| Oct. 11, 2002 #271 | ||||||||||||||||
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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) | ||||||||||||||||
(1) SAN JOSE COPS OFF DEA SQUAD (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Chief Doesn't Want Them Raiding Pot Clubs | ||||||||||||||||
San Jose Police Chief William Lansdowne has yanked his officers off the
Drug Enforcement Administration task force that raided a Santa Cruz
medicinal marijuana club a month ago. | ||||||||||||||||
Lansdowne said his four officers and one sergeant have better things to
do - such as tackle the methamphetamine epidemic -- than harass local
pot clubs, which are operating within state law. | ||||||||||||||||
"I think the priorities are out of sync at the federal level," said
Lansdowne, who said he agrees the state's voters made the right
decision in legalizing marijuana for medical use under regulated
circumstances. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(2) CANADA: FIRST CLINICAL POT TRIAL TO USE U.S. STASH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
OTTAWA -- Canada's first clinical study on the use of medicinal
marijuana will use cannabis grown in the United States while a large,
Canadian-grown stash of the drug sits on ice. | ||||||||||||||||
The United States National Institute on Drug Abuse has agreed to supply
the drug for a Toronto-based trial, even though that country's drug
czar disapproves of the program. | ||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile, about 200 kilograms of cannabis grown with Ottawa's sanction
in an abandoned Manitoba mine sits in storage and will not be used on
patients, Health Canada says. | ||||||||||||||||
"It's ridiculous," said Alan Young, a Toronto lawyer who is fighting the federal government in court, arguing that regulations controlling the use of medical marijuana violate constitutional rights. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(3) US CA: MEDICINAL POT USERS RENEW LEGAL CHALLENGE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Regrouped and armed with new tactics, two Bay Area attorneys today
again sued the United States government over its campaign to quash the
use of medical marijuana, now legal in eight states, including
California. | ||||||||||||||||
Lawyers Robert Raich and David Michael, flanked by their clients, two
pot users who say the weed eases their serious ailments, told reporters
in Oakland, Calif., that they'd defined constitutional issues that will
help them prevail where their last lawsuit failed. That complaint
journeyed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court before being denied
last year. | ||||||||||||||||
In that suit, the court ruled in May 2001 that the Oakland Cannabis
Buyers' Cooperative had no right to sell pot to the ill, even though
such sales are legal with a doctor's recommendation under California's
medical marijuana law, approved by voters in 1996. Seven more states
followed with similar laws. | ||||||||||||||||
But the Supreme Court concluded federal law supersedes. Even so,
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that some constitutional issues remained
unresolved, such as the federal government's right to interfere with
intrastate commerce and a citizen's right to use marijuana to relieve
pain. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(4) US NV: QUESTION 9 OPPONENTS REPLACE SPOKESMAN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Marijuana Initiative's Supporters Had Criticized Statements | ||||||||||||||||
Carson City -- Four days after making a controversial accusation, Clark County Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker was replaced as the chief law enforcement spokesman opposing the movement to legalize marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Booker has not responded to phone calls since a Board of Health meeting
on Friday when he alleged a man with ties to South American drug
cartels was financing Nevadans Against Responsible Law Enforcement. The
organization is campaigning for passage of Question 9, which would
amend the state Constitution and let adult Nevadans possess 3 ounces or
less of marijuana in their homes. | ||||||||||||||||
Billy Rogers, leader of Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement, criticized Booker for the allegation, contending the group never would take donations from anyone associated with a drug cartel. | ||||||||||||||||
Rogers demanded an apology from Booker and Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las
Vegas. | ||||||||||||||||
Neal said the source of the drug cartel information came from a
publication owned by perennial presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche.
