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DrugSense Weekly
September 1997 #010

A DrugSense publication

http://www.drugsense.org


Table of Contents

* Breaking News (03/28/24)


* Feature Article

       ~ George Soros and Drug Policy Reform by Dr. Tom O'Connell 
* Weekly News In Review

~ Drug Czar
Drug Trafficker Threatens McCaffrey
~ Great Britain
Prince Charles Backs Police Foundation Inquiry Into Drug
      Law Reform 
~ Initiatives
Arizona, State Medical Marijuana Law On Ballot in 98
WA: I-685 Campaign for Smarter Drug Control Policy Begins
~ Medical Marijuana
Lungren Backs Study on Medical Marijuana Use
~ Militarization
U.S.  seeks neighbors 'OK to intercept drugs
FBI to Probe Border Shooting
~ Sentencing
Chicago Tribune Op-Ed, Crack-Powder Sentencing Disparity
~ Soros
TIME Cover Story: Turning Dollars Into Change
~ The War on Drugs
OPED: Drug war lost to wishful thinking
OPED: A Tale of Two Wars
New Voices Seek to Lower Volume in Drug Debate
* Hot Off The 'Net

Web Site for Washington Initiative
New York Times Asks Your Opinion on Web Site
* DrugSense Tip of the Week

Do more than write: speak of drug war injustice whenever you can
Follow the example of the November Coalition

FEATURE ARTICLE     (Top)


George Soros and Drug Policy Reform
by Tom O'Connell, MD, Member, Board of Directors DrugSense


A favorite debate among historians is the relative importance of individuals versus impersonal historic forces in shaping the ultimate outcome of events-the importance of Lincoln to the outcome of the Civil War, for example.  Today the same question could well be asked about the importance of George Soros to the eventual shape of American drug policy in the next century. 

By now, most informed Americans are aware that the Hungarian born financier-philanthropist has established a foundation for the purpose of exploring alternatives to traditional drug policy and also played such a critical role in the passage of Propositions 215 and 200 in California and Arizona that he was labeled "the Daddy Warbucks of the legalization movement" by an irritated Joseph Califano. 

Beyond his critical financial contributions Soros' real importance may be the mere fact that he is an outspoken drug war critic.  He correctly notes that drug issues have become such a political third rail that only those who are not public officials and enjoy financial independence can afford to voice open opposition.  Such people have been in short supply in the past, and even when meeting those qualifications, critics lacking Soros' money have not been able to command much attention in a country where the media has been an all too willing agent in the government's demonization of drugs.  Many Americans who have concluded the drug war is a failure, yet have been afraid to vocalize the extent of their opposition, now feel empowered when a wealthy and outspoken critic who can appear on the cover of Time magazine and have his opposition to the status quo treated in balanced and thoughtful fashion by the feature article inside that cover. 

Using data from the same Time article, we find that Soros' fifteen million dollar contribution to drug policy studies is dwarfed by his earlier funding of free markets and democratic institutions in Eastern Europe.  It is also less than five percent of projected federal spending for drug war propaganda in this year's ONDCP budget.  Those within the reform movement also know that contributions from far less affluent funders for a variety of drug policy reform projects is at an all time high.  So we see that although undeniably important, welcome, and most of all, timely, it is not George Soros' money which may prove historically decisive, it's his courage to speak out and the ability of his wealth to command respectful attention to what he has to say. 


WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW     (Top)


Drug Czar

Subj:   Sources: Drug Trafficker Threatens McCaffrey
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v97.n196.a05.html
Pubdate:   Thu, 28 Aug 1997

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Sources in the national office of drug control policy told The Associated Press today that a Mexican drug trafficker placed a call to the FBI threatening to kill chief Gen.  Barry McCaffrey.

The FBI and military officials considered the threat serious and credible, the highly placed sources within the drug policy office said. 

The caller told the FBI field office in Texas that the murder would be carried out with a missile attack. 

The call was placed to the FBI Tuesday while McCaffrey was in Laredo, Texas. 

"This is the first threat of this kind the general has ever received," two unnamed sources said. 

