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DrugSense Weekly
January 19, 2001 #183


Table of Contents

* Breaking News (03/29/24)


* Feature Article


    Aiding And Abetting Republicans?
    by Harry Browne

* Weekly News in Review


Drug Policy-

COMMENT: (1)
(1) Ashcroft's Nephew Got Probation After Major Pot Bust
COMMENT: (2-5)
(2) Support Grows for Sensible Drug Policies
(3) Battle Fatigue in War on Drugs
(4) Failure - Calamitous 'Drug War'
(5) Like Drug Abusers, by Persisting We Hurt Ourselves
COMMENT: (6-9)
(6) Lawmakers Pledge Action on Meth Problem
(7) Academy Drug Woes Eyed
(8) Awash in Ecstasy
(9) 'Rave' Party Organizers Indicted Under Federal Drug Law
COMMENT: (10)
(10) Pick up Thy Syringe and Walk, Sinner

Law Enforcement & Prisons-

COMMENT: (11-13)
(11) Trooper Stops Are Still Skewed
(12) Panhandle Town's Drug War Reveals Racial Disparity
(13) Modesto Police Call Shooting Mystery
COMMENT: (14-16)
(14) Huge Cocaine Shipment Seized in Summit County
(15) Driver's Cocaine Haul: $23 Million
(16) Top Police Agency Loses 24 Kilos Of Cocaine
COMMENT: (17-18)
(17) Addicted Mother Receives 4 Years
(18) Baby Drug Case Ends in Mistrial

Cannabis & Hemp-

COMMENT: (19-21)
(19) Subverting the Law
(20) Attorney General Sidesteps Pot Issue
(21) Setting Aside Drug Warnings, Lawmakers Vote to Study Hemp's Uses

International News-

COMMENT: (22-24)
(22) Colombia Collapsing Under Drug War Fiasco
(23) The War on Drugs Needs a Tactical Shot in the Arm
(24) The Israeli Connection

* This Just In


(25) Could Ashcroft Roll Back Drug Policy Reform?
(26) Missouri Cops Said Ashcroft Agreed To "Look the Other Way"
(27) Ashcroft, Kennedy, Reno and Racial Justice
(28) The Real Enemy In The Drug War

* Hot Off The 'Net


    DRCNet announces a new web site www.StopJohnAshcroft.org
    Alan Bock's New Book "Waiting to Inhale" Available
    After Prohibition: An Adult Approach to Drug Policies

* Quote of the Week


    Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.


FEATURE ARTICLE    (Top)

Aiding And Abetting Republicans?
by Harry Browne

The Republicans never run out of excuses, never run out of reasons you have to vote for them, never run out of ways to betray you and still expect you to support them.

George W.  Bush didn't make a single proposal that would make government smaller, less expensive, less intrusive or less oppressive.  But we were told we had to vote for him; otherwise, Al Gore would destroy Western Civilization as we know it.

Let's defend a bad nomination.  Now that he's been elected, George Bush has demonstrated how little he cares about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights by choosing for his Cabinet Republicans who have long careers of promoting big government.

One of the worst choices is John Ashcroft for attorney general. Ashcroft is a drug warrior of the first rank, a man who believes your constitutional liberties must take a back seat to the government's futile effort to stop some other people from taking drugs.

But the Ashcroft nomination has run into opposition from Democrats and left-wing groups who object to Ashcroft's anti-abortion beliefs, and who say he's a racist because he voted against confirming a black judge.

So the Republicans ask us to come to Ashcroft's defense -- regardless of your feelings about him -- in order to support George Bush and prevent the lefties from intimidating him.

As columnist Bill Murchison put it, "Because letting Ashcroft down at this point -- irrespective of his merits, which in fact are considerable -- would amount to hanging a 'kick me' sign on the presidential derriere.  It wouldn't be the last time someone took him up on the offer."

In other words, let's continue the pattern of having an attorney general who disregards the Constitution -- if it's necessary to ward off the evil leftists.  And while we're at it, let's show George Bush we'll support his mistakes as strongly as his achievements (if there ever are any).

Let's also defend bad laws

Then there was the aborted Linda Chavez nomination.  Chavez was accused of taking an illegal alien into her home.  Once again, we were told we must circle the wagons and support the Bush selection -- or else the Democrats will know they can walk all over him.

