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DrugSense Weekly
Feb. 14, 2003 #288

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Table of Contents

* Breaking News (03/29/24)


* This Just In


(1) US VA: 2002 Homicide Rate Attributed To Drugs
(2) Rioting In Bolivia Kills 20; President Under Pressure
(3) US CA: Medical Pot Activists Plan Week Of Events
(4) CN MB: Doc Issues Pamphlet On Safe Ecstasy Use

* Weekly News in Review


Drug Policy-

COMMENT: (5-10)
(5) U.S. to Extend Drug Treatment, Target Traffickers
(6) Funds To Fight Drugs Go Unused
(7) Religious Indoctrination Dressed Up As Social Welfare
(8) Judge Rejects D.C. Plan To Treat Drug Offenders
(9) Methadone Vaults Into Role As Killer Drug
(10) Doctors To Pay Tab For New Drug Fight

Law Enforcement & Prisons-

COMMENT: (11-14)
(11) Girl Shot At DEA Stakeout Is Dead
(12) Retiree's Life Turned Upside-Down
(13) Man Files Lawsuit, Says Public Strip-Search Violated Rights
(14) Editorial: Kingsville Allegations Require Federal Probe

Cannabis & Hemp-

COMMENT: (15-20)
(15) Jurors Who Convicted Marijuana Grower Seek New Trial
(16) San Diego City Council OKs Possession Of Pound Of Medical Marijuana
(17) Doctors Without Orders
(18) Pass The Dutchie, Don't Sell It, Judge Tells Kids
(19) Rastafarians Wanted Some Respect For Their Religious Beliefs
(20) Feds Appeal Pot Ruling

International News-

COMMENT: (21-26)
(21) Last Chance For Drug Offenders
(22) Wage War On Drugs By The Rules
(23) Death Toll In Thailand's War On Drugs Passes 140 In First Nine Days
(24) Tests Find 13 Officials To Be Users
(25) Mixed Reactions To Capital Punishment
(26) Drug Addicts To Be Rounded Up Nationwide

* Hot Off The 'Net


     Will the Rosenthal Case Destroy Federal Medical Marijuana Enforcement?
     Views From The Other Side Of The War On Drugs
     Marc Emery Birthday Bash
     Survey: Many Teens Don't See Risk In Trying Ecstasy
     White House Anti-Drug Ads Foster "Pro-Drug" Beliefs In Teens

* Letter Of The Week


    Support Medical Marijuana Act / By Bryan Epis

* Feature Article


    Fuzzy Math in New ONDCP Report / By Drug Policy Alliance

* Quote of the Week


    Ogden Nash


THIS JUST IN    (Top)

(1) US VA: 2002 HOMICIDE RATE ATTRIBUTED TO DRUGS    (Top)

More than a third came at year's end

The average homicide victim in Richmond last year was a 30-year-old black man shot during a drug dispute, according to city police statistics.

More than 60 percent of the city's homicides last year were drug-related, with crack cocaine being the No.  1 drug involved and heroin running a close second.

Most of the killings - 79 of 84 - were committed with a firearm.

Most of the victims - 74 of 84 - were male.

And most of them - 69 of 84 - were black.

"Anyone who says drugs don't kill just needs to take a look at the numbers," Richmond Police Chief Andre Parker said Monday during a news conference announcing a recent drug sweep.

Last August, Richmond police teamed with local offices of the Drug Enforcement Agency and the U.S.  Attorney's office to target open-air drug dealers.

Since the law-enforcement groups started cracking down on drug operations, the number of homicides has risen.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 13 Feb 2003
Source:   Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA)
Copyright:   2003 Richmond Newspapers Inc.
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.timesdispatch.com/
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/365
Author:   Paige Akin
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03.n240.a07.html


(2) RIOTING IN BOLIVIA KILLS 20; PRESIDENT UNDER PRESSURE    (Top)

LA PAZ, Bolivia - Tanks formed an iron curtain in front of Bolivia's presidential palace Thursday as a second day of violent protests swept the Andean nation and calls grew for President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada to resign.

The death toll climbed to at least 20 on Thursday as scattered violence and looting continued across the country.  A clash between police and soldiers, who have feuded for decades, sparked the clash, which was joined by citizens angry over an unpopular income tax.

Thursday, authorities met union-led anti-government demonstrations in the capital city of La Paz with bullets and tear gas.  Bolivian media reports said at least two looters were shot to death and 12 others were injured, some gravely.

Sanchez de Lozada, 72, known by his nickname, Goni, said through his Cabinet chief that he would not resign.

Unions, indigenous groups and political opponents Thursday launched what they promised would be nationwide highway blockages and other protests aimed at toppling the pro-U.S.  government that took office in August.

Leading the opposition effort is Evo Morales, who came close to winning the presidency last year and whose Movement to Socialism Party now controls about a third of Bolivia's Congress.

Morales champions poor, mostly indigenous farmers who grow coca, the plant from which cocaine is made.  In a heated address to demonstrators in La Paz's Plaza de San Francisco on Thursday, Morales called for civil unrest.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 14 Feb 2003
Source:   San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright:   2003 San Jose Mercury News
Website:   http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Author:   Luis Bolivar and Kevin G.  Hall, Knight Ridder
Note:   Luis Bolivar and Kevin G.  Hall
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03.n244.a11.html


(3) US CA: MEDICAL POT ACTIVISTS PLAN WEEK OF EVENTS    (Top)

Picnic Set For Golden Gate Park; Also Protests At Federal Buildings

Bay Area activists are planning events throughout the next week to raise awareness and support for medicinal use of marijuana.

