| Feb. 28, 2003 #290 | ||||||||||||||||
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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) WHITE HOUSE REPORTS A DECLINE IN COLOMBIA'S COCA CULTIVATION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 - With aggressive aerial spraying in the past year,
antidrug forces in Colombia for the first time have reduced the amount
of coca being cultivated in the Andean country, Bush administration
officials said today. | ||||||||||||||||
Land being used to grow coca - the raw material for cocaine - fell by
15 percent in 2002 to 356,791 acres, said the officials, who used
satellite images to estimate production. | ||||||||||||||||
The report comes as the administration's efforts in Colombia are coming under fresh scrutiny with the kidnapping of three Americans by leftist rebels on Feb. 13 after their plane crash-landed in the jungle. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
John P. Walters, the director of national drug control strategy,
offered lawmakers the reduction in coca acreage as evidence that the
strategy, backed by the United States and known as Plan Colombia, is
working. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"Our antidrug efforts in Colombia are now paying off, and we believe that this represents a turning point," Mr. Walters said. | ||||||||||||||||
But lawmakers, while praising the advance, greeted the news with
skepticism. Some said cultivation went down in Colombia but increased
in Peru and Bolivia, both considered success stories in the late
1990's. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(2) UK: CANNABIS CAN CAUSE 'VANISHING LUNG SYNDROME', SAY DOCTORS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Regular cannabis smoking was blamed yesterday by doctors for causing a rise in a debilitating disease known as "vanishing lung syndrome". | ||||||||||||||||
Doctors treating respiratory illnesses in people aged 25 to 40 are increasingly finding the condition, associated with tobacco smoking, in patients who have seldom, if ever, smoked normal cigarettes. | ||||||||||||||||
Cannabis smokers are particularly at risk because they hold smoke in their lungs for longer than other smokers and marijuana spliffs are rolled without filters. Last month, a doctor in Newcastle had to do a lung transplant on a patient who had only ever smoked cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||
At the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Dr Mark Johnson, a specialist registrar
in respiratory medicine, said he had found a regular stream of patients
showing signs of the syndrome, a form of emphysema that reduces the
surface of the lungs and replaces it with huge cysts known as giant
bullae. | ||||||||||||||||
The result was that the alveoli, the air sacs in the lung that permit
the transfer of oxygen into the blood, are restricted by the cysts and
in effect collapse the lung. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(3) US CA: POT JURY TAINTED, LAWYERS CLAIM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Rosenthal's attorneys say juror received outside legal advice | ||||||||||||||||
Attorneys for medical marijuana grower and federal convict Ed Rosenthal
of Oakland on Wednesday gave a judge what they say is evidence of jury
misconduct that could require a new trial. | ||||||||||||||||
The papers say one of the federal jurors who convicted Rosenthal, 58,
on Jan. 31 of three marijuana-related felonies, has admitted that
during the trial she called a friend who is a lawyer. | ||||||||||||||||
With misgivings about U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer's instruction
to ignore California's medical marijuana law, the juror asked her
friend whether she had any wiggle room to exercise her own thoughts and
conscience. | ||||||||||||||||
The friend apparently told her she did not -- that she must follow the
judge's instructions explicitly -- and the juror then shared this
information with another juror. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(4) US MI: HUNDREDS TO BE FREED EARLY UNDER DRUG LAW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
LANSING -(AP)- More than 200 prison inmates will be released early
starting next week under a new law that eliminates mandatory minimum
sentences for drug crimes. | ||||||||||||||||
The law takes effect Saturday and by October, some 700 people will be
eligible for parole under the new guidelines. Forty of the 258
first-time drug offenders already granted parole under the new law will
leave prison on March 6, said Russ Marlan, spokesman for the Department
of Corrections. | ||||||||||||||||
State Rep. Bill McConico, a Detroit Democrat who sponsored the bill
that was signed late last year by then-Gov. John Engler, said families
affected by the strict drug law will have reason to celebrate next
week. | ||||||||||||||||
"We're going to have the opportunity for people and families to be
reunited who were torn apart by a draconian sentence structure,"
McConico said Wednesday. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-10) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
In the wake of nonsensical raids on Internet paraphernalia vendors,
some newspaper somewhere should have used the headline "Feds Go
Bongkers." That didn't happen, but several newspapers did cover the
federal crusade to keep America safe from smoking implements, except
those used traditionally with tobacco. Many stories featured quotes
