| June 9, 2000 #152 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Editors Note: Our regular newsletter editor, Dr. Tom O'Connell, is on a well deserved vacation for this and the next issue of the Weekly. Tom is a tough act to follow but we hope you will find these 2 issues up to the standards he has set for us. Many thanks to Richard Lake, Jo-D Dunbar and Matt Elrod for pitching in on these issues. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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THE DPF CONFERENCE | ||||||||||||||||||||
The big news of the Conference was announced within the first hour of the opening session. The Lindesmith Center http://www.lindesmith.org/ and The Drug Policy Foundation http://www.dpf.org/ are merging into a new organization effective 1 July 2000. Throughout the Conference the folks were expressing hope that this will be the organization that will carry our issues with an effectiveness similar to that of organizations like the NAACP, AARP, ACLU and other large organizations. | ||||||||||||||||||||
You can watch this announcement on-line at | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Plenary Sessions were superb! You may see them in steaming video at http://www.zoomculture.com/general/dcoffice/dpf/plenary.html Without a doubt, in my biased opinion, "How to Win at Reform Using the Internet" was the session I enjoyed the most. Seeing Kevin Zeese, Mark Greer, Nora Callahan, David Borden, Maia Szalavitz and Michael Dolan discuss 'net activism made my day. Two years ago the 'net was not even a conference topic. Last year it was a workshop in a less than desirable time slot. This year it was a key session of the conference! We who use the 'net to further our efforts are gaining some respect! | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Conference Workshops are always a problem for me. I wish I could
have cloned myself so that I could be in each of the four or five
concurrently held workshops at once, as they all were worthy of
interest. Hopefully zoomculture will have the workshop video clips on
line soon so we can at least hear parts of the ones we missed. My own
workshop on "Growing Your Organization - Working with Volunteers" went
well, thanks to panel members Nora Callahan, Don Topping and Ruth
Lampi; as well as good audience participation. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Congressman Barney Frank, the Keynote Speaker | ||||||||||||||||||||
The awards presented to so many deserving folks was a pleasure to
witness. Doug McVay of Common Sense for Drug Policy has posted
pictures of the conference at http://www.csdp.org/dpf2000.htm -
including a number of awards being presented. Because I, and others who
work with MAP, have received so much kind and sound advice from Kevin
Zeese, seeing him receive The Richard J. Dennis Drugpeace Award for
Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Drug Policy Reform was a
highlight of the awards presentations. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Seldom do so many drug policy reform folks meet. Thus meetings of
various groups, including MAP/DrugSense folks, took place during the
Conference. Pictures I took of MAP folks enjoying the DrugSense dinner
are posted at: http://drugsense.org/dsdpics.htm | ||||||||||||||||||||
A significant part of the conference for us all was visiting in the
hotel lobby with others to just talk about our activities. And yes, we
had fun at the roaming gatherings that lasted into the early morning,
mostly, it seemed, on the balcony my room was on. We even had an
Internet chat from the Conference in the DrugSense chat room at
http://www.drugsense.org/chat/ | ||||||||||||||||||||
Oh, this Conference was truly international in character, with strong
representation, as well as presentations, from Canada, Australia, the
United Kingdom, Germany and other countries. | ||||||||||||||||||||
I encourage everyone to plan to attend the next one. For me, the Conference is a way of really being connected with the entire reform community - a connection I do not have in my small town. What I learn at the conferences brings a valued dimension to my reform efforts. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Richard Lake | ||||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (1-2) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
California is again leading the way for reform of our failed drug policies. An important initiative has all but qualified for the November ballot. Predictably law enforcement, having become "addicted" to the money and power that the drug war has provided, are opposed to this sensible step towards a more workable drug policy. | ||||||||||||||||||||
(1) TREAT, DON'T JAIL, ILLEGAL DRUG USERS? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Group wants measure on ballot | ||||||||||||||||||||
Another high-intensity debate is shaping up in California over a ballot initiative that would require treatment instead of incarceration for nonviolent drug users caught with their illegal substances. A $1 million signature-gathering campaign financed by billionaire George Soros and others has obtained 713,849 names on petitions that have since been turned into county election offices. Some 419,260 valid signatures are needed to qualify the measure for the November ballot. | ||||||||||||||||||||
If it qualifies and passes, anybody with no history of serious or
violent crime who gets picked up by police for simple possession of any
controlled substance -- including hard drugs such as heroin,
methamphetamine and cocaine -- would no longer face a state prison
term, no matter how many times they are arrested. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
"We think it's a dangerous initiative that will undermine legitimate
drug treatment programs and weaken the state's anti-drug laws against
hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin," said Larry Brown, executive
director of the California District Attorneys Association. "There's a
broad consensus that more needs to be done in the area of treatment for
drug addicts, but this initiative takes a step backward. This is a
back-door approach to decriminalizing drugs." | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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See Also: | ||||||||||||||||||||