In this case the argument was that Chavez was acting as a humanitarian -- helping a battered, homeless woman.  Mona Charen has contrasted this situation with the problems Bill Clinton's nominees had in 1993: "Chavez's situation is being compared to that of Zoe Baird, President Clinton's first nominee to head the Justice Department.  But Baird was found to have been an abusive employer who was clearly taking advantage of an illegal alien couple.  She was paying them a pittance and forcing them to work long hours.  She paid no Social Security taxes for them."

So the Republican Chavez was acting out of good motives; the Democrat Baird was bad.

No mention is made, or will be made, of the libertarian principle that none of this should be the province of government -- that the government shouldn't decide whom you can take into your home, that the government shouldn't decide what you must pay someone who works for you, that the government shouldn't force you to pay taxes into a fraudulent retirement scheme, that it's no business of the government what you and a consenting adult agree to.

Instead, Republicans were defending Linda Chavez by implying that these governmental intrusions are important, and that Linda Chavez abided by them faithfully.

What should you do? So who should you support in these skirmishes?

Neither.  You don't have to join either side. These aren't your battles, so don't get sucked into them.  If freedom is your goal, don't be sidetracked by petty disputes between the entrenched parties -- each trying to use anything available to score points off the other.

Whether or not George Bush wins these initial scuffles, government is going to get bigger, more expensive, more intrusive and more oppressive.

Save your energy and your emotional involvement to fight for what you really want -- greater liberty, much smaller government, and a return to the Constitution -- not for what George Bush, the Republicans, or the Democrats want.

Harry Browne was the 2000 Libertarian presidential candidate.  More of his articles can be read at www.HarryBrowne.org

(c) 2001 www.WorldNetDaily.com

NOTE: The views above do not necessarily reflect those of DrugSense or any other organization or individual.


WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW    (Top)


Domestic News- Policy


COMMENT: (1)    (Top)

Although the media remained focused on the nomination of John Ashcroft over the long holiday week-end, Dan Forbes' report that a nephew received no penalty for a major marijuana grow while his uncle was governor provoked zero interest.


(1) ASHCROFT'S NEPHEW GOT PROBATION AFTER MAJOR POT BUST    (Top)

Although His Arrest For Growing 60 Plants Could Have Landed Him In Federal Prison, Alex Ashcroft Was Tried In State Court And Avoided Jail -- Despite His Uncle's Crusade For Tougher Federal Drug Laws And Mandatory Prison Sentences

The nephew of Attorney General-designate John Ashcroft received probation after a felony conviction in state court for growing 60 marijuana plants with intent to distribute the drug in 1992 -- a lenient sentence, given that the charges against him often trigger much tougher federal penalties and jail time.  Ashcroft was the tough-on-drugs Missouri governor at the time.

[snip]

Source:   Salon (US Web)
Copyright:   2001 Salon
Contact:  
Feedback:   http://www.salon.com/about/letters/index.html
Website:   http://www.salon.com/
Author:   Daniel Forbes,
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n065/a05.html


COMMENT: (2-5)    (Top)

In truth, such blackouts have become unusual.  More recently, journalists have been increasingly willing to criticize our drug policy; witness a Judy Mann column and the accurate analysis filed by British correspondent Ros Davidson.

Considering those reviews of recent events, or the two Op-Eds that follow, one might have difficulty understanding why a President-elect claiming to be a healer would ever nominate Ashcroft as AG.


(2) SUPPORT GROWS FOR SENSIBLE DRUG POLICIES    (Top)

There's a dangerous outbreak of common sense occurring, and it is being fueled by such incendiary organizations as the Cato Institute and the Lindesmith Center.

The target is this nation's lunatic, self-destructive war on drugs, which has trampled the Fourth and Sixth amendments to the Constitution and imprisoned hundreds of thousands of nonviolent drug offenders. Those fortunate enough not to be shot during searches by paramilitary police units often have had their property confiscated, even when police and prosecutors have no proof that they were involved in illegal drug transactions.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 10 Jan 2001
Source:   Washington Post (DC)
Copyright:   2001 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Author:   Judy Mann
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n059/a07.html


(3) BATTLE FATIGUE IN WAR ON DRUGS    (Top)

For years the USA has taken an ultra-hard line on narcotics and offenders.  But now there are signs that the public mood is changing.

