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DrugSense Weekly
November 23, 1998 #075

A DrugSense publication
Guest Editor: Kevin B.  Zeese,

http://www.drugsense.org/dsw/1998/ds98.n75.html

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Table of Contents

* Breaking News (03/28/24)


* Feature Article


So, No One Goes to Jail For Marijuana Offenses and They Don't Arrest
Medicinal Users
by R.  Keith Stroup, Executive Director, NORML

* Weekly News In Review


Medical Marijuana-

Chavez Found Guilty in Pot Club Bust
Democracy Takes a Blow For Medical Marijuana
Research on Medical Marijuana Still Politicized
In England the Lords Say Yes to Medical Marijuana, the Government No and
Police Arrest Patient

Drug War Policy-

Reform of Drug Policy--An Idea Whose Time Has Come.
MAMA says Education Not Law Enforcement
Family of Mexican Slain by Texas Police Files Suit
Arrests Soar in Crackdown on Marijuana
Poppy Seeds: Everything you wanted to know about growing poppies in your
backyard
Bribery of informants questioned in court
Supreme Court Looks at Need for Warrants in Auto Searches
Drug Testing Loses a Round in Louisiana
No One Shows Up for National Drug Testing Conference
Home Drug Test Marketers Still Pushing Home Testing
Nearly 10% of Truckers Fail Oregon Drug Test
Random Drug Testing Comes Home

International News-

Germany Appoints a Czarina Who Wants to Treat Drug Use as a Health
Matter
Germany Moves to Open Drug Injection Rooms
Germany Moves to Begin Heroin Prescription Trials
Australia Federal and Local Elected Officials Call for Heroin Trials
England Debates Whether to Expel Students Involved with Drugs or Not
Colombia: A New Start or the Same Old Problems

* Hot Off The 'Net


Prosecutorial Abuse Examined in Ten Part Series Marijuana Policy Project
Analyzes Arrests and Incarceration of Marijuana Offenders

* Quote of the Week


Abraham Lincoln

* Tip of the week


USA Today Conducting On-line Poll on Drug Testing Now!

* Fact of the Week


YAHOO On-line Poll Supports MJ Law Reform By a Whopping 84% - 15%


FEATURE ARTICLE    (Top)


So, No One Goes to Jail For Marijuana Offenses and They Don't Arrest Medicinal Users

by R.  Keith Stroup
Executive Director, NORML

Marijuana prohibitionists like to claim no one goes to jail for marijuana offenses and that they don't arrest people who are merely using marijuana for medical purposes.  The case of medical patient Linda Jean Marlowe shows both those claims to be false.

The NORML legal committee has been involved in the prosecution of Ms. Marlowe's for some time, first when the state of North Carolina was prosecuting her and then in the federal prosecution that followed. Yesterday, Tuesday, November 24, 1998, Asheville, NC Federal District Court Judge Lacey Thornburg sentenced this medical marijuana patient to 6 months home confinement after being jailed for a month.

Mrs.  Marlowe, known to her friends as "Jean," was arrested and charged with several federal felonies, based on her receipt of a package of marijuana from Switzerland.  Jean, 45, has several rare and debilitating diseases, and had obtained the marijuana for her personal medical use. She suffers from porphyria (a congenital liver abnormality), degenerative disk disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and fibromyalgia. These diseases cause Jean constant, severe pain and the pain causes Jean to vomit repeatedly.

Because of her liver condition, Jean can not take conventional pain medications.  Dr. Frederick Bissel, Jean's treating physician, explained at a recent hearing that conventional pain medications can harm Jean's diseased liver, while marijuana is a highly effective analgesic and does not damage the liver.

Jean's attorneys asked the Court for leave to present evidence of her medical need for marijuana, but the Court refused.  Without the option of asserting her only defense, Jean was found guilty by a jury on June 8, 1998.  She retained her right to appeal the court's refusal to permit her to raise a medical necessity defense.

While out on supervised release awaiting sentencing, Jean continued to smoke marijuana to alleviate pain, causing her to fail several court ordered drug tests, and resulting in her bond being revoked and Jean being incarcerated on November 9, 1998.

