| January 12, 2001 #182 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
McCaffrey's Parting Shots Belie the Facts / Tom O'Connell and Doug McVay | ||||||||||||||||||
It's supremely ironic that General Barry McCaffrey, the most visible
and longest serving drug czar-- the one who promoted more drug arrests
than any other and is the chief apologist for the first acknowledged
overseas military adventure to support the drug war-- left office
during a week in which the policy he headed is facing harsh criticism
at home and a daunting overseas test. Beyond that; a film which seems
certain to become both box-office hit and nominee for several Academy
Awards just opened to critical acclaim. While that criticism is
variable with respect to the film's portrayal of many drug war details,
it's nearly unanimous in acknowledging our policy to be an expensive
failure. | ||||||||||||||||||
Against this backdrop, McCaffrey's departing claim that the drug war is
really successful, but just needing more money and commitment, is
nothing short of ludicrous. Since he was not a powerful "czar" with
actual police powers, but really functioned as designated government
lobbyist for a global criminal industry, his tenure can be seen as a
monumental failure-- with more on the way. | ||||||||||||||||||
Our drug policy rests on a simplistic premise: "certain drugs are so
evil, they must be outlawed." The counter is: "the criminal drug
markets created by policy produce far more social damage than the drugs
themselves." Whatever its limitations, that seems to be the message
most readily derived from "Traffic." Given our recently acknowledged
criminal justice excesses, racial profiling, police scandals, and
"exploding" markets for both club drugs and methamphetamine, that
counter argument will resonate as never before. | ||||||||||||||||||
The nomination of a fundamentalist drug hawk to be Attorney General
should be seen as just another opportunity to make the same case even
more effectively. Likewise, the possible denial of medical necessity by
a less than pristine Supreme Court represents an opportunity to further
discredit our embattled policy. This is not a time for timid arguments
or half measures and compromises which implicitly agree with a need for
criminal markets; it's a time to capitalize on the two greatest
weaknesses of the drug war: neither its rationale nor its results can
stand much intelligent scrutiny. | ||||||||||||||||||
Tom O'Connell | ||||||||||||||||||
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The NY Times interview with Gen. McCaffrey, I thought that reviewing a
few items from his final National Drug Control Strategy 2001 Annual
Report and from the drug control office's own 1991-2001 budget
comparison would be helpful in putting the General's comments into
context. | ||||||||||||||||||
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Mandatory minimums/crack-powder disparity: from the NY Times: | ||||||||||||||||||
"He called it 'silly' for federal law to impose harsher penalties for
selling or possessing crack cocaine than for powder cocaine because
they are two forms of the same drug." | ||||||||||||||||||
"He criticized predetermined prison sentences for drug felons, like
those set under New York's Rockefeller-era drug laws. 'I am unalterably
opposed to the system of mandatory minimums,' he said. 'I think we need
to give this authority back to the judges.'" | ||||||||||||||||||
And here's what ONDCP's 2001 annual report recommends: | ||||||||||||||||||
"The Administration recommends that federal sentencing treat crack as
ten times worse than powder, not one hundred times worse. Specifically,
the amount of powder cocaine required to trigger a five-year mandatory
sentence would be reduced from five hundred to two hundred and fifty
grams while the amount of crack cocaine required to trigger the same
sentence would increase from five grams to twenty-five grams.... The
Administration also recommends that mandatory minimums be abolished for
simple possession of crack." | ||||||||||||||||||
National Drug Control Strategy: 2001 Annual Report, issued Jan. 4, 2001,
pp. 87-88 | ||||||||||||||||||
Prevention funding: from the NY Times interview: | ||||||||||||||||||
"Since General McCaffrey took office, federal financing has increased
by 55 percent for prevention programs and by 34 percent for treatment
programs. 'It's been hard lifting, but we've made the arguments that
resulted in $2.78 billion in federal money going into drug treatment,'
he said."" | ||||||||||||||||||
The 2001 Annual Report notes: | ||||||||||||||||||
"Between FY 1996 and FY 2000, prevention funding increased by 48
percent -- second only to the percentage increase in international
funding. Increases for prevention programs were targeted at Goal 1 of
the Strategy, 'Educate and enable America's youth to reject illegal
drugs as well as alcohol and tobacco.' The establishment of ONDCP's
youth media campaign, funding for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration (SAMHSA) State Incentive Grants program,
increased funding for Youth Tobacco prevention in the Department of
Health and Human Services and additional funding for Office of Justice
Programs drug prevention activities represent several of the key budget
priorities supporting the strategy." | ||||||||||||||||||
National Drug Control Strategy: 2001 Annual Report, issued Jan. 4,
