabis. The Greens, junior partners in the new coalition, have long been in favor of decriminalizing the use of soft drugs but the Social Democrats have so far resisted such a move.)
Bytes: 66,300 Last updated: 11/21/98
Saturday, November 7, 1998:
Final Oregon returns on medical marijuana and recrim (A list subscriber says unofficial final tallies of votes cast in Oregon's election Tuesday show Measure 67 winning with 54 percent and Measure 57 losing by 66 percent - both numbers down a point from previously cited figures.)
Community View - DARE Deserves A Chance (A letter to the editor of The Statesman Journal, in Salem, Oregon, laments the the Salem-Keizer School District's decision to cut the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program from half of its schools.)
Officer gets pension for gambling disorder (The Philadelphia Inquirer says a former cop in San Jose, California, who is serving time in jail for burglary has been awarded early retirement and a $27,000-a-year pension because his addiction to gambling has left him officially disabled. The city's attorney said that disability retirement benefits could be offered for psychiatric reasons that involved an element of drug or alcohol abuse.)
News from Inside (A list subscriber shares a letter from David Herrick, the former San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy and medical marijuana patient sentenced to four years in prison after being denied a Proposition 215 defense. Herrick says the recent news about California prison guards supposedly being ordered not to shoot prisoners in fights anymore doesn't seem to have trickled down to the rank and file yet.)
Mendocino Sheriff, DA Favor Decriminalizing Pot (The San Francisco Chronicle notes the new district attorney and the new sheriff in Mendocino County, California favor decriminalizing the illegal weed. For the past three years, Mendocino has led all other counties in California in the number of marijuana plants seized under a state-run eradication program. Sheriff's deputies say that last year, the department destroyed about 170,000 plants valued at $68 million and so far this year has destroyed about 65,000 plants valued at $26 million.)
Oregon's Home Invaded (A letter to the editor of The Houston Chronicle about the killing of Pedro Oregon Navarro by Houston prohibition agents who broke into the innocent man's home without a warrant says a citizen has the right to defend his home from invasion by any means necessary.)
A Gruff, Grammarless Governor-Elect Jesse 'The Body' In No Rush To Rule (The San Francisco Chronicle says Minnesota's new Reform Party winner, Jesse Ventura, said the drug problem can only be solved by eliminating the demand for drugs because, Ventura said, his mother "told me the drug war today is no different from Prohibition. And I trust my mom." Would somebody please point out to Jesse's mom that Prohibition was not ended by eliminating the demand for alcohol?)
Ex-cops sentenced for bribes (The Daily Southtown, in Chicago, says two former Ford Heights police officers, Odell Boxley and Kerwin Hall, were sentenced Friday to 11 years and three months in prison for accepting bribes from drug dealers whom they allowed to do business in the village. The two faced up to 15 years in prison, but the prosecutor requested the lesser terms because they informed on other corrupt officers.)
Drug dealer comes to the rescue of 81 year old man (A MSNBC broadcast on WBAL says Jerome Golden of Glen Burnie, near Baltimore, Maryland, was freed after a dealer convinced a carjacker at gunpoint to release the man he had taken on a five-hour crack-buying spree.)
District, ACLU Unite Behind Marijuana Vote (The Washington Post says the District of Columbia government and the American Civil Liberties Union asked a federal judge yesterday to overrule Congress and uphold the results of Tuesday's vote on Initiative 59, the medical marijuana ballot measure. A judge will hear arguments Monday.)
Medical Marijuana Gets Five More Votes (A staff editorial in The Rockford Register Star, in Rockford, Illinois, says the Clinton administration cannot ignore the growing public support for patients who need medical marijuana. Voters made it clear Tuesday that a distinction can and must be made between recreational use of chemicals and the therapeutic use of this herb.)
Gingrich to quit Congress (An article by The New York Times and the Tacoma, Washington, News Tribune, notes Newt Gingrich, the speaker of the House of Representatives, has announced he will resign at the end of his current term. No mention is made of Gingrich's role as one of the country's most vehement and ignorant drug warriors. The former pot smoker who once vowed to legislate the death penalty for anyone caught smuggling two ounces of cannabis into the United States was apparently not motivated by nine out of nine reform measures passing Tuesday.)
Drug Reform - US Says Yes (An op-ed in The Canberra Times, in Australia, by Alex Wodak, president of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation, summarizes the results of the various drug policy referenda around the United States, and suggests the election results are further evidence that support for a rigid "tough on drugs" approach may soon be a political liability.)
CIA Turned A Deliberate Blind Eye To Contras' Drug Smuggling (The Independent, in Britain, notes the Central Intelligence Agency's recent report admitting that it deliberately facilitated cocaine trafficking by its Nicaraguan Contra allies in the 1980s.)
Cannabinoid Is Neuroprotective In Head Trauma (According to the British medical journal, The Lancet, the leading cause of death among young men in the western world has no approved treatment, but clinical results from Israel indicate that dexanabinol, a non-psychotropic synthetic cannabinoid, may be "the most promising neuroprotective agent seen to date", according to Lawrence Marshall, an authority on head trauma at the University of California in San Diego. Phase II clinical trials provide strong evidence that the analogue can reduce intracranial pressure and significantly improve outcome in severe head injury.)
Yardies Linked To £10 Million Trade In Scotland's Heroin Capital (The Scotsman says a network of illegal-drug sellers with direct links to the notorious Yardie gangs of Jamaican criminals operating in the English Midlands, has moved into Fraserburgh, the new heroin capital of Scotland. The arrival of supplies of crack cocaine in the towns and villages along the Buchan coast is threatening to spawn an even more deadly drugs epidemic in the area.)
Vetter Wants To Give Heroin To Sick Addicts (A translation of an article from Stuttgarter Nachrichten, in Germany, says another German politician, Erwin Vetter, the departing Minister for Social Affairs, has broken with his party's hard line on illegal drug users and come out in favor of a Swiss-style heroin distribution trial for the severely addicted.)
Bytes: 75,500 Last updated: 11/23/98
Friday, November 6, 1998:
Much Ado About Nothing (Eugene Weekly says a four-year investigation into a suspected marijuana-growing operation near Coburg, Oregon, led to a 1995 raid on a rural residence by dozens of black-clad, rifle-toting officers who kicked in doors and splintered door frames while a helicopter hovered overhead. Prohibition agents traumatized Byron Stone and his wife, Wanda, leaving Byron 70 percent disabled, but they found only a half-ounce of marijuana allegedly belonging to someone else. Lane County Circuit Judge Jack Mattison dismissed Stone's lawsuit against police before a jury could hear it, saying the "law doesn't always give a remedy" when government action injures innocent citizens.)
Second Message of I-692 - Change Marijuana Listing (A staff editorial in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer notes voters Tuesday approved medical marijuana initiatives by margins ranging from 55 percent to 60 percent in Washington, Alaska, Oregon and Nevada. The greater public interest would be served by listing marijuana as a Schedule II substance, along with morphine, opium and cocaine, as a Drug Enforcement Agency hearing judge recommended 10 years ago.)
Doctors, Patients Curious About Medical Marijuana Law (The Seattle Times says the phone is ringing off the hook at the Green Cross, the Puget Sound medical marijuana dispensary, as patients try to learn more about Washington state's new law. Joanna McKee, the director of the Green Cross, refers callers to their primary care physicians, but even Dr. Rob Killian, who sponsored Initiative 692, concedes that most physicians won't know when to recommend its use.)
Washington State Medical Marijuana FAQ (A list subscriber posts some answers to frequently asked questions about patients' rights and responsibilities under Initiative 692.)
New drug education program appeals to older kids (The Seattle Times says that at a time when the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, or DARE, is coming under fire for questionable effectiveness, the Scope LifeRide program in Kirkland, Washington, is gaining nationwide attention. Created by the Kirkland Police Department and a Chicago motivational speaker, the program is aimed at high school students rather than the middle-school students targeted by DARE. Whether it's any more effective doesn't seem to matter.)
Police Capt. Mickelsen Admits Drug Use, Resigns (The Moscow-Pullman Daily News says Moscow, Idaho, Police Captain Dale Mickelsen resigned today after admitting to using marijuana. No criminal action will be taken.)
Despite Voter Support, Pot Clubs Take Heat - Federal government insists it will keep closing them down (The San Francisco Chronicle surveys the few medical marijuana clubs remaining in California, noting the popular support for medical marijuana evidenced by Tuesday's election in other states has not slowed the federal government's war against the dispensaries.)
The Chavez Case (A staff editorial in The Orange County Register provides an update on the trial of Marvin Chavez, the medical marijuana patient and founder of the Orange County Patient-Doctor-Nurse Support Group. On Wednesday afternoon, Judge Borris dealt with whether he would allow the defense attorneys to claim a Prop. 215 defense. A decision will be made after he hears from a witness, the person on whose behalf Mr. Chavez claims he was acting as caregiver.)
Drug Agent Faces New Charges (An Associated Press article in The Orange County Register says Richard Wayne Parker of San Juan Capistrano, a California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement agent set to go on trial this month for allegedly supplying cocaine to two street dealers, was indicted Thursday on additional charges of stealing 650 pounds of cocaine from an evidence locker.)
Jailed Drug Agent Faces New Allegation (The Los Angeles Times version)
Tip Of The Iceberg (A sarcastic letter to the editor of The Las Vegas Review-Journal says the recent vote on legalizing marijuana use for medical purposes sets an alarming precedent. And is only the tip of the iceberg. What will happen if it becomes generally known that commercial use of the hemp plant can adversely affect chemical companies, cotton farmers and other industries such as the lumber and paper producers of this country?)
Pot Initiative Leaves Legal Waters Muddy (The Arizona Daily Star says it's unclear how some law-enforcement officials in Arizona plan to deal with the drug policy reforms enacted for a second time Tuesday by voters. Other local officials, such as Deputy Pima County Attorney Bill Dickinson, in charge of the narcotics unit, said his office plans to let off medical marijuana patients with recommendations from their physicians, but will refer the prescribing doctors to the US Attorney's Office to determine whether they should face sanctions under federal law.)
Dozens Gather To Demand Justice In Oregon Killing (The Houston Chronicle says activists and relatives of those slain previously by Houston police gathered outside the Harris County Criminal Courthouse Thursday, charging that the shooting of Pedro Oregon Navarro was "murder" and calling for the resignation of District Attorney John B. Holmes Jr. and the prosecution of the six prohibition agents who broke into Navarro's home without a warrant and killed him.)
Houston Police Shooting Demands Public Scrutiny (The San Antonio Express-News says the killing of an innocent man, Pedro Oregon Navarro, by prohibition agents in Houston, Texas, who broke into his apartment without a warrant, compels public scrutiny outside of Houston. The Harris County district attorney's refusal to convene a new grand jury suggests that in Houston, and, by extension, Texas, the US Constitution applies only to certain people. The disturbing perception casts a pall on the city, and until the matter is satisfactorily resolved, the pall also hangs over the state.)
Won't Run From Uniformed (A letter to the editor of The Houston Chronicle about the Pedro Oregon Navarro controversy says to give police lots of bullets and let them "show no restraint." In return, the author will teach her children not to run from uniformed officers or to pull guns on them.)
Jailer Faces Drug Charge (The Sun-Herald, in Mississippi, says Gregory Scott Bryant, a Harrison County sheriff's deputy, was fired after being arrested last month on a charge of misdemeanor possession of marijuana.)
Woonsocket officer fired over allegations (According to The Associated Press, The Call, in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, said Friday that Paul J. Girard, a police officer who handled drug cases and was one of the state's first trainers of drug-sniffing dogs, has been fired for allegedly consorting with crack cocaine users and removing narcotics from the force's evidence locker.)
Movie Promotion is Perfectly Legal (A list subscriber forwards an excerpt from a press release issued by Frederick Brewing, the Maryland producer of Hempen Ale. The press release announces a promotional campaign for the hemp-flavored beer by the Baltimore-based agency, the Campbell Group, including a tie-in to the release of the movie, "Very Bad Things," starring Cameron Diaz and Christian Slater, opening Nov. 25. The promotional campaign will also play up the illicit connotations of hemp with print, radio and point-of-purchase materials, while mocking absurd laws on the books across the country such as an Illinois statute that prohibits giving lighted tobacco products to domesticated animals, and California's law against setting a mousetrap without a hunting license. Print ads use the work of "outsider" artists to underscore the campaign's counter-culture message.)
'An Abuse Of Authority' (The Las Vegas Review-Journal covers oral arguments in the appeal to the US Supreme Court by Patrick Knowles, an Iowa motorist sentenced to 90 days in jail when police discovered a pipe and a small amount of marijuana after a routine traffic violation led to a search of his vehicle. Tuesday in Washington, DC, even the "law-and-order" members of the court seemed surprised and skeptical when informed about the broad discretion Iowa now grants its police to search drivers pulled over for routine traffic stops.)
Sniffer Dogs Not Always Right (The London Free Press, in Ontario, says Canada Customs admits its trained dogs sometimes bark up the wrong tree when sniffing out suspected smugglers and luggage. In five per cent of cases, customs officials have a hard time making sense of why the dogs smelled something funny.)
The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue No. 66 (The Drug Reform Coordination Network's original summary of drug policy news and calls for action, including - Sweep!; District of Columbia - silencing the voice of the voters; Arizona - restoring the will of the voters; Colorado - ballot status uncertain, voters certain; Oregon perspective; Report finds injection-related AIDS ravaging African American and Latino communities - police presence a factor in disease's disproportionate impact Supreme Court hears car search case; DRCNet launching stopthedrugwar.org web site; DRCNet launches new "activism" online discussion group; High school honor student expelled for sipping sangria at internship party; an excellent editorial on American's ivory-tower mass media, Message sent, by Adam J. Smith; and, A message from DRCNet to you.)
Bytes: 116,000 Last updated: 11/15/98
Thursday, November 5, 1998:
The war on the war on drugs (A sour-grapes staff editorial in The Oregonian reacts to the victorious Oregon Medical Marijuana Act by making fun of sick people, misrepresenting the statute and the campaign statements of proponents, and calling on the legislature to eviscerate the new law.)
Re - The war on the war on drugs (A letter sent to the editor of The Oregonian says supporters of Ballot Measure 67, the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, never argued that it includes "glaring flaws" which need a "legislative fix.")
Oregon Passes Vote-By-Mail, Medical Marijuana, Adoption Measures (An Associated Press election summary notes the final tallies for Tuesday's state ballot measures. In Washington, DC, Associate Attorney General Raymond C. Fisher said today the Justice Department would review the medical marijuana initiatives passed in Oregon and elsewhere and discuss them with local law enforcement before making any response.)
Oregon medical marijuana and recrim debate on "Town Hall" from 11/1/98 is online (Paul Stanford of the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act campaign says the recent televised debate broadcast by KATU-2, Portland's ABC affiliate, can be viewed for free in realtime from the crrh.org web site.)
Cronkite and Investigative Reports videos streaming (Paul Stanford of the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act campaign says the 1995 Cronkite Report, "The Drug Dilemma - War or Peace?" with Walter Cronkite; as well as the 1995 Investigative Reports program, "The War on Drugs - RIP," with Bill Curtis, can now be viewed for free in realtime from the crrh.org web site.)
Police killer's housemate convicted of drug, child neglect charges (According to The Associated Press, Jeffery Harlan Moore of Portland, the housemate of Steven Dons, who died in police custody earlier this year after a shootout occasioned by a warrantless break-in by the Marijuana Task Force, faces 10 years in prison.)
Police killer's friend guilty on drug counts (The Oregonian version says Judge Bergman found Moore not guilty of child endangerment for allegedly having his children around guns and ammunition in the house, something many police undoubtedly do, but found him guilty on two counts of child neglect because there was marijuana growing in the house, though marijuana never killed anyone and the only thing that could make it dangerous is prohibition.)
Slain officer Colleen Waibel honored by office in her name (The Oregonian says a police station in Parkrose, a suburb east of Portland, has been named after the Marijuana Task Force agent and DARE officer who was shot and killed during a warrantless break-in last January.)
Police Must Return Seized Medical Marijuana (The Associated Press says the California Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously ordered police to give back medicine they seized from a Mendocino County couple, Christopher Brown and Dorlissa Perrine. The office of California Attorney General Dan Lungren had argued that giving the couple's medicine back to them required police officers to act as drug pushers, ignoring the clause in the Controlled Substances Act that allows police to do just that.)
Medical Marijuana Gains Momentum (The San Francisco Examiner says surprise victories for medical marijuana proposals in five states Tuesday mean California's Proposition 215 was no fluke - and the federal government will be under pressure to change its hard-line stance.)
Medical Suffering Is The Issue (A staff editorial in The Los Angeles Times - which opposed Proposition 215 - says it's time for Congress and the Food and Drug Administration to consider allowing the use of marijuana for medical purposes, under the same careful restrictions that apply to prescribing other risky and often addictive substances. The federal government's continued classification of marijuana as a drug with no clinical value is both anachronistic and inhumane.)
New Mendocino sheriff, DA downplay pot users (The Sacramento Bee says voters in Mendocino County, California - where marijuana is the largest cash crop and two generations of pot growers reside in the mountains - may have outdone themselves in 1998, electing a district attorney who spent nine months in federal prison as a tax protestor and a sheriff who downplays the value of marijuana arrests. "I don't have a felony record," emphasized district attorney-elect Norman Vroman Wednesday, noting that he could not practice law in California or be a candidate for political office under such circumstances. "It was a misdemeanor conviction." The sheriff-elect, Tony Craver, said, "I don't smoke marijuana and I don't advocate it and I'm not in favor of it," but decades of eradication efforts and other laws have not succeeded and are drawing time and resources from drug problems that Mendocino County residents find more threatening.)
DARE America Forces Alterna To Remove Hemp Shampoo Ads (A company press release on Entertainment Wire says Alterna Applied Research Laboratories, the manufacturer of hemp hair care products, has been forced this week by the private corporation that administers the government's favorite illegal-drug-use prevention program to remove ads for legal hemp shampoo from more than 100 bus benches in Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.)
His Own Little Drug War (The San Jose Mercury News says Tony Bennett, who left his heart in San Francisco and became the darling of the MTV generation in his 60s, has written in "The Good Life" that he used marijuana and cocaine in 1970s Hollywood until he "spiraled into a dangerous drug-filled low" as his personal life unraveled - which could just mean he drank a lot. Apparently he was able to quit using "drugs" without benefit of prison or coerced treatment, however.)
Stillwater Man Gets 30 Years (The Tulsa World says Arthur Lee "Rabbit" Haley, a 60-year-old man who slept through much of his trial, was convicted Wednesday of selling $125 worth of crack cocaine and given a 30- year prison term by a jury in Payne County, Oklahoma.)
Former 'Bad Boy' Of Wrestling Has Surprising Hold On Electorate (The San Jose Mercury News publishes a feature article about Minnesota's new governor-elect, Jesse Ventura of the Reform Party, the one-time "bad boy" of the pro wrestling circuit, action-flick actor, Navy SEAL, talk-radio shock jock - and drug policy reform advocate. However, the newspaper downplays Ventura's stance to the point of misrepresenting it, saying, "He even mused publicly about legalizing prostitution and drugs, although he says he is not suggesting he approves of the idea.")
Two Northern Manhattan narcotics cops acquitted in beating of suspect (The Associated Press says New York Supreme Court Justice Ronald Zweibel, in a non-jury trial, acquitted the two prohibition agents Thursday of charges they brutally beat a Washington Heights man while breaking up a drug deal, fracturing several of his ribs and causing him to be hospitalized. Zweibel did not explain his verdict except to say that he found that the prosecution had not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Drug charges against the victim were eventually dismissed, and he has filed a $450 million lawsuit against the city.)
DC Won't Give Results Of Marijuana Referendum (The Baltimore Sun notes Congress, which controls the District of Columbia, squelched the release of election results regarding Initiative 59 because Rep. Bob Barr, a conservative Georgia Republican, did not like the medical marijuana measure.)
What's Congress Smoking? (Washington Post columnist Steve Twomey protests Congress's decision to prevent the results of Initiative 59, the medical marijuana ballot measure, from being certified by the Washington, DC, Board of Elections and Ethics. The fact that Congress has the power to disenfranchise District of Columbia voters doesn't make it right, any more than it was right to make women and blacks powerless, which the Constitution also did, until modern wisdom set in. How do these out-of-towners make peace with their consciences when they do this sort of stuff? They rail about Cuba, Iraq, China and all the other dictatorially smothered establishments, and then turn around and vote with Rep. Robert L. Barr Jr. to deny half a million Americans in the capital the simple privilege of deciding for themselves whether to ease a local drug law for humane reasons.)
Medicinal Marijuana Use Undecided In DC (An article in The Collegiate Times, in Virginia, by three members of NORML at VPI & SU, describes the fight for medical marijuana in Washington, DC, the chapter's lobbying for the measure in the capital, and provides some background about the NORML chapter at Virginia Tech.)
DrugSense Weekly, Issue No. 72 (A DrugSense special edition summarizes Tuesday's election victories for the reform cause - Nine for nine - we win everywhere! Kevin Zeese writes, "Perhaps the best examples of how politicians are out of step with the public come from the votes in Oregon and Arizona. In Oregon last year, two-thirds of the legislature voted to recriminalize marijuana possession. This week, two-thirds of the voters rejected that and kept marijuana decriminalization, a policy that has existed since 1973, in place.")
The Ballot Battle - Initiatives Bypass Traditional Lawmaking (A Washington Post roundup on the fate of ballot measures around the nation says it appears that six of every 10 measures passed, the first time a majority of initiatives were approved. Ethan Nadelman, director of the Lindesmith Center, a drug policy reform group in New York, pointed to nine measures around the country that either enabled the medical use of marijuana or rejected efforts to recriminalize marijuana possession, as happened in Oregon. "Yesterday's clean sweep of victories for medical marijuana and drug policy reform herald a new era in the electoral politics of the drug war," said Nadelman. "These results represent a wake-up call to politicians, both those accustomed to engaging in drug war demagoguery and those who have so far been fearful of proposing pragmatic alternatives.")
Election Day Was Not A Bad Day For Tolerance (Syndicated Chicago Tribune columnist Steve Chapman says Tuesday's election shows the real preference among voters is for a third party - one that is willing to live and let live. According to Bill Clinton's pollster, Mark Penn, the percentage of people who agree with the statement "The best government is the government that governs least" has risen from 32 percent to 56 percent in the last 25 years. The clearest evidence of the "leave us alone" trend came from the states that voted on marijuana policy.)
US Tempers Reaction After 5 States OK Medicinal Pot (The Chicago Tribune says that in response to medical marijuana initiatives passed by voters in five states Tuesday, federal authorities seemed to be backing off the fire-and-brimstone rhetoric they used to attack similar measures two years ago. "I think the doctors have been scared by the science," said Jim McDonough, strategy director for the White House drug czar, General Barry McCaffrey. But his dishonesty was evidenced by the continued refusal of the Clinton Administration to withdraw its threat to prosecute doctors who recommend cannabis - McCaffrey v. Conant is still being litigated.)
Voting Acts - Fighting The Disenfranchisement Of America's Future Generations (An op-ed in The Chicago Tribune comments on the recent report by the Sentencing Project and Human Rights Watch about the devastating effects of felony disenfranchisement laws. In many ways, the recent report actually understates the impact of such laws because of juvenile-justice trends. In 41 states that make it easier to transfer children to adult courts, for example, the practical effect will be to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of adults for acts they committed as children.)
Drug Enforcement Administration Proposes Reclassifying Unimed's Synthetic THC Compound, Marinol, Two Days after Marijuana Referendums Pass (A company press release on Business Wire says the DEA today issued a "Notice of Proposed Rulemaking" recommending a reclassification of Marinol from Schedule II to Schedule III, admitting it has a "very low potential for abuse" and no illicit market. In addition to currently accepted uses for the synthetic cannabinoid, Marinol now is being tested on people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.)
Drug Lords Target Nuevo Laredo Cops (According to The San Antonio Express-News, the mayor of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, said Thursday that the border city is under attack and state police are being deployed to combat a wave of drug-related violence that includes the execution of two police officers and the disappearance of two others.)
Jailed Cali Drug Trafficker Killed (The Associated Press says Helmer "Pacho" Herrera, the No. 3 man in the Cali cartel, was killed Thursday in a Colombian prison yard, two years after he surrendered and began fingering ex-associates.)
Why We Must Have Drug Tests At Work (An op-ed in The Times, in Britain, falsely asserts that urine testing employees for illegal drugs achieves its stated objectives, though the writer backhandedly admits that drug abuse is increasing in tandem with the phenomenon. The author claims that within two years it will be almost impossible for illegal-drug users to get a job with larger companies in Britain. The British drugs czar and government ministers have started encouraging drug testing by employers. They are following a quiet revolution, largely unreported because firms have been scared of bad publicity.)
Bytes: 149,000 Last updated: 11/19/98
Wednesday, November 4, 1998:
Oregon Measures 57 and 67 - Update (A list subscriber says pollster Tim Hibbitts has declared yesterday's referendum on recriminalizing marijuana a loser, with more than two-thirds of voters opposed at last count, and the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act a winner, with the tally at 55 percent to 45 percent so far.)
Recriminalization Of Marijuana Defeated, Medical Use Measure Leading (The Associated Press summarizes yesterday's two election victories for Oregon reformers, who raised $636,000 compared to "less than $300,000" by law enforcement officials.)
Medicinal Marijuana Gains Support (A list subscriber forwards a different Associated Press roundup, noting the reporter who quotes him in the article told him Measure 57, which would have recriminalized possession of less than one ounce of marijuana, was defeated in every one of Oregon's 36 counties.)
Medical Marijuana Bill Gaining Approval (The version in The Register-Guard, in Eugene, Oregon, says that in Lane County, more than 64 percent of voters approved Measure 67 in early returns.)
Measure 67 Brings Relief To Many (KOIN Channel 6000, Portland's CBS affiliate, notes the triumph of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, and interviews local medical marijuana patients Craig Helms and Diane Densmore, both previously convicted on marijuana-related charges.)
Oregon Puts Its Stamp On Elections (A typically biased Oregonian summary of yesterday's results from 14 state ballot initiatives barely mentions ballot measures 57 and 67, concerning recrim and medical marijuana, and reiterates opponents' arguments against the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act without citing any arguments by proponents. The most expensive race on the ballot was Measure 59, which would have prohibited public employee unions from using payroll deductions to raise money for political activity.)
Medical Use Of Marijuana Looks Likely (The Oregonian admits Ballot Measure 67, allowing certain sick people to use marijuana on the recommendation of a physician, appeared to be passing late Tuesday. Oregon patients who qualify under the new law will have to wait until at least May 1 before they can apply for registry cards from the Oregon Health Division. But as early as Dec. 3 the law could be used as a defense in court. Meanwhile, Measure 57, which would have recriminalized possession of less than one ounce of marijuana, was being rejected 2-to-1. Multnomah County Sheriff Dan Noelle, a true believer whose contempt for democracy is evident, says "I suspect there will be continued efforts to recriminalize.")
Medical Marijuana Looks Likely (The Oregonian says Measure 67, the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, appeared to be passing late Tuesday. While explaining the mechanics of the ballot measure and noting comments of opponents and supporters, the newspaper quotes the ever-expedient Multnomah County district attorney, Michael Schrunk, reversing himself, saying his office will not back off from prosecuting illegal use of marijuana. Previously, during the campaign, the DA tried to scare voters into opposing Measure 67, saying "These exceptions cancel out the rules and limits, thereby making enforcement of any marijuana laws not only impractical but virtually impossible." Michael Schrunk is a liar.)
Murmurs - The best, worst and weirdest of the November 1998 election campaign (Willamette Week, in Portland, collects some amusing tidbits of information about the just-completed election cycle, including the campaigns in Oregon for medical marijuana and against recrim.)
Officers find marijuana plants and stolen guns at suspect's home (According to The Associated Press, prohibition agents in Douglas County, Oregon, say they found a sophisticated marijuana operation in the home of a suspect killed in a gunfight after wounding two agents. Of course, since the police were the only ones allowed on the scene, and police routinely refuse to videotape their raids, there doesn't seem to be any objective evidence as to what really happened.)
Authorities disclose marijuana haul (The Oregonian version)
NewsBuzz - Bugging Plants (Willamette Week says Portland-area defense lawyers are up in arms after discovering that the Portland Police violated a legal settlement with American Agriculture and have been secretly tracing phone calls to the hydroponics store - perhaps for years - to get leads on suspected marijuana growers. Lawyers are supposed to be told what led police to their clients during the discovery process, but police have never revealed the wiretap. A judicial hearing is scheduled for Dec. 15. If the wiretap is ruled illegal, defense lawyers say they'll move to have possibly hundreds of cases against their clients thrown out. Recall Chief Moose and District Attorney Schrunk!)
Washington among five states to OK medical marijuana (The Seattle Times says supporters of Initiative 692, the Washington state medical-marijuana ballot measure, were savoring the aroma of a decisive victory today as Dr. Rob Killian, the principal sponsor, was heading to Washington, DC, to speak at a news conference calling on a reluctant federal government to reform its marijuana laws.)
Prop 215 Supporters Cheered by Election Results - West Coast Sends a Mandate for Marijuana Reform (A press release from California NORML summarizes yesterday's victories for reform. In California, voters retired gubernatorial candidate Dan Lungren, nemesis of Proposition 215, and replaced him with Bill Lockyer as attorney general, a strong supporter of the California Compassionate Use Act of 1996. California NORML also plans to propose legislation to decriminalize personal-use cultivation, as has been successfully tried in Australia and was recommended by the state Research Advisory Panel in 1990.)
Lockyer Will Succeed Lungren After Close Victory Over Stirling (The San Jose Mercury News notes Bay Area Democrat Bill Lockyer, a supporter of Proposition 215, on Tuesday won the race to replace Dan Lungren as California attorney general, beating his Republican rival, Dave Stirling.)
Ex-felon elected as Mendocino District Attorney (The Associated Press says voters in the Northern California county narrowly elected Norman Vroman, a lawyer who served a federal prison term for failing to pay income taxes, and who favors decriminalization of marijuana. Voters also elected as their sheriff Tony Craver, who also favors decriminalizing marijuana.)
Vroman Pulls Off Upset In Mendocino (The Santa Rosa Press Democrat version)
Ex-Con Elected DA In California's "Pot" Country (The Reuters version)
2 Top Athletic Department Officials At CSUN Resign (The Los Angeles Times says that after Cal State Northridge women's basketball Coach Michael Abraham was arrested in the campus gymnasium last week and charged with intent to distribute crack cocaine, the two top officials in the university's athletic department resigned Tuesday, admitting that they knew of allegations of the coach's illegal drug use.)
Alaskan results as of 1:00 am (A list subscriber's early-morning bulletin says Measure 8, the Alaskan medical-marijuana ballot initiative, is ahead by about 58 percent to 42 percent.)
Medical Marijuana Initiative Clears Its First Hurdle (The Las Vegas Review-Journal says Nevada voters asserted their independence Tuesday and decisively approved Question 9, which would allow doctors to recommend marijuana to patients with serious illnesses. Partial returns showed the medical marijuana question was approved by 59 percent to 41 percent. But Nevada voters must approve Question 9 again in 2000.)
24 shots came from 1 officer in Oregon case (The Houston Chronicle says one of the six Houston prohibition agents who broke into the home of an innocent man, Pedro Oregon Navarro, without a warrant, fired his semiautomatic pistol at the 22-year-old man until the magazine was empty, then reloaded and continued firing.)
HPD steps out in Oregon death (Three diverse letters to the editor of The Houston Chronicle focus on the killing of Pedro Oregon Navarro by Houston prohibition agents who broke into his home without a warrant.)
Results of DC Marijuana Vote Kept Secret Pending Court Action (The Washington Post says the DC Board of Elections and Ethics decided yesterday that the election returns for Initiative 59, the District of Columbia's medical marijuana ballot measure, must remain secret to comply with rules passed by Congress. However, an exit poll funded by Americans for Medical Rights found that those who voted on it favored it by 69 percent.)
Marijuana Vote Results Kept Secret (A slightly different Washington Post account)
DC Won't Disclose Vote, Cites Congress' Pressure (The Chicago Tribune version)
Action Alert - National Call-in Day for I-59 (A bulletin from Colorado Citizens for Compassionate Cannabis urges you to call your US representative and two US senators to demand that the votes be counted for Initiative 59, the District of Columbia's medical marijuana ballot measure.)
Wrong Government Message (A letter to the editor of USA Today responds to an op-ed by the White House Drug Czar, General Barry McCaffrey, who wrote that science, not popular votes, should determine marijuana's medical availability. However, the general ignores two important facts. Marijuana was a bona fide medicine in the United States Pharmacopeia until 1940, when it was removed for political rather than scientific reasons. And for 20 years the government has willfully blocked scientific research that would confirm marijuana's medical efficacy.)
Medical Marijuana Wins at Polls (According to an early-morning Associated Press article, voters in Arizona, Nevada and the state of Washington said "Yes" to medical marijuana, while election officials in the District of Columbia said "Shhh." Reform measures are expected to win in Alaska and Oregon, while Arizona voters cleared the way for a second time to let doctors prescribe marijuana and some other illicit drugs for seriously ill patients.)
Medical Marijuana Backed In 3 States (A Washington Post election roundup on ballot initiatives around the country notes voters in Washington state, Nevada and Arizona passed measures yesterday allowing doctors to recommend marijuana for patients with certain illnesses.)
Three States Pass Medical Marijuana (The Associated Press version)
3 States Pass Medical Marijuana (Another Associated Press roundup notes the reform victories in Nevada, Arizona and Washington, and surveys the results of other state ballot initiatives.)
Voters Back Medical Marijuana In 3 States (The Los Angeles Times version)
Medicinal Marijuana Gives Some Hope (Another Associated Press account of yesterday's drug-policy-reform victories notes opponents of medical marijuana in Alaska enlisted former first lady Barbara Bush, but the measure there was endorsed by several medical groups, including the state chapter of the American Medical Association and the Alaska Nurses Association. Meanwhile, in Nevada, the state's attorney general said he would not enforce a medical marijuana initiative unless federal law is changed.)
A Message To Government In Propositions - Back Off (Yet another Associated Press election roundup in The Seattle Times provides an interesting insight on the results of 235 voter initiatives around the nation. Voters said they didn't want the government to intrude on their lives, whether it was to limit abortions, deny drugs to the seriously ill or even tell them where they could gamble.)
Groups call on government to allow medical use of marijuana (The Associated Press covers a news conference today in Washington, DC, where drug policy reform advocates such as Ethan Nadelmann called on the federal government to allow the medical use of cannabis. Should the government continue to stick its head in the sand, medical marijuana reformers plan ballot initiatives in Maine, Colorado and Nevada again, as well as in Massachusetts, Florida, Michigan and Ohio.)
Message From Voters To Washington - Legalize Medical Marijuana - Measures Protecting Patients Pass in Five States, District of Columbia (A news release from the NORML Foundation summarizes yesterday's reform victories in Alaska, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington state.)
Drug Reform Wins Nine for Nine on Election Day, and More (Another summary of yesterday's election results, by the Drug Reform Coordination Network, notes that in Minnesota, former professional wrestler and talk show host Jesse "The Body" Ventura was elected governor as the candidate for the Reform Party. Ventura has openly discussed the failures of the war on drugs and suggested depenalizing marijuana offenses and prostitution. US Senator Lauch Faircloth of North Carolina, the chairman of the Senate DC Appropriations Committee who was instrumental in quashing the District of Columbia's medical marijuana ballot measure, also lost his re-election bid to Democratic challenger John Edwards.)
Elliott Backs Radical Drug Law Changes (The Advertiser, in Australia, says Mike Elliott, the leader of the Democrats party, has just returned from a visit to Switzerland and Holland and will launch a renewed campaign for radical drug law reform today.)
Bytes: 188,000 Last updated: 1/24/99
Tuesday, November 3, 1998:
Final Oregon Election Results (Links to the official count on Ballot Measure 57 and Ballot Measure 67, from the state government's web site. Includes a link to the state's official election documents on the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act.)
57 Fails - KATU Declares! (A Salem, Oregon, list subscriber says KATU-2, Portland's ABC affiliate, has declared Measure 57 a loser, meaning marijuana will remain decriminalized in Oregon.)
Measure 67! KATU Projects a Winner (A late-night correspondent says Portland's ABC affiliate has also called the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act a winner.)
Oregonians for Medical Rights Toll Free Hotline (Have a question about the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act? Call the sponsors of Measure 67 beginning Thursday at 1-877-600-6767.)
Man killed defending 60 pot plants (The Associated Press doesn't seem to consider that, thanks to Oregon's Draconian marijuana cultivation laws, 63-year-old Lewis Stanley McClendon may have had reason to believe he was about to be hauled off to prison for the rest of his life.)
Corrections officials say prison system stretched to limit after suicides (The Associated Press says four suicides in the past two months by prisoners of the state of Oregon have stretched mental-health-care employees at the Oregon Department of Corrections to the limit. In the last 11 months, prisoners whom the state deems mentally ill in the 8,500-inmate system climbed from 13.5 percent to 17.2 percent, or almost one of every five incarcerated.)
Judge rules search lawful in fatal shooting (The Associated Press says Multnomah County Circuit Judge Linda Bergman ruled Monday that members of the Marijuana Task Force who broke down the door of Portland resident Steven Dons without a warrant were conducting a legal search of a suspected marijuana growing operation when an officer was killed in a shootout last January. Dons died mysteriously in police custody, but his roommate, Jeffrey Moore, 45, was scheduled for trial Tuesday on drug and child endangerment charges because he allegedly knew about Dons' marijuana and guns and allowed his two children, then 7 and 9, near them during a visit.)
Judge finds officers lawful in search (The Oregonian version also does not explain why someone who allegedly had 51 marijuana plants would try to burn the wet greenery in a little wood stove, a process that would take days, even with enough fuel to keep the fire burning, and would permeate the whole neighborhood with an unmistakable odor. The judge in Portland also apparently never heard of the "poison fruit" doctrine, since prohibition agents first became interested in Steven Dons while violating a legal settlement in which they had agreed to stop monitoring customers of American Agriculture, the hydroponics store at Southeast 92nd Avenue and Stark Street.)
I-692 declared a 'W' (A bulletin from Americans for Medical Rights says KIRO in Seattle, citing exit polls, has called Initiative 692, the Washington state medical marijuana ballot measure, a winner.)
Marvin Chavez Trial This Week (A local correspondent covers the trial beginning this week of the founder of the Orange County Patient-Doctor-Nurse Support Group. On Tuesday, Judge Frank Fasel transferred the case to Judge Kazuharu Nakino, who rejected a defense motion to disqualify the prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Carl Armbrust, and then transferred the case to Judge Thomas J. Borris. Judge Borris will hear arguments to allow a 215 defense tomorrow. A jury will be selected Thursday morning, and the trial will begin Thursday afternoon. The trial is expected to last seven days.)
Island Voters Support Pot for Medical Uses - Poll (According to The Hawaii Tribune Herald, a public opinion poll carried out for 'Ohana Aloha, an organization of "religious and medical practitioners of cannabis," says voters in Hawai'i also strongly back the legalization of industrial hemp.)
Mix-Up Leads To Release Of Marijuana-Bust Suspects (The Deseret News in Utah says three Mexican nationals and a Salt Lake resident were released after federal prosecutors failed to act on the case within 72 hours. The men were arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail after prohibition agents discovered more than 1,000 plants Oct. 20 in Emigration Canyon that they valued at $700 each.)
Colorado results online (Americans for Medical Rights notes for some reason, votes are being counted for the Colorado medical marijuana initiative that was disqualified after ballots were printed. With 2 percent of precincts counted, Amendment 19 leads 59 percent to 41 percent.)
Grand Juror - Justice Not Done In Oregon Case (The Houston Chronicle says Simon Rodriguez, a retired Internal Revenue Service officer, served as the assistant foreman on the Harris County grand jury that investigated the death of Pedro Oregon Navarro at the hands of six Houston prohibition agents who broke into his house without a warrant and shot the innocent man 12 times. Rodriguez said Monday he is "unsatisfied" that five of the officers involved were cleared and only one was indicted on a misdemeanor charge, and he wanted to talk with federal investigators about the closed-door grand jury sessions.)
Six Officers In Oregon Case Fired (The Houston Chronicle says Houston Police Chief CO Bradford on Monday fired the six prohibition agents who broke down the door of an innocent man, Pedro Oregon Navarro, without a warrant before shooting him 12 times, calling it an "egregious" case of official misconduct.)
Houston Cops Fired (The Orange County Register version)
Oregon Shooting Was A Travesty (Three letters to the editor of The Houston Chronicle about the death of Pedro Oregon Navarro, an innocent man shot 12 times by Houston prohibition agents who broke down his door without a warrant.)
Court Lets Drug Testing Decision Stand (The Indianapolis Star says the US 7th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously refused to reconsider its Sept. 9 ruling that a drug testing policy at public schools in Anderson, Indiana, is unconstitutional. Under the policy adopted in August 1997, a student who had been suspended for fighting was obliged to take a drug test in order to return to school.)
Assisted Suicide Fails In Michigan Medical Marijuana Passes in 2 States (An Associated Press election night roundup says that with 16 percent of returns counted, 71 percent of Michigan voters were opposing an initiative that would allowing doctors to prescribe lethal doses of medication for terminally ill patients.)
I-59 Count is . . . (A bulletin from Americans for Medical Rights says AMR commissioned a scientific exit poll on the medical marijuana initiative in Washington, DC, that was quashed at the last minute by order of Congress. Among the 88 percent who voted on Initiative 59, supporters outnumbered opponents by 69 percent to 31 percent.)
Medical Marijuana and Drug Policy Reform Win Big (A late-night bulletin from Colorado Citizens for Compassionate Cannabis notes reform victories in Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington state - and Colorado, where the ballots weren't even supposed to be counted.)
Medical Marijuana and Related Initiative Sites (A late election-night roundup from Americans for Medical Rights.)
Drug-abuse seen having no impact on US welfare (Reuters says a team of researchers at the University of California at Berkeley reported Tuesday that welfare recipients may be more likely to abuse alcohol and other drugs, but substance abusers are not more likely to stay on welfare long-term. The findings contradict the widely held notion that alcoholics and other addicts abuse welfare disproportionately.)
Narcotics Division Sends Cosmetics To Lab For Drug Tests (The South China Morning Post, in Hong Kong, says the Body Shop, a cosmetics chain, admitted yesterday it was selling products containing hemp, a type of cannabis, in Hong Kong. A spokesman for the Security Bureau's narcotics division said it had sent samples to a government laboratory for tests, claiming THC is a psychotropical substance and "could affect nerves.")
Police Are Raided In Fraud Inquiry (An ambiguous article in The Times, in Britain, says the raid came as two Scotland Yard detectives were arrested in a separate investigation and questioned about trafficking heroin, cocaine and cannabis.)
Bytes: 95,900 Last updated: 2/10/99
Monday, November 2, 1998:
Lawmen find 60 mairjuana plants on property of man killed in shootout (The Associated Press says prohibition agents found the plants on the remote Oregon property of Lewis Stanley McClendon, 63, who was killed Friday when officers allegedly returned fire outside his house 17 miles north of Tiller.)
Police detain two 11 years after marijuana intercepted (The Associated Press says Walter McDowell Martin and John Joseph Mullen, the last of 36 suspects sought in connection with the discovery of about 17,000 pounds of marijuana on an Oregon beach 11 years ago, have been returned to Oregon. They were captured in different cities of the Philippines by members of the Philippine Presidential Anti-Crime Task Force and turned over to US Drug Enforcement Administration officials.)
Woman inmate found hanging in cell (The Associated Press says the suicide of Loretta Hill, 26, was the fourth by an Oregon state prisoner in the past two months.)
Poll shows Washington marijuana measure slipping (An item from the web site of KATU, Portland's ABC affiliate, says a poll of 801 voters around Washington state earlier this week shows 47 percent supported Initiative 692, the medical marijuana ballot measure, while 38 percent opposed the initiative.)
KATU Online Poll (A list subscriber alerts others to a poll on medical marijuana at the web site of Portland's ABC affiliate.)
Prop. 215 Maneuvering (The Orange County Register says the trial of Marvin Chavez, founder of the Orange County Patient-Doctor-Nurse Support Group, took an unusual turn Monday. Defense attorneys filed a motion to have Deputy District Attorney Carl Armbrust disqualified from prosecuting the case because there is a reasonable possibility that he "will not exercise his discretionary function in an even handed manner and has abandoned his duty to seek justice," based on his statements to reporters and letters in The Register.)
Differing Perceptions Of Contenders For Governor (A letter to the editor of The San Francisco Examiner urges California voters to consign Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Lungren to the trash bin of history for undermining the will of voters who endorsed Proposition 215.)
Medical Pot Users File Class Action Suit (The Bay Area Reporter version of recent news about the lawsuit filed by Lawrence Elliott Hirsch in Philadelphia against the federal prohibition on medical marijuana.)
Authorities consider medical use of marijuana (The USA Today version.)
Home Rule and Initiative 59 (A letter to the editor of The Washington Post says the District of Columbia Election Board is mistaken in thinking that the congressional rider in the fiscal 1999 DC budget, which bans funding for the medical marijuana ballot measure, prevents counting votes.)
235 Voter Referendums Test Mood Of America (The Chicago Tribune surveys the myriad voter initiatives on state ballots around the country, mentioning only one state's medical marijuana initiative.)
Killing Narcotics With Fungus (KTVU-TV Channel 2, Oakland/San Francisco, recounts the US government's new $23 million biological warfare campaign against cannabis, coca, and poppies, noting the target plants are likely will evolve even stronger chemicals to fight to the fungus. Mutated plants could also pass their genes on to other plants or weeds. The so-called "transgene escape" has been shown to create herbicide-resistant super-weeds.)
Kids Who Watch TV More Likely To Start Drinking (The Associated Press says a Stanford University study of 1,533 ninth-graders shows that students who watched lots of television and music videos were more likely to start drinking than other youngsters. Published in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics, the study also showed that teens who rented movies were less likely to start drinking, while playing video and computer games had no effect. The researchers blamed television content rather than, for example, behavioral or genetic variables.)
$63 Million Federal Lawsuit Filed Against George Bush And Others (From The Wilderness, published by Michael C. Ruppert, says Bill Tyree, a former US Army Green Beret who participated in CIA-directed missions to smuggle cocaine into Panama in 1975 and 1976, and who has been serving a life sentence in Massachusetts for the 1979 murder of his wife, Elaine, has filed a lawsuit in US District Court alleging that the CIA, George Bush, the Massachusetts governor and attorney general, and a long-time CIA operative have been part of a decades-long conspiracy to smuggle illegal drugs into the United States. The suit also alleges that the defendants, including George Bush, participated in a conspiracy to obstruct justice.)
On the border, journalists put lives on the line (An Associated Press article in The Seattle Times about Jesus Blancornelas, the Tijuana, Mexico, publisher of the newspaper, Zeta, says the survivor of a bloody assassination attempt continues to expose alleged traffickers in illegal drugs.)
Charges Vowed Against US Agents (According to The Chicago Tribune, the Venezuelan ambassador to the United States said in an interview published Sunday that Venezuela plans to prosecute US undercover agents who took part in Operation Casablanca, a drug money laundering sting operation that led to the indictment of five Venezuelans.)
Two Million Drink At 'Harmful' Levels (According to The Scotsman, "The State of the Nation," a report publisehd today by an unspecified group, says one out of every 20 Britishers is addicted to alcohol, twice as many as are hooked on all other drugs. In addition to the two million harmful drinkers, seven million British residents imbibe more than the recommended government limit. The report also says there are up to 33,000 alcohol-related deaths each year in Britain and about 28,000 hospital admissions due to alcohol dependence or poisoning.)
Tecs in Drug Quiz (The Sun, in Britain, says a Scotland Yard sergeant and constable were arrested in dawn swoops at their homes in South and South East London and questioned last night over allegations that they conspired to supply opium, cocaine and cannabis, stole 12,700, committed robbery and attempted to pervert justice.)
Bytes: 69,300 Last updated: 10/7/98
Sunday, November 1, 1998:
Public Nuisance Or Therapy? Cannabis Clubs (Dr. Lester Grinspoon of Harvard Medical School, writing in Playboy magazine, summarizes the brief history of medical marijuana dispensaries in California. Two models exist for such cannabis clubs - the pharmacy model, exemplified by the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, and the support-group model, exemplified by the San Francisco Cannabis Cultivators' Club. If there is even a kernel of truth to the idea that talking about the stress, setbacks and triumphs in the battle against an illness can help a patient cope and recover, it is clear that the San Francisco model provides the best environment for the dispensing of medicinal marijuana.)
Pot Will Win, Poll Predicts (The Herald, in Everett, Washington, says a new survey commissioned by The Arizona Republic shows Arizona voters, by a thin margin, appear ready to give a second endorsement to the use of marijuana and other illegal drugs for medical treatment.)
Amending the Lynn Pierson Program (A list subscriber notes New Mexico has a medical marijuana law that needs only a little bit of tweaking to make it functional. He posts the text of an amendment that would make the law viable, and says after the election he will be looking for a legislative sponsor.)
A Realistic Prescription To Mix Marijuana And Moderation (An op-ed in The Boston Globe by Thomas W. Clark, a research associate at Health and Addictions Research Inc., suggests teenagers may understand what the National Institute on Drug Abuse has been at pains recently to deny - that there are valid distinctions between soft and hard drugs, and that such distinctions can inform one's choice of psychoactive substance. Teenagers, in short, are not stupid, and though marijuana may not be risk-free, it compares favorably to alcohol and tobacco with regard to health hazards and potential for abuse. Consequently, the attempt to tar it with the same brush as cocaine and heroin is backfiring, undercutting the credibility of both NIDA and beleaguered parents who are asked to instill fear of the "evil weed" into their increasingly skeptical children.)
Iowa traffic stop leads to US Supreme Court case (The Associated Press says a hearing Tuesday in Washington, DC will focus on whether Patrick Knowles' Fourth Amendment rights were violated when police made an unauthorized search of his car after he was cited for speeding. Marijuana and a pipe were found under the front passenger seat.)
Statistics on pregnant women prosecuted for drug use (Some revealing statistics from the November issue of Harper's Magazine begin by noting an estimated 200 American women have been arrested for child abuse since 1977 after using alcohol or other drugs while pregnant.)
Study Shows Subsidized Housing, Not Treatment of Social Ills, Is Crucial to Homeless (According to The New York Times, researchers at New York University have published a report in Tuesday's issue of the American Journal of Public Health challenging the widely held view that the most effective way to end homelessness among families is by first resolving such problems as mental illness and substance abuse. After following hundreds of homeless families in New York City between 1988 and 1993, researchers concluded the real problem is the city's scarcity of subsidized housing.)
Lack Of Needle-Exchange Plan Hurts Minorities (According to The Dallas Morning News, former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders said Saturday at the four-day United States Conference on AIDS in Dallas that the $156 million AIDS package announced by President Clinton lacks a vital component - a needle-exchange program.)
Marijuana and Glaucoma (A sanctimonious editorial in The Archives of Opthalmology, by Paul L. Kaufman, MD, previews the biased article by Keith Green, a Medical College of Georgia professor of ophthalmology, about the potential use of marijuana and cannabinoids in glaucoma therapy, which will be widely publicized Nov. 13 and debunked by reformers the same day through the next week.)
Marijuana Smoking vs Cannabinoids For Glaucoma Therapy (The biased article by Keith Green, a Medical College of Georgia professor of ophthalmology, about the potential use of marijuana and cannabinoids in glaucoma therapy, which will be widely publicized Nov. 13 and debunked by reformers the same day through the next week.)
The War At Home (A lengthy article by Gore Vidal in Vanity Fair analyzes the war against Constitutional liberties waged by American government and media, particularly in the guise of the war on some drugs and counter-terrorism.)
Drugs - Missing The Big Story (The Columbia Journalism Review says that when it comes to press coverage of "the drug issue," the main action is in Mexico. In the United States, the press has been neglecting the battle at home. What's missing is any sustained coverage of the really significant stories, for example, the effectiveness of treatment in reducing addicts' dependence, and the difficulty they have in getting it.)
CIA's Drug Confession (iF magazine, in Canada, says CIA Inspector General Frederick Hitz confirmed long-standing allegations of cocaine trafficking by Nicaraguan Contra forces in an historic document released Oct. 8 that was nearly ignored by major news media.)
Still Life with Absinthe - The Tipple Of Choice For Fin-De-Siecle Decadents Tempts A New Generation (The Utne Reader reprints an article from the winter 1997 issue of The Idler in which musician and writer John Moore describes his flirtation with the Green Fairy. Absinthe is commonly believed to cause hallucinations, convulsions, degenerate behavior, and even brain damage. Modern research has shown that wormwood releases a chemical called thujone, which has a molecular structure similar to that of marijuana's active component. It isn't clear whether the thujone in absinthe is sufficient to cause such severe effects, however. It is far more likely that alcohol is the culprit. In 1905, when Swiss farmer Jean Lanfray shot his entire family after a heavy day's drinking, the story made headlines all over Europe, proclaiming him "un absinthiste." He had also consumed several bottles of wine, brandy, and creme de menthe, but that was ignored. The bans began.)
