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DrugSense Weekly
June 8, 2001 #202

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Table of Contents

* Breaking News (03/28/24)


* This Just In


(1) Robert Randall, Who Sued For Medical Marijuana, Is Dead At 53
(2) OPED: What If All Drugs Were Legal? (Gasp!)
(3) California Senate Bucks Feds And Approves Medical Marijuana
(4) US: Web: Book Review: The Nightmare Of Recovery

* Weekly News in Review


Drug Policy-

COMMENT: (5-8)
(5) Johnson Says Fight for New National Drug Policy
(6) Super-Wealthy Threesome Fund Growing War on the War on Drugs
(7) Welcome News on Two Fronts in 'War on Drugs'
(8) The Legal Jam
COMMENT: (9-11)
(9) Two Voices on Bush Drug Policy
(10) Bush's Drug War Strategy: Escalate It
(11) The First Family's Alcohol Troubles

Law Enforcement & Prisons-

COMMENT: (12-15)
(12) No End in Sight to Corrections Demands
(13) Prison Nation Turns its Back on Released Convicts
(14) US: Sharp, Broad Rise Seen in Gang Problems
(15) County Ready to Turn Prop. 36 into a Reality

Cannabis & Hemp-

COMMENT: (16-20)
(16) Colo. Medical Marijuana Law Takes Effect
(17) Marijuana Bill Passed
(18) World Leaders On Dope
(19) Pot Panel May Help Turn Over A New Leaf
(20) Marijuana Decriminalization Supported

International News-

COMMENT: (21-23)
(21) A Plane Is Shot Down And The U.S. Proxy War On Drug Barons Unravels
(22) U.S. And Europe Differ Over Colombian Drugs
COMMENT: (23)
(23) Timely Injection Of Balance

* Hot Off The 'Net


    Maximizing Harm by Stephen Young
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    Michael Moore has just launched a mission for "Mike's Militia"
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* Feature Article


    What Price "Success?" / by Tom O'Connell M.D.

* Quote of the Week


    The Essence of Leadership


THIS JUST IN    (Top)


(1) ROBERT RANDALL, WHO SUED FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA, IS DEAD AT 53    (Top)

SARASOTA, Fla., Robert Randall, to whom a court gave access to government supplies of marijuana to treat his glaucoma in 1976, died on Saturday at his home here.  He was 53 and still smoking government marijuana.

The cause was AIDS-related complications.

A Federal District Court ruled 25 years ago that Mr.  Randall's use of marijuana was a medical necessity.  Two years later, the government cut off his access to the drug, but he sued for reinstatement and won.

Mr.  Randall developed glaucoma in his teens. An ophthalmologist told him in the early 1970's that he would go blind within a few years.  He never lost his sight.

He grew his own marijuana until he was prosecuted.  He then underwent exhaustive tests that indicated that no other glaucoma drug halted the deterioration of his eyesight.  He used that argument in demanding legal access to government marijuana.

In 1981, Mr.  Randall and his wife, Alice, founded ACT, Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics, an organization that sought to legalize the medicinal use of marijuana.

On May 14, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal law controlling narcotics makes no exception for therapeutic use of the drug.

In addition to his wife, Mr.  Randall is survived by a sister, Susan, and a brother, Dick, both of Sarasota.

Pubdate:   Fri, 08 Jun 2001
Source:   New York Times (NY)
Copyright:   2001 The New York Times Company
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.nytimes.com/
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author:   Associated Press
Cited:   Alliance of Cannabis Therapeutics http://marijuana-as-medicine.org/


(2) OPED: WHAT IF ALL DRUGS WERE LEGAL? (GASP!)    (Top)

The Drug Warriors' biggest argument against medical marijuana is that it's only the opening wedge in a movement toward total legalization of drugs.  So, supposedly, we have to "nip it in the bud" -- in the words of Deputy Barney Fife, the nation's first Drug Czar.

What if the Drug Warriors are right?