The week begins with a picnic and planting event at noon Saturday outside the Conservatory in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Organizers will place the first of 215,000 marijuana seedlings they hope to plant in honor of Proposition 215, a 1996 state ballot measure that legalized the use of medical marijuana.

Participants are encouraged to wear gardening clothes and bring shovels and rakes.

At 4 p.m.  Saturday, activists will erect a marijuana leaf banner atop San Francisco's Twin Peaks.  At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, the Compassion and Care Center will host a party and short film presentation at 122 10th St., San Francisco.

[snip]

For more information, call Americans for Safe Access at (510) 486-8083 or go to www.safeaccessnow.org

Pubdate:   Thu, 13 Feb 2003
Source:   Oakland Tribune, The (CA)
Copyright:   2003 MediaNews Group, Inc.  and ANG Newspapers
Website:   http://www.oaklandtribune.com/
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/314
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03.n242.a09.html


(4) CN MB: DOC ISSUES PAMPHLET ON SAFE ECSTASY USE    (Top)

Drug Unit Cop Fears False Sense Of Security

After ecstasy took another young victim last weekend, a Winnipeg doctor says he is willing to risk controversy to save lives.

"As a professional, it's important to put the right information out there," said Dr.  Gary Podolsky, owner of Skylark Medical Clinic at 264 Tache Ave.  "This is preventive medicine."

[snip]

Podolsky, specializing in sports and travel medicine, said he knows the pamphlet might be viewed as an ecstasy "how-to."

"Bottom line, drugs are bad for everyone.  I would like people to access the proper care sooner rather than later.  People can say whatever they want."

Det.-Sgt.  Mark Pruden, Drug Unit, said there is nothing illegal about what Podolsky is doing, although it might raise some eyebrows.

"If the medical community want to put something out like this, that's their issue," he said.  "It's definitely going to cause controversy because here's a doctor talking about it honestly."

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 13 Feb 2003
Source:   Winnipeg Sun (CN MB)
Copyright:   2003 Canoe Limited Partnership
Website:   http://www.fyiwinnipeg.com/winsun.shtml
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/503
Author:   Natalie Pona
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03.n242.a01.html


WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW    (Top)

Domestic News- Policy


COMMENT: (5-10)    (Top)

Is there a fresh wind blowing in the federal drug war? Reading coverage of the new "strategy report" from the Office of National Drug Control Policy might make one think so.  ONDCP officials are boasting smaller budgets with more resources devoted to treatment. However, an analysis by the Drug Policy Alliance, included below as the feature article of DrugSense Weekly,= indicates the changes have more to do with creative accounting than anything else.

The hyping of increased funds for treatment doesn't jibe with actual resource allocation by the Justice Department.  A report from the Washington Times shows that only a fraction of federal money devoted to treatment was actually spent last year.

In other treatment news, more critics are casting a skeptical eye at the Bush administration's push for faith-based treatment.  Also, residents of Washington, D.C.  who voted for more treatment for drug offenders won't be getting it, thanks to a judge's decision.  And, methadone, long used to keep addicts of heroin, is being treated as another demon drug by the popular press.

Finally, as the feds crack down on prescription abuse, they to pay for such a crack-down.  It looks like funds will come from taxing doctors, pharmacies and pharmacists, who will certainly pass the costs onto consumers.


(5) U.S. TO EXTEND DRUG TREATMENT, TARGET TRAFFICKERS    (Top)

WASHINGTON - The United States unveiled plans on Wednesday to extend its "war on drugs" through education campaigns, improved treatment access and disruptions of overseas drug markets.

The Office for National Drug Control Policy, bolstered by new funding, including an extra $600 million for addiction treatment vouchers, said in its 2003 strategy report that youth drug use had begun to decline for the first time in 10 years.

John Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said the funds would help his office meet the White House goal of reducing drug use by 10 percent over two years and 25 percent over five years.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 12 Feb 2003
Source:   Reuters (Wire)
Copyright:   2003 Reuters Limited
Author:   Laura MacInnis
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n238/a14.html


(6) FUNDS TO FIGHT DRUGS GO UNUSED    (Top)

The Justice Department spent less than half of the $336 million it allocated in fiscal 2001 for programs to reduce demand for drugs despite a long-standing department policy intended to break the cycle of illicit drug use and its resulting violence through aggressive reduction in demand, a report said yesterday.

A 103-page report by the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General also said the Drug Enforcement Administration, the nation's front line against illicit narcotics, spent $3 million on demand- reduction programs in fiscal 2001, two-tenths of 1 percent of the agency's $1.4 billion budget.

The report also said the Justice Department's Office of Justice Programs, the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services and the Bureau of Prisons, along with the DEA - a Justice Department agency - spent $163 million on demand-reduction programs in fiscal 2001 - not the $336 million it reported to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP.)

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sat, 08 Feb 2003
Source:   Washington Times (DC)
Copyright:   2003 News World Communications, Inc.
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/492
Author:   Jerry Seper
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n209/a10.html


(7) RELIGIOUS INDOCTRINATION DRESSED UP AS SOCIAL WELFARE    (Top)

This message is to anyone who thinks that the separation of church and state is a vital component of American liberty: Wake up and start hollering.  Our president is conducting a full frontal assault on this vital right, and few beyond a handful of civil liberties groups are paying any mind.