A LaRouche newsletter said billionaire investor George Soros had backed
movements in South America that aided the drug suppliers and also
donated to the Marijuana Policy Project, the parent organization of
Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement. Neal said he believed the
publication to be credible. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-9) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The ability of drug war functionaries to invade anyone's privacy was
highlighted in the news this week. Professional drug testers hold
enormous power now, and a trial in Oklahoma is demonstrating how
that power can be abused. The actual work-life of a professional
drug tester was explored in an article from Kentucky, and it doesn't
sound like fun. And the boundaries of drug testing in schools are
being pushed by a school district that plans to test students for
tobacco use. | ||||||||||||||||
Last week, DrugSense Weekly featured stories about how | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) TRIAL DECISION DELAYED ON DRUG TEST CHARGES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
An Oklahoma County judge delayed a decision Friday on whether two
people will go to trial on racketeering charges of preparing fake
exhibits for drug court. Special Judge Carol Hubbard said she will
decide Tuesday if there is enough evidence against Joe Clay Bouldin,
48, of Oklahoma City, and Joy Lynn Lippe, 32, of Yukon. | ||||||||||||||||
Bouldin, director of Bulldog Laboratory, is accused in the
racketeering charge of falsifying 25 urine analysis reports used as
court exhibits between May 12, 2000, and Oct. 18, 2001. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Assistant District Attorney Stephen Alcorn said, "Bulldog Laboratory systematically used its position in drug testing to subvert the judicial process both in drug court and in child custody hearings. | ||||||||||||||||
"They used the leverage they had over these individuals for their
own gain, both financial gain and sexual gain, and for procurement
of drugs. What is very disturbing about this case, this isn't just a
case that affects the drug court system," Alcorn said. | ||||||||||||||||
"Bulldog labs also did pre-employment screening for transportation companies, nursing homes, nursing services, temporary employment agencies. All of those tests are played into question, but we are focusing into drug court because these are things we can prove that was falsely presented to the court to make their decision on." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(6) TEST OF DIGNITY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
And you think your job has drawbacks. | ||||||||||||||||
Imagine if your work required you to go into bathroom stalls with
total strangers and watch them urinate into a cup. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
When a drug test is administered on behalf of the NCAA -- or when a
university asks that its own drug testing be conducted according to
NCAA-approved procedures -- this is what is required: | ||||||||||||||||
The athlete is compelled to enter a secured bathroom facility. | ||||||||||||||||
In full view of an observer of the same sex as the athlete, they are
required to lower their pants to the mid-thigh level. | ||||||||||||||||
To raise their shirts to mid-stomach. | ||||||||||||||||
Then execute a full 360-degree turn so the observer can be certain
that they have not smuggled in any substance that would compromise
the drug test. | ||||||||||||||||
Finally, the athlete is required to, well, do their business in a
position that provides the observer an unobstructed view of urine
entering cup. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(7) STUDENTS TESTED FOR TOBACCO USE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. (AP) - Breath mints won't cut it anymore for
students who have been smoking in the bathroom - some schools around
the country are administering urine tests to teenagers to find out
whether they have been using tobacco. | ||||||||||||||||
Opponents say such testing violates students' rights and can keep
them out of the extracurricular activities they need to stay on
track. But some advocates say smoking in the boys' room is a ticket
to more serious drug use. | ||||||||||||||||
"Some addicted drug users look back to cigarettes as the start of it
all," said Jeff McAlpin, director of marketing for EDPM, a
Birmingham drug-testing company. | ||||||||||||||||
Short of catching them in the act, school officials previously had
no way of proving students had been smoking. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(8) METH LAB FIRES SPUR CHANGE IN ARSON LAW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
In March 2001, Del City firefighters responded to a house engulfed in flames. Investigators later found that the fire that destroyed the house started while the man was cooking methamphetamine, Del City Fire Marshal Jim Hock said. Although the man was engaged in illegal activity, his insurance company paid to rebuild the house. | ||||||||||||||||
"I couldn't show intent," he said. "It wasn't arson." | ||||||||||||||||