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 07 Jun 2001
Source:   WorldNetDaily (US Web)
Copyright:   2001 WorldNetDaily.com, Inc.
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.worldnetdaily.com/
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/655
Author:   Harry Browne
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01.n1022.a04.html


(3) CALIFORNIA SENATE BUCKS FEDS AND APPROVES MEDICAL MARIJUANA LICENSING    (Top)

SACRAMENTO, Calif.  - Conservative and liberal senators joined Wednesday to pass a statewide medical marijuana registry that could test the limits of an adverse U.S.  Supreme Court decision last month.

The measure pits California's landmark medical marijuana law against last month's U.S.  Supreme Court decision that Proposition 215 cannot supersede federal laws against marijuana distribution.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 8 Jun 2001
Source:   Tahoe Daily Tribune (CA)
Copyright:   2001 Tahoe-Carson Area Newspapers
Contact:  
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/443
Website:   http://www.tahoe.com/tribune/
Author:   Don Thompson, Associated Press
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01.n1018.a04.html


(4) US: WEB: BOOK REVIEW: THE NIGHTMARE OF RECOVERY    (Top)

A Powerful New Book On The Drug War's Trenches Argues That Treatment Is The Answer -- But Our Current System Dooms More Addicts Than It Helps.

Those who believe, as most sensible people do, that the current war on drugs is a boondoggle and a disaster also usually say that we ought to be spending our dollars on treatment, not law enforcement, if we want to diminish the trade in illegal drugs.

[snip]

But if "treatment" has become a buzzword for citizens tired of seeing billions of their tax dollars wasted on hunting down South American drug lords and warehousing nonviolent offenders in prisons, Lonny Shavelson, a physician and journalist, argues that it's often not a whole lot more than that.  In his new book, "Hooked," which follows five addicts through the tortuous process of getting help for their substance abuse problems in San Francisco in the late 1990s, he makes a powerful case that America's drug treatment program is hopelessly flawed.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 07 Jun 2001
Source:   Salon (US Web)
Copyright:   2001 Salon
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.salon.com/
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/381
Author:   Laura Miller
Reviewed:   Hooked: Five Addicts Challenge Our Misguided Drug Rehab System
By Lonny Shavelson
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01.n1020.a05.html


WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW    (Top)


Domestic News- Policy


COMMENT: (5-8)    (Top)

Last week's Lindesmith-DPF Convention in Albuquerque was larger and better attended than ever, thanks in large part to the reform efforts of NM Governor Johnson.

A hotly debated issue at that meeting - "treatment" in lieu of incarceration as a potential trap for reform - didn't make press reports, but a detailed WSJ report detailed its evolution within the movement - and a report from Oregon suggests that state's legislature may be in the process of cloning California's Prop 36 without need for an initiative.

The legal and Constitutional status of another concept funded by the same trio - medical use of marijuana - was well covered by Bill Buckley, who also invoked the memory of a recently martyred colleague.


(5) JOHNSON SAYS FIGHT FOR NEW NATIONAL DRUG POLICY UPHILL BATTLE    (Top)

Gov.  Gary Johnson was preaching to the converted Saturday when he called the war on drugs a "miserable failure," but after two years of fighting for a new national drug policy he said proponents are still facing an uphill battle.

"We're going to look back on this issue and recognize it as the atrocity that it is," Johnson told 700 people attending a national drug-reform policy conference.  "The war on drugs is a miserable failure."

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sat, 02 Jun 2001
Source:   Associated Press (Wire)
Copyright:   2001 Associated Press
Author:   Heather Clark, Associated Press Writer
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n996/a04.html
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/johnson.htm (Johnson, Gary)


(6) SUPER-WEALTHY THREESOME FUND GROWING WAR ON THE WAR ON DRUGS    (Top)

As the pendulum on drug policy swings away from harsher penalties and toward expanded treatment programs, it is getting a big shove from an unusual trio of rich men: billionaires George Soros and Peter Lewis and centimillionaire John Sperling.

Opposed to locking up nonviolent drug users, the three have financed a string of state-ballot-box victories on what until recently seemed an unpromising electoral battlefield -- getting softer on the possession of marijuana and other illegal drugs.  Now, after a breakthrough win last November in California, they are moving to expand their war on the war on drugs by backing new initiatives elsewhere under the banner of "treatment not jail."

[snip]

The funders' political operatives say their private polling tells them initiatives pushing treatment instead of jail can win in all three of the states they are targeting next year...

