| Oct. 14, 1998 #68 | ||||||||||||||
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A DrugSense publication | ||||||||||||||
This newsletter is available online at: | ||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||
How to Win | ||||||||||||||
It seems to me that our movement needs a template on how to end the
drug war. | ||||||||||||||
To me it has always been a fairly simple plan that is difficult to
implement. Our objectives need to be the dissemination of honest,
accurate, facts about drugs and drug policy to largest possible
audience. That is all that is required to win. Intransigent politicians
and arcane laws will drop like rotten apples once the public knows the
truth. | ||||||||||||||
If we could snap our fingers tomorrow and the entire nation was reading the DrugSense Weekly every week or had read "Drug Crazy" or "Marijana Myths Marijauna Facts" or if every American had "Shattered Lives" as a coffee table book the drug war would be over in a matter of months. | ||||||||||||||
The problem of course is that we are battling a huge, entrenched, and
well funded propaganda machine dedicated to keeping the average citizen
afraid, dumbed down, uninformed, and buying into the foolishness that
"drugs are bad so the drug war must be good." | ||||||||||||||
So how do we make this huge transition from inaccurate propaganda and a
brainwashed public, to a populace that is at least moderately aware of
the facts science, logic, and reason pertaining to the "War on Drugs?"
There are a number of tools that we can use to slay Goliath. Most
already exist but need expanding and more important the public needs a
broad awareness of the truth. The tools to accomplish this include
media activism, volunteerism, and most important the Internet,
information archives, and Email. | ||||||||||||||
The Drug Library at: http://www.druglibrary.org/ | ||||||||||||||
... and a hundred other sites have provided the information database. | ||||||||||||||
Now it is time to make the leap from preaching to a relatively small choir and to dramatically increase our impact by using these resources to influence the media and thereby educating the public. | ||||||||||||||
We have accomplished truly amazing things over the last few years but
we have barely begun on the full scale frontal assault that will result
in the education of an entire nation. The Media Awareness Project, DRC,
DPF, Lindesmith and the efforts of many other effective reform
organizations have begun to move the mountain of disinformation. Now
it's time to pull out the stops and to begin sharing this information
with the millions who have never even thought of the drug war as a
problem. They are there for the taking. The vast majority of the
American public is little more than one or two rational conversations
or articles away from being pro reform. | ||||||||||||||
This is not an essay with all the answers. It is a call for ideas. We
are heading in the right direction but it is crucial that we make the
jump from being a relatively obscure and small albeit effective and
timely movement to being a mainstream discussion and concern on the
lips and minds of our entire population. | ||||||||||||||
Articles and ideas on how we take the next step from a few thousand
dedicated reformers to millions of aware informed and involved citizens
are hereby requested and encouraged. The best will be published in this
newsletter or, if more appropriate, be discussed in some of the behind
the scenes strategy groups. | ||||||||||||||
To date we have done a very respectable job of creating the tools,
preparing ourselves for the coming battle and educating dedicated
reformers. It's time to start providing these tools and information to
Mr. and Mrs. Middle Class America. | ||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||
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Drug Policy Issues- COMMENT: (Top) | ||||||||||||||
Amnesty International's report criticizing American police and
incarceration abuses hasn't yet received detailed comment from
official government sources. AI's failure to specify the drug war as
an important engine of those abuses serves to call attention to the
policy's "Sacred Cow" status. | ||||||||||||||
There was a rebuke issued to AI from an unexpected Canadian source,
but in general, press response to their charges could be described as
muted. | ||||||||||||||
Two separate, but related reports on adolescent substance use appeared last week: the CDC offered an evaluation of the effect of cigarette advertising on teen smoking, and a report from Washington state confirmed that today's teens are open to experimentation. | ||||||||||||||
Two stories on recurrent themes round out the policy news: the
ever-vigilant Supreme Court extended the ability of school boards to
withhold civil rights from both students and teachers. Also, long
after the Mercury-News left Gary Webb swinging in the wind, the CIA's
Inspector General admits there was something to the CIA-contra-crack
connection after all. Imagine that. | ||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - The world's leading human-rights group, Amnesty
International, is launching its first worldwide campaign aimed at the
United States, citing abuses such as "widespread and persistent" police
brutality, "endemic" physical and sexual violence against prisoners,
"racist" application of the death penalty and use of "high-tech
repression tools" such as electro-shock devices and incapacitating
chemical sprays. | ||||||||||||||
The London-based group kicks off a yearlong USA Campaign with the
release tomorrow of a 150-page report highlighting what Amnesty calls
an American "double standard" of criticizing human-rights abuses abroad
while not doing enough to remedy those at home. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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GLOBAL FIGHT AGAINST OPPRESSION | ||||||||||||||
New campaign against the United States for rights abuses ignores the
real brutes of the world | ||||||||||||||
Amnesty International opens a world-wide, morally sound but
realistically questionable year-long campaign against the United States
today. | ||||||||||||||
It must have its own peculiar death wish, something along the lines of
biting the hand that feeds it. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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JOE CAMEL BOOSTED SMOKING IN TEENS | ||||||||||||||
ATLANTA - The number of American youths taking up smoking as a daily
