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DrugSense Weekly
November 18, 1998 #074

A DrugSense publication

SPECIAL EDITION - THE PENDULUM SWINGS TOWARDS REFORM

http://www.drugsense.org/dsw/1998/ds98.n74.html

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Table of Contents

* Breaking News (03/28/24)


* Feature Article


Swiss to Vote on Complete Legalization of Drugs Later This Month
By D.  Paul Stanford

* Weekly News In Review


Medical Marijuana-

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

Drug War Policy-

Nixon Had It Right
A Big-Time Bust
Report Criticizes Probe of Texas Border Shooting
Transcript: Jesse Ventura on Meet the Press

International News-

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: Dangerous Habits - The Lancet

* Hot Off The 'Net


UK Cannabis Internet Activists (UKCIA)
On-Line Vote on Marijuana Running - Vote Now!

* Quote of the Week


Thomas Jefferson

* Tip of the Week


NORML Conference Now Viewable On-Line

* Fact of the Week


Letters to the Editor - The Second Most Read Feature


FEATURE ARTICLE    (Top)


Swiss to Vote on Complete Legalization of Drugs Later This Month By D.  Paul Stanford

On November 29th, the people of Switzerland will vote on "DroLeg," an initiative that could end the prohibition of all currently illegal drugs.  The text of DroLeg begins, "The consumption, possession and purchase of narcotics for personal use are exempt from punishment." If DroLeg passes, the Swiss government will have to regulate the adult market for all controlled substances.

The vote on DroLeg comes at a time of remarkable innovation by the Swiss regarding their drug policy.  The Swiss, in a variety of unique programs, have been offering those addicted to heroin access to free supplies of the drug, or drug maintenance, in several Swiss cantons since 1994.  The Swiss citizens' exceptionally broad personal legislative powers and rights led the Swiss Supreme Court, in a judicial decision earlier this year, to allow the large scale, commercial cultivation of cannabis flowers (see photos links below.) Over 200 "hanf" stores, which sell and, in some cases, even grow and process cannabis in-house, have opened across Switzerland in the past three years.  Cannabis flavored drinks are advertised with cannabis leaf logos in stores and train stations across the country, even in rural areas.

Switzerland, which is the richest country in the world, with an average annual income of over US$43,000, appears to be rejecting the rest of the world's emphasis on punitive law enforcement as the primary solution for substance abuse problems.  Last year, in a different national referendum that was brought by those seeking to increase the severity of drug laws, the Swiss people voted against increasing penalties by 71 percent.

DroLeg was filed by the Swiss "Initiative for a Reasonable Drug Policy" in 1993 and began gathering signatures then.  In November 1994, they turned in over 107,000 signatures and qualified DroLeg for the vote later this month.  Under Swiss initiative rules, the government can review an initiative for up to 10 years before a vote takes place.

DroLeg organizer, Francois Reusser, a Zurich hanf store proprietor, said that they do not expect to win this vote.  Reusser said, "We will consider anything above 35 percent a win.  We have to get more than the 29 percent that voted for stricter laws last year, but we really don't know how it will turn out.  We may win."

In Bern, the Swiss national capitol, federal authorities said that while they oppose DroLeg because they think that it "goes too far," they are preparing rules to regulate a legal market for cannabis drugs in Switzerland.  A federal report on their proposals for cannabis regulation in Switzerland is due in May 1999.

Swiss studies show that heroin maintenance, through medical prescriptions for those already addicted, are successful.  The Swiss government says that this drug maintenance program will be expanded.

The November 29th vote on DroLeg will determine the extent to which drug policy will be further liberalized in Switzerland.