from drug policy reformers who rightfully pointed out the absurdity
of the attack, but only a few took much notice that the feds had
seized some web sites used to sell paraphernalia in order to direct
visitors to government sites. | ||||||||||||||||
Some sellers of mushroom spores have also been arrested in
Washington, even though law enforcement officials admitted the
spores weren't illegal, unless one commits the thought-crime of
knowing spores might be used for illegal purposes. | ||||||||||||||||
More drug-related cases have been accepted by the U.S. Supreme
Court. One concerns the length of time police have to wait between
announcing themselves and busting down doors in a drug raid. The
other case involves the rights of employees who have been fired for
drug use. | ||||||||||||||||
Finally, a sincerely uplifting story out of Utah, where an
individual activist worked successfully with legislators to stop a
bad bill that would have allowed the state to prosecute drivers for
being impaired without actual impairment tests. | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) U.S. HAULS IN DEALERS OF BONGS, ROACH CLIPS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- Signaling the start of a new front in the campaign against illegal drugs, federal authorities charged 55 people Monday with trafficking in drug paraphernalia in an investigation that focused on those who advertise and sell such items on the Internet. | ||||||||||||||||
Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft, standing with a phalanx of other law-enforcement officials who participated in the nationwide investigation, said that by targeting major paraphernalia distributors the government was dealing the drug trade a sharp blow. | ||||||||||||||||
The investigation -- a two-pronged effort known as Operation Pipe
Dreams and Operation Headhunter--led to raids Monday in which
officials confiscated thousands of tons of drug paraphernalia and
tens of millions of dollars, and made numerous arrests, said Mary
Beth Buchanan, the U.S. attorney in Pittsburgh whose office is
coordinating the investigation with the Drug Enforcement
Administration. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"At a time of intense alert regarding the terrorist threat, this is
a pretty pathetic waste of criminal justice resources," said Eric
Sterling, president of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, a
liberal think tank. "Is this a high priority when criminal justice
resources are stretched so thinly?" | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(6) FEDS WEED OUT DRUG PARAPHERNALIA SITES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The U.S. Justice Department on Monday said it indicted 11 Web site
operators for allegedly selling illegal devices including bongs and
holders for marijuana cigarettes. | ||||||||||||||||
Attorney General John Ashcroft told reporters that the government would ask a U.S. district court in Pittsburgh to point the sites to a Web page at the Drug Enforcement Administration, http://www.dea.gov/, explaining why they were taken offline, a new twist in crime-fighting. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Marc Rotenberg of the Electronic Privacy Information Center,
http://www.epic.org/, said redirecting Web visitors to | ||||||||||||||||
The DEA site's privacy policy, http://www.usdoj.gov/privacy-file.htm,
which is the same as other Justice Department sites, permits it
to give personal information about visitors to law enforcement. It
says "we may take additional steps to identify you based on this
information, and we may share this information, including your
identity, with other government agencies." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(7) MUSHROOM BUSINESS LANDS 4 IN TROUBLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Last week, four people from the tiny town of Amanda Park in Grays
Harbor County were charged with conspiring to sell, not mushrooms,
but mushroom spores. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Whalley said it's not illegal to
sell mushroom spores alone, but selling them with the purpose of
producing hallucinogenic mushrooms is illegal. | ||||||||||||||||
The investigation goes back to 1999, when law-enforcement agencies
in Washington and elsewhere in the country started getting
complaints about the Amanda Park mushroom-spore shipments. The spore
businesses themselves date back years before that. The Amanda Park
business once operated from an address on East Pike Street in
Seattle, according to a publication in the Netherlands. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(8) SUPREME COURT TO CONSIDER CONSTITUTIONALITY OF POLICE SEARCH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider how long
police with a search warrant must wait before breaking down a door,
using as a test case the arrest of a Las Vegas man who was in the
shower when the SWAT team stormed in. | ||||||||||||||||
An appeals court ruled that authorities acted unreasonably in using
a battering ram to knock down Lashawn Lowell Banks' door just 15 to
20 seconds after demanding entrance. | ||||||||||||||||
The commotion interrupted Banks' shower -- and also violated the constitutional ban on unreasonable searches and seizures, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. | ||||||||||||||||
The Supreme Court will consider this fall whether narcotics found
during the search of Banks' Las Vegas apartment could have been used
