| July 25, 2003 #310 | ||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
(1) AGENTS WARN OF POT SPRAYED WITH WEED KILLER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma narcotics agents are spreading the word: Don't
smoke red dope. | ||||||||||||||||
Since the end of June, Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous
Drugs Control agents have been spraying fields of wild-growing
marijuana with weed killer laced with red dye. | ||||||||||||||||
Spraying is a much faster technique to permanently kill the marijuana.
The red dye is to warn the public the plants have been sprayed with
weed killer, said Mark Woodward, OBN spokesman. | ||||||||||||||||
The northwest part of the state has an abundance of wild-growing
marijuana because farmers in the area used to grow marijuana for the
production of hemp. | ||||||||||||||||
''Because the plant reproduces itself, there are fields and fields of
the stuff and it's just a nuisance,'' Woodward said. | ||||||||||||||||
During two weeks in June, an estimated 9.5 million plants were destroyed in Blaine, Custer, Ellis, Grant and Woodward counties. | ||||||||||||||||
Officers will continue to destroy the plants until the fall. Farmers
who want to spray wild marijuana on their land can get free herbicide
from the Bureau of Narcotics. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The weed killer sprayed on the plants is harmful to people who smoke
the marijuana, but studies have shown that a person would need to
smoke about 47 herbicide-laced cigarettes before it would harm them,
Woodward said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(2) COURT REVERSES CONVICTION OF TULIA DRUG-STING VICTIM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Nearly four years to the day after 46 people were arrested in the
controversial 1999 Tulia drug sting, an Amarillo appeals court
reversed the convictions of one of the defendants, a move that
apparently will result in the first exoneration of a person convicted
in the sting. | ||||||||||||||||
The 7th Court of Appeals, in an unpublished decision handed down
Monday, reversed eight narcotics convictions against William Cash
Love, who was handed sentences totaling 341 years by a Swisher County
jury. The decision remanded Love's cases to district court for new
trials. | ||||||||||||||||
Love, who is still in prison and could not be reached for comment, likely will be the first person to be cleared after serving prison time from the bust, based on prosecutors' plans not to retry his cases. | ||||||||||||||||
Love's attorney, Van Williamson, said Wednesday he had not yet talked
to his client, but he said this week's decision signals the beginning
of the end to a long journey for both of them. | ||||||||||||||||
"I'm happy we're toward the end of this," Williamson said. "It's been
a long time. I've been representing or involved with these defendants
since probably three days after the bust. I'm just glad it's finally
coming to an end." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(3) MEDICINAL CANNABIS STEP CLOSER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Parliament's health committee is expected to recommend the medicinal
use of cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||
However, the select committee is expected to dodge the question of whether cannabis should be decriminalised but to keep the issue alive by recommending that another committee inquire into that issue. | ||||||||||||||||
It appears likely the health committee will note that the evidence
presented to it suggests moderate use of cannabis is not particularly
dangerous to people's health and to recommend medicinal use of the
drug be legal, if it is prescribed. | ||||||||||||||||
If this is the tenor of the committee's report, it would be a
significant step in the cannabis debate in New Zealand. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(4) SOLDIERS OF GOOD FORTUNE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
They fly helicopters, guard military bases and provide reconnaissance.
They're private military companies--and they're replacing U.S.
soldiers in the war on terrorism | ||||||||||||||||
At a remote tactical training camp in a North Carolina swamp, six U.S.