DroLeg's English language web site:
http://www.droleg.ch/e_index.htm

Photos of a legal 8 hectare/20+ acre commercial Swiss cannabis farm: http://www.crrh.org/cannabis/images/ch-hanf-1.jpg
http://www.crrh.org/cannabis/images/ch-hanf-2.jpg
http://www.crrh.org/cannabis/images/ch-hanf-3.jpg
http://www.crrh.org/cannabis/images/ch-hanf-5.jpg
http://www.crrh.org/cannabis/images/ch-hanf-10.jpg

Swiss road crew laying a new sewer as seen from a Swiss cannabis field: http://www.crrh.org/cannabis/images/ch-hanf-4.jpg

Swiss greenhouse full of 100 meter long aisles of drying cannabis: http://www.crrh.org/cannabis/images/ch-hanf-6.jpg

Swiss barn full of drying cannabis:
http://www.crrh.org/cannabis/images/ch-hanf-7.jpg

Huge Swiss greenhouse full of growing and drying cannabis: http://www.crrh.org/cannabis/images/ch-hanf-9.jpg


WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW    (Top)

COMMENT:    (Top)

Is it just me or does there seem to be a an almost worldwide penchant leaning in favor of drug policy reform over the last few weeks and months?

Practically everywhere one looks there are indications of a media and public that has become much more open to innovative ideas in regards to drug policy.

Some examples are included in the articles below.

These articles include international decisions on the horizon including the DroLeg referendum in Switzerland, the recently announced German decision to re-evaluate marijuana laws, Jesse "The Mind" Ventura's pro reform stand on Meet the Press and the UK House of Lords positive stand on medical marijuana.  All seem to indicate an international leaning towards rethinking drug policy on an international scale.

When we factor in the incredible landslide votes in the recent elections on various ballot initiatives all over the U.S.  it is heartening indeed for all in the reform movement to ponder.

This week's newsletter attempts to focus on these various subtle yet important indicators of what is to come as the drug policy reform movement continues to develop and gain momentum.


Medical Marijuana-


GET YOUR HANDS OFF THOSE BALLOTS

Good morning, and welcome to Democracy Held Hostage, Day 9.

My fellow Americans, who'd have thunk that the results of a free and fair vote held nine days ago right here in the United States of America, the land of the free, would be unknown to this day -- would be impounded, in fact -- because Congress canceled the ballot initiative in question? Flat out told the national capital to kiss its sweet electoral dreams goodbye?

[snip]

US DC: WP: MMJ: Get Your Hands off Those Ballots
NewsHawk:   (Frank S.  World)
Pubdate:   Thu, 12 Nov 1998
Source:   Washington Post (DC)
Contact:   http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm
Website:   http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Copyright:   1998 The Washington Post Company
Author:   Steve Twomey


A MAN CAUGHT IN A KAFKAESQUE TRAP

The Situation - Register senior columnist Bock is closely following the trial of Marvin Chavez in connection with Proposition 215,the medical marijuana law approved by California voters.

The main reason Marvin Chavez is standing trial before Judge Thomas J.Borris in Orange County's West Court in Westminster this week is that the government failed-in most cases quite stubbornly and in conscious and purposeful defiance of the people's will-to do its job.  If this were a world imbued with some Platonic ideal of justice, Dan Lungren, Brad Gates and others would be sitting at defense tables with their lawyers desperately trying to explain how the actions they took, presumably in good faith, did not constitute willful violations of the law.

[snip]

Subj:   US CA: OPED: MMJ: A Man Caught In A Kafkaesque Trap
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1027.a10.html
Source:   Orange County Register (CA)
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.ocregister.com/
Copyright:   1998 The Orange County Register
Pubdate:   9 Nov.  1998
Author:   Alan W.Bock


MAINSTREAM VOTERS BUYING INTO MEDICAL MARIJUANA

But Opponents Still Believe It's A Smokescreen For Drug Legalization

(AP) -- After seeing Washington state voters shoot down a medical marijuana measure in 1997, Rob Killian tried a new strategy this year: no tie-dye.

Killian and other medical marijuana proponents realized it wasn't the prospect of giving sick people the drug that bothered most voters.  The fear was that supporters of the measure secretly wanted to make all drugs legally available, and not just for the ailing.

So they remade their image.  Ties instead of tie-dyed T-shirts. Short hair.  Think suburban moms.

It worked.

