| November 19, 1997 #021 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A DrugSense publication
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
Table of Contents
| ||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
Happy Birthday 215!
| ||||||||
One Year Later Patients are Better Off, Many Officials More Accepting
by Scott Imler,
| ||||||||
It's hard to believe an entire year has gone by since California medical marijuana patients won the right to take care of themselves without fear of criminal prosecution. Harder yet to believe, is that while far from universal or uniform, the law is actually, if ploddingly, be implemented in a growing number of communities throughout the state. Hysterical prophecies of cannabis chaos and urban plantations have largely gone unfulfilled. | ||||||||
Having said that, it's important to understand that patients, their
families, and providers still face tremendous odds, particularly in those
counties that soundly defeated Proposition 215. Under the rubric of
"community standards," which we ourselves have used for five years in
defense of medical marijuana relief efforts, opponents are now laying claim
to the same privilege in an effort to block responsible implementation in
No on 215 localities. | ||||||||
Even though law enforcement abuses and municipal obstructionism are still
facts of life, to focus on what has always been, rather than what is
becoming, is to render our seven year grassroots struggle all but
meaningless. | ||||||||
While I don't want to overstate the case, many of us on the front lines
believe that, in more ways than not, Proposition 215 is working exactly as
we intended it. We have been pleasantly surprised by the constructive and
cooperative efforts of many local law enforcement agencies in assuring
individual patients are not mistreated on the beat and that community based
providers can be safe and responsible neighbors. | ||||||||
There's no doubt that much work remains to insure that all legitimate
California patients are able to access medical marijuana safely and
affordably. To this end 38 community based organizations recently gathered
in Santa Cruz for the first ever Conference of Medical Marijuana Providers.
Our purpose was to establish statewide standards and guidelines for the
legal and ethical distribution of medical marijuana to qualified
individuals. Twenty eight of the groups signed an Affirmation of Principles
and Guidelines which will be used as the basis for ongoing discussions and
cooperation among the various providers and start-ups. | ||||||||
By all accounts, the Conference was a worthwhile effort. Even Attorney
General Lungen's office responded to our conference invitation. While
politely declining to send a representative, they did call, said they
appreciated the approach we were taking, and asked us to keep them informed
of our progress. | ||||||||
On the federal level, it is significant that the National Academy of
Sciences Institute of Medicine will visit several of California's buyers'
clubs next month as part of McCaffrey's 18 month, one million dollar review
of the medical marijuana record. | ||||||||
From "not a shred of scientific evidence" -- to visiting the buyers' clubs.
What a difference a year can make. | ||||||||
At the risk of seeming naive, if there's a lesson in any of this for patients, it might be that we have more to gain through rational communication with our former adversaries than we have to gain from the continuous irrational comments of our long term allies. | ||||||||
May we all find the courage and candor to try something new in the pursuit
of justice. | ||||||||
Scott Imler runs the Los Angles Cannabis Buyer's Club. His email address is
| ||||||||
He was active in the campaign for Proposition 215. | ||||||||
| ||||||||
WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||
| ||||||||
Drugs And Our Youth
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional Republicans hope to press ahead next
year with their agenda including fighting crime, changing the tax code, and
reforming the Internal Revenue Service, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate
said Saturday. | ||||||||
Oklahoma Sen. Don Nickles said that his party had achieved some of its goals in the past year and would continue "to improve Americans' quality of life." | ||||||||
In the weekly Republican radio address, Nickles reviewed some of the work done by Congress in the 1997 session, which ended Thursday night. He said the high points included the balanced budget agreement and tax cuts. | ||||||||
Next year, goals would include IRS reform because "abuses by the IRS are
D-O-A in a Republican Congress," he said. | ||||||||
"No law-abiding American should live in fear of government," he said. He
also called for revision of a tax code, created by Congress, that is so
complex "it is hard not to make mistakes."
| ||||||||
He said Republicans would stress education, including making schools safer.