During her first nights in jail, she had to sleep on the floor of an overcrowded, cold cell with no blankets.  Eventually she was moved to solitary confinement since that cell had a bench for sleeping.  The cell lacked a sink or toilet, however, and Jean was forced to urinate and vomit into a crack in floor.

Pain is a part of Jean's family history.  Jean's father died from multiple sclerosis, and her brother recently killed himself because of the ravaging effects of multiple sclerosis.  Jean visited her brother in his hospital room as he lay dying from his own hand.  After he died, Jean walked to the hospital parking lot with her husband, Steve, where she was surrounded and arrested by law enforcement officers for her medical use of marijuana.

NORML had offered to make Dr.  Morgan available as a witness at the sentencing hearing, but the judge again ruled against permitting any medical evidence to be introduced.  Thus, the judge is going to sentence Jean while ignoring the significant mitigating fact that she was using marijuana for medical purposes for which there is a great deal of scientific evidence.  In this case justice has chosen to be blind of pertinent facts.

Earlier this week the FBI reported that for the first time in US history there were 695,201 marijuana arrests last year, 87% of which were for possession.  A good deal of those -- no doubt in the thousands -- will spend some time incarcerated.  A larger percentage will be put on probation and, like Jean, be subjected to regular urine screens.  No doubt some will fail those tests and be incarcerated.

Because of record arrests, lengthy sentences and high levels of incarceration, ending marijuana prohibition is perhaps a more pressing matter than ever before.  While the highest priority is ensuring that medical patients like Jean Marlowe do not face arrest and incarceration, it is also urgent for marijuana policy to end its reliance on law enforcement and find more sensible approaches to dealing with a substance that many Americans use responsibly.

Visit http://www.norml.org for more information on NORML and the work of its legal committee.  If you have any questions contact or for more information, please contact: Keith Stroup, Esq.  or Tanya Kangas, Esq. at 202-483-5500.


WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW    (Top)


Medical Marijuana-


COMMENT:    (Top)

Medical marijuana continues to be a hot topic both at home and abroad. Martin Chavez, the Orange County marijuana club operator was found guilty in a case where the court refused to allow a Proposition 215 defense and a police investigator testified that police had not been given any training on enforcing Proposition 215 and its relation to marijuana prosecutions.  Reformers need to make sure that we will not be hearing many more cases like this as a result of the Democratic sweep in this year's elections.  We also need to undo the damage done by people currently in power who have ignored the will of the people as expressed by Proposition 215.

Medical marijuana continues to undermine research.  Keith Green, a anti-medical marijuana researcher who testified for the DEA in the mid-1980s when marijuana's scheduling was challenged, published research that showed marijuana needs to be smoked throughout the day for glaucoma patients.It's not surprising that a politicized researcher reached a political conclusion.  But, even if true there are some patients and doctors who would prefer regular smoking to blindness.  Green's political research does not mean police should decide and not patients with their doctors.

Democracy continues to be undermined in DC, and the rest of the country is starting to notice.

Across the ocean in Great Britain the House of Lords, equivalent to the US Senate, recommended allowing the medical use of marijuana.  The government immediately rejected the recommendation and the police arrested a medical marijuana patient putting an emphasis on the point.

VERDICT IN, JURY STILL OUT ON PROP.  215

The cops and prosecutors got their man: Marvin Chavez is facing prison. To hear them tell it, a drug dealer has been taken off the streets.  At moments like these, the rest of us are supposed to feel good because our law enforcement people have used their cunning and muscle to nail a criminal--especially one like Chavez, who, according to the prosecutor, ran "a very sophisticated marijuana-selling business."

Or did he?

I'd be surprised if the jurors who convicted him Thursday, the police, the judge, or even the prosecutors--really believe that.

I'd be surprised if any really believe that Chavez is a threat to anyone.

The prosecutors and cops will say they only wanted to remove Marvin Chavez from society; I suspect they're trying to stamp out a social movement toward liberalizing marijuana usage.  . . .