sailors are gearing up for their part in President Bush's war on
terrorism. Dressed in camouflage on a January afternoon, they wear
protective masks and carry nine-millimeter Berettas that fire
nonlethal bullets filled with colored soap. Their mission: recapture a
ship--actually a three-story-high model constructed of gray steel
cargo containers--from armed hijackers. | ||||||||||||||||
The men approach the front of the vessel in formation, weapons drawn,
then silently walk the length of the ship. Suddenly, as they turn the
corner, two "terrorists" spring out from behind a plywood barricade
and storm the sailors, guns blazing. The trainees, who have
instinctively crowded together, prove easy pickings: Though they
outnumber their enemy 3-to-1, every one of them gets hit. They return
from the ambush with heads hung, covered in pink dye. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-9) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The political winds surrounding drug policy continue to shift. A bill in the U.S. House to help patients avoid federal prosecution in medical marijuana states was defeated, but not without a surprising amount of support, more than similar bills enjoyed in the past. | ||||||||||||||||
The bill had bipartisan support, despite the perception that Republicans are consistently tough on drugs. A piece in the Baltimore Sun went further to suggest that the momentum for drug policy change is coming from Republican governors in several states. | ||||||||||||||||
A federal judge has decided to stop accepting plea deals in a
variety of cases, including drug cases. Critics say that will slow
the system down. In Wisconsin, it appears a different kind of
bargaining was going on, as a prosecutor allegedly declined to
prosecute some crime suspects if they offered under the table
donations that went to groups like DARE. And in Massachusetts, where
a good amount of state money is spent on treatment each year, some
lawmakers think the figure is too large. | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) BILL TO PROTECT MEDICINAL POT USERS FALLS SHORT IN HOUSE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Washington -- A surprisingly strong bid to shield medicinal pot
smokers in California and nine other states from federal prosecution
was defeated in the House on Wednesday after a spirited debate that
centered on states' rights and even reached back to the pre-Civil
War "nullification" debate. | ||||||||||||||||
Proponents of the proposal by Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, got 152 votes, compared to the 94 votes for medicinal marijuana in a 1998 House vote. But pot opponents still won handily, with 273 votes, down from 311 in 1998. | ||||||||||||||||
Hinchey-Rorhabacher supporters cited such recent federal actions as the successful prosecution of San Francisco medicinal pot grower Ed Rosenthal as the actions of an over-reaching Department of Justice. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(6) GOP LEADS THE WAY ON DRUG POLICY REFORM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WHEN TEXAS Gov. Rick Perry signed legislation last month to provide
treatment instead of incarceration for thousands of Texans convicted
of drug possession, he was in excellent company. | ||||||||||||||||
In fact, Republican governors around the country have taken the lead
in carefully and sensibly reforming criminal justice and drug
policies. Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. is in an excellent position to
join his colleagues in improving public safety and saving taxpayer's
dollars in the process. | ||||||||||||||||
Like so many Nixons going to China, Republican policy-makers are
rethinking prison expenditures for nonviolent and drug offenders and
changing public policy. In 2001 alone, there were prison closures in
six states: Florida, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Kansas and Utah, all
of which were governed by Republicans. | ||||||||||||||||
In December, Gov. John Engler signed a bill passed by Michigan's
Republican-controlled House and Senate to abolish most of his
state's mandatory sentencing laws for drug offenders. GOP Rep. Mike
Kowall, who chaired Michigan's Criminal Justice Committee at the
time, said, "Make no mistake about it: I have no problem with
putting people in jail. I consider myself to the right of Attila the
Hun. This just gets back to common-sense approaches to crime rather
than just locking them up and throwing away the key." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(7) FEDERAL JUDGE NOT TAKING PLEA DEALS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Prosecutor Says Process Will Grind To A Halt | ||||||||||||||||
Charlotte's chief federal judge has stopped accepting virtually all
plea agreements, a move that could dramatically slow prosecutions of
bank robbers, drug dealers and white-collar criminals. | ||||||||||||||||
U.S. Chief District Judge Graham Mullen's new policy affects plea
agreements that force criminals to give up their right to appeal.
Those account for almost all plea agreements in federal courts in
Charlotte and the Western District of North Carolina. | ||||||||||||||||
Mullen, in an order issued in June, called such agreements "unconscionable" and announced he would no longer accept the deals. | ||||||||||||||||
"I don't think it's right," the judge told The Observer. | ||||||||||||||||
Noting that federal prosecutors retain their right to appeal, the
judge added: "Defendants have to take their chances with judges and
the government does not. Even in guilty pleas, judges can make
mistakes." | ||||||||||||||||
Mullen also believes that appeals would pave the way for appellate
courts to clarify sentencing guidelines and give judges more
direction in their powers. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(8) PLEA DEALS GARNER THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS FOR DO-GOOD GROUPS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Some Wisconsin courts - including those in Milwaukee and Waukesha
counties - have collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from
criminals and doled the money out to local do-good groups such as
the Boys & Girls Clubs and DARE. | ||||||||||||||||
But such collections have all but ended in Fond du Lac County, where
a prosecutor bemoaned the loss of money to such groups. | ||||||||||||||||
And Dane County judges have washed their hands of the practice. | ||||||||||||||||
As the state Ethics Board investigates whether former attorney