Crime-fighting was also a priority. | ||||||||
"Republicans will fight to put violent offenders behind bars, prevent
criminals from buying guns, and clean up the juvenile justice system," he
said. | ||||||||
Nickles said that illegal drug use "has dramatically increased among high school students" during the Clinton administration. He said Republicans would work to reduce teen drug abuse as well as teen smoking next year. | ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
Editors note: Same story, two different newspapers. Note the differences. | ||||||||
LA Times
| ||||||||
SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS STUDENTS' STRIP SEARCHES
| ||||||||
WASHINGTON--The strip search of two 8-year-old Alabama schoolgirls over a missing $7 did not so clearly violate the Constitution's ban on "unreasonable searches" as to permit a damage suit against school officials, according to a ruling that the Supreme Court let stand Monday. | ||||||||
The case illustrates how more conservative federal judges have shrunk the
scope of individual rights and given public officials a broader shield from
damage suits. | ||||||||
In general, public officials cannot be sued for damages in federal court unless they violate a "clearly established" constitutional right. | ||||||||
| ||||||||
International News
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
Canada has become a mellow nation where even the middle-aged believe that
smoking marijuana should not be a crime. | ||||||||
With the aging of the generation that proclaimed an extravagant commitment to sex and drugs and rock 'n roll, 51 per cent of Canadians - a wafer thin majority - say having the drug should not be a criminal offence. | ||||||||
| ||||||||
Medical Marijuana
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
THOUSAND OAKS--Just down the street from Marie Callender's in the Village
Oaks office complex, Andrea Nagy is quietly dispensing marijuana to
customers she says are sick and dying. | ||||||||
But that quiet will probably end, because city officials pledged Thursday to
shut down the county's first cannabis buyers club. | ||||||||
Nagy, 27, a legal secretary who smokes marijuana to ease the pain of chronic migraines, said that voters' approval of Proposition 215 last year allowed her to dispense marijuana for treating medical conditions. | ||||||||
"I'm not doing anything illegal," she said. | ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
State Attorney General Dan Lungren called "enlightened" a San Mateo County
proposal to issue identity cards to patients using medical marijuana, making
it easier to smoke or grow pot without fear of arrest. | ||||||||
The plan, Lungren said, is "a far more enlightened approach than setting up
a cannabis buyers' club."
| ||||||||
His comments came as a county counsel report released Thursday advised the board of supervisors to reject as illegal a request to open a private marijuana dispensary in the North Fair Oaks district of unincorporated Redwood City. The county imposed a 45-day ban on the dispensary Oct. 7, and its applicant, Salvador Garcia, has called for a "Lift the Ban" rally at next Tuesday's meeting by patients, doctors and supporters. | ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
| ||||||||
ACTOR, "MURPHY BROWN": Brought you something. | ||||||||
CANDICE BERGEN, ACTRESS: What? Is this what I think it is? | ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
(END VIDEO CLIP)
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
ROGER COSSACK, CO-HOST: Marijuana has many names -- pot, weed, Mary Jane,
reefer -- but can it be called "medicine?"
| ||||||||
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
| ||||||||
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I only smoke when I hurt, when I can't eat, when the
nausea is almost too much. | ||||||||
(END VIDEO CLIP)
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Drug Enforcement Administrator Thomas Constantine can
take another drag on the marijuana-themed "Waiting to Inhale" seg of "Murphy
Brown," which aired Nov. 5 in the series' usual Wednesday 8:30 p.m. CBS
slot. | ||||||||
It's now being plotted for an unusual Monday night replay Nov. 24. | ||||||||
Among other things, the DEA's Constantine had said the seg "trivialized drug
abuse."