as evidence. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) JUSTICES TO HEAR 4 CASES, 3 FROM U.S. COURT IN S.F. (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether companies can refuse to hire one-time drug users or alcoholics. | ||||||||||||||||
Last year, the federal appeals court in California ruled that
recovered drug users can be seen as having a disability and are thus
protected from discrimination under federal law. | ||||||||||||||||
The decision by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals cleared the way for a former technician for Hughes Missile
Systems in Tucson to sue his former employer for refusing to rehire
him. | ||||||||||||||||
Joel Hernandez had worked at the plant for 25 years when he quit in 1991 because of cocaine use. After going through a recovery program, he reapplied for his former job in 1994, but was rejected. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(10) CITIZEN'S DUTY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
When you're right, you're right. That's why Stan Burnett just sat still as Rep. Peggy Wallace, R-West Jordan, told the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee that she was profoundly furious, upset, disgusted, disgruntled and saddened that people - people like Stan Burnett - would use the Constitution to keep drugged drivers on the street. It's why he didn't bat an eyelash when Tama Hale showed the committee photographs of her son who was killed by a drugged driver. It's why Stan Burnett took great satisfaction when Senate Bill 7 died a quiet death Friday. | ||||||||||||||||
"It's great news," Burnett said. "I'm pleased, and it looks like
they will approach it with a more scientific approach the next
time." | ||||||||||||||||
You probably didn't hear much about SB 7. Buried underneath the
hyperbole of Pledge of Allegiance requirements and blustering over
tuition tax credits, it was just one of so many pieces of
legislation that join the flotsam and jetsam of the legislative
session. Burnett didn't hear about it until it was already cruising
out of the Senate and headed to the House, destined for little
debate and easy passage. But when he did hear about it, about how it
would have allowed the state to prosecute supposedly drug-impaired
drivers for automobile homicide without actually proving impairment,
Burnett started to do something about it. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (11-15) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
After losing his 14-year-old daughter to DEA gunfine, a Texas man
will remain in jail on drug charges, even though a judge said the
evidenced used by the DEA to arrest the man was "not particularly
strong." Justice seems elusive for the family of another drug raid
victim. Police in Ohio issued a report indicating that Clayton
Helriggle was holding a gun as he was shot by police. His friends
still maintain he was holding only a cup. | ||||||||||||||||
The bad conduct of the Los Angeles Police during the Rampart
scandal, in which officers admitted to planting evidence and
covering up unjustified shootings, may get a fresh look. That's what
the new police chief of Los Angeles says. The conduct of Oakland
police was bad enough to merit a $7 million settlement with men who
were victimized by lawless police. | ||||||||||||||||
Prison crowding is leading to some fairly radical proposals to
reduce populations. Legislation was introduced in Kansas last week
that would place some non-violent drug offenders in treatment
programs at home, not prison. | ||||||||||||||||
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(11) JUDGE SAYS GIRL'S DAD TO REMAIN IN CUSTODY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A judge said Wednesday the evidence that spurred a fatal
confrontation between federal agents and a teenage girl was "not
particularly strong" but was still stout enough to justify arresting
the youth's father. | ||||||||||||||||
U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Nowak's ruling capped a hearing that
revealed few details about a Drug Enforcement Administration
stakeout that ended Feb. 9 when an agent shot 14-year-old Ashley
Villarreal. | ||||||||||||||||
Instead, the proceeding focused on the allegations that drew the
agents to the Villarreal house on South San Joaquin Street: that
Joey Angel Villarreal has a key role in a narcotics trafficking
cell. | ||||||||||||||||
Nowak said the evidence presented against the Tejano musician was
not especially impressive because crucial testimony came from
criminal informants. But the judge said it nonetheless convinced her
that the three-time drug offender should be detained without bond
until a trial can closely examine the accusations. | ||||||||||||||||
Officials spent little time at Wednesday's hearing discussing the
stakeout and shooting. When they did refer to it, they didn't
mention Villarreal's daughter Ashley by name. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(12) REPORT - HELRIGGLE HAD WEAPON (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
February 19, 2003 - An over-200 page report issued last week includes evidence collected, and witness statements made, following the Sept. 27, 2002, shooting death of 23-year-old Clayton Helriggle. | ||||||||||||||||
Helriggle was shot by Sgt. Kent Moore, a member of the Preble County
Emergency Services Unit, while the agency was executing a
drug-related search warrant at his Lanier Township residence.
