| May 11, 2001 #199 | ||||||||||||||||
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Listen On-line at: http://www.drugsense.org/radio/ | ||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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(1) US: TRANSCRIPT: THE WAR ON DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Following is the transcript of President Bush's statement on the
nomination of John P. Walters to be head of the Office of National Drug
Control Policy. | ||||||||||||||||
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John P. Walters, nominated to be Director of Office of National Drug
Control Policy | ||||||||||||||||
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[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(2) US: COLUMN: WHAT IS WASHINGTON TRYING TO HIDE? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The government outsources the war on drugs so it can point fingers at the
private sector when the body bags start pouring in. | ||||||||||||||||
When longtime drug warriors like Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., and Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., start blasting American anti-drug efforts in Latin America, you know that something is rotten in Peru. And Colombia. And Washington. | ||||||||||||||||
That's exactly what happened last week when representatives of the State
Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Customs and the drug
czar's office appeared in front of the House Committee on Government Reform
to discuss the United States' role in the midair murder of an American
missionary and her infant daughter last month in Peru. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(3) CANADA: DOCTORS FUMING ABOUT MEDICAL POT PLAN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Don't hold your breath waiting for Canadian doctors to jump on board
Ottawa's medical-marijuana bandwagon. | ||||||||||||||||
The Canadian Medical Association is already balking at a draft federal plan
to expand medical access to smoked marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
In a submission to Health Canada over draft regulations to be in place by July 15, the CMA says too much about smoked marijuana is still unknown. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"Marijuana is an herb, and as such can be considered a natural health product," it says. "Unlike many natural health products, however, marijuana is an addictive substance, is known to have psychoactive effects and in its smoked form, is harmful to health. We are concerned, as well, about the broader social implications of marijuana as a medicine and its potential impact on one's ability to function at home or at work." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(4) US: EDITORIAL: DRIVE-THRU HIGHS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Take a trip to Venlo, Holland, the world's dopiest city. | ||||||||||||||||
Dude! | ||||||||||||||||
That--or whatever is said these days simultaneously to express
surprise, approval and joy--is one way to react to news that the town
of Venlo, Holland, will soon be licensing drive-thru pot shops. Venlo,
according to reports, is overflowing with drug tourists (most of them
from nearby Germany) whose needs can no longer be met by its five
licensed marijuana- and hashish-selling "coffee shops." So the idea is
to set up these drive-thrus just outside the city limits, cater
efficiently to the clientele, and see them off on their merry way.
Simplicity itself, right? | ||||||||||||||||
More like stupidity itself. But this gets us on the subject of drug
legalization, about which the editorial position of this newspaper is
tres uncool. Read on. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-11) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Whither Drug Policy? | ||||||||||||||||
A Mercury-News article outlining why many scientists (including Leshner) claim addiction is a "disease" also pointed up fundamental differences between traditional hard liners and the "medical Mafia." | ||||||||||||||||
Against that backdrop, the courtroom dramas of several celebrity users and addicts in tandem with the nomination of hard liner John Walters as drug czar would have guaranteed considerable debate; then the ante was raised last week when two DC heavyweights squared off on the issue. | ||||||||||||||||
Just as this week's articles were being selected, the Bush
Administration further underscored its punitive intent with the
surprise nomination of Asa Hutchinson to head the DEA -- as well as a
former DEA Administrator to head the FBI. | ||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile, another celebrity recently added to the list of those in
legal trouble reinforces the idea that drug use doesn't preclude
professional success. | ||||||||||||||||
Finally, Joe Califano jumped in with a predictable spin: Downey and
Strawberry DON'T represent failures of coerced treatment (duh!); while
Adam Gelb sketched a frightening scenario for extending the reach
of the drug war via a Trojan horse euphemistically dubbed "managed
punishment." | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) BRAIN'S WIRING MAY WORK AGAINST RECOVERING ADDICTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Under Prop. 36, State's Drug Abusers Get Shot At One Year Of Treatment | ||||||||||||||||
Madeleine started with marijuana and reds, then moved on to alcohol
and cocaine. For 28 years she used and abused drugs, losing her
marriage, children, and nearly her life in the process. | ||||||||||||||||
She tried to quit, many times. But always she found herself trapped in the same heartbreaking cycle that ensnares many addicts: Get hooked, get treatment, get better, and then embrace drugs all over again. ... | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Indeed, headlines have swirled around the addiction problems of celebrities such as Downey Jr., baseball star Darryl Strawberry and supermodel Kate Moss, stars with continual troubles over drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Therefore, the vast majority of scientists support Proposition 36, the