...after two decades in which drug abuse was generally met with tougher
law enforcement, the debate seems to be swinging toward curbing extreme punishment and identifying effective means of treatment.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 30 May 2001
Source:   Wall Street Journal (US)
Copyright:   2001 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/487
Author:   David Bank, Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n969/a06.html


(7) WELCOME NEWS ON TWO FRONTS IN 'WAR ON DRUGS'    (Top)

Multnomah County Offers An Integrated Approach That Models New Thinking

President Bush asked his secretary of Health and Human Services to analyze how to close the treatment gap for citizens who need help for drug problems.

Promising "unprecedented attention on the demand side" of the drug problem, Bush has targeted $1.6 billion over the next five years to reduce the gap between those needing treatment and available programs.  He heralded "a thoughtful and integrated approach" between law enforcement and treatment professionals.

On the local front, the Oregon Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 914, which would steer more nonviolent drug offenders into treatment programs rather than jail.  The bill would allow someone pleading guilty to certain drug charges to be placed on probation and referred to treatment.  Completion of treatment would erase criminal charges on the person's record.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 30 May 2001
Source:   Oregonian, The (OR)
Copyright:   2001 The Oregonian
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/324
Author:   Wayne Scott
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n971/a01.html


(8) THE LEGAL JAM    (Top)

It is a big confusing sprawl of a system, but there are those who love it, and it takes lifelong love for our system, after weighing the Supreme Court's decision.  The anomalies knock you down, but there is still light .  . .

[snip]

So it all crowds around our federal system: state laws, state plebiscites, congressional laws, Supreme Court interpretations, constitutional epiphanies.  It is very red, white, and blue and, we repeat, there are those who love it.

Pubdate:   Mon, 11 June 2001
Source:   National Review (US)
Copyright:   2001 National Review
Column:   On the Right
Author:   William F.  Buckley Jr.
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n937/a05.html
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/ocbc.htm (Oakland Cannabis Court Case)
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/mcwilliams.htm (McWilliams, Peter)


COMMENT: (9-11)    (Top)

Many reformers, seeing that powerful forces within the administration remain committed to a punitive drug policy, are distrustful of our present "rush to treatment."

The explanation may be simple; since the same "consequences" suffered by ordinary offenders, clearly don't apply to either Presidents or First Daughters; perhaps two-tiered justice should be considered an American norm.


(9) TWO VOICES ON BUSH DRUG POLICY    (Top)

WASHINGTON - When President Bush ventured to Virginia recently for a firsthand look at a successful drug-prevention program, he made it clear that the most important facet of his administration's war on illegal narcotics would be to reduce demand.

[snip]

While Bush has emphasized the need to reduce demand through education programs and drug-abuse treatment, his public action on the consistently vexing issue has produced mixed signals, indicating the administration intends to focus more on the punishment and foreign interdiction end than had originally been supposed.

To direct the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bush has tapped Rep. Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark., a former federal prosecutor who earned a reputation for being particularly tough on drug cases.  But the nomination that really raised eyebrows was the president's choice of John Walters to become the high-profile director of the White House Office of National Drug Policy - the drug czar.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 17 May 2001
Source:   Knoxville News-Sentinel (TN)
Copyright:   2001 The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co.
Author:   Bill Straub, Scripps Howard News Service
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n938/a05.html
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/bush.htm (Bush, George)


(10) BUSH'S DRUG WAR STRATEGY: ESCALATE IT    (Top)

It can't get worse.  That's what many scientists, health advocates and drug war reformers thought while doing battle with hyperactive drug crusader General Barry McCaffrey, the head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy in the Clinton administration.  McCaffrey took a fierce stance that helped produce skyrocketing arrests for drug possession, steady militarization of the drug battle and short shrift for treatment.  ...