With President-elect George W Bush about to take office, there is no doubt that America's war on drugs will continue - at least in the short term.  But US drug policy is facing a new battle, not in Mexico or Colombia, but within its own borders.

The American people, including some prominent figures, are increasingly losing their stomach for the country's hard-line drug policy.  The federal government spends $ 19 billion (L13bn) a year, three times as much as was spent a dozen years ago.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sun, 07 Jan 2001
Source:   Sunday Herald, The (UK)
Copyright:   2001 Sunday Herald
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.sundayherald.com/
Author:   Ros Davidson, in Los Angeles
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n056/a08.html


(4) FAILURE - CALAMITOUS 'DRUG WAR'    (Top)

TWENTY years ago, 41,000 Americans were in prison on drug charges. Today, the number is nearly 500,000.

The national "war on drugs" has cost taxpayers billions, has ruined many young people and their families - and hasn't reduced U.S.  drug usage a whit.  The police blitzkrieg is tinged with racism. Human Rights Watch says only 13 percent of U.S.  drug users are black, but 63 percent of drug offenders sentenced to prison are black.  Several studies have found that police, prosecutors, courts and juries treat blacks more harshly, giving them cell time while whites get probation for the same offenses.

Politicians still love to look stern and tell everyone they're "tough" on drugs.  This stance is a sure vote-getter. But is it beneficial to America? Maybe it's time to try a more intelligent approach.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 10 Jan 2001
Source:   Charleston Gazette (WV)
Copyright:   2001 Charleston Gazette
Contact:  
Feedback:   http://www.wvgazette.com/static/Forum.html
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n057/a10.html


(5) LIKE DRUG ABUSERS, BY PERSISTING WE HURT OURSELVES    (Top)

His Time On The Front Line In America's War On Drugs Convinced David Klinger That This Costly, Never-Ending Exercise In Futility Is As Unjust As It Is Impractical.

ST.  LOUIS, Mo. -- When I joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 1980, I was a strong supporter of the notion that illegal drugs should stay that way and that the enforcement of drug laws should be a top priority.

But my views quickly changed once I hit the streets.  Assigned to the rugged 77th Street Division in the heart of South-Central, I saw firsthand the social problems one could find in any community awash in the trafficking and use of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other controlled substances.

[snip]

But even if more people do take drugs in the wake of legalization, we would live in a society where citizens suffer far less from the predatory crimes spawned by the illicit drug trade.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 12 Jan 2001
Source:   Spokesman-Review (WA)
Copyright:   2001 The Spokesman-Review
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.spokesmanreview.com/
Author:   David Klinger, Cato Institute http://www.cato.org/
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n070/a07.html


COMMENT: (6-9)    (Top)

Beyond the Ashcroft battle, a temporarily leaderless ONDCP continued to struggle with meth and club drugs.

Increasing use of the latter was highlighted by a drug flap at the Air Force Academy and use of federal "crack house" laws to indict rave promoters in Louisiana.


(6) LAWMAKERS PLEDGE ACTION ON METH PROBLEM    (Top)

It will take a few weeks for details to become clear, but lawmakers who took part in the Central Valley Methamphetamine Summit are pledging to introduce legislation to address some of the concerns raised by the participants.

[snip]

The summit was organized by the state's two senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, and Ceres Rep.  Gary Condit and Hanford Rep. Cal Dooley, all Democrats, partly in response to an investigative report published Oct.  8 in The McClatchy Co.'s California newspapers, including The Modesto Bee.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sat, 13 Jan 2001
Source:   Modesto Bee, The (CA)
Copyright:   2001 The Modesto Bee
Contact:  
Feedback:   http://www.modbee.com/help/letters.html
Website:   http://www.modbee.com/
Author:   Russell Clemings, The Fresno Bee
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n076/a11.html


(7) ACADEMY DRUG WOES EYED    (Top)

COLORADO SPRINGS - U.S.  Sen. Wayne Allard wants a congressional hearing to examine whether the drug detection program at the Air Force Academy is as effective as it should be.