Many Police Thought Dead In Colombia Attack (Reuters says as many as half of the 120 "police" stationed at a "police base" in a remote jungle region of eastern Colombia may have been killed Sunday during an attack by up to 600 guerillas with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.)
Crime And Punishment (Resurgence Magazine, in Britain, features an essay by Brendan O'Friel, the forrner chairman of the Prison Governors Association, pondering what should be done about Britain's rapidly increasing prison population. In the years between the two world wars, a period of high unemployment, the prison population in England and Wales fluctuated between 10,000 and 13,000. The number of people locked up now has passed 65,000 and planners are having to contemplate forecast figures of over 80,000.)
Bytes: 197,000 Last updated: 12/9/98
Saturday, October 31, 1998:
Clinton Anti-Drug Deputy Attacks Marijuana Measures (The Oregonian quotes Donald Vereen, deputy director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, saying "I didn't know you went to the ballot box for medicine," ignoring the fact that that's essentially what Oregonians did when they twice voted for physician-assisted suicide.)
Medical marijuana a mistake (An op-ed in The Bulletin, in Bend, Oregon, by Eric Bush, apparently a law-enforcement official, opposes Measure 67, asking "how much of a victim you would feel like if a person crashed into you or your family while driving down the road, coming from the marijuana store in town," as if the Oregon Medical Marijuana allowed marijuana dispensaries.)
Re - Medical marijuana a mistake (A letter sent to the editor of The Bulletin, in Bend, Oregon, criticizes today's op-ed opposing Measure 67, the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act.)
Suspected Oregon Pot Grower Dies In Shootout, 2 Deputies Hurt (An Associated Press article in The Seattle Times updates yesterday's Associated Press account.)
Initiative 692, Do Right For The Sick (A letter to the editor of The Herald, in Everett, Washington, says opponents of the medical marijuana ballot measure are cruel, illogical and hypocritical.)
Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative Office Re-Opens (California NORML says US District Judge Charles Breyer has allowed the OCBC to resume activities other than the distribution or production of marijuana.)
County Settles Suit Filed by Drug Test Takers (The San Francisco Chronicle says Contra Costa County has agreed to pay $1.2 million to thousands of former welfare applicants to settle a legal challenge to the county's use of a controversial written test to identify substance abusers.)
Campaign ad misleading on marijuana (According to The Anchorage Daily News, a newspaper advertisement paid for by Alaskans for Truth on the Medical Marijuana Initiative Committee says "The American Medical Association and the American Cancer Society have rejected marijuana as medicine." In fact, the cancer society takes a more neutral position, questioning whether marijuana is any more effective than legal medicines, including Marinol, a synthetic form of one of dozens of cannabinoids found in natural cannabis. The newspaper fails to note the AMA also supports research into marijuana.)
Money man gets behind 5 props (A feature article in The Arizona Republic spotlights John Sperling, the founder of the University of Phoenix who has contributed more than $1 million for or against five of the 14 propositions on Tuesday's ballot in Arizona. The initiatives range from medical marijuana to stopping the Legislature from thwarting voters to enabling all voters to participate in candidate nominations.)
Medicinal Marijuana Has Ally In Judge (The Philadelphia Inquirer notes US District Judge Marvin Katz suggested last week that the federal government settle Lawrence Elliott Hirsch's class-action lawsuit challenging medical marijuana prohibition by re-opening the Compassionate IND program under which eight patients still receive 300 joints every month.)
ACLU Sues to Guard Marijuana Measure - Congress Ordered DC Vote Voided (The Washington Post notes the American Civil Liberties Union is challenging an amendment to the District of Columbia appropriations bill inserted Oct. 21 by Representative Robert L. Barr Jr., a Republican from Georgia, which prohibits the District from using money on an initiative that would "legalize or otherwise reduce penalties" for users of marijuana. "The Barr amendment prohibits any initiative that would reduce the penalties for marijuana, but allows any initiative that would increase those penalties," said Arthur Spitzer, the ACLU's legal director. "That is like saying voters can vote for Republicans but not for Democrats, or can vote to build nuclear power plants but not to ban them.")
US, China Team Up In Drug War - Report (According to Reuters, The Washington Post said Saturday that the United States and China established a secret electronic surveillance post in 1995 along China's border with Burma to eavesdrop on narcotics trafficking from the Golden Triangle. In addition, Chinese sources said, the United States has established a secret fund that Chinese officials can access to run the surveillance center and fight drug trafficking.)
Why China Would "Team up" With US in Drug War (Michael Levine, a former DEA agent, now an author and radio talk-show host, says the United States is giving China an excuse to make foreign military incursions into neighboring countries such as Burma under the banner of the "war on drugs," just as the United States has done. The Chinese government also recognizes that, with the rapid growth of capitalism in China, it needs an "acceptable" excuse to continue police-state tactics.)
Swiss Referendum Repeals Prohibition (A list subscriber draws your attention to the "droleg" referendum November 29. Switzerland may repeal the prohibitions on currently illegal drugs. Hard drugs, soft drugs - all drugs.)
Bytes: 55,700 Last updated: 11/7/98
Friday, October 30, 1998:
Illegal, not evil (A letter to the editor of The Bulletin, in Bend, Oregon, criticizes the recent piece opposing the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act written by Michael T. Dugan, saying the Deschutes County District Attorney minimizes the very real agonies with which some people are forced to live.)
Students would elect Kitzhaber, ease up on pot (An Associated Press article in The Bend, Oregon, Bulletin, doesn't give any percentages, but says a mock election this week at 108 Oregon middle and high schools found that students opposed Measure 57, which would recriminalize possession of less than one ounce of marijuana, and favored Measure 67, the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act. Another list subscriber cites The Statesman Journal version, which says students rejected recrim 55 percent to 45 percent, and endorsed medical marijuana 63 percent to 37 percent.)
Two Drug Officers Shot, Wounded In Remote Southern Oregon (The Associated Press doesn't even mention the man who was killed after he shot two prohibition agents from the Douglas Interagency Narcotics Team who were about to serve a warrant for a suspected marijuana grow in a remote home near Tiller, Oregon.)
Two narcs wounded in southern Oregon (A different Associated Press account notes the dead man suspected of growing marijuana made music boxes and grandfather clocks and had previously invited neighbors into his home. No word on whether prohibition agents found anything - apparently they needed time to plant evidence.)
Libertarian's ad takes cues from 'South Park' (The Sacramento Bee gives a favorable review to a cable television advertisement that spoofs "South Park" while promoting the California gubernatorial campaign of Steve Kubby, the medical marijuana patient and activist.)
Marijuana initiative gains support (The Las Vegas Review-Journal says a new statewide survey commissioned by the Review-Journal and KTNV-TV found 52 percent of likely voters favored passage of Question 9 on Tuesday's election ballot. Forty percent opposed passage of the medical marijuana initiative, and 8 percent were undecided.)
An Unwise Exception (A staff editorial in The Daily News Miner, in Fairbanks, Alaska, opposes Ballot Measure 8, the medical marijuana initiative, saying the system envisioned by the proposed legislation is unworkable and inconsistent, given that marijuana would still remain illegal for everyone else.)
Bainter - Buckley Lied To High Court (The Denver Post says Ric Bainter, the Democratic candidate for Colorado secretary of state, on Tuesday accused Republican incumbent Vikki Buckley of lying to the state Supreme Court about completing a court-ordered signature count for Amendment 19, the medical marijuana initiative.)
Court snuffs pot initiative's last-gasp effort - Measure to appear on ballot, but votes won't be counted (The Gazette, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, says the state Supreme Court on Thursday refused to order county clerks to count votes for a proposal to legalize the medical use of marijuana, effectively ending a battle to allow voters to decide the issue Nov. 3.)
Justices won't OK pot vote (The Denver Post version)
Colorado - Next steps (A bulletin from Americans for Medical Rights confirms Amendment 19, the Colorado medical marijuana initiative, officially died yesterday. However, AMR plans to prove the initiative belonged on the 1998 ballot, which will result in its automatic placement on the November 2000 ballot. AMR also expects to initiate other actions to collect damages for this year's expenses.)
Feds Have No Business Meddling With Medical-Marijuana Initiatives (A staff editorial in The Gazette, in Colorado Springs, says the US House of Representatives was practicing medicine without a license when it passed House Joint Resolution 117 earlier this month.)
For The Kids? (A staff editorial in The Gazette, in Colorado Springs, comments on the Colorado state Board of Education denouncing the initiative campaign to legalize marijuana as medicine, saying the reasoning that goes into public policy advocacy by some of our public officials is troubling. "Since when is it the place of the criminal code simply to send a message to our young? Isn't that parents' duty?")
Armed and Dangerous - The bloody police raid at Sallisaw - Investigators mum after cops shoot mother holding child (WorldNetDaily.com suggests prohibition agents committed an atrocity reminiscent of Ruby Ridge while rousting an innocent family in Sallisaw, Oklahoma. Pat Eymer, the mother, is in a hospital recovering from a 45-caliber hollow-point bullet that destroyed most of the bone in her right shoulder. Her children were taken by child protective services and requests to place them with grandparents were refused. Her husband, Steve, has been arrested, along with her cousin, James Hinkle, and his friend, Tammy Bedwell, after police allegedly planted marijuana as evidence. Another person who was on the scene is suspected of setting them up for the raid.)
Farah - The cops are out of control (Syndicated columnist Joseph Farah says the recent incidents in Oklahoma, where police shot an unarmed mother holding her child in her home, in Virginia, where a SWAT team killed a watchman guarding a dice game at an after-hours club and in California, where a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms raid on a gun shop resulted in the death of the shopkeeper, provide some hard evidence that police in America may be getting out of control.)
Defendant Rejects Plea, Then Jumps to His Death (The New York Times says 19-year-old Derrick Smith, accused of selling crack cocaine - unlike yesterday's Associated Press version, which said he was charged with possessing marijuana - was offered a plea bargain by a judge in Manhattan Thursday entailing a three- to six-year prison sentence, but voted with his feet.)
Man Facing Drug Trial Leaps To Death At Court (Today's Associated Press version also says Smith was charged with selling cocaine.)
Teen-ager jumps to death from NYC courtroom (A brief Reuters version says Smith was charged with selling crack cocaine.)
Judge Proposes DOJ Establish Program To Distribute Marijuana To Sick Folks (The Legal Intelligencer, in Pennsylvania, recounts the recent news about US District Judge Marvin Katz suggesting that the government re-open the Compassionate IND program in order to settle the class-action medical-marijuana lawsuit brought by Philadelphia public interest attorney Lawrence Elliott Hirsch. Yesterday, the Justice Department asked for 60 days to think it over.)
Medical Marijuana Lawsuit in Philadelphia (A two-part bulletin from the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation includes the text of the federal attorneys' brief saying they will need 60 days to study the feasibility of complying with US District Judge Marvin Katz's suggestion that the government re-open the Compassionate IND program. The press release preceding the brief says it is "news" that a federal judge found the facts pleaded in this case so compelling that at the first pre-trial conference on the matter he suggested a settlement wherein the plaintiffs would receive medical marijuana. Implicit in the judge's proposal is his recognition of two key facts and a profound legal conclusion - marijuana has critical medical value for the treatment of very serious conditions and diseases, that the government recognizes this medical value because it provides marijuana to eight very ill persons, and denial by the government to seriously ill persons of the use of marijuana medically rises to the level of an unconstitutional violation of their rights.)
ACLU suit to ensure vote count on medical marijuana initiative (The Associated Press notes the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Friday contending Congress' attempts to block the District of Columbia medical marijuana ballot measure violated residents' First Amendment rights. Ken McGhie, counsel for the DC Board of Elections and Ethics, said district employees will make no efforts to avoid tabulating the results. "Counting the ballots on the district's medical marijuana issue will take about 30 seconds of computer time," he said.)
Medicinal marijuana gains support (The Boston Globe says the voter initiatives on ballots around the country have the drug warriors running scared, but Congress' attempt to quash the vote in Washington, DC, has only increased public support for that measure. In the next round of elections, Illinois, Ohio, Maine, and Florida are likely to launch initiatives, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.)
A Way To Ease Suffering (A staff editorial in USA Today endorses medical marijuana initiatives on the ballot in six Western states and the District of Columbia. The No. 1 argument against medical use of marijuana is that any opening will be exploited by those seeking to further depenalize the use of marijuana and other controlled substances. Unquestionably, the promoters of these initiatives include people whose real agenda is broader reform. But that doesn't justify a needlessly rigid ban on a doctor's sincere effort to do what's best for a suffering patient.)
Ballot-Box Prescriptions Risky (USA Today prints the boilerplate op-ed from the White House drug czar, General Barry McCaffrey, opposing medical marijuana initiatives around the United States.)
Medical Marijuana on 7 US Ballots (Cable News Network discusses the reform initiatives facing voters in Alaska, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Washington state, Washington, DC, and Arizona.)
Former First Lady Barbara Bush Rejects Marijuana as Medicine (A press release on Business Wire says The Drug Free America Foundation Inc., of St. Petersburg, Florida, has taped anti-medical marijuana television and radio advertisements to be distributed to opponents of medical marijuana ballot measures in Alaska, Washington and Oregon.)
Study Says Ecstasy Causes Brain Damage (According to the Houston Chronicle, a report published today in The Lancet says a team from Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore and the National Institute of Mental Health took brain scans of 14 long-term users of MDMA and concluded that the drug damaged the nerves that release serotonin, the naturally occurring chemical that plays a role in mood, memory, pain perception, sexual desire, sleep and appetite.)
Ecstasy 'Harms Brain For Life' (The version in The Guardian, in Britain)
MDMA Neurotoxicity Research (The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies comments on The Lancet report about the supposed toxicity of MDMA. As usual, government "research" and mass media reporting turn out to be dubious on several counts.)
The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue No. 65 (The Drug Reform Coordination Network's original summary of drug policy news and calls for action, including - Announcements; Study - 13 percent of black men ineligible to vote; Mother holding child shot by police in her home; Medical marijuana goes to voters on Tuesday; Update on Initiative 59 - Washington, DC; Report from Oregon; Court ruling ends reverse marijuana sting operations; Tasmanian government wants possession of marijuana legalized; And an editorial by Adam J. Smith, The 13 percent solution)
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Thursday, October 29, 1998:
Doctor defends medical marijuana - Richard Bayer defines Measure 67 as a health-care rights issue (The Statesman Journal, in Salem, Oregon, asks some relatively good questions and gets some good answers from the chief petitioner for the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act. In response to a question about whether some people might get marijuana who don't really need it, Dr. Bayer notes pain specialists report that less than 1 percent of all addictions occur as a result of receiving pain medication. So even if a person were able to fool a doctor, it would be very rare for such patients to became dependent, and the risk is certainly outweighed by the benefits.)
Backers Of Medical-Marijuana Initiative Roll Out TV Ads (The Seattle Times says backers of Initiative 692 in Washington state have unveiled a $220,000 television campaign in the last week before the election. Opponents have raised only about $12,000, but benefit from a well-funded national anti-drug campaign orchestrated by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy - even though the White House is not supposed to spend its public-education budget influencing the outcome of elections.)
I-692 - Medical Marijuana - Agent Of Terror Or Compassion? (The Statesman-Examiner, in Colville, Washington, does a pro-and-con article about Initiative 692, the medical marijuana ballot measure, with Nora Callahan of the November Coalition featured on the pro side and a rather ignorant addiction specialist, Dr. Susan Garcia-Swain of Seattle on the con side parroting such baseless drug warrior propaganda.as the claim that "sex organs have a tendency to atrophy with the use of marijuana.")
State Will Really Go To Pot (Another misinformed drug warrior gets an insipid letter to the editor published in The Herald, in Everett, Washington, opposing Initiative 692, the medical marijuana ballot measure.)
Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative - good news (California NORML forwards a message saying US district judge Charles Breyer has agreed tomorrow to order US marshals to return co-op officials' office keys and to allow them to resume all activities except for distributing medicine.)
Lungren's 'gestapo' tactics - Spying on doctors, trashing the medical pot initiative (The Sacramento News and Review shows how California Attorney General Dan Lungren, the Republican candidate for governor, has essentially led the assault against the medical marijuana initiative that voters approved in November 1996.)
Rally and court date - Marvin Chavez (A list subscriber invites you to attend the trial of the founder of the Orange County Patient-Doctor-Nurse Support Group. Meet at 7:30 am Monday, Nov. 11, to hand out FIJA flyers.)
A Real Dope (A letter to the editor of The Las Vegas Review-Journal drips sarcasm as it rebuts a recent op-ed opposing medical marijuana written by the White House drug czar, General Barry McCaffrey. "I'm sure that I can trust the general to tell me how to vote in a Nevada election. After all, my federal tax dollars are paying him handsomely to do it.")
Counties Won't Save Marijuana Votes (The Rocky Mountain News says advocates for medical marijuana patients and Amendment 19 struck out in Denver District Court on Wednesday. Judge Connie Peterson refused to order county election officials to preserve Colorado ballots for possible counting in the event of successful legal challenges to the secretary of state's decision to disqualify the initiative due to an alleged lack of valid signatures.)
Judge Turns Back Pro-Pot Group (The Denver Post version)
State Corrections Officials Tally Inmate Dope Use (According to The Tulsa World, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections says nearly 6 percent of a random sampling of Oklahoma inmates tested positive for illegal drugs. The national average is 9.3 percent. Marijuana was the drug of choice. Of the 266 people on probation or parole who were tested in September, 55 were positive, or 20.68 percent. The newspaper fails to note that, according to the latest National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, only about 6 percent of the rest of the population uses illegal drugs, and fails to ask how prohibition can be enforced in a free society it can't be enforced in prisons.)
HPD Panel Is Reviewing Oregon Case (The Houston Chronicle says the Houston Police Department has completed its internal investigation into the shooting of Pedro Oregon Navarro, an innocent man shot to death by prohibition agents who broke into his house without a warrant. The Internal Affairs Division completed its investigation and turned its findings over to the department's Civilian Review Committee late Monday.)
After Rejecting Plea Bargain, 19-Year-Old Jumps To Death (The Associated Press says Derrick Smith, 19, was charged with possession of marijuana and a judge in Manhattan had just offered him three to six years in prison in exchange for a guilty plea.)
Walk & Roll (A list subscriber forwards details about events scheduled Nov. 1-4 in Washington, DC, dedicated to ending the war on medical marijuana users. An itinerary and contact list provide more details about past and future highlights of the rolling protest traveling from Boston to the District of Columbia. Inspired by a quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln, who allegedly said, "While preparing for my debate with Mr. Douglas, I preferred to go into the woods nearby and sit on a stump with my harmonica and my pipe with my Indian hemp," the Lincoln Memorial Harmonica Convergence is featured at many events.)
The First Medical Marijuana Case (A letter to the editor of The Washington Post from John W. Karr, an attorney, says the newspaper's recent suggestion that the District of Columbia had never prosecuted a medical marijuana patient is wrong - he argued the first such case, United States v. Robert Randall, decided in 1976. It was also the first case in which a federal court recognized medical necessity as a legitimate defense to a marijuana possession charge.)
Drug Or Medicine? Marijuana Faces Test At US Polls (A Reuters roundup on medical marijuana ballot measures facing voters around the United States makes the ridiculous claim that Proposition 215 has been wholly nullified by court closures of cannabis buyers clubs.)
Slew Of Referenda Await USA's Voters (A USA Today roundup about some 235 voter initiatives on the ballot in various parts of the country says 24 states, primarily in the West, allow citizens to place issues directly before voters. This is the 100th anniversary of the citizen process - South Dakota was the first to approve the citizen referendum, in 1898, and Oregon was the first to use it, in 1904.)
Free Contest - Five Copies of "Drug Crazy" (The Drug Reform Coordination Network invites you to enter its online contest by Nov. 12 in order to win a copy of Mike Gray's recent book, possibly the best history of the Drug War ever written for a popular audience.)
Pot for medical use, gets support (The Kitchener-Waterloo Record, in Ontario, publicizes a benefit tonight at Yuk Yuks Comedy Club in Kitchener. The benefit for MUM, a local buyers' club, is called "Oh Cannabis" and features Alan Young, an Osgoode Hall law professor and courtroom cannabis crusader; Dr. Alexander Sumach, hemp lectuer and the head of Hemp Future Study Group; and an array of Canadian comics.)
MUM's the word (A letter to the editor of the Kitchener-Waterloo Record praises Marijuana Used for Medicine, the illicit local medical cannabis buyers' club.)
Drug Users Aim to Supply Pot to Ease Pain (The Guardian, in Britain, says more than 70 potential customers have made contact within a couple of days of the Medical Marijuana Co-operative's launch from a flat in Stockport, Greater Manchester.)
Aerosol Deodorant Kills Boy Obsessed With Smelling Nice (An Associated Press article in The Dallas Morning News says a 16-year-old boy in Manchester, England, died July 29 after months of repeatedly spraying his entire body with deodorant Jonathan Capewell had 10 times the lethal dosage of propane and butane in his blood when he suffered a fatal heart attack.)
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Wednesday, October 28, 1998:
Measure 57 - Marijuana Possession (The Oregonian doesn't make it hard to figure out how it wants you to vote as it describes the state ballot measure that would recriminalize possession of less than one ounce of marijuana.)
Orange County Patient-Doctor-Nurse Support Group (A local correspondent says the medical marijuana support group continues to serve patients, despite the prosecutions of Marvin Chavez and Jack Shachter and the seizure of the group's bank account. Please send donations to help with copying costs, postage, phone bills, and so forth.)
An In Depth Look At Question No. 9 (An MSNBC story broadcast by KRNV in Reno about the Nevada medical marijuana ballot measure quotes District Attorney Dick Gammick saying that in California, Proposition 215 "has already broken down, and a movement is under way for repeal," a patently false statement.)
Buckley Lied On Recount, Her Own Workers Allege (According to The Gazette, in Colorado Springs, employees of Colorado Secretary of State Vikki Buckley say they never completed a line-by-line recount of 88,815 signatures submitted for Amendment 19 - contrary to what Buckley told the Colorado Supreme Court after she disqualified the medical marijuana ballot measure.)
Ruling On Leniency Shakes A US Legal Pillar (A New York Times article in The International Herald-Tribune discusses the hearing next month by the 12-member 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals, in Denver, on whether prosecutors' offers of leniency in exchange for testimony against other defendants constitutes bribery. A three-judge panel from the same court disrupted proceedings around the nation in July when it said that was the case in the prosecution of Sonya Singleton, 25, who maintains her innocence from prison after being charged with involvement in a drug conspiracy and money laundering. "In the culture of this country nobody likes a snitch, yet that has become the crux of the criminal justice system," said Steven Zeidman, a professor of criminal law at New York University Law School. "But nobody likes to think about it, and now we're being forced to think about it.")
Officer Charged In Oregon Case Will Go To Trial (The Houston Chronicle says James Willis, a Houston prohibition agent, has been charged with criminal trespass, a misdemeanor, after he and five other cops broke into the home of Pedro Oregon Navarro without a warrant and shot the innocent man 12 times, nine times in the back. Willis' attorney said Tuesday "He's not guilty." "There will be a lot of information that will come out in trial that will shed new light.")
The People Behind The Medical Marijuana Conspiracy (Richard Cowan, writing in marijuananews.com, notes it is a staple of prohibitionist opposition to medical marijuana that the movement is "exploiting" patients. He then shares a poignant tale about a friend in the District of Columbia who was about to go to bed rather late on a cold night last week. When he looked out his window, he saw a man in a wheelchair dragging himself along by his one leg. He was putting up posters that said, "Vote Yes on 59 - Medical Marijuana.")
Medical Marijuana in the Federal Budget (A list subscriber notes Congress recently confirmed Dr. Jane Henney, a cancer specialist, as director of the Food and Drug Administration while inserting the language of Senate Joint Resolution 56 into the federal budget law. This means that the FDA must report back by Jan. 21, 1999 on its "new drug" evaluation process and the "interstate commerce" aspects of medical marijuana.)
Ex-Presidents Rail Vs. Marijuana (The Associated Press says former US presidents Bush, Carter and Ford have responded to a plea by the White House Drug Czar, General Barry McCaffrey, and written an open letter to voters in several states where initiatives have been placed on the ballot that would legalize marijuana as medicine. The rationale offered by the three stooges was that allowing sick people to be treated with cannabis would "undercut public confidence in the safety of medicines.")
States Set to Confront Medical Marijuana (FoxNews says medical marijuana initiatives facing voters in five states are increasing pressure on federal drug policy.)
5 States Face Vote On Medical Pot (The San Francisco Examiner notes the White House is lobbying against medical marijuana measures that will be on the ballot next Tuesday in five states and the District of Columbia. "The goal is to change national policy, but we know we will have to win more battles in 1999 and 2000 before that happens," said Dave Fratello, spokesman for Santa Monica-based Americans for Medical Rights, which is coordinating the initiatives in Alaska, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state.)
Stirring the Pot (abcnews.com covers a press conference in Washington, DC, Tuesday at which the White House drug czar, General Barry McCaffrey, criticized the effrontery of voters who think they're more qualified than the FDA to choose which medicines seriously ill patients and doctors should be allowed to use.)
Some depressed people missing brain cells - study (According to Reuters, neurobiologist Joseph Price and colleagues at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, have reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that people inflicted with depression who also have a family history of depression have a relatively low number of glia cells in the part of the brain known as the subgenual prefrontal cortex. However, since the research as described was carried out on patients with bipolar disorder, it's not clear how the scientists arrived at their conclusions.)
Man Who Grew Dope For Son Sentenced (According to The Kitchener-Waterloo Record, in Ontario, a Kitchener father with a colostomy who said he grew marijuana at home so his son wouldn't have to buy it on the street, escaped a jail sentence Tuesday. Lawyer Aaron Grupp said the man did it because his 15-year-old stepson was using marijuana and wouldn't stop. He didn't want the son exposed to the "dangers of street drugs," which could be cut with unsafe substances.)
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Tuesday, October 27, 1998:
Contributions Lag on Anti-Marijuana Measure (The Statesman Journal, in Salem, Oregon, says proponents of Ballot Measure 57, which would recriminalize possession of less than one ounce of marijuana, have raised only about $20,000, compared to more than $600,000 contributed to the other side. Rep. Floyd Prozanski, a Democrat from Eugene and a staunch opponent of the recrim bill, believes there's a reason lawmakers are distancing themselves from the marijuana measure they originally passed. "They are realizing that they were barking the 'Reefer Madness' mentality.")
Marijuana - Sheriff Is Opposed (An op-ed in The Herald, in Everett, Washington, by Rick Bart, Snohomish County Sheriff, illogically says supporters of Initiative 692, the medical marijuana ballot measure, must be "tugging at voters' heart-strings" because they can't say how many people are in need of marijuana to relieve pain and suffering. Like, isn't that another good reason to stop threatening patients with arrest?)
Those Suffering Could Be Us (A letter to the editor of The Seattle Times by a woman whose pancreatic cancer won't let her keep her pills down urges voters to endorse Initiative 692, the Washington state medical marijuana measure.)
We Should Use Science, Not The Ballot Box, To Minister To Disease (A boilerplate op-ed in The Seattle Times opposing Initiative 692, the Washington state medical marijuana ballot measure, by General Barry McCaffrey, the White House drug czar, is almost identical to his recent op-ed in The Las Vegas Review-Journal.)
Opponents of Ballot Measure 8 (An Alaskan list subscriber posts the text of an advertisement in the Daily Newsminer listing those opposed to the medical marijuana initiative - mostly cops and politicians.)
Voters Favoring Medical Marijuana Initiatives (The Los Angeles Times says that with a week to go, polls show that voters in at least four states and Washington, DC, are poised to allow marijuana to be used legally as a medicine - ignoring the years-long and escalating opposition of the Clinton administration.)
Medical Marijuana Initiatives May Be First Proposals for Relaxing Drug Laws (A Knight Ridder News Service article in The Chicago Tribune seems alarmed that reform bills facing voters next Tuesday in five Western states, plus the District of Columbia, are expected to win handily. Police, prosecutors and federal officials are beside themselves with frustration. The initiatives' popularity raises the question of how, after years of anti-drug ads and horror stories, so many people still view marijuana as a benign force.)
Medical Marijuana Faces Test At Polls (A similarly biased article in USA Today about medical marijuana initiatives facing voters around the United States emphasizes drug warriors' fears rather than sick people's suffering.)
Medical Community United In Support Of Medical Marijuana Reform (A press release from NORML lists more than 40 national and international medical organizations that support medical marijuana research or therapeutic use. The list is a response to claims by opponents of medical marijuana ballot measures around the nation that doctors don't support marijuana as a medicine.)
DrugSense Focus Alert No. 86 - USA Today - Marijuana killer fungus (DrugSense asks you to write a letter protesting Congress' appropriation of $23 million to encourage genetic engineers to wage biological warfare on cannabis, coca and poppies.)
Ruling Against Testimony-For-Leniency Jolts Court (The New York Times discusses the hearing next month by the 12-member 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals, in Denver, on whether prosecutors' offers of leniency in exchange for testimony against other defendants constitutes bribery.)
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Monday, October 26, 1998:
Senior Editor of National Review urges Yes on Oregon Measure 67 (An op-ed sent to mass media around Oregon by Richard Brookhiser, a conservative Republican, recounts his experience using marijuana while stricken with cancer and urges Oregonians to endorse the state medical marijuana initiative.)
Measure 67 - Medical Marijuana - Using the drug reduces suffering (An op-ed in The Oregonian by Dr. Rick Bayer, a chief petitioner for the ballot measure. "Nearly all of us agree that we want more scientific research on marijuana as medicine, but the question remains, what do we do with patients who benefit from marijuana now, but must break the law to use it?")
Voter Power Benefit Sunday 1 November (A bulletin from Measure 67 headquarters publicizes a fund-raiser Sunday night at Berbati's Pan, in downtown Portland, for the Yes on 67 and No on 57 campaigns - for medical marijuana and against recrim. Attractions include Jack Herer, author of "The Emperor Wears No Clothes," a hemp fashion show, and live music. Also, set your VCR to tape the live broadcast at 6 pm Sunday of "Town Hall," apparently featuring a debate on Measure 67.)
Marijuana Initiative Narrows Its Focus (The Spokesman-Review, in Spokane, Washington, interviews some of those in favor of and some of those opposed to Initiative 692, the medical marijuana ballot measure. One local supporter is 72-year-old Republican state senator Bob McCaslin, whose wife slowly died over eight years, eating little more than milk and cereal, in pain all the time.)
Approve I-692 (A staff editorial in The Bellingham Herald, in Bellingham, Washington, endorses Initiative 692, the medical marijuana ballot measure, calling it sensible, straight-forward and long overdue.)
Serious Side-Effects of Pot Club Closure (The South China Morning Post in Hong Kong notes the Clinton Administration has shut down the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, and threatened to turn a 6-year-old cerebral palsy patient and medical marijuana user into a criminal. With medical marijuana initiatives coming up for a vote in six states on November 3, federal authorities are trying their best to have the medical-marijuana movement declared unconstitutional and closed down.)
Report Finds Marijuana the Top Cash Crop in California; Billions Wasted in War on Pot (A press release from California NORML focuses on the locally significant aspects of the recent crop report from NORML estimating the annual value of cannabis grown in the United States. California's marijuana harvest was the largest in the nation in 1997, totaling an estimated 2 million plants. The estimated crop value was between $3.87 billion and $8.26 billion wholesale, or $6.45 billion to $13.8 billion retail. California's second largest agricultural crop was grapes, which brought in $2.6 billion.)
Medicinal Pot Not About Greed (A letter to the editor of The Anchorage Daily News responds to a drug warrior's earlier letter opposing the Alaskan medical marijuana ballot initiative.)
Porno Film Fest Follows Drug Bust - Did Cops Order Videos? (The Salt Lake Tribune says prohibition agents in Layton, Utah, working on a cocaine bust may be busted themselves for allegedly ordering pornographic pay-per-view movies from a suspect's home after he was shipped off to jail.)
Demonstrators Demand Justice In Slaying Of Oregon By Police (The Houston Chronicle says about 200 people marched in Houston Sunday to protest police brutality and a grand jury's decision to let off six Houston prohibition agents who broke down the door of an innocent man, Pedro Oregon Navarro, without a warrant and killed him with 12 shots from behind.)
Community college student dies of caffeine overdose (The Associated Press says a 20-year-old man in Morehead City, North Carolina, took a dare from a fellow student and swallowed most of a 90-pill bottle of over-the-counter caffeine pills, equivalent to drinking as many as 250 cups of coffee.)
Medical Marijuana Documentary Now Online (A bulletin from the Media Awareness Project inclues the URL for the acclaimed recent television special by the Canadian Broadcasting Company, "Nature of Things - Reefer Madness 2." Watch it in real time with RealPlayer.)
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Sunday, October 25, 1998:
Campaign Notebook - Lockyer Campaign's Focus Is Going To Pot (The Sacramento Bee suggests Democrat Bill Lockyer's attempt to be elected as California Attorney General, the seat currently held by Dan Lungren, will be countered by Republican supporters of Dave Stirling challenging Lockyer to admit he smoked marijuana at some point during his years in the legislature.)
Marijuana Rx? (The Denver Post does a relatively fair job representing the views of those for and against medical marijuana in a lengthy collection of articles inspired by Amendment 19, the Colorado ballot measure that was recently ruled invalid by Secretary of State Vikki Buckley. Supporters vow to place another initiative on the ballot during the next election cycle.)
2 opponents of drug laws defy stereotype (Dallas Morning News columnist Steve Blow interviews Suzanne Wills and Rodney Pirtle of the Drug Policy Forum of Texas, who make a persuasive argument that the war on some drugs is causing more harm than illegal drugs themselves.)
Schools re-evaluate DARE program designed to warn students about drugs (The Associated Press suggests the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program and its police instructors are getting kicked out of schools in Massachusetts right and left. "With Massachusetts so outcome-based and accountability oriented, other school districts are going to have to look at" DARE. "I think we did the right thing for the kids," says Diane Delli Carpini, chairman of the Lunenburg School Committee.)
Democratic nominee for DC Mayor Declares Support for Initiative 59 (A representative of the campaign for a medical marijuana ballot measure in the District of Columbia says Anthony Williams has adopted the same position as virtually every other candidate or incumbent. Includes a list of DC groups and VIPs who endorse the initiative.)
Action Alert - Congress tries to suspend DC election (A bulletin from Colorado Citizens for Compassionate Cannabis urges you to write letters and make phone calls protesting the decision by Congress to quash democracy in the District of Columbia rather than tolerate a successful DC medical marijuana initiative.)
DC's Trojan Horse Initiative (An op-ed in The Washington Post by Robert Maginnis of the Family Research Council trots out tired old drug warrior misinformation in an attempt to dissuade District of Columbia voters from endorsing Initiative 59, the medical marijuana ballot measure.)
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Saturday, October 24, 1998:
Medical Views Mixed On Marijuana (The Herald, in Everett, Washington, finds more than a few doctors who recognize the medical utility of cannabis, as well as others who repeat discredited drug warrior propaganda, even to their patients. Focusing on Initiative 692, the Washington state medical marijuana ballot measure, the article includes interesting summaries of very recent reports about medical marijuana in scientific and medical journals.)
Measure 8 - Vote Yes For Medical Reform (A staff editorial in The Anchorage Daily News endorses the Alaska medical marijuana initiative, noting that sick people in 24 states can already smoke marijuana under medical-necessity laws that allow such use for people with desperate needs.)
Measure No. 8 - Voters Weigh In On Medicinal Marijuana (Five letters to the editor of The Anchorage Daily News all support the Alaskan ballot initiative.)
Don't Be Fooled By Pot Measure (Another letter to the editor of the Anchorage Daily News opposes the Alaskan medical marijuana ballot initiative because minors would be allowed to use marijuana with the consent of a parent or legal guardian.)
Pot Backers Not Giving Up (The Denver Post says supporters of Amendment 19, the Colorado medical marijuana initiative, asked the state supreme court on Friday to order county clerks to tally the votes to be cast for and against the controversial initiative on Nov. 3. Coloradans for Medical Rights believes it will be able to show in court early next week that there are enough valid petition signatures that the votes should be counted.)
Mayor's Distance From Oregon Issue Raising Questions (The Houston Chronicle says Houston Mayor Lee Brown is receiving mixed reviews from other city officials for his response to a grand jury letting six prohibition agents off the hook after they broke into the home of an innocent man, Pedro Oregon Navarro, without a warrant and shot him to death. Critics of the one-time chief of police in Portland, Oregon, have questioned why Brown has appeared slow to respond or to take charge on an issue so potentially divisive.)
Initiative 59 - Snuffed Out (A staff editorial in The Washington Post responds to recent news that Congress used an omnibus spending bill to kill the District of Columbia medical marijuana voter initiative even before ballots were cast. "You don't have to be a supporter of Initiative 59 to regard this latest congressional intrusion as an affront to District voters.")
DrugSense Focus Alert No. 85 - Initiative 59 - Snuffed Out (DrugSense asks you to write a letter protesting Congress's decision to prohibit the District of Columbia from tallying votes on a medical marijuana measure.)
US Drug Interdiction Effort Receives $690 Million Boost (The Washington Post says Congress has passed a last-minute bill boosting the United States' budget for interdicting cocaine and heroin entering the country from Colombia. An additional $2 billion for interdiction efforts has been authorized, but not appropriated, in the omnibus spending bill, but the $690 million extra is included in an emergency supplemental appropriations bill signed by President Clinton this week, and will greatly increase the aircraft and ships used by Colombian prohibition agents.)
The Finnish Medical Association supports medical marijuana (A translation of an excerpt from Hufvudstadsbladet, in Finland, about a press conference called by the Finnish Medical Association)
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Friday, October 23, 1998:
Pot Measure Sparks Lively Debate (The Medford Mail Tribune, in Medford, Oregon, covers a debate Thursday night at a Medford church over medical marijuana and Ballot Measure 67, featuring Ed Glick, a chief petitioner and registered nurse, and Molalla Police Chief Rob Elkins.)
Please support I-692 (A letter to the editor of the Everett, Washington, Daily Herald, from a pancreatic-cancer patient, urges voters to endorse the state medical marijuana ballot measure, noting in passing how prohibition, instead of keeping cannabis away from kids, has abdicated to them the easiest access to it.)
Reject Marijuana Measure (A staff editorial in The Daily Olympian, in Olympia, Washington, recommends a "no" vote on Initiative 692, saying the insurmountable obstacle is the federal law that prohibits physicians from prescribing marijuana. Reformers must come up with "a safe, legal and foolproof distribution system.")
One killed in crash of Border Patrol plane (The Associated Press notes the war on some drug users has claimed another victim - this time, a Border Patrol agent in a plane that crashed Friday in remote terrain east of Bellingham, Washington. Walter Scott Panchison, 53, was a 20-year patrol veteran and former Marine fighter pilot.)
Apartments damaged during drug raid (The News Tribune, in Tacoma, Washington, says a Lakewood apartment building went up in flames Wednesday after a SWAT team drug raid by 25 Pierce County sheriff's deputies that left one woman and four men jailed on drug-related charges. Some neighbors said it looked as though the blaze was caused by the stun grenades the SWAT team fired into the units, but prohibition agents suggested those arrested were able to elude 25 police long enough to set the blaze themselves, and might face additional arson charges.)
Sheriff Wants To Cut DARE To Allow Hiring Of More Resource Officers (The Seattle Times says King County Sheriff Dave Reichert wants to cut the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program for fifth- and sixth-graders and put an unspecified number of "school resource officers" into secondary schools instead. The county's proposed 1999 budget would eliminate eight DARE officers from 14 school districts in unincorporated areas, saving $469,923 next year.)
Drug Prohibition Rips The Social Fabric (Eileen Foley, an associate editor for The Blade, in Toledo, Ohio, describes the Clinton Administration's recent shutdown of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, and says it's time for society to reconsider the costs and benefits of prohibition. Drug prohibition has ripped the social fabric, criminalized too many, killed too many, terrorized too many. And it has spawned a vested industry as powerful as its performance is poor. Putting blinders on is a good way to control a team of horses going down a thoroughfare, but only if the blinders are on the horses, not the driver.)
Poll - Alaska medical marijuana initiative leads 50 percent to 46 percent (According to a list subscriber who cites the October 1998 issue of Alaska Digest)
Alaska Ballot Questions Draw "Outside" Interest (Reuters takes a xenophobic look at several Alaskan ballot measures, noting "polls show wide support for" No. 8, the medical marijuana initiative. The $125,000 donated to the No. 8 campaign by the George Soros-supported Americans for Medical Rights is dwarfed by outside contributions to other campaigns from the Utah-based Mormon Church, by a Washington, DC-based group that opposes bilingual education, a Washington-based group headed by conservative Christian activist Gary Bauer, and by animal welfare and pro-hunting activists.)
Money Pours In As Proposition Battles Heat Up (The Arizona Daily Star gives an update on several state ballot measure campaigns, noting the sponsors of propositions 300 and 301, The People Have Spoken, who want to repeal the legislature's nullification of a 1996 medical marijuana initiative, have raised the most money, $1.7 million.)
Radio Station Gets Attention It Wants (The Arizona Republic says "Party Radio" KPTY-FM since June has let fly with sex and drug references aimed squarely at high-school and college audiences, and has promoted itself with a bong give-away. "We are not in any way supporting the use of drugs," program director Byron Kennedy said. "But we realize that drugs are part of kids' lives. We are dealing with their attitudes, things they deal with every day." "We're your radio station, not your role model." The Federal Communications Commission does not consider drug references to be in violation of its broadcast standards.)
Scores Aim Downtown Protest At Police, Jury In Oregon Death (The Houston Chronicle says about 150 to 175 people marched from Market Square to Houston police headquarters Thursday afternoon to protest a grand jury's refusal to indict local prohibition agents who shot and killed an innocent man, Pedro Oregon Navarro, after breaking into his apartment without a warrant.)
Ex-Narcotics Officer Gets 7 Years In Drug Case (The Dallas Morning News says Robert Gollihugh, a former undercover police narcotics officer in the Lavon, Texas, Police Department, was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison for dealing cocaine and two years in state jail for selling amphetamines for a former drug informant. The prosecutor said Mr. Gollihugh was responsible for his actions because he volunteered for undercover narcotics duty knowing that he was a drug user himself. "There's something sinister there," said Assistant District Attorney Aaron Wiley.)
Ex-Cop Gets 13 Months For Taking 2 Payoffs (The Chicago Tribune says Richard Lopardo, a former Chicago police officer who pleaded guilty nearly two years ago to accepting $500 in 1991 and $2,000 in 1992 in exchange for leaking details about a police investigation of a drug dealer, was sentenced Thursday.)
Ruling Ends Some Marijuana Sting Operations (The New York Times says the New York State Court of Appeals on Thursday reversed a Monroe County Court decision that allowed people who believed they were buying marijuana to be charged with criminal solicitation.)
Murder Trial Examines Drug Use by Teacher (According to The New York Times, a former student who is accused of killing Jonathan M. Levin, a popular Bronx high school teacher, says he was in Levin's apartment to sell him crack cocaine when two armed men arrived. Cleo Tejada, a fellow teacher and former girlfriend of Levin's, said that Levin occasionally smoked marijuana but never used crack.)
Poll - Potential jurors say they would follow own beliefs, not judge (The Associated Press says a new poll called the Juror Outlook Survey, taken for the National Law Journal and Decision Quest, a national trial consulting and legal communications company, says three out of four potential jurors agreed with the statement that "Whatever a judge says the law is, jurors should do what they believe is the right thing." However, it's not explained why therefore the 25 percent of the population opposed to marijuana prohibition is unable to bring the war on some drug users to a screeching halt.)
Researchers Testing Fungus In Battle Against Narcotics (An Associated Press article in The Dallas Morning News says the US Congress has approved $23 million for further research into what are known as "mycoherbicides," soil-borne fungi capable of eradicating plants that provide the raw material for cocaine, heroin and marijuana.)
Fungus That Kills Drug Plants Is In Test Phase (A slightly different Associated Press version)
The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue No. 64 (The Drug Reform Coordination Network's original summary of drug policy news and calls for action, including - Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Club shuts down, city declares medical emergency; Colombian president calls for end to eradication; Grand jury fails to indict in death of man shot in home; Magazine Publishers of America urges "editorial support" for PDFA ad campaign; Washington, DC, appropriations bill forbids district from funding its own syringe exchange program; Scottish citizens' commission, including Catholic priest, calls for legalization, reform; and an editorial by Adam J. Smith, Death, but no justice in Houston)
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Thursday, October 22, 1998:
The NORML Foundation Weekly Press Release (Marijuana Plays No Significant Role In Automotive Crashes, Australian Study Finds; Magazine Publishers Of America Enlist In Drug War Media Blitz; Alaska Nurses Association Backs Passage Of Medical Marijuana Initiative; National Black Police Association Supports Passage of DC Medical Marijuana Proposal; Medical Marijuana Proposal To Appear On Colorado Ballot, But Votes Won't Count, Secretary of State Announces)
Increase Marijuana Penalty (A staff editorial in The Oregonian endorses Measure 57, which would recriminalize possession of less than one ounce of marijuana, erroneously saying science has shown the herb to be addictive, as if that mattered with alcohol or tobacco or caffeine. The newspaper also says recriminalization would send the right message to kids - apparently that the state finds it unwise to build any new colleges, but is commited to building enough new prisons for an estimated 150,040 past-month marijuana consumers statewide.)
Family - Police killed suspect (According to The Associated Press, family members and neighbors said Wednesday they know exactly how Richard "Dickie" Dow, a 37-year-old Portland man with a history of mental illness, died early Tuesday outside a doughnut shop - he was killed by Portland police. "You want to know why that man died? They choked him to death," said Scott Pearson, a neighbor who witnessed the incident. "That's beyond excessive force. It's straight murder. If it'd been one of us, we'd be in jail.")
Police Brutality - Eyewitness report ("On Monday night, the Portland Police beat my neighbor to death," writes Deborah Howes, the Pacific Party candidate for District 17 of the Oregon House of Representatives. "It has taken 3 days for the police to come up with a story of why they started beating" Dickie Dow. "They are lying." Sympathetic mourners are welcome at the funeral 11 am Monday, Nov. 2, at the St. Johns Christian Church.)
Will medical-marijuana initiative ease their pain? (The Seattle Times does a relatively fair job of dispelling the notion that there is no research or science justifying the medical use of marijuana.)
With I-692, patients would grow their own (Another Seattle Times article about Initiative 692, the Washington state medical marijuana ballot measure, explains the technical aspects of the proposed legislation.)
Initiative 692 - Marijuana measure about compassion / Marijuana initiative is seriously flawed (The Daily Olympian, in Olympia, Washington, publishes pro and con articles about the medical marijuana ballot measure facing Washington voters.)
Todd McCormick's Hearing (A list subscriber forwards a message from the mother of the cancer patient and federal medical marijuana defendant, which says a hearing to revoke Todd's $500,000 bail is set for Dec. 14, presumably in Los Angeles.)
Oakland down on its pot luck (An Associated Press account in The Calgary Sun notes the Clinton Administration has forced the closure of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, prompting the California city to declare a state of emergency.)
Marijuana Club Closure Spurs Crisis (A brief Associated Press item in The Statesman Journal, in Salem, Oregon, notes the city council in Oakland, California, has declared an emergency in response to the Clinton Administration shutting down the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative.)
Letter from Dave Herrick (A list subscriber forwards a letter from the medical marijuana patient and former deputy sheriff in San Bernardino County, California, who just marked his 17th month in prison after being denied the ability to invoke Proposition 215 at his sham trial.)
Say No Once Again To Legalized Marijuana (An op-ed in The Anchorage Times by Lynda Adams of Alaskans for a Drug-Free Youth urges voters to just say "no" to Ballot Measure 8, allowing marijuana to be used as medicine.)
Say No Again To Legalized Marijuana (Same letter, same drug warrior, in The Anchorage Daily News)
Group funded pot measure near end (The Rocky Mountain News says Americans For Medical Rights paid $250,000 in bills and $32,000 in cash to the campaign promoting a medical marijuana initiative in Colorado during the three weeks before the measure was ruled invalid, bringing the group's total donations in Colorado to $612,000.)
Medical Marijuana Measures Changed (An Associated Press roundup about the reform ballot measures in five states and the District of Columbia suggests the conservative language in the initiatives sponsored by Americans for Medical Rights is confounding the opposition.)
Good news - medical marijuana class action lawsuit (A fascinating bulletin from a publicist for Philadelphia public interest attorney Lawrence Elliott Hirsch summarizes the first hearing on Hirsch's federal class action lawsuit on behalf of medical marijuana patients. The judge not only rejected the government's motion for dismissal, he proposed a settlement under which the government would enroll the 166 plaintiffs in the now-closed federal Compassionate Investigational New Drug program and provide them 300 joints a month.)
Medical Marijuana Class Action Lawsuit (A list subscriber forwards a first-person account by Philadelphia attorney Lawrence Elliott Hirsch about the surprisingly favorable developments in his constitutional challenge to the US prohibition on medical marijuana.)
Reno - Science, not ballots on marijuana (United Press International notes US Attorney General Janet Reno at her weekly news conference today continued to refuse to carry out her responsibility to arrest and prosecute government officials who have lied about the government's own research into marijuana, and instead lied herself, claiming her Justice Department was encouraging research into medical marijuana and that "There is no present scientific support for the medical use of marijuana.")
Report - 1.4 million black men cannot vote because of felony convictions (The Associated Press says a new report released Thursday by Human Rights Watch and The Sentencing Project concludes that 13 percent of African-American men cannot vote in this year's elections. Nationwide, 3.9 million people - one of every 50 adults - are temporarily or permanently disenfranchised because of a felony conviction.)
US Might Enlist Fungi In Drug War (According to USA Today, US Representative Bill McCollum confirmed Wednesday that US researchers are using genetic engineering to create strains of fungi that will destroy opium poppies, coca plants and cannabis, and will receive $23 million to continue research as part of the $500 billion spending bill approved 65-29 Wednesday in the Senate and signed by President Clinton.)
US Congress Approves $2.7 Billion For Drug War (According to The Los Angeles Times, Congress targeted South American drug traffickers, saying the United States must crack down on foreign sources rather than internal demand if it wants to stop Americans from taking illegal drugs. The legislation also claims the Clinton administration has lowered its guard on the narcotics front.)
CIA's Trail Leads Back To Its Own Door (The Los Angeles Times doesn't come right out and say so, but after years of finding fault with The San Jose Mercury News' "Dark Alliance" series exposing the CIA-Cocaine-Contra scandal, the Times mostly reverses itself and agrees its competitor was pretty much correct, saying the report issued by CIA Inspector General Hitz a few weeks ago is the richest in devastating disclosures. It sets forth CIA cable traffic showing that as early as the summer of 1981, the agency knew that the Contra leadership "had decided to engage in drug trafficking to the United States to raise funds for its activities." Hitz confirms that the CIA knew that Ilopongo Air Force Base in El Salvador was an arms-for-drugs Contra transshipment point and shows that from the very start of the US war on Nicaragua, the CIA knew that the contras were planning to traffic in cocaine in the US. It did nothing to stop the traffic and, when other government agencies began to probe, the CIA impeded their investigations. When Contra money-raisers were arrested, the agency came to their aid and retrieved their drug money from the police. So, was the agency complicit in drug trafficking into Los Angeles and other cities? It is impossible to read Hitz's report and not conclude that this was the case.)
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Wednesday, October 21, 1998:
DUII for positive THC urine test - Trial 10-22-98 (A Portland reform activist invites you to attend the trial beginning tomorrow of Tim Herman, charged with driving intoxicated after Portland police gave him a breathalyzer test for alcohol that came up negative. Herman was then taken into custody and given a urine test that came up positive for THC, the sole basis for the DUII charge. Herman's lawyer responds with news that today the Multnomah County deputy district attorney prosecuting the case has decided to dismiss charges.)
Reject Medical Marijuana (A staff editorial in The Oregonian opposes Ballot Measure 67, saying voters ought to refrain from practicing ballot-box medicine - which rather ignores the fact that cannabis was a medicine in good standing before Congress passed the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 for political, nonmedical reasons, over the objections of the AMA.)
Round 2 for Pot Initiative (The Olympian, in Olympia, Washington, tries to summarize objectively the arguments of proponents and opponents regarding Initiative 692, the medical marijuana ballot measure.)
Smoking eases MS symptoms / Son's death motivates crusade (The Olympian, in Olympia, Washington, publishes pro and con articles about Initiative 692, the medical marijuana ballot measure. The first features multiple sclerosis patient and medical marijuana user Jim Binias of Thurston County. The second features Portland-area anti-marijuana zealot Sandra Bennett, who admits her crusade is inspired by the 1986 cocaine-related death of her son in the basement of a Eugene fraternity.)