[snip]

Source:   Los Angeles Times, Orange County Edition
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/ORANGE/
Pubdate:   Fri, 20 Nov 1998
Author:   Dana Parsons
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1067.a06.html

Related articles:

POT TRIAL GUILTY VERDICT

Source:   Long Beach Press-Telegram (CA)
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.ptconnect.com/
Copyright:   1998 Press-Telegram.
Pubdate:   Fri, 20 Nov 1998
Author:   Joe Segura
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1063.a10.html

THE CHAVEZ TRIAL
Source:   Orange County Register (CA)
Contact:  
Pubdate:   20 Nov 98
Website:   http://www.ocregister.com/
Copyright:   1998 The Orange County Register
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1063.a12.html


CONGRESS LANDS A HISTORICAL BLOW TO DEMOCRACY

On November 4th, the Congress of the United States, which has jurisdiction over the District of Columbia, passed an amendment that stopped democracy cold.  The amendment, introduced by Congressman Bob Barr (RGA), makes it illegal for DC to fund the processing of any initiatives that would legalize marijuana.  The amendment was a last minute addition to DC's FY 1999 Budget, in the face of an Initiative (Initiative 59) on DC's November general election ballot that would allow terminally ill patients access to marijuana, while protecting their physicians from prosecution should they prescribe it.

Voters in Alaska, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington recently voted on similar Initiatives that would legalize the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.  All but the District of Columbia approved the Initiative.  While exiting polls in DC reported overwhelming support for their Initiative 59, the amendment kept the DC's Board of Election from counting the votes and registering the results.

[snip]

Source:   River Cities Reader (IA)
Pubdate:   Wed, 18 Nov 98
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.rcreader.com/
Author:   Jenny Lesner
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1067.a07.html


POT AND GLAUCOMA

NOTE:   This is the source article for an AP and CNN story which has
caused much discussion among some of our readers.

Source:   Archives of Ophthalmology
Copyright:   1998 American Medical Association
Pubdate:   Nov 1998
Section:   Clinical Sciences
Author:   Keith Green, PhD, DSc (e-mail: )
Contact:  
See: http://www.ama-assn.org/public/journals/opht/letters.htm
Website:   http://www.ama-assn.org/public/journals/opht/ophthome.htm

The magazine also published an editorial, posted separately at: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1058.a03.html

Some of the resulting articles are at:
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1052.a05.html
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1048.a11.html
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1046.a07.html


LORDS RECKON IT'S HIGH TIME FOR A CHANGE

BRITISH law should be altered to allow doctors to prescribe marijuana and pharmacists to supply it, according to an influential House of Lords committee.

At present, doctors in Britain are not permitted to prescribe cannabis, and patients who want it to relieve the symptoms of diseases such as multiple sclerosis must turn to the black market for supplies.

In an unexpectedly forthright report, the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology concludes that this "exposes patients and in some cases their careers to all the distress of criminal proceedings".

[snip]

Source:   New Scientist (U.K.)
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.newscientist.com/
Pubdate:   14 Nov 1998
Author:   David Concar
Section:   "This Week" Page 24
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1059.a08.html


CANNABIS CO-OP MAN ARRESTED

A founder of a co-operative formed to supply free cannabis to people with multiple sclerosis and other conditions has been arrested.  He will appear in court next month charged with drugs offences.

Colin Davies, of Stockport, Greater Manchester, was arrested at his flat on Tuesday and questioned for eight hours at a police station. Officers removed 28 cannabis plants from his bedroom, and other property, including letters, address books and details of co-op members.

Mr Davies, who smokes cannabis to relieve a painful back condition, is charged with cultivating, possessing, possessing with intent to supply, and supplying cannabis.

The arrest comes within a week of the Government rejecting the recommendation of a House of Lords committee that doctors should be able to prescribe the drugs to patients with an accepted medical need. It is also exactly a year since Mr Davies was arrested and charged with cultivating cannabis.

[snip]

Source:   Guardian, The (Canada)
Copyright:   Guardian Media Group plc.1998
Contact:   Fax: (902) 566-9830
Pubdate:   Thu, 19 Nov 1998
Author:   David Ward
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1061.a03.html


Drug Policy-


COMMENT:    (Top)

This week saw more recognition that it is time for a change in drug policy.  Texas-based syndicated columnist Molly Ivins surveyed the drug scene and saw reform in the wind.  Also in Texas, the road tour of Sandee Burbank of Mothers Against Misuse and Abuse resulted in a column applauding her sensible -- education-based, not law enforcement-based -- approach to drugs.  At the same time in Texas, the harms of the drug war were evident as the family of Pedro Oregon sued Houston for his fatal shooting.  Just to the right hand side of Houston -- in New York City -- police were reporting that Mayor Giuliani's drug war was resulting in large increases in marijuana arrests.  And, if you think the marijuana situation is bad, imagine what it will be like now that the media is reporting on how to cultivate poppy seeds and get opium.  Will we see increases in arrests for people growing poppies?