2001, p. 118. | ||||||||||||||||||
Actual Drug Budget Figures in Dollars: | ||||||||||||||||||
TREATMENT | ||||||||||||||||||
1993 $2,251.6 Billion | ||||||||||||||||||
PREVENTION | ||||||||||||||||||
1993 $1,556.4 Billion | ||||||||||||||||||
TOTAL DEMAND REDUCTION | ||||||||||||||||||
1993 $4,214.3 Billion | ||||||||||||||||||
DOMESTIC LAW ENFORCEMENT | ||||||||||||||||||
1993 $5,922.3 Billion | ||||||||||||||||||
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http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/policy/budget00/exec_summ.html | ||||||||||||||||||
Doug McVay, Projects Coordinator | ||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (1-6) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
It was a week rich in irony: McCzar slunk off to retirement while
dutiful Presidential praise was drowned out by critical acclaim for a
film that makes mincemeat of his absurd contention that we're
(finally) winning the drug war. | ||||||||||||||||||
Although a fawning column by Chris Wren tried to enhance the departing
czar's image by focusing on his rhetoric and ignoring his performance,
the reality gap had been duly noted by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune
and a Washington Post editorial cited dissatisfaction with that record
as a reason to oppose John Ashcroft. | ||||||||||||||||||
Finally, Arianna Huffington suggested Gary Johnson as the next czar. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(1) CLINTON TOUTS EFFORTS IN DRUG WAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
McCaffrey Says U.S. Should Stress Prevention, Treatment, Research | ||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - President Clinton praised recent signs of progress in
curbing drug use on Thursday but said "drugs continue to exact a
tremendous toll" on young people dabbling in steroids and recreational
drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
Mr. Clinton, receiving the final report from his drug-policy adviser,
said he was glad that the report showed drug-related murders at their
lowest level in 10 years and drug use by young people ages 12-17 is
down 21 percent since 1997. | ||||||||||||||||||
But, he said, studies also provide disturbing evidence of increased use
of steroids, the synthetic drug "ecstasy," alcohol and tobacco among
young people. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(2) DRUG WAR MOVIE IS A WINNER ON MANY FRONTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
If anyone had any lingering doubt that the United States' war on drugs
has become as twisted and bizarre as Alice's trip through the looking
glass, he had only to read the opinion column by New Mexico Gov. Gary
E. Johnson in last Saturday's New York Times. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
"Traffic," Steven Soderbergh's great, rousing film about drug
smugglers, users and enforcers, captures the war with an immediacy that
is breathtaking. In a way, Soderbergh is as brave as Johnson: In a
market-driven entertainment industry in which the third rail is
anything that's not a sequel, he's risking that audiences will choose a
movie of substance over Mel Gibson in pantyhose. The kicker is that
"Traffic" is far more entertaining than Mel or anything else at the
multiplex right now - or all year, for that matter. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(3) A DRUG WARRIOR WHO WOULD RATHER TREAT THAN FIGHT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- REFLECTING upon nearly five years as the Clinton
administration's top drug policy official, Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey
looks back even farther, to 31 years in the Army, where he became its
most highly decorated general after fighting in the Vietnam and Persian
Gulf wars. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The general does not fit the stereotype of a drug czar, whose authority
primarily consists of facilitating the antidrug policies of a range of
federal departments and agencies. | ||||||||||||||||||
He called it "silly" for federal law to impose harsher penalties for
selling or possessing crack cocaine than for powder cocaine because
they are two forms of the same drug. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(4) ANTIDRUG REPORT SHOWS LITTLE PROGRESS IN CLINTON YEARS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Youth drug use in the United States increased sharply during the eight years of the Clinton administration, and the number of drug-related episodes in emergency rooms are now at historic highs, according to figures in a national report on drug policy to be released today. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(5) ADDICTED TO A FAILING WAR ON DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
This could be a hopeful time for drug policy. Last Wednesday New York's Republican governor proposed reform of the state's crazy mandatory drug sentences, which cause millions to be spent on locking up nonviolent offenders. The next day New Mexico's governor, also a Republican, received a report he had commissioned outlining a rethinking of drug policy. Then Friday brought the nationwide release of "Traffic," a terrific guns-and-intrigue movie about the futility of the drug war. But these hopeful signs are overshadowed by one serious problem. | ||||||||||||||||||