After the department responded to two more meth fires that month,
Hock and the fire chief approached Rep. Kevin Calvey, R-Del City,
for help. The result was a law change in November. | ||||||||||||||||
Now, more prosecutors have begun to use the law in filing
first-degree arson charges against people starting fires while
cooking methamphetamine. That has meant longer jail times for drug
offenders and prevented them from making accident claims on their
insurance. | ||||||||||||||||
The law was used in September when Garfield County Assistant
District Attorney Mike Fields filed first-degree arson charges
against Joe Lee Campbell Jr., 34. | ||||||||||||||||
Under the Truth in Sentencing Law, those convicted of violent crimes
like first-degree arson must serve at least 85 percent of their
sentence. That isn't the case with other drug-related charges,
Fields said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) METH MATERIALS FOUND IN PIT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
HOCKERVILLE, Okla. -- Two federal agencies balked Thursday at cleaning
up debris from an estimated 200 methamphetamine-making operations
dumped in a mine sinkhole over the past two years. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The officers then found the sinkhole, about 25 feet across and more
than 30 feet deep, which was nearly full of equipment and chemicals
used to manufacture meth. | ||||||||||||||||
"Some of it was pretty rusty, and some was bright and shiny new, so
this has been an ongoing dump site for what I would estimate was at
least two years," Green said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Nancy Jones, with the EPA's Region Six office in Dallas, said in a
telephone interview Thursday that the agency "is not funded for
drug-related cleanup. The DEA is funded for that." | ||||||||||||||||
Local officers said Thursday that Gary Young of the DEA's Tulsa
office, who arrived to look at the site, told them his agency could
do only a partial cleanup. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (10-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A mixed bag of police news this week. It's not OK for police to pinch the cheeks of a drug suspect in an attempt to get drugs out of the suspect's mouth. That court ruling in New York angered police. | ||||||||||||||||
A few more details were released in the deadly police raid of a farmhouse in Preble County, Ohio. Police were at the site because an informant said marijuana was being sold out of the farmhouse. | ||||||||||||||||
A district attorney in Alabama wants to track down physicians who prescribe drugs in fatal overdoses. And in Kentucky, an independent review of a police corruption case showed that superiors in the department should have been aware of signs of corruption. | ||||||||||||||||
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(10) COPS GAG ON SEARCH RULING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
You have the right to remain silent - even with a mouth full of
marijuana, a city judge claims in a landmark ruling that has
outraged police. | ||||||||||||||||
Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Gerald Harris said a cop went too far
when he pinched the cheeks of a drug suspect and four bags of pot
fell out. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The judge's ruling, published yesterday in the New York Law Journal,
was immediately blasted by police groups. | ||||||||||||||||
"I'm flabbergasted," said John Flynn, Manhattan trustee for the
Patrolmen's Benevolent Association. "These kinds of decisions
continue to handcuff police, and if this keeps up, no one will be
safe, except for drug dealers." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(11) TIP LED TO DEADLY RAID IN PREBLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
LEWISBURG -- A tip from an informant about marijuana trafficking led
Preble County authorities to send the sheriff's emergency services
unit on a surprise drug raid to a rural farmhouse on Sept. 27,
Sheriff Tom Hayes said Friday. | ||||||||||||||||
The specially trained police squad rarely is assigned to serve a
search warrant, Hayes said. But last week, Preble County sheriff's
commanders had learned that more than a dozen men might be at the
home, so they sent the emergency services unit. The unit's 15
members are equipped to handle drownings, water rescues, and hostage
and other high-risk situations. | ||||||||||||||||
Minutes after the officers forced their way into Clayton J.
Helriggle's rented farmhouse at 1282 Ohio 503 outside West
Alexandria, a Lewisburg police sergeant assigned to the group shot
and killed the 23-year-old man. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(12) DISTRICT ATTORNEY, INVESTIGATIONS TAKE NEW TRACK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
BAY MINETTE -- The next front in the war on prescription drug abuse
may be doctors' offices, but Baldwin County District Attorney David
Whetstone said state law makes it nearly impossible to prosecute
physicians acting in their official capacities. | ||||||||||||||||
Whetstone has set up a team of investigators to examine a rising
wave of deaths attributed to prescription drug overdoses.