US officials notified Mexican officials and both were providing additional security for McCaffrey. 


Great Britain

Subj:   Prince Charles backs inquiry into softening drug laws
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v97.n202.a08.html
Pubdate:   August 26 1997
Source:   Daily Mail (UK)
contact :

Charles backs inquiry into softening drug laws

by Steve Doughty, Social Affairs Correspondent

Prince Charles has personally approved a high-powered inquiry into drugs which is likely to propose sweeping reforms of the law. 

The inquiry, set up by the influential Police Foundation think tank, will examine the possibility of making drug use legal in an attempt to end the spiral of crime and misery surrounding dealers and users. 

The Prince, who is president of the foundation, gave his assent to the investigation and approved the use of cash from his Prince's Trust charity to pay for it. 

The inquiry, to be conducted by a 13-strong committee including lawyers, academics and senior police officers, has been likened to an unofficial Royal commission. 


Initiatives

Subj:   Arizona, State Medical Marijuana Law Wins Spot on 1998 Ballot
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v97.n200.a01.html
Pubdate:   29 Aug 1997
Source:   Phoenix Gazette

State 'Medical Marijuana' Law Wins Spot on 1988 Ballot

PHOENIX:   Arizona's controversial law allowing doctors to prescribe
marijuana, heroin and other illegal drugs to critically ill patients is headed back to the voters. 

The Secretary of State's Office said Tuesday that the so-called medical marijuana law, approved last year by voters but gutted by the Legislature, will be placed on the November 1998 general election ballot.  A related measure aimed at repealing a new law establishing special drug courts also will be on the ballot. 

State officials said they have verified about 80,000 signatures of registered voters for each measure, far more than the 56,481 needed. 

The medical marijuana law called for legalizing marijuana and other illegal drugs for use by patients if two licensed physicians offer supporting research.  It also sought to establish a probation and treatment program for non-violent drug offenders. 


Subj:   WA: I-685 Campaign for Smarter Drug Control Policy Begins
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v97.n196.a04.html
Pubdate:   Thu, 28 Aug 1997

Initiative 685 Campaign for Smarter Drug Control Policy Begins

SEATTLE, Aug.  28 /PRNewswire/ -- Citizens for Drug Policy Reform (CDPR), a broad coalition of doctors, patients, educators, public health specialists, the clergy and concerned citizens today launched the campaign for Initiative 685 -- an historic drug policy reform measure. 

At a news conference in Seattle, CDPR spokesman and petitioner Dr.  Rob Killian, MC/MPH, said, "Initiative 685 acknowledges the sad truth -- that the so-called 'war on drugs' is failing.  It brings some urgently needed common sense to a debate that has for too long been driven by fear-mongering and political expediency." Killian, a Tacoma physician, is part of a growing, nationwide movement of citizens from all walks of life who now realize that drug abuse is a public health crisis -- better and more cost-effectively addressed through treatment and education than through incarceration. 

Officially known as the Drug Medicalization and Prevention Act of 1997, I-685 re-focuses current Washington State drug policy toward "medicalization." It does not legalize, decriminalize or allow distribution of any drug.  It prescribes drug treatment or education programs for those convicted of simple possession charges and gives judges the discretion, on a case-by-case basis, to release minor offenders for court-supervised drug treatment.  Such release is not available to those with a violent criminal history or to anyone already serving time for another crime.  Those convicted of committing violent crimes while on drugs must serve their full sentence. 


Medical Marijuana

Subj:   Lungren Backs Study on Medical Marijuana Use
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v97.n193.a08.html
Pubdate:   August 27, 1997
Source:   Los Angeles Times Page 1
Contact:  
Fax:   213-237-4712

Lungren Backs Study on Medical Marijuana Use
Eric Bailey, Times Staff Writer

SACRAMENTO--Atty.  Gen. Dan Lungren, the most vocal critic of California's new medical marijuana law, announced his support Tuesday for a $3-million research program intended to settle the decades-long dispute over the drug's benefits and failings for the ill. 