Ballot Measure Calls For Drug Treatment In Non-violent Cases
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n725.a02.html | ||||||||||||||||||||
Cut Drug Penalties To Save Lives, Money, Officials Urge: Senators,
Councilman Back Ballot Proposal | ||||||||||||||||||||
Push For Treatment Vs. Jail Makes Ballot | ||||||||||||||||||||
Drive Begins To Ease Drug Penalty Laws | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(2) PROPERTY SEIZURES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Police departments across the country have concocted a clever scheme to get around state laws restricting the use of assets seized during raids. It's yet another example of how the nation's war on drugs has, too frequently, compromised the integrity of law enforcement agencies. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Most states - including California - limit the ability of local police
departments to keep assets confiscated in raids. Yet an investigative
report by The Kansas City Star, called "Cash in Custody," found that
police departments across the country have created a legal, yet highly
questionable, process to keep more of the money. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (3-4) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The egregious "Meth Bill" continues to get negative press but so far
there is no indication that Congress has recognized what a blatant
Constitutional assault has been hidden away in this bill. It is
nothing less than a stealthy assault on our rights and freedoms under
the guise of "protecting" us. | ||||||||||||||||||||
(3) BAD PROPOSAL NEEDS TO GO (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Tucked away in federal legislation aimed at the methamphetamine problem is truly dangerous proposal, one that needs to be stopped. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Under the guise of giving formal approval to what is already taking
place, officials propose changing the law to allow police to conduct
searches without notice and seize property without immediately telling
the owner. | ||||||||||||||||||||
How, under any reasonable interpretation of Fourth Amendment guarantees
against "unreasonable searches and seizures," can this stand up? If
these are practices that are already going on, then those prosecutors
and police officers ought to be up on charges, and the judges giving
the OK ought to answer some hard questions. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(4) BASIC FREEDOMS THE NEXT VICTIM OF THE WAR ON DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
IF the price of liberty is eternal vigilance, now is no time for
Americans to flinch. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In another effort to add firepower to the already substantial federal
arsenal aimed at reducing or eliminating the drug trade, Congress is
seriously considering passage of a law that would deliver a one-two
punch to basic freedom. | ||||||||||||||||||||
This desperate measure is called the Methamphetamine | ||||||||||||||||||||
One provision of the act would institutionalize censorship when it
comes to any sort of discussion of controlled substances. Books and
magazines about how to, say, grow marijuana or the uses of marijuana
for medicinal purposes would be outlawed. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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See Also: | ||||||||||||||||||||
Anti-Meth Act Impinges On Rights Of All Americans | ||||||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT (5-7) | ||||||||||||||||||||
An ever increasing number of sensible articles and OP-Eds indicate that media awareness of the futility of the drug war is becoming ever more obvious. This is beginning to impact public opinion and ever-so-slowly the hold out supporters of this failed policy, the politicians, may be demonstrating an inkling of rational thought. | ||||||||||||||||||||
(5) LEGALIZATION IS BEST DEFENSE AGAINST RAVAGES OF DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
With the war on drugs raging and drug wars between rival gangs killing our youth, solutions to our drug problems have been in high demand. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Proper solutions, however, always have been a scarce commodity. From
the bloodletting of the sick to brain surgery for the mentally ill, the
help of good-hearted people has, at times, backfired. | ||||||||||||||||||||
This seems to be the case with our drug problems. Traditional responses
often have called for stricter sentencing or a greater police presence,
but these have neither stopped the drug dealers nor quelled the
bloodshed on the street. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sometimes the unorthodox solution can be the best. Though it may seem to increase our problems, the legalization of drugs in reality would lessen them by reducing the consumption of drugs, the number of gang-related deaths and the occurrence of drug-related crimes. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(6) AMERICA'S WAR ON DRUGS OR ITS CITIZENS? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
You won't find the latest good news about our war in the foreign-news
section of the paper. | ||||||||||||||||||||
That's because this war is being fought at home. But you won't find it
in the domestic-news section, either. | ||||||||||||||||||||
That's because the media are barely reporting anything outside the
talking points of the presidential candidates. And George W. Bush and
Al Gore would rather talk about drugs they did or didn't take than
mention America's ongoing drug war -- unless to say that we need to get
tougher. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(7) RETHINKING TACTICS IN WAR ON DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Religious leaders are retreating from calls for aggressive prosecution,
advocating reform and treatment over incarceration. | ||||||||||||||||||||
When it comes to moral crusades, religious leaders have long enlisted
in the "war on drugs." | ||||||||||||||||||||
The cost of illicit narcotics trafficking in ruined lives,
deterioration of neighborhoods, drug-related crime and impact on law
enforcement and prisons are all inherently moral issues that thunder