general candidate Vince Biskupic violated the law by secretly not
charging people who gave money to local groups, prosecutors and
judges are interpreting the law differently on when and how
criminals can be ordered to pay. | ||||||||||||||||
Biskupic, a former Outagamie County district attorney, came under fire after the Wisconsin State Journal reported that he agreed not to charge about a dozen people who gave about $37,000 to organizations loosely defined as crime prevention groups. | ||||||||||||||||
Unlike plea bargains approved in open court by a judge, these
alleged deals were done in secret, behind closed doors without
public knowledge or oversight. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) IN YEAR OF CUTS, SOME LAWMAKERS QUESTION DRUG-TREATMENT SPENDING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
BOSTON In a year when lawmakers spared few education and health care
programs from cuts, they set aside $37 million for substance abuse
treatment and prevention more than the state spends annually to run
any state college. | ||||||||||||||||
That $37 million is also more than the state spends on community
policing, or expanding half-day kindergarten programs to full day,
or running the state Attorney General's office. | ||||||||||||||||
Some policymakers said that treating substance abuse should be last
on the priority list. But drug treatment advocates said the money is
necessary. | ||||||||||||||||
"It's our concern that without these services, many of these individuals receiving methadone treatment would be back on the street using heroin again," said Sara Hartman, vice president of the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Corps of Massachusetts. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (10-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The excessive overkill used by some fighting the drug war was
highlighted in two stories this week. In Michigan, a man had
millions of dollars confiscated from him by police based on
suspicions about drug activities, even those suspicions haven't
panned out. In the second story, a California man is spending time
in a Mexican jail because he didn't know a used car he bought
contained drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
In Wisconsin, the governor pledged to open two new prisons in the
state, one of them focused on drug and alcohol treatment for
inmates. And, a Florida police officer was convicted of launder
money for a friend. According to the cop, he had no idea his friend
was selling drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
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(10) DRUG CASE A BLACK EYE FOR PROSECUTORS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Like a CAT scan series depicting the progress of a degenerative
disease, the long, strange saga of Joseph E. Puertas continues to
expose lesions in the criminal justice system. | ||||||||||||||||
Puertas is the 76-year-old Clarkston man Oakland County prosecutors
have been pursuing since 1997, when police in search of illegal
narcotics seized more than $1 million in cash, but no drugs, from
several Puertas family members' homes and businesses. | ||||||||||||||||
Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca eventually laid claim to
more than $4 million in cash, jewelry and other assets owned by
Puertas' spouse and children, and in 1999 Joe Puertas was convicted
of six counts of delivery of cocaine and one count of operating a
criminal enterprise. | ||||||||||||||||
Most of what has happened since is an embarrassment to law enforcement in general and Gorcyca's office in particular. | ||||||||||||||||
Two months after Puertas' conviction, Michigan State Police released
results of an investigation in which officers, including the
then-commander of the state Narcotics Enforcement Team, expressed
grave doubts about the case against Puertas and the credibility of a
paid informant who testified for the prosecution. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(11) CHULA VISTA MAN STILL IN CUSTODY IN MEXICO (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
TIJUANA - Mexican federal investigators are expected to decide today whether to file charges against a Chula Vista man who claims he didn't know a car he purchased from a U.S. auction contained drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
Adrian Rodriguez, 25, said he took the 1991 Volkswagen Passat to a
Tijuana auto shop because it was making noises. Mechanics found a
secret compartment with about 15 kilos of marijuana packed in
plastic, and Rodriguez said he and the mechanics decided to call the
police. | ||||||||||||||||
Police then turned him over to the Mexican Attorney General's
Office, where he remains in custody. | ||||||||||||||||
His wife, Ali Jazmin Rodriguez, showed copies of a U.S. federal
forfeiture sale document that was issued March 5, 2003, and listed
the car's identifying characteristics. The car was bought for $600
at an auction of vehicles seized by the U.S. Customs Service, she
said. A lawyer for Adrian Rodriguez submitted the document to
Mexican federal investigators. | ||||||||||||||||
Abraham Sarabia, a spokesman for the Mexican Attorney General's
Office, said the car's origin is part of the investigation. Mexican
and U.S. courts have struck down or dismissed two similar cases in
recent months. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(12) WEST PALM OFFICER GUILTY OF LAUNDERING MONEY FOR DRUG DEALER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A West Palm Beach police officer was convicted Tuesday of laundering $80,000 in drug money for a major crack cocaine dealer on his beat. | ||||||||||||||||
Herman A. Tureaud Sr. took bundles of cash from drug dealer Jerry Hampton, investing the money into low-income housing. The scheme collapsed when two West Palm Beach police officers conducting surveillance on Hampton noticed Tureaud spending time with him. | ||||||||||||||||
A West Palm Beach federal jury took a little less than five hours to
find Tureaud guilty of four money-laundering charges and a single
count of lying to the Internal Revenue Service. He faces up to 85
years in prison. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(13) DOYLE TO SIGN PLANS TO OPEN 2 PRISONS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Gov. Jim Doyle said he will sign state budget plans to open two
empty and long-fought-over new prisons in April 2004, helping clear
the way for nearly half of the 2,290 prisoners held out of state to
return to Wisconsin. | ||||||||||||||||