The decision by the state's conservative top lawman to back a bill by liberal state Sen.  John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara) unifies two political opposites who have clashed repeatedly over medical marijuana.  Although hundreds of studies have been conducted on marijuana since it was declared illegal in 1937, most of that research has been dismissed either by fans or foes of the drug as being biased.  Lungren, a gubernatorial hopeful who boasts a long history as an anti-drug warrior, decided to back Vasconcellos' bill only after it had been sufficiently modified to ensure that the state-funded research, slated to be conducted over three years by the University of California, would be unassailably objective.  "California needs a definitive study," Lungren said at a news conference.  "I do not fear the findings of an unbiased research project."


Militarization

Subj:   U.S.  seeks neighbors'OK to intercept drugs
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v97.n193.a01.html
Pubdate:   8-27-97
Source:   Orange County Register-news,page 22
Contact:  ()

Reuters

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica-The United States wants to send military planes and warships to Central America and the Caribbean to help local police forces intercept drug shipments,Costa Rica's security minister said Tuesday. 

The far-reaching plan aims to expand upon intelligence-sharing agreements that the United States already has with many countries in the region, Security Minister Laura Chinchilla said. 

Washington has asked countries in the region to allow U.S.  warships and planes to use their territorial waters and airspace to track down other vessels and aircraft suspected of carrying drugs. 


Subj:   FBI to Probe Border Shooting
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v97.n199.a01.html
Source:   Dallas Morning News
Pubdate:   Sat, 30 Aug 1997
Contact:  
(Douglas Holt)
http://www.dallasnews.com

FBI upgrades probe into border shooting

Full civil rights investigation planned in Marine's slaying of teen, agent says

By Douglas Holt / The Dallas Morning News

EL PASO - The FBI has been given "carte blanche" to pursue a civil rights investigation into the shooting of an 18-year-old shepherd on the border by a Marine on a drug surveillance mission, an FBI official said Friday. 

After receiving the FBI's preliminary investigation of the May 20 death of Esequiel "Zeke" Hernandez, Department of Justice lawyers in Washington told the FBI this week to upgrade its inquiry into a "full-field" investigation, said Terry Kincaid, the FBI resident agent-in-charge in Midland. 


Sentencing

Subj:   Crack-Powder Sentencing
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v97.n193.a04.html
Source:   Chicago Tribune
Contact:  
Pubdate:   Wed, 27 Aug 1997
http://www.chicago.tribune.com/news/archive/

"Disparity in Crack and Powder Cocaine Sentencing"

By Eric E.  Sterling

Eric E.  Sterling helped write the crack cocaine mandatory sentences as counsel to the House Judiciary Committee in 1986. 

The debate about crack and powder cocaine sentencing misses the big picture.  In 1986, Congress gave the U.S. Justice Department a powerful tool to attack high-level drug traffickers--mandatory minimum prison sentences.  Since then, 95 percent of the crack dealers sent to federal prison have not been high-level dealers.  More than 60 percent have been bodyguards, couriers or street-level operators--the low-level offenders. 


Soros

Subj:   George Soros
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v97.n192.a05.html
Pubdate:   1 September 1997 Vol.150 No.  8
Source:   TIME Magazine, Cover Story

Turning Dollars Into Change
William Shawcross
Savvy financier George Soros gave away $1 billion in Europe.  Now he's turned homeward with some unusual ideas and deep pockets

LONDON Great philanthropists often follow a simple formula: 1) make billions of dollars in ways that stir controversy and occasional outpourings of ire; 2) give much of it away to marble-plaqued institutions like colleges and libraries so that public revulsion gradually melts into reverence. 

George Soros got the first part right.  As a detached and mysterious currency speculator, he made billions by moving markets in a manner that made him a whipping boy for besieged bankers and ministers.  In one famous week in 1992, he made $1 billion betting against the British pound, earning him the grudging title of the Man Who Broke the Bank of England.  This summer Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad accused him of being a criminal.  He said Soros the speculator had attacked Southeast Asian currencies to punish their governments for admitting the Burmese military regime--which Soros the humanitarian opposes--to asean, a regional political and trade organization. 