During the State of the Union address, Bush asked Congress to approve $600-million over three years for drug and alcohol treatment.  Noble as this may seem, Bush is turning the effort into a way to divert public dollars to religious groups.

His invited guests for the speech were Tonja Myles of the "Set Free Indeed Program" at Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge, La., and Henry Lozano of Teen Challenge California.  Bush, who wears his religion not only on his sleeve but as a very loud tie, held up the "Set Free Indeed" program as a model, calling its work "amazing." He was telling America that this is the type of program we should be pouring federal dollars into.

But if you look at the program's Web site, you'll see that the services provided are, well, "services." "We believe that recovery begins at the Cross," says the group's mission statement.  "We rely solely on the foundation of the Word of God to break the bands of addiction." So much for professional treatment protocols.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sun, 09 Feb 2003
Source:   St.  Petersburg Times (FL)
Copyright:   2003 St.  Petersburg Times
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/419
Author:   Robyn Blumner
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n224/a07.html


(8) JUDGE REJECTS D.C. PLAN TO TREAT DRUG OFFENDERS    (Top)

An initiative passed by D.C.  voters last fall that would require the city to offer treatment to scores of nonviolent drug offenders cannot take effect because it illegally dictates how the D.C. government must spend its money, a judge ruled yesterday.

The ruling by D.C.  Superior Court Judge Jeanette J. Clark was a victory for the D.C.  government, which filed suit to block the initiative from becoming law.  D.C. officials said the measure would generate huge costs and jeopardize the future of an existing drug court.

Voters overwhelmingly approved Initiative 62, which was meant to give certain nonviolent drug offenders the option of having their criminal cases dismissed by entering drug treatment programs.  The treatment was supposed to take the place of jail and be overseen by the D.C.  Department of Health, not the court.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Tue, 11 Feb 2003
Source:   Washington Post (DC)
Page:   B01
Copyright:   2003 The Washington Post Company
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author:   Arthur Santana, Washington Post Staff Writer
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n235/a08.html


(9) METHADONE VAULTS INTO ROLE AS KILLER DRUG    (Top)

PORTLAND, Maine - Methadone, a drug long valued for treating heroin addiction and for soothing chronic pain, is increasingly being abused by recreational drug users and is causing an alarming increase in overdoses and deaths, federal and state officials say.

In Florida, methadone-related deaths jumped from 209 in 2000 to 357 in 2001 and 254 in just the first six months of 2002, the latest period for which data are available.

"Out of no place came methadone," said James McDonough, director of the Florida Office of Drug Control.  "It now is the fastest rising killer drug."

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sun, 09 Feb 2003
Source:   Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright:   2003 The Seattle Times Company
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author:   Pam Belluck, The New York Times
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n224/a02.html


(10) DOCTORS TO PAY TAB FOR NEW DRUG FIGHT    (Top)

Bush team plans to double licensing fees for physicians, pharmacies and manufacturers to combat the abuse of prescription medicine.

The Bush administration plans to double licensing fees on doctors, pharmacies and drug makers to expand the government's fight against prescription drug abuse, which is growing rapidly across the nation.

Officials said the fee increase will be disclosed in the next few days by the Drug Enforcement Administration, which polices the distribution of prescription drugs.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Tue, 11 Feb 2003
Source:   Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright:   2003 Los Angeles Times
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author:   Ralph Vartabedian
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n231/a05.html


Law Enforcement & Prisons


COMMENT: (11-14)    (Top)

The drug war takes another young life as a 14-year-old girl is shot by DEA agents in Texas.  The DEA and a friend of the victim at the scene tell conflicting stories about what happened.  The repercussions from reckless drug law enforcement is also being played out in Ohio, where a disabled man is about to lose his home because of a faulty drug raid.

In Indiana, a man is suing police who he says strip-searched him in public.= His lawyer said such public searches, including cavity searches, had been performed in public.  And an editorial in the San Antonio Express-News is calling for an investigation of a Texas city.  The former City Manager of Kingsville, Texas accuses a local sheriff of scheming to allow drug dealers to take control of the Kingsville City Council.


(11) GIRL SHOT AT DEA STAKEOUT IS DEAD    (Top)

As Ashley Villarreal lay in the hospital and drew her last breaths Tuesday, a friend challenged the official version of how federal agents days earlier shot the 14-year-old daughter of a drug trafficking suspect.

The eyewitness account came as Ashley's family requested that she be taken off life support.  She died at 6:14 p.m., a hospital spokesman said.

Daniel Robles, a family friend and housemate who was with the teenager during Sunday's stakeout by agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration, offered the conflicting narrative.

The agents were there to get the girl's father, Joey Angel Villarreal, a three-time convicted drug offender who turned himself in and was charged with cocaine trafficking a day after the shooting.

Federal authorities have said an agent opened fire when a darkened car accelerated toward him.

But Robles said that, to him, in the passenger seat, and to the girl behind the wheel, it looked like a darkened car was accelerating toward them.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 12 Feb 2003
Source:   San Antonio Express-News (TX)
Copyright:   2003 San Antonio Express-News
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/384
Author:   Maro Robbins, San Antonio Express-News
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n236/a04.html


(12) RETIREE'S LIFE TURNED UPSIDE-DOWN    (Top)

Samuel Higgins thought he'd have a restful retirement in the home he loves.  He'd worked for more than 28 years on General Motors assembly lines, often double shifts, in Norwood and Indianapolis.  But at 62, instead of rest, mostly Higgins is getting stress.