[snip]

US WA: MMJ: Mainstream Voters Buying Into Medical Marijuana
NewsHawk:   John Smith
Pubdate:   Mon, 9 Nov 1998
Source:   Herald, The (WA)
Copyright:   1998 The Daily Herald Co.
Contact:  
URL:   http://www.heraldnet.com/
Author:   Michelle Boorstein, Associated Press


POT POLITICS

As More States Approve The Use Of Marijuana For Medical Purposes, The White House Should Pay Heed.

[snip]

Subj:   US NY: Editorial: Pot Politics
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1023.a08.html
Pubdate:   Mon, 09 Nov 1998
Source:   Times Union (NY)
Copyright:   1998, Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation
Contact:  
Fax:   518-454-5628
Website:   http://www.timesunion.com/


(UK) LORDS BACK CANNABIS USE FOR PATIENTS SUFFERING PAIN

Doctors should be legally allowed to prescribe cannabis for multiple sclerosis sufferers and other patients who find it helps relieve pain, says a report from a scientific committee of the House of Lords, published today.

The report was hailed as courageous by patients who buy the drug on the streets and smoke it in fear of the law.

Subj:   UK: Lords Back Cannabis Use For Patients Suffering Pain
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1033.a07.html
Pubdate:   Wed, 11 Nov 1998
Source:   Guardian, The (UK)
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Copyright:   Guardian Media Group 1998
Author:   Sarah Boseley


Drug Policy-


COMMENT:    (Top)

From a Nixon era retrospective, to the failure of mandatory minimum sentencing and from the ongoing and critical reports on the murder of Ezequiel Hernandez to the reform-minded views of Jesse "The Mind" Ventura, there is a steady stream of OpEds and articles that seem to be saying "We've had enough of this drug war lunacy.  Let's examine some sensible alternatives."

NIXON HAD IT RIGHT

A '70s Project Showed Drug Treatment Works

Few American cities have been more devastated by illegal drug use than Washington.  Abusers of heroin, crack and cocaine have fed robbery and burglary rates, sent child welfare caseloads soaring and clogged courts and jails.  They also have overwhelmed the city's treatment centers; of the District's estimated 65,000 substance abusers, barely 10 percent can be accommodated by local treatment programs today.

It wasn't always like this.  Hard as it may be to believe, a little more than 25 years ago the District fought the drug war successfully--and a crucial element of that success was a comprehensive drug treatment system, one that was considered a model for the nation.  The system's brief but remarkable history provides compelling evidence of just how effective treatment can be in reducing drug abuse and crime in the nation's cities.

[snip]

US: OPED: Nixon Had It Right

NewsHawk:   (Paul Bischke)
Pubdate:   Sun, 8 Nov 1998
Source:   Washington Post (DC)
Copyright:   1998 The Washington Post Company
Contact:   http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm
Website:   http://www.washingtonpost.com/ Author: Michael Massing


A BIG-TIME BUST

Finally, There Is Hard Evidence That Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Clogs Prisons With First-Time Offenders

A prime weapon in the war on drugs since the mid-1980s has been mandatory minimum sentences that give judges no leeway in determining how many years an offender should spend behind bars.

[snip]

NewsHawk:   (Dick Evans)
Pubdate:   Sun, 8 Nov 1998
Source:   Boston Globe (MA)
Page:   D1
Copyright:   1998 Globe Newspaper Company.
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.boston.com/globe/
Author:   Matthew Brelis


REPORT CRITICIZES PROBE OF TEXAS BORDER SHOOTING

A congressional report to be made public Thursday is critical of the Justice Department investigation into the shooting death of a Texas man by U.S.  Marines on an anti-drug patrol. "They simply did not do their job,'' Rep.  Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said Wednesday. "The next step is for the Department of Justice to take some additional actions.''