habit jumped 73 percent between Joe Camel's debut in 1988 and 1996, the
government said yesterday. | ||||||||||||||
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said tobacco ads that rely heavily on giveaways and kid-friendly cartoons are partly to blame. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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STUDENTS' SUBSTANCE USE INCREASES | ||||||||||||||
By the time Washington students graduate from high school, more than 80
percent have experimented with alcohol, more than 60 percent have smoked
cigarettes and more than half have used drugs. | ||||||||||||||
And the use of all three among adolescents is up from 1995,
according to the latest Washington State Survey of Adolescent Health
Behavior, which was released yesterday. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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TOP COURT ALLOWS WIDER TESTING FOR DRUGS IN SCHOOLS | ||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Monday gave school officials broader
authority to administer drug tests to students and to discipline teachers
who inject controversial ideas into the curriculum. | ||||||||||||||
Acting on two closely watched appeals on the first day of the court's new term, the justices dismissed a constitutional challenge to an expanded school drug-testing program in Indiana and rejected a First Amendment challenge filed on behalf of a North Carolina drama teacher. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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CIA SAID TO IGNORE CHARGES OF CONTRA DEALING IN '80S | ||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9, 1998 - Despite requests for information from Congress,
the CIA repeatedly ignored or failed to investigate allegations of drug
trafficking by the anti-Sandinista rebels of Nicaragua in the 1980s,
according to a newly declassified internal report. In a blunt and often
critical report, the CIA's inspector general determined that the agency
"did not inform Congress of all allegations or information it received
indicating that contra-related organizations or individuals were involved
in drug trafficking.'' | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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Incarcertion- | ||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (Top) | ||||||||||||||
One tangible benefit of the Amnesty International report, is that while it didn't single out the drug war specifically, its focus on law enforcement and prison issues will mean that news stories on those subjects will receive more critical scrutiny than usual. | ||||||||||||||
Wisconsin's prison issues are much in their local news; this long
article from the State Journal detailing the rapid growth in their
jail population is an indicator of major problems in the near future,
especially if tax revenues decline. A long investigative piece from
the San Jose Mercury News carries a simple basic message: over-crowded
jails and prisons can be exacerbated by several factors, not the least
of which is a self-indulgent, undisciplined Bench, addicted to long
golf week-ends. | ||||||||||||||
Also in California, home of the nation's largest prison system, fall-out from the AI report highlights the indictment of 5 Corcoran guards. To add insult to injury, in an obvious slap at the guards' union for defecting from his gubernatorial campaign, Dan Lungren, allowed yet another prison investigation to go forward. | ||||||||||||||
COUNTY JAILS GETTING CROWDED | ||||||||||||||
Most counties plan on building space for more prisoners | ||||||||||||||
County sheriffs around Wisconsin have to be part magician when it comes
to using their jails these days either they have too many rabbits in
the hat or not enough. State statistics show county jails are housing
nearly 11,500 inmates, compared to about 2,000 in 1978 and 6,000 in
1988. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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JAIL STAYS GROW WITH THE BACKLOG | ||||||||||||||
Length of time defendants are held has more than doubled in 6 years | ||||||||||||||
On a typical Friday, Santa Clara County's Hall of Justice looks like it
is going out of business. Some judges are toiling away in their
chambers, but, with the exception of a few clerks and bailiffs,
courtroom after courtroom has been abandoned. | ||||||||||||||
Despite a crushing criminal caseload, a five-month Mercury News
investigation documented that by lunch time on most Fridays, a cadre of
veteran judges, the men who hear the most notorious and heinous cases,
have left for home, are off running errands or are on their way to play
golf. | ||||||||||||||
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JURY INDICTS PRISON GUARDS | ||||||||||||||
Inmate rapes investigated | ||||||||||||||
Los Angeles Times | ||||||||||||||
FRESNO - 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 five officers, including a lieutenant, were booked at Kings County
Jail late Thursday on a variety of criminal charges including
conspiracy to aid and abet sodomy and preparing false reports. 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. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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SECOND PRISON PROBE | ||||||||||||||
Alleged abuse investigated at Susanville | ||||||||||||||
SACRAMENTO - A day after five prison guards were charged with helping to arrange the rape of an inmate at maximum-security Corcoran State Prison, Attorney General Dan Lungren on Friday announced an investigation at a second prison, High Desert State Prison near Susanville. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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Medical Marijuana | ||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (Top) | ||||||||||||||
On election day, the medical use of cannabis will be voted on in Alaska,
Arizona, Washington state, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado, and the District of
Colombia. In Nevada and Colorado, hostile state officials nearly kept the
issue off the ballot, claiming insufficient qualifying signatures. In a
bizarre twist, Colorado voters learned last week that their votes on
election day may or may not be for real. | ||||||||||||||
In Washington state, the measure, known as I-692 , picked up an important
endorsement from the Post-Intelligencer. | ||||||||||||||
Playboy afforded Dr. Grinspoon an opportunity to extol the medical