Its name is John Ashcroft. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
It's hard to believe that the nominee for the post of top law enforcer thinks more cops with more equipment can solve the drug problem. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(6) A DRUG CZAR BUSH SHOULD SAY 'YES' TO (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
WHILE THE WASHINGTON media are all a-titter about the expected confirmation battle over Attorney General-designee John Ashcroft - does he or doesn't he have a statue of Robert E. Lee tucked away in his closet? - next to no attention is being paid to the fact that a vital cabinet-level position remains unfilled. Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey is gone - can't you feel the void? - but no one is even speculating about who President-elect George W, Bush will name to succeed him. | ||||||||||||||||||
So let me step into the breach and suggest a nominee. He's a popular
Republican governor, the first in the history of his state to be
elected to two consecutive four year terms; … | ||||||||||||||||||
Mr. Bush, I give you New Mexico's Johnson. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (7-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Against this backdrop, the Bush team completed a list of nominees for all Cabinet posts; save the one just vacated by McCaffrey-- and made significant by the new President's own personal history. | ||||||||||||||||||
The few who noticed focused on alcohol and ignored drugs when citing
that history. | ||||||||||||||||||
For anyone still feeling ironic, a National Review Op-Ed updated Bill Buckley's five year old judgment: not only is the drug war a failure; but its repetition of Prohibition's errors should have warned us. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(7) EXPERTS AWAIT BUSH'S DRUG-TREATMENT POLICY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A Unique Perspective | ||||||||||||||||||
As George W. Bush prepares to take office, substance abuse experts are
watching to see if the new president's own past battle with alcohol
plays out in public policy. | ||||||||||||||||||
Bush will be the first American president to have acknowledged publicly a struggle with alcohol, although he has said he does not consider himself an alcoholic. Experts don't know if Bush will be more sensitive to the problems of people with addictions, or if he will dismiss traditional routes to sobriety, such as counseling and 12-step programs, because he found simpler methods to end his own drinking. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(8) PROHIBITION FEVER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A Legacy Project For The W. Era. | ||||||||||||||||||
What do guns, drugs, and alcohol have in common? They are all highly
portable, highly prized by many people, despised by others, and can be
abused. Each has been the object of societal sanctions. As we head into
the new millennium, with a new president who promises to reduce the
unintended harms caused by government, it is time for America to
recognize some lessons about prohibition. | ||||||||||||||||||
A grand, but foolish experiment with alcohol prohibition was tried from
1920 to 1933. The dreadful results are well documented. Organized crime
in its modern form was created. A drinking culture based on beer and
wine was replaced by one based on gin and other hard liquor. Homicide
soared and so did police corruption. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (9-12) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
More irony: a Florida judge called attention to the racism in her state's prisons when she tried to protect a parole violator. | ||||||||||||||||||
In Iowa, a similar state prison demographic inspired anguished editorial questions, while in New York, the unfolding of a very public case tells all one needs to know about how the disparity is produced. | ||||||||||||||||||
An angry column by Alexander Cockburn reveals that the stage has already been set for the next racial sentencing outrages. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(9) STATURE, RACE HELP STAVE OFF JAIL TIME (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Paul Hamill was a repeat drug offender who couldn't get clean. He was arrested for possession and delivery of cocaine, then violated probation three times. The last time he disappeared for days, court records show, while his probation officer tried to find him. | ||||||||||||||||||
By law, Hamill should now be in the Florida state prison. His offender score sheet with the Hillsborough prosecutor's office shows he should have been slapped with a mandatory prison sentence of at least three years. But that's not happening any time soon. The Hillsborough County circuit judge presiding over his case thinks the 41-year-old Hamill is too small and white to survive in the general prison population. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(10) A GENERATION IN PRISON (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The Incarceration Rate For African-Americans In Iowa Tops The National
Average. | ||||||||||||||||||
That black Iowans are imprisoned at a higher rate than blacks nationwide is not news. The Register reported last year that at least 1 in 12 black Iowans is in prison, on parole or probation - a ratio surpassing most other states - while the ratio for whites is 1 in 110. | ||||||||||||||||||