The impact of the drug war on the Constitution was evident in several cases.  In Kansas a court of appeals was reviewing whether a mainstay of drug prosecutions was constitutional -- bribing witnesses to testify against drug offenders.  The use of informants is widespread and a key tactic in drug enforcement.  Courts in Kansas may join courts in other parts of the US who see this is inappropriate.  The Supreme Court delved into the privacy of automobiles -- reviewing a case which examines whether police need a warrant to search cars impounded when the occupants are arrested.  And, in Louisiana the increasingly common practice of drug testing lost a round as a portion of a very broad Louisiana drug testing law was held unconstitutional -- more suits will be following.

Speaking of drug testing, in Utah virtually no one showed up for a national conference on testing student athletes.  The Christian Science Monitor reports that employers are having a hard time find good employees if they drug test because applicants avoid their companies. While these may be signs that drug testing has reached its apex, at the same time marketers of home drug test kits got some media coverage for their product for parents who can't parent and Oregon is reporting that spot checks of truckers found ten percent tested positive.

IT'S TIME FOR NEW TACTICS IN AMERICA'S WAR ON DRUGS

AUSTIN -- Heads up, team: I think we're starting to see a major change in the old `Zeitgeist' on the issue of drugs.  This is one of those seismic shifts when the unsayable suddenly becomes sayable, when we notice that the emperor is wearing no clothes.  The main problem with the war on drugs -- you've probably noticed -- is that we're losing.

We're also seeing the start of a consensus that it's time to try something else.  One way you can tell when one of these major shifts is happening is when some of those speaking out are so respected and respectable that they give cover to others who are more conformist.

[snip]

Source:   Ft.  Worth Star-Telegram (TX)
Copyright:   1998 Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas
Pubdate:   Monday, 16 Nov 1998
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.star-telegram.com/
Columnist:   Molly Ivins, Fort Worth Editorial Columnist
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1059.a04.html
Note:   Molly Ivins is a columnist for the 'Star-Telegram.' You may write
to her at 1005 Congress Ave., Suite 920, Austin, TX 78701; or email her at


COMMON SENSE AND DRUG WOES

Mama always says we need to teach people social skills so they know how to manage their lives without drugs.

MAMA says that a lot.  As a matter of fact, Sandee Burbank, 54, director of Mothers Against Misuses and Abuse since she co-founded the organization in 1982 in Oregon, is going about the country with a slide show called "Listen to MAMA, We Can Solve Our Drug Problems."

Sandee believes that education and individual common sense can be far more effective than the government's oppressive war on drugs.

Source:   Houston Chronicle (TX)
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.chron.com/
Copyright:   1998 Houston Chronicle
Pubdate:   Wed, 18 Nov 1998
Author:   Thom Marshall
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1058.a01.html


FAMILY OF MEXICAN SLAIN BY TEXAS POLICE FILES SUIT

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Family and friends of an illegal Mexican immigrant shot and killed by police during a botched drug bust sued the city of Houston Tuesday.

The suit seeks unspecified damages in the death of Pedro Oregon Navarro, who was shot 12 times -- nine times in the back -- when six police officers burst into his Houston apartment without a warrant in search of drugs on July 12.

``We are making allegations against the city of Houston that policies and practices have failed...  particularly in the recruiting, hiring and training of officers,'' attorney Richard Mithoff told a news conference.  . . .

They entered Oregon's apartment without a legal warrant after an informant, drunk and on cocaine, told them he bought drugs there.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Tue, 17 Nov 1998
Source:   Wire: Reuters
Copyright:   1998 Reuters Limited.
Author:   Jeff Franks
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1059.a06.html

Related article: FBI CHIEF MEETS WITH OREGON FAMILY 1-Feds investigating.
Pubdate:   Sat, 14 Nov 1998
Source:   Houston Chronicle (TX)
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.chron.com/
Copyright:   1998 Houston Chronicle
Author:   JO ANN ZUIGA
URL:  http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1046.a01.html


ARRESTS SOAR IN CRACKDOWN ON MARIJUANA

NEW YORK -- Arrests on marijuana charges here have jumped to a record level this year, driven by the Giuliani administration's "zero tolerance" approach that has police officers pursuing anyone found possessing, selling or smoking even small amounts of marijuana.