The War on Drugs

Subj:   Drug war lost to wishful thinking
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v97.n200.a05.html
Pubdate:   Sun, 31 Aug 1997
Source:   Houston Chronicle, page 3C, op-ed page
Contact:  

Drug war lost to wishful thinking
Jerry Epstein

The government continues to rely on P.T.  Barnum's belief (apparently correct) that there is another sucker born every minute.  A front-page article in the Aug.  26 Chronicle noted, "U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey came to this border city Monday and vowed to enlist Mexico's help in a war he predicts can be won in a decade."

Sure:   The same logic that created Mexico's drug lords and helped them grow
to control 8 percent of the world's illegal drug market will now destroy them.  During alcohol prohibition, an IRS man responsible for stopping the flow of alcohol was quoted, "Soon we will live in a world that knows not alcohol."


Subj:   OPED; A tale of Two Wars
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v97.n201.a03.html
Source:   Los Angeles Times
Contact:  
Pubdate:   Sun, 31 Aug 1997

A Tale of Two Wars
By Robert A.  Jones

We don't have a drug war in America.  We have drug wars. One war gets waged against kids and street creeps.  It's a tough war. You don't want to get caught in that one.  An entirely different war gets fought against malefactors who happen to be ballplayers, politicians or anyone whose face appears on TV.  This is a softy war, a pretend war. Lately, Southern California has produced wonderful examples of these
different wars playing themselves out.  First and foremost, of course, is the case of City Councilman Mike Hernandez.  We got to watch on TV as Hernandez toted his baggie across an apartment parking lot, then climbed into his city-purchased car, where the cops say he engaged in a curious sniffing behavior.  This ritual continued for weeks, the cops say. So what are the consequences for Hernandez? First he gets
showered with love--not even tough love!--from his fellow council members, none of whom raise the question of whether Hernandez is fit for office.  Jackie Goldberg calls his problem an "illness" and takes the occasion to scold "American society" about its failure to "grow up" on the drug issue.  When it turns out that Hernandez could, indeed, be forced from office by a rule that requires leave-taking of anyone convicted of a felony, the appropriate loophole is found.  Hernandez can't be "convicted" if he pleads guilty to the felony, see? Everyone seems delighted with this moral wiggle and assumes Hernandez will employ it successfully as soon as he emerges from rehab. 


Subj:   OPED;New Voice in Drug Debate Seeks to Lower Volume
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v97.n201.a08.html
Pubdate:   September 1, 1997
Source:   New York Times
Contact:  

New Voice in Drug Debate Seeks to Lower Volume
Christopher Wren

When Robert MacCoun, a psychologist at the University of California at Berkeley, set out to analyze American perceptions about illegal drug use, he found himself treading a political minefield. 

"I was stunned at how emotional the debate is," MacCoun said.  "The emotions are very understandable -- drugs can cause a lot of serious harm to society.  But I think the emotions have made it hard to talk about solutions in an effective way."

Now a group of 34 scientists, drug-policy experts and public officials, MacCoun among them, is moving to stake out the middle ground in the drug debate by asserting that while drugs should not be made legal, the policies adopted to prevent their use have sometimes done more harm than good. 


HOT OFF THE 'NET     (Top)


The Campaign for Initiative 685 formally began this week.  (See, news digest above or go to: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v97.n196.a04.html for the full story.) In addition to the announcement of the campaign, they unveiled their website.  Modeled after the Arizona initiative which passed with 65 percent support in November 1996, Prop.  685 will be voted on this November in Washington State.  If passed Prop. 685 would release non-violent drug offenders from prison, forbid incarceration for drug possession and allow doctors to prescribe all Schedule I drugs, including marijuana.  The initiative emphasizes the role of health professionals in drug control and de-emphasizes the role of police.  Their website is located at: http://www.eventure.com/I685/


There is a new on-line forum at the NY Times webpage called Drug Policy.  The Times wants to hear your views.  To urge the reform message go to: male2('href="http://forum.nytimes.com/webin/webx?13@','.ee901f2">http://forum.nytimes.com')/webin/webx?13@@.ee901f2

Let The Times -- the newspaper of record in the United States -- know what you think. 