Why does this outrageous disparity not only continue to exist, but to
grow? | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(11) ONE LAW FOR THE RICH? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Could it be that NYPD Sgt. Eric Adams and his organization, 100 Blacks
in Law Enforcement Who Care, are on to something? | ||||||||||||||||||
Adams plays the New York media like a piano, and his tendency to bite
the hand that feeds him - the NYPD - can be more than a little
off-putting. | ||||||||||||||||||
But now Adams is criticizing Mary Jo White, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District, for her refusal to prosecute white-collar buyers caught in a huge home-delivery cocaine sting nearly a year ago. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The war on drugs is nothing if not a nuanced undertaking. But when the
law seemingly treats people differently for the same basic crime, the
result is unnecessary disrespect for the law itself. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(12) THE PERSECUTION AND CRIMINALIZATION OF JUVENILES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
LET us finger some false prophets who often escape public ridicule
because enough time has elapsed since they made their foolish
predictions. | ||||||||||||||||||
Here is that salesman of the virtues, Bill Bennett, who once co-chaired
the Council on Crime in America, and issued a 1996 report titled "The
State of Violent Crime in America," containing these ominous words and
(entirely inaccurate) predictions: "America is a ticking violent crime
bomb. Rates of violent juvenile crime and weapons offenses have been
increasing dramatically, and by the year 2000, could spiral out of
control." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The drug laws are of course key to criminalizing youth. The trick is to
take something almost everybody does, and then make it a crime. That
way you can pick and choose who you want to mess with. Kids from all
backgrounds use drugs, but again, only kids from bad neighborhoods get
criminalized for it. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (13-14) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Withdrawal of Linda Chavez as a Cabinet nominee may have increased
chances of blocking John Ashcroft as attorney general. Critics are
also finding material which challenges his fitness to enforce drug
policy. | ||||||||||||||||||
An example of how far Ashcroft is out of step with current thinking
was provided by a man who'd helped pass New York's notorious
Rockefeller laws as a state senator and now sees how mistaken they
were. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(13) ASHCROFT: OUT OF SIGHT ON THE RIGHT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
BOSTON -- The district attorney of Kings County (Brooklyn), N.Y.,
Charles J. Hynes, has for 10 years run a program that diverts
nonviolent drug offenders from prison to treatment: a tough residential
regimen of up to two years. It has been a great success. Those who
complete the program get into renewed trouble with the law at half the
rate of other drug offenders. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Given that support for drug treatment alternatives, Hynes was
troubled when he learned that John Ashcroft, George W. Bush's choice
for attorney general, had spoken against the idea. Ashcroft told a
conservative think tank in 1997: | ||||||||||||||||||
"A government which takes the resources that we would devote toward
the interdiction of drugs and converts them to treatment resources,
and instead of saying 'Just say no' says 'Just say maybe' or 'Just
don't inhale' ... is a government that accommodates us at our lowest
and least." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(14) IT'S TIME TO SOFTEN NY'S DRUG LAWS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
THE TIME for being realistic about the nation's "war on drugs" is long
overdue, but the increased call for change in New York's criminal drug
laws is a message that Gov. George Pataki acknowledged on Wednesday in
his State of the State speech and which legislators can no longer
ignore. | ||||||||||||||||||
A quarter century of experience with the Rockefeller drug laws shows
that a more humane and effective system to rehabilitate addicts, while
protecting the public safety, must be adopted. And the voices for
change, which have increased in both number and intensity, are unlikely
to be ignored by Albany in 2001. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (15-16) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A Canadian trade journal provided the dry details on the DEA's latest
sneaky administrative attack on industrial hemp; Joel Miller of
WorldNet Daily offered some less restrained opinions and advice on how
to oppose it. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(15) U.S. TO BAN FOOD MADE FROM HEMP (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The United States Department of Justice plans to announce three new rules that will ban products made from hemp seed and oil. | ||||||||||||||||||
The rules could seriously affect the young Canadian hemp industry,
which sees the U.S. as an important market. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Do we have to go there again?" sighed Shaun Crew, president of Hemp
Oil Canada, a hemp processor in Ste. Agathe, Man., who exports most of