[snip]

Subj:   US TX: Report Criticizes Probe of Texas Border Shooting
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1037.a12.html
Source:   San Antonio Express-News (TX)
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.expressnews.com/
Copyright:   1998 San Antonio Express-News
Pubdate:   Wed, 11 Nov 1998
Author:   Gary Martin


JESSE "THE MIND" VENTURA

MEET THE PRESS

MR.  RUSSERT: You've said a couple of controversial things during the campaign, and I want to give you a chance to talk about them so we have your full beliefs in context.  The first involved drugs, and let me put on the screen some comments and give you a chance to talk about them. Hemp or marijuana is not addictive.  Decriminalize it and get those drug dealers to start paying taxes.  And what you do in the privacy of your own home is your own business.  If someone takes LSD and locks themselves up at home, why should I care? Anyway, I ve done way more stupid things on alcohol than I ve ever done on pot.  What is your sense of drugs, Governor-Elect?

GOV.-ELECT VENTURA: Well, my sense is this, you know, 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.  If you re going to fight the war on drugs, you fight it on the demand side.  And I don't believe that government should be invading the privacy of our own homes, and I also believe that you shouldn't be legislating stupidity.  If there are stupid people out there doing stupid things, it's not the government's job to try to make them be smarter.  We live in a land of freedom. And again, if we can t keep drugs out of the state penitentiary, how on earth do they propose we re going to do it out on the street corner? You fight it on the demand side.  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.

MR.  RUSSERT: Would you consider decriminalizing marijuana and other drugs?

GOV.-ELECT VENTURA: I said absolutely not at this time.  I do believe in industrial hemp.  I think we re missing the boat on that. You can make food out of or, I mean, clothing out of it.  Excuse me, not food, but you can make clothing out of it.  You can make paper out of it. It s an industry that will create jobs out there.  Canada is using it. We're not.  And I also believe medicinal marijuana should be allowed. I mean, my goodness, a doctor can give you a prescription for morphine and yet they can't prescribe you marijuana? I think that should be left up to the medical community for people that are that ill and in that much pain.  I don't believe the government should be telling them what they can or cannot use.  It should be in the medical community and up to the doctors and physicians to do that.

Subj:   US: Transcript: Jesse Ventura on Meet the Press
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1023.a07.html
Pubdate:   Sun, 8 Nov 1998
Source:   Meet the Press
Copyright:   1998 National Broadcasting Company, Inc.
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.msnbc.com/news/MEETPRESS_Front.asp

Note: Only the part of the transcript that is on topic for this service is provided.


International News


COMMENT:    (Top)

International news may even be more indicative of the International tendency towards reform.  Switzerland will soon vote on the Droleg referendum, Germany seems to have suddenly come to life on a number of reform fronts and the UK, Canada, and even Ireland are beginning to embrace reform ideas.


AND WHAT IF THE STATE SHOULD TAKE CHARGE

A half-century of drug prohibition has not impeded the exponential growth of the black market and has enriched the increasingly-efficient criminal elements who trade in drugs.

According to the promoters of the DROLEG initiative, to be voted on at the end of the month, it is time to change course and initiate a regulated market for the now-prohibited drugs.

[snip]

Switzerland:   DROLEG: And What If The State Should Take Charge
page://www.archive/1998/11/09/fait_1.htm
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.letemps.ch/
Copyright:   Le Temps 1998
Authors:   Ed.Staff, Sylvie Arsever, and Sylvain Besson
Translation:   Peter Webster (from French)


GERMANY WEIGHING POT LEGALIZATION

BONN (November 8, 1998 08:56 a.m.  EST) -

Germany's new government said it will study the case made for legalizing possession of small quantities of soft drugs such as cannabis.

"We're certainly going to look at it.  There have been some interesting essays on this and an EU report on it, too," Interior Minister Otto Schily told Spiegel news magazine in an article made available on Sunday.

[snip]

Subj:   Germany: Wire: Germany Weighing Pot Legalization
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1021.a01.html
Pubdate:   Sun, 08 Nov 1998
Source:   Reuters
Copyright:   1998 Reuters Limited.