Law enforcement officials project that at the current pace, the New York City Police Department could arrest as many as 40,000 people by the end of the year on charges of possessing or selling marijuana.  That would be eight times the number of arrests just six years ago.

[snip]

Source:   New York Times (NY)
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.nytimes.com/
Copyright:   1998 The New York Times Company
Section:   Metro, Page B1
Pubdate:   17 November 1998
Author:   Kevin Flynn
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1052.a04.html


THE POPPY PARADOX

Beware:   Reading This Article Could Make You Into A Felon, But Not
Reading It Could Get You Arrested

They are grayish-black flecks, such weightless objects for their potential.  Poppy seeds grow into beautiful flowers, taste good in muffins, and produce opium.  . . .

Take the smallest pinch of poppy seeds, the exact same kind that top your bagel, and plant them.  In a few days, they will sprout tiny white stems, then slender green leaves, and will keep growing into hardy annuals with vibrant flowers.

A couple of months into the spring growing season, the flowers will fall away, leaving in their place round seed pods filled with thousands of seeds and a milky sap that will ooze out through any slits made in the pod walls.

[snip]

Source:   San Luis Obispo County NewTimes (CA)
Section:   Cover Story
Contact:  
Website:   http://newtimes-slo.com/
Pubdate:   Thu, 19 Nov 1998
Author:   Steven T.  Jones
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1065.a05.html


COURT TO DECIDE LEGALITY OF REWARDING INFORMANTS

WICHITA, Kan.  - Sonya Singleton's name may soon go down in legal history - right beside Ernesto Miranda, Dred Scott and Jane Roe as people whose battles in the courts dramatically changed American society.

On Tuesday, lawyers for Ms.  Singleton will ask a federal appeals court in Denver to make a decision that legal experts say could throw the criminal justice system into immediate upheaval.  Hundreds of thousands of cases could be dismissed, and law enforcement could be stripped of its most powerful investigative tool.

The issue is whether prosecutors are committing bribery when they use witnesses who have been paid money or given reduced prison sentences in return for testifying in criminal trials.

Ms.  Singleton's chances of winning are good, according to analysts. Since July, four separate federal courts, including a Denver appeals court, have ruled that it is illegal for paid informants to testify during a trial.

[snip]

Source:   Dallas Morning News (TX)
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.dallasnews.com/
Copyright:   1998 The Dallas Morning News
Pubdate:   Tue, 17 Nov 1998
Author:   Mark Curriden / The Dallas Morning News
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1054.a05.html


JUSTICES CONSIDERING DRUG SEARCH LEGALITIES

High court to decide if police need warrants

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Monday delved into the constitutionality of the war on drugs by agreeing to decide whether police need a warrant before searching a car suspected of having been used in a cocaine deal.

The case, from Florida, questions the extent to which police may examine the automobiles they impound while investigating illegal drug activity.  While courts have upheld the right of police to seize the vehicles, a question remains whether officers may then search them without first getting a judge's permission.

[snip]

Source:   Houston Chronicle (TX)
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.chron.com/
Copyright:   1998 Houston Chronicle
Pubdate:   Tue, 17 Nov 1998
Author:   Steve Lash
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1052.a01.html


COURT VOIDS LOUISIANA DRUG TEST LAW

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A federal judge on Friday struck down a Louisiana law requiring random drug testing of elected officials, rejecting arguments that the governor made in court in support of the law.  U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon said the law violates the Constitution's Fourth Amendment protection against illegal search and seizures.  He said the state failed to show a special need to test elected officials.

[snip]

Source:   San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.sjmercury.com/
Copyright:   1998 Mercury Center
Pubdate:   Sat, 20 Nov 1998
Author:   Associated Press
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1066.a01.html


SESSION ON DRUG TESTS IS A BUST

A national school athlete drug-testing conference came to Salt Lake City Monday, but no Utah school representatives came, and only about two dozen officials from neighboring states attended.