from pulpits. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But 30 years after the Nixon administration declared war on drugs in the late 1960s -- a war pressed by each succeeding administration -- growing numbers of religious leaders are breaking ranks. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Victory" in the war on drugs seems to consist of body counts, destroyed lives, wasted resources and the land of the free becoming the very best in the world at incarcerating its citizens. | ||||||||||||||||||||
(8) REPORT: ALMOST 90% OF FEDERAL DEFENDANTS ARE CONVICTED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
1998 Study Shows Three Out Of Four Offenders Get Sentenced To Prison | ||||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Eighty-seven percent of defendants charged with
federal crimes were convicted in fiscal 1998 and almost three out of
four people convicted were sentenced to prison, the Justice Department
reported Wednesday. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Nearly half of the 106,139 federal arrests during the 12 months that
ended Sept. 30, 1998, charged drug or immigration violations, according
to the first comprehensive study of federal arrest data by the Bureau
of Justice Statistics. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Drug violations accounted for 29 percent of the arrests and immigration
offenses for 20 percent. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT (9-11) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Corruption for fun and profit - Some wonderful lessons in how to encourage our police forces to get creative in circumventing the law. When law enforcement breaks the law where do you go to find justice? | ||||||||||||||||||||
(9) U.S. RULES LET POLICE KEEP CASH THEY SEIZE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Police and highway patrols across the country are evading state laws to
improperly keep millions of dollars in cash and property seized in drug
busts and traffic stops. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Most states don't want law enforcement agencies to profit so easily from such confiscations - they see it as a dangerous conflict of interest. For that reason, they have passed laws blocking seized property from going directly back to police, and many states designate seizures to be used for other purposes, such as education. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But a yearlong examination by The Kansas City Star reveals that police agencies in every one of more than two dozen states - including North Carolina - checked by the newspaper have used federal law enforcement to circumvent their own laws and keep most of that money for themselves. | ||||||||||||||||||||
It works this way: When police seize money, they call a federal agency
instead of going to state court to confiscate it. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(10) DIVERSIONS TAKE MONEY DUE SCHOOLS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Laws differ from state to state, but police still sidestep them. | ||||||||||||||||||||
For example, little or no drug money appears to get into educational
funds even though that's where at least eight state constitutions
require forfeited money and property to go. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Police in North Carolina get around their constitution by simply
handing their seizures to federal agencies, which then return up to 80
percent. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(11) DEBATE IN D.A.'S RACE FOCUSES ON CORRUPT POLICE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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In a televised debate marked by sharp exchanges Thursday, Los Angeles
County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti and opponent Steve Cooley expressed
outrage that two LAPD officers accused of drug-related corruption were
not prosecuted. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Garcetti said during the hourlong debate in Santa Monica that he would
work with the LAPD to ensure that whenever there is evidence of a
potential criminal act that results in a police officer's termination,
that information must be referred to prosecutors. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Cooley, a head deputy district attorney who won more votes than
Garcetti in the March primary, used the opportunity to promise that if
he is elected, the district attorney's office will be more proactive
and will monitor all LAPD Board of Rights disciplinary hearings for
evidence of police misconduct that should be investigated and
prosecuted. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (12) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Just when you thought it was safe to go to the movies again...The
Ontario Film Review Board is using a law intended to prevent cruelty
to animals to ban the documentary created to show the cruelty of
cannabis prohibition. | ||||||||||||||||||||
(12) HOWLS OF PROTEST GREET ONTARIO BAN OF GRASS, THE MOVIE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
20-Second Scene Offends: Film Review Board Sees Cruelty In Monkeys
Smoking | ||||||||||||||||||||
While opening to warm reviews and standing ovations in the United
States, the new documentary film by an Ontario film maker that lampoons
the efforts of the U.S. government to weed out marijuana use has been
banned in his home province. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Ontario Film Review Board will not allow the film Grass, by Toronto
director Ron Mann, to be shown in any of the province's cinemas because
of a 20-second scene of four monkeys smoking marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
A Kentucky sheriff reports that $180 million dollars of marijuana had
been destroyed in his county and 54 "holler dopers" had been arrested
during the past two years. Some simple arithmetic reveals that the
average Kentucky cannabis cultivator could make a little over 1.5
million dollars per year. | ||||||||||||||||||||
(13) REAPING MARIJUANA IN HILLS EMPTIED OF STILLS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
HINDMAN, Ky. - Call it green lightning, the seedling crop of countless
hidden marijuana patches now stippling the springtime valleys of