DRUGS TSAR TELLS CUSTOMS TO GO SOFT ON CANNABIS SMUGGLERS

THE government's drug tsar has ordered customs officers to take a softer approach to cannabis smugglers.

[snip]

Subj:   UK: Drugs Tsar Tells Customs To Go Soft On Cannabis Smugglers
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1021.a04.html
Pubdate:   Sun, 8 Nov 1998
Source:   Scotland On Sunday (UK)
Page:   1
Contact:  
Author:   Neil Mackay


DRUG REFORM: US SAYS YES

FOR DECADES, conventional drug policy has been sustained by powerful myths.  One of the most potent of these myths was the widespread belief that support for drug-policy reform inevitably meant political suicide at the ballot box.  Results in this week's United States mid-term Congressional elections are further evidence that support for a rigid "tough on drugs" approach may soon he a political liability.  Perhaps that day has already arrived.

Pubdate:   Sat, 7 Nov 1998
Source:   Canberra Times (Australia)
Page:   C4
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.canberratimes.com.au/
Author:   Alex Wodak, President of the Australian Drug Law Reform
Foundation and director of the Alcohol and Drug Service at St Vincent's Hospital Sydney.


VETTER WANTS TO GIVE HEROIN TO SICK ADDICTS

Precis:   Another German politician has broken with his party's hard line
on (the war on) drugs policy and has come down decisively on the side of a trial of the Swiss model of heroin distribution to hard core addicts.  His reasons are two-fold: on compassionate grounds, (it is not humane to lock up sick people on ideological grounds); and because the Swiss model has proved conclusively that it works; that it reduces significantly the social harm caused by the hard line policy.

[snip]

Germany:   Vetter Wants To Give Heroin To Sick Addicts
NewsHawk:   Harald Lerch ()
Source:   Stuttgarter Nachrichten
Pubdate:   7 Nov 1998
Website:   http://www.stuttgarter-nachrichten.de
Copyright:   1998 Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Germany
Author:   Arnold Rieger
Translator:   Pat Dolan, from German


HEROIN ON PRESCRIPTION AS ADDICTION SOLUTION URGED

The Government should consider new approaches to the drug problem, including prescribing legal heroin, according to a member of the National Drugs Strategy Team (NDST).

Father Seen Cassin, former head of the Merchants Quay project, told a Deil Committee yesterday that a Swiss project prescribing heroin to addicts had claimed "significantly good" results.  The NDST is the statutory agency set up to co-ordinate the work of local drugs task forces.

[snip]

Subj:   Ireland: Heroin On Prescription As Addiction Solution Urged
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1042.a04.html
Pubdate:   Thu, 12 Nov 1998
Source:   Irish Times (Ireland)
Contact:  
Mail:   The Irish Times, 11-15 D'Olier St, Dublin 2, Ireland
Fax:   ++ 353 1 671 9407
Website:   http://www.irish-times.ie/
Copyright:   1998 The Irish Times
Author:   Catherine Cleary, Drugs and Crime Correspondent


WAR ON DRUGS HAS FAILED

The War On Drugs Has Failed, Mayors' Meeting Told

Seattle -- The war on drugs has been a dismal failure and new tactics are needed, Canadian and U.S.  civic officials agree.

"We can't afford the police, we can't afford the gaol time and we can't afford the costs," Seattle Mayor Paul Schell told a Cascadia Mayors' Council conference that included Vancouver Mayor Philip Owen.

[snip]

Subj:   US/CAN : War On Drugs Has Failed
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1042.a05.html
Pubdate:   12 Nov 1998
Source:   The Province (B.C.  Can)
Section:   p.A25
Contact:  
Website:   http://vancouverprovince.com
Copyright:   Pacific Press 1998


DANGEROUS HABITS

3 years ago, a Lancet editorial began, "The smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health" (Nov 11, 1995); an assertion criticized by many readers as encouraging an indulgence that is illegal in many countries.  Predictably, the legalise-cannabis lobby seized on The Lancet's apparent endorsement of this substance's safety.  This week we publish a seminar on the adverse effects of cannabis (p 1611) . Wayne Hall and Nadia Solowij conclude that the most likely adverse effects of smoking cannabis are bronchial irritation, the risk of accidents when intoxicated, dependence, and possible cognitive impairment with heavy, long-term use.