"We're kind of taken aback by the lack of people.  Maybe they don't have any drug problems in Salt Lake City," said Randall Aultman, retired principal of Vernonia High School in Oregon whose random athlete drug-testing policy prevailed in the U.S.  Supreme Court in 1995. "The (drug) problem has grown in schools.  Not enough is being done to stem it."

Aultman speaks at conferences, funded by pharmaceutical and drug-testing company American Bio Medica Corp., across the country.

[snip]

Source:   Desert News (UT)
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.desnews.com/
Pubdate:   Wed, 18 Nov 1998
Author:   Jennifer Toomer-Cook
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1059.a01.html


HOW DRUG TESTING HAS CHANGED THE JOB MARKET

Fearing A Bad Result, Many Job Seekers Are Not Applying For Positions That Require Mandatory Testing.  And With Jobless Rates Low, Many Firms Are Now Feeling The Crunch.

DENVER When Noel Ginsberg, president of Intertech Plastics Inc., discovered that half the candidates for jobs at his firm are eliminated because they fail or refuse to take a drug test, he was astonished.

[snip]

Source:   Christian Science Monitor (US)
Copyright:   1998 The Christian Science Publishing Society.
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.csmonitor.com/
Pubdate:   Fri, 20 Nov 1998
Author:   Jillian Lloyd
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1069.a05.html


NEARLY 10% OF TRUCKERS FAIL OREGON DRUG TEST

2-They should worry about the equipment instead of drivers that might have used marijuana a week ago.  Safety: Checkpoints Turn Up Evidence Of Drivers Using Marijuana, Cocaine And More.  But Some Of Their Vehicles Were In Even Worse Shape.  PORTLAND, Ore.-A 48-hour check of trucks along Oregon's southern border showed nearly one in 10 drivers tested positive for drug use, an Oregon State Police report says.  And the numbers may be higher.  The trucks themselves were in even worse shape.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sun, 22 Nov 1998
Source:   Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright:   1998 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  
Fax:   213-237-4712
Website:   http://www.latimes.com/
Author:   Associated Press
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1068.a02.html

RANDOM DRUG TESTING COMES HOME

On a weekday afternoon in 1992, Sunny Cloud, an insurance saleswoman and single mother in Marietta, Ga., dropped by her home unexpectedly and found her 16-year-old son, Ron, smoking marijuana.  Stunned, Ms. Cloud hustled the boy off to the nearest hospital emergency room, where she asked doctors to screen his urine.

"I was scared," she said recently, "and I didn't know what else to do."

The procedure was expensive, and embarrassing.  So Ms. Cloud, still suspicious of her son, decided to do her own drug tests, sending him into the family bathroom in boxer shorts with instructions to come out with a cup full of urine that she could ship to a local laboratory for analysis.

That is how Ms.  Cloud began a cottage industry: the home drug testing business.  As more teenagers experiment with illicit drugs, a small but growing roster of companies, including Parents Alert, founded by Ms. Cloud.

[snip]

Source:   New York Times (NY)
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.nytimes.com/
Copyright:   1998 The New York Times Company
Pubdate:   17 Nov 1998
Section:   Health & Fitness, Page F7
Author:   Sheryl Gay Stolberg


International News


COMMENT:    (Top)

Holland and Switzerland may soon have to be running to catch up to Germany.  The new progressive government has appointed a drug czarina who favors trials on heroin by prescription, injection rooms for drug users and treating marijuana like alcohol.  Already, the drug branch has been moved into the Department of Health.

In Australia pressure continued to mount for a heroin by prescription trial.  A joint group of federal and state officials along with mayors called for a change in policy that would test prescribing heroin.

In England a debate is beginning on whether students involved with drugs should be expelled.  The School Standards Minister has said expelling students only drives them into the drug scene. Traditionalists are outraged at the suggestion and calling for a continued hard line.

The US is claiming it is a new day in Colombia.  The White House is getting out the message that we can trust Colombia, they are serious about drug control and really trying to end human rights abuses.  At the same time, law enforcement officials busted Colombian military personnel -- without letting the government know in advance -- sure we're working with them.  The White House is talking a good game, but the actions of the police show it is the same old story.