Appalachia the way moonshine stills used to when Sheriff Wheeler Jacobs
was a boy. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
The back-road yield of illegal marijuana has proliferated so much that federal officials have designated 65 Appalachian counties here and in West Virginia and Tennessee as a "high-intensity drug trafficking area." | ||||||||||||||||||||
This region is estimated to supply 40 per cent of the nation's supply. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (14-15) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Kentucky residents would be wise to start saving their illegal drug
tax money now. A 1994 state law enables the Revenue Cabinet to demand
taxes on the profits made from illegal drugs which any law enforcement
accuses a citizen of making. | ||||||||||||||||||||
(14) MAN NEVER CHARGED IN CRIME OWES MONEY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Ky.'s Illegal Drug Tax: No Indictment Needed | ||||||||||||||||||||
Jackson Charles Thomas Jr. doesn't own any land near his trailer, where
police seized more than 500 marijuana plants last year. Thomas says he
didn't plant them. And, after being questioned by police, he was never
charged with a crime. | ||||||||||||||||||||
A local grand jury declined to indict Thomas. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But the state nonetheless is demanding that he pay $1,161,859.94 in taxes, penalties and interest on the marijuana under a 1994 law that allows such an assessment based only on a police officer's report. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(15) MARIJUANA TAX CASE IS THE RESULT OF AN UNJUST LAW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Un-American Way | ||||||||||||||||||||
Kentucky legislators have enacted, and Kentucky courts have upheld,
some fairly rotten laws over the years. The case of Charles Thomas Jr.
provides a perfect example of why a 1994 statute levying a tax on
illegal drugs ranks with the worst of them. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Under the 1994 law taxing illegal drugs, that's all it takes to slap a
monstrous tax bill on anyone in Kentucky. One police officer writing
your name on a "Notice of Seizure and Tax Lien." | ||||||||||||||||||||
No other evidence is required; and if you're Thomas, you may never get
to argue your case in court. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (16-17) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Among the superb presentations at the DPF Conference was that of Tony
Trimingham and Michael Dawson of The Wayside Chapel Tolerance Room,
NSW, Australia. The MAP archives has 69 stories about the Chapel,
which, more than anything else, forced the current debate in Australia
about injecting rooms. This week the articles continue with movement
on the part of the state government and less than acceptance by the
police. | ||||||||||||||||||||
(16) INJECTING ROOMS: AT LAST, THE DETAILS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
ALTHOUGH there were elements of opportunism in the attitudes of the Liberal and National Parties towards the Bracks Government's broad proposal for the establishment of a small number of supervised heroin injecting facilities, there was also a justifiable caution in their responses. Until the government decided on the details of not just the on-the-ground specifics of each injecting room but the more amorphous and difficult issues of police and medical protocols, how could the opposition be expected to give a meaningful response? Now it can. | ||||||||||||||||||||
With the issuing yesterday of the government's plans for injecting rooms, the decision-making process on this most important of issues begins in earnest. The government has taken the wise step - probably the only step it could take given the Liberal majority in the upper house - of building a double veto into its plans for the establishment of injecting rooms. It has understood that the only way the trial facilities will stand a chance of being set up is if the non-Labor parties can be part of the process at every crucial step. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(17) POLICE REFUSE TO BE HELD AT NEEDLE POINT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
HEROIN addicts will be forced to run a police gauntlet to use supervised injecting centres planned for the city and suburbs. Police will be able to search, arrest and charge addicts found with the drug in neighboring streets under radical laws unveiled yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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See Also: | ||||||||||||||||||||
Agreements Key To Drug Rooms
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Face Facts On Heroin, Bracks Urges Public
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Inside The Heroin Room
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Every Faceless Junkie Has A Name
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COMMENT: (18-19) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Tragic needless heroin deaths in Ireland resulted in both an editorial
and OPED which raise the idea that harm reduction policies could help,
even though the OPED indicates that Australia has taken steps which
are now only being debated. | ||||||||||||||||||||
(18) THE SCOURGE OF HEROIN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
There are no magic solutions, however. But we need to consider why abuse of all forms of drugs, legal and illegal, is on the increase. In the effect they have on the user, drugs are by definition an escape. But from what? In the case of grinding inner-city poverty and deprivations of many sorts, the escape must, surely, be from one's immediate surroundings. In the case of middle-class substance abuse, the escape may be linked to teenage angst and other factors. Drug taking has become more acceptable in youth culture in recent years. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Many middle-class parents believe that young people today are less
active than a decade or two ago. The number of children in urban
Ireland who do not participate in countryside pursuits - who do not
walk as a matter of routine, who do not play sports and who do not
observe and celebrate the simple joys of nature - is large and growing.