Previously, after ruling out foul play, investigators labeled such
deaths accidents and then moved on. | ||||||||||||||||
"It didn't really extend back to, 'Could this have been a person who
was prescribed drugs inappropriately?'" said Lt. Huey "Hoss" Mack
Jr., the chief investigator of the Baldwin County Sheriff's
Department. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"If we have an unusually high number, then we have a problem with rogue health professionals," he said. "We know where it comes from because these kids sell it on the streets and we trace it back." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(13) REPORT - DRUG UNIT MISSED DANGER SIGNS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Outside Study Looks At Case Of Indicted Ex-Officers | ||||||||||||||||
Metro Narcotics supervisors missed or ignored warning signs that
might have more quickly revealed allegations that detectives Mark
Watson and Christie Richardson were fabricating informants and
search warrants, according to the draft report of an outside review
of the drug unit. | ||||||||||||||||
The Washington-based Police Executive Research Forum says in its
49-page report, for example, that Watson and Richardson, who have
resigned from the department, recorded so many cases that there
might not have been ''enough hours in the day'' to do what they
claimed to have accomplished. | ||||||||||||||||
The review team said it found a ''systemic failure'' in which
supervisors focused so much on the detectives' extraordinary number
of searches and arrests that they were ''immune from normal
restrictions.'' The review team also says in its report -- a copy of
which was obtained by The Courier-Journal -- that it was
''exceptionally notable'' that Metro Narcotics did not include
successful prosecution of cases as a critical part of job
performance and had no means to check whether cases were dismissed
because officers failed to appear in court. | ||||||||||||||||
Jefferson County Police Chief William Carcara ordered the $60,000
review after Watson and Richardson, county detectives who were
partners in Metro Narcotics, were indicted in March on more than 450
counts of theft, burglary and perjury. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (14-18) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Since the Bush administration appears determined to re-introduce gunboat diplomacy in its foreign policy, it has decided to practice similar strong-arm tactics closer to home. This week DEA chief Asa Hutchinson warned California State Attorney General Bill Lockyer that the federal government plans to continue raiding California compassion clubs, irregardless of state law or official opposition. Not to be outdone, federal Drug Czar John Walters and representative Mark Souder both issued warnings to the Canadian government, urging the Chretien government not to walk down the liberalization road, for fear of U.S. reprisals in trade and at border crossings. | ||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile, the U.K. has demonstrated an American-style hypocrisy
this week in regards to its own approach to medical marijuana. Colin
Davies, operator or Britain's first Dutch-style cannabis cafe, was
sentenced to three years in prison for supplying customers that he
claims had a medical need for the drug. Meanwhile, an excellent
article by the BBC news service details successful British medicinal
cannabis trials that may see whole-plant, cannabis-based medicines
become available by prescription within two years time. These two
articles suggest that in the U.K. this may be more of an issue of
monopoly of supply, then whether or not cannabis is actually a safe
or effective medicine. | ||||||||||||||||
And finally, from New Zealand, the story of embattled Green MP Nandor Tanczos, who is currently being investigated by Wellington Police for admitting to the use of cannabis for religious purposes once a month. Local cannabis activists have threatened to turn themselves in to police if charges are brought against the Rastafari MP, who is being attacked by New Zealand First MPs as presenting a poor role model for youth. DSW urges Nandor to stand by his beliefs; defending unscientific, hypocritical laws is a far worse example for New Zealand's young than anything Tanczos could put in his chillum. | ||||||||||||||||
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(14) DEA CHIEF TELLS CALIFORNIA TO EXPECT MORE POT RAIDS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Federal drug agents will continue to raid marijuana plots, medicinal
and otherwise, the agency's director said in a letter to state
Attorney General Bill Lockyer. | ||||||||||||||||
"As long as marijuana remains a Schedule I controlled substance,
(the Drug Enforcement Administration) will continue its enforcement
efforts targeting groups and individuals involved in its