Doyle, a Democrat, had proposed leaving prisons in New Lisbon and Chippewa Falls closed until at least mid-2005 to save money. But Doyle said over the weekend that he would approve language added to the 2003-05 state budget by Republicans that would bump up the opening dates. The news is likely to surprise some Republicans, who had been told by administration officials that opening the prisons would cost too much compared to leaving prisoners out of state. | ||||||||||||||||
Doyle said he changed his mind, in part, because Highview Correctional Institution in Chippewa Falls will become the state's first prison dedicated to drug and alcohol treatment under the plan. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (14-18) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The shifting sands of cannabis prohibition continue to confuse all North American drug policy reform observers and obsessives this week. In a strange twist, Health Canada will be issuing users guides to physicians and patients this week to accompany the court-ordered supply of government cannabis. Health Canada's manual apparently focuses on not using cannabis as a medicine at all and recommends never smoking it; suggesting instead ingestion through tinctures or suppositories(!). As a legal user of medicinal cannabis, I urge them to stick this misguided manual where they expect us to put our pot. | ||||||||||||||||
Next is a comprehensive look at the state and federal politics at
play in the pot debate. This article is well-researched,
well-written, and a must read. Our third story examines how DNA
technology is being used to try to track the nation's pot
trafficking network. This huge waste of time, money, and technology
pleases the black market purveyors of cannabis, but baffles the
average citizen. | ||||||||||||||||
Our fourth story looks at a 1975 Alaska Supreme Court decision known
as "Ravin" that may protect the rights of Alaskans to use cannabis
within the privacy of their own homes. An attorney named Satterberg,
who believes that Ravin trumps the federal law against cannabis,
will argue his case before the Alaska Court of Appeals. And now to
add a bit of sugar to your coffee: a York teen has taken advantage
of the legal limbo surrounding cannabis in Ontario by reporting the
theft of $20 worth of cannabis by two young men. The police are
actively investigating the case. Ah lawlessness - now that's got to
make you smile | ||||||||||||||||
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(14) HEALTH CANADA SET TO RELEASE MEDICAL-POT MANUAL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Health Canada is set to release a user's manual this week for a drug
it has long opposed: marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
The unprecedented move has been triggered by the courts, which
compelled Health Canada this month to begin distributing
government-certified marijuana to a group of patients who take the
substance to alleviate symptoms. | ||||||||||||||||
The department must also release a manual on how to use its dope -
but a draft version of the document shows patients will get little
practical advice about ingesting marijuana and lots of warnings
against using it at all. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"We're not recommending, in fact, that marijuana be used," Suzanne
Desjardins, a Health Canada scientist who helped produce the manual,
said in an interview from Ottawa. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(15) POT PARADOX (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Supported by a teetering prosthetic leg held together with brown
mailing tape, John Stargel went to Nevada's Bureau of Vocational
Rehabilitation seeking job training. | ||||||||||||||||
But the 53-year-old former construction worker was refused assistance after he noted to his case worker that he is a legal smoker of medicinal marijuana, which voters here approved in 2000. | ||||||||||||||||
"So one state agency approves my medicine, and another says that if
I take my medicine, I can't get any help. Wow," said Mr. Stargel,
whose doctor authorized his marijuana use to offset his chronic
pain. | ||||||||||||||||
The dismissal of Mr. Stargel's case is one more pot paradox that a growing number of states are facing as voters and legislatures from California to Maryland continue to support doctor-prescribed use of the weed, which was outlawed by the federal government in 1937. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(16) DNA DATABASE TRACKS POT TRAFFICKING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
State forensic scientists are compiling a DNA database to track the
nation's marijuana distribution network. It is built upon two
principles: Genetic material does not lie, and drug dealers always
grow the most potent marijuana possible. | ||||||||||||||||
In three years scientists at the state Forensic Science Laboratory have mapped the genetic profile of about 600 marijuana samples taken from around New England. As the database expands, scientists foresee a new way for investigators to trace the drug from grower to smoker. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(17) ALASKA POT CASE HEADS FOR AN APPEAL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The fate of an argument that the Alaska Constitution gives adults
the right to possess small amounts of marijuana in their homes could
be decided by a local case being considered by the Alaska Court of
Appeals. | ||||||||||||||||
A lawyer for a North Pole man convicted in 2001 of possessing
marijuana in his home has appealed the conviction based on a claim
that a nearly three-decade-old Alaska Supreme Court decision
declaring personal pot possession a state constitutional right is
still the law. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(18) ONTARIO TEEN CALLS COPS AFTER HER POT IS STOLEN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Hey, officer, can you help me get my dope back? A teen called York
Region cops Thursday to report her marijuana had been stolen in a
street robbery. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (19-23) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A meeting in Chiang Rai, Thailand of prohibitionist politicians and
bureaucrats from Thailand, China, Laos, Burma, and India will announce
a "Declaration" affirming their resolve to fight drugs. The meeting
focused on forming a common strategy to stop precursor chemicals used
to manufacture drugs like heroin and amphetamines. As expected,
Thailand blamed the Burma-based United Wa Army for drug trafficking.