A drug probe at the Air Force Academy involving as many as 34 cadets has illuminated some concerns, said Allard, R-Colo.

"There's some questions that have been brought up in the drug investigation as to how effective the drug-detection program is," Allard, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Tuesday.

An academy investigation that began in October has widened to include 34 cadets who have been either implicated in or questioned about the use and distribution of the increasingly popular drug Ecstasy and of illegal body-building drugs.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 10 Jan 2001
Source:   Denver Post (CO)
Copyright:   2001 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.denverpost.com/
Author:   Erin Emery
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n053/a10.html


(8) AWASH IN ECSTASY    (Top)

Club Drug From Overseas Increasingly Found In Local Schools It takes two minutes to find a student on a Long Island high-school campus who knows all about ecstasy.

Ten minutes and a promise of anonymity can lead to a teenage user who can flip open a cell phone and get the illegal pills as easily as ordering a pizza.  "If you can get pot, you can get E," one Cold Spring Harbor athlete said.  "Weed and X go well together, like milk and cookies," said a student at SUNY-Stony Brook.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sun, 14 Jan 2001
Source:   Newsday (NY)
Copyright:   2001 Newsday Inc.
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.newsday.com/homepage.htm
Author:   Chastity Pratt
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n078/a07.html
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)


(9) 'RAVE' PARTY ORGANIZERS INDICTED UNDER FEDERAL DRUG LAW    (Top)

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- The U.S.  Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana and the Drug Enforcement Administration announced the indictment Friday of three "rave" party organizers, marking the first time the federal "crack house" law has been used for prosecuting organizers of such events.

"Raves" are large dance parties often associated with the drug MDMA, commonly called ecstasy.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 12 Jan 2001
Source:   CNN (US Web)
Copyright:   2001 Cable News Network, Inc.
Contact:  
Feedback:   http://cnn.com/feedback/
Website:   http://www.cnn.com/
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n069/a04.html
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/raves.htm (Raves)


COMMENT: (10)    (Top)

Finally, from Britain, a disturbing report on the Bush approach to addiction management which has received little or no notice in the American press.  Is this British hyperbole or something to take seriously?


(10) PICK UP THY SYRINGE AND WALK, SINNER    (Top)

On Bush's Faith Drive

Ask what George W Bush did as governor of Texas and most Britons would say that he was a serial executioner and what he himself calls a "purty good delegator" (in Bush-speak, the word rhymes with "alligator").  He let other guys do the hard work so he could concentrate on his afternoon game of electronic golf.

In fact, as his campaign website proclaims, George W's proudest gubernatorial accomplishment was to make "faith-based action" the corner stone of his state's welfare programme.  The "Texas experiment" offers a chilling insight into what "compassionate conservatism" will mean over the next four years for 40m Americans with substance-abuse problems.

[snip]

Addiction rates among the young are at epidemic levels.  But many liberal observers believe that the faith-based movement is out of control in Texas.  Historically it fills the vacuum left by the end of the cold war.  We beat the Kremlin; now for the Devil.

Bush (with Olasky at his ear) intends to spread the Texas initiative nationwide.  As president, he vowed, he would establish an "Office of Faith-Based Action" in Washington.  And when he does, God help America.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Mon, 1 Jan 2000
Source:   Guardian, The (UK)
Copyright:   2001 Guardian Newspapers Limited
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.newsunlimited.co.uk/guardian/
Author:   John Sutherland, Guardian
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n092/a01.html


Law Enforcement & Prisons


COMMENT: (11-13)    (Top)

Three items illustrate an old axiom: "the more things change, the more they stay the same:"

Despite recent furor over profiling, a new study shows it's more likely than ever that a black driver will be stopped in New Jersey.

The town of Tulia still denies that conviction of 16% of the town's tiny black minority on charges of drug dealing was racially motivated.

The long awaited Modesto police report on how an eleven year-old was fatally shot during a drug raid came to no useful conclusions (the officer was not charged or disciplined).


(11) TROOPER STOPS ARE STILL SKEWED    (Top)

Black drivers on the New Jersey Turnpike are almost twice as likely to be pulled over by state troopers as white, Hispanic or Asian motorists, according to statistics released yesterday by the state attorney general.