In 1999 police raided his home, a condominium in Mt.  Auburn, looking for drugs and for his son.  Three years later, he's still fighting in court to get reimbursed.

[snip]

In November 1999, police acted on what they thought was a reliable tip.  A confidential informant said one of Higgins' sons was in on a major cocaine purchase and had stowed the drugs and money at his father's place.

The police got a warrant and bashed in the front, side and rear doors.

They emptied all of Higgins' closets, punched a large hole in the ceiling, and up-ended the flowers and plants, caking dirt into the wall-to-wall carpet.

A videotape taken by Higgins' brother shows speakers and vents ripped from walls, a large rattan chair broken in half, personal papers and photos covering the floor so densely you can't see the rug.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sun, 09 Feb 2003
Source:   Cincinnati Enquirer (OH)
Copyright:   2003 The Cincinnati Enquirer
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/86
Author:   Denise Smith Amos
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n220/a01.html


(13) MAN FILES LAWSUIT, SAYS PUBLIC STRIP-SEARCH VIOLATED RIGHTS    (Top)

INDIANAPOLIS -- James S.  Campbell says Indianapolis police officers told him he fit the profile of a drug dealer, so they strip-searched him -- in public.

Campbell brought a federal lawsuit against the Indianapolis Police Department on Friday, alleging his constitutional rights were violated during the June incident.  He is seeking damages and wants a judge to bar police from conducting stripand body-cavity searches in public.

Campbell's attorney, Michael Sutherlin, said he believes at least 100 others have been subjected to such public searches in Central Indiana.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sun, 09 Feb 2003
Source:   Courier-Journal, The (KY)
Copyright:   2003 The Courier-Journal
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/97
Author:   Shannon Tan, The Indianapolis Star
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n223/a04.html


(14) EDITORIAL: KINGSVILLE ALLEGATIONS REQUIRE FEDERAL PROBE    (Top)

Serious allegations have been raised about the confluence of drug trafficking and local politics in Kingsville.

These claims, detailed in recent Express-News reports, merit a full-scale investigation by the FBI.

The ongoing saga features an unusual lawsuit filed by now-suspended City Manager Hector Hinojosa.  He charged that drug traffickers engineered a plot to seize control of the City Commission and remove Police Chief Sam Granato.

Hinojosa's federal lawsuit, filed Jan.  13 and dismissed a little more than two weeks later, also alleged that Kleberg County Sheriff Tony Gonzalez was close friends with local drug dealers and wanted Granato out.  Gonalez denied the allegations.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Mon, 10 Feb 2003
Source:   San Antonio Express-News (TX)
Copyright:   2003 San Antonio Express-News
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/384
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n222/a02.html


Cannabis & Hemp-


COMMENT: (15-20)    (Top)

California continues to be ground zero in the power-struggle between federal-state marijuana laws that dominate domestic headlines this week.  In an extremely rare move, several jurors who convicted Ed Rosenthal, publicly denounced the trial and their role in convicting him.

Californians realize that a strong, coordinated effort of all stakeholders,= with 80% public support as polls suggest, is needed to provide the impetus and strength to repel federal zealots who are intent on abolishing individual and state rights.  Prop 215 has become a symbolic and literal battleground and who become the winners and who are the losers in this fight will play a significant role in so many lives.

On that note, another California city council offers tangibility to the concept behind the state medical marijuana program and doctors attempt to band together to stave off persecution.  Also, an important ruling in the Whitaker case could put another serious dent in the feds offensive.

Some international articles sound like they come from a different planet or straight out of a novel, but incredibly in other parts of our very own world such as Italy, teenagers can smoke joints on school trips, as long as they are sharing them rather than selling them, an Italian court has ruled.= In Jamaica, Rastafarians scored a legal victory that may pave the way to more.

The flip side is the not surprising news that the Canadian government is appealing a landmark Superior Court ruling that issued ultimatums to the government to get its medical cannabis program together.


(15) JURORS WHO CONVICTED MARIJUANA GROWER SEEK NEW TRIAL    (Top)

SAN FRANCISCO - In an unusual show of solidarity with the man they convicted last week, five jurors in the trial of a medicinal marijuana advocate issued a public apology to him today and demanded that the judge grant him a new trial.

[snip]

In a striking demonstration of how deep the divide remains between federal and California laws on medicinal uses of marijuana, the jurors were joined by the San Francisco district attorney and two members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

[snip]

Mr.  Rosenthal's lawyers said they had filed a motion to have the indictment against Mr.  Rosenthal dismissed. If that fails, they said, they will file a motion for a new trial.  If that should also fail, the lawyers said, they will appeal the verdict to the United States Court of Appeals.

Pubdate:   Wed, 05 Feb 2003
Source:   New York Times (NY)
Copyright:   2003 The New York Times Company
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author:   Dean E.  Murphy
Related:   http://www.green-aid.com/
Related:   http://www.medicalmj.org/
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/people/Ed+Rosenthal
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n185/a06.html


(16) SAN DIEGO CITY COUNCIL OKS POSSESSION OF POUND OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA    (Top)

SAN DIEGO - The City Council approved scaled-back medical marijuana guidelines Tuesday night that allow sick people with a doctor's recommendation to possess a pound of marijuana.