FIRST QUESTION: WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH?

The `Red-Green' Way To A More Liberal Drug Policy

`Red-Green' federal government will hold to a more liberal path in its drug policy than its predecessor.  Proceeding on the principle that addiction is a sickness, the newly appointed federal `drug czar', Christa Nickels, will emphasize education and "Assistance not Punishment".

Christa Nickels is satisfied.  Her office has been transferred from the Home Office to the Department of Health.  That sends the signal that drug policy will henceforth be based on a humanitarian, health model, and not a law enforcement model.

Eduard Lintner, her predecessor, saw things quite differently.  The Swiss model he regarded as a "Horror," as he announced after a visit. The number of drug related mortalities rose steadily during his term in office.

A Swiss model will be followed also in the proposed clinics where addicts can inject in a safe, supportive environment.  Heroin will also be provided as soon as the law has been revised.  Frankfurt's experience with its trial since 1994 has been very encouraging.

What all the experts have been demanding for a long time is now a step closer.

[snip]

Source:   Frankfurter Rundschau
Copyright:   Frankfurter Rundschau 1998
Pubdate:   20 Nov 98
Contact:  
Fax:   +49 +69 2199 3421
Author:   Jutta Redmann
Translator:   Pat Dolan (from German text)
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1066.a09.html
Note:   Main points summarized.

Related articles:

CHRISTA NICKELS NEW FEDERAL DRUG CZAR
Source:   Schwaebische Zeitung (Germany)
Copyright:   Schwaebischer Verlag KG 1998
Pubdate:   18 Nov 1998
Website:   http://www.schwaebische-zeitung.de
Translator:   Pat Dolan (from German text)
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1066.a07.html

COUNTDOWN TO THE FIRST FIXING ROOMS
Source:   Sueddeutsche Zeitung (Germany)
Copyright:   Sueddeutscher Verlag GmbH, Munich (S.German Publishing Co.)
Pubdate:   18 Nov 1998
Website:   http://www.sueddeutsche.de/
Author:   Martin Thurau
Translator:   Pat Dolan (from German text)
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1049.a08.html


HEROIN TO BE DISTRIBUTED FIRST IN HAMBURG AND FRANKFURT

Hamburg (AP) The trial of a state controlled distribution of heroin to sick addicts will begin in Hamburg and Frankfurt.

Federal Health Minister Andrea Fischer told the German newsmagazine 'Der Spiegel' that the preparations were already well advanced in the two cities.

The Greens Minister declared that the distribution would be expanded to include convicts.  She would also seek agreement from her colleagues on a unified sanctions policy on marihuana possession.  Comparing marihuana with alcohol, Fischer said moderate life-long consumption caused no harmful effects: "Some can manage that, many others can't."

Source:   Siegener (Germany)
Pubdate:   15 Nov 1998
Website:   http://www.pipeline.de/
Translator:   Pat Dolan (from German)
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1053.a07.html

Related article:

LOERRACH APPLIES TO JOIN THE NEW DRUG PROJECT
Source:   Stuttgarter Zeitung (Germany)
Copyright:   1998 Stuttgarter Nachrichte
Pubdate:   21 Nov 1998
Website:   http://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/
Translator:   Pat Dolan (from German text)
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1067.a02.html


HEROIN TRIALS URGED

A joint group of State and federal politicians - and the nation's lord mayors - have issued a united call for controlled heroin trials.

The group, which came together for the first time yesterday in Adelaide, will compile a direct submission to the Prime Minister, Mr Howard, urging
him to relax his opposition to the trial.

The chairman of the Capital City Lord Mayors Conference, Brisbane Lord Mayor Mr Jim Soorley, said drug law reform was long overdue in Australia's
cities.

[snip]

Source:   Advertiser, The (Australia)
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.advertiser.com.au/
Pubdate:   Sat, 14 Nov 1998
Page:   10
Author:   Annabel Crabb, Political Reporter
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1049.a05.html

Related article:

DRUG TOLL WORSENS, POLITICAL WILLPOWER STILL MISSING
Editorial calling for immediate action instead of heroin injection trials.
Source:   Vancouver Province (Canada)
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.vancouverprovince.com/newsite/news-c.html
Copyright:   The Province, Vancouver 1998
Pubdate:   Sun, 15 Nov 1998
Author:   Jim McNulty
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1048.a09.html


GIVE A SECOND CHANCE, SAYS MINISTER
Don't Expel Drug Takers, Schools Told

CHILDREN who experiment with drugs should not be expelled from school automatically, teachers will be told in government guidelines to be published tomorrow.