[snip]

The findings renewed charges that troopers continue to target minorities, nearly two years after the state admitted racial profiling exists and began sweeping reforms.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 11 Jan 2001
Source:   Star-Ledger (NJ)
Copyright:   2001 Newark Morning Ledger Co
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.nj.com/starledger/
Authors:   David Kinney And Dunstan Mcnichol, Star-Ledger Staff
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n064/a12.html
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/racial.htm (Racism)


(12) PANHANDLE TOWN'S DRUG WAR REVEALS RACIAL DISPARITY    (Top)

TULIA -- Cotton is scattered on the side of the road like abandoned snowflakes.  Granaries decorate the flat landscape. A street sign points toward a Texas Department of Corrections facility.  Welcome to Tulia, in the Texas Panhandle.

[snip]

In July 1999, 40 African Americans -- or 16 percent of the African American population of this town of about 5,000 -- were arrested by an undercover officer with a regional drug task force.  Tom Coleman had neither wiretap nor video surveillance to back up the allegations against the defendants.  And no money, guns or drugs were confiscated during the arrests.

[snip]

This question deserves an answer: How could a town of 5,000 support 43 drug dealers of any race?

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 10 Jan 2001
Source:   Austin American-Statesman (TX)
Copyright:   2001 Austin American-Statesman
Contact:  
Author:   Susan Smith
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n057/a11.html
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/tulia.htm (Tulia)


(13) MODESTO POLICE CALL SHOOTING MYSTERY    (Top)

The September police-shooting death of an 11-year-old boy in Modesto during a drug raid was an accident, but exactly how it happened is unknown, the Modesto Police Department said Wednesday.

The announcement came after three separate investigations -- two by the Police Department and one by the city attorney's office, Detective Doug Ridenour said.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 11 Jan 2001
Source:   Record, The (CA)
Copyright:   2001 The Record
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.recordnet.com/
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n064/a01.html
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Raids)


COMMENT: (14-16)    (Top)

The following reports- from 3 different parts of the country- are united by a common thread: seizures of twenty kilos or more of cocaine.  Isn't that a lot for an industry being punished by a "successful" drug war to risk shipping all at once?


(14) HUGE COCAINE SHIPMENT SEIZED IN SUMMIT COUNTY    (Top)

Jan.  12, 2001 - A state trooper who pulled over a pickup truck for minor traffic violations near Frisco on Wednesday stumbled on to one of the largest cocaine busts in Colorado history.

The discovery of about 70 pounds of cocaine - worth an estimated $4 million - in a hidden compartment in the truck bed led to the arrests of driver Jose Granados, 32, of Gainesville, Ga., and passenger Ramon Aburto, 31, of Oakwood, Ga.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 12 Jan 2001
Source:   Denver Post (CO)
Copyright:   2001 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.denverpost.com/
Author:   Marilyn Robinson and Steve Lipsher
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n074/a02.html


(15) DRIVER'S COCAINE HAUL: $23 MILLION, POLICE SAY    (Top)

Police said Friday they have confiscated an estimated $23 million worth of pure cocaine in what is believed to be the largest drug seizure in Oakland County history.

A Colombian national, Cesar Augusto Valasquez, 50, a Miami resident who had been staying at a Southfield motel, was arrested Thursday morning after a traffic stop by Farmington Hills police.  The cocaine -- 46 kilos wrapped in green tinted cellophane -- was in the back of his Volvo station wagon, police said.  It weighed more than 100 pounds.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sat, 13 Jan 2001
Source:   Detroit Free Press (MI)
Copyright:   2001 Detroit Free Press
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.freep.com/
Author:   L.  L. Brasier
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n075/a08.html


(16) TOP POLICE AGENCY LOSES 24 KILOS OF COCAINE    (Top)

Guard Broke Into New Facility's 'theft-Proof' Evidence Vault With Coat Hanger

A security guard at the new, ultra-modern Tennessee Bureau of Investigation headquarters used a wire coat hanger to steal 22 kilos of cocaine seized by the Tennessee Highway Patrol as evidence in a Dickson County, Tenn., narcotics case, according to high-ranking Tennessee Bureau of Investigation officials.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 11 Jan 2001
Source:   WorldNetDaily (US Web)
Copyright:   2001 WorldNetDaily.com, Inc.
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.worldnetdaily.com/
Author:   Charles Thompson and Tony Hays
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n062/a01.html


COMMENT: (17-18)    (Top)

Another troubling issue- intrusion of law enforcement into the delivery suite- was also received attention last week.