his production south of the border. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(16) HEMP TODAY, GONE TOMORROW? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
I'm a naughty boy. If the DEA gets its way, I'll be one pretty soon, that is. You see, yesterday I went to my local health food store and purchased -- you might want to remove any children from the room and cease reading if you have a heart condition -- hemp. To be more specific, it was a bottle of hemp-seed oil, containing all those wonderful omega 3 and 6 fatty acids that otherwise would have to be consumed by too many mouthfuls of cod liver. Right now, hemp seeds and oil are perfectly legal for human consumption, which is nice because a squad of DEA agents swooping down from the rafters to arrest me and confiscate my salad dressing is none to pleasant a thought. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (17) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The highest courts in both Canada and the US will hear important
cannabis cases in the coming year; a Canadian lawyer's essay suggests
their issues are even more convoluted than ours. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(17) DEBATING THE RECREATIONAL USE OF POT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
An Ontario top court made headlines when it decided a few months ago
that epileptic Terry Parker has a constitutional right to use marijuana
as medicine. Now an Alberta court has decided the same for Grant
Krieger, who has multiple sclerosis. While these have been big steps
forward, they have been undermined by the simultaneous taking of two
steps back. | ||||||||||||||||||
What most news reports barely mentioned was that on the same day the Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision re Parker, it also released another decision, R. v. Clay, which had a dismayingly different outcome: The court held that the ban on pot violated the Charter guarantees of liberty and security of the person for Parker, a medical marijuana user, but not for Clay, a recreational user. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (18-22) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Overseas news only added to the credulity gap between reality and McCzar's claims of drug war "success;" a New South Wales crime report could have been paraphrasing that of any US population center. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Bolivian government's claims to have virtually eliminated coca
production were refuted by the very next paragraph of a report
published in the San Francisco Chronicle. | ||||||||||||||||||
In as good an example of drug policy dissociation as one could ask, a
B.C. columnist sees the overdose death of a veteran policeman as a
sign of prohibition's failure while a Mountie spokesman sees it as a
signal for drug testing police. | ||||||||||||||||||
As for Colombia, a UK columnist listed all the vexing issues that nation poses for the Bush Administration; of course, that doesn't guarantee it will even be read- let alone comprehended. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(18) AUSTRALIA: NSW SWAMPED BY DIRTY BILLIONS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
About $3.5 billion of "hot" cash is generated annually by white
collar fraud and money laundering by the drug trade, according to a
NSW Police Service report. | ||||||||||||||||||
In the first annual report ever released on the work of its top 550
police detectives, NSW Crime Agencies has predicted that drug
trafficking by gangs of Middle Eastern origin will be among the main
criminal activities to cause "increasing economic and social harms"
to the State's population in 2001. | ||||||||||||||||||
The report by Crime Agencies - which in the year 1999-2000 dismantled
more than 15 organized crime groups and made 1,284 arrests - says the
major source of illegal funds in Australia is fraud, followed by
drugs. The report says that "virtually nothing else matters" by
comparison. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(19) BOLIVIA'S COCA CLASH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Farmers Battle Government's Campaign To Eradicate Cash Crop | ||||||||||||||||||
Although President Hugo Banzer says coca leaf in his nation's main
growing area has been virtually eliminated, residents of the region vow
to keep growing the lucrative plant. | ||||||||||||||||||
In a New Year's address, Banzer said his government's goal of "zero
coca" in the jungle-covered Chapare region of central Bolivia had been
reached. "We need much more than applause," Banzer said. "It is time
the world took stock of the work we have done." | ||||||||||||||||||
At the same time, however, more than 25,000 farmers and locals flooded
almost two miles of highway leading into Chimore, a Chapare town 360
miles southeast of La Paz. Many carried huge quantities of coca leaves
to show that the plant is still a vital presence even though the
government has eliminated almost 85,000 acres in the area in the past
three years. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(20) ANOTHER DIES AS A FOOLISH POLICY ENDURES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
VICTORIA - The most bizarre thing about the overdose death of an RCMP
drug expert is our shock. | ||||||||||||||||||
In the courts they call it willful blindness, and it's no defence.