[snip]

But any hope for relief, for a respite from the toll of the Clinton years, was hopelessly naive.  Make no mistake, the drug war is about to get worse under Bush, maybe a whole lot worse.  But at least some of the underlying rationale is becoming clearer.  In fact, as the Bush administration's troika of backward generals -- Ashcroft, Walters and Hutchinson -- take command of the drug war, new revelations are exposing just how corporate-run and profitable the drug war has become.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Mon, 28 May 2001
Source:   AlterNet (Web)
Copyright:   2001 Independent Media Institute
Author:   Daniel Forbes, AlterNet
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n992/a09.html


(11) THE FIRST FAMILY'S ALCOHOL TROUBLES    (Top)

President Bush downplayed his own drinking problem and hid a DUI.  Now his daughters are making news for underage drinking.  Is there a connection?

I don't envy Jenna and Barbara Bush, going off to college under the watchful eye of the Secret Service and the international media.  But the sudden flurry of headlines about the first twins' alcohol-related mishaps raises new questions about the way their father handled his own "young and irresponsible" past.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 30 May 2001
Source:   Salon (US Web)
Copyright:   2001 Salon
Author:   Joan Walsh
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n974/a10.html


Law Enforcement & Prisons


COMMENT: (12-15)    (Top)

Although prisons have failed to solve our "drug problem"-- they've had their own economic and social costs; a fact finally being recognized in Oklahoma (of all places).

As more graduates of our expanded "correctional" institutions return to society, we may discover the price even higher than now imagined.

Nor does the future look bright; just as Prohibition funded Capone, illegal drug markets have inevitably become major sources of revenue and power for uneducated and disaffected inner city youth.

Against this social chaos, the "reforms" of Proposition 36-- which must be implemented by its most recalcitrant opponents-- may serve only to recruit even more drug war victims: those who can afford shakedowns to avoid incarceration.


(12) NO END IN SIGHT TO CORRECTIONS DEMANDS    (Top)

News that the Corrections Department needs more money is now so routine that citizens probably pay little attention to it.  ..

Will it ever get through to lawmakers and others that throwing money down a bottomless pit is not going to address corrections problems?

[snip]

Paying more attention to the front end -- with adequate education and early childhood services and programs for those who might end up in prison -- is another approach finally being embraced.  But again, it's only been dabbled in.

Unless Oklahoma gets more serious about how to address criminal behavior in ways other than draining the treasury to fund prisons, that will continue to be where most of the money goes.

Pubdate:   Sat, 19 May 2001
Source:   Tulsa World (OK)
Copyright:   2001 World Publishing Co.
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n931/a05.html


(13) PRISON NATION TURNS ITS BACK ON RELEASED CONVICTS    (Top)

NEW YORK -- We've seen this scene in countless movies: A just-released inmate stands at the gates of a fortress-like prison clutching a bus ticket, two $20 bills and a slip of paper with the name of his parole officer.  His hunched shoulders and his puzzled gaze suggest that it will take more than a hot shower to wash away the memories of captivity.  He is nominally free, but we know that his prospects are bleak and his re-entry to life on the outside will be harsh.

Now for the reality.  This year, according to estimates by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than 600,000 Americans will be released from state and federal prisons.  Overwhelmingly male, disproportionately black and Hispanic, mostly ill-educated, this army of former inmates represents a searing and neglected social problem...

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 30 May 2001
Source:   USA Today (US)
Copyright:   2001 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co.  Inc
Author:   Walter Shapiro
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n984/a06.html


(14) US: SHARP, BROAD RISE SEEN IN GANG PROBLEMS    (Top)

Since The Early 1970s, States That Reported Trouble Rose From 19, Mostly In The Northeast, To All 50.

WASHINGTON - Thousands of young Americans in all 50 states are joining gangs, according to a Justice Department study released yesterday that blamed profits from drug trafficking, new immigrant groups trying to assimilate, and a growing number of households without male role models.

[snip]

High profits from the sale of street drugs such as crack cocaine, which became popular in the 1980s, are first among reasons that young people join gangs, the study said.  It compared the phenomenon to the way the illegal liquor trade fueled gangland activity in New York and Chicago during Prohibition.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 30 May 2001
Source:   Inquirer (PA)
Copyright:   2001 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc
Author:   Lenny Savino
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n977/a06.html


(15) COUNTY READY TO TURN PROP. 36 INTO A REALITY    (Top)

In five weeks, San Bernardino County officials will begin a $12.7 million plan to treat drug offenders in ways no one is sure will work.