(17) ADDICTED MOTHER RECEIVES 4 YEARS    (Top)

Newborn Tested Positive For Drugs

HAYWARD -- Joellen Flauta, the 24-year-old drug-addicted mother whose story cast a spotlight on problems at the Probation Department, has run out of second chances.

Unswayed after a passionate plea for leniency by her defense attorney, Judge Joseph Hurley said Tuesday he would sentence Flauta to four years in state prison for violating her probation by giving birth to a child last fall who tested positive for drugs.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 10 Jan 2001
Source:   Alameda Times-Star (CA)
Copyright:   2001 MediaNews Group, Inc.  and ANG Newspapers
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.timesstar.com/
Author:   Jeff Chorney, Staff Writer
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n055/a10.html


(18) BABY DRUG CASE ENDS IN MISTRIAL    (Top)

CONWAY - The trial of a mother accused of killing her unborn baby with crack cocaine was declared a mistrial Friday after two jurors admitted they researched the case on the Internet, said Circuit Court Judge James E.  Brogdon Jr.

Regina D.  McKnight, 23, was charged with homicide by child abuse and distribution of crack cocaine after she gave birth to a stillborn 35-week-old fetus in May.

McKnight could receive life in prison if convicted.

[snip]

State prosecutor Bert von Herrmann said he plans to retry the case. "The state alleges and feels like she has killed her child," he said. "We are not concerned with setting policy for the state.  We have a child that is dead here and that is most important."

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sat, 13 Jan 2001
Source:   Post and Courier (SC)
Copyright:   2001 Evening Post Publishing Co.
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.charleston.net/
Author:   Associated Press
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/find?153 (Ferguson v.  City of Charleston)
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n084/a09.html


Cannabis & Hemp-


COMMENT: (19-21)    (Top)

What is happening in Nevada demonstrates a major problem with initiatives: implementation often depends on a fundamentally hostile bureaucracy; one fully capable of subverting the new law.

That subversion may take various forms; the medical use initiative passed in California was actively obstructed by the first AG (Dan Lungren) entrusted with it and has been woefully neglected by the second (Bill Lockyer).

In Illinois, the legislature ignored the warnings ONDCP and the state police in approving a bill to study hemp.


(19) SUBVERTING THE LAW    (Top)

Dan Hart, director of the medical marijuana advocacy group Nevadans for Medical Rights, is upset.  And justifiably so.

Nearly two-thirds of the state's voters backed a November initiative that would allow physicians to prescribe marijuana as a means of relieving pain or wasting syndrome in seriously ill patients.  Yet Mr. Hart makes a credible claim that Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa is attempting to subvert the will of Nevada voters ...  and deep-six the medical marijuana measure entirely.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sun, 14 Jan 2001
Source:   Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV)
Copyright:   2001 Las Vegas Review-Journal
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.lvrj.com/
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n086/a05.html
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/find?163 (Question 9)


(20) ATTORNEY GENERAL SIDESTEPS POT ISSUE    (Top)

Lockyer's Speech At Democratic Fund-raiser In Ukiah Stresses Civil Rights Record, Not Marijuana Bill

UKIAH -- State Attorney General Bill Lockyer touted his civil rights efforts but said little about the controversial North Coast issue of legalizing marijuana during his visit Sunday to Ukiah for a Martin Luther King Jr.  celebration and a Democratic Party fund-raiser.

[snip]

In only a few sentences at the fund-raiser, Lockyer summarized his support for the state medical marijuana law.  Then he moved on to other topics, such as the environment, elder abuse and crime prevention.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Mon, 15 Jan 2001
Source:   Press Democrat, The (CA)
Copyright:   2001 The Press Democrat
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.pressdemo.com/
Author:   Ucilia Wang, The Press Democrat
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n085/a01.html


(21) SETTING ASIDE DRUG WARNINGS, LAWMAKERS VOTE TO STUDY HEMP'S USES    (Top)

SPRINGFIELD -- Setting aside warnings that they might encourage drug use, state lawmakers voted Tuesday to approve a study of industrial hemp and its potential as a crop for Illinois farmers.  The legislation calls on the University of Illinois and Southern Illinois University to study how well hemp -- a close cousin of marijuana -- grows in Illinois and whether it could become a profitable crop.