There's no other way to explain our willingness to see drug users as
some other species of tragic, wasted figures on downtown sidewalks.
Constable Barry Schneider had a wife and two young children. He was a
23-year RCMP veteran who worked on drug abuse prevention from the
Courtenay detachment. No one can explain how he ended up dead of a
heroin overdose. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
He's another among the thousands who have already died and thousands
who will to die until we begin treating drug use as a serious health
issue, not a criminal one. Until we begin to care. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(21) DEATH BRINGS CALL FOR DRUG TESTING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
An RCMP Officer Is Alleged To Have Had Health Problems | ||||||||||||||||||
The RCMP should set an example and submit its members to mandatory drug testing, a senior drug enforcement officer said Friday. | ||||||||||||||||||
Sergeant Chuck Doucette, head of the RCMP's drug awareness program in
B.C., said there are privacy issues, but police officers are in a
unique position. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(22) UK: COLUMN: DRUGS WAR PUTS BUSH IN THE FIRING LINE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
US Attempt To Rid Colombia Of Cocaine Warlords Will Put New President
Under Pressure | ||||||||||||||||||
George W Bush faces a baptism of fire over his Latin America policy that will threaten the first days of his presidency this month. | ||||||||||||||||||
Responsibility will lie heavily on the shoulders of Condoleezza Rice, formerly his tutor in foreign affairs and now his national security adviser, as the political bombardment opens up on the White House from Colombia, Venezuela and Cuba. This month a huge, much-criticised United States military operation, Plan Colombia, will begin what is seen as the impossible task of stopping the production of marijuana, cocaine and heroin in the wildest country in the western hemisphere. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Ecstasy Conference in San Francisco Friday February 2, 2001 | ||||||||||||||||||
TOP MINDS SPEAK OUT ABOUT CONTROVERSIAL DRUG ECSTASY! (Registration
Deadline Extended) | ||||||||||||||||||
Get it straight from the researchers' mouths! Learn the facts about MDMA, or Ecstasy, at The State of Ecstasy The Medicine, Science and Culture of MDMA conference on Friday, February 2, 2001 in San Francisco. | ||||||||||||||||||
Register now to guarantee yourself a seat at what will prove to be an
exciting and valuable conference. | ||||||||||||||||||
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Web petition to stop Ashcroft as AG announced - www.StopAshcroft.org | ||||||||||||||||||
A growing group of activists and organizations are attempting to block the nomination of John Ashcroft as Attorney General. A petition has been created and can be signed at: http://www.stopashcroft.org/ | ||||||||||||||||||
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The War on Drugs: An Impossible Dream | ||||||||||||||||||
Remarks By Senior Judge John L. Kane of the U.S. District Court of
Denver, Colorado. Presented to the Western Governors’ Association
in Scottsdale, Arizona on December 15, 2000 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis and Canada: The Year 2000 in Review | ||||||||||||||||||
Activist Debra Harper has compiled an insightful and comprehensive review of last year's cannabis policy developments in Canada. | ||||||||||||||||||
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Ashcroft's Nephew Got Probation After Major Pot Bust / Daniel Forbes
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Reagan's Grandson Sent To Drug Rehab Program
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First-Timer Gets Life For Dealing Drugs
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The THC Content Of Cannabis In Australia: Evidence
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
"I learned pretty quickly that it's your WORK ETHIC that LEVELS THE PLAYING FIELD. Education helps, but I've met failures who have Ph.Ds. I believe the hardest worker is always going to win." - Chris Rock | ||||||||||||||||||
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