Oakland Declares War On Washington! (According to a list subscriber, KTVU-TV Channel 2 in Oakland/San Francisco said Tuesday night that the Oakland City Council, in a 5 to 4 vote, declared a medical emergency existed due to the closure of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative.)
Pot Club Close Worries Oakland (The Associated Press version)
Pot Club Closure Causes City Council To Declare State of Emergency (A different Associated Press version in The Sacramento Bee)
Oakland Council Declares Marijuana Health Crisis (The San Francisco Chronicle version)
With Pot Club Shut, Oakland Declares An Emergency (The San Francisco Examiner version)
Oakland Declares Emergency Over Pot-Club Closing (The San Jose Mercury News version)
Bob Ames' arraignment (A Bay area medical marijuana activist recounts yesterday's appearance in a Sacramento court of the patient recently busted for growing more than the two plants recommended by California Attorney General Dan Lungren.)
Somayah case dismissed "in the interest of justice" (A Los Angeles correspondent says Sister Somayah, the sickle cell patient and medical marijuana activist, will be freed tonight, apparently after intimidating the prosecution by preparing a defense based on Proposition 215.)
Pot Helped Linda McCartney Ease Pain Of Chemotherapy (The San Jose Mercury News says Paul McCartney gave an interview to Chrissie Hynde, the unabashed marijuana consumer, former music journalist and star of The Pretenders. The interview, scheduled to appear in USA Weekend on Oct. 30, quotes the former Beatle saying the doctors told his wife, "'If you've got any of that stuff left over from the '60s, you might smoke a bit.'")
Losing the War on Drug Abuse (Bob Jones, a columnist for MidWeek, in Hawaii, reverses his support for the war on some drug users, observing, "Our anti-drug policy on all levels is not winning and not even building up a good hand. The time has come to look for another approach.")
Plymouth drug raid hits wrong apartment (The Boston Globe says an 80-year-old woman received an unwelcome surprise just before 11 pm Friday night when police burst into her apartment during a drug raid, only to realize they had the wrong address.)
Cannabis Crash Risk Less - Study (The Age, in Australia, says the largest study ever done linking road accidents with alcohol and other drugs has found that drivers with cannabis in their blood were no more at risk than those who were drug-free. In fact, the findings by a pharmacology team from the University of Adelaide and Transport SA showed drivers who had smoked marijuana were marginally less likely to have an accident than those who were drug-free.)
Study Goes to Pot (The version in The Canberra Times)
Study Finds Cannabis Not Cause Of Automobile Accidents (A summary of news that appeared in both The Age and The Canberra Times, in Australia.)
Swiss Decline To Charge Salinas (A Chicago Tribune story in The Orange County Register says that after years of threats, authorities in Switzerland have decided not to press money-laundering charges against Raul Salinas, the elder brother of Mexico's former president, due to his indictment on murder charges. However, the Swiss said Tuesday they had frozen Salinas' bank accounts totaling about $115 million and would keep the funds "for the benefit of the state" because they were linked to narcotics trafficking.)
$114m ordered seized from Mexican - Swiss say Raul Salinas was paid for drug role (The Boston Globe version)
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Tuesday, October 20, 1998:
Letter from Senator Gordon H. Smith (An Oregon constituent of the right-wing know-nothing shares a letter from the Republican shill for corporate interests rationalizing why he thinks sick and dying medical marijuana patients should be sent to prison. Plus commentary from a Britisher working in Holland.)
Conde Won't Get Files Back (The Register-Guard, in Eugene, Oregon, says Linn County Circuit Judge Rick McCormick has ruled that computers belonging to marijuana-law reform activist Bill Conde will stay in police hands for now. At the request of sheriff's authorities, the computers are being examined by state police experts in computer forensics. "They're not going to find anything, but they might learn something," Conde said, noting that his files contain articles and e-mail from around the world that take aim at the war on drugs.)
Marvin Chavez's court hearing (A list subscriber says a trial date of Nov. 2 has been set for the medical marijuana patient and founder of the Orange County Patient, Doctor, Nurse Support Group.)
The Chavez Case (A staff editorial in The Orange County Register recounts yesterday's news about the postponement until Nov. 2 of the trial of Marvin Chavez, the medical marijuana patient and founder of the Orange County Patient, Doctor, Nurse Support Group, in order to allow Chavez's attorneys time to review donation slips and other papers withheld by the prosecution.)
Somayah's Hearing (A local correspondent says Sister Somayah, the Los Angeles sickle cell patient and medical marijuana prisoner, has a court hearing 8:30 am tomorrow morning.)
Oakland Pot Club Closes - Leader to Fight On (The San Francisco Chronicle version of yesterday's news about the federal government forcing the closure of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative)
Oakland Pot Club Closes Its Doors (The San Francisco Examiner version)
Court shuts Oakland pot club (An Associated Press version in The Seattle Times)
State's Largest Medical-Pot Club Closed By US (The Orange County Register version)
Patrons Say Goodbye To Oakland Pot Club (The San Jose Mercury News version)
Pot Initiative Up In Smoke (A staff editorial in The Denver Post says "We're relieved" that Colorado Secretary of State Victoria Buckley disqualified a medical marijuana ballot measure.)
Wealthy Benefactors Stoke Campaigns for Medical Marijuana (Washington Post syndicated columnist David S. Broder erroneously says the District of Columbia medical marijuana ballot measure is being funded by George Soros and other millionaires. Focusing on the campaign by Arizona residents to re-institute Proposition 200 reforms nullified by the legislature, Broder says the campaign there has become a fight over the initiative process - that is, open democracy - without noting that's what Soros has been promoting in eastern Europe for decades.)
Proposition 300 Prompts Anti-Drug Rally (The Arizona Republic says Republican leaders rallied in front of 150 children at the Thomas J. Pappas school for the homeless Monday, urging a "yes" vote on Proposition 300, to gut Arizona's medical-marijuana law. Proclaiming that drugs are bad and cheerleading the children, Reps. Matt Salmon, John Shadegg and J.D. Hayworth and Sen. Jon Kyl joined Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Graham Keegan in the media event. Apparently the tyrants couldn't find a non-captive audience of adults who wouldn't lynch them.)
Goals Similar For Props 104, 105 (The Arizona Republic explains two state ballot measures prompted by the legislature's nullification of Proposition 200. Both would make it harder for the legislature to change or repeal citizen initiatives. Opponents of medical marijuana in the legislature put Proposition 104 on the ballot. Supporters of medical marijuana gathered petition signatures to qualify Proposition 105. If both proposals pass, the measure with more votes will take effect.)
Yes On Proposition 104 (A seemingly coincidental staff editorial in The Arizona Daily Star encourages a "yes" vote for what it calls "the more thoughtful" of two ballot measures that would prevent the state legislature from nullifying voter-approved initiatives such as Proposition 200.)
Panel clears six from Houston Police Department of homicide - one cop indicted on trespass (The Houston Chronicle suggests there will be no justice for the killers of Pedro Oregon Navarro, an innocent man shot 12 times from behind by Houston prohibition agents who broke into his apartment without a warrant.)
Protesters Vow To Press Fight Over Oregon (A sidebar in The Houston Chronicle says members of the Hispanic community vowed to fight for further action against the killers. Claudia Navarro, the mother of the victim, Pedro Oregon Navarro, said "I'm very sad about what has happened. Maybe if I could speak English, they would have listened to me." Houston City Councilman John Castillo said, "It offends anyone who has any sense of justice.")
Denton DA candidate pleads guilty to marijuana delivery - Democrat remains eligible for office if elected (The Dallas Morning News says Stephen Hale, the Democratic candidate for Denton County district attorney, was given two years' probation Monday, receiving "deferred adjudication." "If elected, I am eligible to serve," he said Monday evening, "and I'm thinking about it . . . . I believe that people who would support me don't care about my giving a little bit of marijuana to a former girlfriend, and those who hate me will hate me anyway.")
Policy Items In Federal Budget Plan (The Las Vegas Sun says the $520 billion federal budget bill includes an item banning funds to count votes on Initiative 59, the District of Columbia referendum on medical marijuana, and also bans local or federal funding of needle exchange programs in DC.)
Ex-agents accuse US of ignoring Mexico corruption - Administration officials deny overlooking Salinas' actions (The Dallas Morning News quotes Hector Berrellez, 52, a retired DEA agent who says "I once had information that Raul Salinas had allegedly brokered deals with Pablo Escobar," the late Colombian drug lord. "Washington ordered me not to write it up." Berrellez and other former DEA agents say US officials turn a blind eye to drug corruption in Mexico because they don't want to jeopardize commercial and diplomatic ties.)
Man vows to continue pot crusade after fine (According to The Calgary Herald, Saskatchewan multiple sclerosis patient Grant Krieger said he would continue to lobby for the rights of medical marijuana users after a Calgary judge fined him $550 Monday for possession for the purpose of trafficking.)
Dope Backer Fined (The Calgary Sun version)
Australia Finds No Peril In Potsmoking Drivers (High Times News says transportation authorities who administered blood tests to 2,500 drivers involved in car wrecks in South Australia discovered that marijuana was not a significant factor in causing such accidents. In fact, Transport South Australia researchers determined that drivers who smoked cannabis were statistically less likely to cause traffic accidents than drivers who used no intoxicants at all.)
The Dirty Money Found in Everyone's Pocket (The Scotsman says 90 percent of Scottish £20 banknotes are contaminated with ecstasy, or MDMA.)
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Monday, October 19, 1998:
Medical marijuana - Despite Doubts, Yes (A staff editorial in The Albany Democrat-Herald, in Oregon, again endorses Ballot Measure 67.)
'Medicinal' marijuana confronts voters (The Dalles Chronicle, in The Dalles, Oregon, prints pro and con articles about Measure 67. The "pro" piece focuses on a local quadriplegic suffering from severe spasms, and the "con" features a remarkably ignorant local physician spouting baseless drug warrior propaganda. "Zachery," the quadriplegic, estimates 75 percent of the paraplegics and quadriplegics he knows already use pot to control their spasms.)
Medical marijuana - Yes (The Tri-City Herald in eastern Washington state endorses Initiative 692)
California Pot Club Closed by Feds (The Associated Press says the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative closed voluntarily today after the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, without comment, denied its request to remain open while it appealed a federal judge's ruling finding it in contempt for continuing to distribute medical marijuana in violation of federal law.)
Oakland marijuana club closed by feds (A lengthier Associated Press account from sfgate.com)
OCBC Vows to Fight On (The California NORML version says the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Club is asking to be allowed to re-open to serve its members in ways other than providing medicine. Director Jeff Jones announced that the OCBC is also planning to form a political action committee, the Patients Action Network, to fight for federal rescheduling of marijuana, noting about 80 former members of the San Francisco Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative have died since that club was forced to close last May.)
California Marijuana Club Shuts Under Court Order (The Reuters version)
Real Audio at sfgate/KRON (A list subscriber quotes the Bay Area station saying the American Academy of Pediatrics, meeting in San Francisco, supports the concept of a trial for medical marijuana.)
Marvin Chavez update (A local correspondent says Judge Frank Fasel postponed until December 7 - oops, make that November 2 - the hearing scheduled for today for the medical marijuana patient and founder of the Orange County Patient, Doctor, Nurse Support Group. The delay will allow Chavez's attorneys time to review donation slips and other papers withheld by the prosecution.)
McCormick tests positive for pot (MSNBC in Los Angeles says Todd McCormick, the Bel Air, California, cancer patient and medical marijuana defendant facing federal cultivation charges, faces a bail revocation hearing 2 p.m. Wednesday. McCormick says the government is trying to extort the $500,000 cash bail that actor Woody Harrelson posted for him.)
Pot Vote - A 'Yes' Means No (The Arizona Republic explains the confusing background behind propositions 300 and 301, which would repeal the Arizona legislature's nullification of Proposition 200, passed by two-thirds of voters in 1996. A "no" vote on 300 would reject the legislative changes and reaffirm the original medical marijuana law. A "no" vote on 301 would reinstate the diversion program for drug offenders.)
Chief Opposes Medical Marijuana Initiative (The Washington Post says Washington, DC, Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey opposes Initiative 59, the medical marijuana ballot measure.)
Chiefs Oppose Drug Legalization (The Associated Press version says Ramsey was joined by a majority of members of the Major City Chiefs Association, made up of police chiefs from the 52 largest metropolitan forces in the United States and Canada. The vote was announced Monday at the convention in Salt Lake City of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, whose sentiments aren't recorded.)
Grant Krieger sentencing (A list subscriber says the Canadian medical marijuana defendant has scored a legal victory by being fined $500.)
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Sunday, October 18, 1998:
Yes on Initiative 692, medical marijuana (A staff editorial in The Seattle Times says the ballot measure puts an intensely private medical decision in the hands of those who know what's best for their health - doctors and patients.)
Medical marijuana editorial response (The mother of a man incapacitated by multiple sclerosis sends a letter to the editor of The News Tribune, in Tacoma, Washington, disagreeing with the newspaper's editorial opposing Initiative 692, the medical marijuana ballot measure. She has found that cannabis improves her son's condition remarkably, but says the newspaper's assumption that people who need marijuana will find ways to obtain it is erroneous. "I'm 65 and out of the loop in the drug world and we have simply not found a way to get it.")
Oakland Rally - Monday 3-6 PM (A bulletin from California NORML invites supporters of medical-marijuana patients' rights to protest against the US government for shutting down the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative.)
Only California Uses Deadly Force in Inmate Fights (A lengthy examination in The Los Angeles Times of a unique phenomenon in California - prisoners being killed in order to break up inmate fights. Since 1994, state prison guards breaking up brawls have killed 12 inmates and seriously injured 32. In the rest of the nation, only six inmates were fatally shot, all while trying to escape.)
Seeing Through The Haze Of Medical Marijuana (An op-ed in The Las Vegas Review-Journal by General Barry McCaffrey, the White House drug czar, opposes Question 9, the Nevada medical marijuana initiative, calling it a sham that provides cover for widespread trafficking in illegal drugs.)
Marijuana Seizures Multiply With Fall Harvest (The Arizona Daily Star says the fall marijuana harvest is under way, loads of weed are coming across Arizona's southern border with Mexico, and the Border Patrol has snagged more than a ton of it since Wednesday.)
61-year-old grandmother found guilty for role in drug conspiracy (An Associated Press article in The Orlando Sentinel says Daphne "Ma" Creary, a former security guard at Port Everglades, Florida, faces a minimum 10-year prison sentence after pleading guilty Friday to one count of conspiracy to import cocaine, allegedly in concert with more than a dozen other dockworkers. "My life and my grandkids' lives are at stake," said Creary, who is raising three grandchildren. "They need me.")
Judges Should Get Drug Tests For Presuming All Are Guilty (Baltimore Sun columnist Gregory Kane pans the US Supreme Court's decision two weeks ago not to review a case out of Indiana, where overzealous school officials imposed mandatory drug testing as a condition for participating in extracurricular activities. The four students and their parents who protested and filed suit must have had the curious idea that a thing called presumption of innocence still exists in America.)
Rebagliati's payoff eludes gold medallist (The Calgary Herald suggests admitted pot smoker Ross Rebagliati is cashing in on endorsements after winning the Olympic gold medal in snowboarding, while another gold medal winner, Catriona LeMay Doan, seems to be losing out due to the speed skater's abstemious image.)
Reefer Gladness (According to The Edmonton Sun, one of the top pain doctors in Edmonton, Alberta, says she has new evidence marijuana use may boost physical strength in people with a rare muscle disease. Dr. Helen Hays and a rehab medicine specialist, Dr. Rubin Feldman, started running tests last January on a 31-year-old Edmonton-area man suffering from a rare neurological disease that causes severe stiffness and cramping in the muscles. "The results were remarkable," said Dr. Hays. "We recorded a dramatic improvement in his physical strength when he was using" marijuana. Dr. Hays said she and Dr. Feldman are preparing a paper for publication.)
Weeding Out Pain (The Edmonton Sun recounts several cases of local patients receiving miraculous benefits from cannabis, including a breast cancer victim so impoverished by years of supporting the black market that she can no longer afford it and is dying in a community shelter. "Marijuana is just a weed," she says. "People don't kill people on it, they don't rob banks. I met a lot of people on marijuana who wouldn't have been worth two cents without it. But the government's got to blackmail you. You use their drugs or you don't use any drugs at all.")
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Saturday, October 17, 1998:
Medical marijuana merely a path to legalization (An op-ed in The Bulletin, in Bend, Oregon, by Deschutes County District Attorney Mike T. Dugan, says Measure 67, the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, would let people use marijuana if they stub their toes or their wives get the flu.)
Re - Medical marijuana merely a path to legalization (A letter sent to the editor of the Bend Bulletin says that, rather than compare proposals for medicinal cannabis regulation to some utopian ideal, presumably a cannabis-free Oregon, we need to compare Ballot Measure 67 to what we have now - teens can obtain cannabis easier than alcohol, but people with incapacitating illnesses can't, or get criminalized if they do.)
Conservative Voice Needed, Lim Says (A Salem list subscriber excerpts a Statesman Journal article in which the Republican contender for Oregon Senator Ron Wyden's seat, John Lim, says he supports Measure 67, the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, and opposes Measure 57, which would recriminalize possession of less than one ounce of marijuana.)
Oakland Pot Club Gets OK to Stay Open Till Monday (The San Francisco Examiner notes the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative received a temporary reprieve Friday when a federal judge granted a stay to keep the dispensary open through Monday.)
Judge Grants Stay For Cannabis Club (The Orange County Register version)
Judge Gives Oakland Pot Club A Three-Day Break on Closing (The San Francisco Chronicle version)
Oakland Marijuana Club Is Given Weekend Reprieve (The San Jose Mercury News version)
Marijuana Club Gets A Reprieve (The Reuters version in The Houston Chronicle)
Marvin Chavez in Court Monday, October 19 (A local correspondent says James Silva, the attorney for the founder of the Orange County Patient, Doctor, Nurse Support Group, is going to ask Judge Frank Fasel to reconsider not allowing a Proposition 215 defense during a hearing at the Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana.)
State won't count marijuana vote - Petitions for drug's use as legal medicine short of signatures (The Rocky Mountain News says Colorado Secretary of State Vikki Buckley ruled Friday that there weren't enough valid signatures for a medical marijuana initiative to be on the ballot, even though it is. Buckley accepted 51,904 signatures and rejected 36,911, saying the campaign fell 2,338 signatures short. "We will be checking every bit of work that she did to make sure there aren't massive errors like we found before," said Luther Symons, a spokesman for Coloradans for Medical Rights.)
Pot-Initiative Signatures Ruled Insufficient (The Denver Post version)
Pot Called State's 4th Largest Cash Crop (The Rocky Mountain News in Denver, Colorado, summarizes the new crop report released Thursday by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.)
Drug Sting Called Illegal (According to The Des Moines Register, a law professor says an Iowa State Patrol sting operation in eastern Iowa that caught 100 people on drug and weapons charges might have been unconstitutional. Four signs reading "Narcotics Enforcement Ahead" were erected along Interstate 80 near Wilton earlier this week. Plainclothes officers then watched as drivers stopped to dispose of marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine in waste cans at a rest area.)
Foster Parent Prospect Has Hard Time Explaining Marijuana Pipe (The Evansville Courier version of yesterday's cautionary tale about the man from Glen Carbon, Illinois, who was arrested on his way to an adoption hearing at the Madison County courthouse. Wesley Earl Lowry made it through a rigorous process to win approval as an adoptive father, but now he suddenly needs drug rehab to keep the kids.)
Former IBM Exec Jailed For Pot Operation (The Associated Press says Anthony Santropietro of Long Hill, New Jersey, was convicted of growing 247 marijuana plants in the basement of his home, as well as possession of mushrooms with intent to sell, and was sentenced to four years in prison.)
DC To Decide On Marijuana Legalization (The Washington Post finally acknowledges Initiative 59, which would legalize the possession, use, cultivation or distribution of marijuana if recommended by a physician for illnesses such as AIDS, cancer or glaucoma. It also would require the city to provide for the "safe and affordable" distribution of marijuana to Medicaid patients and other poor people whose doctors recommend it. Both of the city's mayoral candidates favor the measure, as do a majority of DC Council members, but US Representative Robert L. Barr Jr., a Republican from Georgia, attached an amendment to the fiscal 1999 DC budget forbidding the city to use any funds to conduct a vote.)
Government medical marijuana patients (A San Francisco Bay area activist does a little research and finds the names of seven of the eight American patients who receive medical marijuana from the US government's Compassionate Investigational New Drug program, discontinued in 1992 by the Bush Administration as a horde of starving AIDS patients swamped the bureaucracy with applications.)
Drug Cartel Hitmen Admit Killing Cardinal In Mexico (The Examiner, in Ireland, says Adolfo Marin Cuevas and Carlos Garcia Martinez told a United States district court in San Diego, California, yesterday, that they had been recruited in San Diego as hitmen for the Tijuana-based Arellano Felix drug cartel. As part of a guilty plea to conspiring to distribute cocaine and marijuana, the two allegedly admitted they were taking part in a hit on a rival drug dealer when Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo and six other people were shot to death outside a Guadalajara airport in 1993 - whether by accident or design isn't clear.)
Bytes: 59,100 Last updated: 10/31/98
Friday, October 16, 1998:
The NORML Foundation Weekly Press Release (Oakland Medical Marijuana Club Scheduled For Shut Down Monday; High Court Won't Revive Tax Stamp Law On Illegal Drugs)
KINK FM 102 - No on 57 (A list subscriber says one of the most popular radio stations in Portland, Oregon, has broadcast a staff editorial urging voters to oppose Measure 57, which would recriminalize possession of less than one ounce of marijuana.)
Letter to the editor of The Olympian published (An item from the Olympia, Washington daily newspaper by a retired physician says he's ashamed that the Washington State Medical Association voted not to endorse medical marijuana Initiative 692. Recounting the extensive research authorized by legislatures in six states from the late 1970s to mid-1980s, he asks, "How much needless suffering by countless thousands of patients is needed for 'anecdotal' evidence to be validated as real?")
Reefer Foolishness (A staff editorial in The San Francisco Chronicle blasts foes of Proposition 215 who have ordered the shutdown of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative as "zealots" and says "this reefer foolishness among state and federal drug warriors has gone on long enough. Where are the state lawmakers with the creativity and guts to set up a plan for the distribution of medical pot the voters approved two years ago?")
Oakland Club Wins Three-Day Stay (California NORML notes federal judge Charles Breyer postponed the closure of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative scheduled for 5 pm Friday. A demonstration in support of the club - at 1755 Broadway - will begin 4 pm Monday. Take BART to the 19th and Broadway stop. Bring signs and all the friends you can muster.)
Cannabis Club given time to appeal (The version broadcast by KTVU-TV Channel 2 in the Bay Area)
Judge halts closure of medical marijuana club until Monday (The Associated Press version in The San Francisco Examiner)
Re - San Diego Medical Marijuana Trial Commences Wednesday, Oct. 14 (A list subscriber says the trial of Steven McWilliams and Dion Markgraaff, charged in connection with growing and supplying medical marijuana to local patients, has been delayed two months.)
Bumper Crop Of Pot Targeted (The Fresno Bee says members of the Fresno County Narcotics Enforcement Team and US Forest Service have spent the past several weeks chopping down a county-record 43,000 plants they valued at $90 million. Last year's eradication effort netted 6,400 plants. US Forest Service special agent Bob Hernandez estimated the haul represents only 20 percent of the actual crop, which would mean the total value of marijuana grown in the county would rank among its top three crops, alongside grapes and cotton. No word on how much taxpayers paid for the prohibition agents' failed eradication effort.)
The State Ballot Questions (The Las Vegas Review-Journal urges a "yes" vote on Question 9, the constitutional amendment that would allow qualified patients to use medical marijuana.)
No. 8 About Compassion, Not Permissiveness (An op-ed in The Anchorage Daily News from 10 physicians and three nurses employed in the medical industry in Anchorage, Alaska, urges voters to approve the state medical marijuana ballot measure.)
Man recalls 28 years on the run (The Dallas Morning News recounts the secret life of Charles Edward Garrett, a Texas fugitive from a life sentence for heroin possession who was recently recaptured. Here's one way to quit heroin cold turkey.)
At city officers' trial, drug dealer says they robbed, threatened him (The St. Louis Post-Dispatch says a man who admits to a history of drug dealing testified Thursday against David Arnett and Brian Nelson, two police officers in St. Louis, Missouri, on trial in St. Louis Circuit Court for drug trafficking and felony theft. Kevin Harrell said Arnett and Nelson approached him last year at a pay phone, robbed him of $462, and then threatened to plant drugs on him if he objected to the holdup.)
Man going to adoption hearing busted on pot charges (An Associated Press article from PostNet says a man from Glen Carbon, Illinois, who was on his way to an adoption hearing was arrested on marijuana charges at the Madison County courthouse, putting in doubt his efforts to adopt two children.)
Looking For A Few Good Dudes (Boulder Weekly runs an interesting feature article about the Green Panthers, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, who are waiting for the collapse of the prohibitionist regime and the consequent establishment of a "stoner homeland" stetching from 10 miles south of Portland to "due north" of San Francisco. Terry Mitchell, a founding member of the Panthers, says statistics show there has been a steady flow of bud smokers moving to the Pacific Northwest since the 1960s to escape draconian laws elsewhere. Mitchell believes the recent increase in arrests has exacerbated this trend. "According to our sources . . . the migration has sped up considerably over the past five years due to the Drug War. With property seizures being the way they are, they have fewer things to move anyway.")
Rabbi Pleads Not Guilty To Smuggling Drugs To Inmates (An Associated Press article in The Dallas Morning News says Eli Gottesman, a diminutive 73-year-old "Rabbi of the Year," was released without bail Thursday on a charge that he tried to smuggle a bottle of shampoo filled with cocaine and marijuana into the Federal Correctional Institute at Ray Brook, New York, where he ministered to inmates. "I was tricked," Gottesman said, but he faces 20 years in prison.)
Marion County Sheriff Ken Ergle arrested, resigns (The Associated Press says the sheriff in Florida who instituted a no-frills approach in the county jail, charging inmates $1 a day for meals and a $10 copayment if they wanted to see a doctor, was charged with stealing $170,000 from a department fund used for investigations.)
Grant Krieger Update (A list subscriber notes the Canadian multiple sclerosis patient and medical marijuana defendant is scheduled to be sentenced Monday, Oct. 19, for possession of 23 grams of cannabis with intent to distribute.)
Pastrana Cools To Coca Policy (The Miami Herald says Colombian President Andres Pastrana distanced himself from US drug policy on Thursday, asserting that US-financed aerial eradication of coca "has not worked" and is simply pushing peasants deeper into the Amazon jungle.)
Priest Calls For Legalised Cannabis And Ecstasy (The Scotsman says Father Bob Gardner, a Roman Catholic priest who runs a youth centre for children in Easterhouse, a slum in Glasgow, called for the personal use of ecstasy to be decriminalised yesterday and said that cannabis should no longer be illegal. Father Gardner was also featured yesterday as Channel 4 launched a series about the results of its Citizens' Commission on Drugs. The television company set up the panel after the government refused to appoint a Royal commission on drugs.)
Judge Rules Swiss Trade In Aromatic Hemp Illegal (Reuters says Switzerland's budding domestic marijuana trade took a direct hit Friday when a Zurich district judge ruled that selling cannabis in aromatic sachets was against the law.)
Latest From Switzerland (A list subscriber says the ruling by a Swiss judge that cannabis is illegal no matter how it is packaged is an empty victory for prohibitionists, except for its propaganda value in the United States, thanks to the American media's inability to convey the whole story.)
The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue No. 63 (The Drug Reform Coordination Network's original summary of drug policy news and calls for action, including - The Reformer's Calendar is back; Why DRCNet?; Federal judge orders Oakland cannabis buyers' club shut down - city to consider providing marijuana to patients; Oregon poll - reform positions hold lead; Pain went up sharply among Oregon's dying in late 1997; Swiss okay controlled heroin distribution; Oklahoma police chief threatens harassment of man who opposes the drug war; Marijuana ranks fourth largest cash crop in America despite prohibition; Social concern a sign of teen drug use? Ask Orrin Hatch; Car seizure law upheld in Oakland; "Driving while black" lawsuit grows; Web news - URL for University of North Dakota hemp study; and an editorial, Put people before ideology)
Bytes: 116,000 Last updated: 6/4/99
Thursday, October 15, 1998:
Measure 67 - Medical marijuana splinters doctors (The Oregonian says the lack of consensus among Oregon physicians about medical marijuana is so deep that the Oregon Medical Association's governing body voted in April to remain neutral on Measure 67. Dr. Rick Bayer, chief petitioner for the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, suggests more doctors would voice support, but "Most are afraid to come out of the closet because of fears about the DEA." Dr. Charles Hofmann, president of the OMA, says the debate is a replay of the physician-assisted suicide campaign in 1994 - "The overwhelming arguments in both are compassion and respect for individual rights.")
Re - Measure 67 - Medical Marijuana Splinters Doctors (A letter sent to the editor of The Oregonian from Dr. Tod H. Mikuriya, the former director of marijuana research for the National Institute of Mental Health and editor of "Marijuana - Medical Papers 1839-1972," says physicians who claim not enough is known about marijuana to endorse its medical use are suffering from ignorance. Uncritical acceptance of cannabis-prohibition-cult dogmatism and failure to adequately research medical literature are the etiologies.)
Schools Drop DARE Program (The Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon, says the Salem-Keizer School District, following a national trend, has abandoned the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program for fifth graders in half of its schools, and the other half are evaluating the effectiveness of the police-taught program. According to a 1998 study by Salem-Keizer Together, a community drug-prevention network, the number of sixth graders who use drugs at a moderate to high rate rose to an all time high of 6.1 percent in 1998.)
The Columbian newspaper has an online medical marijuana forum (A list subscriber invites activists to lobby for reform at the web site of the Vancouver, Washington, daily.)
Yelm police number improperly listed in voter pamphlet (The Tacoma News Tribune, noting Washington state law bars the use of any public office or facility to support or oppose a ballot measure, says the Yelm Police Department's telephone number was improperly listed in 1.9 million copies of the state voters' guide as a source of information for opponents of Initiative 692, the ballot initiative to legalize medical use of marijuana.)
Pot Club To Fight Court Ruling (The San Jose Mercury News says the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative vowed Wednesday to fight a federal court ruling that would prevent it from providing medical marijuana to patients in accordance with Proposition 215, pledging an appeal or the possibility of the group breaking up into smaller, independent cells. Another dispensary in Ukiah remains open and US District Court Judge Charles Breyer ruled that the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana could also remain open until a jury trial.)
Judge Orders Cannabis Club Closed (The Chicago Tribune version says federal judge Charles Breyer for some reason claimed that closing the Oakland co-op would not cause imminent harm or death to patients - patently false in many cases.)
US Orders California Marijuana Club Closed (The Reuters version in The Washington Post)
Closure of Cannabis Club Ordered (The Los Angeles Times version)
Judge Grants Medical Pot Club Three-Day Reprieve (The Oakland Tribune notes that just hours before US Marshals were to come knocking Friday, US District Court Judge Charles Breyer granted a stay that allows the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative to stay open until 5 pm Monday, giving attorneys time to appeal the case to the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Several patients, in declarations to the court, have stated that cutting off their marijuana supply would be a "death sentence.")
California voters guide enhanced (A bulletin from DrugSense points you to the California NORML web site highlighting candidates' positions on cannabis-related issues.)
Pot Raid Tipster Running For Sonoma County Supervisor (The Point Reyes Light, in California, says Jane Hamilton, a Petaluma city councilwoman now running for Sonoma County supervisor, is the anonymous tipster who launched a marijuana raid at the Chileno Valley home of her former boyfriend, who now faces a 20-year mandatory minimum federal sentence. Hamilton says she began dating Scott Joseph Kremer in 1991 but didn't realize he was growing pot until his October 1993 harvest - nearly a year after she was first elected to the Petaluma City Council.)
Drug court clerk under investigation in Nevada (The Las Vegas Sun says Janice Hampton, a clerk for a local drug court, was placed on administrative leave after $34,460 assessed against drug offenders turned up missing.)
Community Activist Runs From Law Into Folk-Hero Status (The Los Angeles Times says virtually no one in Crested Butte, Colorado, the mountain hamlet where fugitive one-time cocaine trafficker Neil Murdoch spent the past 25 years, will help authorities track him down. Instead, they honor him with awards and parades.)
Teacher Charged With Possession (The San Antonio Express-News says campus police arrested a 7th-grade English teacher a Heritage Middle School after they found a marijuana cigarette in his truck during a "routine" canine drug and weapons search. "He's doing an excellent job in the classroom," said Dan Lyttle's superintendent.)
ICLU files suit to halt police roadblocks (The Associated Press says the Indiana Civil Liberties Union will try to bring a halt to the Indianapolis Police Department's practice of setting up random anti-drug roadblocks.)
Marijuana seizure totals nearly $1.8 million (The Kalamazoo Gazette says sheriff's deputies in Van Buren County, Michigan, burned 1,780 marijuana plants discovered in a rural section of Bangor Township Wednesday, sending approximately $1.8 million of the leafy herb up in smoke. Anyone with information about suspicious or drug-related activity can call 616-657-3101 . . . .)
1998 NORML Crop Report (The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws for the first time in many years updates its estimated value of marijuana cultivated in the United States, and finds it remains the fourth largest cash crop despite approximately $10 billion wasted annually to enforce prohibition. Only corn, soybeans, and hay rank as more profitable cash crops to American farmers. Cultivators grew $15.1 billion worth of cannabis in 1997, worth $25.2 billion on the retail market - if you go by the estimated retail value or accept the DEA's estimated weight of one pound per plant, cannabis would be the No. 1 crop throughout America instead of just in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. More than 98 percent of all the marijuana eradicated by law enforcement is non-psychoactive ditchweed.)
Big mystery - What causes addiction? Drunks beget drunkards, Plutarch noted, but is it destiny? (MSNBC examines what little science knows so far about why some of us are prone to addiction and others aren't. Generally, a predisposition to abuse one drug applies to almost all other drugs. But no addiction gene has ever been identified, and, even among men who carry a hereditary load, predisposing physical factors don't doom them to a sodden or chemically dependent lifestyle. There's no such thing as a pre-addictive personality, experts say. Some people, particularly those addicted to opiates, may have deficiencies in their brain reward systems. Other drug users gravitate toward their "drug of choice" to "self-medicate." Heroin, for instance, is remarkably effective at "normalizing" people who suffer from delusions and hallucinations - mostly schizophrenics. Cocaine can quickly lift a depression, or enable a person with attention-deficit disorder to become better organized and focused.)
FCC to propose resolving digital wiretap debate (Reuters says the Federal Communications Commission next week will propose requiring telephone companies to make a series of changes to give law enforcement agencies additional wiretapping capabilities.)
Government to get $690 million more to stop drug smugglers (The Associated Press says US government spending to stop the inflow of illegal drugs would jump by about $690 million under a compromise announced Thursday that will be included in the 1999 budget bill. Backed by the White House drug czar, General Barry McCaffrey, the legislation would mandate the use of foreign aid as leverage against other countries' drug polices; upgrade prohibition agents' technology and intelligence tools; provide high-tech aircraft and helicopters to Bolivia, Colombia and Peru; increase penalties for methamphetamine offenders; add money to prevention, education and treatment programs that include incentives for businesses to run anti-drug programs; and expresses opposition to proposals to legalize marijuana for medical use.)
Rights Report Blames Paramilitary Forces in Colombia (The New York Times says a report by Human Rights Watch/Americas catalogs the massacre at Mapiripan, Colombia, in July 1997, and dozens of similar incidents, concluding the ravaging of Mapiripan was unique only in the size of the operation and the logistics involved. Right-wing paramilitary troops arrived on a charter flight at San Jose del Guaviare airport, which shares an airstrip with a US-financed anti-narcotics base. Colombian soldiers usually record the arrivals, but that day they waved the visitors through.)
Heroin ship arrives in Sydney, Australia, under guard; Private prison in Shelby, Montana, has a name; three Mexican nationals arraigned in Helena, Montana, after methamphetamine bust (Three items from ninemsn.com lead with an article about a freighter carrying a record 400 kilograms of high-grade heroin docking in Sydney Harbour under heavy guard.)
Drugs Detective Cleared (The Independent, in Britain, says Flying Squad detective constable Keith Green was cleared Wednesday of breaking into a flat and stealing cannabis resin, but two of his former colleagues are awaiting sentence after admitting they burgled the flat in Silvertown, east London, and stole 80 kilograms of cannabis resin last December.)
Flying Squad Officers Admit Crime Career (The version in The Guardian says the two guilty former police officers admitted carrying out a series of crimes ranging from setting up robberies to perverting the course of justice. The pair are in safe houses helping the Metropolitan police's anti-corruption drive.)
Anti-tumoural effect from cannabis (A translation of an article from ABC newspaper in Madrid, Spain, says researchers from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid have proved for the first time that derivatives of cannabis have the ability to induce the death of tumur cells, without affecting healthy cells, as shown in two studies published in the magazines "FEBS Letters" and "Molecular Pharmacology.")
Bytes: 109,000 Last updated: 11/8/98
Wednesday, October 14, 1998:
Our Guide To The 1998 Ballot Measures - Chainsaws, Bongs & One-Eyed Jacks (Willamette Week in Portland opposes Measure 57, recriminalizing possession of less than one ounce of cannabis, and endorses Measure 67, the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act.)
Measure 67 KBOO debate (Dr. Rick Bayer, chief petitioner for the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, says he will debate Mollala Police Chief Rob Elkins and invites Oregonians who support the rights of medical marijuana patients to call KBOO, 90.7 FM, between 7:30 and 9 am on Wednesday, Oct. 21.)
The Matrix Files (Willamette Week says Multnomah Sheriff Dan Noelle has been able to fulfill his campaign promise of ending matrix releases of jail inmates, thanks to removal of a court order limiting overcrowding, taxpayers' contribution of new jail beds, and continued use of jails in other jurisdictions.)
Notorious pot grower pleads guilty to federal court (The Associated Press says Rhett "Tom" Phillips, a star high school quarterback as a senior in McMinnville, Oregon, in 1971, built a marijuana-growing empire in the 1980s, then eluded authorities for more than five years before US marshals captured him in late 1997 near San Jose, California. He likely faces 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine.)
UO gets grant to battle drinking (The Register-Guard in Eugene says a survey of students at the University of Oregon suggests surprisingly many think everyone else is doing drugs but them, sort of like the McCarthy era, when everyone suspected everyone else was a communist. Although students thought 90.9 percent of other students used marijuana in the past month, only 29 percent did - 66 percent were thought to have consumed cannabis in the past week, but only 18 percent did.)
State RICO law snares four of worst gangsters (The Oregonian notes the imminent incarceration of four racketeers in Portland, but not what they were racketeering in.)
Man caught in North Portland raid faces charges (An Oregonian update on the case of Larry Anderson says the owner of property coveted by county officials is not being charged with trafficking, only possession.)
Judge Orders Oakland CBC Shut - Protest! (California NORML breaks the news that federal judge Charles Breyer will close the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative without allowing any jury trial. A protest will be held 4 pm Friday at an unspecified location.)
Judge rejects marijuana clubs' defenses (The Associated Press updates its version.)
Pot clubs can't remain open, US judge rules (The San Francisco Examiner-Associated Press version)
Judge Orders SF Jury Trial In Marin Pot Club Case (The Sacramento Bee version)
End May Be Near for Embattled California Marijuana Clubs (The Reuters version)
Alert - Protest Closure of Oakland Medical Marijuana Co-op (The Drug Reform Coordination Network asks you to write letters to President Clinton and your congressional representatives. The protest rally 4 pm Friday will be at the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative - call the contact number for an address.)
Mikuriya In Sonora (The Anderson Valley Advertiser, in Boonville, California, does a feature article about Dr. Tod H. Mikuriya, the Berkeley psychiatrist whose experience as the former director of marijuana research for the federal government has led hundreds of patients to seek his recommendation for cannabis under California's Proposition 215. Dr. Mikuriya's activism has led Attorney General Dan Lungren's office to single out the Quaker-raised patient advocate for scrutiny, but district attorneys find it difficult to challenge his testimony successfully.)
Cocaine Theft From Police Raises Security Concerns (The Orange County Register notes someone ripped off fellow police in Riverside, California, for $3.2 million worth of cocaine planned for a reverse sting operation.)
Kids' Inhalant Abuse Doing Serious Damage (The Orange County Register tries to launch a nationwide drug menace, quoting the White House drug czar, General Barry McCaffrey, saying Thursday that kids using inhalants is "probably the single biggest cause of unnecessary destruction in our society.")
Pot Transport Tips (A letter to the editor of The Anderson Valley Advertiser, in Boonville, California, explains how Humboldt County medical marijuana patients who are supposed to be protected by Proposition 215 can harvest, manicure and transport their medicine while circumventing the occupying force.)
Right On! (Another letter to the editor of The Anderson Valley Advertiser praises the recent column by John Jonik on the very real "successes" of the war on some drug users.)
New York Times In Epic Climb-Down - CIA - We Knew (Jeffrey St. Clair and Alexander Cockburn in The Anderson Valley Advertiser in Boonville, California, present an insightful analysis of The New York Times' recent biased coverage of the CIA-Contra-Cocaine scandal.)
Legalizing Pot for Medical Use a Largely Overlooked Ballot Initiative (The Las Vegas Sun says the most vocal opponents to Question 9 have been a group of senators, none from Nevada, who called a press conference against the initiative in Washington, DC. Dan Hart, the spokesman for the initiative, said internal polls are "very encouraging." "It's seen, by and large, as a noncontroversial issue," Hart said.)
Officials Find Convict Who Fled In 1970 (The Dallas Morning News says Charles Edward Garrett, convicted of heroin possession, fled a Dallas courtroom in 1970 just before he was sentenced to life in prison. Nearly 30 years later, having avoided all trouble with the law, Garrett probably will begin serving his life term this week.)
Ex-senator guilty of drunken-driving assault (The Houston Chronicle says Don Henderson, a former Texas state senator, was convicted Wednesday on three counts of "intoxication assault" for a March 31 drunken-driving accident in which three people were injured.)
Three Debate Crime, Drugs (According to The Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin, the Republican candidate for district attorney of Dane County, Diane Nicks, says she's the most experienced at prosecuting cases and managing an office. Democrat Deirdre Garton says she has the best long-term vision to fight crime. And Libertarian Peter Steinberg says we'd all be better off if Dane County would quit prosecuting marijuana offenses.)
DrugSense Weekly, No. 68 (An original summary of drug policy news, including the feature article, How to win, by Mark Greer. The Weekly News In Review includes - Drug War Policy - US abuses human rights, Amnesty International says; Amnesty International bites the hand that feeds it; Joe Camel boosted smoking in teens; Students' substance use increases; Top court allows wider testing for drugs in schools; CIA said to ignore charges of Contra dealing in '80s. Articles about Incarceration include - County jails getting crowded; Jail stays grow with the backlog; Jury indicts prison guards; Second prison probe. Medical Marijuana stories include - Accounting of pot petitions ordered; Editorial - I-692 a proper use for marijuana; Public nuisance or therapy? cannabis clubs. Stories relating to Recreational Marijuana include - Rally call for drugs goes to pot; A pot professor's day in court. International News stories include - UK - Bar warns Straw that his reforms could break law; UK - Random drug tests at 100 independent schools; UK - Police chiefs plan biggest blitz yet on drug dealers; Belize's quiet despair; Canada - Task force tackles dealers. Hot off the 'net - MAP hits $1 million in published letters; DrugSense tip of the week; Quote of the week - US Supreme Court.)
Bytes: 136,000 Last updated: 11/12/98
Tuesday, October 13, 1998:
For the sick and suffering (A letter to the editor of The Bulletin, in Bend, Oregon, endorses Measure 67, the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, noting Marinol consists of just one cannabinoid - the most psychoactive - and patients and doctors should be allowed to avail themselves of the more than 60 cannabinoids in herbal cannabis.)
Portland March Against Police Brutality Oct. 24 (A forwarded message invites you to a public protest against drug-war violence and repression, "Communities United to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation," beginning at noon Saturday at Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Cook Street. Numerous sponsors include Copwatch; Amnesty International Group 48 and PCC Students Against Violence.)
Judge Rejects Marijuana Clubs' Defenses (The Associated Press says US District Judge Charles Breyer has ordered the closure of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative without a jury trial, saying he has no authority to decide whether the federal ban on marijuana is irrational.)
Pot Grower Tells Police 33 Plants Were Medicinal (The Sacramento Bee describes the bust of medical marijuana patient Bob Ames of Rio Linda, California, for growing more than the two plants Attorney General Dan Lungren thinks patients should be allowed.)
Bob Ames Arrest Report (A first person account by the medical marijuana defendant himself says Sacramento police stated that their policy is to arrest all persons caught with marijuana and "let the courts sort it out.")
'Real Criminals' (A letter to the editor of The Fresno Bee from a criminal defense attorney and Libertarian candidate for congress says tape recording police interviews with suspects would save the taxpayers the expense of a lot of trials, but halting prosecutions of victimless crimes such as using or selling illegal drugs would save a lot more.)
CIA admits role in cocaine/contra scandal (A list subscriber forwards the URL for the Central Intelligence Agency's recently released report inspired by The San Jose Mercury News' "Dark Alliance" series.)
Police Lies "Ruined My Life" (The New Zealand Herald says A Kerikeri woman plans to sue the New South Wales government in Australia after being jailed for three and a half years on the fictitious testimony of disgraced Sydney detectives. The NSW Criminal Appeal Court overturned her conviction because of a detective's confession in 1995 that the case was "straight fiction.")
Bytes: 28,100 Last updated: 10/15/98
Monday, October 12, 1998:
Plight Of The Desperately Ill Deserves Marijuana Access (A staff editorial in The Herald, in Everett, Washington, endorses Initiative 692, the medical marijuana ballot measure, saying the medical use of marijuana might help young people disassociate the drug from any false perception of glamour.)
Public Should Wait For Proof That Supports I-692 (An op-ed in The Herald, in Everett, Washington, by John Turner, chief of police in Mountlake Terrace, opposes Initiative 692 with a bunch of lies and factual misstatements.)
Initiative 692 will ease pain of many suffering patients (Another op-ed in The Herald, by William O. Robertson, MD, the former president of the Washington State Medical Association, endorses the medical marijuana ballot measure. For the patient who is suffering and believes that he or she will feel better, why does society choose to stand in the way, hold up its hand and shout "No way!")
Medical marijuana is bad presciption (A staff editorial in The Tacoma News Tribune opposes Initiative 692, the Washington state ballot measure, admitting it is hard not to be swayed by emotional testimonials from cancer patients and others who say smoking marijuana eases their suffering. "We are realistic enough to believe that cancer victims and others who think they truly need marijuana will find ways to get it" without reform.)
San Diego Medical Marijuana Trial Commences Wednesday, Oct. 14 (A message forwarded from an attorney says jury selection will begin Wednesday in San Diego Superior Court in the case of People v. Steven McWilliams and Dion Markgraaff, charged in connection with growing and supplying medical marijuana to local patients. Last minute expenses associated with the trial are mounting - please send donations.)
Bob Ames is being busted as you read this (A San Francisco Bay area activist sends out an alert about the cultivation bust of a Sacramento medical marijuana patient.)
Medical Marijuana Measure Is About Greed (An op-ed in the Anchorage Daily News by Wevley Shea, the former US attorney in Anchorage, says Ballot Measure 8, the Alaskan medical marijuana initiative, is about crime and the economic greed of cultivators, and attempts to "misuse the alleged individual rights to protect individuals and entities that grow, distribute, sell, transport, possess or use marijuana.")
Whiffs of hypocrisy in hemp promotion (An op-ed in The Toronto Star comments on Health Canada's recent attempt to quash The Body Shop's sale of hemp-based skin care products. The Body Shop is even more annoying than Health Canada, using promotional slogans such as "Roll yourself in hemp fashions!" "High time for changes!" "Hope not dope!" while distancing itself from marijuana the drug. In light of Jim Wakeford's recent failure in his fight to smoke pot legally to help with his AIDS-related loss of appetite, promoting hemp through hip, drug-related colloquialisms while reiterating tired old stereotypes about a drug that's less harmful than alcohol is a cheap and hypocritical position. It's a little like saying you read Playboy for the articles - or that you never inhaled.)
Crime Rate Is Higher Than US (The Scotsman says a report by the US Department of Justice shows that robbery, burglary and assaults are more common per head of population in England and Wales than in the United States, although the rates for murder and rape are lower. A Home Office spokeswoman said, "We believe the study is limited because it compares only two sets of figures.")
Case Tests Legality Of Swiss Marijuana (Reuters says that after three years of rapid growth, dozens of Swiss marijuana retail stores could be facing imminent closure as prosecutors in Zurich take one shop owner to court in a test case. A turn of phrase in Swiss lawbooks leaves open a loophole by prohibiting trade in marijuana only if it is sold specifically as a "narcotic." Enterprising hemp retailers have been selling marijuana as potpourri, or dried hemp packed in small cloth bags as an herbal room scent and labelled "not for consumption.")
Bytes: 52,600 Last updated: 10/19/98
Sunday, October 11, 1998:
Voters favor medical marijuana, oppose recriminalization (The Oregonian says a statewide poll conducted Sept. 30 through Oct. 6 suggests 59 percent support Measure 67, the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, and 54 percent oppose Measure 57, which would recriminalize possession of less than one ounce of the herb.)
Man quits chewing tobacco after using computer game (The Associated Press says Steve Guard of Springfield, Oregon, quit chewing tobacco with the help of a prototype program developed by Herbert Severson, a behavioral scientist at Oregon Research Institute in Eugene, who has been studying "smokeless" tobacco addiction for a decade. Severson collaborated with computer programmer Tom Jacobs and producer Steve Christiansen of Intervision, a Eugene-based multimedia company, with support from a grant by The National Cancer Institute.)
I-692 A Proper Use For Marijuana (A staff editorial in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer strongly endorses Initiative 692, the Washington state medical marijuana ballot measure, saying the case for medical use of marijuana is compelling.)
To Make Narcotics Legal Defies History And Science (The Baltimore Sun runs a three-book review by historian Jill Jones, author of "Hepcat, Narcs, and Pipedreams" and the curator of the new DEA Museum opening in Washington, DC, this year. A classic drug warrior, Jones thinks drug courts are the best thing to happen in the drug treatment industry since methadone. Because of her editorializing, you won't learn much about the import of Mike Gray's "Drug Crazy - How We Got Into This Mess, How We Can Get Out"; conservative Republican Dirk Chase Eldredge's "Ending the War on Drugs - A Solution for America"; and "The Fix - Under the Nixon Administration, America Had an Effective Drug Policy - We Should Restore It - Nixon Was Right," by Michael Massing.)
Drug Makers in Hot Race to Find the Next Prozac (The New York Times writes about the competition among pharmaceutical companies to come up with the next big antidepressant. Sometime in the next five years, Eli Lilly's patents on Prozac will expire, so giant pharmaceutical companies are spending hundreds of millions of dollars in the hope of developing the drug that supplants it as the market leader. However, the company that develops the next big antidepressant must be able to sell it, so it looks like research into cannabinoids is out of the question.)
CIA Did Not Tell All About Contras' Drug Activities, Report Says (The Associated Press version in The Houston Chronicle of Thursday's news about the CIA's latest account of its role in the CIA-Contra-cocaine scandal uncovered by The San Jose Mercury News.)
Cafe raid sparks backlash - From California to Nova Scotia, opinions pour in (The Vancouver Courier in British Columbia says the recent police raid on Vancouver's Cannabis Cafe and Hemp BC has raised a storm of criticism by Internet users who are critical of the city's brutal use of police to enforce political repression.)
Doctors Told To Inform On Patients (Scotland on Sunday says the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland has recently recommended that patient confidentiality should not be protected in cases where injury could result from drivers or pilots impaired by alcohol or other drugs.)
MPs Move To Outlaw Sale Of Cannabis Seeds (The Telegraph, in Britain, says police have lobbied for, and Home Office ministers favor, outlawing the possession of cannabis seeds and the equipment necessary for their cultivation.)
Plant Patent Pits Scientists Against Indian Activists (The St. Louis Post-Dispatch says 12 years ago, California scientist and entrepreneur Loren Miller founded the International Plant Medicine Corp. and took out a US patent on a variety of ayahuasca, a sacred hallucinogen among Amazonian Indians. Miller started testing the plant for uses in psychotherapy and treating cancer. A few years ago, indigenous leaders learned of the patent, and relations between plant collectors and South American tribes have been headed downhill since.)
Bytes: 68,300 Last updated: 10/19/98
Saturday, October 10, 1998:
Fraction of juveniles punished under alcohol law (The Associated Press says juvenile court judges throughout Oregon have largely nullified a state law that requires them to suspend the driving privileges of youths caught possessing alcohol. More than 11,000 juveniles throughout the state were arrested for possession of alcohol last year, but only 2,646 had their licenses suspended.)