California law set to take effect July 1, ... | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(6) CZAR OR WARDEN? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
New Drug Chief Would Jail More Drug Offenders | ||||||||||||||||
President Bush, if the reports are to be believed, has settled on John
P. Walters to replace Gen. Barry McCaffrey as head of the Office of
National Drug Control Policy. | ||||||||||||||||
At one level, the nomination would be no surprise. It fits the pattern
that has the president turning to retreads from his father's
administration to fill key positions. Walters was deputy to drug "czar"
William Bennett under the previous Bush administration. | ||||||||||||||||
At another level, though, it is a peculiar choice. Walters, ... harbors not the slightest misgiving over the fact that we've been crowding our prisons almost to the bursting point with nonviolent drug offenders. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(7) A SUPERB CHOICE FOR DRUG CZAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
William Raspberry devoted his April 30 column to President Bush's reportedly imminent nomination of a new federal "drug czar," the position I held in his father's administration. Raspberry has a long and distinguished record of well-written and thoughtful columns on a variety of public policy issues. His column of last Monday therefore was out of character: incautious in its choice of "experts" on whom to rely for evidence about the drug war status quo and doubly incautious -- bordering on irresponsible-- in its use of such distorted testimony to tar the reputation of an unusually conscientious public servant. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Raspberry has naively accepted the word of one such fringe advocate,
Ethan Nadelmann, that rates of drug abuse in America "are roughly equal
for blacks and whites." And that racial disparities in drug-crime
arrest rates must reflect institutional bias in the nation's justice
system. And that Walters's reluctance to abandon the federal minimum
mandatory sentence for crack possession represents an extremist's
endorsement of such bias. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(8) REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN TO HEAD DRUG AGENCY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON; Rep. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, one of the House prosecutors in former President Clinton's impeachment trial, is President Bush's choice to head the Drug Enforcement Administration. | ||||||||||||||||
Three administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity,
said Hutchinson's nomination as head of the agency is expected to be
announced in several days, barring a last-minute hitch in the
background review process. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
John C. Lawn, a former DEA administrator, has been reported under
consideration by the Bush administration as a candidate to succeed
Louis J.Freeh as FBI director. | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) 'WEST WING' CREATOR PLEADS NOT GUILTY IN DRUG CASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Aaron Sorkin, Emmy Award-winning creator of NBC's hit television series
"The West Wing," pleaded not guilty Wednesday to drug charges stemming
from his arrest two weeks ago at Burbank Airport. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Because only hallucinogenic mushrooms were initially found and Sorkin
had no prior record, prosecutors deemed the crime a misdemeanor and
handed it off to the Burbank city attorney, Gibbons said. But after lab
tests revealed the cocaine base, the case was sent back to the district
attorney as a felony, Gibbons said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(10) LEARNING FROM ROBERT DOWNEY JR. (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The relapses of actor Robert Downey Jr. and athlete Darryl Strawberry are being cited in supporting briefs of extremists at both ends of the drug policy debate: those arguing for legalization and those pressing to lock up addicts and throw away the keys until they cure themselves. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(11) FORGET THE EXTREMES. TRY A DOSE OF BOTH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Since last November's elections, it has seemed like the forces arguing
for a shift in American drug policy from punishment to treatment were
gaining significant ground. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Now come reports that President Bush will retreat from these
developments and appoint veteran drug warrior John P. Walters to be the
next drug czar. Walters is a sworn skeptic of drug treatment and a
chief architect of U.S. drug interdiction strategy. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
What's required is a system that might be called "managed
punishment."... | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT:(12-14) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The increasing impact of our domestic drug policy on foreign countries
is blurring traditional distinctions and also provoking calls for
reassessment of the underlying policy. | ||||||||||||||||
The editorial demands for sweeping change in our drug policy made in
two heartland newspapers in the same week would have been unthinkable
just six months ago; opportunities and dangers abound. | ||||||||||||||||
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(12) WAR ON DRUGS - U.S. HAS NO 'EXIT STRATEGY' (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Experts Caution That Today's Policies Will Undermine Military Readiness | ||||||||||||||||
Soon after being sworn in as defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld made
headlines by delicately questioning current national drug policies.