Officials remained hopeful that illusory crop-substitution programs
could replace lost incomes to small farmers accustomed to growing
opium. | ||||||||||||||||
Death squad rhetoric continues to heat up in the Philippines.
Berating the "devils" who would suggest his city had a drug problem,
the Mayor of Ozamiz City last week proclaimed, "I'll butcher you" to
"drug lords and dealers" last week. The Philippine anti-drug user
pogrom was recently stepped up as President Gloria Arroyo declared
"all-out war" against "illegal drugs." Translation: jail more
cannabis users. | ||||||||||||||||
The Sydney trial of a supervised injection center is a success, according to an Australian government evaluation. The positive review clears the way for funding next year. In an 18-month-period, about 3,800 people registered at the center made some 56,000 visits. Over 400 overdose incidents were noted, but none were fatal. Lives were saved because medical staff were on hand to head off problems. | ||||||||||||||||
As Vancouver slowly works toward the establishment of safe injection centers in that city, disgruntled police continue to voice their displeasure and thwart the process. Last week, police tried to enter private injection rooms at an unofficial center for addicts while people were injecting. A registered nurse on duty said police burst into the facility late Saturday night hoping to roust addicts. The officers left after failing to produce a search warrant. | ||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile, Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell affirmed his campaign promise to open a city-sponsored safe injection facility, despite lacking the $6 million funding needed. The estimated $2 million needed yearly to run the facility is the largest obstacle to the opening the center. The mayor is "optimistic" that the funding can be secured, allowing the site to open in mid-September. | ||||||||||||||||
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(19) CHIANG RAI DRUG FORUM: WAR ON DRUGS SET TO ESCALATE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Ministers from Thailand, India, Laos, Burma and China are poised to
announce a Chiang Rai Declaration outlining their political
commitment to curbing the flow of narcotics and precursor chemicals
within the region. | ||||||||||||||||
The ministers, including Justice Minister Pongthep Thepkanchana, will meet today in Chiang Rai as part of a regional drug forum. | ||||||||||||||||
Yesterday's meeting of senior official focused on formulating a common
strategy on how to contain precursor chemicals, legally produced in
many countries in the region but sold on the black market to producers
of illicit drugs like heroin and methamphetamines. | ||||||||||||||||
The forum, which for the first time includes India, was expected to green-light the establishment of a network that would bypass bureaucratic red tape by linking the respective counter-narcotics agencies of each country, said Pol Lt-General Chidchai Vanasatidya, secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotic Control Board (ONCB). | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Market access in foreign countries, including the US and in Europe,
for farmers who have switched from opium cultivation to legitimate
crops would be high on today's agenda when ministers meet, Chidchai
said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
In spite of millions of dollars being spent over the past three decades
to try to curb the drug trade, narcotics production in the region
continues to grow steadily, while Thailand's western neighbour, Burma,
has become Asia's biggest producer of methamphetamines, known locally
as ya ba. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Thailand has singled out the pro-Rangoon United Wa State Army, Kokang
Chinese and Kachin Independent Army, all of which are remnants of the
now-defunct Communist Party of Burma (CPB) and situated in Burma's
section of the Golden Triangle, as being responsible for much of the
opium and heroin flowing through the region. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(20) OZAMIZ MAYOR TO DRUG LORDS: 'I'LL BUTCHER YOU' (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
OZAMIZ CITY -- "Kung dili kamo mamahawa diri sa dakbayan sa Ozamiz,
pang-ihawon ta g'yud mo tanan. (If you don't leave Ozamiz City, I'll
butcher you.)" | ||||||||||||||||
This was the warning of Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr. to drug lords
and dealers even as he vowed to intensify the local campaign against
illegal drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
Parojinog, who claimed that his campaign against illegal drugs
started even before President Arroyo declared an all-out war against
illegal drugs last month, said his drive has already started to bear
fruit. He said his goal was to make Ozamiz drug-free. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Responding to criticisms and allegations that Ozamiz City is one of the worst places in the country in terms of illegal drugs, Parojinog said, "Kamong mga panuwaya kamo, ayaw ninyo dalahiga ang maayo nga imahen sa Ozamiz (You devils, don't give Ozamiz a bad name)." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The police operations resulted in the seizure of 17 sachets and 100
grams of shabu with an estimated value of P182,600. They also