It's unknown if there will be enough money to do what voters wanted when they passed Proposition 36 or if addicts will receive the supervision needed to make treatment, rather than incarceration, work.

And no one knows how much county money will be needed to supplement state funding or how it will be spent.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sun, 27 May 2001
Source:   Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (CA)
Copyright:   2001 Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/871
Author:   Felisa Cardona
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n955/a05.html


Cannabis & Hemp-


COMMENT: (16-20)    (Top)

How Long? ...  Not Long!

Cannabis prohibition was initiated for purely political reasons and is being continued on a 'guilty until proven innocent' basis.  In the US, Colorado and Nevada became the next two states to allow use by the sick and dying while the rest of the world is moving quickly towards decriminalization and possible legalization/regulation models.


(16) COLO. MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW TAKES EFFECT    (Top)

DENVER -- Despite threats of federal prosecution, Coloradans suffering from illnesses such as cancer are paying $140 apiece to sign up on a new state registry of licensed medical marijuana users.

The registry, which took effect Friday, was created by a law approved by voters in November that allows license holders to legally grow or possess marijuana.  Still, Attorney General Ken Salazar has urged federal authorities to prosecute anybody who sells, distributes or grows marijuana, even if they qualify under the state program.

By midday Friday, the Colorado Medical Marijuana Registry had received eight applications and approved one.  Officials expect about 800 people to sign up for the program this year.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sat, 2 Jun 2001
Source:   Daily Camera (CO)
Copyright:   2001 The Daily Camera.
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/103
Author:   Katherine Vogt, Associated Press
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n986/a05.html


(17) MARIJUANA BILL PASSED    (Top)

Legislation legalizing medical marijuana and reducing penalties for use or possession of small quantities of the drug will be on its way to the governor's office later today.

The Senate joined the Assembly in approving AB453 Sunday.  The bill passed on a 15-6 vote with Senators Bill Raggio, Maurice Washington, Ann O'Connell, Bill O'Donnell, Lawrence Jacobsen and Jon Porter opposed.

Senators did amend the bill, but the changes are supported by sponsor Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas.

Nearly two thirds of Nevada voters in the last two general elections supported legalizing medical uses of marijuana for those with terminal or chronically disabling diseases such as AIDS, cancer and glaucoma.

The bill also lowers Nevada's felony penalty for simple possession and use of marijuana to a misdemeanor for the first two convictions and gross misdemeanor for the third.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Mon, 4 Jun 2001
Source:   Nevada Appeal (NV)
Copyright:   2001 Nevada Appeal
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/896
Author:   Geoff Dornan
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n993/a03.html


(18) WORLD LEADERS ON DOPE    (Top)

Right Joins Left in Call for an End to the Drug War

The American drug war may yet grind on, but one by one, the troops are hiking out.  Right-wingers like Jesse Ventura, Gary Johnson, Dan Quayle, William F.  Buckley, and George Schultz have all voiced support for either ending the costly campaign of interdiction and imprisonment, or at least decriminalizing pot.

[snip]

While the U.S.  continues its self-destructive orgy of arrests and wasted money, other parts of the world move forward.  The Swiss government has endorsed a plan to legalize pot and hash consumption and allow some shops to sell cannabis.  Belgium allows people to grow pot for personal use.  The Netherlands allows coffee houses to sell marijuana.  Portugal, Spain, and Italy punish the use of any drug (including heroin and coke) with only an administrative sanction, such as a fine.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 30 May 2001
Source:   Village Voice (NY)
Copyright:   2001 Village Voice Media, Inc
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/482
Author:   Russ Kick
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n971/a07.html


(19) POT PANEL MAY HELP TURN OVER A NEW LEAF    (Top)

Jamaica:   Commission Is Set To Present Its Final Recommendations To
Parliament On Whether To Decriminalize Ganja

KINGSTON, Jamaica--Imagine a lush, tropical land just a few hundred miles off the U.S.  coast where marijuana, though illegal, is a cultural icon worshiped by thousands and so plentiful it goes for just $26 a pound.

Now, imagine this place when it's legal.