Much to the delight of drug-war critics both in and out of government,
Rumsfeld told Congress that "the drug problem in the United States is
overwhelmingly a demand problem, and to the extent that demand is there
and it's powerful, it is going to find ways to get drugs in this
country, to our detriment." He also indicated he would be examining the
U.S. role in Colombia, where a shooting war is taking place between
drug cartels and the Colombian government. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(13) OUR DRUG PROBLEM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The Path Least Taken, Most Needed | ||||||||||||||||
It's the path least often taken and the one that could make the most difference: Treatment of drug abusers appears to be a much better solution to America's substance abuse problem than trying to seal off our borders and throwing even more drug offenders in jail. | ||||||||||||||||
While no one expects law enforcement to completely ignore drug dealers
and the flow of illegal drugs into America, the conventional approach
to battling the problem has not worked effectively for 30 years. Yes,
vast amounts of drugs are confiscated each year and yes, drug offenders
are sentenced to lengthy sentences. But for every kilo of cocaine
seized and for every drug defendant jailed, there are more and more to
take their place. | ||||||||||||||||
If the country wants to fight drug abuse we don't have to take an
all-or-nothing approach but we definitely should shift the emphasis to
treatment. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(14) WAR-WEARY AMERICANS NOT SO SURE CURRENT DRUG POLICIES WINNING THE WAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
It's our longest war. | ||||||||||||||||
And it's probably our most expensive, although accurate figures aren't
available on the actual number of victims or the cost of collateral
damage. | ||||||||||||||||
The war on drugs has all the earmarks of a quagmire, the combat taking
place in Colombia with U.S. tax dollars, weapons and troops having all
the earmarks of a quagmire within a quagmire. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile, although Americans may be disillusioned by our inability to
deal effectively with the supply and demand for drugs we cannot stop
paying attention to how our elected and appointed officials deal with
those issues, because that's our money they're spending and it's the
lives of our loved ones that are at risk. | ||||||||||||||||
War-weary or not, we have a stake in how the war is conducted. | ||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (15) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
It was probably predictable; the fiercely anti-drug Giuliani administration abruptly closed Twilo, the largest legal rave venue in the city. Does this presage raids of unlicensed venues? | ||||||||||||||||
(15) CITY CLOSES DANCE CLUB OVER PROBLEMS WITH PERMITS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Twilo, a popular Chelsea nightclub, was shut down early yesterday, at
least temporarily, after the police and building inspectors raided the
club and evicted hundreds of patrons, saying that several of the club's
building permits were missing or invalid. | ||||||||||||||||
The move comes as the Giuliani administration intensifies its long- running battle against a handful of Manhattan dance clubs that city officials say are havens of drug use and occasional violence. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT:(16-18) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Proposition 36 returned California to its familiar position of social
policy bellwether; this update indicates there may be a flurry of test
cases to litigate its details, but a program should be in place by
July 1. | ||||||||||||||||
The same issue that prompted Proposition 36-- prison expansion-- was effectively raised at the grass roots level in Connecticut. | ||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile, the ability of the drug war to corrupt law enforcement
surfaced in on familiar arena; remember the Knapp Commission and
Serpico? | ||||||||||||||||
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(16) ATTORNEYS STILL DISAGREE ON NEW DRUG LAW'S DETAILS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Sticking Points Include The 30-day Sentence For Repeat Offenders And The Use Of A Gun In Defining A 'violent' Crime Under Proposition 36, Which Mandates That Many Drug Offenders Be Sent To Treatment, Not Jail | ||||||||||||||||
While all sides agree there has been amazing cooperation in
implementing California's controversial treatment-not-jail initiative,
district attorneys and public defenders have agreed not to agree on a
few of the new law's more contentious provisions. | ||||||||||||||||
Both sides accept that their differences are so deep they eventually
will have to hash them out in the appellate courts -- but not before
the July 1 deadline for having the new law in place. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(17) NO ROOM AT THE PRISON (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
America's so-called war on drugs has done little, if anything, to solve
the country's drug problems. Instead, critics say, the war has created
more problems, clogging our prisons with millions of nonviolent drug
offenders. | ||||||||||||||||
That was the message heard last week during a forum on drugs, racism,
and the correlation between the two. The event, held at the First
Church of Christ in Middletown, was sponsored by the Connecticut Green
Party, and Efficacy, a Connecticut-based nonprofit geared toward the
peaceful resolution of social injustices through raised public
awareness. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(18) ONE POLICE PLAZA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Confidential Drug-Trafficking Probe Continues | ||||||||||||||||
Federal officials are investigating whether one or more police officers
were involved with a recently demoted deputy inspector accused of
narcotics violations while in a Bronx homicide-narcotics task force six
years ago, sources told Newsday yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||
The deputy inspector, Dennis Sindone, was demoted to captain Friday,
less than a month after Commissioner Bernard Kerik had promoted him.