recovered five kilos of marijuana worth P5,000. Charges have been
filed. | ||||||||||||||||
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(21) SUPERVISED DRUG INJECTING ROOM TRIAL CONSIDERED A SUCCESS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
An evaluation report into an 18 month trial of Australia's first
medically supervised injecting centre has cleared the way for the
continuation of the $A2.4m (UKP1m; $US1.6m; euros1.4m) a year
project. | ||||||||||||||||
The 233 page evaluation found that from May 2001 to October 2002,
3810 registered individuals made 56861 visits to the centre. A total
of 409 incidents of drug overdose were recorded--including 329 from
heroin and 60 from cocaine--though none were fatal. | ||||||||||||||||
The report estimates that at least four lives were saved as a result
of the proximity of users to medical staff. The report was prepared
by the evaluation committee headed by John Kaldor, professor of
epidemiology and deputy director of the national centre of HIV
epidemiology at the University of New South Wales. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The government approved the trial in the hope that it may "decrease overdose deaths, provide a gateway to treatment, reduce the problem of discarded needles and users injecting in public places." | ||||||||||||||||
The evaluation found that the injecting centre made 1385 referrals
to drug treatment services "especially amongst frequent attenders"
and that there was no negative effect on the community nor any
evidence of an increase in crime. Support for the centre among local
residents rose from 68% to 78% during the trial period. | ||||||||||||||||
Launching the report, the special minister of state for New South
Wales, John Della Bosca, backed the continuation of the centre
beyond its legislated end date of 30 October 2003. "The centre did
save lives; there was no 'honey pot' effect detected, no increase in
crime or drug related loitering in the Kings Cross precinct," he
said. | ||||||||||||||||
Draft legislation will be introduced in September to make the injecting rooms permanent. The New South Wales branch of the Green party--one of the parties holding the balance of power in the upper house--are advocating that centres be established outside Sydney. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The Australian Capital Territory's government has indicated that it
too will now consider establishing a medically supervised injecting
room. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||
(22) POLICE ATTEMPT ENTRY INTO INJECTION ROOMS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Vancouver -- Police tried to bust into private injection rooms at an
illegal drop-in centre for addicts while people were shooting up, a
nurse alleged yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||
Megan Oleson, the on-site registered nurse, said three police officers entered the centre late Saturday night, spooking addicts. | ||||||||||||||||
Volunteers tried to stall the officers, who didn't have a warrant and left eventually. Vancouver Police Const. Sarah Bloor said the group is blowing the visit by police way out of proportion. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(23) SAFE SITE BY SEPTEMBER, MAYOR SAYS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
City and Health Authority to Make Pitch for Money on | ||||||||||||||||
Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell said Friday he is optimistic he will
deliver on his election promise of a safe injection site for
intravenous drug addicts even though the $6 million in funding for
operating expenses is not yet in place. | ||||||||||||||||
Campbell said he expects the site to open by the first or second
week of September. During last November's civic election campaign he
promised the site would be open Jan. 1. | ||||||||||||||||
Despite his upbeat attitude, Campbell provided no specifics on where the money will come from when he and Vancouver Coastal Health Authority president and chief executive officer Ida Goudreau updated the Four Pillars Coalition on the planned site Friday morning. | ||||||||||||||||
"I'm an optimistic guy," he said when asked afterwards how the
funding can be found. He said the funding is a provincial
responsibility. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The health authority has already applied for funding from the
Vancouver Agreement, aimed at improving the Downtown Eastside and
has also applied for money through the federal drug strategy's
primary health care transition fund. | ||||||||||||||||
The $2-million-a-year funding for the three-year pilot project
remains the biggest hurdle to the safe injection site. Health Canada
approved the site in June as a three-year research pilot project and
approved an exemption to allow controlled substances to be injected
at the site. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
THE DEBATE: HINCHEY/ROHRABACHER MEDICAL MARIJUANA AMENDMENT | ||||||||||||||||
What follows is the historic debate on medical cannabis in the United
States House of Representatives as printed by the Congressional
Record. The actual vote took place on 23 July, was 152 for, 273
against and nine not voting. | ||||||||||||||||
The debate is on line, in four parts, at the following webpages: | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