[snip]

The governor has not taken a position on the study and will review the legislation when it reaches his desk, a spokesman said.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Tue, 09 Jan 2001
Source:   Chicago Tribune (IL)
Copyright:   2001 Chicago Tribune Company
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Author:   Christopher Wills, Associated Press
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n058/a06.html
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/hemp.htm (Hemp)


International News


COMMENT: (22-24)    (Top)

Canadian Dan Gardner has the drug war's number; his essay on Colombia in the Chicago Sun-Times is the best deconstruction of our Colombian folly yet published in the American press.

More directly related to Canada: the heroin overdose death of a respected police officer is now resonating nationally; fortunately, the more reasonable of the two responses cited here last week is winning out.

The overlap of production sites, smuggling routes, and end-consumers should have made entrance of Israelis in the diamond trade into ecstasy smuggling readily predictable.


(22) COLOMBIA COLLAPSING UNDER DRUG WAR FIASCO    (Top)

BOGOTA--They are dark memories now, but in the 1980s and early 1990s, Colombia's drug lords loomed large in North American nightmares.  Pablo Escobar, the ruthless chief of the Medellin cartel, was the most infamous of all, the personification of the cocaine plague.

[snip]

Ultimately, with much bloodshed and sacrifice, Colombia defeated Escobar.  Then the other great Colombian trafficking ring, the Cali cartel, was taken down.  These were the War on Drugs' greatest victories.  Yet today, just a few years after these triumphs, Colombia is suffering political turmoil, economic free-fall, epidemic violence and massive corruption, all while producing and shipping more drugs than Escobar could have imagined in his greediest dreams.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sun, 14 Jan 2001
Source:   Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Copyright:   2001 The Sun-Times Co.
Contact:  
Feedback:   http://www.suntimes.com/geninfo/feedback.html
Website:   http://www.suntimes.com/
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n085/a11.html
Author:   Dan Gardner, Ottawa Citizen.  See Gardner's outstanding "Losing
the War on Drugs" series from the Citizen at:
http://www.mapinc.org/gardner.htm


(23) THE WAR ON DRUGS NEEDS A TACTICAL SHOT IN THE ARM    (Top)

The war on drugs makes many casualties.  Most who are wounded or die suffer their fate in anonymity.  An exception: Constable Barry Schneider of the RCMP.  When he died at home in Courtenay, B.C., on Nov. 29, it was first assumed that he died of a heart attack.  He was considered a model citizen and more than 500 people attended his funeral.  Then, last week, it was revealed that he died of a heroin overdose, and had traces of cocaine in his system.

Suddenly, Constable Schneider's death was national news.  He was not only a Mountie, but the local program co-ordinator for Drug Abuse Resistance Education.  His work was to warn the community, and young people in particular, of the dangers of illicit drugs.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 10 Jan 2001
Source:   Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright:   2001, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Author:   William Johnson, Columnist
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n052/a10.html


(24) THE ISRAELI CONNECTION    (Top)

Smuggling Ecstasy The Hot New Industry

JERUSALEM -Taking advantage of age-old diamond-smuggling routes, groups of Israeli criminals have become dominant in the illegal international trade of a newer commodity: the drug ecstasy.

From Tel Aviv to Antwerp and Amsterdam, to New York and Miami, Israeli smugglers have gained particular prominence within the growing ecstasy trade thanks to their familiarity with the route, the techniques for smuggling small objects and the tight communities that Israeli criminals tend to form in Israel and overseas, according to Israeli, Dutch and American law-enforcement officials and convicted Israeli ecstasy smugglers.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Mon, 15 Jan 2001
Source:   Newsday (NY)
Copyright:   2001 Newsday Inc.
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.newsday.com/homepage.htm
Author:   Matthew McAllester
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n086/a03.html
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/area/Israel (Israel)


THIS JUST IN    (Top)

(25) COULD ASHCROFT ROLL BACK DRUG POLICY REFORM?    (Top)

The pending confirmation of John Ashcroft as the Bush administration's attorney general is worrying to those on the front lines of the battle against drug addiction.