After the promotion, he had been placed on modified assignment, his
badge taken from him. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (19-20) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The following articles underscored only two of the many ways the
federal government has facilitated our tidal wave of drug arrests and
convictions: extensive use of "snitches" and conscription of the
military into drug policing. | ||||||||||||||||
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(19) AGENT REPORTED SNITCH'S LIES, BUT THEY CONTINUED ANYWAY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
DEA Report Cites Failure To Communicate In Agency | ||||||||||||||||
A federal drug agent was a witness in 1988 to a courtroom confession:
supersnitch Andrew Chambers admitting from the witness stand that he
had lied in court during the previous three years while testifying as a
star government witness. | ||||||||||||||||
The drug agent was so concerned about Chambers' revelation, she said,
she left the courtroom at the first break ... | ||||||||||||||||
In theory, that should have put an end to courtroom lying by a highly
paid and often used government informer. | ||||||||||||||||
It didn't. | ||||||||||||||||
According to the report of a yearlong investigation by the DEA into its
use of Chambers, he continued to lie in courtrooms in St. Louis and
across the country for more than a decade. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(20) NATIONAL GUARD ANTI-DRUG EFFORT'S ARRESTS, SEIZURES UP (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The West Virginia National Guard Counterdrug Program has recorded 154 arrests and $5.7 million in seized drugs during the first half of this fiscal year -- numbers that appear to be growing from previous years. | ||||||||||||||||
The National Guard was involved in 255 arrests during the entire 2000
fiscal year and 137 arrests during the 1999 fiscal year. The program
seized approximately $778,215 worth of illegal drugs over the last
fiscal year and $1,003 during the 1999 fiscal year. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The current statistics were fueled by $10 million in federal money that
will allow the National Guard to employ 55 full-time soldiers and
purchase a support aircraft. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
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A globally coordinated Millennium Marijuana March was peaceful in all 120 participating cities-- save New York. Although 30 were arrested there following scuffles with police; that was down from 312 last year. | ||||||||||||||||
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(21) 30 BUSTED AT RALLY TO SMOKE POT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Thirty demonstrators were arrested yesterday afternoon when a Manhattan marijuana march ended in violent clashes between protesters and cops. | ||||||||||||||||
Police hit at least a dozen people with pepper spray after marchers ran
through crowded Battery Park pointing out undercover officers arresting
participants for smoking pot. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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The profits from supplying BC bud to Americans have become so
irresistible to British Columbians that some Canadian local
governments want landlords to help with the policing. | ||||||||||||||||
Two articles highlight the stark differences between European and U.S.
attitudes toward cannabis; we set new arrest records every year while
the Dutch are opening drive throughs. | ||||||||||||||||
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(22) POT SMUGGLERS USE B.C. AS EXPORT HUB (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Billion-Dollar Industry: U.S Gangs Net Big Profits From Sales Of 'B.C.