HALTING DRUG REFORM | ||||||||||||||||
By Dan Forbes, published at TomPaine.com | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
ONDCP DEPUTY ENDORSES CAGING PATIENTS | ||||||||||||||||
DrugSense FOCUS Alert #268 Thu, 23 July 2003 | ||||||||||||||||
On Tuesday, July 22, the Los Angeles Times ran a column by ONDCP Deputy Director Andrea Barthwell. Citing her background as an M.D., Barthwell strongly debunks the idea of medical marijuana. Nothing much is new here, though she is clear to focus her criticism on 'smoking' marijuana. Also she specifically notes that 'feeling better' from using marijuana is not a valid reason to use it. One must 'actually get better' or otherwise be subject to arrest and prosecution. | ||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||
HOUSE DEFEATS EFFORT TO DIVERT COLOMBIA MILITARY AID, BARELY | ||||||||||||||||
DRCNet, Drug War Chronicle, Issue #297, 7/25/03 | ||||||||||||||||
In a borderline show of strength, House Republicans Thursday barely
beat back efforts by Democrats to redirect $75 million in funds
destined for the Colombian military. The vote, on an amendment to the
$17 billion foreign aid appropriations bill, was 226-195, leaving
opponents of US support for Colombia's embattled government just 16
votes short of victory. The foreign aid appropriations bill passed on
a vote of 370-50. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
INFORMATION FOR HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS - MARIHUANA (CANNABIS) | ||||||||||||||||
Health Canada, Office of Cannabis Medical Access, July 24, 2003 | ||||||||||||||||
This document has been prepared for the Drug Strategy and Controlled
Substances Programme to provide information on the use of marihuana
for medical purposes. | ||||||||||||||||
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hecs-sesc/ocma/publication/marihuana/toc.htm | ||||||||||||||||
INFORMATION FOR THE PATIENT - MARIHUANA (CANNABIS) | ||||||||||||||||
This leaflet is published by Health Canada for patients who have been
authorized by Health Canada to possess dried marihuana. | ||||||||||||||||
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hecs-sesc/ocma/publication/info_for_patient/info_for_patient.htm | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
OPEN LETTER TO HEALTH CANADA, THE CMA AND THE PRESS | ||||||||||||||||
Canadians for Safe Access | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
White Paper on The Potential Medical Liability For Physicians
Recommending Marijuana As A Medicine | ||||||||||||||||
EVI, Washington DC July 23, 2003 | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
FREE BRYAN EPIS PETITION | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
MARC EMERY SUMMER OF LEGALIZATION TOUR | ||||||||||||||||
Pot-TV Running Time: 6 min Date | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
GROWING OUTRAGE | ||||||||||||||||
By Jacob Sullum, Reason Online, July 23, 2003 | ||||||||||||||||
The DEA's Medical Marijuana Raids Show Contempt for The Constitution. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
IMPRISONING OUR YOUTH FOR DRUG, ALCOHOL ABUSE IS STUPID | ||||||||||||||||
By Joseph E. Hopwood | ||||||||||||||||
I respond to the Daily Mail's July 17 editorial, "Expunging: Criminal
offenses are public record to discourage repeat performances." The
editorial needs rethinking, a great deal of it. | ||||||||||||||||
As a fourth-generation member of an old West Virginia crime family, let
me assure you that putting people in prison for long periods makes no
sense except to policemen who live off the practice. | ||||||||||||||||
We now have 2 million people in prison who will someday return to
society more prone to crime than when they were sentenced, and who will
be fodder for the next generation of policemen. | ||||||||||||||||
Taxpayers in West Virginia support a prison population equal to a city
the size of Wheeling -- very expensive welfare. It would be far cheaper
to give them all scholarships to Morgantown. | ||||||||||||||||
There are only two solutions to the crime problem -- education and
psychological treatment for those who need it. | ||||||||||||||||
The prison mentality is growing rapidly among all classes. | ||||||||||||||||
Warehousing a convict as punishment wastes a man's life, and the
ex-prisoner will be thinking of those wasted years when he blows
your head off. | ||||||||||||||||
Half the people in prison in our country are in prison for
drug-related crime. Another 30 percent are in prison due to another
addictive drug, alcohol. | ||||||||||||||||
Putting the cream of our youth in prison for drugs and alcohol is
stupid. It never did any good and never will. | ||||||||||||||||
Addiction is a very natural state for the human animal, and we all
have a constitutional right to use any drug, addictive or not, in
our own self-interest. | ||||||||||||||||
At least that is what I taught my children. | ||||||||||||||||
Drugs do not hurt our democracy or threaten our freedoms. It's the
handcuffs, stupid. | ||||||||||||||||
Joseph E. Hopwood, | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
CONGRESS FAILS TO PROTECT MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS | ||||||||||||||||
By Robert Kampia | ||||||||||||||||
On July 23, the U.S. House of Representatives had a chance to protect
from arrest patients who have a medical need to use marijuana.