That's precisely what Jamaica's government-appointed National Commission on Ganja has been doing for the last nine months.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 01 Jun 2001
Source:   Victoria News (CN BC)
Copyright:   2001 Victoria News
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/1267
Author:   Mark Browne
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n987/a06.html


(20) MARIJUANA DECRIMINALIZATION SUPPORTED    (Top)

As the issue of decriminalizing marijuana makes its way into the federal political arena, Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca MP Keith Martin is the latest politician to get in on the action.

Progressive Conservative Leader Joe Clark recently said that the time has come to explore the idea of decriminalizing pot.  A federal multi-party committee has now been established to determine whether decriminalizing marijuana is the way to go.

[snip]

Martin's bill would see the criminal penalties for the possession of marijuana removed, to be replaced with a system of fines.

Under Martin's private member's bill, a person found to be in possession of marijuana could be fined $200 for the first offence, while people found guilty of second and third offences would be fined $500 and $1,000 respectively.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sat, 02 Jun 2001
Source:   Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright:   2001 Los Angeles Times
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author:   Mark Fineman, Times Staff Writer
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n983/a04.html


International News


COMMENT: (21-23)    (Top)

There seems to be no end to the privatisation of the drug war - now soldiers for hire, as The Guardian notes.  But Europe does not march to the beat of the U.S.  war lords, as the article from The International Herald-Tribune - the largest circulation English language newspaper on the newsstands of non-English speaking countries - states.


(21) A PLANE IS SHOT DOWN AND THE U.S. PROXY WAR ON DRUG BARONS UNRAVELS    (Top)

[snip]

The surveillance plane was piloted not by U.S.  military pilots but by private contractors who, according to U.S.  congressional officials, were hired by an Alabama-based company called Aviation Development Corporation (ADC).  In the words of one outraged official: "There were just businessmen in that plane.  They were accountable to no one but their bottom line."

[snip]

Moreover, the involvement of a U.S.  firm operating for profit over the Peruvian and Colombian jungles has drawn attention to an important but little-noticed trend - the privatisation of the drug war.

Congress is now trying to investigate the role of the commercial contractors and two bills have been proposed to try to curb their influence.  Their chances of success in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives are unclear, but their sponsors are determined to force the administration to at least explain its actions.

"We are hiring a private army," Janice Schakowsky, a Democratic congresswoman who authored one of the bills, told the Guardian.  "We are engaging in a secret war, and the American people need to be told why."

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sat, 2 Jun 2001
Source:   Guardian, The (UK)
Copyright:   2001 Guardian Newspapers Limited
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/175
Authors:   Julian Borger, Martin Hodgson
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n987/a09.html
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/find?172 (Peruvian Aircraft Shooting)


(22) U.S. AND EUROPE DIFFER OVER COLOMBIAN DRUGS    (Top)

[snip]

"It is certainly true that a bigger portion of cocaine goes to Europe than previously," said Klaus Nyholm, who oversees the UN Drug Control Program's office in Colombia.  "The U.S. was the country of cocaine consumption par excellence, while heroin and opiates were for Asia and Europe.  What we see now is that the markets are coming to look more and more alike."

[snip]

"There is very little sympathy and understanding," Martin Jelsma, a drug policy expert in the Netherlands, said of how Europeans view U.S.  policy toward Colombia.

"Based on private conversations I've had this year with officials from several European countries, the rejection of the current U.S.  drug policy approach to Colombia is growing very clearly," added Mr.  Jelsma, of the Transnational Institute, which analyzes drug use and international trafficking.

[snip]

European drug experts say that U.S.  high-tech interdiction efforts and harsh enforcement inside the United States have had little impact in curtailing the flow of drugs to American users, an assertion that many U.S.  drug experts do not dispute.

The Europeans strongly oppose aerial spraying of coca crops in Colombia, which they say fails to address the country's deep social problems.  Their opposition was highlighted in February when the European Parliament voted 474 to 1 to reject the U.S.-supported spraying program in Colombia.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 30 May 2001
Source:   International Herald-Tribune
Copyright:   International Herald Tribune 2001
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/212
Author:   Juan Forero, New York Times Service
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n977/a02.html


COMMENT: (23)    (Top)

Safe heroin injecting centers operate in both Germany and The Netherlands, but the Kings Cross centre - and the battle for it to open - has long been of interest to drug policy reformers around the world.  Nobody should be surprised at the media interest - we all work hard using the 'net to insure that they are alerted to these efforts. The thoughtful analysis of the process in the media and the public, below, should be a 'must read' for us all.  Nearly all of the referenced articles may be found in the MAP archives by using our power search at http://www.mapinc.org/find/ or the "bookmark" below.