Bud' | ||||||||||||||||
OTTAWA - Several U.S. marijuana-trafficking syndicates are smuggling
high-quality British Columbia pot into the United States, where its
potency draws a much higher price than domestic or Mexican marijuana, a
new intelligence report reveals. | ||||||||||||||||
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) report says cannabis cultivation in British Columbia has become a billion-dollar industry that will encourage expansion of the marijuana trade in North America. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(23) CITY READY TO GO AFTER LANDLORDS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
In an attempt to nip marijuana grow operations in the bud, Langley City council voted 6-1 in favour of passing a bylaw that would hold landlords financially accountable for their pot-growing tenants. | ||||||||||||||||
The bylaw, if passed, will require landlords to become "diligent"
property owners, asking them to periodically inspect their rental homes
to ensure criminal activity isn't going on inside. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(24) ONLY FOUR EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES STILL PROHIBIT CANNABIS CONSUMPTION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The Sale Of Hashish Remains Illegal In A Majority Of States | ||||||||||||||||
Europe continues along a trend towards decriminalization of so-called
illegal drugs. Of the 15 countries in the European Union, a total of
seven do not punish personal consumption of any drug or only impose
administrative fines. With regards to cannabis tolerance is near
complete: only Sweden, France, Finland and Greece maintain penalties.
Some countries want to go even further and call for legal medical
marijuana, as is the case with Catalonia. Nevertheless, almost every
country maintains penalties for the sale of drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(25) DUTCH PLAN DRIVE-THRU DOPE SHOPS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
VENLO, Netherlands -- Dutch authorities plan to open two drive-thru
shops next year where "drug tourists" can legally buy marijuana and
hashish. | ||||||||||||||||
The officials in Venlo say they want to make it easier on Germans who flock to the southern Dutch border town for drugs by opening two coffee shops with drive-thrus selling drugs such as marijuana and hashish. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (26) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A long-running international soap opera finally ended with the opening of Sydney's bitterly opposed injection room last Sunday. | ||||||||||||||||
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(26) AUSSIE DRUG INJECTING CENTER OPENS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
SYDNEY, Australia - Behind frosted glass windows, Australian heroin
users injected themselves for the first time in an officially
sanctioned center that provides clean needles, counseling and medical
staff, authorities said Monday. | ||||||||||||||||
Australia's first supervised drug injecting center opened Sunday night in the heart of Sydney's seedy Kings Cross strip-club district. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT:(27-28) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Although Britain's politicians are almost as uninformed and
doctrinaire as their American counterparts on drug policy issues, its
media tends to be somewhat more rational; as the two following items
suggest. | ||||||||||||||||
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(27) IN DEFENCE OF DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Books | ||||||||||||||||
LSD, cocaine, opium: they are all just a bore, though good for
relaxation and socialising. How did we ever come to invest them with
such demonic properties? | ||||||||||||||||
Dope Girls: The Birth Of The British Drug Underground | ||||||||||||||||
Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History Of LSD | ||||||||||||||||
Before the First World War, cocaine, morphine and heroine were all
available, on prescription and at reasonable prices, from any
pharmacist. The average drug addict was a respectable middle-aged lady,
the victim of overzealous prescription or of her own "intemperance".
Addiction was a private burden rather than a social menace. The fault
lay with the doctor or the patient, not with the drug. Most managed to
use drugs without injury. Gladstone used to take nips of laudanum
before giving speeches to the Commons, and Queen Victoria was treated
with tincture of cannabis for her period pains. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(28) EXPERIMENT WITH DRUGS, MR BUSH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
America's Drugs Policies Don't Work. Alas, The Bush Administration
Seems To Want More Of The Same | ||||||||||||||||
BY ANY reasonable measure, America's "war on drugs" is a disaster. At
home, ferocious "mandatory sentencing" laws are the main reason for
the country's huge prison population. Almost one in four of the
country's 2m prisoners are there for drug offences, with only a limited
chance of becoming productive members of society when they are released
(see article). Abroad, America is being sucked into domestic
conflicts, notably in Colombia; and recently its forces shot down a
"drugs" plane in Peru that turned out to be carrying missionaries.
Meanwhile, drugs have never been easier to get in the United States,
with prices lower, purity higher and experimentation among
school-children as rampant as ever. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (29) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A measure of the declining U.S. esteem internationally was our
embarrassing expulsion from, not one-- but two, prestigious UN bodies
within the same week. | ||||||||||||||||
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(29) U.S. HAS LOST NOT 1 BUT 2 SEATS ON KEY U.N. PANELS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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WASHINGTON--The vote wasn't mentioned at the time, since attention was
instead focused on the stunning U.S. loss of a seat held for half a
century on the U.N. Human Rights Commission. But on the same day, in
the same room, the United States also lost its seat on the U.N.