[snip]

The council also eliminated provisions that would have allowed patients to grow marijuana plants outdoors.  They can still grow a limited number of plants indoors.  [snip]

Critics of San Diego's action said the guidelines would send a mixed message to young people.  But advocates said the issue was strictly about helping sick people.

"Extremists on all sides are trying to co-opt this issue.  This is not about their agenda.  This is about quality of life for the sick and suffering," said Juliana Humphrey, chairwoman of the city's Medical Marijuana Task Force, which drafted the guidelines.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 5 Feb 2003
Source:   North County Times (CA)
Copyright:   2003 North County Times
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/1080
Author:   Seth Hettena, Associated Press
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n187/a01.html


(17) DOCTORS WITHOUT ORDERS    (Top)

So many doctors who recommend cannabis have found themselves under investigation by the Medical Board of California --which can revoke or suspend their licenses-- that Frank Lucido, MD, has called a conference to compare notes and discuss a coordinated response.

The docs will meet in Berkeley on March 8.  One of their chief concerns is that the Medical Board has never issued guidelines according to which they can discuss cannabis with their patients. (Tod Mikuriya, MD, has been requesting and suggesting guidelines since 1996.) Another concern is that almost all the complaints that have triggered Medical Board investigations have come not from patients or their loved ones, but from law enforcement or other third parties.

[snip]

'It should not initiate an investigation simply because some individual, such as a park ranger or a law enforcement officer or even a judicial officer, simply disapproves of the very idea that a patient has a physician's recommendation to use cannabis.'

[snip]

'And how is the Medical Board supposed to determine whether or not a physician might have breached the standard of care?' asked Mead rhetorically.  'Proposition 215 specifically includes a number of serious medical conditions [cancer, anorexia, AIDS, chronic pain, spasticity, glaucoma, arthritis, and migraine.] In addition, it applies to 'any other illness for which marijuana provides relief.' That's very broad, and the Medical Board can ensure that the physician has some support for his or her opinion.  But that support need not come from double blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials.

Most off-label prescription is not supported by such evidence.

[snip]

'The ultimatum was clear,' wrote Judge Drozd in his order; and if the feds were indeed functioning as the hammer for local law enforcers, it would be vindictive prosecution --and grounds for dismissal.  Now the burden is on the U.S. Attorney's Office and their Placer County cronies to prove their innocence.

Pubdate:   Wed, 05 Feb 2003
Source:   Anderson Valley Advertiser (CA)
Copyright:   2003 Anderson Valley Advertiser
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/2667
Author:   Fred Gardner
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/people/Ed+Rosenthal
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n193/a07.html


(18) PASS THE DUTCHIE, DON'T SELL IT, JUDGE TELLS KIDS    (Top)

Italian teenagers can smoke joints on school trips, as long as they are sharing them rather than selling them, an Italian court has ruled.

Francesco, a student from Rome, was caught with enough hashish for 40 joints during a school excursion two years ago when he was 17, and fined =A41,250 ( ?830) for selling it to his classmates.

He appealed saying he had bought the hashish on behalf of a "smoking group"= of friends and simply collected their financial
contributions afterwards.

The court ruled on Thursday that this constituted "group possession", and was therefore not a crime.  The substance "could easily have been consumed during the many days of the trip", the court ruling said.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sat, 08 Feb 2003
Source:   Guardian, The (UK)
Copyright:   2003 Guardian Newspapers Limited
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/175
Author:   Sophie Arie
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n208/a03.html


(19) RASTAFARIANS WANTED SOME RESPECT FOR THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS    (Top)

"They'll give Bob Marley an honourary degree.

"But they wouldn't want a Rastafarian to marry their daughter," said Dilipi Champagnie, an affable Rastafarian priest who won the right yesterday, in a landmark legal case, to minister to prison inmates.

The case dealt with the religious rights of Mr.  Champagnie, who serves at the Church of Haile Selassie in a gritty part of West Kingston, and Kevin Hall, a 26-year-old prison inmate serving a 15-year sentence for a gang-related murder.

[snip]

Marijuana is illegal in Jamaica, but it's widely used here, and Rastafarians use it in religious ceremonies.

[snip]

Shortly before the court was to consider the case, Jamaican authorities agreed to respect the religious rights of Rastafarian priests and prison inmates.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs said the settlement would pave the way for Rastafarians to petition Parliament to grant their churches tax-exempt status and to allow Rastafarians to use marijuana legally as part of their sacraments.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 06 Feb 2003
Source:   Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright:   2003, The Globe and Mail Company
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author:   David Paulin
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n196/a06.html


(20) FEDS APPEAL POT RULING    (Top)

Ottawa is appealing last month's landmark Superior Court ruling that ordered the federal government to fix its medicinal marijuana regulations or provide a legal source and supply to sick people.