distribution," agency head Asa Hutchinson wrote in a Sept. 30
letter. | ||||||||||||||||
Hutchinson's letter, obtained by the Sentinel, was in response to a
Sept. 6 letter from Lockyer in which he criticizes a DEA raid on the
Davenport garden of the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, an
area medical marijuana cooperative. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(15) U.S. WARNS CANADA AGAINST LIBERALIZING LAWS ON POT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A move toward possibly decriminalizing marijuana brought warnings
yesterday from U.S. officials and lawmakers, who cautioned that
Canada should not succumb to "myths" and warned of new disruptions
to border trade. | ||||||||||||||||
The Bush administration's drug czar, John Walters, said | ||||||||||||||||
While Mr. Walters said that he respects Canada's right to set its
own policy, the chairman of a congressional drug-policy committee
said he believes decriminalization would prompt U.S. lawmakers to
tighten border controls, disrupting Canada-U.S. trade. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(16) UK CANNABIS CAFE RAIDED AS OWNER JAILED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The UK's first Amsterdam-style cannabis cafe has been raided on the
same day its owner was jailed. | ||||||||||||||||
The news came just hours after cafe owner Colin Davies was sentenced to three years in prison after being convicted of drugs offences. | ||||||||||||||||
Greater Manchester Police confirmed on Thursday the Dutch Experience
cafe in Stockport had been raided by officers. | ||||||||||||||||
Davies had claimed the cafe was set up for seriously ill people who
used the class B drug for medicinal use. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(17) MEDICINAL CANNABIS MAY BE AVAILABLE IN UK WITHIN TWO YEARS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Pharmaceutical Companies Invest Millions To Develop New Painkillers As Medical Research Council Tests Enter Their Final Phase | ||||||||||||||||
The world's oldest euphoric drug is poised to make a return to the medicine cabinet. Cannabis, reputedly taken by Queen Victoria to quell her period pains but banished from Britain's schedule of medicinal drugs in 1971, is on the point of winning scientific backing for its role in easing the symptoms of chronic disease. | ||||||||||||||||
This week the Medical Research Council is due to announce that it
has recruited the last of 660 patients to a UKP1.2m trial of
cannabis-based medicines in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, the
largest in the world. Most of the patients recruited over the past
two years have already completed the 15-week trial, in 30 centres
round the UK. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(18) N-Z ACTIVISTS VOW TO SUPPORT TANCZOS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Cannabis activists are threatening to overwhelm police by turning
themselves in en masse if police act on an NZ First MP's criminal
complaint against Green MP Nandor Tanczos. | ||||||||||||||||
Mr Tanczos was defiant last night, saying he would continue to use
the drug in the face of a police complaint about his cannabis use
from NZ First MP Craig McNair. | ||||||||||||||||
"My faith is more important than Parliament," he said. | ||||||||||||||||
Mr McNair, 27, a former youth camp leader, said he had never tried
cannabis nor even been offered it, and was outraged at Mr Tanczos's
open use of it as part of his Rastafarian religion. | ||||||||||||||||
Mr Tanczos retorted that he used cannabis "a lot less frequently than many members of NZ First take a glass of whisky", a reminder of his famous accusation that MPs were "drunk in charge of a country". | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (19-23) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
In Colombia, the US-funded operation to pay farmers to destroy coca is
apparently failing. Citing anonymous US official sources, the
Washington Times last week revealed (predictably) that little of the
promised aid actually reached farmers, and that the majority of the
targeted areas are still copious coca producers. | ||||||||||||||||
After an 18 month hiatus of not shooting down anything that moves in the air over Colombia, U.S. and Colombian officials announced the official resumption of the shoot-down policy. The intent is that perhaps some of the aircraft summarily shot down might contain cocaine. The policy was halted when it became known that a US missionary and her child were "accidentally" machine-gunned to death by U.S. and Peruvian forces over the Amazon in April of 2001. | ||||||||||||||||
Last week we also find out Bolivia -- touted by drug warriors as a
shining example of coca eradication inspired by U.S. intervention and
force -- has increased the land under coca production by 23 percent.