Is there a link here between low self-esteem and increased drug abuse?
Anecdotal evidence suggests that teenage alcohol consumption has
reached astonishing levels. | ||||||||||||||||||||
As for the immediate heroin deaths crisis, the medical authorities and social services are coping as best they can and are, by all accounts, deeply worried about what is happening. The source of the killing drug remains unknown. The tragedy raises awkward questions: should the State offer addicts a testing system for their illegal drugs - thus saving lives perhaps but forcing the State to collude? Should restrictions be eased on the number of doctors permitted to prescribe methadone? There is no simple solution to this problem as other jurisdictions have discovered. But thoughtful debate is needed here and needed urgently. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(19) THE MUNDANE TRAGEDY OF DRUG DEATHS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
To our shame, it took an element of novelty and mystery - the dangerous infection that has increased the rate of death among heroin-users - to bring into focus an awful obscenity that had become almost invisible. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Some people, though, have been paying attention, among them Ray Byrne
of the department of social studies in Trinity College Dublin. By
monitoring the files of the coroners in Dublin, he has created a
precise picture of what has become a mundane tragedy. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
But why should be this continuing tragedy be taken for granted? The answer is immediately obvious from Ray Byrne's study. 71 per cent were unemployed. Most came from the poorest areas of Dublin. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
To an overwhelming extent, then, the people killed by drugs lived in
the places that the brave new world of bustling, go-getting, affluent
Ireland prefers to ignore. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Ray Byrne notes that in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and
Australia the state provides "fixing rooms" to give addicts a hygienic
and supervised environment in which to inject, and this greatly reduces
risk. A Swiss experiment in which the state provided heroin on
prescription to addicts also saved lives. | ||||||||||||||||||||
For many people, these kinds of radical policies are understandably
repellent. But if, in trying to end the Northern conflict, the State
came to accept the need to rethink the conventional wisdom, why should
the same energy and radicalism not be devoted to a tragedy that is
costing as many lives? | ||||||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT (20) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Almost buried under the continuing stories and opinions about raves in
Canada is an item about one of the cases winding its way through the
courts as a Constitutional Challenge under the Charter of Rights and
Freedoms. While lawmakers in the U.S. tear up the Bill of Rights in the
name of the War on Drugs, and courts often go along; in Canada the rights
of the people could well yet be sustained in the courts. But the process
is slow, difficult and expensive, with decisions from the highest court
perhaps years away. | ||||||||||||||||||||
(20) ILLEGALITY OF MARIJUANA POSSESSION UPHELD (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Simple possession of marijuana does not pose a serious or substantial risk of harm to society but the law prohibiting possession is not unconstitutional, the B.C. Court of Appeal ruled Friday in a 2-1 decision. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"I agree that the evidence shows that the risk posed by marijuana is not
large," Justice Tom Braidwood wrote in a 107-page decision, with Justice
Anne Rowles agreeing. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But he added: "I do not feel it is the role of the court to strike down the prohibition on the non-medical use of marijuana possession at this time. In the end, I have decided that such matters are best left to Parliament." | ||||||||||||||||||||
But in dissenting reasons, Justice Jo-Anne Prowse found the provisions of
the Narcotic Control Act prohibiting marijuana possession violate Section 7
rights of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"In my view, the evidence does not establish that simple possession of marijuana presents a reasoned risk of serious, substantial or significant harm to either the individual or society or others," Prowse wrote. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Campaign for New Drug Policies Web Page | ||||||||||||||||||||
We have officially "kicked off" the campaign for the California
ballot initiative known as the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention
Act. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Submitted by Dave Fratello Campaign for New Drug Policies | ||||||||||||||||||||
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New DPF Photos On-line | ||||||||||||||||||||
A number of new photos from the DPF conference taken by Richard Lake
have been placed on-line by Jo-D Dunbar. | ||||||||||||||||||||
You can get to a specific picture at: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
On-line Dictionary - Helps Letter Writers | ||||||||||||||||||||
Here's a great tool for letter-writing. It's a free on-line dictionary
that's quick and easy to use. Bookmark it or create a shortcut on your
browser and you're only a couple of clicks away from the correct meanings
and spellings of any word. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Submitted by Larry Stephens | ||||||||||||||||||||
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." - H.L. Mencken | ||||||||||||||||||||
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