Sheriff's officials reported Helriggle descended the stairs of the
farmhouse with a gun in hand; Helriggle's family and friends
continue to contend he held only a blue cup. | ||||||||||||||||
"I think Montgomery County did the best they could do with what they
had to work with," Clayton's mother, Sharon Helriggle, said Monday,
Feb. 17. | ||||||||||||||||
Although the report contains evidence to the contrary, the
Helriggles are sticking to their belief. | ||||||||||||||||
"We still don't believe Clayton had a gun," she added. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(13) CHIEF WANTS NEW PROBE OF RAMPART (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Bratton asks for an outside panel to review how the LAPD handled the scandal, fearing it could 'bleed this department to death.' | ||||||||||||||||
Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton called Tuesday for an independent "blue ribbon committee" to account for the LAPD's handling of the Rampart corruption scandal, saying that efforts to do so by department officials have been "totally inadequate." | ||||||||||||||||
In calling for the formation of the panel, Bratton told members of the city's civilian Police Commission that the Rampart scandal still hangs over the Los Angeles Police Department and that if it isn't addressed, it has the potential to "bleed this department to death." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The scandal broke in September 1999, after ex-officer Rafael Perez told authorities as part of a plea deal that he and other anti-gang and narcotics officers in the Rampart Division routinely planted evidence, framed suspects and covered up unjustified shootings. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(14) OAKLAND SETTLES BIG CIVIL-RIGHTS LAWSUIT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
OAKLAND -- In what legal observers said was an extraordinary pact,
this city and 119 alleged victims of abusive behavior by Oakland
police officers settled a civil-rights lawsuit Wednesday that
institutes a lengthy list of systemic reforms in how officers are
supervised and disciplined. The victims, mostly African American
males, will share about $7 million in monetary damages stemming from
the actions of four now-fired Oakland officers who were dubbed the
"Riders." Three of those former officers are in the midst of a
criminal trial, on which the lawsuit settlement will have no direct
impact; the fourth has apparently fled the country. | ||||||||||||||||
But the accord, unveiled at a City Hall press conference, goes much further in attempting to change a Police Department that is feared or scorned by many in the large African American community here and that has suffered through numerous embarrassing incidents of late. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(15) BILL WOULD PUT SOME DRUG OFFENDERS IN TREATMENT INSTEAD OF PRISON (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
TOPEKA - With Kansas' prison system a breath away from capacity, a
Senate committee Monday offered a plan to free cell space by
treating drug offenders at home. | ||||||||||||||||
The measure, which the Judiciary Committee approved, now goes to the
Senate floor. Debate is expected later this week. | ||||||||||||||||
The plan would reduce the demand for prison beds by assigning drug
users to community-based treatment programs. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Under the plan, people convicted of drug possession who currently
would be sent to prison would be assigned to community-based
treatment instead. | ||||||||||||||||
In addition, those now serving time for drug possession could be released from prison and sent to treatment programs if they passed screening tests developed by the state Corrections Department. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (16-19) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
In an attempt to prevent the kind of federal railroading that
recently occurred to cannabis author/activist Ed Rosenthal,
Assemblyman Mark Leno and Rosenthal held a press conference outside
of the federal courthouse in Oakland last week calling on
California's Congressional members to support three recently
introduced medicinal marijuana bills. | ||||||||||||||||
This week's second story examines former Dallas Cowboy offensive lineman Mark Stepnoski's new role as the President of Texas NORML. | ||||||||||||||||
Our next story brings a bit of bad news: a Montana medical marijuana
bill that would have protected legitimate users from prosecution for
possession or cultivation was approved in panel, before being
rejected in the state legislature. And lastly: SEX and DRUGS! Need I
say more.? | ||||||||||||||||
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(16) BAY AREA POLITICIANS LOBBY FOR MEDICAL POT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Two Bay Area lawmakers are leading Sacramento's effort to urge
California's U.S. senators to secure states' rights to regulate and
oversee medical use of marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
State Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland, and Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San
Francisco, have co-authored a letter signed by 48 legislative
colleagues calling for an end to federal meddling in California's
and other states' medical marijuana activities. | ||||||||||||||||
They want Congress to amend the Controlled Substances Act to allow a
medical necessity defense -- exactly the goal of a bipartisan bill
soon to be introduced by Reps. Sam Farr, D-Carmel; Lynn Woolsey,
