| Sept. 12, 2003 #317 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
(1) MEDICINAL-POT RAID TO BE REMEMBERED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Advocates Plan Santa Cruz Festival | ||||||||||||||||||||||
While its lawyers gird for their next round in court, the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana is planning a party in the park. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Alliance founder Valerie Leveroni Corral said Sunday's WAMMfest --
billed as the "first annual'' -- has two functions: "to share with
the community our gratitude for their support'' and "to show how
we're regular people.'' | ||||||||||||||||||||||
But the WAMMfest posters and souvenir buttons make it clear there is
a third aspect to it. They show a green ribbon decorated with
marijuana leaves and the words, "Remember the Garden.'' | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The party also commemorates the Sept. 5, 2002, raid by agents of the
federal Drug Enforcement Agency on WAMM's cooperative marijuana farm
near Davenport. Agents held patients at gunpoint -- and sometimes
handcuffed -- and seized 167 plants. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(2) PANEL REJECTS PLEAS TO CURB SALES OF A WIDELY ABUSED PAINKILLER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A federal drug advisory panel yesterday rejected pleas from members of
Congress and drug enforcement officials that sales of the widely abused
painkiller OxyContin be severely restricted. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
But officials from the Bush administration told the panel they were
seriously considering even broader rules requiring doctors to get
special training before being allowed to prescribe OxyContin or any
other controlled narcotic. The changes are intended to stem a growing
tide of prescription drug abuse. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
OxyContin is responsible for 500 to 1,000 deaths a year, a panel member
estimated yesterday. Some two million people used narcotics
recreationally in 2001, the last year for which figures were available,
up from 1.5 million in 1998 and 400,000 in the mid-1980's, according
to data presented to the panel. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(3) CALLS TO CLOSE INJECTING ROOM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
An anti-drugs group today called for Sydney's heroin injecting room to
be shut down, after a report it commissioned found that overdose rates
at the centre were 36 times higher than in the surrounding
neighbourhood. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Drug Free Australia executive director Michael Robinson said the money
spent on the Kings Cross injecting room should be reallocated to
prevention programs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"The government and the injecting room are all about keeping people on
drugs," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"(The centre) has failed on its own indicators. It should be closed,
and that money should be put into rehabilitation." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
But NSW Premier Bob Carr, whose government this month decided to continue
for four years the trial of the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting
Centre, dismissed the call. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"On balance, it's better to have a medically supervised injecting room
than to have these people injecting in the alleyways of Kings Cross,
forcing the paramedics, the ambulance crews, to risk their own lives
trying to track them down when an overdose has occurred," he told
reporters. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The injecting room's medical director, Ingrid van Beek, said the Drug Free Australia report's findings were based on false assumptions. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"We would strongly dispute the figure of 36 times the number of
overdoses. That is incorrect," she said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Dr van Beek said the rate of non-fatal overdoses in the community was
always under-reported, because it relied on self-reporting by drug
users. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
High overdose rates at the centre were not surprising because the
injecting room targeted high-risk drug users, she said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(4) YOUR BRAIN ON BAD SCIENCE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Leading Ecstasy Researcher Retracts Critical Study | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Not everyone was surprised this past weekend when Dr. George A.