Advocates of programs like drug courts, which emphasize treatment rather than incarceration for drug offenses, are reviewing past statements by the former Missouri senator, who has often taken a hard line on drug policy.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 17 Jan 2001
Source:   Salon (US Web)
Copyright:   2001 Salon
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.salon.com/
Author:   Dawn MacKeen
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n096/a09.html


(26) MISSOURI COPS SAID ASHCROFT AGREED TO "LOOK THE OTHER WAY" ON FORFEITURE    (Top)

Two Missouri police officials quoted then governor John Ashcroft as having told them he'd "'look the other way'" should they ignore an upcoming Missouri State Supreme Court ruling that might direct asset forfeiture monies to be distributed to local school boards in accordance with the state constitution.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 18 Jan 2001
Source:   Progressive Review
Copyright:   2001 The Progressive Review
Contact:  
Author:   Daniel Forbes,
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n103/a04.html
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/forbes.htm (Forbes, Dan)


(27) ASHCROFT, KENNEDY, RENO AND RACIAL JUSTICE    (Top)

[snip]

Since I'm convinced that no policies under the purview of the Justice Department will have a deeper impact on African Americans than how we conduct the war on drugs, what most troubles me about Ashcroft's nomination is his medieval perspective on our disastrous drug policies and his willful blindness to their consequences.  After all, among his official duties as the country's chief law enforcement officer would be overseeing the Drug Enforcement Agency.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 18 Jan 2001
Source:   Arianna Online
Copyright:   2001 Christabella, Inc.
Contact:  
Forum:   http://www.ariannaonline.com/discus/
Website:   http://ariannaonline.com/
Author:   Arianna Huffington
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n103/a05.html


(28) THE REAL ENEMY IN THE DRUG WAR    (Top)

[snip]

In his confirmation hearing, Rumsfeld, the next secretary of defense, said combating illicit drugs is "overwhelmingly a demand problem," and added: "If demand persists, it's going to get what it wants.  And if it isn't from Colombia, it's going to be from someplace else."

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 18 Jan 2001
Source:   Washington Post (DC)
Copyright:   2001 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Author:   George F.  Will
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n098/a09.html


HOT OFF THE 'NET    (Top)

DRCNet announces a new web site www.StopJohnAshcroft.org

A Stop John Ashcroft web site - http://www.StopJohnAshcroft.org/ - has been created by DRCNet.  This site will let you send e-mail or faxes to your Senators, and also provide phone and office location information in some of the states.  There's also a tell-a-friend form for spreading the word.  These next few days are critical in this effort, so please take action if you haven't already!

NOTE: DrugSense takes no position on political candidates or legislation. The information provided above is passed along as a public service only.


Alan Bock's New Book "Waiting to Inhale" Available

Alan Bock, an editor at the Orange County Register, who has been very sensible about drug policy reform issues, has written a book about Proposition 215 and its implementation.  As he mentions in the fourth paragraph in the post below, he is hoping the reform community will get behind this book -- sell it on their web sites, mention it in their newsletters and get the word out about the book in other ways.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0929765826/familywatch


After Prohibition: An Adult Approach to Drug Policies in the 21st Century / edited by Timothy Lynch; foreword by Milton Friedman.  -- Cato Institute (2000/193pp.) , ISBN 1-882577-94-9

"You cannot read this book without recognizing the social tragedy that has resulted from the attempt to prohibit people from ingesting an arbitrary list of substances designated 'illegal drugs.' .  . . Not since the collapse of the attempt to prohibit the ingestion of alcohol has our liberty been in such danger as it now is from the misnamed 'war on drugs.'" - Milton Friedman

http://cato.org/cgi-bin/Web_store/web_store.cgi?page=afterprohibition.html


QUOTE OF THE WEEK    (Top)

"The laws of economics tell us that the expansion of the central state can't go on forever.  Its limit is reached when the looted turn on the looters.  And that's beginning to happen. More than six decades of hard work for American liberty beginning with the Old Right opposition to the Roosevelt Revolution and continuing with the Mises Institute, is beginning to bear fruit." -- Llewellyn H.  Rockwell, Jr.


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