The evidence summarized in this seminar was considered by a committee of the UK House of Lords which reported on Nov 11 .  The committee recommended that clinical trials be done on the effects of cannabis in multiple sclerosis and in chronic pain, and that the UK Government should reclassify cannabis so that it can be prescribed by doctors under certain circumstances.

[snip]

Subj:   UK: Editorial: Dangerous Habits
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1042.a09.html
Pubdate:   13 Nov 1998
Source:   Lancet, The (UK)
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.thelancet.com/
Section:   Vol.  352, Number 9140
Copyright:   The Lancet 1998


HOT OFF THE 'NET    (Top)

ONLINE VOTE RUNNING NOW!

Thanks to John Chase for this heads up:
Perhaps you already know.  Full legalization is winning. I found this in NYTimes this AM online.

Marketplace, a radio feature on National Public Radio,
is conducting an online poll on medicinal marijuana.
Cast your vote at:

http://features.yahoo.com/finance/survey/

Results will be tallied for the end of the week so act now!

NewsHawk:   (David Hadorn)
Pubdate:   Saturday, 14 Nov 1998
Source:   British Medical Journal 1 (Volume 317, Issue 7169)
Copyright:   1998 by the British Medical Journal
Website:  
Contact:   http://www.bmj.com/
Reviewer:   Douglas Carnall

Reviews WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

http://www.ukcia.org/

The UK Cannabis Internet Activists met on line back in 1995, taught themselves HTML (the markup language used by all web browsers), and got to work on building a site that is clearly organised and nice to look at.  A site edited by partisans must be interpreted with caution, but the approach seems responsible and incorporates links or references to information from many reputable sources.

These include the BMA, whose report recommending a change in the law to allow research on the use of cannabinoids in chronic illness, published almost a year ago to the day, has plainly been influential.  This week the House of Lords' Science and Technology Committee concurs (p 1337), and there seems little doubt that change in the law will follow.  Events in the United States are moving in the same direction, following pressure from groups such as the Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp ( http://www.crrh.org/ ).  A total of seven states covering a fifth of the nation's population have directly contradicted federal drug laws in recent referendums.  Far more sites argue for reform than for the status quo: despite an assiduous morning's browsing on a high speed network, anti-drug sites proved elusive.  On the internet at least, those fighting the war on the "war on drugs" are definitely winning.

While advocacy abounds, hard scientific evidence about cannabis is hard to find.  There are, for example, no trials reported at:
http://www.controlled-trials.com/ although its presence refutes earlier reports http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7167/1258/c that the website does not exist.  Hint for press officers: if you want to publicise your website take care to supply the correct URL.


QUOTE OF THE WEEK    (Top)

`A society that will trade a little liberty for a little order will lose both, and deserve neither' - Thomas Jefferson'


TIP OF THE WEEK    (Top)

NORML Conference Now Viewable On-Line

If you missed the CSPAN coverage from Thursday, the first 78 minutes are on line now, with more to follow (Rolf says he has two computers crunching video as fast as they can).

So you can see the start of the NORML conference, and check back later to see more.  Go to: http://www.legalize-usa.org/TOCs/video7.htm

Check out Rolf Ernst's excellent newly updated index here as well. A really outstanding video and audio drug policy archive


FACT OF THE WEEK    (Top)

Letters to the Editor - The Second Most Read Feature

From:   G.  A ROBISON
Subject:   Houston Chronicle Readership

Of possible interest to all, I just found out that the average daily readership of the Chronicle is now over 500,000, and that the second most widely read feature is the LTE column (called "Viewpoints" in the Chronicle).  So much for the story that someone was trying to float a year or so ago that talk radio had made LTE's obsolete.

Cheers / Al

G.  Alan Robison
Executive Director
Drug Policy Forum of Texas


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