D-Petaluma; and Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(17) FORMER COWBOY STEPNOSKI NOW ADVOCATING MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Former Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Mark Stepnoski considers
himself living proof that long-held beliefs about marijuana are
wrong. | ||||||||||||||||
He has smoked pot for about 20 years, so, according to opponents of
the drug, he should be a slothful burnout with blackened lungs, a
bit of a dim bulb after baking so many brain cells. | ||||||||||||||||
Yet Stepnoski is articulate and remains in top physical condition a
year after finishing a 13-year run as one of the NFL's top centers -
all while regularly smoking marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Stepnoski, 36, recently "came out" as a weed smoker when he took the
volunteer position as president of the Texas chapter of the National
Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws. He's bankrolling NORML's
lobbyist in Austin and has joined the organization's national
advisory board. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(18) MEDICINAL MARIJUANA REJECTED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
HELENA -- The state House voted down a bill Wednesday that sponsor
Rep. Ron Erickson, D-Missoula, said would have sent a message to the
state that "pain counts." | ||||||||||||||||
House Bill 506, to allow patients to use medicinal marijuana for pain or illness relief, died in the House, 60-40. Opponents said the bill would send the wrong message -- that it's OK to use marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
The bill's initial hearing in the House Judiciary Committee last
week was emotional, as chronic pain sufferers and multiple sclerosis
patients told the committee how cannabis had saved their livelihoods
and in some cases, their lives. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(19) DOPE SEX? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Marijuana has been used as an aphrodisiac for thousands of years.
The ancient Indian Ayurvedic medicine systems used cannabis to
increase libido, produce long-lasting erections, delay ejaculation,
facilitate lubrication and loosen inhibitions. Some Tantric sex
practitioners drink a substance called bhang - a sort of spiced
marijuana milkshake - - to enhance the sexual experience. According
to one source, Indian prostitutes ingest bhang sherbet to help them
feel sexually aroused. In 19th century Serbia, female virgins were
given mixtures of lamb's fat and cannabis on their wedding night to
make sex less painful. Many Middle Eastern and Northern African
cultures have used cannabis for sexual purposes in a potent form
known at kif as recently as the early 20th century. | ||||||||||||||||
So what is it about weed that turns people on? | ||||||||||||||||
Besides the obvious - heightened sensation, relaxation and a feeling
of hyperconnectedness - there are also physiological effects. Along
with increased heart rate, changes in blood flow and respiration,
"Neurochemistry, hormonal systems, and brain regions such as the
temporal lobe are affected by both marijuana and sexual arousal,"
writes Terry Necco in Cannabis Culture Magazine. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (20-25) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Thai police, egged on by the highest echelons of the Thai
government, continue to wallow in blood as around 1,000 drug users
have been murdered by police death squads at last count this week.
Mothers are shot with babe in hand, little boys are gunned down by
police executing drug offenders. The Thai government is well pleased
with such results: the Prime Minister admitted this week government
is indeed using "blacklists" of people suspected of involvement with
drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
Truly a reign of government-sponsored terror in every sense, 70% of
the Thai people now live in fear of being murdered by government
death squads. Few dare complain. The Thai government targets
innocent people, a Thai Human Rights Commission said in a
Singaporean paper. A coalition of some 11 human rights groups
demanded an end to the death squad activities last week, the Bangkok
Post reported. "This is a tragedy perpetrated by the state with no
regard for human rights, a cruel justice that fails to distinguish
decent people from villains," noted Suriyasai Katasila of the
Campaign for Popular Democracy. | ||||||||||||||||
After UN drug officials sang praises to the Thai government death
squads last week, (perhaps realizing how this may look to others),
UN officials have belatedly changed their tune. This week, the UN is
touched with "deep concern" over appearances of the blatant murders
by the Thai government. In a mealymouthed statement, UN spokesmen
regretted the "allegations" of "excessive use of force resulting in
extrajudicial executions." | ||||||||||||||||
In the UK, David Blunkett dismissed claims last week by UN
prohibitionists that distinguishing between cannabis and heroin
would mislead children, thereby causing children to take (more)
drugs. While the imprisonment of adults was not mentioned, UN
experts fretted that distinguishing among different drugs could
confuse kids, leading to cannabis-caused diseases of the brain,
heart and lungs, not to mention "psychiatric hospitals filled with
people who have problems with cannabis." | ||||||||||||||||
And finally, an Australian National Drug Research Institute report
again confirmed that jailing drug users is no deterrent at all.