benefits of cannabis while countering the negative public image of buyers'
clubs. | ||||||||||||||
ACCOUNTING OF POT PETITIONS ORDERED | ||||||||||||||
State Supreme Court calls for signature count on marijuana
initiative | ||||||||||||||
The state Supreme Court Monday ordered a line-by-line count of petitions to
legalize marijuana for medicinal use. | ||||||||||||||
Issue 19 is already on the Nov. 3 ballot. But if the count shows too few signatures by registered voters, the election won't count. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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I-692 A PROPER USE FOR MARIJUANA | ||||||||||||||
There are two simple motives for voting yes on Initiative 692 Nov. 3. They
are compassion and common sense, two solid virtues possessed by the
majority of Washington voters. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
Removal of marijuana from the DEA's Schedule 1 list would be sensible
federal policy. In the meantime, decriminalizing the medical use of
marijuana is sensible policy for Washington state. Decisions involving
personal health and private suffering are best made by patient and
physician, not police, politicians and prosecutors. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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CANNABIS CLUBS | ||||||||||||||
On one side stand the millions of Californians who voted in favor of
Proposition 215, the 1996 referendum that approved the possession and use
of marijuana for gravely ill patients. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
On the other side stand California's politically ambitious attorney
general, Dan Lungren, and his allies in Washington: Attorney General Janet
Reno, drug czar Barry McCaffrey and President Bill Clinton. Presumably,
these agents of the war on drugs have family members who feel no pain,
whose joints function effortlessly and whose appetites are never ravaged by
serious disease. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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Recreational Marijuana | ||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (Top) | ||||||||||||||
MassCann's annual Freedom Rally on behalf of marijuana legalization
continues to be controversial, both inside and outside the reform
movement, but no one can doubt that it generates more media coverage
than any other rally- witness a long article in the Hong Kong
Standard.. | ||||||||||||||
Closer to home, those who've seen the name of Julian Heicklen in news
articles, but can't quite place it, are urged to read Tom Gibb's story
in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. A dozen Professor Heicklens, willing
to risk jail, might finally get the issue of jury nullification out of
the closet. | ||||||||||||||
RALLY CALL FOR DRUGS GOES TO POT | ||||||||||||||
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Police, who had vowed a crackdown on the 9th Annual Freedom Rally,
arrested about 40 on drug possession charges. That's far fewer than the
150 arrests at last year's event, which attracted about 10,000 more
people. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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A POT PROFESSOR'S DAY IN COURT | ||||||||||||||
BELLEFONTE, Pa.-Centre County President Judge Charles Brown paused,
delicately felt around for the right touch of understatement, then told
jurors in his courtroom yesterday they were hearing "a rather unusual
case." | ||||||||||||||
He expected something different? | ||||||||||||||
The man on trial was Julian Heicklen, retired Penn State University
chemistry professor-a man so incensed by marijuana laws that he
repeatedly showed up at the campus gate last winter, smoked joints and
preached individual rights to lunchtime crowds. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (Top) | ||||||||||||||
Last week's news from the UK tended to confirm a suspicion that as
editorial comment has become more supportive of drug policy reform,
those in charge of have become enamored of the American model of
enforcement. Drug testing of students, police "blitzes" on dealers and
forfeiture of property seem very un-British. | ||||||||||||||
Elsewhere, the story from Belize underscores the massive dimensions of
the illegal drug industry: pollution incidental to trafficking is
causing social devastation in several small nations along a trade
corridor. | ||||||||||||||
Further evidence that the illegal drug market has become just as globalized as legitimate markets is seen in the article from Vancouver describing the latest wrinkle in that city's burgeoning drug problem: use of underage illegal "immigrants" from Honduras as retail workers. | ||||||||||||||
RANDOM DRUG TESTS AT 100 INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS | ||||||||||||||
RANDOM drug testing of pupils has been introduced by more than 100 leading independent schools, the Headmasters' Conference said yesterday. | ||||||||||||||
Heads now assumed that, in line with national statistics, at least 25
per cent of their GCSE pupils had experimented with illegal drugs and
about 10 per cent took them regularly. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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POLICE CHIEFS PLAN BIGGEST BLITZ YET ON DRUG DEALERS | ||||||||||||||
McLeish heralds crackdown backed by initiatives aimed at reforming addicts | ||||||||||||||
SCOTLAND'S eight chief constables are preparing to launch the biggest
crackdown on drug dealers in the country's history. | ||||||||||||||
Police will work hand in hand this winter with customs officers, benefits agency workers and The Inland Revenue, targeting not just the criminals but also their assets, tax dodges and benefit frauds. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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BAR WARNS STRAW THAT HIS REFORMS COULD BREAK LAW | ||||||||||||||
THE Bar set itself on a collision course with the Home Secretary at the
weekend with a warning that Jack Straw's criminal justice plans could
fall foul of the Government's own human rights law. | ||||||||||||||
Heather Hallett, QC, chairman of the Bar, said that reforms in the
pipeline - such as confiscation of property without a criminal trial -
could be challenged under the new Human Rights Bill, soon to reach the
statute book. "It would be a dreadful irony if the very first
challenge in the courts was to legislation passed in the same session
by the same Parliament," she told the annual Bar conference in London.