[snip]

"Laws which put seriously ill, vulnerable people in a position where they have to deal with the criminal underworld to obtain medicine they have been authorized to take, violates the constitutional right to security of the person," Lederman wrote.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Tue, 11 Feb 2003
Source:   Toronto Sun (CN ON)
Copyright:   2003, Canoe Limited Partnership.
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/457
Author:   Sam Pazzano
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n240/a01.html


International News


COMMENT: (21-26)    (Top)

The bloodletting in Thailand soared to over 140 this week, as government police continue a wholesale slaughter of "dealers" and "addicts" in that country.  Reports indicate police are shooting people indiscriminately under the cover of a national pogrom against drug users.  Police in some regions announce that "drug dealers and addicts" must surrender to police, for conversion and treatment. Other reports say police death squads use lists of suspected addicts as execution lists.  Suspects are shot, drugs are "found," the case is then closed.  Government officials are given a bounty. Suspected addicts not killed in summary street-executions by police are rounded up and taken to camps.  Over 2,200 police checkpoints are set up, according to reports.  On the other hand, Thai officials who are caught face a more lenient treatment.  After some 13 Thai "officials" were caught with positive drug tests, other officials announced that they must quit, or face punishment.

The Indonesian press claims universal support for Indonesian government plans to begin execution of drug offenders.  Officials, experts, and authorities, claimed the Jakarta Post, say that drug offenders (unlike other types of criminals) must die immediately because of the great dangers drugs pose to "youngsters."

Not wanting to feel left out of the government stampede in Thailand and Indonesia, the Iranian government last week announced plans to "round-up addicts who have been released." Speaking through the IRNA news service (a mouthpiece of the Iranian government), the head of Iran's Anti-Narcotics bureau Ali Hashemi announced "a projects" (sic) to "round-up addicts" would be undertaken by police.  In Iran as elsewhere, the "addicts" described are mostly cannabis users.  The IRNA report admitted that of 56 tons of drugs seized last year, 46 tons (about 82%) were of cannabis resin.


(21) LAST CHANCE FOR DRUG OFFENDERS    (Top)

PHUKET TOWN: Police have given drug dealers and addicts
until February 15 to surrender in the face of the
national crackdown on illegal drugs.

The leeway in the campaign was announced by Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, and Phuket Town District Chief Weerawat Janpan, who said the dealers would have a chance to be converted and the addicts would be weaned off their habits.

[snip]

Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi, who is leading the anti-drug drive in Phuket, has also urged addicts and dealers to turn themselves in.

Addicts can contact the Phuket Town District Office, the Governor's office, Phuket Town Police Station, Chalong Police Station, Phuket Public Health Office or their nearest public health center.

Pubdate:   Tue, 11 Feb 2003
Source:   Phuket Gazette (Thailand)
Copyright:   2003 Phuket Gazette Co.  Ltd
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/2769
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n230/a07.html


(22) WAGE WAR ON DRUGS BY THE RULES    (Top)

The government announced it is waging a war against amphetamines, setting a target to eliminate them from the kingdom within three months after Feb 1 of this year.  Governors and district police chiefs that fail to accomplish this shall be heavily punished.

Simultaneously, rewards for the seizure of amphetamines leading to convictions were increased to three baht a pill as an incentive for arresting officers, which include civil servants, policemen and armed forces officials.

Not surprisingly, we have since seen such headlines as "Drug murders escalate to 18 a day," "17 shot dead daily in drug-related cases" or "24 more shot dead, sacrificed to amphetamine gangs."

No one protests or even disagrees with the war.  But after reports of so many murders, there are pressing concerns that state officials, especially policemen, might be abusing their power and taking justice in their own hands through extrajudicial murders, risking the lives of innocent people.

[snip]

In addition, some unknown parties may easily take advantage of the situation by killing their opponents and leaving some pills on the bodies.  No one would know for sure, but what is certain is that when someone is murdered and it is assumed the victim was involved in the illicit drug trade, the police will drop the investigation and close the case.

[snip]

A few days after the war started, 23-24 killings had been reported in the news..  The police admitted being responsible for only four of the deaths, the rest were presumably committed by drug traffickers taking action among themselves.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sun, 09 Feb 2003
Source:   Bangkok Post (Thailand)
Copyright:   The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd.  2003
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/39
Author:   Thongbai Thongpao
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n217/a03.html


(23) DEATH TOLL IN THAILAND'S WAR ON DRUGS PASSES 140 IN FIRST NINE DAYS    (Top)

[snip]

At least 144 drug suspects have been killed in the first nine days of the Thai government's latest crackdown on the drugs trade, a report said yesterday.

[snip]

The shooting of drugs suspects, while not unusual in Thailand, has caused concern among domestic and international human rights groups, who worry that authorities may be conducting extrajudicial killings.

Few observers believe that a gang war has spontaneously broken out to coincide with the three-month campaign.  Somchai Homlaor, secretary-general of the Asia Forum human rights group, said: "The only sensible conclusion is the police are sending out death squads."

A military source said part of the drug trade was carried out by corrupt police who had good reason to dispose of people who might confess their crimes.

[snip]

A further 159 suspected dealers and traffickers were detained at some of the 2,292 checkpoints set up nationwide, the authorities said.  In the northern city of Chiang Mai, 50 small-time dealers surrendered to police in a single day.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Mon, 10 Feb 2003
Source:   South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)
Copyright:   2003 South China Morning Post Publishers
Limited.
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/416
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n229/a07.html


(24) TESTS FIND 13 OFFICIALS TO BE USERS    (Top)

Thirteen officials in Mae Fa Luang district have tested positive for drugs and will have to quit or face serious punishment.

About 360 officials, soldiers and local people took part in a recent oath-taking ceremony at Doi Tung development project site, Mae Fa Luang.

[snip]

After the ceremony, everyone was tested for drugs and 13 officials tested positive for opium and methamphetamines.