Professor Wendy Loxley noted that jailing drug users solved nothing.
"In many cases, particularly say, marijuana users, giving them a
criminal record just has very negative outcomes for their lives ever
thereafter." | ||||||||||||||||
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(20) NINE-YEAR-OLD DIES AS THAI DRUG SWEEP CLAIMS 901 LIVES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The death in a hail of police bullets of the nine-year-old son of a
suspected drug dealer has put Thailand's government on the defensive
over a crackdown on the illegal methamphetamine trade. | ||||||||||||||||
The campaign has has resulted in 901 deaths of suspected drug dealers over the past three weeks across Thailand. A one-year-old baby was killed yesterday during a drug-related shooting in southern Songkhla province that left his mother seriously wounded. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who vowed to break up Thailand's burgeoning speed trade by the end of April, has demanded officials arrest at least 46,000 of the traffickers named on his blacklist. But he has denied a shoot-to-kill policy underlies the scheme. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
A recent university poll showed 92 per cent approval of Mr Thaksin's
tough drugs policy. Yet 70 per cent feared they might be set up or
killed by police or drug gangs. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(21) THAIS 'WRONGLY TARGETED' IN ANTI-DRUG BLITZ (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
50 Thais 'Wrongly Targeted' In Anti-Drug Blitz | ||||||||||||||||
They Claim That Interior Ministry Has Blacklisted Them By Mistake
And Are Resisting Orders To Report To The Police | ||||||||||||||||
BANGKOK - Some 50 people say they have been mistakenly included in a feared official blacklist being used in a tough drug crackdown. | ||||||||||||||||
Those on the lists are worried as they are being asked to report to the police, Thailand's National Human Rights Commission said. | ||||||||||||||||
Rightly, it is names of those 'involved in one way or another in
drugs' that appear on the blacklists, said Mr Thirapat | ||||||||||||||||
The lists are compiled separately by the Interior Ministry and the police. Nearly 1,000 drug traffickers and producers have been killed in its first 24 days of the crackdown that started on Feb 1. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The ministry said yesterday that its overall blacklist of 46,177
people has already been reduced - through deaths and arrests - by
21.09 per cent. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
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(22) END VIOLENCE, SAY RIGHTS GROUPS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Tragedy Perpetrated In Name Of Justice | ||||||||||||||||
Child and human rights advocacy groups have condemned the government and state officials for being over-zealous in their drug crackdown, which claimed the life of an innocent nine-year-old boy on Monday. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Activists from 11 organisations yesterday demanded an end to the
government's violent crackdown. | ||||||||||||||||
"We plead that this boy be the last innocent victim killed in the
government's anti-drug war," said Boonthan Tunsuthepverawongse, of
the Peace and Human Rights Resource Centre. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Suriyasai Katasila, secretary-general of the Campaign for Popular
Democracy, said killing and wounding of innocent people was the work
of impetuous police officers given the green light by their
supervisors and the government. | ||||||||||||||||
"This is a tragedy perpetrated by the state with no regard for human
rights, a cruel justice that fails to distinguish decent people from
villains," he said. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
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(23) U.N. VOICES 'DEEP CONCERN' ABOUT KILLINGS IN THAI WAR ON DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
BANGKOK, Thailand - (AP) - A U.N. human rights official has
expressed "deep concern" over a mounting body count in Thailand's
war on drugs, as authorities on Wednesday said that almost 1,000
people have been killed and police warned that the death toll was
rising by the hour. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The United Nations added its voice to the debate this week with a
statement of concern by Asma Jahangir, a special rapporteur of the
U.N. Commission on Human Rights. | ||||||||||||||||
In a statement released in Geneva and received here Wednesday,
Jahangir cited "allegations of excessive use of force resulting in
extrajudicial executions." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Jahangir urged Thai officials to ensure that "the | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Wednesday defended police
actions. | ||||||||||||||||
"Never mind that the U.N. issued a statement of concern," he told
reporters. "They are not condemning us, just showing concern.