Sex And Drugs And The World's Richest Man (According to The Irish Independent, a new book about Microsoft founder Bill Gates of Seattle, "The Microsoft File - The Secret Case Against Bill Gates," by Wendy Goldman Rohm, says the squeaky-clean embodiment of the American dream has a taste for expensive prostitutes and cannabis.)
The California NORML Election Guide for 1998 (A list subscriber posts the URL for California voters looking for the inside scoop.)
Kubby Is Good Alternative (A letter to the editor of The San Jose Mercury News endorses Libertarian candidate Steve Kubby for governor, and refers readers to the web site for the medical marijuana patient/activist's candidacy.)
Second Prison Probe (An Associated Press story in The San Jose Mercury News says that one day after five prison guards were charged with helping to arrange the rape of an inmate at maximum-security Corcoran State Prison, California Attorney General Dan Lungren on Friday announced an investigation at a second prison, High Desert State Prison near Susanville. Lungren, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, dismissed suggestions that the latest round of indictments at Corcoran was politically motivated. He also declined to comment on the powerful prison guards union's endorsement of his rival in the governor's race.)
Brutal Prison Guards Charged (A version in The Telegraph, in Britain)
Birchwood Bust Sets Pot Record Cops Harvest $2.2 Million (The Anchorage Daily News indicates city, state and federal prohibition agents confiscated almost 1,100 marijuana plants they valued at $2,000 each from a Birchwood home Thursday night, the largest Anchorage pot bust in memory.)
NH Growers way ahead of narcs (A Boston Globe article about marijuana cultivation in New Hampshire says police estimate about 3,000 plants are found there every year, while another 20,000 or more go undiscovered. But only about 10 percent of the marijuana sold on the streets is grown within the state. "A lot more is used than anyone wants to know or anyone wants to admit," said Sandown Police Chief J. Scott Currier. More marijuana is grown in Maine and Vermont, police said, because those states are more rural than New Hampshire.)
Ex-Chief Could Get Up To 50 Years In Drug Conviction (The Houston Chronicle says Robert Sanger, the former chief of police in Premont, Texas, was found guilty by a federal jury Thursday on one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, one count of conspiring to distribute about a ton of marijuana, and one count of knowingly accepting gifts while acting as chief.)
102 Accused Of Supplying Crack To White-Collar NY Workers (A New York Times article in The Dallas Morning News says 102 members of five gangs were indicted Friday for selling millions of dollars' worth of crack cocaine to white-collar workers in midtown Manhattan during the last decade. The five gangs involved apparently shunned confrontation to avoid drawing police attention. To avoid warfare, dealers declared a truce and worked out a shift schedule among themselves, officials said.)
Myopic About Marijuana (A letter to the editor of The Washington Post says recent news about the analgesic properties of cannabis should motivate voters to endorse Initiative 59, the Washington, DC, medical marijuana ballot measure.)
Myopic About Marijuana (A second letter to the editor of The Washington Post, by Paul Armentano of NORML, says General Barry McCaffrey's zeal to probe the private lives of NBA players by instituting random drug tests for marijuana is misguided and unnecessary. The NBA is not a law enforcement agency, and it is inappropriate to force players who are not even suspected of using drugs - and whose job performance is satisfactory - to "prove" their innocence through this degrading procedure.)
CIA Said To Ignore Charges Of Contra Dug Dealing In '80s (The New York Times version of Thursday's news on the Central Intelligence Agency's ongoing re-evaluation of what constitutes plausible deniability.)
Parity For Mental Illness, Disparity For The Mental Patient (Psychiatrist Thomas Szasz writes in The Lancet, in Britain, that recent legislation in the United States mandating insurance parity for patients with medical illnesses and psychiatric illnesses is inconsistent with the disparity in their legal status. Patients with sarcoma are assumed to remain in possession of their mental faculties, but patients with schizophrenia are not. Medical patients are treated as contracting moral agents, while mental patients are commonly treated as if they are minors or unconscious, and are often institutionalized against their will and/or forced to take toxic medications. The Patient Self-Determination Act makes it mandatory for healthcare providers receiving Medicare or Medicaid payments to "inform patients of their existing rights under state law to refuse treatment and prepare advance directives." The problems that mental patients pose for themselves, their families, and society can be resolved if the familiar advance directive or "living will" is adapted to the circumstances of psychiatric patients and their carergivers.)
Controlled Heroin Distribution Given The Nod (An Associated Press story in The Australian says Switzerland's experimental heroin maintenance program is set to be extended after Swiss lawmakers yesterday gave the go-ahead for doctors to prescribe heroin to long-term addicts on a permanent basis.)
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Friday, October 9, 1998:
Drug defender to plead guilty (The News Tribune in Tacoma, Washington, notes Gideon Israel, a marijuana law reform advocate who has been holding four public gatherings at Rainbow Valley, his 42-acre property, every year for more than a decade, will plead guilty today to conspiracy to deliver marijuana and manufacture marijuana and possession with intent to deliver LSD and psilocybin mushrooms. He agreed to sell his property south of Littlerock, give half the proceeds to the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force, and promised not to hold outdoor festivals in Thurston County for 10 years.)
Scientist dissects wily ways of cigarettes (A Seattle Times account of Washington state's $2.2 billion lawsuit against the tobacco industry for conspiring to violate antitrust and consumer-protection laws, focuses on the testimony of Jack Henningfield, a specialist in nicotine addiction and dependence, who suggested the industry used complex and devious tricks to encourage smokers to remain smokers.)
Snuff bottles are intricate works of art (The Seattle Times reviews an exhibit of more than 260 snuff bottles from 17th- and 18th-century China, used by the wealthy to hold a fine mixture of powdered tobacco and herbs.)
1998 Washington State Hemp Voter's Guide Update (The Washington Hemp Education Network has added additional candidate responses and more to its online guide.)
Car Seizure Law Upheld In Oakland (The San Francisco Chronicle says an Alameda County judge yesterday rejected the American Civil Liberties Union's challenge to a pioneering Oakland city ordinance that allows police to seize the cars of alleged drug buyers and prostitution customers.)
Defending moms - a busy week so far (A list subscriber forwards a shocking account of prohibition agents in San Bernardino, California, running amok.)
Jury Indicts Prison Guards (A Los Angeles Times article in The San Jose Mercury News says five correctional officers have been indicted by a special Kings County grand jury on conspiracy and other charges stemming from a 1993 rape at Corcoran State Prison by an inmate enforcer nicknamed "the Booty Bandit." The indictments came after a three-month investigation by the state attorney general's office into allegations of planned rapes and cover-ups at the San Joaquin Valley prison.)
Marines Arrested In Drug Investigation (The San Jose Mercury News version of yesterday's story about six US marines being arrested at Camp Pendleton for alleged marijuana use.)
Pro-Marijuana Group Settles Suit it Filed Over Ouster From '92 Fair (The Salt Lake Tribune says the group Mood For A Day, which advocates the use of hemp for food, fuel, medicine, paper and fiber, and therefore was ejected from the 1992 Salt Lake County Fair, has settled out of court for $32,500. Attorney Brian Barnard will receive the bulk of the settlement, leaving about $1,500 for the group, which lost an estimated $2,000 in sales of T-shirts, buttons and bumper stickers.)
Michael Domangue's Choice (Colorado attorney Warren C Edson says the judge in the case of his client, medical marijuana cultivator Michael Domangue, has reversed himself and nullified Domangue's ability to present a "choice of evils" defense.)
Oregon Physician Addresses Coloradans (An exchange, prompted by the previous item, between Dr. Rick Bayer, the chief petitioner for the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, and reformers in Colorado and elsewhere who oppose Amendment 19, the medical marijuana initiative also sponsored by Americans for Medical Rights. Dr. Bayer explains why he agreed to appear in a television advertisement for Amendment 19.)
Oregon's Attorneys Offering To Settle - Family Takes Step Toward Suing City (According to The Houston Chronicle, attorneys for the family of Pedro Oregon Navarro, an innocent man shot to death by Houston prohibition agents who broke into his apartment without a warrant, said Thursday they would settle with the city for $35 million, or a smaller amount if the city agreed within 30 days to change police policies and procedures.)
Drug Unit Supervisors Admit Using Racial Slurs (The Chicago Tribune says Fredrick Guerra, a supervisor in an elite drug-enforcement unit, has continued to collect his $46,332 annual salary from the Cook County Sheriff's Police while his disciplinary hearing grinds through the system after he admitted eighteen months ago that he used racial and sexist slurs to refer to subordinates, informants and drug dealers and that he occasionally wore a black "Sambo" mask around the office. Several other supervisors in the Cook County Metropolitan Enforcement Group unit, including the deputy director, also were accused of running a unit in which blacks were routinely referred to in derogatory terms.)
Fourth man indicted from RI Strike Force turns himself in (The Associated Press says Ronald House, a former agent with a disbanded Rhode Island prohibition squad who had been sought since Wednesday, pleaded innocent Friday to federal charges of fabricating evidence. Four men face charges of violating seven people's constitutional rights by fabricating evidence in drug cases.)
Three Charged With Running 'Yuppie' Drug Ring (The Philadelphia Inquirer notes the arrests of a "mastermind" and two other people who allegedly operated a "yuppie" drug ring that sold cocaine and amphetamines in Center City and West and South Philadelphia. One of the suspects, Anna Cruz, is an editorial assistant at The Inquirer.)
Higher Courts Must Debate Drug Laws (A staff editorial in The Centre Daily Times, in Pennsylvania, says a jury was right to convict retired Penn State professor Julian Heicklen of marijuana possession, but a higher court should seriously consider overturning the law. Clearly, the laws inspired by the War on Drugs are not working, because the drug problem persists and grows.)
Bring Methadone Out Into The Open (A staff editorial in The Chicago Tribune says the announcement last week by General Barry R. McCaffrey that the federal government would facilitate the use of methadone to treat heroin addicts is a significant step toward a more realistic - and effective - drug policy, with a greater focus on treatment for those afflicted.)
HEMPilation II's competition? (A bulletin from The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws says a new compact disc to benefit NORML will be released on Nov. 3, Election Day. The bulletin also includes a press release about "Lost Voices - The Songs of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison," a 15 song compilation of contemporary artists, scheduled for release Oct. 20 to benefit Phoenix House, the nation's leading non-profit drug treatment organization.)
Contra Drug Link Unveiled (The Associated Press says a 410-page declassified version of a report on the Contra-cocaine scandal by Inspector General L. Britt Snider of the Central Intelligence Agency was posted on the CIA's Web site late Thursday. Prompted by The San Jose Mercury News' "Dark Alliance" series, the study says the CIA failed to fully inform Congress and law enforcement agencies of reports that Nicaraguan Contras were involved in drug trafficking.)
Joe Camel Boosted Smoking In Teens (According to an Associated Press article in the New Bedford, Massachusetts, Standard-Times, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said yesterday that the number of American youths who took up smoking as a daily habit jumped 73 percent from Joe Camel's debut in 1988 to 1996. Without any additional evidence, the CDC said the cartoon character was "partly to blame" for kids' increased smoking, illustrating how even so-called scientists can confuse correlation with causation. One could just as reasonably blame the increase on the correlated expansion of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program.)
Technicality Kills Misconduct Charges (The Toronto Star says allegations of misconduct against six Toronto drug squad officers - including questionable strip searches and searching homes without warrants - were dismissed after the officers' lawyer argued it had taken too long to bring them to the internal discipline tribunal.)
Pro-Cannabis Campaigner Issues A Challenge (A letter to the editor of The Evening News in Norwich, England, rebuts a judge's contention that a burglar's troubles arose from cannabis use. The marijuana law reform advocate then asks the judge for the opportunity to present evidence by experts who would testify before him that pure cannabis is non-addictive, does not lead to hard drugs, is not toxic, does not a-motivate and does not significantly effect motor or cognitive skills.)
Drink Bigger Menace Than Drugs, Says Police Chief (The Scotsman says drugs tsar Keith Hellawell was yesterday forced to defend government policy as the chief constable of Fife warned that alcohol was a greater menace in Scottish society.)
The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue No. 62 (The Drug Reform Coordination Network's original summary of drug policy news and calls for action, including - DRCNet Needs Your Help; "Drug Crazy" Goes to Second Printing; Harm Reduction Conference in Cleveland; New Law Denies Student Loans to Non-Violent Drug Offenders; Judge Dismisses Charges in George Singleton Case; Oregon Initiatives; Peter McWilliams Sues Attorney General for Failure to Enforce Proposition 215; and Editorial - Reality vs. Demagoguery)
Bytes: 152,000 Last updated: 11/12/98
Thursday, October 8, 1998:
The NORML Foundation Weekly Press Release (Marijuana Derivative Benefits Head Trauma Victims, Human Trials Show; Clinton Signs Law Denying Student Aid To Marijuana Smokers; UK Drug Czar Backs Limited Use Of Medical Marijuana; South Carolina High School Issues Ban On Hemp Jewelry)
Truckers checked for drug use in special stops (The Associated Press says Oregon state troopers stopped 57 trucks over two days on US Highway 97 for drug and safety checks involving random urine tests. So-called drug impairment experts also visually checked each driver.)
Seattle School Learns Life Isn't An Absolute (A staff editorial in The Columbian, in Vancouver, Washington, says "zero tolerance" public school policies make zero sense in the real world. It sounds good when politicians and school officials tout it during election time. The casualty, though, is common sense.)
End Reefer Madness (A letter to the editor of The Herald in Everett, Washington, supports Initiative 692, the medical marijuana ballot measure.)
Heavy Drinking Reported Among 10th-, 12-Graders (The Herald, in Everett, Washington, says a survey released Wednesday of 37,000 students around the state was carried out during the last week in March and the first week of April for the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Department of Social and Health Services, and the Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development. The survey suggested that students' use of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana were all up slightly.)
Students' Substance Use Increases (The Seattle Times version)
Steve McWilliams jury trial (A list subscriber publicizes the San Diego trial of the medical marijuana patient who ran the Valley Center Cannabis Collective and was busted while delivering plants to another patient. A protest and rally begin at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, October 14, in front of the courthouse before the first day of the trial.)
Sister Somayah (A list subscriber says the Los Angeles medical marijuana activist and sickle cell anemia patient is being held on $50,000 bail after being busted by four LAPD narcs who said her 30 plants were too many. They also said her 1997 physician's letter of recommendation for cannabis was too old, as if people recuperate from sickle cell disease. One of the police was an officer she had lodged a complaint against with the city council.)
Bestselling Author to Call for Lungren's Impeachment At Libertarian Party Forum (PRNewswire says Peter McWilliams, the No. 1 bestselling author, medical marijuana patient, activist, and defendant, will call for Attorney General Dan Lungren's impeachment at a Libertarian Party forum to be held Wednesday, Oct. 14, in Arcadia.)
California Medical Association Protests Unauthorized Use of Physicians' Names in Medical Marijuana Case (A CMA Alert says US District Court Judge Charles Breyer granted the association's request to protect the confidentiality of doctors who had recommended medical marijuana to members of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, disclosed by attorneys during the discovery process for the federal lawsuit against the OCBC and other northern California dispensaries. Dr. Tod H. Mikuriya says the CMA's court brief is the first occasion since the passage of Proposition 215 the organization has been actively involved with its implementation.)
Marine helicopter mechanics arrested in drug probe (The Associated Press says six US Marines at Camp Pendleton in California were arrested for alleged marijuana and steroid use. Five of the Marines arrested were helicopter mechanics and the other worked at Camp Pendleton's substance abuse control center and allegedly helped Marines alter the results of their drug tests.)
We're All Criminals (An op-ed in California's New Times discusses the ubiquity of speeders, underage drinkers, tax cheaters, litterbugs, jaywalkers, pot smokers and other scofflaws. "We break laws because human beings make mistakes and errors in judgment; we defy laws that we don't believe are just.")
CIA Didn't Always Report Contractors' Alleged Drug-Dealing (The San Jose Mercury News says the Central Intelligence Agency disclosed in a report released Thursday that it failed to alert Congress or law enforcement about allegations of drug dealing by some of its hired hands during the 1980s secret war against the Marxist government of Nicaragua.)
Boot-camp-style Ranch Gets OK For New License (An Associated Press article in The San Jose Mercury News says that, less than a week after a grand jury indicted five former workers at the Arizona Boys Ranch on child abuse and manslaughter charges in connection with the death of Nicholaus Contreraz, 16, of Sacramento, California, the Arizona Department of Economic Security allowed the facility to renew its operating license.)
Militants, Activists Post Reward For Ex-Officer (The Houston Chronicle says The New Black Muslim Movement doesn't trust Houston police to find ex-narcotics officer Rex Gates, so it has offered a $500 reward. Kofi Taharka of the Black United Front and Travis Morales, a member of the national council of La Resistencia, denounced the case of Gates, who is white, calling police handling of the ex-officer an example of bias. Morales suggested Gates being allowed to get away might mean the ex-officer had "the goods" on corrupt officers.)
Two arrested in alleged city hall drug ring (An Associated Press article in The Miami Herald says the chief computer programmer and a payroll clerk for the city of Gary, Indiana, were accused Wednesday of running a cocaine ring that made drug deals out of City Hall.)
Farmer gets five-year term on drug charges (An Associated Press article in the The Star Tribune says Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Circuit Judge Henry Buslee sentenced Calvin Pluim Thursday after prohibition agents searched his barn and found 14 hay-like bales of marijuana weighing 843 pounds, 37 sealed paper bags of marijuana, 14 pairs of pruning shears, chest freezers, scales, grow lights and a 2-pound bag of marijuana cookies.)
Vote For Steinberg To Stop Drug War (A letter to the editor of The Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin, supports the candidacy of Peter L. Steinberg for Dane County District Attorney. Steinberg will focus on prosecuting crimes of violence and property crime, rather than wasting tax dollars and ruining lives by enforcing marijuana prohibition.)
Drug Evidence Found In Improper Search Cannot Be Used In Court (The Minneapolis Star-Tribune says the Fourth District Court of Appeals in Madison, Wisconsin, ruled 2-1 Thursday that an affidavit explaining the need for a 1996 search of Lance Ward' s home in Beloit - which yielded 5.5 pounds of marijuana and about a third of a pound of cocaine - did not provide a link between evidence of criminal activity and Ward' s home.)
61st year of marijuana prohibition (A letter to the editor of The Mountain Eagle in Tannersville, New York, notes the state does not have a voter initiative process, so the Marijuana Reform Party of New York was established to bring the issue of marijuana prohibition before New York voters, with Thomas Leighton running as the MRP candidate for governor.)
Dr Julian Heicklen's Trial (The Centre Daily Times says the retired Penn State professor was alternately "sobbing" and "shrill" while representing himself against marijuana possession charges. It took a jury in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, 30 minutes to convict him.)
A Pot Professor's Day In Court (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette version)
Ibogaine experience from the ibogaine list (A list subscriber forwards an alcoholic's first-person account of his use of the psychotropic African plant to overcome his addiction.)
Josette Shiner Vs. Bonnie Erbe - Medicinal Marijuana (An op-ed syndicated by Scripps Howard News Service featuring a debate between reefer madness proselytizer Josette Shiner, president of Empower America, and Bonnie Erbe of the Public Broadcasting Service's "To the Contrary.")
Congress, Clinton Deny Financial Aid to Non-Violent Drug Offenders (A bulletin from the Drug Policy Foundation notes President Clinton yesterday signed the Higher Education Act of 1998, which also expands coerced treatment and drug testing.)
US lawmakers sneak through controversial wiretap law (Reuters says that without debate or notice, US lawmakers were poised Thursday to approve a proposal for roving wiretaps, long sought by the FBI, that would dramatically expand wiretapping authority - an idea Congress rejected many years ago.)
Brother Takes Over Mexican Drug Cartel (The Seattle Times says US authorities yesterday identified Vicente Carrillo-Fuentes, the brother of a Mexican drug lord who died in 1997, as the new leader of a Juarez-area cartel.)
US targets suspected drug cartel leader (The Associated Press version)
Indictment Launches Hunt For Drug Lord (A slightly different Associated Press account in The Houston Chronicle)
US Indictment Targets Suspected Drug Cartel Chief (The Dallas Morning News version)
US Adds Pressure For Narcotics Kingpin (The San Jose Mercury News version)
Is Your Teenager Concerned About Inequality And Pollution? Call A Drug Counsellor (The Guardian, in Britain, notes a pamphlet by Gerald Smith, a criminology professor in Utah, featuring an introduction by Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, a Mormon minister, warns that a teenager who shows "excessive preoccupation with social causes, race relations, environmental issues etc." may be exhibiting the first symptoms of drug addiction.)
Methadone Turnabout Is A Welcome First Step (San Jose Mercury News columnist Joanne Jacobs says drug war propaganda has beaten pragmatism at every turn - until last week, when General Barry McCaffrey, in a speech to the American Methadone Treatment Association, called for expanding heroin addicts' access to methadone. Based on the logic of New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, diabetics should be forced to give up their dependency on insulin.)
Panic in needle park (A portrait of Toronto's junkie community in Eye magazine says needle exchanges were supposed to slow the spread of HIV, but infection rates are still rising. "We need more than a quick fix.")
Officials Find 142 Mexican State Police Used False Military Credentials (An Associated Press article in The San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune says a routine inspection by military officials showed more than 10 percent of Mexico state's judicial police submitted false proof of military service to get their jobs.)
Police Chiefs Plan Biggest Blitz Yet On Drug Dealers (The Scotsman says Scotland's eight chief constables are preparing to launch the biggest crackdown on drug dealers in the country's history.)
Bytes: 159,000 Last updated: 11/12/98
Wednesday, October 7, 1998:
Conflicting measures could change the way Oregonians look at marijuana (An Associated Press article in The Argus Observer, in rural eastern Oregon, examines the two very different marijuana-related initiatives on the Nov. 3 ballot, Measure 57, which would recriminalize possession of less than one ounce of cannabis, and Measure 67, the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act.)
Voter Power Dinner for No on 57 and Yes on 67 (Make your reservations now for the $50-per-plate benefit 5-9 p.m. Sunday night, Oct. 11, at the DoubleTree Hotel at Lloyd Center in Portland.)
Study finds pain went up sharply among dying in late '97 (The Associated Press says a survey by researchers at Oregon Health Sciences University of relatives of patients dying in hospitals around Oregon showed a sharp increase in the level of pain suffered by their loved ones during the last two months of 1997. Some medical leaders speculate the increase is related to the threat of federal sanctions against doctors who help terminally ill patients die under the state's physician-assisted suicide law.)
Assisted suicide bill falters on Capitol Hill (The Associated Press says that with Congress trying to adjourn by the weekend, time may be running out on a bill to block Oregon's doctor-assisted suicide law.)
Measure to block assisted suicide appears sidelined (The Oregonian version)
Voters should OK medical use of marijuana (A staff editorial in The Columbian, in Vancouver, Washington, endorses Initiative 692, the medical marijuana ballot measure.)
Marijuana Product May Aid In Traumas (The Boston Globe says a study being released today at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons conference in Seattle shows a synthetic cannabinoid called dexanabinol - already in use in Israel - could offer hope to hundreds of thousands of victims of severe head trauma, reducing the death rate and letting 50 percent more patients resume a normal life. The findings are drawing substantial interest, in part because head injuries are the leading cause of death among young people in the United States, and there are few if any treatments. If early results are substantiated, the new drug would be the most medically useful treatment derived from the cannabis plant.)
Pharmos Announces Successful Phase II Head Trauma Study; Marijuana Analog Benefits Brain Injured Patients (A Pharmos Corporation press release on PRNewswire says highlights of the trial use of dexanabinol, manufactured by Pharmos, resulted in a 26 percent reduction in mortality. No drug is currently approved to treat severe head trauma.)
Peter McWilliams Sues Dan Lungren (The AIDS and cancer patient, medical marijuana activist and best-selling author says he has filed a lawsuit today, requesting that a Superior Court order California Attorney General Lungren to uphold his oath of office and fulfill his duties under the California Constitution concerning Proposition 215 by defending McWilliams against the federal government.)
SLO Hemp Rally (California NORML invites you to attend the 11th annual hemp festival on Sunday, Oct. 18, on the courthouse lawn in the city of San Luis Obispo.)
Spitfire Tour at UC Berkeley (Get your tickets now! Medical marijuana patient/activist/defendant Todd McCormick and hemp activist Woody Harrelson are scheduled to speak on Sunday, Oct. 18, together with Exene Cervanka of the band, X, veejay Kennedy of MTV, and Michael Frante.)
Sacramento - Medical Pot Curb Backed (The Sacramento Bee says the Sacramento, California, city council's law and legislation committee Tuesday tentatively supported a ban on smoking pot within 100 feet of another person or public access building, and within 1,000 feet of a school, park or other open or recreational space.)
Saturday Night With The Camo Buddies (The Anderson Valley Advertiser, in Boonville, California, describes a Mendocino County controversy over a judge ordering the release of a prisoner on her own recognizance. What's interesting is the account of how the Mendocino Marijuana Eradication Team busted and terrorized Helen Ochoa, an ailing 68-year-old Leggett woman.)
The Rules Of The Justice Game (An inspired but unknown author in The Anderson Valley Advertiser succinctly explains what everyone knows about the criminal injustice system as it has evolved through decades of the uncivil war on some drug users.)
Choctaw Women File Suit After Mistaken Drug Raid On Their Home (The Oklahoma Gazette says two traumatized women whose home was raided during "Operation Red Rain," spearheaded by the state Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, have filed a lawsuit. The raid was prompted when a prohibition agent in a helicopter spying on their back yard thought he saw marijuana growing. It turned out to be be a plant called vitex, which one of the victims bought nearly a decade ago from the state Forestry Commission.)
Two Accused In City Hall Drug Ring (The Associated Press says the FBI taped three telephone conversations that led to the arrest of the chief computer programmer and a payroll clerk for the city of Gary, Indiana, who ran a $1,000-a-day cocaine business.)
400 Applicants Caught Attempting to Cheat Drug Test, SmithKline Beecham Drug Testing Index Reveals (A press release from SmithKline Beecham on PRNewswire provides some comprehensive statistics on the results of urine tests in the United States workforce from 1988 through the first six months of 1998. Surprise - not a single false positive is recorded, nor anyone using alcohol. Workplace drug testing procedures now include the option of an analysis for the use of adulterants as well as "substances of abuse." If surveys that suggest illegal drug use is increasing are correct, such users must be getting smarter - among the more than 2.7 million tests performed in the first six months of 1998, the overall positivity rate was 4.9 percent, compared to 5 percent for all of 1997.)
Guilt By Aspiration (The Washington Post notes a 66-page pamphlet called "How Parents Can Help Children Live Marijuana Free" says the "Social Signs of Regular Users" include "Excessive preoccupation with social causes, race relations, environmental issues, etc.")
Monica Backs Perot on Clinton Drug Charge (NewsMax.com says Monica Lewinsky and Ross Perot think President Clinton's using illegal drugs in the White House. What's really in those allergy shots?)
Dateline NBC Oct. 12 on drug war (A forwarded message says Monday night's newscast will focus on the case of Chad MacDonald, a 17-year-old recruited as a drug informant by police in Brea, California, only to be tortured and killed when he was found out.)
Canadian hemp isn't going to pot (An update on Canada's new industrial hemp industry in USA Today says the DEA and the White House have found themselves increasingly isolated in their refusal to grant licenses for low-THC hemp. Farm bureaus in 17 states now support hemp, and since July, agricultural experts at three universities - North Dakota State University, Oregon State University and the University of Kentucky - have completed studies that concluded hemp can be a valuable niche crop.)
Pioneer harvests hemp idea into business (USA Today notes a new edition of Jack Herer's book, "The Emperor Wears No Clothes," was released Thursday. The publication of the first edition in 1985, after 11 years of research, argued that cannabis sativa is a wonder crop which could save the world, and sparked a movement that led to the rebirth of hemp.)
Amnesty report slams US prisons (The Toronto Star version of Sunday's news about Amnesty International focusing on human rights abuses in the United States during the next year.)
US Human Rights Abuse 'Widespead' (The version in The Independent, in Britain)
DrugSense Focus Alert No. 84 - Amnesty International Focuses on US Abuses (DrugSense asks you to write a letter to The New York Times or any of the dozen papers who covered the story. Amnesty International taken a bold step in at long last recognizing the human rights abuses in the United Sates by various enforcement agencies carrying out the war on some drug users.)
Task force tackles dealers (The Province, in Vancouver, British Columbia, says Immigration Canada is working with a police task force to fight an organized Honduran crime wave. Most of the young Hondurans follow the same routine, entering Canada illegally and applying for refugee status in Vancouver.)
Tory Party Conference - Fowler Attacks Blair On Drugs (The Independent, in Britain, says Sir Norman Fowler, the shadow Home Secretary, accused the ruling Labour Party yesterday of wasting money on illegal asylum seekers while cutting down on police officers. Sir Norman also called for "zero tolerance" on illegal drugs and took a swipe at Tony Blair for receiving Noel Gallagher of the band Oasis, who said last year that taking drugs might be as normal as getting up and having a cup of tea in the morning.)
Officer Stole Cannabis In 'Drugs Sting' (The Independent says Detective Constable Terence McGuinness of Scotland Yard and two fellow officers were filmed breaking into an east London flat and stealing 80 kilograms of cannabis in December 1996 in a trap set by anti-corruption police.)
Random Drug Tests At 100 Independent Schools (According to The Daily Telegraph, in Britain, the Headmasters' Conference said yesterday that random drug testing - of pupils - had been introduced by more than 100 leading independent schools. Heads now assumed that, in line with national statistics, at least 25 per cent of their pupils had experimented with illegal drugs and about 10 per cent took them regularly. However, the number of schools that automatically expel children for a first offence is declining.)
Taleban offer poppy ban for UN nod (A Reuters article in The Toronto Star says Mullah Mohammad Omar, the leader of the Islamic Emirate, said on Voice of Shariat radio yesterday that if the Islamic militia - known as the Taleban in the West - were accorded recognition without condition by the United Nations, the government would "seriously ban unconditionally cultivation of poppy" throughout Afghanistan. Afghanistan was identified by the United Nations last year as the world's leading producer of opium, but only Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates recognize the Taleban as its government.)
DrugSense Weekly, Number 67 (An original summary of drug policy news, including the feature article, Massing Around, by Dr. Tom O'Connell; the Weekly News In Review includes Drug War Policy & Politics articles - Amnesty Finds "Widespread Pattern" of US Rights Violations; Expanded Methadone Program Planned to Counter Heroin; Congress Delays Border Law Vote; Group Stops Needle Exchange After Leader Is Rearrested; The Drug Crisis Isn't Just in Mexico; Prison Guards - The Union Throws Its Weight to the Democrat; news about Prisons includes Bay Area Students Cut Class, Protest Spending on Prisons; Prison Growth May Deplete Surplus; Prison Mental Health Workers on Alert After Third Inmate Hanging In A Month; news about Medical Marijuana includes Medical Effectiveness Outside Law's Purview; Allow Medical Marijuana: Measure 67; Marijuana Vote Brings Out Big Societal Issues; California Cooperative Gives, Sells Marijuana to Suffering; Science Notebook - Taking a Leaf From Marijuana's Effect; international news includes Eton Expels Boy Who Took Cannabis; More Face Random Drug Tests At Work; Drugs Laws to Copy US and Ireland; Iran Says Drug Traffickers Face Death Sentence; Mexico - The Drug War Corrupts Absolutely; plus Hot Off The 'Net - MAP Published Letters Hit One Million Dollar Milestone; CCUA Medical Marijuana update site; Poll - 89 Percent of Atlantic Monthly Readers Favor Reform of Draconian Drug Laws; The New Republic Ad - A Winner; DrugSense Volunteer of the Month - Frank S. World Recognized for Outstanding NewsHawk Efforts; Quote of the Week - Clarence Darrow)
Bytes: 166,000 Last updated: 11/10/98
Tuesday, October 6, 1998:
Measure 67 Has Merit (A letter to the editor of The Bulletin, in Bend, Oregon, responds to the newspaper's staff editorial opposing the state medical marijuana initiative.)
Pilot program enlists police to help probation officers (The Associated Press says Marion County is taking part in a pilot project spearheaded by the Oregon corrections department that encourages other county agencies to get involved in keeping an eye on offenders - Police in Keizer and Salem will stop by the homes of offenders who live in the 97303 area code, which encompasses all of Keizer and parts of north Salem. High-risk offenders on probation for charges ranging from drug use to manslaughter will be asked to sign up for the program, but sex offenders won't be allowed to participate. Like, who's going to volunteer for something like that?)
Man arrested in raid says authorities are harassing him (The Oregonian says Larry Anderson, the owner of an infamous north Portland house and motorcycle shop, was out on bail Monday after being busted last week for possession of methamphetamine and explosives, and claimed officials were trying to take his eight-room boarding home in order to build a health clinic on it.)
Oakland, Fairfax Cannabis Groups Face US Attorneys (According to The San Francisco Examiner, US District Judge Charles Breyer said Monday in San Francisco that he would take under advisement the question of whether to authorize federal marshals to close the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative and the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana, or allow a jury trial to determine if the clubs operated lawfully because their members' medical needs supersede federal drug restrictions.)
Re - Judge Breyer ruling Monday on Oakland CBC (A list subscriber notes Judge Breyer said Monday he would issue a written ruling within seven to 10 days regarding the California medical marijuana dispensaries.)
City Ponders Medical Marijuana Zones - Panel To Consider Where Patients Can Smoke Pot (The Sacramento Bee says A Sacramento City Council committee will debate today a proposal for a new municipal law that would ban medicinal marijuana smokers from puffing within 100 feet of any person or building, such as a restaurant or office.)
SF Settles With Family Of Man Killed By Police (The San Francisco Examiner says the city has agreed to pay $110,000 to settle a $10 million lawsuit filed by the family of William Hankston, an unarmed man shot in the back of the head in September 1995 by Jessie Washington, an undercover prohibition agent.)
The Drug Crisis (A letter to the editor of The Los Angeles Times seems to suggest the American mass media don't name major illegal drug traffickers - unlike the Mexican media - because they've been bought off.)
Ballot Funding Outlined - Proposition 2 Foes Lead The Fund-Raising (The Anchorage Daily News says Alaskans for Medical Rights, the group supporting Proposition 8, the Alaskan medical marijuana initiative, received $126,000 of its $134,000 war chest from George Soros. The campaign against Proposition 8, organized just last week, reported only one $750 in-kind contribution from Worksafe Inc., the drug-testing lab. The Soros money is dwarfed by the $500,000 spent by the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City on behalf of Proposition 2, a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages.)
Blow Dealt To Pot Initiative (The Denver Post says the Colorado Supreme Court ruled Monday that the medical marijuana intiative sponsored by Coloradans for Medical Rights should not have been placed on the Nov. 3 ballot, reversing last month's ruling by Denver District Judge Herbert Stern. The matter will be decided by Oct. 15, the date the high court has set for Secretary of State Vikki Buckley to have the ballot signatures recounted.)
Accounting Of Pot Petitions Ordered (The Rocky Mountain News version)
DEA's Largest Field Office Is In Business (The San Antonio Express-News says The Drug Enforcement Administration showed off its newest field office Tuesday in El Paso, Texas. Robert Castillo will be in charge of a division of more than 150 agents and detectives.)
Methadone Is Just Another Drug (Four letters to the editor of The New York Times take opposing sides in the fight about methadone maintenance programs going on between the White House Drug Czar, General Barry McCaffrey, and New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.)
Two Amish men plead guilty in conspiracy to sell cocaine (The Associated Press Says two Amish men have pleaded guilty to buying cocaine from a Philadelphia-area motorcycle gang called the Pagans, then selling the drug to Amish youth. Abner King Stoltzfus, 23, and Abner Stoltzfus, 24 - unrelated - face five to 40 years in prison and up to $2 million in fines.)
Amish Men Face Jail For Plotting To Sell Cocaine (The Daily Telegraph version)
North Carolina Drug Tax Held Invalid (The Raleigh News and Observer says The US Supreme Court Monday let stand a federal appeals court ruling that nullified North Carolina's tax on illegal drugs, casting doubt on the constitutionality of similar laws in other states. However, a bill that would reinstate the tax has passed the North Carolina senate and is pending in the house finance committee.)
High Court Studies Privacy Rights In Drug Case (The San Francisco Examiner says the US Supreme Court heard arguments today in a Minnesota drug case involving the Fourth Amendment rights of people who temporarily visit someone else's home. The high court ruled in 1990 that an overnight guest in a private home has the same privacy rights as the homeowner, but the justices have not given such protection to someone who visits but does not stay overnight.)
Court Lets Indiana Schools' Drug Tests Stand (The Washington Post version of yesterday's news about the US Supreme Court leaving intact a federal appeals court ruling allowing a public high school in Rushville, Indiana, to require urine tests for all students involved in extracurricular activities.)
Court inaction may spur drug tests in public schools (The Miami Herald version)
Supreme Court upholds drug tests for students (The Associated Press version)
Court Backs Drug Testing Of Students (A slightly different Associated Press version in the Daily Herald in Illinois)
Supreme Court Lets Stand Wider Student Drug Tests (The Chicago Tribune version)
Top Court Allows Wider Testing for Drugs in Schools (The Los Angeles Times version in The San Jose Mercury News)
Say Good-Bye To The Fourth Amendment, Kids (A letter to the editor of The Standard-Times in New Bedford, Massachusetts, says concern over dogs sniffing through kids' school lockers is a dead issue. The Supreme Court previously nullified the Fourth Amendment for students when it allowed random drug testing of high school athletes.)
Amnesty International targets US penal system (The Reuters version of Sunday's news about the international human rights organization making the United States the focus of its next one-year campaign. Among other things, Amnesty International's 153-page report, "Rights for All," says prison overcrowding is largely the result of long sentences for drug offenders, and has brought a shift in emphasis from rehabilitation to punishment and incapacitation.)
Amnesty's report on US abuses spurs probe (An Associated Press and Chicago Tribune version in The Seattle Times)
Amnesty Report Alleges Widespread US Rights Abuses (The Associated Press version in the New Bedford, Massachusetts, Standard-Times.)
US In Dock For Prison Cruelty (The version in Britain's Guardian)
Lungren and Amnesty International (A list subscriber says California Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Lungren, nemesis of Proposition 215, is directly responsible for Amnesty International's attack on US human rights abuses due to his failure to lift a finger to correct the prison abuses at Corcoran and other California prisons - and urges you to write letters to mass media around the state to bring it to voters' attention.)
Amnesty International Bites The Hand That Feeds It (Calgary Herald columnist Catherine Ford says the human rights group's targeting the United States jeopardizes US support against the true brutes of the world.)
New reports of children and women abused in correctional institutions - Findings from Amnesty International research trip (A news release issued by Amnesty International says a two-week research trip by Amnesty International in the United States shows that the abuse of women prisoners in particular, as highlighted in the report released today, is still continuing in many states. Specific details are provided on human rights abuses in Michigan, Illinois, California and Maine.)
Saving The Children (According to a Reuters article in The Winnipeg Free Press, an unspecified private children's rights group in Honduras said yesterday it is sending experts to Canada to help about 200 Honduran children allegedly being used to sell cocaine for drug gangs.)
Transcript - NewsHour Interview with Colombian President Andres Pastrana (Charles Krause of PBS's NewsHour with Jim Lehrer interviews the former television journalist and mayor of Bogota who was a teenager when his father was president of Colombia.)
Bytes: 152,000 Last updated: 11/12/98
Monday, October 5, 1998:
Governor Kitzhaber's position on medical use of marijuana (A letter sent to the editor of The Oregonian notes Oregon's governor, a physician, thinks that patients should be arrested for using marijuana as medicine on their doctors' advice. Shame on him.)
Re - Medical Marijuana Will Lead to Doped-Up Docs (A physician rebuts a letter to the editor that appeared in the Bend, Oregon, Bulletin, and The Los Angeles Times, in which a medical student mischaracterized physicians' motives for recommending marijuana to patients.)
County Jails Getting Crowded (The Wisconsin State Journal says state statistics show county jails are housing nearly 11,500 inmates, compared to about 2,000 in 1978 and 6,000 in 1988.)
51 arrested during drug sweep (Life imitates art in a Tampa Bay Online article about police in Pompano Beach, Florida, carrying out a drug sweep prompted by the discovery of young children pretending to be drug dealers.)
Battling Demon Rum (An interesting review in The Wall Street Journal of the new book by Ivan R. Dee suggests the history of alcohol prohibition in America provides some contemporary lessons.)
US High Court Opens New Term, Allows Drug Tests (Reuters says The US Supreme Court opened its new term Monday with a decision allowing a public high school in Rushville, Indiana, to require drug tests for all students involved in extracurricular activities.)
Court Upholds Random Drug Tests (The Associated Press version says the Supreme Court left intact a federal appeals court ruling and therefore sets no national precedent. But it left in place a ruling that remains binding law in three states - Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. Unlike a 1995 case, Acton v. Vernonia School District, allowing an Oregon high school to test student athletes, the rural Indiana school provided little evidence of drug use among its students.)
Action Alert - House, Senate Voting on "Drug War" Legislation (The Drug Policy Foundation in New York urges you to contact your Congressional representatives about proposed laws that would expand the federal government's search and seizure powers. Please ask House members to vote against H.R. 4005, and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to reject S. 2024 and S. 2011.)
Amnesty Finds 'Widespread Pattern' Of US Rights Violations (The New York Times version of yesterday's news about Amnesty International for the first time making the United States' criminal injustice system the focus of its human rights campaign.)
US Abuses Human Rights, Amnesty International Says (The Seattle Times version)
Belize's Quiet Despair (The San Francisco Chronicle says the tiny coastal nation is plagued by crack cocaine addicts known as "sprungheads" because of their notoriously volatile personalities. Many Belizeans say a well-intentioned US drug eradication program is partially to blame for the explosion of local cocaine use. In the late 1980s, the US Drug Enforcement Agency brought in aircraft to spray herbicide on the Belize marijuana crop. The program was so effective that the local ganja supply dried up almost overnight. "After the spraying, people were looking for another drug," said Francis Vaizar, head of the government's National Drug Abuse Control Council. "They switched to cocaine.")
Drug tackles shyness (An Agence France-Presse article in The South China Morning Post says Seroxat, an anti-depressant marketed by SmithKline Beecham that increases the level of serotonin in the brain, will go on the British market this week.)
Bar Warns Straw That His Reforms Could Break Law (The Times says the British Bar set itself on a collision course with the Home Secretary over the weekend with a warning that Jack Straw's criminal justice plans, such as confiscation of property without a criminal trial, could run foul of the Government's own human rights law.)
Bytes: 72,200 Last updated: 11/12/98
Sunday, October 4, 1998:
Medical Use Of Marijuana Ignites Debate (The Register-Guard in Eugene, Oregon, says Dr. Rick Bayer is campaigning for Ballot Measure 67, the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, because he has seen how marijuana can benefit chemotherapy patients, chronic pain victims, and people suffering from muscle spasms and other afflictions. But Mike Cahill, president of Oregon Police Chiefs for Safer Communities, says "You can pretty much bet that it will basically eliminate the ability to enforce laws against the illegal use, delivery and cultivation of marijuana," ignoring the experience in California. A critique by Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk similarly claims "These exceptions cancel out the rules and limits, thereby making enforcement of any marijuana laws not only impractical but virtually impossible.")
Initiative Would Raise Marijuana Penalties (The Register-Guard in Eugene, Oregon, presents the pros and cons of Measure 57, the initiative that would recriminalize less than one ounce of marijuana. The newspaper claims the Republican-controlled legislature's 1997 attempt to repeal the 1972 decriminalization law without a popular vote was inspired by increased marijuana use by kids, even though the latest survey shows a decrease in kids' use, and current rates are half those of 1979.)
How Does Marijuana Kill Pain? (The Associated Press talks to a cancer patient in Oregon who does understand, and several government marijuana scientists who don't understand the significance of recent news about Ian Meng and associates at the University of California at San Francisco showing how cannabinoids work to kill pain.)
Medical Marijuana Will Lead To Doped Up Docs (The Bulletin in Bend, Oregon, reprints an opinion piece from The Los Angeles Times - ably rebutted in yesterday's Times - that claims physicians who like to smoke recreational marijuana themselves are the ones supporting marijuana use by patients.)
Supporters of pot initiative will stop citing Governor Kitzhaber (The Oregonian notes a brochure that has previously been distributed by Oregonians for Medical Rights, proponents of Ballot Measure 67, lists Kitzhaber as one of the "supporters of the medical use of marijuana," which is true - he just doesn't support Measure 67. Geoff Sugerman, spokesman for OMR, said information for the pamphlet was compiled before Kitzhaber took a public stand against the ballot measure. "We are not distributing the brochure any more," Sugerman said. Considering how Kitzhaber has flip-flopped on Measure 57, is anyone really paying attention?)
Depression takes its toll among the young, too (An Oregonian article about the estimated 3 million to 6 million American children and teen-agers stricken by clinical depression centers on the case of one 12-year-old patient whose illness was precipitated by her father's death when he "overdosed on drugs." Now she's better, thanks to a pharmaceutical antidepressant, though the newspaper doesn't mention such drugs may eventually poison her and leave her a drooling, brain-damaged idiot with impaired liver function.)
Doctors won't back marijuana as medicine (The Seattle Times version of yesterday's news about the Washington State Medical Association's voice vote Saturday opposing Initiative 692.)
California Cooperative Gives, Sells Marijuana To Suffering (A feature article in The Las Vegas Review-Journal looks at the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, the largest of four remaining medical marijuana dispensaries in California, while discussing the Nevada ballot initiative that would allow some use of cannabis by authorized patients.)
Cocaine Theft From Police Raises Security Concerns (The Orange County Register says in July 1997, someone broke into the Riverside office of the California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement and stole $3.2 million worth of cocaine. It was believed to be the largest heist of illegal drugs in police custody in state history. One gathers the theft was carried out by an insider, particularly someone on the force, who knew where the cocaine was and how to get around lax security measures.)
Trouble Seizes State Drug Bureau (The Orange County Register says after seven years of California Attorney General Dan Lungren, the state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement has been hit by costly sexual harassment lawsuits, reduced its hiring standards, and faced accusations of mismanagement, contributing to low moral and unfilled positions at the agency. Lungren attributes the problems to "some bad apples.")
Jail Stays Grow With The Backlog (The San Jose Mercury News says the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice is almost empty on Fridays as judges run errands or play golf, while the courts are burdened with one of the biggest backlogs of felony cases awaiting trial in the county's history. A recent audit found Santa Clara County to have the least efficient criminal trial system of the 17 largest counties in California. Inmates are languishing longer than ever waiting for trial in the overcrowded county jail, at taxpayers' expense.)
Take Back the Constitution - the Fourth Amendment (Some unsolicited but welcome spam advertises a bumper sticker that reads, "I do not consent to a search of my vehicle, my person or my residence. So, don't ask. This individual is protected by the 4th Amendment.")
Marijuana Issue In Air (The Las Vegas Review-Journal says a new poll on the Nevada medical marijuana ballot measure, commissioned for the Review-Journal and KTNV-TV, found 47 percent of the respondents supported Question 9, while 44 percent opposed the proposition.)
House Resolution Defies Evidence On Marijuana (A letter to the editor of The State Journal Register in Illinois says that members of the US House of Representatives who voted for House Joint Resolution 117, opposing medical marijuana, ignored the government's own evidence that cannabis is a valuable medicine. The resolution was a lie that is causing needless suffering and even death, and politicians who voted for it should be held accountable.)
Marijuana Rally Draws 45,000 For Legalization (A Boston Globe account of the the ninth annual Freedom Rally, or Hempday, at Boston Common, organized by MassCann, notes those attending included John Sinclair, a longtime political activist sentenced in 1969 to 10 years in prison for two marijuana cigarettes. Later he founded the first organization dedicated to ending punitive marijuana policies.)
Pot Rally Had Hardly A Whiff Of The '60s (The Boston Herald version focuses on the participation of Elvy Musikka, one of eight medical marijuana patients who still receive medical marijuana from the US government under the Compassionate Investigational New Drug program discontinued by the Bush Administration in 1992.)
Despite Warnings, Some Still Inhaled (A different Boston Herald account portrays Saturday's rally at Boston Common in favor of decriminalizing marijuana, sponsored by MassCann.)
Clear thinking on the drug warrior front (Today's chuckle from a list subscriber)
Amnesty puts US in the dock over human rights record (The Daily Telegraph in London says Amnesty International will release a 153-page report Tuesday that for the first time will make the United States the focus of its worldwide campaign, accusing it of double standards and creating a climate "in which human rights violations thrive." Federal and state authorities, police, immigration and prison officers are all criticised in the wide-ranging report that paints a picture of generalised gratuitous violence, sexual abuse and cruelty.)
Hemp Gaining Respectability (The Toronto Star says Canada's first industrial crop of cannabis sativa in 60 years has farmers abuzz. Focusing on Hempology, a new company dedicated to marketing hemp products, the article says hemp has the potential to become as important in the next century as plastics have been in this one.)
Do These Three Simple Letters Go Too Far? (A lengthy account in The Toronto Star about CTO, or community treatment orders, a set of laws proposed in Ontario - and already established in Saskatchewan - that would require people diagnosed with "serious" mental disorders to take psychiatric medications, no matter how toxic to them.)
The Drug War Corrupts Absolutely (An op-ed in The Los Angeles Times by Eva Bertram and Kenneth Sharpe, coauthors of "Drug War Politics - the Price of Denial," says the deeply corrupting influence of the war on some drugs on Mexico's political institutions and, ultimately, on US-Mexican interests, is glossed over, if mentioned at all in official statements.)
Three more detectives are suspended (The Daily Telegraph in Britain says three more Merseyside detectives were suspended this week after early morning raids on their homes by special anti-corruption squads. The latest suspensions follow the recent arrests of two other officers and last week's Telegraph revelations that corruption within Merseyside police is so deep-rooted that in 1995, phone records showed drug dealers and criminals ringing numbers inside the drugs and fraud squads.)
Bytes: 181,000 Last updated: 11/12/98
Saturday, October 3, 1998:
Voters To Decide Question Of Medical Marijuana Use (An Article In The Bend, Oregon, 'Bulletin' About Measure 67, The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, Says A Few Local Doctors Who Have Treated Patients With Multiple Sclerosis Or HIV Or Those Undergoing Chemotherapy Say The Patients Who Used Marijuana Experienced Some Benefits)
Four Dogs Shot In Drug Raid ('The Associated Press' Says Portland Police Shot And Killed Four Rottweilers Friday During A Methamphetamine Raid That Revived Memories Of A 1979 Drug Bust In The Same Location, Then The Clubhouse Of The Outsiders Motorcycle Club, In Which Officer David Crowther Was Fatally Shot - Arrests In That Raid Later Were Dismissed After An Investigation Found Officers Lied To Obtain Their Search Warrant)
Portland Drug Raid Brings One Arrest (The Oregonian version)
Report Suggests Tax On Liquor, Fast Food ('The Associated Press' Says A 36-Page Report, 'Searching For Fairness,' Presented Friday To The Oregon Health Council, The Group That Makes Recommendations Regarding The Oregon Health Plan, Which Insures 350,000 Low-Income Residents, Says Most Oregonians Believe Health Care Should Be Available To All, But An Unspecified Percentage Believes Those Who Smoke, Drink, Or Eat Fast Food Should Pay More)
Medical association rejects marijuana initiative (The Associated Press says the Washington State Medical Association took a voice vote at its annual conference Saturday, resulting in a resounding "no" for Initiative 692, which would allow doctors to prescribe marijuana for people who are dying or suffering a debilitating illness. How the doctors might have voted privately is anyone's guess.)
Doctors And Marijuana (Three Letters To The Editor of 'The Los Angeles Times' Discuss The Medical Marijuana Issue - The First Letter Cites A Survey From 1971, When Marijuana Use Was Still A Felony And Before Many People Knew About Its Medical Uses, Suggesting 72 Percent Of Students At A Southern California Medical School Had Tried Marijuana At Least Once, 18 Percent Had Smoked It At Least Once Weekly, And More Than 40 Percent Used It At Least Once Monthly)
Bay Area Students Cut Class, Protest Spending On Prisons (The San Jose Mercury News notes about 2,000 students from throughout the San Francisco Bay Area cut classes Thursday to protest the $60,000 per year California spends to incarcerate each prisoner versus the $8,000 it spends on each student, and the 19 prisons built by California in the past decade, versus only one university.)
Thousands Turn Out For Annual Marijuana Rally; More Than 40 Arrested (An 'Associated Press' Account Of The The Ninth Annual Freedom Rally On Boston Common Saturday - The Rally Supporting Legalization Of The Herb Saw Attendance Increase From 10,000 To 40,000 And Arrests Drop From 150 Last Year, Despite Police Vows Of A Crackdown)
Marijuana Supporters Sue Orlando To Use Park ('The Orlando Sentinel' Says The Cannabis Action Network In Gainesville, Florida, Has Sued The City Of Orlando In Federal Court, Contending Its Right To Free Speech Is Being Denied Because The City Wants To Charge The Group About $1,500 To Stage A Rally With Live Music At The Lake Eola Park Amphitheater October 11)
Pentagon To Spend $50 Million To Supply Troops - With Viagra (The Chicago Tribune says if Pfizer's new impotence drug were given to everyone who wanted it, the cost could top $100 million, but the military is dispensing it only to men diagnosed with erectile dysfunction by a physician, and no one is allowed more than six pills a month.)