(23) TIMELY INJECTION OF BALANCE    (Top)

[snip]

Interest in the English-speaking world's first legal heroin injecting facility has not been confined to the Australian media.

Nor has it been confined to the mainstream news outlets.

The centre's spokesman, Patrick Kennedy, has fielded inquiries from more than 50 media outlets, from internet sites to magazines including Elle and Who Weekly.  He has also spoken to a large number of international media outlets, including CNN, the BBC and The New York Times.

"The level of national interest, let alone international interest, has been quite amazing," says the centre's medical director, Dr Ingrid van Beek.  "Maybe that reflects my naivete about the importance of this story [to the media]."

[snip]

Media coverage of the issues surrounding the facility will have a significant impact on whether or not the 18-month trial is deemed a success, according to Paul Dillon from Australia's National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre.  "Only a minority in the wider community have direct experience of heroin abuse, so public perceptions will be shaped by the media's coverage," he says.  "If the media gives a balanced viewpoint, this initiative has a better chance of gaining public acceptance."

[snip]

Like any media-sensitive policy, the merits of the Kings Cross injecting facility need to be effectively marketed.  Realising this, the centre's organisers hired a public relations firm to liaise with the media and implement a communications strategy.

The key messages of the policy revolve around a central premise that the facility is not in itself a panacea for the Kings Cross heroin problem.  According to Kennedy -- a public relations professional with more than 17 years' experience -- it needs to be emphasised that while the centre's main function is to provide a supervised environment for injecting heroin, it also acts as a gateway for treatment and rehabilitation.

"The media is important for the centre in communicating its messages, not just to the drug injecting community, but to the broader community as well," he says.  "The second part of the strategy is to ensure that only the correct messages are communicated.  So, there is a bit of issues management with such a high-profile topic.  This is an area where on occasion, no news is good news."

[snip]

Kennedy handed out prepared video footage of mock heroin users inside the facility for the TV news services.  "This strategy was designed to ensure high-quality and non-identifying images appeared in the media, and leaves less reason for clandestine attempts to gather footage," he says.

The media were also given updates on the centre's progress before it opened, with many taking guided tours inside the building.

[snip]

The same information appeared in nearly every news story about the centre.  It attracted coverage on news bulletins and in newspapers in nearly every Australian state.  "Few visit injecting room" said Adelaide's The Advertiser; "Quiet start for injecting room" was The Courier-Mail's summation in Brisbane; and Melbourne's Herald Sun simply declared "Injecting room opens its doors".

[snip]

After a nervous beginning, the Kings Cross injecting centre's organisers are content with the media coverage to date.  "You could argue that the media were creating a story by being on our doorstep," says van Beek.  "But on the other hand, they also quoted me as saying the media presence had discouraged people from using the centre.  To that extent it has been fair."

Pubdate:   Thu, 31 May 2001
Source:   Australian, The (Australia)
Copyright:   2001 News Limited
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/35
Author:   Daniel Hoare
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Safe Injecting Rooms)
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n998/a08.html


HOT OFF THE 'NET    (Top)

Maximizing Harm by Stephen Young

I thought you might find this book of interest.  It is a short, concise summary of the drug reform field and issues.

See: http://www.maximizingharm.com/

Submitted by Kevin Zeese


DrugSense Presentation at TLC-DPF Conference

The DrugSense Portion of the Internet Panel at The New Mexico Conference can be reviewed.  There are some really fascinating overviews and opportunities for all reform groups encapsulated in this presentation.