Actually there are few cases of police killing suspects out of
self-defense." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(24) YOU DOPES: BLUNKETT BLAST U.N. (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Blunkett Hits Back As UN Blasts His Move To Downgrade Cannabis | ||||||||||||||||
David Blunkett hit back at critics last night after they accused him of misleading youngsters with his new measures on cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||
A UN report claims the Home Secretary's decision to reclassify
cannabis as a Class C drug could lead to it becoming as widely used
as tobacco. | ||||||||||||||||
Hamid Ghodse, of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB),
said "Youngsters are confused. On one hand, you tell them not to use
ecstasy because it is dangerous. On the other, you're not doing
anything about cannabis." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
And Home Office spokesman said: "We do not accept that the decision
to reclassify will lead to confusion. Reclassification, based on
scientific evidence, does not legalise cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||
"It does make clearer the distinction between cannabis and Class A
drugs like heroin, crack and cocaine." | ||||||||||||||||
The UN report said cannabis was "not a harmless drug" and could lead
to disease of the brain, heart and lungs. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Philip Emafo, president of the INCB, fears it will undermine
worldwide efforts to fight cannabis and could lead to increased
cultivation in the Third World. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"It's quite worrying that we might end up in the next 10 or 20 years
with our psychiatric hospitals filled with people who have problems
with cannabis." | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(25) JAIL NO DETERRENT FOR DRUG USERS: RESEARCH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
New research has found convicted users of illicit drugs are less
likely to develop more serious drug addictions if they are not sent
to jail or given criminal records. | ||||||||||||||||
A Perth expert on drug abuse says studies indicate early
intervention can deter people from succumbing to more serious drugs
and criminal activity. | ||||||||||||||||
Associate Professor Wendy Loxley from the National Drug Research Institute says there is no evidence to suggest drug convictions, jail terms and criminal records are effective deterrents. | ||||||||||||||||
"In many cases, particularly say, marijuana users, giving them a
criminal record just has very negative outcomes for their lives ever
thereafter," she said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
DING DONG, THE BONGS ARE GONE? | ||||||||||||||||
DrugSense FOCUS Alert #263 Friday, 28 Feb 2003 | ||||||||||||||||
Federal officials said Monday that they had shut down the biggest
paraphernalia suppliers in the United States in a series of
nationwide raids. In all, 55 people were charged with manufacture
and/or distribution of items alleged to be used for illegal purposes.
Additionally, a number of websites are being shut down by the Feds
without anyone yet being convicted of a crime in a court of law.
The DEA intends to redirect these websites to a government-sponsored
site, a chilling and Orwellian action if not challenged. What
other websites which the government views with disapproval will
be next on the list? | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL BOARD OF THE UNITED NATIONS | ||||||||||||||||
2002 Annual Report. | ||||||||||||||||
"The sight of unkempt drug abusers on street corners and in train stations, begging for money to finance their drug habits, cannot be ignored by responsible Governments. States have a moral and legal responsibility to protect drug abusers from further self-destruction. States should not give up and allow advocates of legalization to take control of their national drug policies. Governments should not be intimidated by a vocal minority that wants to legalize illicit drug use. Governments must respect the view of the majority of lawful citizens; and those citizens are against illicit drug use." | ||||||||||||||||
The report in full can be downloaded in PDF files from: | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
MPP SPOOFS MARIJUANA-TERRORISM LINK AD | ||||||||||||||||
The Marijuana Policy Project just launched the third stage of their five-stage "war on drug czar" campaign. Last Wednesday, they released a TV ad that lampoons one of the White House drug czar's deceptive drugs-and- terrorism ads. To view our ad, please see: | ||||||||||||||||
If you like our first ad, would you please donate some of the $30,000
that is needed to pay for the first round of ads? | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
HIGH CRIMES? MARIJUANA CASE PITS LOCAL COMMUNITY AGAINST FEDERAL LAW | ||||||||||||||||
Dateline NBC on Ed Rosenthal case. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
U.S. SUPREME COURT SET TO HEAR ORAL ARGUMENT IN FORCED DRUGGING CASE | ||||||||||||||||
A release from the Center For Cognitive Liberty and Ethics | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Finding Solace In Medipot Despite U.S. Drug Policy | ||||||||||||||||
By Patricia Schwarz | ||||||||||||||||
Our drug czar, John Walters, wants to compare medical marijuana to snake oil. Snake oil is something that was pushed on people by traveling hucksters. People were promised that it would cure their pains, but by the time they tried it and realized it did nothing, the huckster was gone, already plying his wares to a new town of suckers. | ||||||||||||||||