Destroying Propaganda - Anslingerisms (A list subscriber learns that a Texas newspaper editor, and presumably a lot of other people, are unaware of the origins of marijuana prohibition. So he compiles a brief history and numerous quotes from Harry Anslinger, the rabidly ignorant liar and chief of the Federal Narcotics Bureau who was most responsible for the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 and the Single Convention Treaty of 1961.)
BC Stinkweed Smoking Sparks Health Warning (The Calgary Herald tries to launch a nationwide drug menace with an article about one teenage boy taken to a British Columbian hospital after ingesting jimson weed.)
Alleged Trafficker Dies Of Wounds In Ensenada Attack (The Orange County Register says Fermin Castro Ramirez died as a result of complications from bullet wounds he received during the massacre last month of 18 members of his extended family.)
More Face Random Drug Tests At Work (The Guardian suggests urine testing of workers is about to become as common in Britain as it is in the United States. Unfortunately, the newspaper avoids discussing the junk science behind such claims that workers' use of cannabis or other illegal drugs harms productivity in Britain to the tune of £3 billion, endangers others, or that urine testing even achieves its goal of reducing illegal drug use.)
Eton Expels Boy Who Took Cannabis (The Daily Telegraph, in Britain, says the unnamed youth, in the same lower sixth year as Prince William, was caught by a housemaster at Common Lane House. John Lewis, the headmaster from New Zealand, has maintained a strict approach towards illegal drugs since he took over in 1994.)
Bytes: 67,500 Last updated: 10/11/98
Friday, October 2, 1998:
Police Chiefs Propose Stricter Penalties For Marijuana Possession ('The Bulletin' In Bend, Oregon, Quotes Rob Elkins, Molalla Police Chief And Spokesman For Oregonians Against Dangerous Drugs, The Political Action Committee Supporting Measure 57, Saying The Initiative To Recriminalize Less Than One Ounce Of Marijuana Is Intended To Send A 'Message To Children That Marijuana Is Harmful' And To Create Ways To Get An Estimated 150,000 Oregonians 'The Prevention And Intervention They Need' - Supposedly For Only $300,000 A Year)
A Simple Interim Measure (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Bulletin' In Bend, Oregon, Responds To The Newspaper's Opposition To Measure 67, The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act - In View Of The Federal Intransigence On The Issue, The 'Grow Your Own' Concept Is Not 'A Ludicrous Solution,' But A Direct And Simple Interim Measure Until The Federal Government Comes To Its Senses)
Correction - Roger Burt, a principal (The Oregonian prints a correction admitting the "psychologist" who spread "Reefer Madness" myths last Friday in an Associated Press article about the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act was no psychologist at all.)
Marijuana May Point Way To Pain Killer (A Brief Account In The Bend, Oregon, 'Bulletin' Of Recent News About Ian Meng And Associates At The University Of California At San Francisco Demonstrating The Analgesic Efficacy Of Cannabinoids)
Smith, Wyden Seek Funds To Fight Growing Drug Traffic In Oregon ('The Associated Press' Says Oregon's Two US Senators, Republican Gordon Smith And Democrat Ron Wyden, Have Asked The Clinton Administration To Designate Oregon As A 'High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area,' A Special Category That Would Make The State Eligible For $3 Million To $5 Million In Federal Funds To Beef Up Enforcement - But No Mention Is Made That The Cost To Local Taxpayers Of Prosecuting And Incarcerating Such Offenders Would Likely Exceed The Federal Donation)
State Seeks Aid To Fight Drugs (The Version In 'The Register-Guard' In Eugene, Oregon)
Students Walk Out To Protest Jail Spending ('The Orange County Register' Says Thousands Of High School Students In The Bay Area Community Of San Leandro Left Their Classrooms And Took To The Streets Thursday, Responding To News That Under Governor Pete Wilson's Administration, California's Budget For Higher Education Has Shrunk By 3 Percent While Corrections Spending Has Jumped 60 Percent)
Leftists Set To Battle The Lock-'Em-Up Mentality (San Francisco Examiner columnist William Wong says the international conference on the growth of the prison industrial complex last weekend at the University of California at Berkeley was a throwback to the radical 1960s. But restoring some balance to the law-and-order discourse, as the critical resistance meeting tried to do, is a step whose time has come.)
Group Revives Anti-Pot Effort ('The Rocky Mountain News' Says Arapahoe County Sheriff Pat Sullivan Will Lead The Opposition To The Medical Marijuana Initiative Sponsored By Coloradans For Medical Rights)
Five Indicted In Death At Arizona Youth Ranch ('The Los Angeles Times' Says An Arizona Grand Jury Thursday Indicted Five Former Employees Of Arizona Boys Ranch For Manslaughter And Child Abuse, Charging That The Four Camp Workers And A Staff Nurse Were Responsible For The March 2 Death Of Nicholaus Contreraz, A 16-Year-Old Offender From Sacramento, California, At The Paramilitary-Style Boot Camp)
Lavender, Rosemary, But No Time; Case Dismissed Against Vermont Man ('The Associated Press' Says A Judge In Vinita, Oklahoma, Ruled Friday That The State Had Failed To Prove George Singleton, A Vermont Herbalist, Was Driving Under The Influence Of Rosemary And Mullein And Tossed Out The Charge That Had Brought Cries Of Racism)
Case With Flawed Evidence Dismissed (The Los Angeles Times version)
Missing Drug Officer 'Went Bad,' Police Fear ('The Houston Chronicle' Says Houston Police Have Embarked On A Frantic Search For Rex Gates II, A Former Undercover Prohibition Agent Last Seen Buying Crack Cocaine)
Perry Gives Campaign Speech At City Anti-Drug Lunch - Organizers Say Event Was Not Meant To Be Political ('The Houston Chronicle' Says Republican Lieutenant Governor Nominee Rick Perry Delivered A Campaign Message At The Drug-Free Workplace Awards Luncheon In Houston Friday, Pledging Tough Sentences For Drug Dealers)
How About Just An Effective Drug Czar? ('Dallas Morning News' Columnist Richard Estrada Says General Barry McCaffrey's Latest Brainchild, The Creation Of A Border Drug Czar, Shows The Soldier's Soldier Is Well On His Way To Becoming A Bureaucrat's Bureaucrat)
Hemp Ordinance Passes At Pine Ridge (The Fall Bulletin From PLENTY, A Nongovernmental Relief And Development Organization, Describes Recent Developments In The Two-Year Campaign By The Oglala Sioux To Establish A Hemp Industry At The Pine Ridge Reservation In South Dakota)
Corrections Employee Charged With Drug Possession ('The Associated Press' Says Leon R. Martin, A 42-Year-Old Institutional Trade Instructor At The New Jersey State Prison, Is Charged With Possessing Cocaine He Allegedly Intended To Distribute Within The Prison's Walls)
Drug charge dismissed; judge rules search illegal (The Roanoke Times in Virginia says a Roanoke judge dismissed a cocaine charge against a man after the police officer in the case ingenuously admitted the man was stopped and searched because he was a "suspicious white male" walking in a mostly black neighborhood late at night.)
Draconian Bill Sneaks Past The House (An Op-Ed In 'The Chicago Tribune' Says That Without Debate, While The Nation Was Distracted By The Clinton-Lewinsky Affair, House Republicans Last Week Smuggled Through The Most Controversial And Punitive Juvenile-Crime Bill Of The Last 25 Years, A Bill Which Could Have Grave Consequences)
Congress Delays Border Law Vote (An 'Associated Press' Article In 'The Houston Chronicle' Says Congress Voted Thursday To Delay A Law That Legislators From States Bordering Canada Feared Could Create A Traffic Nightmare By Requiring New, Stricter Checks At Border Crossings)
Second-Hand Smoke May Harm Fetus ('The Toronto Star' Says A Study Reported In The October Issue Of The Journal 'Nature Medicine' By Dr. Barry Finette, Dr. Richard Albertini And Colleagues At The University Of Vermont In Burlington, Suggests Babies Born To Mothers Exposed To Second-Hand Tobacco Smoke Showed Higher Rates Of The Same Kind Of Genetic Mutation Often Found In Children Afflicted With Leukemia Or Lymphoma)
Prohibition Particulars, 1920-1933 (The Santa Maria Times in California lists a few interesting statistics documenting America's ignoble experiment.)
Hemp BC Raided September 30 (A News Bulletin From 'Cannabis Culture' Magazine About The Third Assault By Cops In Nine Months Gives A Vivid Account Of Police Brutality And Political Oppression In Vancouver, British Columbia)
Ruling Saves Cartel From US Trials ('The San Francisco Chronicle' Says Colombia's Highest Court Ruled Yesterday That A Law Reinstating Extradition Cannot Be Applied Retroactively, Saving The Cali Drug Cartel's Jailed Leaders From Trials In The United States)
Drugs Laws To Copy US And Ireland (The Times, in Britain, says the British drugs trade is estimated at £9.9 billion annually, but only £5 million were seized under the Drug Trafficking Offences Act last year, so Jack Straw is somehow implementing asset forfeiture laws that will place the burden of proof on alleged sellers of illegal drugs.)
The Week Online With DRCNet, Issue Number 61 (The Drug Reform Coordination Network's Original Summary Of Drug Policy News And Calls For Action, Including - DRCNet Passes 7,000 Mark, Eyegive Revenues Soaring; New Jersey Needle Exchange Busted Again; DRCNet Hits The Airwaves With Syndicated Weekly Program; McCaffrey Seeks Expansion Of Methadone Treatment; Senate Mulls Whether To Prohibit Possession Of Large Amounts Of Cash By Travelers; Police Corruption In UK At 'Third World Levels'; Hemp BC And Cannabis Cafe Raided Again, City Council Hearing Postponed; California Supreme Court Rules On Parolee Searches; Imprisonment For Legal Cooking Herbs In Oklahoma; Report From Oregon; And An Editorial By Adam J. Smith, General McCaffrey Stands Up For Methadone Maintenance - What Does He Want, A Medal?)
Bytes: 127,000 Last updated: 10/19/98
Thursday, October 1, 1998:
The NORML Foundation Weekly Press Release (Pair of Lawsuits Challenge New Louisiana Drug Testing Requirements; Man Held In Oklahoma Jail For Possessing Legal Weed Still Faces Court Battle; Senate Mulls Whether To Prohibit Possession Of Large Amounts Of Cash By Travelers; New Roadside Test Can Detect Drug Impairment, Police Claim; Federal Officials Say No To Montana Hemp Beer Maker)
Scientists Closer To Knowing How Marijuana Kills Pain ('The Associated Press' Interviews A Cancer Patient In Baker City, Oregon, Who Confirms Recent Research Reported By Ian Meng And Associates At The University Of California At San Francisco, Demonstrating The Analgesic Qualities Of Cannabinoids)
Tougher Pot Penalty - No - Measure 57 Invites Selective Enforcement (A Staff Editorial In The Eugene, Oregon, 'Register-Guard' Opposes The Initiative That Would Recriminalize Less Than One Ounce Of Marijuana, Saying If Tough Laws And Tough Rhetoric Were The Answer To America's Drug Problem, The Problem Would Have Been Solved Long Ago)
Arrested Activist Asks For Computers ('The Statesman Journal' In Salem, Oregon, Notes Bill Conde Of Harrisburg And His Lawyer Are Trying To Get Back Computers That Police Took During A 50-Cop Raid Two Weeks Ago Which Allegedly Netted Just Over One Ounce Of Marijuana, A Raid Precipitated By Conde's Sponsorship Of The 'Cannabis Carnival' And Similar Events)
Medical Marijuana Rally October 5 In Seattle (A List Subscriber Publicizes The 'Marijuana Is Medicine' Rally 6 PM Monday At Harborview Hospital - Speakers Who Will Lobby For Initiative 692 Include Washington State Senator Jeanne Kohl And Tim Killian, Campaign Manager For The Medical Marijuana Ballot Measure)
Prescription Potheads ('Mademoiselle' Magazine Gives A Sympathetic Look At Medical Marijuana And The Plight Of Some Of The Patients At The Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative In California)
Pot Shot ('The Richmond Times-Dispatch' Version Of Last Week's News About Ian Meng And Colleagues At The University Of California At San Francisco Demonstrating The Analgesic Efficacy Of Cannabis)
Judging Marijuana Policy (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Orange County Register' Responds To Deputy District Attorney Carl Armbrust's Assertion That Medicine Should Be Based On Science, Not Ideology, Saying Science Should Also Be Based On Facts, Not Some Pharmaceutical Company's Bottom Line)
New Chavez Case Delay (A Staff Editorial In 'The Orange County Register' Says The Case Against Marvin Chavez Has Been Delayed Again, This Time Until October 19 - James Silva, The Latest Lawyer For The Founder Of The Orange County Patient, Doctor, Nurse Support Group, Said He Had Not Received Hundreds Of Pages Of Documents From The Previous Attorneys Until A Few Days Before - One Of The First Issues To Be Raised Will Be A Defense Request For Orange County Superior Court Judge Frank F. Fasel To Revisit His Ruling That Proposition 215 Could Not Be Used As Part Of The Defense)
150 Inmates Riot At Corcoran Prison's Substance Abuse Facility ('The Fresno Bee' Says About 300 To 400 Inmates Were In The Exercise Yard When Something Or Someone Triggered About Half The Crowd Into Fist Fights Wednesday Morning)
Prison Guards - The Union Throws Its Weight To The Democrat, Sending Lungren Scrambling (A 'San Jose Mercury News' Analysis Of Wednesday's News That The California Prison Guards' Union Has Decided To Endorse Gray Davis For Governor Rather Than Attorney General Dan Lungren, Nemesis Of Proposition 215)
Kubby Makes His Case (A staff editorial in The Orange County Register illuminates the political views of Steve Kubby, a medical marijuana patient/activist and the Libertarian Party candidate for governor of California.)
Pot Found In Dead Activist's Blood (The Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, California, says preliminary drug tests show Earth First! activist David Chain had smoked marijuana sometime before he was killed by a falling tree while protesting logging operations by Pacific Lumber Company. Steven Schectman, an attorney representing Chain's family, said "It's just another attempt to smear environmental activists.")
TSU Officer Charged In Theft, Sale Of Drug ('The Houston Chronicle' Says Russell Lovell Simpson, A Texas Southern University Police Officer, Was Charged Friday With Stealing Two Kilos Of Cocaine From An Undercover Officer, Then Selling It To Another Undercover Officer)
Pouring Billions Into Bottomless Dungeons (An excellent op-ed in the Shepherd Express ponders the soaring cost of prisons in Wisconsin - and other states - in the face of declining crime rates. If citizens are so willing to pay any price for more prisons, why are politicians so reluctant to say right out loud how absurdly expensive the price will be?)
10-Year-Old Boy Accused Of Having Marijuana At Waukesha School ('The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel' Notes Cannabis Prohibition Continues To Exacerbate The Problem It Was Supposed To Resolve - Officials Said The Boy Also Had More Than $100 And Is The First Student Caught With Drugs At A Waukesha Public Elementary School)
Reflections On The Prison Industrial Complex (An op-ed in Connecticut's Fairfield County Weekly by Angela Davis, a former political prisoner, longtime activist, educator and author, elaborates on a recent piece of hers in The San Jose Mercury News about the social costs of the war on some drug users. "Prisons do not make problems disappear, they make human beings disappear.")
Thou Shalt Not (The October issue of The Washingtonian features an intellectual portrait of Joe Califano, a former heavyweight Washington lawyer and adviser to two presidents, now reborn as the scourge of illegal drugs - and of anyone who dares to disagree with him. Califano's drug-research center, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, started five years ago at Columbia University, has become the loudest voice in drug policy debate.)
Addiction Is a Brain Disease - and It Matters (An article in The National Institute of Justice Journal by Alan Leshner, the director of NIDA, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, selectively emphasizes the fundamental elements of addiction to argue that there is no distinction between "soft" and "hard" drugs.)
Just Say Maybe (A letter to the editor of Discover expresses disappointment that a review of the biography, "Man of Numbers," felt it necessary to sugarcoat mathematician Paul Erdos's lifelong use of amphetamines, prescribed to him as an antidepressant.)
Group Stops Needle Exchange After Leader Is Rearrested (The Bergen Record says the only AIDS organization openly distributing clean needles to drug users in New Jersey has decided to stop the practice after its director, Diana McCague, was arrested Tuesday for the second time.)
Hemp Out Of Fashion At Spring Valley High School (The State, a newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, says school administrators at Spring Valley High School have banned necklaces made out of hemp this fall, saying "sources" tie it to the marijuana drug culture.)
DARE And Programs Like It Don't Work - So Why Are They Still Around? (A Letter To The Editor Of 'Playboy' Recounts The Failures Of The Government's Favorite Drug-Education Boondoggle, And Why It Doesn't Work)
Drug-Free Schools - Federal Failures Prove Case For Oversight (A staff editorial in The Sacramento Bee discusses the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act, which has cost $6 billion during the last decade. The US Department of Education only last July began requiring school districts to spend federal anti-drug money on programs backed by research. A task force of 18 national experts is now working to define for the Department of Education just what "research-based" and "effective" mean when it comes to anti-drug and anti-violence programs.)
US Probes Agents Named By Mexican Drug Suspect (According To 'Reuters,' The US Justice Department Said Thursday It Had Begun An Investigation Into Why The Names And Telephone Numbers Of Three Of Its Agents - From The FBI, The Drug Enforcement Administration, And The Customs Service - Plus A Number Of Mexican Federal Law Enforcement Officers, Including Members Of An Elite Anti-Drug Unit, Were Listed In The Notebook Of A Suspected Mexican Drug Trafficker)
Iran Says Drug Traffickers Face Death Sentence (Reuters says Iran, faced with widespread smuggling and abuse of drugs, reiterated on Wednesday it would execute traffickers under tough new laws that took effect recently. Iran has executed thousands of drug dealers and traffickers since the 1979 revolution, especially since 1989, yet the country of 60 million has an estimated 1.2 million addicts, according to official figures, and it said last year that about 58 percent of its 138,000 prisoners were convicted of drug charges.)
Bytes: 170,000 Last updated: 12/23/98
Wednesday, September 30, 1998:
Planting Evidence ('Willamette Week,' Portland's Leading Spokesman For The Law Enforcement Community, Ignores The Sick And Dying Who Would Benefit From Measure 67, The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, In Order To Emphasize The Unfounded Fears Of Cops That 'Virtually Every' Small-Time Pot Grower Will Be Able To Find A Physician Willing To Endorse His Or Her Use Of Cannabis, Begging The Question, 'So Why Are We Busting So Many Sick People,' And Ignoring The Experience In California, Where Non-Medical Prosecutions For Cannabis Increased After Proposition 215)
Scientific Proof Linking Pot, Violence Nonexistent (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Oregonian' From Portland NORML Director TD Miller Rebuts An Assertion By Multnomah County Sheriff Dan Noelle That Cannabis 'Contributes To Violent And Assaultive Behavior' And Therefore Shouldn't Be Used As Medicine For People With Serious Illnesses)
Marijuana Activist Goes To Court To Seek Return Of Computers ('The Associated Press' Says Reform Activist Bill Conde Of Harrisburg, Oregon, Has Gone To Court To Try To Get Back Computers Police Took During A Drug Raid Two Weeks Ago, Seizures His Lawyer Said Violate Privacy Rights And Constitutional Freedoms Of Speech And Association)
Pot Activist Wants PC's Back (The Version In The Bend, Oregon, 'Bulletin')
Gambling Addict's Survivors May Ask Voters To Overturn Game ('The Associated Press' Says Video Poker Opponents Are Planning An Oregon Initiative Campaign In 2000 Aimed At Ending Or At Least Curtailing State-Sponsored Gambling - Even Though Apparently The Percentage Of Dependent Players Has Plummeted From 7 Percent To 3 Percent In Two Years)
Audit Finds 54 People With Criminal Backgrounds Caring For Kids ('The Associated Press' Says A Recent Audit Of Oregon's Adult And Family Services Division Showed That 54 People Receiving State Money To Provide Child Care Had Outstanding Warrants And Criminal Histories, Including Endangering A Minor, Drug And Drunken Driving Charges, Child Neglect, Credit Card Fraud And Assault - No Word On How Many Children Were Put In Foster Care Because A Parent Had Been Charged With Marijuana Possession)
Women Will Occupy Part Of The Eastern Oregon Prison ('The Associated Press' Says By Next Summer, 160 Women Will Join More Than 1,500 Male Inmates At The Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution In Pendleton As Part Of What Prison Officials Call A Temporary Overcrowding Fix That Could Last Four Years)
Sims Says Crime Drives Plan To Raise Property-Tax Rate ('The Seattle Times' Says King County Executive Ron Sims Is Calling For A 5.5 Percent Tax-Rate Increase To Hire 367 More Jailers, Police And Prosecutors, Using The Specter Of Criminals Roaming The Streets To Justify What Could Be One Of The State's Largest Property-Tax-Rate Increases In 1999)
Judge tosses out medical usage defense; pot grower (The Union, published in Grass Valley, California, describes a Proposition 215 case in which a Lake Wildwood man was convicted Tuesday of growing marijuana for sale after a judge ripped the heart out of his medical-marijuana defense. However, J. Tony Serra, the lead defense attorney for Ronald Enos, 54, said "This submission allows us to appeal every issue and, in the meantime, Mr. Enos is free.")
Sonoma Judge Sets Full Hearing for Return of Medical Marijuana (A news bulletin from the web site of Californians for Compassionate Use, associated with Dennis Peron, says Sonoma County Judge Raima Ballinger accepted on Tuesday the county's first petition ever filed for the return of medical marijuana plants. The judge issued a stern order to the sheriff and county counsel that they appear for a full hearing on October 30, where the patients whose plants were forfeited will present their side of the story.)
Prison Guard Union Breaks With Tradition, Backs Davis ('The Contra Costa Times' Says That In A Surprise Move, California's Powerful Prison Guards Union, Which Has Been Republican Governor Pete Wilson's Biggest Financial Supporter And A Backer Of GOP Gubernatorial Contenders For 16 Years, Voted Tuesday To Support Democratic Contender Gray Davis Over Dan Lungren, The Republican Candidate And Nemesis Of Proposition 215 - Rank And File Members Cited Davis's Military Service)
The Drug War's No Failure (John Jonik, a columnist for The Anderson Valley Advertiser in Boonville, California, says the war on some drug users has succeeded in massively enriching the Prison Growth Industry, in creating a "holy" distraction from real crimes against people and their environment perpetrated by corporate and government entities, and has generated a lot of other little-discussed benefits that go unrecognized by "the left.")
San Francisco Likes Federal Methadone Plan (According To 'The San Francisco Examiner,' Local Health Officials Say A White House Initiative To Expand Methadone Treatment And Allow Physicians To Dispense It Is Precisely In Line With Their Goals)
Police Chief's Daughter Fails To Show In Court ('The Orange County Register' Says Michelle Lynette Parks, 37, The Daughter Of Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks, Has Been Free On Her Own Recognizance, But Failed To Enter Pleas On Cocaine Sales And Trafficking Charges In Las Vegas Tuesday, So The Judge Set A New Hearing For October 13 And Said She Would Issue A Bench Warrant For Parks If She Did Not Show Up)
Cannabis Camouflage ('The Arizona Republic' Notes There Are A Lot Of Jerks Out There Who Are Stealing From Gilbert Area Farmer Malcolm Scott And His 40-Acre Crop Of Kenaf, A Plant Grown For Fiber That Looks Like Marijuana And Is Included In The US Department Of Agriculture's List Of Preferred Alternative Crops)
Man Carrying Only Herbs Charged With Driving Under The Influence (A 'Houston Chronicle' Update On The Case Of George Singleton Of Vermont - Originally Busted While Driving Through Oklahoma, The African-American With Dreadlocks Spent 25 Days In Jail Charged With Possessing 'An Imitation Controlled Substance' - Medicinal Rosemary And Mullein - And Faces A Court Date Thursday On Charges That He Was Intoxicated While Driving Under Their Influence)
Urban Farmer Uses State Constitution In Court ('Minneapolis Star-Tribune' Columnist Doug Grow Describes The Appearance Tuesday Of Thomas Wright Before The Minnesota Supreme Court, Where The Marijuana Cultivator Argued That His Conviction For Possession Of Marijuana With Intent To Sell Violated Article 13, Section 7 Of The State Constitution, Which Says, 'Any Person May Sell Or Peddle The Products Of A Farm Or Garden Occupied And Cultivated By Him Without Obtaining A License')
No Justification For Continuing War On Marijuana (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Daily Gazette' In Schenectady, New York, Says It's Time To Bury The Fiction That Smoking Pot Is Bad)
Decriminalize Marijuana (A List Subscriber Publicizes An Online Petition To Reform Marijuana Laws, Sponsored By E-ThePeople.Com, A Nonpartisan Web Service Promoting Communication Between Citizens And Government)
War Going On In Internet Poll (List Subscribers Invite You To Make Your Opinion Known At An Online Survey On 'Whether The US Military Should Help Combat The Influx Of Illegal Drugs And Immigrants Along The US-Mexico Border')
Congress Votes To Let Colleges Tell On Students ('The Washington Post' Says Congress Has Approved And President Clinton Will Likely Sign Legislation That Will Allow Colleges To Notify Parents When Students Younger Than 21 Commit A Violation Involving Alcohol Or Other Drugs)
Senate Resolution Calls For Colleges To Wage War On Binge Drinking (Related News In 'The Chronicle Of Higher Education')
Methadone program planned to counter heroin (An Associated Press article in The Seattle Times covers General Barry McCaffrey's speech yesterday before the American Methadone Treatment Association in New York, where he outlined plans to allow physicians to prescribe and dispense methadone.)
A Clean And Sober NBA (An op-ed in The Washington Post by General Barry McCaffrey, the White House drug czar, says professional basketball players should be drug tested for marijuana.)
Senator Jesse Helms Agrees, Legalize It - Signs on to SJR 56 to Reschedule Nationally (A news bulletin from the web site of Californians for Compassionate Use has an original spin on the intent of Senate Joint Resolution 56, the supposed anti-medical marijuana resolution. In this interpretation, SJR 56 is seen as a first step toward the federal rescheduling of marijuana because it supports the existing legal process for determining the safety and efficacy of drugs, and calls for a report from the FDA in 90 days.)
DrugSense Weekly, Number 66 (An Original Summary Of Drug Policy News, Including The Feature Article, A Review Of The Book 'Shattered Lives' By Mikki Norris And Chris Conrad; With The Recent Week's News In Review, Including The Legal Battle Over Constiutional Rights Occasioned By The War On Drugs, Prisons, The Annals Of Interdiction, Medical Marijuana, And Mexico, Plus International News - Other Features Include Hot Off The 'Net - Drug War Graphical Charts Site; Medical Marijuana Petition; E-Thepeople Site; DrugSense Tip Of The Week - The MapNews Service; Quote Of The Week - Thomas Jefferson; Fact Of The Week - The 'Gateway Theory')
Bytes: 133,000 Last updated: 10/26/98
Tuesday, September 29, 1998:
More Money To Hire Portland's Finest (KOIN, Portland's CBS Affiliate, Says The Portland Police Bureau Just Launched A Big Enlistment Drive To Add 80 New Officers To The Force By Next February)
Prison Mental Health Workers On Alert After Third Inmate Hanging In A Month ('The Associated Press' Says The Average Suicide Rate In Oregon State Prisons Is Three Per Year - By Official Estimates, One Of Every 10 Prisoners Is Afflicted With A Severe Mental Illness And One Of Every Four Penitentiary Inmates Takes Psychiatric Medication)
A Constitutional Challenge To Confiscatory Regulation ('Seattle Times' Columnist Michelle Malkin Gives An Update On Oscar And Barbara McCoy's Battle To Save Oscar's II, Their 22-Year-Old Family Business, From Being Closed Under A 1988 Washington State Drug-Abatement Law - The Couple Was Stunned At How Seattle Police Set Up 18 Undercover Drug Buys Inside Oscar's II, Failed To Notify Them Of The Purchases Or Identify Any Of The Dealers, And Then Worked To Shut Them Down Instead Of Making Arrests)
Deputy District Attorney Is 'Amazed' (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Orange County Register' Listing Groups Who Oppose Medical Marijuana, From Carl Armbrust, The Man Prosecuting Marvin Chavez - Plus A List Of Similar Groups Who Support Medical Marijuana)
Re - Deputy District Attorney Is 'Amazed' (Two Letters Sent To The Editor Of 'The Orange County Register' Illuminate Orange County Prosecutor Carl Armbrust's Errors In Reasoning About Medical Marijuana)
Prison Budget Points To Need For Alternatives (A Staff Editorial In 'The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel' Comments On The Fact That The Number Of Wisconsin Prison Inmates Is Expected To Rise By Half In Three Years, But The Corrections Agency Proposes To Boost Its Next Two-Year Budget By Only A Fourth - With 3,000 Prisoners Already Housed Out Of State, The Plan To Send As Many As An Additional 4,500 Inmates Out Of State Is Alarming)
Medical Marijuana Class Action Lawsuit (A Press Release About The Federal Lawsuit Challenging The Constitutionality Of The Prohibition On Therapeutic Cannabis, Filed By Philadelphia Public Interest Attorney Lawrence Elliott Hirsch, Includes A URL To The Complete Text Of The 128-Page Brief)
McCaffrey Wants Methadone Handed Out In Doctor's Offices (A List Subscriber Relays A Radio Newscast From An Unspecified Station Indicating The White House Drug Czar Is Embracing A Harm Reduction Proposal)
Federal Proposal Would Provide Methadone to More Drug Addicts ('The New York Times' Says General Barry R. McCaffrey Is Expected To Outline A Major Overhaul Of The Federal Strategy For Treating Heroin Addiction In A Speech Tuesday To A National Conference Of The American Methadone Treatment Association In Manhattan - Methadone Would Be Made Available To All Who Need It, And Private Physicians Would Be Allowed To Dispense It)
US Expands Methadone Treatment ('The Associated Press' Version)
Government To Make Methadone More Available To Addicts (A Different 'Associated Press' Version)
Seizing Money (A Press Release From The Libertarian Party Headquarters In Washington, DC, Alerting You To A New Bill Before The Senate Judiciary Committee That Would Allow Police To Assume Anyone Traveling With More Than $10,000 In Cash In So-Called 'Drug Transit Areas' Is A Drug Dealer - And Confiscate All Their Money)
High Court To Draw Line In Car Searches By Police (According To 'The Associated Press,' The US Supreme Court, Responding To A Case From Wyoming Involving Illegal Drugs, Said Today It Would Decide How Far Police Officers Can Go In Searching The Personal Belongings Of Motor Vehicle Passengers)
Caine Trial Delayed (A Brief Note From Randy Caine Indicates His Consitutional Challenge To Canadian Cannabis Prohibition Has Been Put Off Again, This Time Until November 10)
City Offers $58,000 For Foundry If Pot-Smoking Pair Are Evicted ('The Kitchener Waterloo Record' In Ontario Says The City Of Cambridge Decided Monday Not Only To Forgo $900,000 In Back Taxes And Hydro Costs, But To Pay Owner John Long $58,000 On Top Of That In An Effort To Evict Reverends Michael Baldasaro And Walter Tucker, Those Bearded Maestros Of Marijuana And Founders Of The Self-Proclaimed Church Of The Universe)
Just Say No (A Brief Item In 'The Orange County Register' Says Mexico Has Once Again Rejected A Proposal To Let US Prohibition Agents Carry Firearms Within Its Borders)
Bytes: 62,100 Last updated: 10/4/98
Monday, September 28, 1998:
Medical Effectiveness Outside Law's Purview (A Staff Editorial In Oregon's 'Albany Democrat-Herald' Criticizes Multnomah County Sheriff Dan Noelle For Practicing Medicine Without A License When He Said Last Week That Marijuana Would Be 'The Least Effective And Most Risky' Medication To Give To Someone - And Says Marijuana 'Should Be Legal To Use If And When It Can Help Somebody Who Is Sick')
University Of Oregon Fraternity Goes Dry ('The Associated Press' Says New Members Of Delta Sigma Phi In Eugene, Oregon, Will Supposedly Be Forced To Go On The Wagon - Three Other UO Fraternities Have Agreed To Ban The Use Of Alcohol Within Five Years, Another Plans To Launch A Dry Chapter In A Couple Of Weeks, While Some Sororities - Which Already Prohibit Alcohol - Are Doing Their Part By Pledging To Party Only With Dry Fraternities - The University Has Also Decided To Implement New Dorm Policies)
Veteran Claims Work Around Hazardous Chemicals Led To Terminal Illness ('The Associated Press' Says Dennis Marshall, A 43-Year-Old Former Army Mortician In White City, Oregon, Is Dying From Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease And Suffers From Congestive Heart Failure Connected To Exposure To Formaldehyde, But The US Department Of Veterans Affairs Is Denying His Request For Benefits, Maintaining His Smoking Likely Caused His Health Problems)
Customs Official Files Suit Against '60 Minutes' (A 'New York Times' Story In 'The Orange County Register' Says Rudy Camacho, A US Customs Official, Is Suing CBS, '60 Minutes' Correspondents Mike Wallace And Lesley Stahl, And A Show Producer For Libel, Contending A Scathing Report On The Customs Service In San Diego Was Based On A Falsified Internal Memo)
Give Terminally Ill Pot (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Arizona Daily Star' Protests House Joint Resolution 117, The Anti-Medical Marijuana Vow Of Ignorance, Noting Current Policy Exists Because It Produces The Two Things Politicians Crave The Most - Power And Money)
Choice Of Evils - Michael Domangue (Colorado Attorney Warren C. Edson Says District Attorney Paul McLimans Is Challenging His Ability To Mount A 'Choice Of Evils' Defense For His Client Based On Edson's Affiliation With NORML)
Fort Worth Officer Shoots, Kills Suspect Fleeing In Van (According To 'The Dallas Morning News,' Prohibition Agents Said The Man Appeared To Have Crack Cocaine In His Hand When He Was Stopped, But A Police Spokesman Would Not Say Whether Officers Had Confirmed The Presence Of Illegal Drugs In The Suspect's Van Or What Else Was Found Inside)
Prison Growth May Deplete Surplus (According to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a Wisconsin legislator said Sunday that if the state's prison population increases nearly 50 percent in three years as projected, it could deplete much of an expected budget surplus.)
Former State Trooper Of The Year Takes Own Life ('The Associated Press' Says William Johnson, Once Named Massachusetts' Trooper Of The Year, Shot Himself After Being Demoted From The Narcotics Squad At The Boston Airport To A Job Patrolling A Parking Garage - The Former Green Beret From Revere Never Recovered From The Direction His Career Took After An Encounter With One Of Boston's Most Infamous Mobsters More Than A Decade Earlier)
Police Flyovers Spoil Pot Harvest (An 'Associated Press' Update On Efforts To Eradicate New York State's Number One Crop)
Information On Saliva Drug And Alcohol Test (A List Subscriber Forwards An Advertisement And URL Regarding A New Hand-Held Device That Will Allow Cops To Take A Saliva Sample Which Will Produce Results In Five Minutes Acceptable To Courts)
Reefer Madness (A List Subscriber Forwards A Quote From Senator Jesse Helms, Who Thinks 'Social Signs Of Regular Users' Of Marijuana Include 'Excessive Preoccupation With Social Causes, Race Relations, Environmental Issues, Etc. . . .')
Science Notebook - Taking A Leaf From Marijuana's Effect ('The Washington Post' Version Of Wednesday's News About Ian Meng and Colleagues At The University Of California At San Francisco Demonstrating The Analgesic Qualities Of Cannabinoids)
US Senate To Vote On Anti-Medical Use Resolution This Week (Keith Stroup, Director Of NORML In Washington, DC, Urges You To Write To Your Two US Senators, Asking Them To Oppose Senate Joint Resolution 56, Denying The Medical Utility Of Marijuana - Send A Fax Free From NORML's Web Site)
Juvenile Injustice (Syndicated 'Washington Post' Columnist William Raspberry Says It's Hard To Know Which Is More Cynical - The Content Of The Juvenile Crime Bill Republicans Have Crafted Or The Way They Are Trying To Railroad It To Enactment)
DRCNet Launches Weekly Radio Show (A List Subscriber Says The Weekly Drug Reform Coordination Network News Is Available In Broadcast Quality To Interested Stations, Producers And Announcers Via The Web, And New Editions Will Be Uploaded Each Friday)
Caine Court Case (Randy Caine Says An Appeal In His Constitutional Challenge To Canadian Pot Prohibition Begins Tuesday In Vancouver, British Columbia)
A legal triumph for pot (An Alberta Report account of the constitutional challenge of multiple sclerosis patient Grant Krieger says the medical use of marijuana is winning converts in Canadian courts.)
It's A Girl - Have A Joint (An Op-Ed In 'The Toronto Sun' By Marianne Meed Ward, Managing Editor Of 'Faith Today,' Who Just Gave Birth To Her First Child, Says It's Time To Decriminalize Doobies For Medical Use, Noting The Recent News About Ian Meng Demonstrating The Analgesic Utility Of Cannabis)
Re - The Last Days Of The War On Drugs (A Dutch Citizen's Letter To The Editor Of The Toronto 'Globe And Mail' Praises The Newspaper For Accurately Describing The Effectiveness Of Dutch Drug Policies)
Indian Criminals Face Holy Deadline ('The South China Morning Post' Says Resentment At Widespread Lawlessness, Kidnapping And Drug Abuse In The Indian Port City Of Chittagong Has Spawned A 'Citizens' Committee To Resist The Anti-Socials' - If The Criminals Repent Their Sins By Friday, They Will Be Saved From The Wrath Of The Angry Vigilantes)
Cannabis Law Protest Group Hold 'Smoke-In' ('The Sheffield Star' In Britain Says The Group Smokey Bears' Picnic Met On Devonshire Green In Sheffield To Campaign For The Legalisation Of Cannabis, Smoking Joints In Public To Celebrate The 70th Anniversary Of The Misuse Of Drugs Act And To Show How Banning The Drug Has Failed)
Bytes: 69,900 Last updated: 10/19/98
Sunday, September 27, 1998:
Marijuana Vote Brings Out Big Societal Issues (An 'Oregonian' Article On Ballot Measure 67, The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, Briefly Recounts The History Of Medical Marijuana Reform Efforts In The State)
Prohibition Addicts (A Letter To The Editor Of The Bend, Oregon, 'Bulletin' Says The Unholy Trinity Of Police, Press And Politicians Are In Denial Over Policies That Exacerbate The Original Problem)
Legalize Drugs (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Bulletin' In Bend, Oregon, Responds To The Newspaper's Staff Editorial Opposing The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act)
Cannabinoid Analgesia Explained (The Version In Britain's 'Lancet' Of Wednesday's News About The Letter To 'Nature' From Ian Meng And Researchers At The University Of California In San Francisco Explaining How They Were Able To Demonstrate That Cannabinoids Affect Brain Cells Which Control Pain)
FBI Probes Death, Beatings (An 'Associated Press' Article In 'The Santa Barbara New-Press' Says Another Alleged Inmate Beating Has Surfaced At Twin Towers In Los Angeles, This Time At The Hands Of A 'Posse' Of Renegade Deputies)
Moonlighting? Two Books Revisit Charges That The CIA Condoned The Sale Of Crack (An Annoying Review In The Mendacious 'New York Times' Of Gary Webb's New Book, 'Dark Alliance,' Expanding On His Series For 'The San Jose Jose Mercury News,' And 'Whiteout,' By Alexander Cockburn And Jeffrey St. Clair)
Councilor Expects Potshots For Stance ('The Cape Cod Times' Publicizes The Annual MassCann Rally On Boston Common Next Saturday With A Feature Article About Richard Elrick, Scheduled To Speak At The Rally, A Town Councilor In Barnstable, Massachusetts, As Well As Vice President Of The Cape And Islands Democratic Council, Vice Chairman Of The Town Democratic Committee, Ferry Boat Captain, Lawyer - And Also A Member Of The Board Of Directors Of MASS CANN, The State Affiliate Of The National Organization For The Reform Of Marijuana Laws)
Congress Shows Little Sense On Marijuana (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Daily Gazette' In Schenectady, New York, Says The US House Of Representatives' Recent Approval Of House Joint Resolution 117, Opposing Medical Marijuana, Is An Example Of Ignorance In Action)
New York's Drug Sentencing Policies Are Too Severe (Another Letter To The Editor Of 'The Daily Gazette,' From The New York Green Party Nominee For Lieutenant Governor, Expresses Deep Concern About The Lack Of Debate Over The Future Of New York's Criminal Justice System, Noting Among Other Criticisms That Nearly Half Of All Prisoners Have Been Sentenced For Drug Offenses)
Just Say Maybe - Second Thoughts On Cops In The Class ('New York Times' Columnist Dirk Johnson Says Drug Abuse Resistance Education, Or DARE, Which Is Used In About 70 Percent Of The Nation's Public Schools, Is Only One Of About 50 Antidrug And Safety Programs Taught In Public Schools - And They Generally Don't Work)
Kids On Front Line As Addicts Die Like Flies (A Sensational 'Vancouver Province' Article Says British Columbia's Chief Coroner, Larry Campbell, Has Recorded 272 Deaths From Overdoses Of Heroin Or Cocaine In The Province So Far This Year, A 30 Per Cent Increase, And Says Campbell And Top Police Officers Fear That Suburban Kids Are Prime Targets In The Deadly Drug Trade, Although The Newspaper Doesn't Cite Even A Single Juvenile Death)
Mandy's Story - From A Loving Home To Death On The Skids (Another Sensational 'Vancouver Province' Article About The Death Of A 23-Year-Old Vancouver Crack Addict Fails To Ask If The Young Woman - And Society - Might Have Fared Better If She Had Been Obliged To Obtain The Drug Through A Physician)
Protecting Children Is Above The Law (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Calgary Herald' Suggests That Providing Clean Needles And 'Shooting Galleries' To Drug Addicts May Seem To Condone Breaking The Law, But That Should Mean Little To Parents Of Addicts)
Wrong-Headed Laws Give Drug Lords Power (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Toronto Star' Says The Results Of Canada's Recent Prohibition Of Khat Were Predictable)
Khat Ban Racist, Ignorant (Another Letter To The Editor Of 'The Toronto Star' Says The Khat Law Was Passed Specifically To Target Somalis And East Africans In Canada For Criminal Punishment For Continuing A Harmless Cultural Tradition, And Careful Analysis Of The World Health Organization Report, 'Chewing Khat,' Indicates That Khat Is Far Less Dangerous Than Coffee)
Drug Trade Hurts Northern Mexican Indians (An 'Associated Press' Article In 'The Los Angeles Times' Portrays The Recent Massacre Of 18 People In Ensenada, Mexico, As Related To The Plight Of Impoverished Indians In Northern Mexico, Who Are Increasingly Being Snared Into Drug Trafficking And Falling Victim To Its Violence)
Indians Said To Be Hurt By Expanding Drug Trade In Northern Mexico (A Different 'Associated Press' Version In 'The Santa Maria Times')
Drug Cartels Ravage Indian Villages ('The New York Times' Version In 'The Chicago Tribune')
The Drug Crisis Isn't Just In Mexico (An Op-Ed In 'The Los Angeles Times' By Jesus Blancornelas, Editor Of The Weekly Mexican Newspaper, 'Zeta,' Says Those Who Sell Illegal Drugs In Mexico Are Named And Covered In The Mexican Mass Media, While The American Mass Media Lets Those Who Sell Illegal Drugs In The United States Remain Anonymous)
Coca Is Among Drink's 'Real Thing' Ingredients ('The Houston Chronicle' Notes The Coca-Cola Company Still Uses Coca Leaf Mulch To Flavor The World's Number One Soft Drink, And Purchases About 200 Metric Tons Of Coca Leaves Annually In Bolivia For Its Secret Formula)
Products From Coca Leaf Are Tough Sell ('The Houston Chronicle' Says That At A Time When US-Backed Eradication Teams Are Bent On Wiping Out Coca Crops In South America, A Handful Of Activists Is Trying To Promote The Healthful Properties Of Coca And Convince The World That Coca Is Not Cocaine)
Attacking Roots Of Cocaine Yields A Bitter Bolivia ('The Houston Chronicle' Says That Since The Bolivian Military Began A Program Of Forced Eradication Of Coca In April, Such Scorched-Earth Tactics Have Provoked Violent Protests In Normally Peaceful Bolivia, And More Than A Dozen People Have Been Killed In Clashes With Police And Soldiers, According To Human Rights Groups)
Cannabis Campaign - A Year That Changed Minds (Britain's 'Independent On Sunday' Marks The First Anniversary Of Its Campaign To Decriminalise Cannabis With An Update On Medical Cannabis Research By The American Firm HortaPharm Carried Out For Britain's GW Pharmaceuticals, Observing That It Is The Case For Legalising The Medical Use Of The Drug Which Has Gained The Most Ground In The Past 12 Months)
Cannabis Campaign Goes Worldwide (A British List Subscriber Says A Coalition Of Cannabis Campaigners Meeting In Brixton, London, Has Picked Saturday May 1, 1999, As The Date For Next Spring's Cannabis Campaign March In London)
Police Corruption In UK 'At Third World Levels' (Britain's 'Telegraph' Says It Has Obtained The Confidential Minutes Of A Meeting Organised By The National Criminal Intelligence Service, Which Says A Key Cause Of Rampant Police Corruption Is The Growth Of The International Drugs Trade And The Massive Amounts Of Money Available To Criminals To Offer As Bribes)
The Shameful Truth About Police Corruption (Britain's 'Telegraph' Says That, Contrary To Police Claims That Corruption Is Minimal Outside London, The Minutes Of A Highly Confidential Meeting Organised By The National Criminal Intelligence Service On June 23 Indicate The Most Senior Police Officers And Policy-Makers In The Country Agreed That 'Corrupt Officers Existed Throughout The UK' And That Police Corruption Had Become 'Pervasive')
Opium Crop Hurt By Iran Tensions, Weather (According To 'The Chicago Tribune,' Pino Arlacchi, Executive Director Of The United Nations Drug Control Program, Says Heavy Rains, Hailstorms And Earthquakes This Year Have Wiped Out One-Quarter Of The Expected Opium Crop In Afghanistan - The UN Agency Estimated Last Year That Afghanistan Had Become The World's Largest Producer Of Opium, Surpassing Myanmar)
Opium Production Falls In Afghanistan ('The New York Times' Version In 'The Orange County Register')
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Saturday, September 26, 1998:
Allow Medical Marijuana - Measure 67 (A Staff Editorial In The Eugene, Oregon, 'Register-Guard' Endorses The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, Saying Oregonians Should Understand That They Can Support Humane Medical Practices Without Undermining Efforts To Control Dangerous Drugs)
Marijuana IS Medicine (A List Subscriber Publicizes A Public Rally October 5 Beginning At Harborview Hospital In Seattle - And Prints The URL Where Flyers Can Be Downloaded And Printed Out)
Medical Marijuana On Television! (A List Subscriber Says Monday Night's Episode Of 'LA Doctors' On CBS Will Involve A Doctor And His Patient Using Medical Marijuana)
Lone Marijuana Plant Fires Up Debate Over Downtown Visalia ('The Fresno Bee' Says The Discovery Of A Weed Sprouting From A Planter On Main Street Has Led Downtown Merchants To Pitch In To Hire Security Guards)
Wilson Signs Youth-Informant Safeguard ('The Orange County Register' Says California Governor Pete Wilson, Spurred By The Killing Of Chad MacDonald, A 17-Year-Old Brea Police Informant, Signed A Bill Friday That Requires Police To Obtain A Judge's Approval Before Using Minors As Undercover Agents)
Down Mexico Way ('The Tulsa World' Says Mexican Ambassador Jesus Reyes Heroles Was In Tulsa, Oklahoma, Recently, Making A Compelling Case That America's War On Some Drugs Imperils 'Free Government' In Mexico)
State Law Lacks Herb Clause ('The Tulsa World' Describes The Trial To Begin Thursday Of George Singleton Of Vermont, A Rastafarian With Dreadlocks Who Was Busted By An Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper, Who Thought Singleton's Mullein And Rosemary Were Marijuana, Which Led To His Now Being Charged With Being Under The Influence Of An Intoxicating Substance)
Man Chokes To Death On Bag Of Marijuana ('The Sun Herald' In Biloxi, Mississippi, Shows How Fear Of Marijuana Laws Can Be More Dangerous Than Marijuana Itself)
ACLU Of Louisiana Sues Over 'Clean Urine Loyalty Oath' (The 'ACLU News' Account Of Wednesday's Lawsuit Filed By The Louisiana Chapter Of The American Civil Liberties Union Challenging The Constitutionality Of A 1997 State Law That Requires Random Drug Testing Of Elected Officials)
NAIHC Annual Meeting In DC (A Press Release From The North American Industrial Hemp Council Publicizes Its Annual Membership Conference And Program Schedule November 5-7 In Washington, DC)
Justice Department Seeks FDA Regulatory Control Of Tobacco ('The Associated Press' Says The Department Has Asked A Federal Appeals Court In Richmond, Virginia, To Reverse The Decision Last Month By A Three-Judge Panel Of The Fourth US Circuit Court Of Appeals That The Food And Drug Administration Has No Authority To Regulate Tobacco)
A Citizen's Guide To Influencing The Administration (Excellent Tips On Making Letters And Phone Calls Effective, From 20/20 Vision Education Fund, A Resource For Grassroots Activists Across The Country)
Police Pose As Drug Dealers In Cocaine Sting ('The Vancouver Sun' Says Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officers Took Advantage Of Controversial New Regulations Allowing Them To Break Drug Laws If They Are Investigating A Crime In Order To Carry Out A 'Reverse Sting' In Richmond, British Columbia, Where They Charged Three Men With Conspiracy To Traffic In Cocaine And Seized $1.2 Million In Cash)
The Last Days Of The War On Drugs (Occasional Toronto 'Globe And Mail' Columnist Gwynne Dyer Comments On The Recent London Symposium, 'Regulating Cannabis - Options For Control In The 21st Century,' And Other Reform Developments Around The World, Saying That As Far As The Technical And Philosophical Debate Is Concerned, The War Is Over; We Just Haven't Declared A Ceasefire On The Actual Battlefronts Yet - But That Is Coming Too)
Hemp Production Goes Into Rehabilitation ('The Ottawa Sun' Notes Recalcitrant Agriculture Officials Have Made It Difficult For Canadian Hemp Farmers To Expand Their Production This Year As Much As Hoped)
Mexican Drug Agents Held For 'Kidnapping' (A 'New York Times' Article In 'The International Herald-Tribune' Says Two Mexican Prohibition Agents Who Were Part Of An Anti-Drug Unit That Works Closely With US Officials Were Preparing To Buy A Ton Of Marijuana From Tijuana Traffickers As Part Of A Buy-And-Bust Operation When They Were Arrested By Baja California State Policemen Summoned By One Of The Traffickers)
Massacre Survivor Gets Injunction (An 'Associated Press' Article In 'The Orange County Register' Says The Unconscious Fermin Castro, An Alleged Drug Trafficker Who Survived A Massacre Of His Extended Family In Ensenada, Has Received A Court Injunction To Keep Him From Being Taken Out Of The Hospital Where He Is Under Heavy Military Guard - The Order Also Protects Castro From Arrest By Federal, State Or City Police)
Drug Gangs Devastate Indian Villages In Baja ('The New York Times' Says Illegal Drug Traffickers Are Taking Advantage Of The Traditional Conflicts That Have Plagued Native Indian Communities In Baja Mexico, Leading To The Killings Last Week Of Two Entire Families From The Pai-Pai Ethnic Group, Along With A Household Of Neighbors, Who Were Dragged From Their Homes And Shot To Death In A Driveway In Ensenada)
Easing The Agony (The Version In Britain's 'New Scientist' Of Wednesday's News About Ian Meng And Colleagues At The University Of California At San Francisco Medical Center Finding A Way To Demonstrate The Analgesic Qualities Of Cannabinoids)
39 Officers Accused As CID Inuiry Continues (Britain's 'Telegraph' Says 286 Individual Allegations Are Being Investigated Against 39 Detectives In A Middlesbrough Squad Credited With Cutting Crime Through 'Zero Tolerance' Policing - But Then Says Crime In Middlesbrough Has Gone Up Since The 'Zero Tolerance' Policing Began, With Burglaries Having Increased 36 Per Cent From Last Year)
Drug Courts Pilot Scheme Needs Proper Funding (The Irish 'Examiner' Says The Labour Party, Democratic Left, And Drug Treatment Professionals Have Welcomed The Irish Government's Decision To Set Up US-Style Drug Courts, But Stress The Need To Commit Sufficient Funds - To Deal With Non-Violent Convicts And Those Guilty Of Non-Serious Offences By Way Of Drug Treatment Rather Than Jail Terms, Supporters Asked For Funding For Participants' Counselling, Career Guidance And Medical Care, Promising The Funding Would Would 'Pay For Itself Because Of The High Costs Of Drug Addiction To Society')
Bytes: 115,000 Last updated: 10/19/98
Friday, September 25, 1998:
Medical Marijuana (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Bulletin' In Bend, Oregon, Says That Whatever You Believe About The Medical Properties Of Marijuana, Jailing Sick People For Using It Does More Damage Than The Drug Itself, And We Should Not Be Inflicting Greater Harm Than The Problem We Are Trying To Solve)
Lawn Signs For Measures 57 And 67 (A Portland NORML Activist Says Voter Power Is Distributing Lawn Signs And Other Materials Urging Oregonians To Vote 'No' On Recriminalization And 'Yes' For Medical Marijuana)
Sheriff Sees Marijuana Measure As Ploy To Legalize Other Drugs (An 'Associated Press' Story In 'The Oregonian' Quotes Multnomah County Sheriff Dan Noelle Of Portland Telling The State Criminal Justice Commission On Thursday That 'We Don't Believe Measure 67 Has Anything To Do With Medicine' And That Marijuana 'Contributes To Violent And Assaultive Behavior')
Re - Sheriff Sees Marijuana Measure As Ploy To Legalize Other Drugs (A List Subscriber In Salem, Oregon, Says He Checked With The State Board Of Psychological Examiners, The Board Of Counselors, And The Board Of Licensed Social Workers And It Turns Out The 'Portland Psychologist And Addiction Counselor Roger Burt' Quoted By 'The Associated Press' Making Ludicrous Assertions About Cannabis Is Not Licensed Or Registered In Oregon - Plus Commentary From Other List Subscribers)
Senate Panel OKs Suicide Ban ('The Oregonian' Says A Bill That Would Block Oregon's Physician-Assisted Suicide Law Cleared The Senate Judiciary Committee On Thursday)
Study - Marijuana, Morphine Work On Same Area Of Brain (The Knight Ridder Newspapers Version In 'The Seattle Times' Of Wednesday's News About Cannabinoid Research By Ian Meng And Associates At The Medical School Of The University Of California At San Francisco)
Six Clubs' Federal Court Date Changed (A List Subscriber Notes The Hearing Scheduled September 28 On The Legality Of The Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative And Other Northern California Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Has Been Postponed A Week, Until Monday, October 5)
'Los Angeles Times' Cartoon (Commentary On Wednesday's News That In The Last Seven Years, Appropriations For Higher Education In California Dropped 3 Percent While Prison Spending Rose 60 Percent)
Pilot Dies In DEA Chopper Crash (According To An 'Associated Press' Story Broadcast By WFAA-TV In Texas, A Training Pilot Who Worked For Raytheon Aerospace Died Near Fort Worth, While DEA Pilot Matt Fairbanks Is Expected To Live)
Wasteful Drug War (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Rockford Register Star' In Illinois Notes The Government Estimates Its $17 Billion Federal Budget For A Small Part Of The War On Some Drug Users Reduces The Amount Of Drugs On The Maket By Only 3 Percent To 10 Percent)
Pesky Citizen-Made Law (A letter to the editor of The Tampa Tribune in Florida about the attempt in Congress to nullify Oregon's unique physician assisted suicide law notes the Republican Congress was elected in 1994 on a platform which included 'devolution' - returning power to the states. Instead, they are 'devolving' power to the DEA to thwart citizens' initiatives that the leaders of the House Judiciary Committee don't happen to like.)