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
Robert B. Zurier, MD, To Present Findings At American College of
Rheumatology Conference, Nov. 10
| ||||||||
Atlantic Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq SmallCap: ATLC) announced today that
its proprietary lead compound CT-3 has shown anti-inflammatory activity in
pre-clinical animal studies that modeled the effects of arthritis. CT-3 is a
non-psychoactive synthetic derivative of a metabolite of
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a psychoactive compound found in cannabis
(marijuana). The study was led by University of Massachusetts Professor of
Medicine Robert B. Zurier, MD, who will report his findings today at the
61st National Scientific Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology in
Washington, D.C. | ||||||||
In several studies, oral administration of CT-3 was found to have a potent effect in reducing inflammation in laboratory animals. "Together with CT-3's previously demonstrated pain-relieving action, these findings suggest that CT-3 could ultimately be a very useful drug if these therapeutic effects can be replicated in future human clinical trials," stated J. D. Lindjord, President and Chief Executive Officer of Atlantic Pharmaceuticals. | ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
By Julie Makinen Bowles
| ||||||||
Chet Layman was 9 years old when a teenage driver hit him head-on while he
was helping a friend deliver newspapers on his bicycle. The 1972 accident
left him comatose for 29 days, severely damaged his optic nerve and caused
him to lose 90 percent of his field of vision. | ||||||||
The legally blind Layman, now a 34-year-old Northwest Washington resident,
still gets severe headaches sometimes. He has tried numerous prescription
drugs to relieve the intense pain, but he finds that only one thing really
works: marijuana. | ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
VOTERS wisely rejected Initiative 685, the sweeping drug-policy reform
measure. But the need persists for responsible laws allowing medicinal use
of marijuana. | ||||||||
Some opponents of the measure said they would have supported a more narrowly drawn plan to ensure the safe delivery and legal use of pot strictly for pain relief. They should now join with patients, doctors, clergy, researchers and concerned others in a focused fight for medical marijuana. | ||||||||
A bill is now moving through Congress that would reform federal drug laws to
allow medical use of marijuana as a pain reliever. But the battle must
continue on both national and state levels. In Washington state, an effort
to pass a narrow bill legalizing medical pot for the terminally ill promises
to divide Republicans in the next legislative session. | ||||||||
| ||||||||
Needle Exchange
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
Trying to save lives and slow the spread of HIV by giving out clean needles is a crime in New Jersey punishable by a fine and a six-month driver's license suspension. That was the decision handed down Nov. 7 in New Brunswick by Judge Joyce E. Munkacsi of the Superior Court Law Division. | ||||||||
The defendants were Diana McCague and Thomas Scozzare, who had been arrested
one cold night in April of 1996 while doing their lifesaving work in New
Brunswick. They were volunteers with the Chai Harm Reduction Project,
courageously following their consciences, while much of the rest of New
Jersey was ignoring the spread of the deadly AIDS... | ||||||||
| ||||||||
Trials & Sentencing
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
Medicinal marijuana proponent Todd McCormick, a cancer patient arrested in
July for allegedly growing thousands of pot plants in a rented house in
Bel-Air, pleaded not guilty Monday to federal drug charges. Kirill Dyjine,
an alleged accomplice of McCormick also known as Hermes Zygott, also pleaded
not guilty in federal court in Los Angeles to an identical charge of
manufacturing 4,116 marijuana plants, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Fernando L.
Aenlle-Rocha.
| ||||||||
Joel Isaacson, an attorney for McCormick, said Monday that he plans to file
a motion this week asking for a modification of the terms of McCormick's
bail. Isaacson hopes the court will allow his client to take a prescribed
medication containing a synthetic version of the painkillers active in
marijuana. McCormick, 27, has said he cultivated pot plants to fight pain
from the cancer he has had since childhood. McCormick's trial is set for
Dec. 9.
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
By Thomas Frank
| ||||||||
Nov. 11 - Colorado can no longer afford exponential increases in prison spending and should consider reducing sentences for non-violent crimes, including drug and traffic offenses, Gov. Roy Romer said Monday. | ||||||||
That idea has been quietly uttered in the statehouse hallways by a number of legislators and drug treatment experts ever since new sentencing laws were passed in 1985 and began producing huge increases in spending for construction and staffing of prisons to house non-violent offenders. | ||||||||
| ||||||||
War on Drugs
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
The Ohio Supreme Court issued a ruling yesterday that is expected to stop or
drastically reduce the police use of routine traffic stops as a ploy to
search vehicles for drugs. | ||||||||
Reconsidering a Dayton case sent back by the U.S. Supreme Court, the
justices voted 5-2 that evidence found from such searches must be thrown out
in most cases even if a motorist consents to a search. | ||||||||
Columbus lawyer Harry R. Reinhart, president of the Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said the court recognized that people are intimidated by police and often do not realize they can say "no." | ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
Herndon, Va.--(Business Wire)--Nov. 13, 1997--The rapidly growing field of on-site drug abuse screening took a significant step forward with the FDA granting 510(k) clearance for the Fingerprint Drug Screening Device(TM). | ||||||||