"If the reports of some of the proposals emanating from the Home Office
are accurate, that is exactly what will happen." | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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BELIZE'S QUIET DESPAIR | ||||||||||||||
Tiny coastal nation plagued by misery brought by crack cocaine addiction | ||||||||||||||
Orange Walk, Belize | ||||||||||||||
The center of this little town looks so wholesome that you expect to
see Andy Griffith come whistling around the corner. There's a small
white church near the town hall and a shaded park where girls in school
uniforms gather after class to gossip and giggle. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
Bales of cocaine sometimes wash ashore by accident, dumped by boats fleeing authorities or spilled while being transferred from one ship to another. The drug is also left behind as payment to local middlemen. | ||||||||||||||
Wherever the coke winds up, people try it. Like a nasty virus, cocaine
refuses to respect political boundaries or cultural traditions,
destroying lives indiscriminately. | ||||||||||||||
There are now crackheads; among the blacks of eastern Costa Rica, the
Miskito Indians of Nicaragua, the Spanish-speaking fishermen of
Honduras, the Garifuna Indians of Guatemala and the Creole-speaking
people of Belize. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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TASK FORCE TACKLES DEALERS | ||||||||||||||
Immigration Canada is working with a police task force to fight an
organized Honduran crime wave. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
The drugs are professionally packaged for sale on the street. Each
chunk is shrink-wrapped in plastic and sealed. | ||||||||||||||
"To go to the process of shrink-wrapping would tell me that this is
reasonably sophisticated. That tells me this is organized. It's not
just somebody doing this in the back yard. " | ||||||||||||||
Wrapping the drugs allows the dealers to hold them in their mouth and
swallow the evidence when police approach. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: | ||||||||||||||
The Media Awareness Project of Drugsense archives and attempts to put a
value on the letters to the editor that get printed and discovered by
our NewsHawks. These are posted to the archive by the hard working
Ashley Clements. | ||||||||||||||
There are 1022 total published LTEs on-line to date (collected from 96-98)
with an estimated value of $1,020,978. | ||||||||||||||
To review this valuable searchable archive and to review our method of
placing a value on these published works please visit: | ||||||||||||||
The 1998 to date figures are 521 published LTEs with a value of
$520,479. Which indicates that we have already accomplished more in
1998 than in all of 1996 and 1997 combined. | ||||||||||||||
The MAP letter writing effort may be one of the most successful and
sustained efforts in reform history. | ||||||||||||||
The above numbers do not take into account the hundreds of radio and television talk show that DrugSense has arranged on behalf of reform. | ||||||||||||||
Hearty congratulations to the dedicated, consistent, and effective
cadre of MAP letter writers, NewsHawks and editors. Keep it up. We ARE
making a difference! | ||||||||||||||
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FACT OF THE WEEK | ||||||||||||||
Assuming recent incarceration rates remain unchanged, an estimated 1 of
every 20 Americans (5%) can be expected to serve time in prison during
their lifetime. For African-American men, the number is greater than 1
in 4 (28.5%) | ||||||||||||||
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||
William Capps from Salem, Oregon USA writes: | ||||||||||||||
"It is not the function of our Government to keep the citizen from
falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the
Government from falling into error. -U.S. Supreme Court, American
Communications v. Douds, 339 U.S. 382,442 | ||||||||||||||
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DS Weekly is one of the many free educational services DrugSense offers
our members. Watch this feature to learn more about what DrugSense can
do for you. | ||||||||||||||
News and COMMENTS Editor: Tom O'Connell ()
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We wish to thank all our contributors and Newshawks. | ||||||||||||||
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In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving the included information for research and
educational purposes. | ||||||||||||||
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PLEASE HELP: | ||||||||||||||
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