Medicine Not Subject To 'Opinion,' But It Is At Mercy Of Politics (An Op-Ed In 'The St. Paul Pioneer Press' By Jacob Sullum, Senior Editor Of 'Reason' Magazine, About House Joint Resolution 117, The Anti-Medical Marijuana Vow Of Ignorance Recently Passed By The US House Of Representatives)
US Senate To Vote On Anti-Medicinal Marijuana Resolution (The Marijuana Policy Project In Washington, DC, Urges You To Write Letters To Your Two US Senators Asking Them To Oppose Senate Joint Resolution 56, The Anti-Medical Marijuana Legalism)
'Drug Crazy' Goes Into Second Printing (The Media Awareness Project Forwards A 'Thank You' Note From Mike Gray, The Author Of The Seminal New History Of The War On Some Drug Users, Published By Random House)
Morbidity And Mortality Weekly Report - Recommendations And Reports (A List Subscriber Forwards A Notice From The US Government About New Online Information)
Overdose Death Target Of Third Investigation ('The Vancouver Sun' Says The Canadian Justice Department Is Reviewing The Overdose Death Of A Government Chemist Who Analysed Drugs Seized By Police To Determine What Impact The Death Will Have On Drug Prosecutions And Whether The Circumstances Of The 1997 Death Should Have Been Disclosed To Defence Lawyers)
Safe Site For Addicts 'Saved Lives' ('The Vancouver Sun' Says A Proposal To Set Up Four Safe-Injections Sites For Heroin Addicts In Vancouver, British Columbia, Was Debated For The First Time At A Meeting Thursday Night Of The Vancouver/Richmond Health Board - Ann Livingstone, One Of Five Committee Members Who Prepared The Proposal, Recounted An Unauthorized Site She Used To Oversee That Provided A Place To Escape The 'Death Camp' Which Is The Downtown Eastside, But It Was Shut Down By Police, Who Say It Had The Impact Of 'A Grenade' On The Safety And Security Of The Neighbourhood)
Arrests Of Two Drug Agents In Mexico Criticized (A 'New York Times' Article In 'The Chicago Tribune' Says Two Mexican Prohibition Agents Who Were Part Of An Anti-Drug Unit That Works Closely With The United States Were Preparing To Buy A Ton Of Marijuana From Tijuana Traffickers As Part Of A Buy-And-Bust Operation When They Were Arrested By Baja California State Police Summoned By One Of The Traffickers, And Charged With Kidnapping)
US To Leave Unexploded Bombs Behind In Panama ('Reuters' Says The Admission Friday By US Military Officials That They Would Leave Behind Unexploded Ordnance In The Jungles Of The Panama Canal Zone When The United States Concludes Its 90-Year Military Presence In Panama Next Year Became An Issue After The United States And Panama Failed To Reach An Agreement On A Drug Interdiction Base That Would Have Extended The US Presence)
Senior Detective Risked Officers For Bribe From Britain's Top Drug Baron (Britain's 'Independent' Says The Former Deputy Head Of The Merseyside Drugs Squad, Elmore Davies, Was Convicted Yesterday Of Disclosing Information To Pervert The Course Of Justice - A Detective Chief Inspector With 30 Years' Service And A Son In The Force, Davies Is The Most Senior British Police Officer Jailed For Corruption In Modern Times)
Police In Seven Forces Investigated For Drugs, Bribery And Robberies (Britain's 'Independent' Says More Than 110 Police Officers In At Least Seven Forces In England And Wales Are Being Investigated, Or Face Charges, In An Unprecedented Series Of Anti-Corruption Inquiries)
Weed Takes The Bloom Off Prizewinning Floral Display (Britain's 'Guardian' Says That After Civic Leaders In Glastonbury Gave The First Prize For The 'Glastonbury In Bloom' Competition To The Shop, In Harmony With Nature, The Police Busted The Owner, Free Rob Cannabis, For Including 13 Tiny Plants With Distinctive Leaves Among His Award-Winning Arrangement Of Chrysanthemums, Roses And Heathers - Glastonbury's Deputy Mayor, Alan Gloak, Said Cannabis Plants In The Town's Displays Were 'Endemic' - 'People Scatter These Seeds All Over The Place')
The Week Online With DRCNet, Issue Number 60 (The Drug Reform Coordination Network's Original Summary Of Drug Policy News And Calls For Action, Including - DRCNet Nearing The 7,000 Mark - Your Voice Needed; Alert - Congress Considers Jailing Children With Adults; Alert - From The Andean Information Network; Canadian Hemp Shop Bust Aided By US Agents; Media Note - CBS Drama To Highlight Medical Marijuana; Volunteers Needed For Washington, DC Medical Marijuana Initiative; New Study Indicates That Cannabis Relieves Pain; Drug War Militarization Bill Passes House Over Objections Of Colombia; Background On Juvenile Justice Bill; Massacre In Ensenada, Mexico Hits Close To US; Minnesota Marijuana Law Faces Constitutional Challenge In Court Case; Human Rights Activists Accuse Russian Police Of Planting Drugs; National Conference On Prisons This Weekend; Editorial - Repentance For The Drug War)
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Thursday, September 24, 1998:
The NORML Foundation Weekly Press Release (House Okays Legislation To Test Driver's License Applicants, Others For Drugs; Senate To Take Up Resolution Rejecting Medical Marijuana; Voters In Nation's Capitol Will Decide On Medical Marijuana; Government Website Uses Anti-Drug Trafficking Funds To Launch State Propaganda Campaign Against Medical Marijuana; Reminder - Year's Largest Marijuana Reform Rally To Take Place Next Week)
The People Vs William Conde ('Eugene Weekly' Makes It Pretty Clear That Officials In Linn County, Oregon, Who Raided The Lumberyard Of The Longtime Marijuana Law Reform Activist Were Motivated By Politics)
Detectives - Even The Security Guards Sold Drugs At Three-Day Festival ('The Associated Press' Version, A Rewrite From Yesterday, Doesn't Say Whether The Police Will Now Confiscate Everything Belonging To Portland Trail Blazers Owner Paul Allen If They Catch Someone Using Or Selling Illegal Drugs During A Concert Or Other Event At The Rose Garden Arena In Portland)
Kitzhaber Expands His Prevention Plans ('The Oregonian' Notes Oregon Governor John 'Prisons' Kitzhaber Is Running For Re-Election And Was Flanked By Supporters In Law Enforcement Wednesday During A Campaign Appearance At The Portland Police Memorial, Where He Said He Would Ask The Corrections Department To Come Up With $50 Million Out Of Its Current Budget, Including $30 Million To Combat Juvenile Crime And $20 Million For Drug Treatment Programs)
Governor Seeks $50 Million For Youth Programs ('The Associated Press' Version)
Jail Inmate Died Of Cyanide Poisoning ('The Associated Press' Indicates It's Not Known Who Or How Someone Smuggled In The Drug That Killed A Man Convicted Of Attempted Rape In Eugene, Oregon)
Marvin Chavez Trial Monday (A List Subscriber Invites Medical Marijuana Reformers To The Santa Ana County Courthouse Beginning September 28 To Witness The Absurd Trial Of The Director Of The Now-Defunct Orange County Patient, Doctor, Nurse Support Group)
Joan Baez Fundraiser (A List Subscriber Says The Folksinger's October 1 Benefit Concert For Her Cousin, Peter Baez Of The Santa Clara County Medical Cannibas Center, Has Sold Out, But 100 New Seats Have Opened Up At $100 A Pop)
Study Finds Medical Benefits In Marijuana ('The Sacramento Bee' Version Of Yesterday's News About Research By Ian Meng And Scientists From The University Of California In San Francisco Showing How Cannabinoids Affect Brain Cells That Control Pain)
Marijuana-Like Drug Eases Pain, Study Says ('The Orange County Register' Version)
Scientists High On Medical Benefits Of Marijuana ('The Toronto Globe And Mail' Version)
Cannabis Can Kill Pain, Say Experts (The Version In The Aberdeen, Scotland, 'Press And Journal' Says That Last Night, The Home Office Signalled That The Government Would Amend Drug Laws If The Results Were Confirmed And The Medicines Control Agency Issues Marketing Authorisation)
Action Alert - 'The Los Angeles Times' And The Hemp Oil Defense (A List Subscriber Says The West Coast's Largest Newspaper Has Prohibited Its Employees From Consuming Health-Food Products Made With Legal Hemp Seed Oil, Which The Body Converts Into Cannabis Metabolites, Leading To Falsely Positive Urine Tests - The Cat's Out Of The Bag - Please Write A Letter To The 'Times' Expressing Your Disgust)
Fourth-Graders Suffer Illness After Possibly Ingesting LSD ('The San Jose Mercury News' Says Fourteen Youngsters Aged 9 And 10 In The Los Angeles Suburb Of Pacoima Got Sick Or Dizzy Or Began Hallucinating Wednesday After A Girl Found A Box Containing A Powder And A Vial Of Liquid Near Her Home And Shared It With Classmates)
Guard Smuggles 'Cocaine' Into Prison ('The Associated Press' Says Michael Falco, A Guard At Sing Sing Prison In Ossining, New York, Has Resigned And Faces Four Years In Prison Himself After Getting Caught In A Sting)
ACLU Wants To Outlaw Officials Having To Take Drug Tests (The Louisiana 'Advocate' Says The Louisiana Chapter Of The American Civil Liberties Union Filed A Federal Lawsuit Wednesday Challenging The Constitutionality Of A 1997 State Law That Requires Random Drug Testing Of Elected Officials)
Louisiana Justice Of The Peace Challenges Drug-Test Law ('The Associated Press' Version)
DARE And "Banned Books Week" (An insightful list subscriber notes the American Booksellers Association, the American Library Association and other groups have been promoting literature for 17 years using the "forbidden fruit" syndrome. He suggests drug policy reformers should take advantage of the annual weeklong event to point out how the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program works the same way to promote drug use among children.)
Immediate Action Required - Oppose Juvenile Crime Package (A Bulletin From The Media Awareness Project/DrugSense Urges You To Call, Write Or Fax Your US Senators, Asking Them To Reject A Draconian Bill That Would Force Expulsion Of Children Possessing Small Amounts Of Drugs From Schools, Incarcerate Children As Young As 13 With Adult Inmates, Remove Judicial Discretion, And Allocate $450 Million To Prisons But Only $50 Million To $100 Million For Prevention, Mentoring And Educational Programs)
Where's The Drug Crime? (A List Subscriber Forwards A Piece Of Propaganda From The National Center For Policy Analysis, 'Punishment Helping Reduce Crime,' Which Claims It's Necessary For The United States To Have A Correctional Population Of More Than 5 Million In Order To Have A Favorable Impact On Violence And Property Crime - But The NCPA Fails To Apply The Same Statistical Methods To The Largest Single Category Of Crime, Involving Drug Offenses)
Medical Cannabis May Be OK, Says Hellawell (Britain's 'Daily Mail' Says Keith Hellawell, The Labour Government's Drugs Czar, Backed The Legalisation Of Cannabis For Medical Uses Yesterday, Saying There 'May Be Justification In Certain Circumstances' For The Drug To Be Used To Help Those Suffering From Some Serious Illnesses - His Remarks Were Taken As A Powerful Hint That Ministers Are Prepared To Back Legalisation If Trials Now Under Way Support Doctors' Claims)
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Wednesday, September 23, 1998:
Affidavit Describes Drug Use At Fair (According To 'The Register-Guard' In Eugene, Oregon, Undercover Linn County Prohibition Agents Filed An Affidavit In Support Of A Warrant To Search The Property Of Bill Conde, Describing 'Rampant Drug Use And Brazen Drug Sales' At Conde's 'Cannabis Carnival' Earlier This Month, Even By Security Guards - Conde Said Detectives Were Motivated By Politics And Their Search Last Week Effectively Shut Down His Redwood Lumber Business By Confiscating Computers And Business Records)
Challenge To Suicide Law Is Dismissed ('The Oregonian' Says US District Judge Michael Hogan Tuesday Reluctantly Refused To Revive A Lawsuit Against Oregon's Physician-Assisted Suicide Law, Apparently Ending Nearly Four Years Of Legal Challenges)
Coalition Opposes Hyde-Nickles Lethal Drug Abuse Prevention Act ('The St. Louis Post-Dispatch' Relays Commentary On The Bill That Would Nullify Oregon's Assisted-Suicide Law, From Some Of The More Than 50 Associations And Organizations Who Have Joined Together To Oppose The Legislation)
NewsBuzz - Follow Up - If You Got 'Em, Smoke 'Em ('Willamette Week' In Portland Notes The Local Impact On Cigar Sales Following Allegations That President Clinton Used A Cigar To Diddle Monica Lewinsky)
The Crime That Changed Punishment ('Willamette Week' Presents A History Of Ballot Measure 11 In Oregon - An Initiative Requiring Mandatory Minimum Sentences For Supposedly Violent Crimes - Showing How The Law-Making Process Works In Oregon Through The Example Of Steve Doell, Whose Daughter Was Killed By A Hit-And-Run Driver)
Patient Rally Sunday, September 27 (The Puget Sound-Area Green Cross Patient Co-Op Invites Medical Marijuana Patients To Gather 11 AM At Myrtle Edwards Park In Seattle During The Annual Walk Sponsored By The Northwest AIDS Foundation, Which Has Endorsed Initiative 692, The Washington State Medical Marijuana Ballot Measure)
Synthetic Marijuana-Like Drug Eases Pain - Study ('Reuters' Says Dr Ian Meng And Researchers From The University Of California In San Francisco Published A Letter In The Science Journal 'Nature' Wednesday In Which They Explained How Cannabinoids Affect Brain Cells That Control Pain)
UCSF Study Backs Claim Pot Kills Pain ('The San Francisco Examiner' Version)
UCSF Study Backs Claim Pot Kills Pain ('The Nation' Version)
Synthetic Marijuana-Like Drug Eases Pain - Study (The Fox News Version)
Clinton Will Be Third Man At Davis-Lungren Debate ('The San Francisco Chronicle' Says The Latest Polls Indicate California Attorney General Dan Lungren, Nemesis Of Proposition 215, Has Come From Behind And Now Is Tied With Democrat Gray Davis In The Race For Governor - A List Subscriber Forwards A Collection Of California Media Addresses And Urges You To Write Letters Opposing Lungren For Governor)
Agents Wage War On Pot In California (An 'Associated Press' Article In 'The Las Vegas Sun' Portrays The Annual Campaign To Eradicate Marijuana Planting - CAMP - And Concludes The Program 'Barely Makes A Dent')
Prison Growth Stealing Funds From Schools, Activists Say ('The Chicago Tribune' Says The Prison-Reform Movement Is Gaining Strength On College Campuses - Again - Angela Davis, 53, A Professor At The University Of California At Santa Cruz, As Well As College Students And Other Former Prisoners, Have Scheduled A Conference This Weekend At The University Of California At Berkeley Titled 'Critical Resistance - Beyond The Prison Industrial Complex,' To Draw Attention To The Issue - A Study To Be Released Wednesday Says In The Last Seven Years, Appropriations For Higher Education In California Dropped 3 Percent While Prison Spending Rose 60 Percent)
Jails At Expense Of Colleges? ('The San Francisco Examiner' Version)
Report - Gap In Education, Prison Funds - Wilson's Office Calls Study `Drivel' ('The San Francisco Mercury News' Version)
Search For Justice? (A Staff Editorial In 'The Orange County Register' Says Monday's Ruling By The California Supreme Court That Police Can Search People On Parole Or Their Residences At Any Time For No Reason Is Troubling - Parole Is A French Word Meaning 'On Your Word' - The Ruling Enlarges Police Powers And, Once Again, That Expansion Of Power Is Tied To The War On Drugs - Anyone Living With A Parolee Also Has His Or Her Fourth Amendment Rights Severely Proscribed, So This Ruling Could Encourage People To Shun The Parolee, Perhaps Forcing Forcing Them Back With Those Who Might Have Enabled A Life Of Crime)
Officer's Wife Admits To Role In Drug Ring ('The Detroit News' Says The Wife Of Police Commander Gary Johnson In Detroit, Michigan, Pleaded Guilty Tuesday To One Count Of Selling Drug Paraphernalia And Admitted To Playing A Role In A Drug Ring - Her Husband Is Not Under Investigation)
Founder Of Wildlife Refuge To Be Sentenced September 30 ('The New Haven Register' Says Robert Salvatore, A Founder And Director Of The Former North American Wildlife Association Inc., Faces Up To 15 Years In Prison After His Conviction Earlier This Year On Charges Of Drug Cultivation And Possession - Salvatore Has Maintained His Innocence Since His Arrest In August 1997, And Claims He Was Set Up By Volunteers Who Worked At The Wildlife Reserve With Him)
Lawyer - DEA Ignored Cop's Mental Problem ('The Miami Herald' Says Richard Fekete, A Federal Prohibition Agent Who Awoke In A Drunken Stupor Last Year And Shot To Death A Fellow Agent With A Wife And Two Children, Now Accuses The Drug Enforcement Administration Of Withholding Evidence That Superiors Knew He Was An Alcoholic And Had 'Jekyll/Hyde' Tendencies But Let Him Keep His Job Anyway - The Widow Of Shaun Curl, Fekete's Victim, Also Plans To Sue The DEA For Allowing Fekete To Keep His Job)
US Catches Wind Of Australian Drug Sniffing Dogs (An 'Australian Associated Press' Story Relayed By NINEMSN Says The White House Is So Impressed By Australian Research To Develop A 'Super Sniffer' Dog Breeding Program That It Has Set Aside $148,000 For The US Customs Service To Import Some Of The Australian Labradors And Develop A Breeding Program The United States Can Call Its Own - Four Of The Australian Dogs Will Be Introduced To Washington Tomorrow At A Press Conference And Are Expected To Be Let Loose To Romp Around The Ronald Reagan Building On Pennsylvania Avenue)
Challenging Report On Pregnancy And Drug Abuse ('The Journal Of The American Medical Association' Says A New Report Titled 'Ethical And Legal Analyses Of Coercive Policies Aimed At Substance Abuse By Pregnant Women,' Written As Part Of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Substance Abuse Policy Research Program, Documents What Is Currently Known About The Effect On Fetuses Of Substance Abuse By Pregnant Women And Concludes Imprisoning Pregnant 'Drug' Users Is Ineffective, Racist And Otherwise Unethical And Could Be Challenged On Constitutional Grounds - The Substances That Do The Most Harm Are Tobacco And Alcohol)
Mindless Hypocrisy (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Edmonton Sun' Contrasts A Canadian Prosecutor's Zeal To Deport Morteza Borhania To Certain Death In Iran Because Of An Old Drug Conviction For Which He's Already Done His Time, With Canada's Past Refusal To Deport Americans Facing The Same Penalty In The United States For Real Crimes)
Drug Use Looks Set To Be Decriminalised In Switzerland - Even If Referendum Fails, Penalties Will Be Reduced ('Frankfurter Rundschau' Says Users Of Cannabis, Cocaine And Heroin May Soon Have No Need To Fear Legal Punishment In Certain Swiss Cities - The Government Is Now Deciding Where It Will Carry Out A 'Limited Experiment' Of Complete Drugs Decriminalisation)
DrugSense Weekly, Number 65 (The Original Summary Of Drug Policy News Includes A Feature Article By The Redford Citizens' Committee For Justice; Drug Czar Wants Interdiction Bill To Lose In Congress; House OKs $3.2-Billion Measure To Bolster The Fight Against Drugs; Hemp Study Released By North Dakota; Guarding The Truth About State Prison; Cloud Over Mexican Anti-Drug Force; US Links Top Mexican Agents To Traffickers; Massacre In Mexico; Victims' Drug Ties Likely Behind Mexico Massacre; House Rules Marijuana Dangerous; Editorial - A Nonsense Resolution; DC To Vote On Medical Marijuana; OPED - Pot Battle Shifts To Ballot Box; IOC - No Jail For Suspect Athletes; Australia - Troops Get The All-Clear To Dose Up On Energy Drugs; Canada - Market Forces Cut Heroin Price; Australia - Campaign Gets Up Close And Personal On Heroin Issue; Colombia's Way To Halt Drugs And War At Once; Colombia Fears US Anti-Drug Bill May Harm Peace Talks; Hot Off The 'Net - McCaffrey The Prevaricator Ad In 'The New Republic'; DrugSense Tip Of The Week - Excellent Article On The Hernandez Murder; Quote Of The Week)
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Tuesday, September 22, 1998:
No On Measure 57 (A Staff Editorial In The Bend, Oregon, 'Bulletin' Says The State Ballot Measure That Would Recriminalize Possession Of Less Than One Ounce Of Marijuana Would Be Ineffective And Would Take Up Jail Beds Needed For Real Criminals)
State Police Fire 18-Year Veteran For Improper Conduct ('The Associated Press' Says Oregon State Police Undercover Detective David Campbell Was Accused Of Pressuring A Drug Informant Into Having Sex - A March Newscast By KOIN-TV, Portland's CBS Affiliate, Noted An Albany Waitress Said Campbell, A Member Of The Albany-Based Valley Interagency Narcotics Team, Threatened To Reveal Her Identity To Traffickers, Ignored Her Tips About Prominent Drug Dealers, Gave Her Prescription Medication, Openly Talked About Secret Investigations And Was Afraid Of 'Going After Certain People' Because He Feared For His Job And His Safety)
State Police Fire 18-Year Veteran For Improper Conduct (A Somewhat Different 'Associated Press' Version)
Hypocrisy Abounds Among Foes Of Medical Marijuana ('Seattle Times' Columnist Michelle Malkin Eloquently Endorses Washington State Initiative 692, The Medical Marijuana Ballot Measure, While Pointing Out The Various Double Standards Of Such Republican Politicians As Newt Gingrich, Steve Forbes, And Those In Congress Who Recently Pushed Through House Joint Resolution 117, Together With Such Democrats As Washington State Senator Patty Murray And Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen)
SLO Man Files Claim Against Law Agencies Over March Raid ('The San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune' Says Howard Leasure, Who Spent 16 Days In Jail When San Luis Obispo County Narcotics Task Force Officers Mistook 10 Pounds Of Lye For Methamphetamine, Filed A Lawsuit Wednesday In Superior Court, Alleging False Arrest And Imprisonment And Violation Of His Civil Rights)
Court Cancels Penalty For Corcoran Guards ('The Orange County Register' Says Sacramento Superior Court Judge Cecily Bond Ruled Friday That A Former Associate Warden And Five Officers From Corcoran State Prison In California Who Were Accused Of Choking And Hitting Shackled Prisoners In 1995 Should Be Returned To Their Jobs With Back Pay Because The Notice Of Charges Filed Against The Officers 'Didn't Specifically Cite' The Regulations They Were Accused Of Violating)
Court Allows Parolee Search For No Reason (An 'Associated Press' Article In 'The Orange County Register' Says The California Supreme Court Ruled Monday That Law-Enforcement Officers Can Search Any Of California's 108,000 Adults On Parole, Or Their Homes, Without Having To Show Any Reason At All, Because It Would 'Discourage Crime' - Juveniles And Those On Probation Had Their Fourth Amendment Rights Removed Previously)
Three Law Officers Resign Their Posts After Drug Tests ('The Houston Chronicle' Says The Deputy Constables In Montgomery County, Texas - Two Of Them Assigned To Police Duty In The Willis School District - Tested Positive For An Undisclosed Drug)
Filthy Rich (According To ABC News, The October Issue Of 'Discover' Magazine Says Scientists From The University Of California At San Francisco Took A Sampling Of Money From Miami, Chicago And Houston And Found 70 Percent To 80 Percent Of It Had Traces Of Cocaine - 7 Percent Of Paper Money And 18 Percent Of Coins Had Traces Of Fecal Bacteria)
Exclusive - Drug Use Probed In White House - Reports Say 25 Percent Of Staff Has History ('World Net Daily' Says Trained Dogs Brought In By The Secret Service Detected Drug Use In And Around The Oval Office - Several Sources Have Reported Independently Of Each Other That Monica Lewinsky's Dress Not Only Had Evidence Of A Sexual Encounter With Bill Clinton, But Also Traces Of Cocaine)
Salinas Warns Mexico Against Drug Probe ('The Los Angeles Times' Says Former President Carlos Salinas De Gortari Lashed Out From His European Exile Monday, Demanding That Mexican Justice Officials Officially Discredit A Report By Swiss Police Claiming That His Brother Raul Virtually Ran Narcotics Traffic In Mexico During The 1988-94 Salinas Presidency)
Huge Outsourcing Deal With Organised Crime (That's How A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Australian Financial Review' Characterizes Governments' Attempt To Control Drugs Through Prohibition)
Human Rights Activists Accuse Drug Squad Of Planting Drugs (According To An 'Agence France Presse' Article In 'Russia Today,' Russian Human Rights Activists Monday Alleged 'An Organization Of Crooked Policemen' Had Been Planting Illegal Drugs On Suspects, Either To Embellish Their Own Track Records, Or Under Orders From Political Or Organized Criminal Groups Wishing To Compromise Their Enemies - 63,458 Russians Were Sentenced In 1997 For Making, Possessing, Transporting Or Selling 'Drugs')
Bytes: 54,200 Last updated: 10/4/98
Monday, September 21, 1998:
September Cannabis Liberation Society Meeting (The Reform Group Gathers Wednesday Evening In Eugene, Oregon)
Legislation Signed To Allow Drug-Using Tenants To Be Evicted ('The Sacramento Bee' Says The Law Signed Monday By California Governor Pete Wilson Sanctions A Three-Year Pilot Project To Begin January 1 In Five Los Angeles County Courts, Which Will Allow Prosecutors To Evict Tenants Who Sell Illegal Drugs On Rental Property, And Also Whoever Pays The Rent, Even If The Landlord Is Opposed To Such Inhumanitarian State-Enforced Homelessness)
In The Joint On The Job ('The San Francisco Chronicle' Looks At The California Prison Industry Authority, Which Makes $155 Million Annually From More Than 70 Factories - A New Study Done At The University Of California At Berkeley Says The Vast Enterprise Is Good For The Private Sector And The State Economy, Creating Jobs And Income For Many Californians Outside The Prison Walls)
Seeing Through The Illusions Of The Prison-Industrial Complex (An Op-Ed In 'The San Jose Mercury News' By Angela Davis)
November 3 Ballot Numbers (A Bulletin From Americans For Medical Rights Lists The Viable Medical Marijuana And Other Reform Initiatives Sponsored By AMR And Other Groups)
Senate Joint Resolution 56 (The text of the anti-medical marijuana vow of ignorance to be voted on by the US Senate.)
North Vancouver City Backs Drug Strategy ('The North Shore News' In British Columbia, Noting That A 1994 Canadian Alcohol And Drug Survey Found 13.1 Percent Of Canadians Use Opiate Narcotics, While 7.4 Percent Smoke Marijuana, Says The North Vancouver City Council Voted Unanimously Monday To Adopt The Lower Mainland Regional Drug Strategy And To Work With The Lower Mainland Municipal Association To Develop And Implement A Program Aimed At Curbing Drug Abuse)
Addict Needle Plan Considered ('The Calgary Herald' Says A Controversial British Columbian Plan To Create Government-Sanctioned 'Shooting Galleries' For Vancouver Drug Addicts Is Winning Support In Calgary As A Way Of Blocking The Spread Of AIDS And Hepatitis C)
Mexico Battles Plague Of Corruption ('The Santa Maria Times' In California Examines Official Attempts To Cope With The Rampant Corruption Of Mexico City Police)
In Celebration Of Drug Smugglers ('The Baltimore Sun' Says In Northwest Mexico, Adoration Is Growing For Smugglers Of Illegal Drugs, Bringing Forth A Culture With A Characteristic Dress, Music, Religion, And Attitude Toward Life And Government - The 'Narcocorrido' Has Become The Favored Pop Music For Much Of Northwest Mexico)
Use Of Crack Increases To Record Level (Britain's 'Independent' Says The Home Office And Criminologists Have Discovered That Record Amounts Of Crack Cocaine Are Available Throughout Britain)
Drugs Seizures Double (The Belfast 'Telegraph' Says Figures Released Today Reveal Illegal Drugs With An Estimated Street Value Of More Than £6 Million Were Seized By The RUC Last Year - Double The Total For The Previous Year - Yet Still There Was A Disturbing Growth In Northern Ireland's Drugs Culture)
Drug Policy Foundation Network News (A Monthly Publication For DPF's Advocacy Network, Including - HHS-SAMHSA Release Results Of Annual National Drug Survey; Risky Alcohol And Tobacco Use Among Youth Outpaces Use Of Illicit Drugs; Survey Shows 'Drug Free School Zones' To Be Anything But; Prospective College Students Not Exempt From Drug War Hysteria; Eye On America - Bill Would Require Drug Tests In Schools; House Seeks To Drug Test All Teenage Drivers)
Bytes: 79,000 Last updated: 10/11/98
Sunday, September 20, 1998:
Stage Is Set For Showdown On Use Of Pot ('The Rocky Mountain News' Says Michael Domangue Of Grand County Is About To Become The First Medical Marijuana Defendant In Colorado Allowed By A Judge To Invoke The State's 'Choice Of Evils' Defense - A Vietnam Veteran, Domangue Suffers From Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder And Other Mental And Emotional Problems Stemming From His Military Service)
New Drug Strategy Sought (A 'New York Times' Article In 'The Houston Chronicle' About The White House Drug Czar's Campaign For A US-Mexico Border Drug Sub-Czar)
Drug Chief Seeks Overhaul Of Strategy At Border (The Lengthier 'New York Times' Original Version)
Festival Planning Forges On ('The Herald-Bulletin' In Anderson, Indiana, Says Organizers Of The Hoosier Harvest Fest Are Determined To Hold The Event September 25-27 At Pine Lakes Campground In Pendleton, Despite Madison County Prosecutors' Threat To Arrest The Campground Owners And Forfeit Their Property)
Hemp Happening In Coconut Grove (A MSNBC Story By WTVJ In Miami, Florida, Says Statewide Groups Who Have Started A Petition To Legalize Hemp And Medical Marijuana Held A Gathering Saturday)
Well-Trained Team Behind Massacre (An 'Associated Press' Update In 'The Seattle Times' On The Investigation Into The Murders Of 18 People In Ensenada, Mexico, Supposedly Linked To A Marijuana Trafficker)
'Serpico' Claims Scotland Yard Elite Ran Drug Cartel ('The Sunday Times Of London' Says Duncan MacLaughlin, A Scotland Yard Detective For 18 Years, Will Publish Allegations That Illegal Drug Rackets Worth Millions Of Pounds Were Run From Inside Britain's Biggest Police Force - 'There Were No Better Criminals In The Country . . . I Was A Member Of The Most Professional Criminal Cartel That Britain Has Ever Produced')
Bytes: 35,300 Last updated: 9/29/98
Saturday, September 19, 1998:
Legalize Drugs (A Letter To The Editor Of The Bend, Oregon, 'Bulletin' Says Our Silly, Ineffectual 'War On Drugs' Amounts To Shooting House Flies With Cannon Balls And Pretending The Holes In The Wall Don't Matter)
Suicide Bill May Escape House Vote This Year ('The Oregonian' Says Backers Of Oregon's Physician-Assisted Suicide Law Left Capitol Hill On Friday Optimistic That Their Efforts To Educate House Members May Have Headed Off A Vote, At Least For This Year, On The Bill Sponsored By Henry Hyde To Nullify The Law)
Internal Border Checkpoints Impede Citizen Travel (Universal Press Syndicate Columnists Patrisia Gonzales And Roberto Rodriguez, Who Are Both US Citizens, Recount How Roberto Was Detained At An Internal 'Border' Checkpoint 20 Miles North Of Las Cruces, New Mexico, While Three US Border Patrol And Two Drug Enforcement Agents Took Apart Their Car Looking For Illegal Drugs - The US-Mexico Border Is Not An Internationally Recognized Boundary, Rather, It Follows Those Of Us With Red-Brown Skin Wherever We Go)
Little League Coach Is Jailed 6-1/2 Years (For Making And Selling Methamphetamine, According To 'The Morning Call' In Allentown, Pennsylvania)
AP Blows House Pot Bill Story! Cites draft resolution - Bill passed was different! (A news bulletin from the web site of Californians for Compassionate Use, associated with Dennis Peron, notes The Associated Press coverage of House Joint Resolution 117 quoted the orginal draft version with much more negative language and a different intent.)
What To Do About House Joint Resolution 117 (A Hawaiian Medical Marijuana Activist Says You Have To Fight The Lies Of Mass Media Such As 'Frontline' - And He Proceeds To Do So With A Well-Researched Critique Of The Myth That Marijuana Smoke Is More Carcinogenic Than Tobacco Smoke)
Victims' Drug Ties Likely Behind Mexico Massacre (According To 'The Houston Chronicle,' Mexican Officials Said Friday They Were All But Certain That The 18 People Who Were Slaughtered Near Ensenada Were Targeted Because Some Of The Victims Were Linked To The Drug Trade)
Mexico Holds 10 For Questioning About Massacre ('The San Jose Mercury News' Version Says The Detainees Were Being Held For Questioning But Weren't Suspects, And The Killings Were Definitely Drug-Related But Doesn't Say How)
Kids Reported Used As Drug Mules ('The Toronto Star' Says Casa Alianza, A Children's Rights Group Alleged Yesterday That About 200 Honduran Children Aged 10-13 Are Being Used By Drug Gangs To Peddle Cocaine In Mexico, The United States And Canada)
Pot Crusade Continues ('The Toronto Star' Notes Medical Marijuana Activist Doug Thompson Of Nolalu Vows He'll Go On A Hunger Strike If He's Jailed On Two 'Drug' Charges)
Colombia Fears US Anti-Drug Bill May Harm Peace Talks ('The Dallas Morning News' Says The Regional Anti-Drug Bill, Which Passed The US House On A 384-39 Vote Wednesday, Calls For Suspending Drug-Fighting Aid To Colombia If The Pastrana Government Halts Counternarcotics Operations In A Planned Demilitarized Zone Dominated By The Guerrillas When Peace Talks Are Convened In November)
Easy Street For Hard Drugs (The Australian 'Advertiser' Says Hard Drugs Such As Heroin And Speed Are Readily Available In Adelaide)
Bytes: 56,500 Last updated: 10/8/98
Friday, September 18, 1998:
No On Measure 67 (A Staff Editorial In The Bend, Oregon, 'Bulletin' Opposes The Statewide Ballot Measure On Medical Marijuana, Saying 'It's Anybody's Guess How Medical Necessity Would Be Determined, Except Subjectively,' Despite The Text Of The Initiative, Which Clearly Indicates Doctors Licensed In Oregon Would Determine Medical Necessity Based On Their Professional Expertise)
House Doesn't Take Up Bill To Derail Oregon's Assisted-Suicide Law ('The Associated Press' Says The US House Of Representatives Didn't Get Around To Taking A Vote Scheduled For Thursday On The Legislation Sponsored By Henry Hyde - Prospects For A Vote Friday Were Unclear)
Radford Woman Sues Drug Test Lab Over Lost Job ('The Roanoke Times' In Virginia Says Melissa Simpkins Is Seeking $400,000 From The Laboratory Corporation Of America After Being Denied A Job At Corning Glassworks In Christiansburg Because Her Urine Test Indicated She Had .25 Percent Alcohol In Her Blood)
MPP Pleasantly Surprised With First Congressional Vote (A Bulletin From The Marijuana Policy Project In Washington, DC, Finds Silver Linings In Tuesday's Vote For House Joint Resolution 117, Against Medical Marijuana Patients)
Focal Point - Marijuana Regulation (The Lindesmith Center, A New York Drug Policy Reform Group, Publicizes Some Interesting And Important New And Old Documents Just Uploaded To Its Web Site - One Report Of Particular Interest To Oregon Voters Who Haven't Yet Made Up Their Minds About Ballot Measure 57, Which Would Recriminalize Possession Of Less Than One Ounce Of Marijuana, Is 'Effects Of Decriminalization Of Marijuana In Oregon,' The 1976 Study By Paul H. Blachly In The 'Annals Of The New York Academy Of Sciences,' Which Found That Since The Abolishment Of Criminal Penalties In 1973 For Simple Possession Of Marijuana, 'Significant Medical Problems Resulting From Marijuana Use Have Decreased')
Massacre In Mexico ('The San Jose Mercury News' Says At Least 19 Men, Women And Children Were Shot To Death Thursday Near The Resort Town Of Ensenada In Baja, Mexico, 60 Miles South Of San Diego, In What Police Said Could Be A Drug-Related Massacre Ordered By Leaders Of One Of Mexico's Biggest Trafficking Cartels)
Police Search For Clues In Mexico Massacre (The 'Reuters' Version In 'The San Jose Mercury News')
Gunmen Kill 18 In Mexico ('The Dallas Morning News' Version)
Pot Needed For Health, Says Accused ('The Edmonton Sun' Says John Klaver, An Edmonton, Alberta, Firefighter Charged With Growing And Selling Marijuana At His Stony Plain Home, Says He Was Forced To Start A Hydroponic Operation To Help Cope With Ill Health)
US General Sees Turning Of Corner In Colombia ('Reuters' Says Marine General Charles Wilhelm, Commander In Chief Of The US Southern Command, Or SOUTHCOM, Said Thursday That With A New President And A Change In The Armed Forces Leadership, There Were Signs Colombia Was 'Turning The Corner')
Troops Get The All-Clear To Dose Up On Energy Drugs ('The Sydney Morning Herald' Says Australian Military Troops Have Been Officially Cleared To Use Performance-Enhancing Chemicals, Including Drugs And Methods Banned By International Sports Authorities To Improve Their Physical And Mental Strength)
Campaign Gets Up Close And Personal On Heroin Issue ('The Australian Financial Review' Says The Australian Election Campaign Turned Bitter And Personal Yesterday When Senator Bolkus, Shadow Attorney-General, Issued A Statement Before The Prime Minister's Drugs Policy Release Stating That 'Under John Howard, The Price Of A Cap Of Heroin Has Dropped From $40 To As Little As $5')
The Week Online With DRCNet, Issue Number 59 (The Drug Reform Coordination Network's Original Summary Of Drug Policy News And Calls For Action)
Bytes: 88,500 Last updated: 10/1/98
Thursday, September 17, 1998:
The NORML Foundation Weekly Press Release (Ninety-Three Members Of Congress Stand Up For Medical Marijuana; Colorado Medical Marijuana Initiative Will Appear On November Ballot; University Study Gives Green Light For Hemp Cultivation In North Dakota; DEA Raids Humbolt Cannabis Center, Destroys Patients' Medicine)
Harrisburg Concert Results In 39 Citations ('The Statesman Journal' In Salem, Oregon, Says William Conde Was Charged With State And County Violations Wednesday For Holding The 'Cannabis Carnival' At His Rural Lumberyard This Month)
Measure Filled With Pain (An Excellent Staff Editorial In 'The Orange County Register' Opposes Henry Hyde's Bill In Congress That Would Nullify Oregon's Assisted Suicide Law, Noting, For Example, It Exacerbates The Problems Of Undertreated Pain And The Demand For Assisted Suicide By Making An Impossible Requirement That Pharmacists Second-Guess Physicians' Motives For Writing Some Painkiller Prescriptions)
Study Could Stall Attack On Assisted Suicide Law ('The Oregonian' Says That With The US House Of Representatives Scheduled To Vote Today On Henry Hyde's Bill To Nullify Oregon's Assisted Suicide Law, The Clinton Administration Attempted To Stall The Legislation Yesterday By Proposing A National Commission To Study The Use Of Pain-Killing Drugs By The Terminally Ill)
Doctors Team With Law Enforcement To Launch Medical Marijuana Review Panel Program ('The Contra Costa Times' Says Physicians And Law Enforcement Officials In Sonoma County, California, Have Created A Patient Case Review Panel That Offers Benefits To Physicians And Law Enforcement Officials, But None To Patients Protected By Proposition 215, Who Would Be Forced To Allow Cops To Inspect Their Homes And Otherwise Require Them To Jump Through A Bunch Of Illegal Hoops)
Houston DARE Study Online (List subscribers publicize the URLs for Adobe Acrobat and .html files with the recent report that led the city of Houston, Texas, to cancel its DARE program.)
DC To Vote On Medical Marijuana ('The Associated Press' Says It's Official - The District Of Columbia Board Of Elections Has Placed Initiative 59, Sponsored By ACT UP!, On The November 3 Ballot - In A Characteristic Response, The US House Of Representatives Amended Its Version Of A Bill Appropriating Money For The District Of Columbia To Make It Illegal To Spend Money Carrying Out The Initiative, Which Would Prevent Officials From Printing The Ballot Or Processing Its Results)
A Nonsense Resolution (A Staff Editorial In 'The Orange County Register' Criticizes The US House Of Representatives For Passing House Joint Resolution 117, Saying Congress' Opposition To Medical Marijuana Ignores Evidence Both Anecdotal And Factual, And Borders On The Inhumane)
Drug Search Barred At Fed Buildings ('The Associated Press' Says The Ninth US Circuit Court Of Appeals In San Francisco Ruled Thursday In A Case From Hawaii That Heightened Security Rules For Searches At Federal Buildings Imposed After The Oklahoma City Bombing Are Unconstitutionally Allowing Guards To Look For Drugs)
Drug Czar Wants Interdiction Bill To Lose In Congress ('The Orange County Register' Says That As The US House Of Representatives Voted To Add $2.6 Billion Over Three Years To Drug-Interdiction Efforts, General Barry McCaffrey Was Urging Lawmakers To Reject The Legislation As An Ill-Conceived Exercise In Micromanagement Possibly Motivated By Election-Year Politics)
House OKs $3.2-Billion Measure To Bolster The Fight Against Drugs ('The Los Angeles Times' Version)
City Cops Use US Agents In Drug Bust ('The Vancouver Province' In British Columbia Says Vancouver Police Used Four US Navy Undercover Agents To Gather Evidence For A Marijuana Bust At Hemp BC And The Cannabis Cafe)
Market Forces Cut Heroin Price (The Toronto 'Globe And Mail' Suggests Low Demand Rather Than Increased Supply Explains Why The Street Price Has Plummeted And Purity Has Increased In The Past Five Or Six Years - While A Gram Of Heroin Might Have Sold For About $700 In Toronto A Decade Ago, It's Now Readily Available For $100 To $200)
Bytes: 48,500 Last updated: 10/5/98
Wednesday, September 16, 1998:
Fifty Police Raid Bill Conde (A List Subscriber Breaks The News About A Massive Police Action Against The Marijuana Law Reform Activist In Harrisburg, Oregon)
Man Who Throws Annual 'Cannabis Carnival' Arrested ('The Associated Press' Version)
Man Who Throws Annual 'Cannabis Carnival' Arrested (A Lengthier 'Associated Press' Version)
Cannabis Carnival Activist Arrested (The Version In The Bend, Oregon 'Bulletin')
Marijuana Activist Arrested In Raid (The Version In The Eugene, Oregon 'Register-Guard')
Pot Battle Shifts To Ballot Box (An Op-Ed In 'The San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune' Favors Patients' Rights To Medical Marijuana But Says The Fate Of Proposition 215 Likely Will Be Determined In November By Who California Voters Elect As Governor And Attorney General)
County Seeks To Shut Down 'Drug' Fest ('The Herald-Bulletin' In Anderson, Indiana, Says A Letter From The Madison County Prosecutor's Office Has Threatened Criminal Charges And Forfeiture Action Against The Hosts Of This Year's Hoosier Harvest Fest, A Rally Dedicated To The Decriminalization Of Marijuana, To Be Held September 25-27 At Pine Lakes Campground In Pendleton)
House Votes To Oppose Medical Marijuana Use ('The San Francisco Examiner' Notes The US House Of Representatives Voted 310-93 Tuesday For House Resolution 117, Sponsored By Republican Bill McCollum Of Florida In Response To 1996 Ballot Initiatives Approved In California And Arizona That Allow Physicians To Prescribe Marijuana To Treat Symptoms Of Illnesses)
House Joint Resolution 117 Watered Down (A Bulletin From California NORML With The Text Of The Anti-Medical Marijuana Resolution Approved Yesterday Notes The Language Is Less Extreme Than That Contained In Its Forerunner, House Resolution 372)
Find Out How Your Representative Voted On House Joint Resolution 117 (A List Subscriber Posts The URL)
Re - Find Out How Your Representative Voted On House Joint Resolution 117 (A List Subscriber Says Oregon Representatives Furse, Blumenauer, And DeFazio Voted 'No,' While Smith And Hooley Voted 'Yes')
Vote Of California Delegation On House Joint Resolution 117 (A California NORML Tally Finds The State's Congressional Representatives Voted 26 To 23 To Oppose The Anti-Medical Marijuana Resolution)
Reefer Madness or Federalism? Congress and States Head for Showdown over Medical Marijuana Cultivation (An analysis of House Joint Resolution 117 from the web site of Californians for Compassionate Use, associated with Dennis Peron.)