Tragically, the House failed to do so. | ||||||||||||||||
Fortunately, more than half of Colorado's House delegation voted to
protect these vulnerable citizens. Only Reps. Scott McInnis (R-Grand
Junction), Marilyn Musgrave (R-Loveland), and Joel Hefley
(R-Colorado Springs) failed to do so. | ||||||||||||||||
An amendment proposed by Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) would have prevented the U.S. Justice Department and its Drug Enforcement Administration from interfering with state medical marijuana laws by raiding and arresting patients and caregivers. This moderate proposal would not have forced any state to allow medical marijuana if it doesn't want to. It would simply have required the DEA to respect the wishes of those states that have chosen to protect seriously ill patients from arrest. | ||||||||||||||||
As a result of the House action, patients battling cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and other terrible illnesses, who find that marijuana relieves their pain and nausea, will still face being rousted out of bed, arrested, handcuffed, booked, and thrown in jail. | ||||||||||||||||
This isn't just a possibility. It is precisely what happened to
Suzanne Pfeil last September. | ||||||||||||||||
Pfeil, partially paralyzed from post-polio syndrome, was asleep in
bed when DEA agents raided the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical
Marijuana in Santa Cruz, California, of which she is a member.
Agents stormed into Pfeil's room, pointed automatic rifles at her
head, and demanded that she get out of bed. When she pointed to her
leg braces and said, "I can't," they handcuffed her and ransacked
the premises. | ||||||||||||||||
Rohrabacher, a conservative Republican, summed up the amendment in
an eloquent, emotional speech on the House Floor. "It is immoral for
us to put people in jail for trying to alleviate suffering," he
said. "It is a travesty for the federal government to send police
into my state to arrest people and put them in cages for doing
something that the people of my state have voted to make a legal
practice." | ||||||||||||||||
But that is precisely what the federal government has been doing -- and will continue to do, with the explicit permission of Congress. It is doing so despite the fact that back in 1997, the prestigious "New England Journal of Medicine" called the federal ban on medical marijuana "misguided, heavy- handed and inhumane." The federal government continues its war on patients despite pleas from the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Public Health Association, the American Nurses Association, and literally hundreds of other medical, nursing, and public health organizations. | ||||||||||||||||
But there are reasons for hope. The battle to end this war on the
sick is gaining momentum, fueled by anger and disgust over the DEA's
raids on patients. | ||||||||||||||||
The last (and only other) time that medical marijuana was addressed
on the House floor, in 1998, a symbolic resolution condemning state
medical marijuana laws passed by 311 to 94. This time, 152 House
members voted to take concrete action to protect medical marijuana
patients. More than two- thirds of House Democrats stood up for
patients, as did 15 Republicans who bravely defied their party's
closed-minded leadership. | ||||||||||||||||
Reps. Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton) and Bob Beauprez (R-Wheatridge)
were among those courageous Republicans. In time, they will find
themselves on the right side of history. | ||||||||||||||||
The tide has turned. The federal government's pointless, misguided
war on patients will end. The only questions left are how soon it
will happen -- and how many people battling terrible illnesses will
suffer in the meantime. | ||||||||||||||||
Robert Kampia is executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project
in Washington, D.C., which worked in support of the | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"He wasn't the kind of person who wore a lot of gold chains. He was kind of conservative." - West Palm Beach police officer Herman Tureaud at his trial for money laundering explaining why he didn't know his friend and business partner was a drug dealer. For more details, see http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1088/a04.html | ||||||||||||||||
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