International Narcotics Control Board. | ||||||||||||||||
It was a humiliating defeat. The United States not only played the key
role in founding the board in 1964, but a senior American diplomat had
co-chaired the board for the past decade. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (30-31) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
In our own hemisphere, Mexico awarded the Bush Administration a victory when its highest court allowed extradition to the US, despite a law that's supposed to prevent it; shades of Colombia. | ||||||||||||||||
Speaking of Colombia, the respected Thomas Oliphant of the Boston Globe could find nothing good in our "Plan" for that oppressed nation. | ||||||||||||||||
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(30) RULING ALLOWS DRUG SUSPECT'S EXTRADITION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Mexico extradited a drug-trafficking suspect to the United States on Friday, the first such action under a landmark court ruling allowing the country to send its citizens north to face prosecution. | ||||||||||||||||
Arturo Paez was arrested in Tijuana more than three years ago and held
on a U.S. extradition request. A federal indictment alleges he
conspired to distribute about 2,200 pounds of cocaine in the United
States. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(31) U.S. DRUG POLICY IN COLOMBIA A RECIPE FOR DISASTER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
FOR MOST PEOPLE, the killing of an American missionary and her baby
daughter last month by trigger-happy, allegedly antidrug cowboys of the
Peruvian Air Force afforded only a tiny peek at a more horrific
problem. And the fact that the killings could occur in the air under
the pathetic supervision of CIA contractors afforded an equally tiny
peek at the increasingly central U.S. role in this murderous,
ever-escalating mess. | ||||||||||||||||
Representative James McGovern detests the inevitable comparison between the escalating drug wars in that region of South America and the ruinous civil wars of the 1980s in Central America. However, he is uniquely suited to make it, and the facts lead him there inexorably. | ||||||||||||||||
As he summarizes the most important points, what you have is an
essentially civil conflict poisoned further by the introduction from
outside of a supposedly larger foreign policy issue, which is followed
by the total militarization of the situation under the control of the
United States. It is a recipe for more and more violence, never a
solution, and it soils our values and reputation. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Kevin Zeese on C-Span's Washington Journal | ||||||||||||||||
Kevin Zeese appeared on National TV on C-Span on Monday and debated
Chris Donesa, House Govt. Reform Subcmtee staffer. You can see the
C-Span show on Plan Colombia by going to: | ||||||||||||||||
Search for "Zeese" in the search window provided. | ||||||||||||||||
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Important Speeches/Photos from NORML Conference Available On-line | ||||||||||||||||
The NORML website http://www.norml.org/ has a selection of photos and
audio excerpts from the NORML 2001 Conference. You will see a
prominent link on the home page. | ||||||||||||||||
Submitted by Keith Stroup | ||||||||||||||||
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New Mexico Website Announced | ||||||||||||||||
The URL for the new NMDPF website is http://www.newmexicodrugpolicy.org/ | ||||||||||||||||
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DEA Denies Gettman's Rescheduling Petition | ||||||||||||||||
The DEA has denied Gettman's 6 year old petition to have marijuana
rescheduled. Their 40-page denial, based on marijuana's potential for
abuse, is dated April 18, 2001. It is available at: | ||||||||||||||||
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Article on Methadone Maintenance | ||||||||||||||||
There is a fine article on the state of methadone maintenance in the
spring issue of the Harm Redux Coal. website at: | ||||||||||||||||
http://www.harmreduction.org/news/spring01/sp01vanderkloot.html | ||||||||||||||||
If you only think you understand us, please read... | ||||||||||||||||
Submitted by Dave Michon | ||||||||||||||||
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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Getting the Drug War you paid for by Vin Suprynowicz at: | ||||||||||||||||
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"The National Defense Council Foundation (NDCF) believes that it is
only a matter of time before the lack of consistent leadership, fear and
confusion lead to the misstep of legalization." | ||||||||||||||||
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Spotted by Cliff Schaffer | ||||||||||||||||
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Content selection and analyses by Tom O'Connell (), Cannabis/Hemp content selection and analysis by Jo-D Dunbar (), International content selection by Richard Lake (), Layout by Matt Elrod () | ||||||||||||||||
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