The Good, The Bad, And The Useless (A List Subscriber Forwards The Roll Call Tally Of Who All Voted How On House Joint Resolution 117)
Admiral James M. Loy, USCG, On The Western Hemisphere Drug Elimination Act (The Text Of Congressional Testimony On Behalf Of The US Coast Guard Suggests The Admiral Would Like All The New Money Included In The Legislation And More, But Spent More Wisely, And The Mission Of Reducing The 'Flow Of Drugs Into The United States 80 Percent By The End Of 2001 Is Overly Optimistic And Is Not Achievable')
Barry R. McCaffrey On the Western Hemisphere Drug Elimination Act (The Text Of The Testimony Presented By The White House Drug Czar To The Senate Foreign Relations Committee And The Senate Caucus On International Narcotics Control)
US Links Top Mexican Agents To Traffickers ('The New York Times' Says That After US Government Experts Traveled To Mexico Late Last Month To Administer Routine Lie-Detector Tests, The US Now Thinks Most Of The Top Investigators Of An Elite Mexican Police Unit That Was Trained By Americans May Have Ties To Drug Traffickers - 'You Have To Assume That Everything We've Been Giving Them Has Ended Up In The Hands Of The Traffickers,' Said A Senior US Law-Enforcement Official - 'It's A Disaster')
Colombia's Way To Halt Drugs And War At Once ('The Christian Science Monitor' Explains Why Colombia's US-Financed Coca-Eradication And Crop-Substitution Programs Have Increased The Total Area Of Coca Production Every Year Since 1992, From 91,000 Acres To About 200,000 Acres)
DrugSense Weekly, Number 64 (Special Back To School Issue - Feature Article - Who Is Starting College This Fall? By Nora Callahan Of The November Coalition; Child Dealer Downs Coke During Raid; Baby Was Used To Conceal Smuggled Drugs; Two-Thirds Of Teens Try Drugs; One Youth In 20 Has Tried Heroin - School Survey; Rise Seen In Lake Teens' Use Of Marijuana; In Schools Drug Testing Policy Ruled Unconstitutional; Marines Who Shot Teen Lacked Adequate Training, Report; LA Cops Accuse A Colleague; Iowa's Forfeiture Law Takes The Profit Out Of Crime; Drug Pipe Report Spurs City Probe; Drug Seizure Laws Ripe For Abuse; Mike Gray Featured Guest Live Online Saturday - Legalize-USA Web Page Hosts; DrugSense Tip Of The Week - Marsha Rosenbaum Op-Ed In 'San Francisco Chronicle' - A Mothers Advice About Drugs; Special Focus Alert - 'Mademoiselle' Magazine, Circulation 1.2 Million, Discusses Medical Marijuana; Quote Of The Week; Fact Of The Week)
Bytes: 129,000 Last updated: 10/8/98
Tuesday, September 15, 1998:
Assisted Suicide Supporters Say Bill To Overturn Law Ill-Timed ('The Associated Press' Says Congress Is Expected To Vote This Week On The Bill That Would Nullify Oregon's Death With Dignity Act - The State's Congressional Delegation Opposes The Legislation, And Opponents Are Accusing Sponsors Of Trying To Slip The Bill Through The US House Of Representatives In The Shadow Of The Presidential Sex Scandal)
Lawmakers Try To Shield Suicide Measure ('The Oregonian' Version)
Notorious Inmate Slain In Rec Yard At State Penitentiary ('The Oregonian' Says Mark Dean Davis, 31, Originally Sentenced To 20 Years For Five Counts Of Burglary And Possession Of A Controlled Substance In Multnomah County, Died Sunday Night After An Unknown Assailant Stabbed Him In The Torso - In 1989 He Took A Guard Hostage For 50 Minutes To Demand Cigarettes For All The Inmates)
Doctors Debate Medicinal Use Of Marijuana ('The Olympian' In Olympia, Washington, Covers A Discussion Among AIDS Physicians Monday About The Relative Merits Of Marinol Versus Initiative 692, The Medical Marijuana Initiative Facing State Voters In November)
DEA Raids Arcata Club (A Bulletin From California NORML Says 10 Federal Prohibition Agents Raided The Collective Medical Marijuana Garden Of The Humboldt Cannabis Center, Destroying More Than 150 Plants With The Assistance Of Four State Agents - Nobody Was Arrested, And It's Not Clear Whether The Marauders Had A Warrant Or How They Gained Entrance, But It Shows How Medical Marijuana Patients Who Try To Cooperate With Local Authorities Can Be Harmed When Local Drug Warriors Hand Off Information To The Feds)
Gene Weeks (A List Subscriber Says The California Medical Marijuana Patient Recently Busted Without Being Arrested Has Been Taken To The Hospital After Suffering An Apparent Heart Attack)
LAPD Chief's Daughter Arraigned In Drug Case ('The Los Angeles Times' Version Of Yesterday's News About The 37-Year-Daughter Of Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks, Charged In Las Vegas With Trying To Sell 20 Grams Of Cocaine)
LAPD Chief's Daughter Facing Drug Counts ('The Orange County Register' Version)
LA Police Chief's Daughter Faces Drug Charges (The 'Reuters' Version)
Another Patient Arrested Protesting US House's Anti-Medical Marijuana Resolution (A Bulletin From The Marijuana Policy Project In Washington, DC, Says Multiple Sclerosis Patient Renee Emry Of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Was Busted For Smoking A Joint In The Office Of Florida Republican Bill McCollum, Who Sponsored House Joint Resolution 117)
Medical Marijuana Patient Arrested In Representative McCollum's Office (The Drug Reform Coordination Network Version)
Medical Marijuana Resolution (A List Subscriber Says House Joint Resolution 117 Has Passed With 317 Yes Votes, 93 No Votes And 25 Abstentions)
House Says Marijuana Should Not Be Legal For Medical Use ('The Associated Press' Version)
House Joint Resolution 117 - Congressional Record (A List Subscriber Posts The URL For The Full Text Of The Congressional Debate)
Sense Of Congress Regarding Marijuana (The Complete Text Of The Congressional Record With Members' Comments On House Joint Resolution 117, The Anti-Medical Marijuana Legalism)
Uses Of Marijuana - Request For Contributions (A List Subscriber Forwards An Advertisement From 'The New York Review Of Books' By Dr. Lester Grinspoon And William Novak, Seeking Personal Testimonials From Those Who Use Marijuana For Medical And Other Reasons)
Bytes: 115,000 Last updated: 9/26/98
Monday, September 14, 1998:
Democratic Oregon Legislators' E-Mail Addresses (A List Subscriber Forwards A List)
Poll Shows Some Voters Not Clear On I-200 Intent (An 'Associated Press' Preview Of November Ballot Measures Facing Voters In Washington State Notes Initiative 692, Regarding Medical Marijuana, Is Favored By 62 Percent)
Medical Marijuana, Higher Wage Favored But There's Opposition To Abortion Initiative (A Lengthier 'Seattle Post-Intelligencer' Version)
Longtime Pot-Smoker Seeks To Be Governor (A Feature Article In 'The Sacramento Bee' About Medical Marijuana Patient Steve Kubby, The Libertarian Party Candidate For California Governor)
LAPD Chief Bernard Parks' Daughter In Trouble For Drugs (An MSNBC Newscast By KNBC Says The 37-Year-Old Daughter Of Los Angeles' Police Chief, A Civilian Employee Of The Police Department, Was In A Las Vegas Courtroom Monday To Be Apprised Of Charges That She Drove A Car Used In The Alleged Sale Of 20 Grams Of Cocaine To Undercover Officers Last June)
Guarding The Truth About State Prison ('The San Jose Mercury News' Notes Campaign Discussions About The California Gubernatorial Race Are Skirting The Issue Of Brutality By Guards At Corcoran State Prison And Dan Lungren's Inability To Prosecute Anyone For It - Even As '60 Minutes' Is Planning A Piece About The 43 Inmates Who Were Wounded There And Seven Who Were Killed Between 1989 And 1995)
Alan Carter McLemore Update (A Letter From The Wife Of The Former Lawyer And Texas Medical Marijuana Prisoner Says His Motion For Sentence Reduction Was Finally Granted, Meaning He'll Be Released To House Arrest At Christmas, Or Outright Next June)
Tax On Illegal Drugs In Jeopardy (An 'Associated Press' Article In 'The Augusta Chronicle' Says A South Carolina Law Requiring Sellers Of Illegal Drugs Such As Marijuana To Pay Taxes May Be Nullified By A North Carolina Lawsuit Challenging A Similar Law)
First Ever Medicinal Marijuana Vote To Be On Tuesday - Finally (A Bulletin From The Marijuana Policy Project In Washington, DC, Says The US House Of Representatives Will Vote Tuesday On House Resolution 372, Now House Joint Resolution 117, The Anti-Medical Marijuana Vow Of Ignorance - Please Call Or Fax Your Representative Tuesday Morning)
Anti-Medical Use Vote In Congress (A Similar Bulletin From Keith Stroup Of NORML, Issued Earlier In The Day)
DARE To Hold Postmark Design Contest For Children Ages 8 To 12 (A PRNewswire Release From DARE America Indicates The Privately Owned, Police-Administered Drug Abuse Resistance Education Program Will Unveil A Winning Design At The White House On April 9, After Which It Will Appear On Millions Of Pieces Of Mail)
'Shattered Lives' - New Book Offer From DRCNet (The Drug Reform Coordination Network Publicizes A New Book Publicizing The Needless Suffering Of Drug War Prisoners - Join DRCNet And Get It A Discount)
Three More Bodies Found In Juarez ('The San Antonio Express-News' Says The Bodies - One Of A Wealthy Rancher - Were Found Stuffed In The Trunk Of A Car In The Border Town Of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, In What Police Said Friday Were Drug-Related Killings, Bringing The City's Toll For The Week To Seven)
Rising Star In Mexico Cocaine Trade Killed - Report ('Reuters' Says Rafael Munoz Talavera, Described By The US Drug Enforcement Administration As An Emerging Drug Kingpin, Was Gunned Down Thursday In Ciudad Juarez And Found Stuffed In An Armored Pick-Up Truck)
Cultivating A Following ('The Montreal Gazette' Says The Bloc Pot, A Quebec Group Recognized As An Official Political Party By The Chief Electoral Officer In March, Is Set To Run At Least 11 Candidates In The Next Election)
International Olympic Committee - No Jail For Suspect Athletes ('The Los Angeles Times' Says The IOC Declared Its Opposition Monday To Athletes Being Jailed For Taking Banned Performance-Enhancing Drugs, Rejecting Last Month's Proposal By The Australian Olympic Committee That The Penalty For Possession, Manufacturing, Trafficking Or Use Of Steroids Or Other Banned Substances Should Be The Same As Those For Illicit Drugs)
Bytes: 70,900 Last updated: 5/13/99
Sunday, September 13, 1998:
Lungren And Medical Marijuana (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Los Angeles Times' Says California Attorney General Dan Lungren's Campaign To Nullify The California Compassionate Use Act Shows He's Unfit To Be The People's Governor)
Pro-Pot Activist Arrested In Latest Marijuana Raids ('The Hawaii Tribune-Herald' Says County Council Candidate And Marijuana Law-Reform Activist Jonathan Adler Was Arrested On Felony Cultivation Charges After Helicopter Surveillance Led Police To 89 Plants At Adler's Home In Hawaiian Paradise Park - Adler Said The Plants Were For Medicinal Use)
Disorganized Crime ('The Dallas Morning News' Describes 'La Eme,' Also Known As The Texas Mexican Mafia, A Violent, Prison-Born Crime Organization In Which 'Everyone Is Expendable - When You Take Them Out, Whether It's The Leaders Or The Soldiers, There Is Someone To Take Their Place')
By The Numbers ('The Salt Lake Tribune' Notes The US Government Estimates Americans Spent $7 Billion Last Year On Marijuana, While NORML Estimates $7.5 Billion Was The Minimum Amount Federal, State, And Local Governments Spent Combating Marijuana)
Clinton Releases Drug-Fighting Grants; Atlanta Among Recipients ('The Atlanta Journal-Constitution' Says President Clinton Told Americans 'We Must Stay Focused On Your Business' And Released $8.7 Million Saturday In New Drug-Fighting Grants)
Drug-Fighting Money Released ('The San Francisco Examiner' Version)
Don't Go Soft On Cannabis ('The Mail On Sunday' In Britain Says Police Are Urging The Government Not To Legalise The Use Of Cannabis For Medical Treatment, Alleging That In 'Some' American States, Police Have Given Up Prosecuting Drug Users Because Courts 'Routinely' Accept Medical Usage As A Defence)
Bytes: 30,500 Last updated: 10/2/98
Saturday, September 12, 1998:
Pot Issue To Go On Ballot ('The Denver Post' Version Of Yesterday's News About The Medical Marijuana Initiative Sponsored By Coloradans For Medical Rights)
Medicinal Pot On Ballot (The Colorado 'Gazette' Version)
Marijuana Petition Back On Ballot ('The Rocky Mountain News' Version)
Rise Seen In Lake Teens' Use Of Marijuana ('The Chicago Tribune' Says A Survey Of Teen-Agers In Lake County, Illinois, Carried Out By The Center For Prevention Research And Development At The University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Suggests Marijuana Use Among High School Juniors Increased To 22.9 Percent, Up From 15.1 Percent In 1992 - When It Comes To Drugs Than Can Kill You, 27.1 Percent Smoked Tobacco, Compared With 30.3 Percent In 1992, And 38.7 Percent Consumed Alcohol, Down From 45.6 Percent Six Years Ago)
Study On DARE's Effectiveness From The University Of Illinois At Carbondale Is Now Online (List subscribers publicize the URLs for Adobe Acrobat and .html versions of the April 1998 study by Dennis Rosenbaum, "Assessing the Effects of School-Based Drug Education - a Six-Year Multi-Level Analysis of Project DARE," which finds the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program to be ineffective - or worse.)
Excuses For A Drug War (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Des Moines Register' Responds To A Comment Last Month By Former Pot Smoker Donna Shalala, Secretary Of The US Department Of Health And Human Services, About Statistics On Marijuana Use By Youths)
Marijuana Reformer Survives Challenge ('The Times Union' Says Tom Leighton, The Marijuana Reform Party Candidate In The New York Gubernatorial Race, On Thursday Won A Challenge To The Group's Petition Initiated By The Green Party)
LI>Study Finds Treatment Aids Addicts ('The New York Times' Says A National Survey Released On Wednesday By The Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration Of The Department Of Health And Human Services, Which Interviewed And Drug Tested 1,799 People Five Years After Their Discharge From Treatment Programs, Confirmed That Older People Were More Likely To Curtail Drug Use And Criminal Behavior Than Younger Ones, And That Women Responded Better To Treatment Than Men - Drug Use By Adolescents, However, Did Not Drop Significantly After Treatment, And The Number Who Smoked Crack Cocaine And Abused Alcohol Actually Rose)
Bytes: 33,300 Last updated: 10/5/98
Friday, September 11, 1998:
Just Vote No On Measure 57 (A Bulletin From The American Antiprohibition League In Portland About The Oregon Ballot Measure That Would Recriminalize Possession Of Less Than One Ounce Of Marijuana Makes A Number Of Good Points, Such As That The State Says It Would Cost $1.2 Million To Enforce The New Law, Whereas The Legislative Record Suggests It Could Actually Cost As Much As $18 Million, But Only $300,000 Has Been Budgeted, Which Means Millions Of Tax Dollars Would Have To Come From Schools, Roads And Other Priorities)
Cayetano Supports Legalization Of Industrial Hemp ('The Associated Press' Says Hawaii Representative Cynthia Thielen, A Republican, Was The One Who Persuaded Democratic Governor Ben Cayetano)
Governor Supports Hemp Use ('The Hawaii Tribune-Herald' Version)
Yes On 692 (Timothy W. Killian, Campaign Manager For Initiative 692, Says 'The Seattle Post-Intelligencer' And KOMO Will Announce The Results Of A Statewide Poll Monday Suggesting 62 Percent Of Voters Favor The Medical Marijuana Ballot Measure Sponsored By Washington Citizens For Medical Rights)
Todd McCormick's Book On Growing Medical Marijuana (Peter McWilliams Of Prelude Press, A California Medical Marijuana Patient And Federal Defendant, Publicizes The Online Book By Co-Defendant Todd McCormick)
Customs Agent Pleads Guilty To Kickback Charges In Hashish Case ('The San Francisco Chronicle' Says Senior US Customs Special Agent Frank Gervacio Has Pleaded Guilty To Accepting $4,000 From An Informant In The Case Of Thanong Siriprechapong, A Former Member Of The Thai Parliament Arrested In 1996 On Charges Of Smuggling 49 Tons Of Hashish Into The United States - Attorneys For Siriprechapong Want Charges Dismissed)
Over-Avid Policemen (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Orange County Register' Complains That Two Police Officers On Monday Walked From Group To Group At Aliso Creek Beach, Asking To Look In People's Coolers For Alcoholic Beverages)
Colorado Initiative On November Ballot (Dave Fratello Of Americans For Medical Rights Says A Denver Judge Ruled This Morning That Colorado Secretary Of State Victoria Buckley Wrongly Excluded Thousands Of Voter Signatures For The Medical Marijuana Initiative Sponsored By Coloradans For Medical Rights)
Loopholes Cited In Petition Process (According To 'The Rocky Mountain News' Version, A Temporary Clerk In The Colorado Secretary Of State's Office Said Her Group Of Ballot Petition Checkers Had Almost No Supervision Or Training And Didn't Understand The Rules For Rejecting Petition Signatures)
Author Calls Drug War A 'Disastrous Failure' ('The Ft. Worth Star Telegram' Covers A Talk At The Local Rotary Club By Mike Gray About His New Book, 'Drug Crazy')
Hemp's Benefits Outlined (According To 'The Bismarck Tribune,' A Study Directed By David Kraenzel Of The North Dakota State University Agriculture Economics Department Was Presented To The State Legislative Interim Commerce And Agriculture Committee Thursday Afternoon - The Report Says Industrial Hemp Has Potential As An Alternative Crop And Recommends That It Be Grown For Experimental Production And Processing)
Fee Increase Will Pay For Drug Testing ('The New Haven Register' Says Two Lifeguards In Orange, Connecticut, Who Were Fired Last Summer For Allegedly Possessing Marijuana On The Job Prompted Town Officials To Raise Parks Department Fees To Pay For A Random Drug Testing Program)
Ex-Cop Jailed, Stole Pot ('The Philadelphia Inquirer' Says Michael McCue, A Former Philadelphia Police Officer Who Was Assigned To A US Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force In The Early 1990s, Was Sentenced Yesterday To A Year And A Day In Prison By A Federal Judge For Stealing About 70 Pounds Of Marijuana In 1992 That He And A Partner Were Supposed To Destroy)
House Resolution 372 Scheduled For Next Week (A Bulletin From Americans For Medical Rights Says Congress Has Decided To Hold A Vote Next Week On The Anti-Medical Marijuana Legalism That Was Quietly Put On The Back Burner After The California Medical Association Endorsed Rescheduling Cannabis So Physicians Could Prescribe It)
North Texas Named High-Intensity Drug Zone ('The Dallas Morning News' Says The White House Drug Czar, General Barry McCaffrey, On Thursday Named Dallas, Tarrant And Collin Counties In Texas The 21st High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Under A Federal Program Begun In 1990 - The Region Will Reap As Much As $5 Million Extra In Federal Anti-Drug Money Next Year)
New Anti-Depression Drug Targets Different Brain Chemical (According To An 'Associated Press' Article In 'The Seattle Times,' An Account Published Today In The Journal 'Science' Says Scientists With Merck And Company Have Stumbled Onto An Experimental Anti-Depressant That Targets A Mysterious Brain Chemical That Until Now, Doctors Did Not Know Was At Work In Mental Disorders)
Rising Star In Mexico Cocaine Trade Killed ('Reuters' Says Rafael Munoz Talavera, Who Was Allegedly Trying To Become The Godfather Of The Mexican Drugs Trade, Was Gunned Down Thursday In The Northern Border City Of Ciudad Juarez And Found Stuffed In An Armored Pick-Up Truck)
Cloud Over Mexican Anti-Drug Force (A 'Washington Post' Article In 'The International Herald-Tribune' Discusses The Investigation Into Systemic Corruption In Mexico's GAFE, Consisting Of US-Trained Airmobile Special Forces, Established In Response To Other Corrupt Mexican Law Enforcement And Military Groups)
Child Dealer Downs Coke During Raid ('The Province' In Vancouver, British Columbia, Says A 10-Year-Old Boy Who Swallowed 28 Rocks Of Cocaine During A Vancouver Police Sweep Of Hastings Street Is Recovering In Children's Hospital)
Top Cops And Money (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Edmonton Sun' Says The Drug War In America Was Set Up For Illegal Seizures Of Personal Property By Law Enforcement, Who Only Put More Drugs On The Street)
Moderate Drinkers 'Healthier' (An 'Ottawa Citizen' Article In The Toronto 'Globe And Mail' Says The First Study Of Its Kind On Younger Adults, Carried Out On 9,605 British Men And Women By Dr. Chris Power At The Institute Of Child Health In London And Colleagues At The Australian National University In Canberra, Suggests The Link Between Alcohol And Its Effect On A Person's Health And Longevity Is Solidly Established By Age 33)
Junkie Justice (According To 'The Daily Telegraph,' Premier Bob Carr Said Yesterday Australia's First Experiment With American-Style Drug Courts Would Begin Next Year In Parramatta, New South Wales, With A $5 Million State Program Inspired By Theories Rather Than Evidence - Opposition Health Spokeswoman Jillian Skinner Said The Trial Was A Farce Because The Government Had Already Slashed Funding For Drug Treatment)
Cannabis Popular Among Teens ('The Daily Telegraph' In Australia Notes The Secondary Schools Survey, Completed In 1996 But Not Released Until Yesterday, Shows Cannabis Prohibition Has Led To About 40 Per Cent Of High School-Aged Boys In New South Wales And 31 Per Cent Of Girls Having Smoked Cannabis)
One Youth In 20 Has Tried Heroin - School Survey ('The Sydney Morning Herald' Version)
The Week Online With DRCNet, Issue Number 58 (The Drug Reform Coordination Network's Original Summary Of Drug Policy News And Calls For Action)
Bytes: 122,000 Last updated: 10/4/98
Thursday, September 10, 1998:
The NORML Foundation Weekly Press Release (Governor's Signature All That Stands In The Way Of Freedom For Medical Marijuana User Originally Given 93 Year Sentence; Court Challenges Boost Hopes For Colorado, DC Medical Marijuana Initiatives; Patient's Glaucoma Justified Medical Marijuana Use, Cultivation, Canadian Judge Rules)
Oregon - Measure 57 And Measure 67 Poll (A List Subscriber Says A Poll By KPTV Channel 12 News In Portland Suggests The Ballot Initiative To Recriminalize Less Than One Ounce Of Marijuana Is Opposed By 51 Percent Of Voters, While The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act Is Favored By 64 Percent)
Hemp Voter's Guide Now Online! (A Bulletin From The Washington Hemp Education Network Publicizes Its Impressive Guide For Washington State Voters Interested In Cannabis Issues)
State May Receive $1 Million To Fight Methamphetamines (The Everett, Washington, 'Herald' Says The Money May Come From A $29.9 Billion Spending Bill To Fund The Treasury Department And Related Agencies That Cleared The Senate On A 91-5 Vote Last Week - The Newspaper Says Prohibition Agents In Washington State Last Year Found 203 Illegal Labs That Produce Methamphetamines, Up From 36 In 1990, But Omits The Rate Of Increase In Prohibition Agents)
HIV-Positive Participants Sought For Medical Marijuana Study ('The Bay Area Reporter' Publicizes Dr. Donald Abrams' Ongoing Research Into Pot And Protease Inhibitors At San Francisco General Hospital, Which Began In May And Is Slated To Run For Two Years - Because The Hospital Can Only Accommodate A Few Participants At A Time, A Continual Stream Of Enrollees Is Needed)
ACT UP/San Francisco Says Members Absconded With $9,000 In Medical Pot ('The Bay Area Reporter' Says Two Members, Chris Abbott And Carl McGarry, Allegedly Were Given Money To Buy Medicine For AIDS Patients But Disappeared In Two Separate Incidents)
Trial Ordered For Suspects In Death Of Teen Informer ('The Orange County Register' Says Los Angeles Municipal Court Judge Stephen Marcus Ordered Michael L. Martinez, 21, Florence Noriega, 29, And Jose Ibarra, 19, To Stand Trial Wednesday For The Strangulation Of 17-Year-Old Chad MacDonald, Who Had Been Recruited By Police In Brea, California - MacDonald's Girlfriend Said Ibarra Raped Her Before The Three Suspects Drove Her To A Ditch, Choked Her With A Rope And Shot Her In The Face)
Prison Violence . . . Followed By A Pay Raise (A Staff Editorial In 'The San Jose Mercury News' Notes Prison Guards Were The Only State Workers Whom The California Governor And Legislature Deemed Worthy Of A Wage Increase This Year - Coming So Soon After Legislators Heard About The Brutality Of The Guards At Corcoran State Prison And Their Code Of Silence In Covering It Up, The 12 Percent Pay Raise Implied One More Official Sanctioning Of Bad Acts)
Conviction Of Drug Dealer In CIA Expose Is Upheld ('The San Francisco Chronicle' Says The US Court Of Appeals In San Francisco Yesterday Rejected An Appeal By 'Freeway' Ricky Ross, A Major Southern California Cocaine Seller Who Was A Central Figure In The 'Dark Alliance' Series Published By 'The San Jose Mercury News,' Which Suggested That The CIA Had Secretly Encouraged The Crack Cocaine Plague In The Early 1980s As A Funding Mechanism For The US-Backed Contras In Nicaragua - The Court Ruled There Is No Evidence Of Government Misconduct)
Colorado Town Adopts Fugitive As Folk Hero ('The San Jose Mercury News' Says Federal Prohibition Agents' Pursuit Of Neil Murdoch In Crested Butte, Colorado, Has Been Impeded By Residents' Widespread Refusal To Cooperate - The Fugitive And Widely Respected Member Of The Community Moved To Crested Butte 25 Years Ago After Jumping Bail In 1973 In Albuquerque, New Mexico, Where He Was Arrested As Richard Gordon Bannister For Intent To Distribute 26 Pounds Of Cocaine)
Drug War Masquerade (A Lengthy Account In 'The San Antonio Current' Of The Killing Of Esequiel Hernandez Jr., A High School Goatherder In Texas, By Camouflaged Marines Along The US-Mexico Border, Says Putting Troops In Such Places Is A Compromise - It Allows Congress To Appear Tough On Drugs, While Not Hindering Trade)
Marines Who Shot Teen Lacked Adequate Training, Report Says (An Updated 'Associated Press' Account In 'The Dallas Morning News' Of AP's Story Yesterday About Developments In The Case Of Esequiel Hernandez, Jr., Particularly The Military Report That Found The Camouflaged US Marines Who Killed The Texas Teenager Along The US-Mexico Border Were Not Adequately Trained For An Anti-Drug Operation Which Placed Them Among Civilians)
Marine Training Faulted In Fatal Border Shooting (A Different 'Associated Press' Version In 'The Orange County Register')
Court Rules School's Drug Policy Is Illegal ('The
Indianapolis Star' Says The Seventh US Circuit Court Of Appeals Ruled Wednesday That A High School In Anderson, Indiana, Improperly Required A 15-Year-Old Student To Take A Drug Test In Order To Return To Classes After He Was Suspended For Fighting - During The First Semester The Policy Was In Effect, Only 18 Percent Of All Students Suspended For Fighting Tested Positive For Drugs)
NORML Doesn't Advocate Pot Use, Just Prohibition (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Daily Gazette' In Schenectady, New York, Rebuts The Newspaper's Past And Present Mischaracterizations Of NORML's Mission, Which Is To Advocate For An End To Prohibition)
Highlights Of Survey On Police Conduct ('The Associated Press' Selects A Few Highlights From A Recent Survey Of Connecticut Residents About Their Perceptions Of Police Conduct - 23 Percent Know Someone Who Has Been Physically Abused By Police)
Louis Armstrong, Tight Like Gage! (A List Subscriber Forwards A Cannabis Quote From The Great Jazz Musician)
'Annals Of Emergency Medicine' Presents New Studies On Alcohol Intoxicated Drivers, Marijuana Use, And Domestic Violence (PRNewswire Says A New Study In The September Issue Of The Peer-Reviewed Medical Journal, The First Population-Based Study Of The Relation Between Marijuana Use And Injury Incidence, Found That Marijuana Use Was Not Associated With Outpatient Injury, But Users Had More 'Personal Problems' And 'Employment Problems' - Like Most Persecuted Minorities - Another Study In The Same Issue Shows Alcohol Intoxicated Drivers Are Rarely Prosecuted Or Referred For Help)
New Drug Offers Fresh Approach To Depression (According To 'Reuters,' A Report In The Journal 'Science' Suggests An Experimental New Anti-Depressant Being Investigated By Merck And Company, MK-869, May Lead Researchers To Discover A Biochemical Link Between Depression And Pain)
Toronto, Ontario, Man Loses Bid For Legal Grass ('The Toronto Sun' Version Of Yesterday's News About AIDS Patient James Wakeford Losing The First Round Of His Medical Marijuana Lawsuit)
Two-Thirds Of Teens Try Drugs ('BBC Online' Says Researchers From The Department Of Social Policy And Social Work At Manchester University Who Followed The Progress Of 500 Ordinary British Youths From The Age Of 14 Until 18 Found That 64 Percent Had Tried Illicit Drugs And Around Three In 10 Were 'Recreational Drug Users' - The Study, Called 'Illegal Leisure - The Normalization Of Adolescent Recreational Drug Use,' Concludes That Recreational Drug Use 'Has Been Widely Accommodated Amongst British Youth')
Bytes: 117,000 Last updated: 9/28/98
Wednesday, September 9, 1998:
Measure 67 Bad / Measure 67 Good ('Willamette Week' In Portland Once Again Shows Its Utter Lack Of Journalistic Ethics By Printing A Letter To The Editor Opposing The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act That Is So Factually Challenged Even The Newspaper Flinches - Plus A More Reasonable Letter In Support Of Medical Marijuana)
State Considers Moving Inmate Visitations To Video ('The Associated Press' Says The Oregon Department Of Corrections Is Considering Forcing Families To Visit With Prison Inmates On A Television Screen Instead Of Through Glass Partitions)
Buckley's Summer Of Errors (A Staff Editorial In Denver's 'Rocky Mountain News' Recounts The Seeming Incompetence Of Colorado Secretary Of State Vikki Buckley, Whose Responsibilities Include Certifying Signatures For State Ballot Measures)
Urgent - Will Foster Parole Order Going To Governor! (The Drug Reform Coordination Network Asks You To Write A Letter To Oklahoma Governor Keating Supporting The Parole Of The Medical Marijuana Patient Sentenced To 93 Years For Growing His Own Medicine)
DrugSense Focus Alert Number 81 - Will Foster - Time To Act! (The International Network Of Drug Policy Reform Advocates Asks You To Take A Few Minutes To Write A Letter To Oklahoma Governor Keating To Sign The Parole Papers For Medical Marijuana Patient Will Foster, Sentenced To 93 Years In Prison For Growing His Own Medicine)
DEA Agent To Stand Trial ('The Edmond Sun' In Oklahoma Says Kevin Dewayne Waters, A Drug Enforcement Administration Agent In Oklahoma City, Was Ordered Thursday To Stand Trial On Charges Of Making A Lewd Or Indecent Proposal To A 15-Year-Old Girl Over The Internet)
Hernandez Shooting - Marine Mistakes Led To Death ('The Associated Press' Says An Internal Military Report Obtained Through The Freedom Of Information Act By 'The San Antonio Current' Indicates US Marines On An Anti-Drug 'Surveillance' Patrol Who Fatally Shot Esequiel Hernandez, Jr., A West Texas Teen-Ager, Were Not Adequately Trained For An Anti-Drug Operation That Placed The Combat-Ready Troops Among Civilians)
Marijuana Ralliers Need To Find New Date ('The Wisconsin State Journal' Says The City Of Madison, Wisconsin, Wants To Limit The Constitutional Rights Of Marijuana Law Reform Advocates For The Convenience Of Officials)
Couple Ask For Bail During Appeals (An 'Associated Press' Article In 'The New Haven Register' Says Lawyers For James V. Monaco, 79, Of Branford, Connecticut, And His Wife Of 50 Years, Mary, 72, Both Imprisoned At Medical Facilities In Texas, Asked An Appeals Court In New York Tuesday To Release Them On Bail Pending Their Appeal Of Federal Convictions For Laundering Illegal Drug Profits For Their 'Evil Son')
Drug Treatment Works, Should Be Funded - US Study ('Reuters' Says A Report Released Wednesday By SAMHSA, The Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration, Shows Treatment For Adult 'Drug Abusers' Works, Is Cheaper And More Effective Than Jail, And Should Receive More Funding - But Drug Treatment Programs Do Not Seem To Help Adolescents, Who Increased Alcohol Use By 14 Percent And Crack Cocaine Use By More Than 200 Percent After Treatment - No Mention Is Made Of Who Was Coerced Into Treatment, Who Sought It, And How Their Outcomes May Have Differed)
'My Kid Doesn't Smoke Pot . . .' (Text Of A Television Advertisement From The White House Office Of National Drug Control Policy That The Federal Government Thought Was More Important Than Funding Untold Drug Treatment Slots)
Sick Smokers Cost U.S. $73 Billion Per Year - Study (Reuters publicizes a new accounting by Dorothy Rice of the Institute for Health and Aging at the University of California-San Francisco)
'Compassion Club' Applauds Court Pot Ruling ('The Vancouver Sun' Says An Illicit Medical Marijuana Dispensary In Vancouver, British Columbia, Has Applauded The Decision Of A Vancouver Provincial Court Judge To Give A Man With Glaucoma A Conditional Discharge For Selling Cannabis To The Club)
Pot Decision No Joy For Accused ('The Province' In Vancouver, British Columbia, Notes Stanley Czolowski, The Impoverished Vancouver Medical Marijuana Patient And Cultivator Behind A Precedent-Setting Court Decision Over Trafficking, Has Been Traumatized By His Brush With The Law)
Marijuana Case Dismissed ('The Toronto Star' Says An Ontario Judge Dismissed AIDS Patient James Wakeford's Lawsuit Tuesday Demanding That The Federal Government Supply Him With Medical Marijuana)
Colombia Calls Drug Crop Eradication A Failure (According To 'Reuters,' Ruben Olarte, The Newly-Appointed Chief Of The Federal Government's Anti-Narcotics Office, Branded The Country's US-Backed Coca Eradication Program A Failure On Wednesday, Saying It Had Done Nothing To Halt A Steady Increase In Illicit Drug Plantations)
Teens Ready To Run Risks Of Drug Use (Britain's 'Guardian' Says A New Book Published Today, 'Illegal Leisure,' By Fiona Measham And Judith Aldridge, Which Took Five Years To Research, Shows British Teenagers Are Not Deterred From Using Either Legal Or Illegal Drugs By The Risk Of Arrest, And That Most Teenagers Make Rational Decisions On Drug Use On A 'Cost Benefit' Assessment, And Are Aware Of The Medical Risks)
Maybe The Drugs Czar Needs Tested (A Letter To The Editor Of Britain's 'Herald' Wonders Why Keith Hellawell Proposed Drug Test For Scottish Medical Personnel When The Vast Majority Of Tests Detect Only Cannabis, And The Government's Own Studies Show Cannabis Doesn't Cause Impairment)
DrugSense Weekly, Number 63 (A Summary Of Drug Policy News From The Media Awareness Project)
Bytes: 117,000 Last updated: 5/13/99
Tuesday, September 8, 1998:
Phone Bank Needs You (Floyd Ferris Landrath Of Portland NORML And The American Antiprohibition League Seeks Volunteers To Make Phone Calls Urging Voters To Oppose Measure 57, The Recrim Bill, Measure 61, Setting Minimum Sentences For Some Crimes And Increasing Sentences For Repeat Offenders, And To Support Measure 57, The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act)
Vote For A Supreme Court That Puts Your Rights First ('Seattle Times' Columnist Michelle Malkin Notes Voters In Washington State Get To Elect Their Supreme Court Justices, Unlike In Oregon, But Ratings By Traditional Groups Such As The Seattle-King County Bar Association Provide Little Information About Where The Dozen Candidates Vying For Three Open Seats Next Week Stand On The Proper Relationship Between The Government And The Governed - So Malkin Reviews An Alternative Set Of Ratings Provided By The Libertarian-Oriented Northwest Legal Foundation, Which Includes A Strong Endorsement Of Incumbent Richard Sanders, The Lone Supporter Of Ralph Seeley's Constitutional Challenge To Washington's Ban On Medical Marijuana)
Seven Is A Crowd In Supreme Court Race (A Different Account In The Tacoma 'News Tribune' Of The Candidates Competing For One Of Three Open Seats On The Washington Supreme Court)
March To End The Drug War In Berkeley On September 26 (A List Subscriber Forwards A Notice About A Saturday Afternoon Rally - Don't Miss The Planning Session September 21)
Colorado Schizophrenia Patient To Invoke 'Choice Of Evils' Defense In Marijuana Cultivation Case (Warren C. Edson, The Denver Attorney For Michael Domangue, Says Domangue Has A Prescription For Marinol, But His Doctor Indicates Marijuana Is More Effective - The Trial Will Begin October 14)
Free Will Foster (The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Patient Sentenced To 93 Years In Prison For Growing His Own Medicine Has Been Recommended For Parole - But Governor Keating Must Sign The Papers Soon Or Foster Will Rot In Prison For Decades - Will's Wife, Meg, Has Given The Green Light For Concerned Citizens To Write To The Governor Before The Deadline, So Here's Everything You Need To Help Save A Good Man's Life)
Heroin Blamed In Anti-Drug Activist's Death ('The Dallas Morning News' Says 24-Year-Old Elliot Lizauckas, Who Had Finished The Dallas-Based Homeward Bound Drug-Treatment Program Last Spring And Had Begun To Impart A 'Don't Start' Message To Youngsters In His Home Town Of Allen, Texas, Was Found Dead Saturday In North Dallas)
Drug Seizure Laws Ripe For Abuse ('The Cincinnati Enquirer' Surveys How Prohibition Agents And Illegal Drug Sellers Use The Forfeiture Laws In Different Ways - Small-Time Possession Offenders And Innocent People Never Charged With Any Crime Get Taken Most Often)
Drugs Taint An Annual Round Of Gay Revels ('The New York Times' Notes A Man Attending The 'Morning Party' Dance Benefit On Fire Island For An Organization Called The Gay Men's Health Crisis 'Overdosed And Died' August 16 After Apparently Taking Gamma Hydroxybutyrate, Or GHB, And Says 'Many' Gay Men Are Questioning The Propriety Of Such Benefits, Which 'Seem To' Inspire The Kind Of Drug Consumption 'Widely Thought' To Increase The Likelihood Of Unsafe Sexual Behavior And The Spread Of AIDS)
Marijuana Question May Hit Ballot ('The Washington Post' Says Initiative 59 May Be On The Washington, DC, Ballot In November, Depending On A New Review By The City's Board Of Elections And Ethics Prompted By A Court Decision Last Week That Said The Board Was Wrong To Set Aside More Than 4,600 Signatures Gathered By A Resident Of A Shelter For The Homeless)
Chemical In Fluoridated Water May Cause Violent Behavior (According To 'The Chronicle Of Higher Education,' Roger D. Masters, An Emeritus Professor Of Government At Dartmouth College, Explained His Evidence Friday At The Annual Meeting Of The Association For Politics And The Life Sciences, That Silicofluoride, A Chemical Used To Fluoridate The Drinking Water Of 150 Million Americans, May Unwittingly Foster Violent Behavior And Cocaine Use By Causing People To Absorb More Lead, Which Blocks The Action Of Calcium Atoms In Fostering The Production Of Neurotransmitters In The Brain)
Party's Over For US Teens Trying To Drink In Tijuana (An 'Associated Press' Article In 'The Seattle Times' Says A Year After Operation Safe Crossing Supposedly Began A Crackdown On 'Border Binge Drinking,' About 20 Percent Fewer Americans Are Entering Mexico To Drink This Year Than Last Year From San Diego)
Dangerous Times For Mexico's Writers (A 'Washington Post' Article In 'The International Herald-Tribune' Says In The Last 16 Months, Four Mexican Journalists Have Been Killed At The Behest Of Illegal Drug Sellers, Corrupt Police, And Old-Style Political Bosses, And Scores More Have Been Attacked, Threatened Or Intimidated, Making The Period One Of The Most Violent In A Decade)
Judge Okays Ill Man's Marijuana Use ('The Vancouver Sun' Says Stanley Czolowski Of Vancouver, British Columbia, Who Was Charged With Growing And Trafficking In Three Kilograms Of Marijuana, Argued Successfully That Marijuana Is The Only Substance That Allows Him To Combat The Crushing Pain And Nausea Caused By Glaucoma And The Prescription Drugs He Takes For It - In A Decision That Appears To Be The First Of Its Kind In Canada, Provincial Court Judge Jane Godfrey Granted A Discharge Both For Possession And Trafficking To Czolowski, Who Was Selling His Home-Grown Pot To The Compassion Club, An Illicit Medical Marijuana Dispensary)
No Token Presence ('The Edmonton Sun' Says Edmonton Cops Were 'Disgusted' By The Sight And Smell Of Stoned Teens At Yesterday's Annual Hempstalk On The Lawn Of Alberta's Seat Of Power, And Will Recommend The Festival Lose Its Right To Use The Grounds Around The Legislature's Band Shell)
Drink Still The Bane Of Youth ('The Age' Says The First National Survey Of Mental Health And Wellbeing In Australia, Carried Out In Mid-1997 By The Australian Bureau Of Statistics, Found More Than 10 Per Cent Of Younger Australians Had A Drinking Problem, And Substance Abuse Disorders Were Relatively Common Among The Australian Population As A Whole)
Let's Learn From The Swiss On Drugs (An Op-Ed In 'The Sydney Morning Herald' By Dr Alex Wodak Of The Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation Provides Some Compelling Arguments Against Recently Announced Plans To Institute US-Inspired 'Drug Courts' In New South Wales - Dr Steven Belenko Of Columbia University In New York Concluded In A Recent Review That 'None Of The Drug Court Evaluations To Date Have Been Comprehensive Enough And Of Long Enough Duration To Enable A Full Calculation Of The Long-Term Costs And Benefits' - We Should Keep An Open Mind On Their Pros And Cons Until More Independent Research Becomes Available - In The Meantime, There Are Many Warnings That Drug Courts May Not Turn Out To Be The Long-Desired Leap Forward - If Drug Courts Are To Be Introduced In NSW, Substantial New Funding Will Be Needed For Treatment Programs)
Futile 'Drugs War' (Three Letters To The Editor Of Britain's 'Independent' Criticize Statements Made By David Macauley In A Recent Op-Ed Explaining Why He Quit As The Director Of Scotland Against Drugs)
Unrealistic (A Similar Letter To The Editor Of 'The Scotsman')
Drug Sting Rocks UK Parliament (Britain's 'Times' Says Joseph Phillip Sebastian Yorke, The 10th Lord Hardwicke, Age 27, Who Runs A Motor Scooter Shop And Admits He Only Shows Up At The House Of Lords Twice A Week To Collect His $330 In Attendance Fees, Was Suspended Yesterday After Allegedly Trying To Sell Cocaine To An Undercover 'News Of The World' Reporter In The Corridors Of Parliament)
Drug Sting Rocks UK Parliament (The Version In Britain's 'Times')
Global Alert For Undetectable Black Cocaine (Britain's 'Independent' Notes The War On Some Drugs Just Got A Lot More Complicated And Expensive)
Bytes: 116,000 Last updated: 9/14/98
Monday, September 7, 1998:
Cannabis Carnival Unity Fair Critique (A Eugene List Subscriber Says The Labor Day Weekend Festival Near Harrisburg, Oregon, Was A Good Time But Useless Politically)
A Mother's Advice About Drugs (An Op-Ed In 'The San Francisco Chronicle' By Marsha Rosenbaum, Director Of The Lindesmith Center-West, A Drug Policy Institute In San Francisco, Shows What A Drug Policy Reform Activist Might Reasonably Say To Her Son As He Enters High School)
'Dateline' Special On Will Foster Online! (A List Subscriber Posts The URL For A RealVideo Version Of Saturday Night's 'NBC Dateline' Newscast About The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Patient Sentenced To 93 Years In Prison For Growing His Own Medicine)
Dare To Rethink Drug War (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Houston Chronicle' Compares The Failed DARE Program To The War On Some Drugs Itself - Counterproductive But Politically Popular)
DEA Searches Of Clinic Ruled Unreasonable - News Crews Violated Doctor's Rights, Judge Says ('The Associated Press' Says US District Judge Lynn Hughes Ruled August 28 In A Partial Judgment For Dr. Tommy E. Swate Of Houston, Texas, That The Presence Of Television News Crews During Drug Enforcement Administration Searches Of The Doctor's Clinics Was Unreasonable And Violated His Rights)
Police Hold On To Seized Drug Money (United Press International Says An Analysis By 'The Cincinnati Enquirer' Of Illegal Drug Money Forfeited To Ohio Law Enforcement Agencies Shows Millions Of Dollars Are Not Being Used Lawfully)
Police Holding Drug-Raid Loot ('The Cincinnati Enquirer' Version)
Winning The Drug War Isn't So Hard After All ('The New York Times Magazine' Responds To Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's Campaign Against Methadone Maintenance Programs With A Lengthy Background Piece That Explains How Americans' Penchant For Punishment Has Blinded The Country To The Most Effective Strategy For Combating Drug Use - Offering Comprehensive Treatment To Every Addict Who Requests It)
Drug Users Take Risks Coming Into City ('The Washington Times' Rails Against Washington, DC's Laissez-Faire Market For Illegal Drugs Created By Prohibition)
Backpacks Becoming Casualty Of School Violence ('The Associated Press' Says 90 Percent Of Youngsters Ages 12 To 17 Have A Backpack And Use It Almost Every Day, But School Officials In Isolated Districts Around The United States Are Beginning To Ban Them As Potential Hiding Places For Guns, Knives And Other Contraband - The News Service Doesn't Mention The Number Of Homicides At Public Schools Has Declined Over The Last Five Years From 55 Annually To 45)
HempFest Scheduled For Same Weekend As UF Homecoming (An 'Associated Press' Article In 'The Tampa Tribune' Says City Officials In Gainesville, Florida, Tried To Get The Cannabis Action Network Not To Hold This Year's HempFest During The University Of Florida's Annual Homecoming Weekend November 14-15)
Action Alert - The Western Hemisphere Drug Elimination Act (A List Subscriber Forwards An Alert From The Colombia Support Network Opposing The Bill Making Its Way Through Both Houses Of The US Congress - Section 201 Provides $200 Million In Military Aid To Colombia, But Only $15 Million For Alternative Crop Development, Compared To $150 Million For Alternative Crop Development In Peru)
Mexican Congress Takes Aim At Illegal Guns From US ('The Los Angeles Times' Says Mexican Lawmakers Who Are Angry About The Flow Of Arms Coming South, Many Linked To Drug Trafficking Cartels, Are Expected To Approve Harsher Penalties For Smugglers)
Cannabis Wins Greater Support (According To 'The Hobart Mercury,' Professor David McDonald Of The Australian National University Told An International Conference On Cannabis Law In London That The Government-Regulated Sale Of Marijuana Appears Closer To Being Placed On The Agenda Of State And Federal Governments In Australia)
Marijuana - Regulated Sale Urged (The Version In 'The Canberra Times')
Games Athletes Who Smoke Dope Risk Jail ('The Australian' Issues A Travel Advisory To Swimmers And Gymnasts Who Will Be Taking Part In The Commonwealth Games In Malaysia - The Malaysian Dangerous Drugs Act Mandates Jail Without Bail For Those Charged With Using Marijuana, And A Mandatory Death Penalty For Possession Of More Than 200 Grams Of Cannabis)
Drug Dealing 'Worse Than Ever' ('The Sydney Morning Herald' Says Senior Prohibition Agents In New South Wales Are Claiming That Poor Management By The Police Service Has Been Partly Responsible For Drug Dealing In Kings Cross Flourishing To A Level That Business Leaders Say Is Worse Than Before The NSW Police Royal Commission - 'Our Biggest Problem Is That There Is A Huge Demand For Drugs And Nothing We Do Reduces That Demand,' Said Superintendent Ray Adams Of The Kings Cross Patrol)
Face It - Booze Killed Diana (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Toronto Star' Wonders Why The Press Is Still Looking For Answers In The Death Of Princess Diana Of England, When The Driver Of The Car She Was Riding In Had Three Times The Legal Alcohol Limit In His System)
I Know My Father Died Of Drink - I Watched Him (An Op-Ed In Britain's 'Independent' Says British Physicians And Statisticians Cover Up The Number Of Deaths Caused By Alcohol, As Well As The Horrible Effects Of Alcoholism)
HIV, Tobacco Are Biggest Killers Worldwide ('Reuters' Says Richard Peto, A Professor Of Medical Statistics And Epidemiology At Oxford University, Told A Science Conference Monday In Cardiff, Wales, That The Only Two Causes Of Death That Are Increasing Rapidly Worldwide Are AIDS And Tobacco - 'You Can Save Far More Lives By A Moderate Reduction In The Big Causes Of Death Than By A Large Reduction In Smaller Causes,' He Said)
90 Percent Of Cot Death Babies Have Nicotine In Their Bloodstream (The Irish 'Examiner' Says Research Conducted By The Karolinska Institute In Stockholm, Sweden, And Published In The US Journal, 'Pediatrics,' Also Found A Quarter Of All Victims Had As Much Nicotine In Their Bodies As Regular Smokers, For The First Time Substantiating A Direct Link Between Tobacco And Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)
Bytes: 113,000 Last updated: 9/14/98
Sunday, September 6, 1998:
Police Intimidate Oregon State Fairgoers Away From Portland NORML Booth (An E-Mail From Portland NORML Director TD Miller At The State Fair In Salem Indicates The Cops Are Trying To Quash Portland NORML's First Amendment Rights While Campaigning For Measure 57 And Against Measure 67)
Re - Dr. No Strikes Again (A List Subscriber Confirms An Article In Wednesday's 'Willamette Week,' Which Shows Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber Has Flip-Flopped Again And Now Says He Will Vote Against Measure 57, The Referendum To Recriminalize Possession Of Less Than One Ounce Of Marijuana - Kitzhaber Could Have Killed The Bill Last Year But Signed It After First Pledging Not To Do So)
Should Mark McGwire's Use Of Performance-Enhancing Drugs Disqualify Him As A Role Model? (Pro And Con Staff Editorials In The Vancouver, Washington, 'Columbian')
Physicians Beware (An Op-Ed In 'The Oakland Tribune' By John Jabobs, Political Editor For McClatchy Newspapers, Recounts The Disturbing Revocation Of The Medical License Of Dr. Robert Sinaiko, A San Francisco Internist And Allergist)
Los Angeles Cops Accuse A Colleague (A 'San Jose Mercury News' Story About The Bust Of Los Angeles Police Department Officer Rafael Antonio Perez For Stealing Three Kilograms Of Cocaine From An Evidence Locker Claims The LAPD Has Long Held Itself All But Immune To Graft)
Controversial Marijuana Question On November Ballot (KRNV, A Nevada MSNBC Affiliate, Notes A Medical Marijuana Initiative Will Face State Voters In November)
Medical Marijuana Is Ballot Question 9 (A November Election Preview In 'The Las Vegas Sun')
Iowa's Forfeiture Law Takes The Profit Out Of Crime ('The Des Moines Register' Examines Forfeiture As Practiced In Iowa, Where The Police Take About $1 Million A Year Just In Cash, And Get To Keep 90 Percent Of It)
Two Drug-Enforcement Standards ('Des Moines Register' Columnist Rekha Basu Suggests Two Recent Cases - Along Interstate 80 And In The Tony Suburb Of Clive, Iowa - Illustrate How The Same Drug Laws Apply Differently To The General Public And Public Officials)
Marijuana Arrests Drop In City, Up In Suburbs (An Article In 'The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel' Of Interest To Oregon Voters Who Will Cast Ballots In November On Measure 57, A Proposal To Recriminalize Possession Of Marijuana, Says A Year After Officials In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Decriminalized Possession Of Small Amounts Of Marijuana, Newly Released State Figures Show Marijuana-Related Arrests Declined In The City While Similar Arrests In The Suburbs Continued To Increase)
Delaware Resident Faces Jail Time For Medicinal Marijuana ('The Delaware State News' In Dover Describes The Heartbreaking Story Of William R. Powell Of Townsend, An AIDS Patient Facing Prison After His Third Arrest In Less Than A Decade For Growing And Possessing Marijuana)
Pot Legalization Tough Issue For Delaware ('The Delaware State News' Interviews A Variety Of Officials From A Number Of Different Groups On The Prospects For Statewide Medical Marijuana Reform)
General Assembly Examines Marijuana Use (Contrary To Its Headline, 'Newszap! The Delaware State News,' In Dover, Quotes Several Legislators Who Suggest The Delaware General Assembly Is Not Likely To Legalize Marijuana In The Near Future, Or Even To Discuss The Issue)
Quarterly Potency Reports (One List Subscriber Seeks The URL For Marijuana Potency Statistics Regularly Reported By NIDA, The National Institute On Drug Abuse - Another List Subscriber Provides It, And A Third List Subscriber Provides A Summary For The Years 1975 Through 1996 Showing The Average Potency Of Marijuana Seized In The United States Ranged From 1.38 Percent To 3.5 Percent, With The Most Recent Figures Hovering Around 2.9 Percent)
Failing Grade For Safe Schools Plan ('The Los Angeles Times,' While Noting The Number Of Homicides At Public Schools Has Declined Over The Last Five Years From 55 Annually To 45, Says The US Department Of Education Has Poured Nearly $6 Billion During The Last 12 Years Into The Ambitious But Flawed Safe And Drug-Free Schools And Communities Act, Billed As The Federal Government's Largest Program To Deter Student Drug Use And Aggression - Records And Interviews Show That With Virtually No Strings Attached, Much Of The Money Has Been Spent On Initiatives That Are Either Ineffective Or Appear To Have Little To Do With Reducing Youth Violence And Substance Use)
Notion Of Prozac-Dependent Nation Relies On Heavy Dose Of Myth ('The Chicago Tribune' Suggests Several Reasons Why Many Americans Who Need Anti-Depressants Aren't Getting Them, While Many Others Get Prescriptions They Don't Need)
It's OK To Elevate Our Pleasure With Viagra - But Not Marijuana ('The Province' In Vancouver, British Columbia, Says A Recent Survey By The Fraser Institute Of The Canadian Media's Drug Policy Coverage Uncovered A Surprise - The Bulk Of Editorials And Columns - 82 Percent - Called For An End To The So-Called War On Drugs)
Unholy Trinity (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Edmonton Sun' Says Police, Press And Politicians Co-Operate To Bamboozle The Public Into Supporting Drug Prohibition)
Re - Ailing Prison Drug-Smuggler Gets Jail Time (A Letter Sent To The Editor Of 'The Winnipeg Free Press' Wonders Why A Sick Old Garbageman Who Smuggled Marijuana And Cocaine Into A Prison Was Sentenced To 26 Months In Jail, But The Prohibition Agent Who Supplied Contraband For The Sting Earned $150,000)