The Bolivian government duly proclaimed they were concerned over this
"alarming" development. | ||||||||||||||||
In the UK, survey results released last week show that cocaine use in young adults is rising. About 5 percent of those aged 16 to 29 used cocaine in 2000 in the UK. The next highest was Spain, where only about half as many similarly aged young adults had used the drug. | ||||||||||||||||
Perhaps young officers in the UK's military service needn't worry too much over a positive test result for taking cocaine (or any other drug). An investigative report revealed that, while 3,400 lower-ranked (enlisted) personnel were caught "abusing drugs" since testing had been introduced, only three officers had ever tested positive. Some speculate officers have been systematically tipped off to the tests. | ||||||||||||||||
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(19) U.S. ALTERNATIVE FOR COCA FARMERS IS A FAILURE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
BOGOTA, Colombia - A U.S.-funded aid program under which farmers
were to have destroyed their own cocaine-producing crops has fallen
far short of its goals, U.S. officials said. | ||||||||||||||||
The bleak assessment of the results of the initiative to provide
coca farmers with an alternative to growing drug crops comes as the
United States and the Colombian government embark on an all-out
effort to eradicate coca crops in the southern region. | ||||||||||||||||
Tens of thousands of peasant farmers in Putumayo state were to have received development aid under the $1.3 billion Plan Colombia, an initiative of the Clinton administration that was approved by Congress and is still active under the Bush administration. | ||||||||||||||||
But only about half the families in Colombia's cocaine heartland
ever received the aid, a U.S. official said Thursday at a briefing
with journalists. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Many coca farmers in Putumayo said they doubted the government
really planned to deliver aid and they would destroy their coca
plants only when it arrived. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(20) U.S., BOGOTA TO RESUME AERIAL DRUG INTERDICTION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
BOGOTA, Colombia, Oct. 2 -- Eighteen months after an American missionary
plane was mistakenly shot down, the United States plans to resume a
campaign to help Colombia track and force down drug flights, officials
from both countries said today. | ||||||||||||||||
The program was suspended in April 2001 in Colombia and Peru after a
Peruvian warplane shot down the missionary flight over the Amazon,
killing an American and her infant daughter. | ||||||||||||||||
Colombian warplanes will intercept drug flights based on intelligence
from the United States, Gen. Hector Velasco, the air force commander,
said today. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(21) BOLIVIA CONCERNED ABOUT SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN COCA CULTIVATION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
LA PAZ - The Bolivian government is concerned about a U.S. report
indicating that coca cultivation has increased 23 percent over the past
year and is twice the amount allowed by law. | ||||||||||||||||
Presidential spokesman Mauricio Antezana called the situation alarming,
adding that the executive branch was studying the report released by the
U.S. Embassy in La Paz. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The study, based on data from satellite images collected between May and June in Bolivia's coca-producing region, determined that 24,400 hectares (60,247 acres ) of coca are currently under cultivation. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(22) COCAINE USE RISING FAST AMONG YOUNG BRITONS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Cocaine use among young adults is almost twice as high in Britain as
in most other European countries and is rising fast, a drug survey
revealed yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The document shows that 5 per cent of Britons aged between 16 and 29
used cocaine in 2000. Of 10 other nations where similar data was
available, the next highest was Spain, where 2.7 per cent of people
aged 15 to 34 used the drug in 1999. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(23) MILITARY ON SPOT OVER DRUG TESTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
AN INVESTIGATION has been demanded into why only three officers have
ever been caught by drug tests in the military compared with
thousands of junior ranks. | ||||||||||||||||
Amid persistent rumours that officers are being tipped off about
'random' drug tests, Paul Keetch, the Liberal Democrat's defence
spokesman, has written to the Ministry of Defence asking for an
explanation. | ||||||||||||||||
Some 3,400 junior ranks have been caught abusing drugs since the
introduction of compulsory testing. The failure rate runs at about