Medical marijuana is not being pushed on anyone by hucksters, traveling
or otherwise. The people who regularly use it are the ones pushing for
its legalization. If we want to use old American concepts, it's more
like a beloved and time-tested home remedy. Walters has so little
respect for traditional American values of freedom, truth and democracy
that I think he must have been cloned from old Soviet DNA. The whole
medical marijuana debacle makes me wonder who actually won the Cold
War. | ||||||||||||||||
Patricia Schwarz | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE ------------------------------- (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
What Killed the Last Dragon: The Rise and Fall of the Anti-Saloon
League. Part 1. | ||||||||||||||||
By Mary Jane Borden | ||||||||||||||||
Does history repeat itself? Is what happened before destined to
occur again? If so, can we change the outcome? History. An amorphous
high school course to some can also be a great teacher, if only we
heed its lessons. | ||||||||||||||||
The central part of Ohio sits in a unique position with regard to
history. One hundred years ago, it was at the epicenter of an
emerging social movement. This movement conjoined women's suffrage
with Protestant churches and the Republican Party. Beginning merely
as a pledge of personal restraint, the movement grew to envelop the
U.S. in its worldview and pose serious and lasting Constitutional
issues. While repeatedly repudiated as ineffective and corrupt, it
still exists, morphing into our present day War on Drugs. That
movement is alcohol prohibition. | ||||||||||||||||
Westerville, an upscale suburb on the north end of Columbus, Ohio,
still bills itself as the Dry Capitol of the World. While wet voter
initiatives have dwindled the actual dry area of this once quiet,
peaceful village to little more than its uptown area, prohibition
has planted its roots deeply in the community in a lasting way.
Westerville is the home of the Anti Saloon Museum located adjacent
to the Westerville Public Library. This historic home, once the
national headquarters of the Anti-Saloon League and its American
Issue Publishing Company, houses the largest collection of
prohibition-oriented literature in the world according to the
museum's curator and Website | ||||||||||||||||
Those who study today's manifestation of prohibition, the War on
Drugs, continually ask how such bad policy came to be. If we knew
how it began, might we learn ways to stop it? If we understood what
thwarted the last prohibition, might we apply those same tactics to
ending this one? History can be a teacher and the textbooks are in
Westerville. | ||||||||||||||||
Who were the players in alcohol prohibition? How did they emerge?
What caused their demise? Where might we find the soft underbelly of
the drug war dragon, so we may slay it once and for all? How do we
keep this injustice from happening again? | ||||||||||||||||
Through a series of articles, we will explore alcohol prohibition
through the eyes of the Anti Saloon League. We will examine what
they did and how they did it. We will look at their books and
payroll. We will review the materials they produced. We will
understand what made them successful, and we learn how they
ultimately failed. | ||||||||||||||||
Why study the Anti Saloon League? Consider these statistics. From
1909 to 1923, the League produced: 157 million copies of temperance
papers, 2 million books, 5 million pamphlets, 114 million leaflets,
2 million window placards, and 18 million small cards. The flow of
mail was so large that Westerville became the smallest community in
the country with a first-class post office. At the height of the
campaign to pass the 18th Amendment outlawing alcohol more than 40
tons of anti-alcohol material poured from their printing presses
each month! | ||||||||||||||||
This volume of material has the familiar ring of the Office of National Drug Control Policy's Anti-Drug Media Campaign or the Partnership for a Drug Free America. The threads that weave through drug prohibition are hauntingly similar to alcohol prohibition. | ||||||||||||||||
Yet, within ten years of their peak publishing volume, all was lost for the Anti Saloon League. Alcohol regained its legal status with passage of the 21st Amendment. The League faded and disbanded, its remnants now on display as a relic in a museum and library. | ||||||||||||||||
Can we do the same for the drug war? | ||||||||||||||||
A Prohibition ditty from the last century. Sound familiar? | ||||||||||||||||
Prohibition is an awful flop. | ||||||||||||||||
Mary Jane Borden is a writer, artist, and activist in drug policy
reform. She is the Director of Development for DrugSense and a
co-founder of the Ohio Patient Network (www.ohiopatient.net). Both
she and her husband, Chuck, are graduates of Otterbein College in
Westerville. Ironically, several of the Anti-Saloon League leaders
were also affiliated with the college. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"That to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the
propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful
and tyrannical." | ||||||||||||||||
- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Roger C. Weightman, 1826 | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
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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 () | ||||||||||||||||
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