You may be required to register with The Times webpage to participate.  There is no charge for this and it will allow you to search The New York Times website in the future for news articles. 


DRUGSENSE TIP OF THE WEEK     (Top)

Our DrugSense Tip of the Week comes from Nora Callahan the organizer of the November Coalition.  (You should visit their website at: http://www.november.org) This is a group that highlights the prisoners of the war on drugs.  Through a story Nora demonstrates to us the importance of speaking out about the injustices of the drug war at every opportunity.  Many DrugSense/MAP volunteers are members of professional or trade associations, go to parties, conferences and family gatherings.  Find opportunities to speak about the drug war and urge people to come to our web site: http://www.drugsense.org


An Airport Search Leads to a Drug War Conversation
Nora Callahan

Dr.  Rob Killian invited me to take part in the press conference held today in Seattle to kick off the Initiative 685 Drug Medicalization and Prevention Act (Washington State).  Yesterday I purchased a "turn around ticket".  I returned to the airport and took an earlier flight home as there were plenty of seats available. 

The Alaska airlines ticketing agent asked, "Do you have any luggage to check?"

"No."

"Any carry on's?"

"No," I replied. 

"Just your purse?"

"Yes," I said.  "Are you a member of our frequent flyer plan?"

"No," I said, "but maybe I should be."

The agent then produced a long white tag saying, "Please bring your purse onto the counter.  We are searching all purses today."

He placed the tag on my purse and told me that it would be searched. 

Now doesn't this make perfect sense? Well, maybe there's been some terrorist threat I was thinking with dread. 

It became obvious in the security check point that not all purses were being checked that day.  Only mine that I could see. I realized that I'd fit the "profile" of what the FAA is pressured by the DEA to watch for.  All the contents were emptied out and a terribly embarrassed woman began to go through my belongings- my wallet with $20 in it and I wondered if there had been $500 would I have that money tonight? Or just a receipt? My make-up bag .  . . and then my empty purse was xrayed again.

The whole time this invasive process was going on I was saying, "Now isn't this ridiculous? I know that you are looking for money or drugs because I purchased a turn around ticket only yesterday.  But you see, if I was carrying drugs you could have me arrested for, or cash you would like to confiscate - I wouldn't have left them in my purse.  But I am not smuggling drugs - I am simply an American citizen being violated right now because of the War on some Drugs."

I repeated this loudly so that the people who were watching my personal belongings scattered all over the table could know what all this is about. 

I steamed on the plane and before leaving I stopped to talk to the pilots.  They invited me into the cockpit. 

"Listen guys," I said.  "I know that this situation isn't your fault, but you have meetings now and then I'm sure.  Maybe you can pass this along. Here's what happened....  and then I continued. At work they make us pee in bottles...  at an airport you are made a spectacle because you fit a so-called "profile".  How far is this war on drugs going to take us?

Pilot #1 says, "I piss in a bottle before I fly and most likely when I deplane I will have to piss in a bottle again.  Next they will begin to draw my blood."

I said to Pilot #1, "And sir, I really don't give a damn what you do on your days off - so long as you fly this plane sober."

And he told me that not one plane crash has ever been attributed to the pilot being under the influence of drugs.  And I gave my anti-drug war speal...  one that I'd been saving for two pilots in a cockpit (just kidding).  They were really going off about how ridiculous all these intrusions were and I asked them to visit our website because intrusion become destruction for some of us - gave them a few website addresses to look up - (drcnet.org included) and they wrote them down.  And I asked these two men to help support organizations that were working for change in our current drug policy. 

Constructively I got rid of my anger - well, the part that was threatening to boil into rage.  The experience reminded me that people are beginning to realize that this war on the people isn't a war on drugs - and malcontents are everywhere...  even in cockpits.


DS Weekly is just another of the many free services DrugSense offers our members.  Watch this feature to learn more about what DrugSense can do for you.

Senior Editor: Mark Greer,

We wish to thank each and every one of our contributors. 

Mark Greer
Media Awareness Project (MAP) inc. 
d/b/a DrugSense

http://www.DrugSense.org/


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