Feeble Law Hasn't Stopped Trade In Khat (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Toronto Star' Says That Since Last Fall, When Khat Was Added To The Canadian Controlled Substance Act, Making It Illegal, The Price Has Increased By A Factor Of 10 And The Khat Business Is Flourishing, Openly Traded In The Markets Of Major Canadian Cities, Especially Toronto)
Thai Monks Might Take Urine Tests ('The Associated Press' Says Thailand's Ministry Of Education Wants Men Applying To Become Buddhist Monks To Submit To Urine Tests For Drug Use And HIV)
Cannabis Congress Explores How To Legalise (Britain's 'Independent On Sunday' Describes The Conference Yesterday In London, 'Regulating Cannabis - Options For Control In The 21st Century,' Attended By Delegates From Europe, Australia And The United States)
Bytes: 129,000 Last updated: 10/3/98
Saturday, September 5, 1998:
Voters Around The State To Decide On More Than Measures ('The Associated Press' Notes Local Governments In Oregon, Freed From The 'Double Majority' Rule For The First Time Since 1996, Are Loading The November 3 Ballot With Tax Increase Measures, Including Proposals For More Jails For The Insatiable War On Some Drug Users)
An Aerial War On Pot Growers ('The Orange County Register' Portrays The Annual Campaign Against Marijuana Planting In Humboldt County, California - This Year, The District Attorney Is Allowing Medical Marijuana Patients With 'The 215 Letter' To Keep 10 Plants, Even Though An Oral Recommendation Is All That's Required By Law - Meanwhile, Because Of Budget Constraints, There Is No Basic Law Enforcement In Much Of The County, No 911 Service, No Resident Deputies)
24-Year Smuggling Sentence Upheld ('The San Francisco Chronicle' Says A Federal Appeals Court In San Francisco On Thursday Upheld The Sentence Of Canadian Real Estate Dealer Michael Medjuck For Smuggling 70 Tons Of Hashish, The Largest Shipment Ever Seized By US Prohibition Agents)
'Chad Had A Big Mouth' (According To 'The Orange County Register,' Attorneys For Two Suspects In The Beating And Strangulation Of Chad MacDonald, A 17-Year-Old Recruited By Police In Brea, California, Said Friday That The Teen-Ager Was Killed Solely Because Of His Work As An Informant)
Pot Petitioners Sue Buckley ('The Denver Post' Says Coloradans For Medical Rights, Who Sponsored A Measure That Would Legalize The Medical Use Of Marijuana, Sued Colorado Secretary Of State Vikki Buckley On Friday, Claiming Buckley Has Improperly Kept The Issue Off November's Ballot)
Will Foster On 'Dateline' (A List Subscriber Says The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Patient Sentenced To 93 Years In Prison For Growing His Own Medicine Will Be Featured Sunday Night On NBC Television)
Deputies Strip-Search Police ('The Des Moines Register' Says Police Officer Edwin Gordon Of West Des Moines, Iowa, Was Busted Friday After Some Money Disappeared During A Drug Raid)
Marijuana Arrests Down In Milwaukee, But Up In Suburbs, Report Says ('The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel' Says Statistics Compiled By The Wisconsin Office Of Justice Assistance Show Arrests For The Sale Or Possession Of Marijuana In Milwaukee Declined 6 Percent Since Common Council Enacted A Decriminalization Ordinance A Year Ago, While Arrests In Suburban Milwaukee Increased 7.5 Percent)
Local Man Faces Jail For Legal Weed ('The Brattleboro Reformer' Says George Singleton, A Dredlocked African-American From Putney, Vermont, Was Jailed In Oklahoma For 25 Days And Faces A Trial October 8 And One-Year Prison Sentence Because Oklahoma Police Say A Reasonable Person Might Think The Legal Herbs He Was Transporting As Part Of His Job Were Illegal Substances)
Man Says Cocaine Dealers Took Over His Laconia Apartment ('The Associated Press' Says Police In Laconia, New Hampshire, Made The Biggest Crack Cocaine Bust In The City After A Man Reported His Apartment Has Been Taken Over By Drug Dealers From New York And Massachusetts)
Undercover Officers Fan Out To Check College Drinking ('The Associated Press' Says As Many As 20 Liquor Enforcement Agents Worked Undercover At College Campuses Across New Hampshire This Weekend To Crack Down On Underage Drinking - A New State Law Increases The Minimum Fine For Minors In Possession Of Alcohol From $50 To $250)
Milford Man Charged With Possessing $100,000 Worth Of Marijuana ('The Associated Press' Notes A Connecticut Businessman Faces Felony Drug Charges After Police Say He Picked Up Three Packages At A Mail Boxes Etc., Each Containing About 30 Pounds Of Marijuana Shipped From San Diego)
Attorney General Hopefuls Admit Pot Use (The Times Union' Says Three Out Of Four Democrats Running For Attorney General In New York Say They Used Marijuana In College - And The Other One Simply Won't Discuss The Subject)
Troopers Seize $26 Million Worth Of Cocaine At Turnpike Rest Stop ('The Associated Press' Notes New Jersey Police Found 1,200 Kilograms Of Cocaine Friday Hidden Inside Five Crates Of Rotting Watermelons In A Tractor-Trailer Rig Seemingly Abandoned Near The New Jersey Turnpike)
National Guard Drug War Hits Snag (An 'Associated Press' Article From Pennsylvania Says That While The Overall Federal Budget For The War On Drugs Has Increased, President Clinton Asked Congress To Fund National Guard Counterdrug Programs At $148 Million In The Fiscal Year Starting October 1, Down $13 Million From This Year - So Guard Officers, In Direct Violation Of The Hatch Act, Have Stepped Up Their Lobbying To Restore And Increase Funding)
Medical Marihuana Reconsidered (An Undated But Recent Addition To The Overseas Publishers Association Web Site By Dr. Lester Grinspoon Of Harvard Medical School, An Expert On The Healing Herb, Provides A Learned Introduction To The Topic, And Explains Why Medical Marijuana Patients Might Benefit Most From The Complete Decriminalization Of Cannabis)
Michelle Was Bright And Loving Before Drugs (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Toronto Sun' From The Mother Of A Viciously Murdered Prostitute Addicted To Heroin Blames 'The Law Of The Land,' Which Will Not Allow Addicts To Be Placed In Rehabilitation Against Their Will)
Top Cop Says Lying OK ('The Edmonton Sun' Says The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Don't Like To Advertise Their Right To Lie To Suspects)
Illegal Crops Smoked Out ('The Ottawa Sun' Says A Three-Month Investigation By Local Prohibition Agents Led To Two Separate Raids Yesterday Against The Booming Ottawa Valley Marijuana Cultivation Business - Police Seized Plants They Valued At More Than $1.7 Million)
Tribe May Shape Course Of Drug War - Colombia Offers Opium, Coca Farmers Alternative ('The Dallas Morning News' Talks To A Small-Time Indian Farmer Who, Together With Others Like Him, Helps To Grow Half The Raw Opium And Coca Produced In Colombia, Which Supposedly Supplies 60 Percent Of The Heroin And Most Of The Cocaine Sold In The United States - Such Farmers Are At The Center Of An Expanding Debate Between The US And Colombian Governments About How Best To Stanch The Flow Of Drugs)
Locking Out The Deadly Habit ('The Courier Mail' In Australia Describes The Problematical Campaign To Keep Illegal Drugs Out Of Queensland Prisons - A Crackdown After Six Inmates At Sir David Longland Prison Overdosed On Heroin During One Weekend In July Has Seen Positive Drug Tests Decline From From About 27 Percent To 2 Percent, But A Critic Charges That Overcrowding, Lack Of Drug Treatment Programmes, And A Lack Of Support For Former Inmates Once They Are Out In The Community Means Prisons Can't Realistically Help Inmates With Their Drug Problems)
MAP Focus Alert Number 80 - 'Reader's Digest' - A Rare Opportunity (The Media Awareness Project Asks You To Write A Quick E-Mail Letter Responding To The Egregious Propaganda About Marijuana Published In The September Issue Of The British 'Reader's Digest')
Re - Cannabis - The Truth (A Letter Sent To The Editor Of The British 'Reader's Digest' By An Australian Physician Who Specializes In Drug Rehab Criticizes The Anti-Marijuana Propaganda In The Magazine's September Issue)
A Controversial Drug Which Can Heal ('The Associated Press,' Noting A 'Cannabis Congress' Is Being Held In London Today To Look Into How The Legalisation Of Soft Drugs Could Be Effected, Provides Some Background Information About The Hardy Plant)
Marijuana - Experts Mull Over Basics Of Cannabis Law (Another Account Of The London Cannabis Congress In Australia's 'Sydney Morning Herald')
Drugs Czar Calls For Testing Of Emergency Staff (Britain's 'Herald' Says Keith Hellawell, Apparently Responding To Yesterday's News That More Than 35 Percent Of The Men Physicians And 19 Percent Of The Women Physicians Who Had Graduated Recently From The University Of Newcastle Used Cannabis, Has Called On Scotland's Emergency Services To Lead The Way In The Anti-Abuse War By Introducing Screening Programmes In The Workplace)
Highland's Magic Potion Revealed ('The Scotsman' Says Dr Brian Moffat, An Ethnobotanist, Believes The Heath Pea, Or Lathyras Macrorhizas, A Plant Indigenous To Scotland With Properties Allegedly Similar To Coca, Once Put The Fire In Scottish Bellies, And May Explain The Origins Of Such Highland Contests As The Caber Toss)
Bytes: 134,000 Last updated: 9/14/98
Friday, September 4, 1998:
Monday March To End Prohibition - September 7, 1998 (A Press Release From The Washington Hemp Education Network Says The Labor Day Rally In Seattle Will Focus On Prison Labor Issues)
Gang Member Charged In Woman's Slaying (An 'Associated Press' Account Of A Murder Attributable To Drug Prohibition Says A $1 Million Arrest Warrant Has Been Issued For 19-Year-Old Joshua Christopher Robinson Of Seattle In The Shooting Death Of A Young Mother During An Argument Over Crack Cocaine)
High Court Nixes State DUI Trials For Sailors ('The Associated Press' Says The Washington State Supreme Court Ruled 5-4 Thursday In The Case Of Two Sailors Charged With Driving Under The Influence Of Alcohol That Defendants Who Are Tried And Punished Under Military Law Aren't Subject To Civilian Courts For The Same Crime - And Vice Versa, If The State Prosecutes First)
The Quiet Crusader - Jeff Jones Has Good Reason For Taking The Heat In The Medicinal Marijuana Battle (A Feature Article In 'The San Francisco Chronicle' About The 24-Year-Old Director Of The Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, Flagship Of The Industry)
Teen Was Stripped For Wire, Girl Says ('The Orange County Register' Says The Former Girlfriend Of 17-Year-Old Methamphetamine Informant Chad MacDonald Of Yorba Linda, California, Testified Thursday Against The Three Men Who Tortured And Killed The Snitch Before Raping And Trying To Kill Her)
Drug Prohibition (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Los Angeles Times' Says Ending Prohibition Is The Only Way To Remove Temptation From Corrupt Los Angeles Police)
Hernandez Settlement Does Not Ease Pain (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The San Antonio Express-News' Expresses Doubt That The Government's Payment Of $1.9 Million To The Family Of Esequiel Hernandez Jr., The High School Goatherder Killed By Camouflaged Marines On An Anti-Drug Patrol Along The Texas-Mexico Border, Will Have Any Deterrent Effect On Future Government Abuses)
Two Clive Officials Resign Posts ('The Des Moines Register' Says City Councilman John Schiefer And Zoning Commissioner David Ennen Of Clive, Iowa, Resigned After A One-Month Investigation Into Alleged Pot Smoking At A Party)
Out Of The Station, Into A Fire (A Cautionary Tale In 'The Saginaw News' Says David E. Markle, A Saginaw, Michigan, Fire Department Administrator, Has Been Charged With Growing Marijuana At His Home And Maintaining A Drug House After Police Found Minors Drinking Alcohol In His Back Yard During A Loud Party Thrown By His 18-Year-Old Daughter While Her Parents Were Out Of Town)
Drug-Search Scam On I-80 (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Des Moines Register' From The Assistant Director Of The Iowa Civil Liberties Union Criticizes A Recent Instance Of Prohibition Agents Using The 'Drug Stop Ahead' Strategy For Snaring Motorists Who Seem To Take Action To Avoid Inspection)
End Drug War (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Chicago Tribune' Points Out The Recent Death Of A Chicago Prohibition Agent Is Attributable To Prohibition, Not Illegal Drugs)
Police - Baby Was Used To Conceal Smuggled Drugs (According To 'The Associated Press,' Police In Raymond, Maine, Say A Six-Month-Old Baby Who Tested Positive For Cocaine Was Used By Her Stepfather To Conceal Drugs Smuggled From Lowell, Massacusetts - The Child's Mother Is Serving A Federal Prison Sentence For Armed Robbery)
Former Prosecutor Tries To Beat DWI Charge On Technicality ('The Associated Press' Says A Former Prosecutor In White River Junction, Vermont, Is Trying To Avoid A License Suspension Resulting From A Charge Of Driving While Intoxicated By Saying A Police Officer Stood Too Close While She Called Her Lawyer)
Police Seize Marijuana Plants As Tall As Trees ('The Associated Press' Says Prohibition Agents Eradicated 500 Plants Over The Last Week In Rensselaer, Saratoga And Washington Counties, New York, Some As Tall As 12 Feet With Trunks 10 Inches Thick - No One Was Busted)
Police Get Bird's-Eye View Of Pot Fields ('The Daily Gazette' Describes The Annual Helicopter Assault On Corn Fields In The Schenectady, New York, Area - Marijuana Grown Outdoors Was The State's Number One Crop In 1997, Based On Eradication Figures And The DEA's Estimated Value Of $2,000 To $9,000 Per Plant)
Re - Initiative 59 Wins In Court (A Bulletin From Colorado Citizens For Compassionate Cannabis Comments On Yesterday's News That A Medical Marijuana Measure Will Be On The November Ballot In Washington, DC, Without Any Support From Americans For Medical Rights - Includes A Url For The Text Of The DC Initiative)
Millions Urged For Prisons ('The Atlanta Journal-Constitution' Says Georgia Department Of Corrections Commissioner Wayne Garner Wants Taxpayers To Spend Nearly $149 Million Next Year On Three New Prisons, Plus $6 Million To Expand Existing Prisons)
Respect Will Come When Drugs Are Forced To Go (An Op-Ed In 'The Los Angeles Times' By The White House Drug Czar, General Barry McCaffrey, Tries A Different Approach From The Usual 'Only Losers Use Drugs' Line, Making The Rhetorical But Unfounded Assertion That 'Drug Use Among Athletes Broadcasts A Mixed Message That Puts Athletes, Their Sports And Our Children At Risk' - As If No One Had Ever Heard Of Babe Ruth)
Scientists Don't Know If 'Andro' Is Dangerous (According To A 'Dallas Morning News' Article In 'The Toronto Star,' Tim Ziegenfuss, An Assistant Professor Of Exercise Science At Eastern Michigan University, Says That Except For A 1962 Study On Two Women, 'There's Not A Single Published Report In The US As To The Effects Of Androstenedione On Testosterone')
Tobacco-Firms Lawyers Face Accusations of Deception (According To An 'Associated Press' Article In 'The Seattle Times,' Today's 'Wall Street Journal' Says The US Justice Department Believes Lawyers For Brown And Williamson Tobacco Corporation, The Nation's Third Largest Cigarette Manufacturer, May Have Engaged In A Criminal Plan To Deceive Federal Regulators)
Cigarettes From The Skies Helped Soldiers Survive (An Op-Ed In 'The San Francisco Examiner' By A Vietnam Veteran Who Smoked Free Cigarettes Distributed By The Military Applauds The Government's Decision To Stop Paying Smoking-Related Health Benefits For Such Veterans)
Potato Chips Seasoned With Cocaine In Mexico (According To 'Reuters,' The Mexican Television Network, 'Televisa,' Said Thursday That School Officials Have Taken To Searching Students' Backpacks After Homemade Potato Chips Sold Outside A School In Downtown San Luis Potosi Came Were Found To Include Small Packets Of Cocaine Wrapped In Plastic)
'Major' Durham Pot Gang Busted ('The Toronto Sun' Says Prohibition Agents In Fenelon Falls Believe The Durham Region's Marijuana Trade Has Been Dealt A Severe Blow With The Arrest Of Seven Men And Seizure Of $300,000 In Pot - About The First Time In History Such A Result Would Be Likely)
Ailing Prison Drug-Smuggler Gets Jail Time ('The Winnipeg Free Press' Says Kenneth Mollard, A Frail 57-Year-Old Maintenance Worker Who Helped Smuggle Marijuana And Cocaine Into Stony Mountain Prison, Was Sentenced To 26 Months In Jail Yesterday - While An Undercover Agent Involved In The Police Sting That Apprehended Mollard Was Paid $150,000)
Doctors Leaders Rule Out Random Tests After Shock Drugs Survey ('The Associated Press' Says A New British Survey Of 114 Doctors Who Have Graduated Recently From The University Of Newcastle Found Those Who Used Alcohol And Illegal Substances Did So Mostly For Pleasure - 93 Percent Drank Alcohol, More Than 35 Percent Of The Men And 19 Percent Of Women Used Cannabis, And 13 Percent Of Men And 10 Percent Of Women Used Other Illicit Drugs, Including Magic Mushrooms, LSD, Ecstasy, Amyl Nitrate, Cocaine And Amphetamines)
Alarm Over Junior Doctors' Drug Abuse (The Version In Britain's 'Guardian')
Alarm At Doctor's Drug Use ('The Scotsman' Version)
Fat May Rival Smoking As Health Threat (A 'Toronto Star' Update On The Eighth International Congress On Obesity In Paris Says Organizers Of The Conference Are Optimistic About A New Drug Called Orlistat That Has Been Found In Clinical Trials To Promote Weight Loss By Reducing The Body's Absorption Of Dietary Fat - The Drug, To Be Marketed By Roche Holdings AG Under The Name Xenical, Is To Go On Sale In Europe This Month And In The United States Some Time Next Year)
Michelle Smith Appeals Suspension ('The Associated Press' Says Olympic Swimming Champion Michelle Smith Filed An Appeal Thursday With The International Court Of Arbitration For Sport In Lausanne, Switzerland, Of Her Four-Year Suspension For Tampering With A Drug Test - Why Someone Would Put Alcohol In A Urine Test Isn't Explained)
The Week Online With DRCNet, Issue Number 57 (An Original Summary Of Drug Policy News From The Drug Reform Coordination Network)
Bytes: 126,000 Last updated: 9/27/98
Thursday, September 3, 1998:
The NORML Foundation Weekly Press Release (French Police Threaten To Prosecute British Company For Marketing Hemp Products; California Legislature Closes Without Deciding On Medical Marijuana Research Center; Judge Allows California Buyers' Clubs To Remain Open, Rejects Oakland Plan To Immunize Dispensary From Prosecution; Judge Finds City-Imposed Restrictions On Scheduled Marijuana Rally Unconstitutional)
Training For The Worst At US Prisons (An 'Oregonian' Article About SORTs, Special Operations Response Teams, Whose Purported Mission Is To Quell US Federal Prison Riots - But 'SORTs Were On Patrol During The Los Angeles Riots, And SORTs Are There To Back Up Teams In Other States When A Riot Gets Too Much For The Home Team To Handle')
Marion OKs Joint Sheriff, Corrections Board ('The Oregonian' Notes Marion County, Oregon, Has Reorganized Its Sheriff's Department And Corrections Department)
Kaites Accuses Foe, Hit By Own Mud ('The Arizona Republic' Describes An Amusing Case Of A Typical Drug Warrior, Democratic State Senator John Kaites, Who Publicized The Arrest For Marijuana Possession Long Ago Of His Republican Opponent For Attorney General, Tom McGovern - But McGovern Was Exonerated And Wednesday Signed An Affidavit Saying He Had Never Used An Illegal Substance, And Challenged Kaites To Do The Same, Whereupon Kaites Had To Admit He Had Smoked Marijuana In High School After First Denying Ever Breaking Any Law)
Kaites Calls Primary Foe A Criminal, Admits Smoking Pot ('The Arizona Daily Star' Version)
DARE Program To Be Reviewed For Changes (According To 'The Houston Chronicle,' Houston Police Chief CO Bradford Said Wednesday That Houston's $3.7 Million DARE Program, Called 'Only Marginally Successful' In A Recent Report, Would Not Be Taught At Local Schools Again In Its Present Form)
Marijuana Harvest Brings Out The Authorities ('The Cleveland Plain Dealer' Describes The Expensive Annual Effort To Eradicate Marijuana Planted In Corn Fields In Ohio, Which Ranks Among The Top 10 States In Marijuana Growth)
Health Chief Pushes Needle Exchange (According To 'The Standard-Times,' Massachusetts State Public Health Commissioner Dr. Howard H. Koh Said Yesterday He Would Welcome Any Opportunity To Resurrect Plans For A Needle-Exchange Program In New Bedford - The Idea Has Too Much Scientific Merit To Ignore)
Ding-Ding, Ice Cream, Hashish ('Reuters' Says Two 20-Year-Olds Busted For Selling Cannabis From Their Ice Cream Truck In Brooklyn, New York, To A Group Of Teenagers Aged 15 And 17 Face Eight And One-Third Years To 25 Years In Prison)
The Perils Of Music Journalism ('The Dallas Morning News' Says A New York Reporter Who Interviewed Country Music Star Willie Nelson Before A Long Island Concert Last Week Said He Was Incapacitated By The Singer's Second-Hand Cannabis Smoke - Even Though Nelson's Performance Apparently Didn't Suffer)
Initiative 59 Wins In Court! (A List Subscriber Says The Washington, DC, Medical Marijuana Measure Sponsored By ACT-UP! Will Be On November's Ballot - DC Superior Court Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle Ruled Today That Thousands Of Signatures In Support Of DC's Initiative 59 Were Improperly Excluded By The DC Board Of Elections And Ethics)
Where Was All That Pot Going? (The Lexington Herald-Leader' Describes The Effort To Be Expended Trying To Find Out Who Put 2.5 Tons Of Marijuana In A Shipment Of T-Shirts From Jamaica To Kentucky, And Who Was Supposed To Receive It - Federal Prohibition Agents Said It Was The Largest Amount Of Processed Marijuana Ever Seized In Kentucky - Thanks To Prohibition, Kentucky-Grown Marijuana Is Now Superior To Jamaican)
FDA Accuses MS Drug Maker Of Making False Claims (According To 'Reuters,' The US Food And Drug Administration Has Said Teva Marion Partners, A Kansas City, Missouri-Based Company, Was Wrong To Claim Its Drug Copaxone, Generically Known As Glatiramer Acetate, Was Capable Of 'Slowing, Preventing Or Reversing . . . The Progression' Of Multiple Sclerosis, A Disease That Afflicts Three Million People Worldwide)
Thieves Put Hemp Crop At Risk ('Monday Magazine' Says Farmers In Saanichton, On Vancouver Island, Want To Publicize That They Are Growing Legal Hemp So People Will Quit Stealing Their Non-Psychoactive Crop In An Attempt To Get High)
Police Dash High Hopes Of Youth (A Different Version In 'The Victoria Times Colonist')
Medical Doctors Oppose Legalizing Heroin ('The Province' In Vancouver, British Columbia, Says A Report From A Subcommittee Of The British Columbia Medical Association Rejects Proposals For A Heroin Maintenance Program And Instead Urges A Better-Funded, Better-Co-Ordinated Public Health Strategy)
How Many Drug Warriors Does It Take? (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Edmonton Sun' Has Little Sympathy For A Prohibition Agent's Plea For More Money To Carry On A Lost Cause)
Pot Scam Lands Man In Jail For Four Months ('The London Free Press' In Ontario Says A London Man Who Claimed He Grew Marijuana To Raise Money To Fight A Paternity Suit Got Full Marks For A Novel Excuse Yesterday - And Four Months In Jail)
Cannabis Law Change In Offing ('The New Zealand Herald' Says Cannabis Could Be Decriminalised Or Even Legalised Under A Re-Think Of Drug Laws Proposed By The Country's New Minister Of Police, Clem Simich, Who Yesterday Compared The Law Against Smoking Cannabis To Alcohol Prohibition In The 1920s And Suggested It Was Time For A Change)
Parents Hire Drug Spies ('The Herald Sun' Says Parents In Brisbane, Australia, Are Paying Private Detectives Up To $20,000 To Spy On Their Children And Find Out Whether They Are Using Drugs - The Detectives Are Also Using Private School Teenagers To Infiltrate Peer Groups)
Bytes: 72,400 Last updated: 9/14/98
Wednesday, September 2, 1998:
Dr. No Strikes Again ('Willamette Week' In Portland Says Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber Will Vote No On Measure 57, The Initiative To Recriminalize Possession Of Less Than One Ounce Of Marijuana - The Former Emergency Room Physician And Democrat Says He'll Vote Against Measure 67, The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act)
Proposed 'No On 57' Rallies (Floyd Ferris Landrath Of The American Antiprohibition League In Portland Announces A Meeting Tuesday, September 8, To Plan A Demonstration In Opposition To Oregon Ballot Measure 57, Which Would Recriminalize Possession Of Less Than One Ounce Of Marijuana)
Policing The Police (A Letter To The Editor Of 'Willamette Week' Says The Recent Portland Police Riot Against Protesters Condemning Police Harassment Is An Outrageous Example Of The Blatant Disregard That The Police Have For Citizens' Constitutional Rights, And A Sample Of The Virulent Racism Of The Police Department)
Aid For Seriously Ill (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Seattle Times' Notes The Clinton Administration Is Still Stalling A Full Year After A National Institutes Of Health Group Recommended Policy Changes That Would Have Expedited Medical Marijuana Research - The Clinton Administration Will Be Hard-Pressed To Oppose Voter Initiatives In Six States This November - When The Drug Czar And Others Say That There Should First Be More Research, The Voters Will Say, 'Sorry, You Had Your Chance')
Hearing Record Upholds Firing Of Police Officer (A Staff Editorial In 'The Columbian' In Vancouver, Washington, Says A Vancouver Police Officer Whose Carelessness With A Flash-Bang Grenade Led To A 13-Year-Old Girl Losing Her Hand Deserved Being Fired)
Drug Is A Non-Issue (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Herald' In Everett, Washington, Dismisses The Media-Generated Controversy Over Baseball Player Mark McGwire's Use Of Androstenedione)
Treatment For Drug Addicts (Two Letters To The Editor Of 'The Los Angeles Times' Oppose The Imperialistic US Drug War)
What It Takes To Get Assistance (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The San Luis Obispo County Telegram-Tribune' From A Mother Who Needs Public Assistance But Doesn't Have A Drug Problem Shows California And The United States Are Spending So Much Money On Prohibition And Its Collateral Casualties That Other Vital Government Services Are Disappearing)
A Reward For The Prison Guards' Union? ('Sacramento Bee' Columnist John Jacobs In 'The San Diego Union Tribune' Says The One-Year, 12 Percent Pay Raise California Governor Pete Wilson Gave Last Week To His Political Allies In The State Prison Guard Union Has The Earmarks Of One Of The Sleaziest Quid Pro Quos Seen In Years)
Study Finds Drop In Tobacco Sales To Minors (According To 'The Associated Press,' California Health Officials Said Wednesday That Illegal Sales Of Tobacco Products To Minors Dropped By Nearly 40 Percent Since Last Year)
Grand Jury Probe May Take Longer Than Expected ('The Houston Chronicle' Says A Grand Jury May Take More Than Just Two To Three Weeks To Investigate The Killing Of Pedro Oregon Navarro, An Innocent Man Shot 12 Times From The Rear By Prohibition Agents In Houston, Texas, Who Broke Down His Door Without A Warrant)
Drug Tests For Aldermen Dies For Lack Of A Second ('The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette' Says City Council Members In Fayetteville, Arkansas, On Tuesday Rejected Proposed Drug Tests For Themselves, Saying It Would Be An Invasion Of Privacy And An Example Of Government Intrusion)
Two Clive Officials Hire Lawyer (According To 'The Des Moines Register,' An Iowa State Patrol Report Released Tuesday Says A State Trooper Attending A July Going-Away Party For The City Of Clive's Departing Fire Chief Saw Three People Smoking What He Believed To Be Marijuana - Attorney Fred Dorr Said Tuesday That He Represents Clive City Council Member John Schiefer And Planning And Zoning Commissioner Dave Ennen In Connection With A City Investigation)
FBI Links Police, Alleged Criminal ('The Des Moines Register' Says An Investigation By The Federal Bureau Of Investigation Has Revealed Possible Links Between Des Moines-Area Police And A Million-Dollar Criminal Enterprise Allegedly Run By An East-Side Des Moines Bail Bondsman Charged With Drug Dealing And Firearms Violations)
Officer Indicted In Drug Case ('The Philadelphia Inquirer' Says Philadelphia Police Officer Peter W. Henry Has Been Indicted On Charges Related To Laundering Money For A Marijuana Ring)
City Police Say Panel Withheld Findings Against 108 Officers ('The New York Times' Says More Than 100 Cases Of Police Brutality And Misconduct From 1993 Through 1995 Were Deemed Credible By The Civilian Complaint Review Board, But The Independent Agency That Monitors New York City Police Never Forwarded Its Decisions To The Department So It Could Discipline The Officers)
Musicians, Actors And Activists Come Together For First Ever 'Spitfire Tour' (A List Subscriber Publicizes The National Tour Of College Campuses, Opening October 10, Featuring Marijuana Law Reform Activists Woody Harrelson And Todd McCormick, Together With Music Industry Celebrities Krist Novoselic Of Nirvana, Amy Ray Of Indigo Girls, Jello Biafra Of The Dead Kennedy, Exene Cervenka Of X, Veejay Kennedy Of MTV And More)
Drug Awareness Seen To Begin At Age 13 ('The Orange County Register' Version Of Yesterday's News About The Latest CASA Survey On Youth Drug Use Rates)
Survey - Drugs More Accessible At Age 13 (The 'USA Today' Version)
Big Change In Drug Awareness Is Found From Age 12 To 13 ('The Boston Globe' Version)
Children Surrounded By Drugs, Study Finds ('The Houston Chronicle' Version)
New Concerns Raised About Health Effects Of Viagra ('Reuters' Says Several Letters Printed In Thursday's 'New England Journal Of Medicine' Suggest The Potential Health Dangers Of Pfizer's New Anti-Impotence Drug May Be More Extensive Than Warnings Indicate)
Marc Emery Direct Seeds Raided! (A List Subscriber Provides Details About The Latest Development In The Politically Motivated Vendetta By Officials In Vancouver, British Columbia, And Asks You To Write Letters To Vancouver Media And Public Officials On Emery's Behalf)
'I Need It To Live' - Police Bust AIDS Patient Whose Doctors Advised Pot Use ('The Ottawa Citizen' Says The Ottawa-Carleton Police Regional Drug Unit Charged Jean-Charles Pariseau With Marijuana Possession And Production Yesterday After Rousting Him, His Wife And 12-Year-Old At Home Just Before Midnight Monday - Mr. Pariseau's Case Received National Attention After His First Arrest, When A Group Of Doctors And Lawyers Filed A Ground-Breaking Application To The Federal Government In November 1997 Asking That He Be Allowed To Use Marijuana Because It Was Prolonging His Life)
Marijuana User Avoids Jail Time ('The Peterborough Examiner' In Peterborough, Ontario, Says Multiple Sclerosis Patient David Jamieson Of Douro Township Was Fined $1,000 By A Provincial Court Tuesday For Cultivating 250 Marijuana Plants - After Reading A Letter From Jamieson's Doctor, The Contents Of Which Weren't Disclosed In Court, Judge LTG Collins Said, 'I See Why A Fine Rather Than Jail Term' Was Appropriate)
£217 Million To Treat Drug Abuse (Britain's 'Guardian' Says The Labour Government, Concerned That Four Out Of Five Drug Abusers Who Need Treatment Fail To Get It, Unveiled Its Biggest Expansion Of Drug Treatment And Prevention Programmes Yesterday, Targeting Women And Teenagers)
More Readers' Views In The Drugs Debate (Three Letters To The Editor Of 'The Evening News' In Norwich, England, Say Cannabis Legalisation Would Solve More Problems Than Stiffer Sentences For Dealers)
You Ask The Questions (Britain's Howard Marks, The Celebrated Former Marijuana Smuggler And Author Of 'Mr. Nice,' Answers Questions From Readers Of 'The Independent')
TV Blamed For Fuelling Public Fear Of Crime (According To 'The Scotsman,' Police Chief Superintendent Malcolm Dickson Said Yesterday That A Survey Conducted By His Force Revealed That Supposedly Realistic Television Shows Such As 'NYPD Blue' And BBC 1's 'City Central' Led Almost Half Of Those Who Responded To Say They Felt Afraid At Night, Despite A General Fall In The Number Of Offences Actually Taking Place)
Pregnant Smokers Pass Risks To Their Babies (According To 'The Orange County Register,' Swedish Scientists Said On Wednesday That Woman Who Smoke During Pregnancy Can Increase Their Babies' Risk Of Developing Attention Deficit Disorder And Learning Difficulties)
Iran Has 1.2 Million Drug Addicts - Official ('Reuters' Says 'The Daily Iran Newspaper' Quoted Mohammad Fallah, The Country's Top Official In Charge Of Fighting 'Drugs,' Who Also Suggested Education Was Preferable To The Current Policy Of Sentencing People To The Death Penalty)
DrugSense Weekly, Number 62 (A Weekly Summary Of Drug Policy News From The Media Awareness Project)
Bytes: 152,000 Last updated: 9/14/98
Tuesday, September 1, 1998:
Drug War (A letter to the editor of The Observer, the monthly newspaper of the American College of Physicians' American Society of Internal Medicine, from Dr. Rick Bayer, the chief petitioner for Measure 67, the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act. "The war on drugs does not belong in the exam room.")
The American Antiprohibition League (Floyd Ferris Landrath Describes The Mission And Harm-Reduction Activities Of The Portland Group, And Asks For Your Financial Help)
Salem Residential Street Turns Into Gangland Turf At Night ('The Associated Press' Says An Analysis Of Crime Records In Salem, Oregon, By 'The Statesman Journal' Newspaper Indicates Gang Shootings Have More Than Tripled In Salem, From 14 By The End Of August Last Year To 47 So Far This Year)
The 1998 Washington Hemp Voter's Guide (The Washington Hemp Education Network Publicizes Its Poll Of Every Candidate For Washington's State Legislature, Supreme Court, And Congressional Delegation, And Asks Your Help In Distributing Its Results - 140 Candidates Responded, More Than 40 Percent Of Those Polled, With 60 Percent Favoring Medical Marijuana And Industrial Hemp, And 16 Percent Favoring The Decriminalization Of Adults' Non-Medical Use)
Monday Marches To End The Drug War (A List Subscriber Posts An Update On The September 7 March Beginning At Denny Park In Seattle And The October 5 Medical Marijuana March Meeting At Harborview Hospital)
California Medical Marijuana Research Bill Dies (A Bulletin From California NORML Says State Senator John Vasoncellos' Medical Marijuana Research Bill, SB 535, Died Today As The Result Of A Legislative Accident, When The Senate Adjourned Prematurely Before The Assembly Could Finish Business)
Lawmakers Eye Bill Authorizing Study Of Medicinal Marijuana (The 'Capitol Alert' Version Published by 'The Sacramento Bee')
Judge Rejects Oakland's Pot Club But Denies Immediate Shutdown (Yesterday's 'Associated Press' Article In 'The Sacramento Bee')
Judge Rejects Oakland Try To Shield Medical-Pot Club (The Scripps Howard News Service Version, Also In 'The Sacramento Bee')
Oakland Loses Bid To Shield Medical Pot Club From US ('The Orange County Register' Version)
Pot Club Defense Fails, But Doors Still Open ('The National Law Journal' Version)
Oakland's Effort To Shield Pot Club Rejected ('The Los Angeles Times' Version)
Medical Marijuana Clubs Lose Round In Court (The 'Reuters' Version)
West Oakland Home Site Of Pot Bust ('The Oakland Tribune' Notes A Local Cultivation Bust Involving 500 Plants, Allegedly Intended For Non-Medical Use)
Teen-Age Informants Law (A Staff Editorial In 'The Orange County Register' Says A Bill Passed By The Legislature Friday Will Prevent Teen-Age Drug Informants Like 17-Year-Old Chad MacDonald Of Yorba Linda, California, From Being Tortured And Killed In The Future - Under The New Law, A 17-Year-Old Still Can Be An Undercover Informant, But Only After A More Rigorous Process In Which A Court Would Clearly Lay Out The Pros And Cons To Youngsters And Their Parents Would Have A Final Veto Power - As If The Pros And Cons Weren't Clear Before And Parents Didn't Have Veto Power Previously)
Fear Of Failure ('The Las Vegas Review-Journal' Describes 'Ur-Ine Trouble,' A Book That Attacks Workplace Drug Testing, By Dr. Kent Holtorf, A Physician From Phoenix, Arizona)
Jury Hears Witnesses In Oregon's Death ('The Houston Chronicle' Says Harris County Grand Jurors Investigating The Killing Of Pedro Oregon Navarro In Houston, Texas, Started Hearing Testimony Monday From People Who Were In The Innocent Man's Apartment The Night Six Prohibition Agents Burst In Without A Warrant And Shot Him 12 Times From The Rear)
New Special Prosecutor Assigned In Police Commissioner's Case ('The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel' Says The New Prosecutor Was Appointed Monday To Satisfy Objections By The Attorney For Gary Behnke, A Slinger, Wisconsin, Police Commissioner Accused Of Drunken Driving And Possession Of Marijuana)
Burton Warns About Magazine Story On His Sex Life (An 'Indianapolis Star And News' Article In 'The Seattle Times' Notes Representative Dan Burton, The Indiana Congressman Whose Son Got Favorable Treatment After Two Marijuana Busts, Is Bracing For 'Vanity Fair' Magazine To Challenge His Ethics)
Drug Pipe Report Spurs City Probe ('The Des Moines Register' Says City And Police Officials In Clive, Iowa, Are Investigating Allegations That A Marijuana Pipe Was Found At A July Party Attended By Some City Leaders And Members Of The Volunteer Fire Department)
Deaths Likely To Double In 1998 (According To 'The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,' Milwaukee Police Have Seized 60 Percent More Heroin Than One Year Ago And The Medical Examiner's Office Said Monday That Heroin-Related Deaths In Milwaukee County Are Expected To More Than Double In 1998 - To 25)
Media, Not McGwire, Set Off Sales Boom (Two Letters To The Editor Of 'The San Jose Mercury News' About Baseball Slugger Mark McGwire's Use Of A Legal, Over-The-Counter Performance Enhancer)
General Barry McCaffrey's Letter To The Editor (Lip Service For Drug Treatment In 'The Washington Post' From The US Drug Czar)
Survey - Drug Access Rises At 13 (The 'Associated Press' Account Of This Year's Annual Survey By CASA, The National Center On Addiction And Substance Abuse At Columbia University, Says The Telephone Poll Of 1,000 Teen-Agers, 824 Teachers And 822 Principals Found That Teens Think The Drug Problem Is Considerably Worse Than Do Their Teachers And Principals - But 41 Percent Of 17-Year-Olds Said They Had Smoked Marijuana In The Previous 30 Days, While 39 Percent Drank Alcohol And 23 Percent Smoked Tobacco)
Age 13 Critical Time In Anti-Drug Fight (A Different 'Associated Press' Version In 'The Seattle Times')
Religious Teens Less Likely Drug Users (The United Press International Version Notes The Survey Was Conducted By The Luntz Research Companies And Funded By The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)
Pharmacology - Herb Remedy - Exploring Ways To Administer Marijuana As A Medicine ('Scientific American' Weighs In On The Debate Between Medical Marijuana Patients And The Medical-Industrial Complex, Which Wants To Find Patentable Compounds It Can Market To Patients At Exorbitant Prices)
Are We The Enemy? (An Essay By Miguel A. Faria, Jr., MD, In The Editor's Corner Of The September-October Issue Of 'Medical Sentinel,' The Journal Of The AAPS, Association Of American Physicians And Surgeons, Says The US Government Has Responded To External Threats By Greatly Expanding Its Means Of Repressing Those It Perceives To Be Internal Threats)
Customs Staff - New Rule Hurts Drug War (According To 'The Toronto Sun,' An Unspecified Number Of Customs Officers Say Their Job Is Being Made More Difficult By A Canada Customs Decision To Stop Seizing Commercial Aircraft Carrying Large Amounts Of Smuggled Drugs)
Cocaine's Other Victims (The September Issue Of 'World Press Review' Republishes An Article From Britain's 'Guardian' About Peru's Legitimate Coca Crop And Coca Farmers, Imperiled By The American War On Cocaine)
Cannabis - The Truth (The British Edition Of 'Reader's Digest' Tries To Revive Reefer Madness With A Specious List Of Accusations Backed By Unreferenced Pseudo-Scientific Research, Presented In Much The Same Format As 'Exposing Marijuana Myths')
Well-Off Children 'In Grip Of Heroin' (According To 'The Courier Mail' In Australia, A Major Public Forum Today On Drug Dependency At The State Parliament Will Feature Michael Kozminsky, Director Of The Genesis Medical Centre In Victoria, Who Said Yesterday That Students From 'Every Decent Private School In Melbourne' Were Using Heroin, And Claimed Drug Dealers Were Targeting The Offspring Of The Middle Class)
Cannabis Cautioning In West Australia (The ADCA News Of The Day, From The Alcohol And Other Drugs Council Of Australia, Summarizes A 'West Australian' Newspaper Article Saying Some Bunbury City Councillors Are Angry At Not Being Consulted About The State Government's New Scheme To Cauthion Rather Than Arrest First-Time Cannabis Posession Offenders)
Pregnant Smokers Linked To Baby Hyperactivity (According To 'Reuters,' Scientists At Gotenburg University In Sweden Said On Wednesday That Women Who Smoke Tobacco During Pregnancy Can Increase Their Baby's Risk Of Developing Attention Deficit Disorder And Learning Difficulties)
Bytes: 159,000 Last updated: 10/5/98
Monday, August 31, 1998:
Physicians Must Be Free To Relieve Pain Of The Dying (An Op-Ed In 'The Houston Chronicle' Opposing Congressional Attempts To Nullify Oregon's Unique Assisted Suicide Law, By Ronald A. Carson Of The Institute For The Medical Humanities At The University Of Texas Medical Branch At Galveston)
Judge Rejects City-Run Cannabis Club But Denies Immediate Shutdown ('The Associated Press' Says US District Judge Charles Breyer Today Rejected Oakland's Attempt To Shield Its Medical Marijuana Cooperative By Making It Part Of City Government, But Refused To Order The Immediate Shutdown Of The Dispensary In Oakland Or Those In Ukiah And Marin County - A Hearing Is Scheduled September 28 On Whether There Should Be A Jury Trial To Decide The Issue Of Medical Necessity, And Allowed The Clubs To Remain Open At Least Until Then - Plus Commentary From An Informed List Subscriber)
Letter To California Attorney General Lungren From Peter McWilliams (The Federal Medical Marijuana Defendant Demands That Dan Lungren Defend Him, Citing California Laws That Require Lungren To Do So, And The Experience Of Oregon In Establishing An Assisted Suicide Law Despite Federal Opposition)
Drug Agencies Urged To Team Up (An Update In 'The San Antonio Express News' On The Campaign By The US Drug Czar, General Barry McCaffrey, To Coordinate The Prohibition Efforts Of 22 Federal Agencies Under A US-Mexico Border Drug Czar)
Border Idea Is Touted Here ('The San Antonio Express-News' Covers General Barry McCaffrey's Visit To Texas To Drum Up Support For A US-Mexico Border Drug Czar)
Judge Criticizes Drug Case Decision ('The Des Moines Register' Says Judge Robert W. Pratt, A Federal District Court Judge In Des Moines, Has Declared Unconstitutional The Conviction Of Lewis Atley, Saying The Iowa Supreme Court Failed In Its Duty To Determine If The Man's Lawyer Had A Conflict Of Interest When The Lawyer Agreed To Work As A Prosecutor In The Same County - Plus A Letter To Iowa NORML Activist Carl Olsen From The Victim, Just Paroled After Almost Four Years In Prison)
Top Court Reaffirms Forfeiture Trial Right ('The Star-Ledger' Says The New Jersey Supreme Court, In A One-Page Order Made Public Yesterday, Rejected A Request By The State Attorney General To Narrow Its Ruling Giving The Right To Jury Trials To Some 2,500 People Whose Property Was Seized In Connection With Drug Cases Or Other Crimes)
Giuliani Plan To Close Methadone Clinics Makes Sense Only To Him (A Staff Editorial In 'The Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel' Says New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's Reckless Plan To Prohibit Methadone Treatment For Heroin Addicts Would Have Clear Results, Nearly All Of Them Negative)
Big Tobacco Accused Of Linking GOP Senators' Votes, TV Ads ('The Chicago Tribune' Says The US Justice Department Is Reviewing Whether Tobacco Companies Promised Some Senate Republicans That They Would Pay For Television Advertisements If The Senators Voted To Defeat The McCain Tobacco Bill)
Justice Department Examines Tobacco Ad Allegations (The 'Reuters' Version)
A Consensus On Cause But Not Cure (A Staff Editorial In 'The Vancouver Sun' Says City Planners In Vancouver, British Columbia, Believe The Principal Cause Of The Eastside's Accelerating Deterioration Is 'Drugs,' But Not Much Can Be Done Until Leaders Reach Consensus On Remedies)
Taxing Talk On Cannabis (Britain's 'Guardian' Says Scientists, Doctors And Lawyers From Europe, Australia And North America Are Gathering In London Next Saturday For The First International Conference On How Cannabis Should Be Regulated If It Were Legalised Or Decriminalised - The Conference Is Being Hosted By Release, The British Drugs Advice Agency And Charity, And The Lindesmith Centre, A New York-Based Drug Policy Research Institute Funded By George Soros)
Drugs Chief Resigns With Attack On Blair ('The Scotsman' Version Of Yesterday's News About Director David Macauley Bailing Out Of Scotland Against Drugs)
Experts Say Fat Rivals Smoking As Health Threat ('Reuters' Says Medical Experts Told Reporters At The Start Of The Eighth International Congress On Obesity, Which Began On Monday In Paris, That Obesity Was Rapidly Becoming A Problem In The Developing World As Well As Industrialised Nations And Could One Day Rival Tobacco Smoking In Its Impact On Public Health)
Bytes: 84,600 Last updated: 9/14/98
Sunday, August 30, 1998:
Marvin Chavez (A Staff Editorial In 'The Orange County Register' Says Attorney James Silva Of Los Angeles Will Now Represent The Co-Founder Of The Orange County Patient, Doctor, Nurse Support Group)
The Case For Proposition 8 (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The San Francisco Chronicle' Says Proposition 8 Would Establish The Same Zero Tolerance For The Possession Of 'Dangerous Drugs' That Exists For The Possession Of Guns Or Knives - Guilty Students Would Be Immediately Suspended And Expelled)
Locked-Up Population (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Sacramento Bee' From A Professor Of Sociology And Criminology Adds Some Details To The Latest Statistics On Americans' Incarceration Rate, Noting That If The Current 7.9 Percent Annual Rate Of Growth In The Prison Population Continues, Everyone In California Will Be Either Locked Up Or On Parole Or Probation By 2051)
Tobacco Votes-For-Ads Charge Being Investigated By Justice ('The San Jose Mercury News' Says The Justice Department Is Looking Into Allegations That Senate Republicans Traded Their Votes For Promises By The Tobacco Industry To Finance Political Advertising Campaigns)
Tiny Frog Offers Major New Painkiller, Drug Research Finds ('The Chicago Tribune' Says Abbott Laboratories Of North Chicago Has Just Completed Initial Human Trials In Europe Of A Painkilling Drug Derived Fom The Poison Of A Frog Found In Ecuador, Epibpedobates Tricolor - While The Company Is Hesitant To Talk About ABT-594, As The Chemical Is Known, Scientists Say The Drug Is 200 Times As Powerful As Morphine, Lacks Morphine's Addictive Problems, And Might One Day Replace It As The Leading Treatment For Intense And Chronic Pain)
Suicide Epidemic Spreads Through Ranks Of Police ('The Houston Chronicle' Says Hundreds Of Police Officers Across The Country Commit Suicide Every Year, At A Rate That Is Much Higher Than Among The Rest Of The Population, And Rising, Although Many Cases Are Covered Up By Other Police)
Borderlands ('The San Jose Mercury News' Notes The War On Some Drug Users Is Transforming The US-Mexico Border Region Around Ciudad Juarez, Mexico - While The European Union Works To Erase Boundaries, The United States And Mexico Seek To Control Their Common Border By Laying Down The Law - Once-Integrated Towns Are Now Increasingly Segregated By A Border That Was Once Regarded As A Tolerable Nuisance Rather Than A Legal Reality)
Losing The War On Drugs ('Edmonton Sun' Columnist Jeremy Loome Interviews One Of Edmonton, Alberta's Eight Undercover Prohibition Agents, Who Admits His Job Is Futile - Loome Says Edmonton's Police, Like Their Counterparts Across Canada, Are Flushing Millions Of Dollars Down The Toilet Every Year For The Sake Of Tokenism)
Police Under Pressure Over Shooting Of Unarmed Man (Britain's 'Independent On Sunday' Says The Killing Of James Ashley By Sussex Prohibition Agents Who Broke Through His Front Door Is Becoming A Cause Celebre)
Labour Accused As SAD Boss Quits (Britain's 'Sunday Times' Says David Macauley, Director Of Scotland Against Drugs, The Anti-Drugs Agency Established By Scotland's Four Political Parties, Will Resign This Week To Protest The Labour Party's 'Lack Of Political Will' In Tackling The Problem)
Bytes: 51,800 Last updated: 9/13/98
Saturday, August 29, 1998:
Hemp Activist Stumps For Measure 67 ('The Albany Democrat-Herald' Interviews Harrisburg, Oregon, Reform Activist William Conde, Who Is Hosting A 'Cannabis Carnival' At His Harrisburg Property Over Labor Day Weekend In Support Of The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, And In Opposition To Ballot Measure 57, Which Would Recriminalize Possession Of Less Than An Ounce Of Marijuana)
Parents Sue Hospital For Son's Brain Damage; Morphine Blamed ('The Associated Press' Says The Parents Of A 20-Year-Old Man Who Underwent Routine Surgery Are Suing Rogue Valley Medical Center In Medford, Oregon, For $15.73 Million, Claiming The Hospital Failed To Monitor An Adverse Reaction That Left Their Son In A Coma)
Hempfest Safer Than Bite Of Seattle (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Herald' In Everett, Washington, Contrasts The Recent Hempster Festival In Seattle With The City's Annual Bash For Alcohol-Sodden Suburbanites, Noting Cops Didn't Bust Teens Who Were Smoking Cigarettes At The Bite)
Rally In San Francisco Monday (A Bay Area Activist Says There Will Be A Demonstration 2 PM August 31 At The Federal Courthouse, Where Judge Breyer Will Render A Decision On The Federal Request For An Injunction Against Six Northern California Medical Marijuana Dispensaries)
Disappointed By Reaction To 215 (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune' Criticizes Local California Law Enforcement Officials Who Don't Seem To Have Read The California Compassionate Use Act Of 1996)
National Guard Discovers Largest Pot Operation In State (According To 'The Contra Costa Times,' Sheriff's Officials In Santa Clara County, California, Said Friday A National Guard Helicopter On A Training Exercise Spotted The Largest Marijuana Farm In State History, With More Than 21,000 Plants They Valued At $4,000 Each, About $84 Million Total)
Cops Harvest Massive Bay Area Pot Farm ('The San Francisco Examiner' Version)
Marijuana Farm In Bay Area Called The State's Biggest ('The Orange County Register' Version)
Officer's Arrest Triggers Corruption Probe ('The Los Angeles Times' Says The Arrest Of Los Angeles Police Officer Rafael Antonio Perez For Stealing Six Pounds Of Cocaine From An Evidence Room Has Broadened Into A Wider Corruption Probe, With Detectives Receiving Tips From Informants And Illegal Drug Sellers Who Say The Nine-Year Veteran And Other Prohibition Agents Stole Drugs And Money From Street Dealers)
LAPD Probes Corruption Allegations (The United Press International Version)
Legislature OKs Limit On Informants ('The Orange County Register' Says The Death Of 17-Year-Old Chad MacDonald Of Yorba Linda, California, Led State Lawmakers Friday To Send A Bill To Governor Pete Wilson That The Newspaper Dubiously Claims Would Limit The Use Of Teen Drug Informants)
Inmate Numbers Worry Officials ('The Tulsa World' Says The County Jail In Tulsa, Oklahoma, Had Its Highest Ever Monthly Average Number Of Inmates Last Month - 'We Have 881 Beds, And We Were At 113 Percent Of That Today,' Chief Deputy Bob Mackechney Said Friday - 'We Can't Go Beyond 125 Percent' Because Of A Federally Imposed Limit On Overcrowding)
Kay County Raids Result In 28 Drug-Related Arrests (According To 'The Oklahoman,' Thanks To A Drug-War Grant From The US Justice Department, Kay County Now Has 28 Prisoners It Has To Spend A Big Chunk Of Money On To Prosecute And Incarcerate)
Failure - DARE To End Ineffective Anti-Drug Program In Houston (A Staff Editorial In 'The Houston Chronicle' Endorses Ending The Drug Abuse Resistance Education Program, Which Several Studies Have Found To Be Ineffective Or Worse - The 63 Police Officers It Costs $3.7 Million A Year To Send Out To Teach 27,000 Houston Fifth-Graders And 24,000 Seventh-Graders Should Be Out Patrolling Unsafe Neighborhoods)
Crack Cocaine Babies Aren't Doomed To Failure, Studies Find - Poverty Is Main Factor In Child's Ability To Learn ('The Houston Chronicle' Belatedly Discovers That 'Crack Babies' Are A Media-Generated Myth)
No Disability Benefits For Vets Who Smoked ('The San Francisco Examiner' Says The US Veterans Administration Has Prohibited Vietnam Veterans From Receiving Disability Payments If They Develop Lung Cancer, Emphysema Or Other Diseases From Smoking The Cigarettes The Government Packed Into Their C-Rations While They Were In Service)
Mexico City Police Chief Fired Amid Scandals, Crime Rate ('The Dallas Morning News' Says Mayor Cuauhtemoc Cardenas On Friday Fired His Military-Trained Police Chief, Lt. Col. Rodolfo Debernardi, After Eight Months Of High Crime Rates And Police Department Scandals)
We Should Punish Tobacco Pedlars Too (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Canberra Times' In Australia Notes Tobacco Is Addictive And Lethal, Like Heroin, Only A Lot More People Die From Tobacco)
Bringing In The Hemp ('The Financial Post' Says Canada's First Legal Harvest Of Non-Hallucinogenic Cannabis In 60 Years Is Just Underway And Will Continue Through September, But It Will Be A Couple Of Years Before The Agricultural Community Finds Out Whether Hemp Will Reshape The Agricultural Industry)
Bytes: 80,500 Last updated: 9/23/98