[snip]

Mr Wan Nor said officials and local leaders must wash their hands of drugs by Feb 15 or face the toughest measures.

Pubdate:   Fri, 07 Feb 2003
Source:   Bangkok Post (Thailand)
Copyright:   The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd.  2003
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/39
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n205/a06.html


(25) MIXED REACTIONS TO CAPITAL PUNISHMENT    (Top)

Families of drug addicts were split over the death sentence for drug dealers while legal experts agreed that capital punishment was appropriate given the menace they pose to society.

[snip]

She said her brother had lost his job because of heroin, and once also spent five months in prison.

"He is now a living skeleton who needs a constant supply of heroin," Arisanti said.

[snip]

Recently, President Megawati Soekarnoputri rejected requests for a pardon by six convicts on death row, including a drug dealer, a move that was supported by Muslim leaders.

[snip]

Executions became standard fare in the country following the abortive coup in 1965, blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party ( PKI ).  Since 1978, at least 38 people have been officially executed by the state, mostly political prisoners.

[snip]

Henri Yosodiningrat, a lawyer who founded the Anti-Narcotics National Movement ( Granat ), said that drug dealers deserved to be executed as they bring disastrous consequences to the country's youngsters.

[snip]

He said the death sentence should be imposed on traffickers regardless of the amount of drugs illegally traded.  [snip]

Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, a legal expert from the University of Indonesia, said the death penalty was appropriate for drug dealers as it would deter others from committing such a crime.

"Drugs cause damage to youngsters, therefore the death sentence is worth the negative impacts," she said.

Although Harkristuti was ambivalent about the effectiveness of the death sentence for other major crimes, she agreed that if all legal proceedings had been undertaken in the case of drug dealers, they should be immediately be executed.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sat, 08 Feb 2003
Source:   Jakarta Post (Indonesia)
Copyright:   The Jakarta Post
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/645
Author:   M.  Taufiqurrahman and Moch. N. Kurniawan
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n209/a01.html


(26) DRUG ADDICTS TO BE ROUNDED UP NATIONWIDE    (Top)

Tehran -- Presidential Advisor and Head of Iran's Anti-Narcotics Headquarters Ali Hashemi said here Saturday that a projects to round-up addicts who have been released will be carried out with the help of police, Judiciary, and Prisons Organization.

[snip]

It added the consignment included five tons of opium, 47 tons of hashish, six tons of morphine, three tons of heroin and one ton of other assortment of drugs, he said.

Hashemi said that 267,500 people have been arrested in the period, 'of which 67 percent are addicts and 32 percent are booked for smuggling-related offenses'.

[snip]

Despite all the efforts, drug production in neighboring Afghanistan is expected to surge this year.  According to unconfirmed reports, most of the regions under the US control in the war-devastated country are being gone under poppy cultivation.

Pubdate:   Sat, 08 Feb 2003
Source:   IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency (Wire)
Copyright:   2003 Islamic Republic News Agency
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n215/a10.html


HOT OFF THE 'NET    (Top)

Will the Rosenthal Case Destroy Federal Medical Marijuana Enforcement?

By Kevin Zeese

"Throughout U.S.  history unjust verdicts have led to dramatic change.  Indeed, the birth of the United States was sparked by a verdict in favor of the crown in Paxton's case challenging the warrantless searches by the King's soldiers of colonial homes and businesses.  John Adams, who later became a leader in the revolution and the second president of the United States, was a young court reporter and at the time of the verdict he wrote, 'Then and there, the child Independence was borne.'"

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15145


VIEWS FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WAR ON DRUGS

Source:   Lebanon Daily Record (MO)
Website:   http://www.lebanondailyrecord.com/
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/1461

"We received 36 e-mails criticizing our Feb.  2 editorial, the second of two editorials attacking illegal drug use in Laclede County. Here are the e-mails, unedited and uncensored, except for the addresses and the phone numbers of the writers.  While we don't agree with their views, we also don't want to be responsible for them to be harassed."

http://www.lebanondailyrecord.com/display/inn_opinion/news06special.txt


MARC EMERY BIRTHDAY BASH

Marc's staff and friends send their birthday wishes and acknowledge the many accomplishments he has to look back on in his 45th year.

http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-1782.html


SURVEY:   MANY TEENS DON'T SEE RISK IN TRYING ECSTASY

2/12/2003

A new Partnership for a Drug-Free America survey found that the majority of U.S.  teenagers believe there is little risk in experimenting with ecstasy, CNN reported Feb.  11.

http://www.drugfreeamerica.org/


WHITE HOUSE ANTI-DRUG ADS FOSTER "PRO-DRUG" BELIEFS IN TEENS,
FEDERAL REVIEW FINDS

February 13, 2003 - Washington, DC, USA

"Little Evidence" That Post-September 11 Ads Linking Drug Use To Terrorism Are Having Any Favorable Impact On Youth

Continues:   http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5556

Cited:   http://www.nida.nih.gov/despr/westat/


LETTER OF THE WEEK    (Top)

Support Medical Marijuana Act

By Bryan Epis

I would like to ask the readers of the Chico Enterprise-Record to please write Congress and ask them to pass the "States Medical Marijuana Rights Act." You can easily do this by going to http://www.stopthedrugwar.org/medicalmarijuana/.=A0 It can be done in just fivewww.stopthedrugwar.org/medicalmarijuana/.  It can be done in just five minutes.  This act will allow people following state medical marijuana laws to not be thrown in federal prison for 10 years.