The innovative device provides the first permanent record and eliminates
chain of custody issues by effectively linking sample results to an
identifiable fingerprint of the donor. | ||||||||
Developed and marketed by Point of Care Technologies Inc. (Point of Care),
the rapid non-instrument assay was created to detect the presence of illicit
drugs in urine while combating the dispute surrounding drug test
identification. | ||||||||
"Our product solves deficiencies in the current drug screening process," stated Michael R. Pratt, Point of Care president and CEO. "It is the only answer to the chain of custody dilemma that has been haunting both law enforcement officials and the judicial Point of Care president and CEO. | ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
By John L. Kane Jr., U.S. Senior District Judge
| ||||||||
Nearly everyone is disenchanted with the U.S. criminal justice system, which is seen as excessively expensive, conceptually confused, increasingly unfair and pervasively ineffectual. Social scientists espouse views wedded to determinism, insisting that now this and now that social dynamic biological condition or psychological force causes criminal behavior and that self control has little, if anything, to do with one's conduct. | ||||||||
Politicians leap from captious harangues to capricious remedies without
reflection or inspiration. Frustrated citizens cling to the fundamental
ideals that individuals are responsible for their acts and must be held
accountable. | ||||||||
Lawyers and jurists quibble about balancing these interests, taking great
care to avoid any moral judgment so that all viewpoints - even the
contradictory - may enjoy the illusion of relevance and predominance. The
process twists and distorts language to the extent that a "life sentence"
means temporary confinement, and "life without parole" means daily work
release and unescorted furloughs. Flawed studies and statistics are used to
promote whatever policy is in vogue. | ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
Hoover Institution conference discusses drug legalization. | ||||||||
Local police chiefs, renowned criminologists and sociologists gathered at
the Hoover Institution last week to hear why America's war on drugs has been
a failure and to discuss new ways to tackle the nation's drug
problem--including the possibility of legalization. | ||||||||
The conference, convened by Hoover Institution scholar and former San Jose
police chief Joseph McNamara, included input from luminaries such as former
Secretary of State George Shultz, Nobel Prize-winner Milton Friedman and
former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese. The object of the conference,
panelists said, was to promote informed dialogue about alternative drug
policies. | ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
A sentencing weapon Congress intended for use against drug loards is being
wielded against other defendants. Judges and others say this has diminshed
legal fairness. | ||||||||
WASHINGTON--Jose Caba considered himself a hard-working, law-abiding man, an
immigrant who built a business selling groceries in a poor Brooklyn
neighborhood. | ||||||||
But when he started illegally redeeming food stamps and depositing the
proceeds into a bank account, prosecutors thought otherwise. They accused
him of money laundering and sought a harsh sentence. | ||||||||
Caba, who thought he was only bending administrative rules, isn't the kind
of criminal Congress had in mind when it decided to give prosecutors a
weapon to bring down powerful drug lords. Nevertheless, he is one of a
growing number of defendants who commit routine fraud and find themselves
facing big-time charges of money laundering. | ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
WASHINGTON, Nov 7 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen on Friday
rejected as "excessive" a demand by White House drug policy chief Barry
McCaffrey to increase the Pentagon's 1999 counter-narcotics budget by $141
million. | ||||||||
McCaffrey, an Army general, on Thursday "decertified" the Pentagon's
proposed $809 million budget for the war on drugs, including aid to Latin
American nations to halt smuggling. | ||||||||
Under the National Narcotics Leadership Act, McCaffrey's Office of National
Drug Control Policy is empowered to review drug budgets of each department
and certify whether they are adequate to implement the president's anti-drug
policy. | ||||||||
| ||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||
| ||||||||
DrugSense Weekly Retraction and Explanation
| ||||||||
The November 12 edition of the DrugSense Weekly has a URL on www.DARE.org - Please see the explanation and update from Nick at Calyx below as to what is happening regarding this URL and why it no longer works. | ||||||||
In the newest version of drugsense weekly, you have a little blurb about
DARE.org - unfortunately DARE took the domain name away from me despite my
arranging for legal representation on my part in the matter. Now because of
the dispute, InterNIC has put the domain name permanantly on hold, so you
can't hit the website anymore. | ||||||||
Domain Name: DARE.ORG
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
DRUGSENSE TIP OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||
| ||||||||
World AIDS Day, December 1st
| ||||||||
The National Coalition to Save Lives Now!, a network of over 200 AIDS, needle exchange, religious, civil-rights and other organizations, is asking everyone concerned about the epidemic spread of AIDS in our nation to fast for 24 hours on World AIDS Day, December 1st, in solidarity with those at risk for HIV. The personal sacrifice reflects the determination of participants to offset the negligence of our federal elected leadership. | ||||||||
We cannot allow HIV to spread, while there are acknowledged, effective
prevention measures, without demonstrating in a deeply personal manner the
impact of AIDS on ourselves and o |