one in 130 every year. But for officers the ratio of positive drugs
tests is just one in 4,700. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
DRUG CZAR JOHN WALTERS AND LAW PROFESSOR ALAN YOUNG | ||||||||||||||||
Walters warned Canadians not to fall for well-funded, highly
organized legalization cabal myths. Young urged Canadians not
to be bullied by the likes of Walters. | ||||||||||||||||
Running Time: 15 min | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
CHILDREN OF SUBSTANCE | ||||||||||||||||
An online drug information, publication organization and support
group for parents (family members and loved ones) whose children
are in the midst of drug addiction and for parents who have
suffered the loss of their precious child to a drug related
death. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
10-YEAR SENTENCE IN MEDICAL POT CASE | ||||||||||||||||
Bryan James Epis, the first person associated with a California
medical marijuana dispensary to be tried in federal court for
growing pot, was sentenced Monday in Sacramento to a mandatory
10 years in prison. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
PAIR SEEN AS MARTYRS IN EFFORT TO LEGALIZE POT | ||||||||||||||||
Four of the Schilling children showed up for their parents' funeral
wearing T-shirts bearing messages such as, "Dare to know the truth
about marijuana." | ||||||||||||||||
To them, Dennis and Denise Schilling are martyrs to the cause of
legalizing the use of marijuana, particularly for medicinal
purposes. Their parents, they say, were driven to hang themselves
in a Madison motel last month under the threat of prison and
forfeiture of their Big Bend home. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
THE SSDP NATIONAL CONFERENCE UPDATE | ||||||||||||||||
This is going to be our biggest event of the year and one of the
largest, most important gatherings of drug law reform activists this
country has ever seen. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
NEW CHALLENGE TO SCHEDULING OF CANNABIS | ||||||||||||||||
Learn about the formation of a national Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis and the imminent filing on an extensive legal and scientific challenge to the Drug Enforcement Administration's prohibition of medical cannabis use in the United States. | ||||||||||||||||
The petition and related materials are on-line at: | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
HE 'DIDN'T DESERVE DEATH PENALTY' | ||||||||||||||||
By Krissy Oechslin | ||||||||||||||||
Dear editor: | ||||||||||||||||
The recent shooting death of Clayton Helriggle (in Preble County) by
a police SWAT team is only the latest tragic example of a drug war
gone horribly awry. | ||||||||||||||||
In April 2001, American missionary Roni Bowers and her 1-year-old
baby, Charity, were killed when their plane was shot down in a
U.S.-funded drug interdiction operation in Peru. Bowers' flight was
mistakenly thought to be smuggling drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
Eighteen-year-old Esequiel Hernandez was shot in the back by U.S. Marines looking for marijuana smugglers on the Texas-Mexico border. Hernandez, who had no criminal record and was not a drug suspect, was herding goats 100 yards from his home when he was killed. | ||||||||||||||||
And on the morning of Sept. 5, armed DEA agents raided the home of
medical marijuana patients and caregivers in Santa Cruz, Calif.
Agents pointed rifles to the head of Suzanne Pfeil, ordering her to
put her hands up and get out of bed. Pfeil was handcuffed to the bed
when she couldn't get up: she is disabled and can stand only with
the use of crutches. | ||||||||||||||||
Clayton Helriggle didn't deserve the death penalty, but that's what
he got,= without even the benefit of a trial. | ||||||||||||||||
Our failed drug laws have made terrorists out of those who were
supposed to protect us. | ||||||||||||||||
Krissy Oechslin, | ||||||||||||||||
Marijuana Policy Project, www.mpp.org/TargetAmerica | ||||||||||||||||
Washington, D.C. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
My Top Ten DrugSense Statistics | ||||||||||||||||
By Stephen Young | ||||||||||||||||
The DrugSense staff has been struggling with a couple issues
recently. The main issue is funding. | ||||||||||||||||
We are concerned about the stability of our regular sources of
income and hope to secure more funds directly from users of
DrugSense services - see http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm if
you're ready to help without reading any further. | ||||||||||||||||
But we can certainly understand if you want more details. DrugSense provides a number of services on a limited budget. So many services, in fact, it's difficult to describe them all in a concise manner. | ||||||||||||||||
This is the other issue with which we've struggled: How do you
communicate all the important things this organization does and its