It will also stop vindictive county district attorneys and sheriffs who despise California's medical marijuana law from conspiring with federal agents to circumvent California law, by prosecuting medical marijuana cases in federal court, where the jury isn't allowed to hear the truth, and isn't allowed to apply California law.

I could never have been convicted in state court, and that's why my case was turned over to the federal government.  According to a recent Time/CNN poll, 80 percent of Americans believe that an adult should be able to use marijuana legally for medical purposes, and Congress isn't listening to the American public.

I am a Chico resident who was recently sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for the "crime" of "following California's medical marijuana law." I can be reached at: Bryan Epis, POW, 09636-097, 3600 Guard Road, Lompoc, CA 93436.

Please spend five minutes to help me, my 8-year-old daughter and thousands of other California citizens who are being terrorized by the federal government.  Thank you.

Bryan Epis,
Lompoc

Date:   02/04/2003
Source:   Chico Enterprise-Record (CA)
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/861


FEATURE ARTICLE    (Top)

Fuzzy Math in New ONDCP Report

By Drug Policy Alliance

Using new accounting procedures, this year's White House Drug Strategy, released February 12, for the first time ever conceals billions of dollars spent on incarcerating drug offenders and certain law enforcement efforts by excluding these categories from the budget and including inflated expenditures on treatment services.

Recent polling by Peter Hart Research Associates shows that nearly two-thirds of Americans want treatment, not incarceration, for nonviolent drug offenders and the 2003 Drug Strategy
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/policy/ndcs03/index.html plays to this public sentiment by appearing as if it is
focused on treatment.  In reality, however, America's drug policies are perpetuating the same reliance on law enforcement and interdiction with relatively minor focus on education and treatment.

Although, the 2004 Drug Control Budget (which accompanies the Strategy) is yet to be released, an analysis of the summary budget numbers outlined in the Strategy revealed that by hiding the costs of incarceration, military activities and other known costs of the drug war, the Office of National Drug Control Policy was able to bring their enforcement to treatment ratios more into line with public sentiment.  Last year, the Office stated it spent 33% of the drug war budget on drug treatment and prevention activities while 67% went to law enforcement and interdiction.  This year, despite making no substantive spending changes, the Office claims to be spending 47% on drug treatment and only 53% on law enforcement activities.  In addition, the office appears to inflate its numbers by including alcohol treatment, which by law is specifically excluded from their scope of responsibilities.

The White House s 2003 National Drug Control Strategy is deceptive in numerous ways:

* The Drug Czar Distorts the True Cost of the Federal Drug War

The new 2003 Drug Strategy shows the federal government spending only about $11 billion dollars a year, when the real cost (more accurately reflected in last year's drug strategy) is around $20 billion.  ONDCP said it will not count drug war expenditures by many law enforcement agencies, while acknowledging that these agencies will remain focused on drug control efforts.

* The Drug Czar Distorts the Amount Spent on Treatment vs.  the Amount Spent on Law Enforcement

By reducing reported law enforcement costs, eliminating reported prison costs, and artificially boosting reported drug treatment expenditures, ONDCP Director John Walters attempts to make the drug war look more compassionate.  Although the actual drug war budget maintains focused on supply reduction (with nearly 70 percent of the budget), the new drug strategy makes the assertion that spending is almost split evenly between supply and demand efforts.  This distortion makes the drug war look more humane, and makes it harder for drug treatment and prevention groups to advocate for needed additional funding.

* The Drug Czar Stops Counting the Cost of Imprisoning Nonviolent Drug Offenders

ONDCP reduces the official estimate of federal drug war costs by eliminating "agencies that mainly focus on the consequences associated with the activities of other primary counterdrug agencies." This means, among other things, not counting the costs of imprisoning federal nonviolent drug offenders at about $3 billion a year.  According to the ONDCP, "Although these [prison costs] are real costs to society, they do not factor into the core of drug law enforcement decisions made by national policymakers." Yet these costs result directly from federal drug war policies.

* The Drug Czar Appears to Over-Report Treatment Expenditures

Although ONDCP stops counting many law enforcement expenses, it appears to continue counting many "drug treatment and prevention" expenses for agencies not actually involved in drug war efforts.  It may also fraudulently increase the amount of federal drug treatment expenditures reported to Congress and the public by counting money spent reducing alcohol abuse, even though ONDCP's charter specifically excludes alcohol from its scope of responsibilities.

On the basis of these falsified claims, Drug Policy Alliance recommends that Congress bar ONDCP from adopting these accounting changes and develop procedures to ensure that the drug war budget is always based on facts - not politics.

For more information on Drug Policy Alliance, see www.drugpolicy.org


QUOTE OF THE WEEK    (Top)

Love is a word that is constantly heard,
Hate is a word that is not.
Love, I am told, is more precious than gold.
Love, I have read, is hot.
But hate is the verb that to me is superb,
And Love but a drug on the mart.
Any kiddie in school can love like a fool,
But Hating, my boy, is an Art.

-- Ogden Nash


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Policy and Law Enforcement/Prison content selection and analysis by Stephen Young (), Cannabis/Hemp content selection and analysis by special guest editor Debra Harper (), International content selection and analysis by Doug Snead (), Layout by Matt Elrod
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