It is now archived at:

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n000/a043.html


Michael Moore has just launched a mission for "Mike's Militia" to help Renee Boje, Todd McCormick -- and of course, by extension, countless other victims of the war on drugs.

http://www.MichaelMoore.com/missions/renee_boje/


Join a chat session with Judge James Gray, author of 'Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It'

The first chat session will be held this Tuesday, 12 June, at 8 p.m. Eastern, starting at 5 p.m.  Pacific time in the New York Times National Forum on Drug Policy which you may access from the following webpage (Note: If you are not registered with the New York Times you will need to register):

http://forums.nytimes.com/comment/index-national.html

The second chat session with Judge Gray will be held in the DrugSense chat room on Saturday, 23 June, at 10 p.m.  Eastern, 7 p.m. Pacific at the following webpage:

http://www.drugsense.org/chat/

Details and updates about these chats, and future chats with others, is being posted at http://www.cultural-baggage.com/schedule.htm

Judge Gray's website is http://www.judgejimgray.com/

James P.  Gray is Judge of the Superior Court in Orange County in Southern California.  He has served as former federal prosecutor in Los Angeles and as a criminal defense attorney as a member of the JAG Corps in the Navy.  In 1998 he made an unsuccessful run for Congress as a Republican against Bob Dornan.  Judge Gray has discussed issues of drug policy on more than one hundred radio and TV shows and numerous drug forums around the country.


Looking for up-to-date, accurate research and info on prison issues? There is a great site, relatively new:

http://www.prisonsucks.com/

Submitted by

Brigette Sarabi, Director
Western Prison Project
http://www.westernprisonproject.org/


FEATURE ARTICLE    (Top)

What Price "Success?" / by Tom O'Connell M.D.

A panel discussion at last Saturday morning's plenary session involved the most spirited and meaningful debate I've yet encountered at a DPF meeting.  The question at issue was how reform should deal with coerced treatment as an alternative to incarceration; the same concept embodied in California's recently passed (but yet to be implemented) Proposition

Those advising caution were troubled because the initiative implicitly agrees with the central prohibitionist notion that the danger of "drug use" is so extraordinary that society is obligated to forcibly intervene in the lives of individual citizens.  Beyond that, they were concerned that the principle implicit in coerced treatment can actually extend the power of law enforcement and also provide a cosmetic "fix" for the image of an increasingly discredited war on drugs.

Those wanting to forge ahead with similar initiatives in other states agreed with both concerns, but insisted that the need to "rescue" those now being sentenced to Draconian -- literally life destroying -- sentences in our crowded and brutal state prisons overrides such considerations.

This may be the most troubling and difficult issue yet to emerge from the schism between anti-prohibitionists and harm reductionists which has plagued our movement.  There is no doubt that thousands of lives are being destroyed every year by imprisonment; but there can also be no doubt that the forces now running our police state -- although they bitterly opposed the restraints of Proposition 36 -- are the same people best positioned to coopt it for their own purposes.

It's not difficult to imagine a scenario in which coerced treatment extends the reach of prohibition to the middle class, generates substantial revenues from fines, recruits a coterie of treatment providers, and grants the drug war another decade or more of longevity. It all depends on public perceptions which are now imponderable.

One suggestion was that the results of Prop.  36 (which will not even be implemented until July 1, 2001), be observed before forging ahead with similar initiatives; however an article written for the May 30 Wall Street Journal disclosed that to be a forlorn hope.* The same funders who have been key to qualifying both medical marijuana initiatives and Proposition 36 have already decided to finance coerced treatment initiatives in three more populous states in the next election cycle.

Not only is this is an issue with the potential to splinter our movement, it's also an excellent example of the critical importance of money in American politics -- not just for the major parties, but also for the "radical" opposition.

Super-Wealthy Threesome Fund Growing War on the War on Drugs *

Pubdate:   Wed, 30 May 2001
Source:   Wall Street Journal (US)
Copyright:   2001 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/487
Author:   David Bank
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n969/a06.html


QUOTE OF THE WEEK    (Top)

The Essence of Leadership

"A True Leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to others.  S/He does not set out to be a leader but becomes one by the quality of his/her actions and the integrity of his/her intent.  In the end true leaders are much like eagles...they don't flock, you find them one at a time." -- Unknown


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CREDITS:  

Content selection and analyses by Tom O'Connell (), Cannabis/Hemp content selection and analysis by Jo-D Dunbar (), International content selection and analysis by Richard Lake (), Layout by Matt Elrod
()

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