financial situation without overwhelming the typical DrugSense user
in an avalanche of details? | ||||||||||||||||
So here is an attempt to tell the story with ten numbers culled from dozens of other statistics we have explored during our struggle. | ||||||||||||||||
1) 90,678 - That's the number of news articles about drugs and drug
policy archived by the Media Awareness Project of DrugSense - see
www.mapinc.org/drugnews | ||||||||||||||||
2) 11,048 - The number of published letters archived by MAP from
1996 to the present. Those are all letters that have helped spread
the reform message to media consumers around the world - see
http://www.mapinc.org/lte/ | ||||||||||||||||
3) $11,036,952 - Estimated ad value of those published letters -
roughly what it would have cost to buy advertising space equal to
the amount of space taken by the published letters - see
http://www.mapinc.org/lte/value.htm | ||||||||||||||||
4) At least 86 - Minimum number of drug policy reform organizations
that have received Web and technical support from DrugSense (we've
helped so many groups we can barely keep track!) - see | ||||||||||||||||
5) 271 - Issues of DrugSense Weekly published over the years - see
http://www.drugsense.org/nl/2002/ | ||||||||||||||||
6) Uncounted thousands - Volunteers who have been moved by MAP and who have helped our success by serving as news editors, letter writers and newshawks -see http://www.mapinc.org/how2.htm | ||||||||||||||||
7) 750 - People have ever given financial support to DrugSense -
see http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm | ||||||||||||||||
8) 1.4 million - Individuals who visit the MAP web site per year. See http://www.drugsense.org/statistics/analog/mapinc/jun01jun02/ | ||||||||||||||||
9) 1,399,250 - Discrepancy between the number of people who use
MAP's website in a year and those who have ever given to
DrugSense/MAP. | ||||||||||||||||
10) $210,000 - The annual DrugSense budget. | ||||||||||||||||
By looking at these selected numbers, readers should be able to
sense the value of the services we offer far outweigh our
expenditures. However, some of our already stretched funding is in
jeopardy. There could be one simple solution. In order for us to be
almost completely user-supported, we simply need donations of
fifteen cents per year from every MAP website visitor. | ||||||||||||||||
OK, perhaps, it's unrealistic to expect this to happen. So we urge
whoever can afford more than a 15 pennies to give what they can to
cover the slackers. Donations of $100 or more entitle the giver to
some exceptional premiums, including signed, inscribed copies of
"Maximizing Harm," my favorite book about the drug war. (Disclosure:
I wrote it.) | ||||||||||||||||
Seriously, if you've contributed to or volunteered with DrugSense or
MAP in the past, we greatly appreciate it, and we hope we can count
on your continued support. If you haven't, we hope you can come
through with a contribution now - see | ||||||||||||||||
Whatever numbers you choose to look at, DrugSense and MAP offer a
remarkable value. Please help us to continue providing these
priceless services. | ||||||||||||||||
Stephen Young is an editor with DrugSense and a shameless self-promoter. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"I'm never going to get my son back, but if I could shut down these
SWAT teams in the name of my son, I know that would be something
he'd appreciate. This could have been anybody's kid.'' | ||||||||||||||||
Michael Helriggle, whose son was killed in a drug raid last week in
Ohio. See http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1884/a01.html for more
information. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
DS Weekly is one of the many free educational services DrugSense
offers our members. Watch this feature to learn more about what
DrugSense can do for you. | ||||||||||||||||
TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS: | ||||||||||||||||
Please utilize the following URLs | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Policy and Law Enforcement/Prison content selection and analysis by Stephen Young (), Cannabis/Hemp content selection and analysis by Philippe Lucas (), International content selection and analysis by Doug Snead (), Layout by Matt Elrod () | ||||||||||||||||
We wish to thank all our contributors, editors, NewsHawks and letter writing activists. Please help us help reform. Become a NewsHawk See http://www.mapinc.org/hawk.htm for info on contributing clippings. | ||||||||||||||||
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In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving the included information for research and
educational purposes. | ||||||||||||||||
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MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO DRUGSENSE ON-LINE | ||||||||||||||||
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