Estelle Morris, the School Standards Minister, told independent school headmistresses yesterday that she understood parents' desire for "zero tolerance" , but it was often better to give a second chance to lessen the risk of children sliding into regular usage.

[snip]

Source:   Times, The (UK)
Copyright:   1998 Times Newspapers Ltd.
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.the-times.co.uk/
Pubdate:   Tue, 17 Nov 1998
Author:   John O'Leary, Education Correspondent
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1055.a08.html


HEADS IN CLASH WITH MINISTER ON DRUGS

HEAD teachers yesterday criticized the Government's call for leniency over pupils caught with drugs as Estelle Morris, the Schools Minister, defended her advice not to adopt a "zero tolerance" approach.

[snip]

Source:   Times, The (UK)
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.the-times.co.uk/
Pubdate:   18 Nov 1998
Author:   Susie Steiner
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1063.a08.html


IT'S AN ENTIRELY NEW GAME IN COLOMBIA

WASHINGTON, D.C.  -- Not long ago, many Americans' perceptions of Latin America revolved around images of drug training, human rights abuses, anti-democratic leaders, and guerrilla insurgences.

Now, open-market democracy is the norm.  Human rights are generally respected.  And even though significant problems remain, the United States is now turning to its Latin American partners--rather than turning on them--to seize opportunities while working to solve those problems that continue to exist.

Nowhere is this promise truer than in Colombia.  On Oct. 28, President Clinton welcomed Colombia's new president, Andres Pastrana, to the White House for an official state visit--a remarkable turnaround from the previous government of Ernesto Samper, whose U.S.  visa had been revoked.

[snip]

Source:   Chicago Tribune (IL)
Section:   Sec.  1
Copyright:   1998 Chicago Tribune Company
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Author:   Eric Farnsworth, Former White House policy adviser, Senior
Adviser,
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP
Pubdate:   Mon, 16 Nov 1998
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1055.a05.html


COLOMBIAN SAYS U.S.  MISHANDLED BUST

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- President Andres Pastrana accused the United States of mishandling a drug bust on a Colombian air force plane, saying U.S.  officials should have told his government before the plane took off from Colombia that it carried cocaine.

[snip]

Source:   Houston Chronicle (TX)
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.chron.com/
Copyright:   1998 Houston Chronicle
Pubdate:   Sat, 14 Nov 1998
Author:   Associated Press
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1046.a02.html


HOT OFF THE 'NET    (Top)

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is running a ten part series on prosecutorial abuse, "Win At All Costs." It can be found on line at: http://www.post-gazette.com/win/

Source:   Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Copyright:   1998 PG Publishing.
Pubdate:   Sun, 22 Nov 1998
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.post-gazette.com/
Author:   Bill Moushey, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1068.a04.html

The Marijuana Policy Project reports that last year there was a record number of marijuana arrests and that over 35,000 people are incarcerated on marijuana charges.  MPP's report is available on-line at: http://www.mpp.org/prisoners.html.


QUOTE OF THE WEEK    (Top)

NOTE:   submitted by Rick L.  Meredith Just released from a Federal prison
camp.

"To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men." -- Abraham Lincoln


FACT OF THE WEEK    (Top)

ON-LINE POLL SUPPORTS MJ LAW REFORM BY A WHOPPING 84% - 15%

Yahoo conducted a web poll asking:

"Should marijuana be legalized in the United States?

Of 11,462 votes (final)

Yes, for any use.  68%

Yes, but only for medical purposes.  16%

No, it should never be legalized.  15%


TIP OF THE WEEK    (Top)

USA TODAY CONDUCTING ON-LINE POLL NOW

http://www.usaweekend.com/

Drug-testing students for after-school activities, even yearbook and chess club, is ...

Results so far:

38% Student drug-testing is an excellent idea.

61% No, it is unreasonable.

-- 2491 USA WEEKEND visitors weighed in with their opinion on this topic.


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