Ricaurte of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine published a
retraction in the journal Science of an earlier paper asserting that
MDMA, a.k.a. Ecstasy, negatively affected dopamine function in two
species of nonhuman primates. Writing with four other authors,
including his wife, Una D. McCann, Ricaurte admitted that "the drug
used to treat all but one animal . . . came from a bottle that
contained d-methamphetamine [a known dopamine toxin] instead of the
intended drug, racemic MDMA." Ricaurte et al. blamed the lab for
mislabeling the two drugs, but other experts in the field have raised
questions about studies involving Ricaurte before. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
According to some scientists, Ricaurte, who gets substantial grant
money from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), has often
omitted data that might undermine his case that even low or occasional
doses of MDMA can cause brain damage -- an argument that has been used
to halt potentially significant research into MDMA's therapeutic
applications. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Regular readers will be shocked, just shocked to find that a hysterical Ecstasy study widely bandied about the media was based on mistake in the lab. When federally-sponsored researchers suggested that Ecstasy caused brain damage in monkeys, other researchers were skeptical, clearly with good cause. It seems the researchers used methamphetamine instead of Ecstasy for the test. Ooops. Strangely, the results of the flawed study were initially released as the RAVE Act was being hyped last year, and the former head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse stood strongly behind the research. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A federal appeals court ruled that the use of hoasca tea by a
religious group is covered the First Amendment. Other good news came
with the release of a new book designed to teach doctors about pain
management. Unfortunately, a new state bill proposed in Kentucky
would put doctors who treat chronic pain under even tighter
scrutiny. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(5) LABELING ERROR BLOWS DRUG STUDY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- A prestigious scientific journal is retracting a study
about the effects of the drug Ecstasy on the brain because the
animals used in the research were given a different drug. The
researchers blamed the error on a labeling mix-up. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Previous studies had reported on the brain hazards of Ecstasy, and
the researchers said the problems with their study did not call into
question the earlier ones. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Scientists at Johns Hopkins University reported in September 2002,
that key neurons in the brains of squirrel monkeys and baboons were
damaged when the animals were given doses of Ecstasy that mimicked
those often taken by users of the drug during all-night dance
parties. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The researchers said the study raised questions about whether
Ecstasy -- also known as MDMA -- might hasten the onset of
Parkinson's disease, a disorder triggered by the permanent loss of
dopamine-producing nerve cells. It was those nerve cells that were
reported to have been damaged by Ecstasy in the Johns Hopkins
research. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In retracting the story, the journal Science said Friday that the
researchers discovered that labels on drugs supplied to them by an
outside company were incorrect and the animals had actually been
given a different drug, methamphetamine. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(6) COURT SAYS CHURCH CAN USE HALLUCINOGENIC TEA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
DENVER - A New Mexico church was handed a small victory Thursday
when a federal appeals court ruled its use of hallucinogenic tea was
likely to be protected under freedom of religion laws. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The ruling, issued by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver,
upheld a preliminary injunction against the U.S. Attorney General,
the Drug Enforcement Administration and other government agencies
that sought to prohibit the tea's use. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The appeals court agreed with the U.S. District Court in New Mexico that the Brazil-based O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal church had "demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success" of winning an exemption for sacramental use of the tea, which contains a drug barred by the Controlled Substances Act. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Jeffrey Bronfman, president of the church, sued the Justice
Department after 30 gallons of hoasca tea were seized by U.S.
Customs agents from his office in Santa Fe, N.M. No one was arrested
in the 1999 raid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Hoasca tea, used in some religious ceremonies, is brewed from plants
found only in the Amazon River Basin. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(7) NEW TEXTBOOK TEACHES PAIN MANAGEMENT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON (AP) -- An estimated 50 million Americans suffer from persistent pain, yet most medical students have no courses focused on treating pain, according to the American Academy of Pain Medicine. "Untreated pain, tragically, is an epidemic in the United States," Dr. Louis Sullivan, former Health and Human Services secretary, said Monday as he announced an initiative to promote education on pain management at the country's medical schools. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The American Academy of Pain Medicine has developed a Web-based
textbook that will be available to medical students without charge
beginning September 2004. It covers the neurobiology of pain,
patient evaluation and common types of pain, such as cancer and
pediatric pain, and includes self-tests. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The project is financed by a grant from the Purdue Pharma Fund, a branch of the drug company that makes the painkiller OxyContin. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Dr. Daniel Carr, director of the project and a professor of pain
research at Boston's New England Medical Center, said the textbook
focuses on medical and behavioral treatments for pain, because they
are backed by more research than alternative therapies such as
acupuncture. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Only 3 percent of medical schools require students to take a course on pain management, according to a survey of 125 schools by the Association of American Medical Colleges in 2000 and 2001. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(8) BILL WOULD LOOK CLOSELY AT DOCTORS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
FRANKFORT - Doctors who prescribe high volumes of narcotics or work
in communities notorious for pill abuse could face special scrutiny
under proposed legislation that would go before Kentucky lawmakers
early next year. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Yesterday, a task force created by the 2003 General Assembly
outlined six recommendations for legislation aimed at fighting the
state's worsening prescription-drug abuse problem. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Two key measures, if passed by the 2004 legislature, would
significantly expand the current use of the Kentucky All-Schedule
Prescription Electronic Reporting system. The statewide database,
called KASPER, keeps track of who writes and who receives drug
prescriptions. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Under the proposals hammered out yesterday, state health officials
would receive wide discretionary powers to seek out -- without being
asked by law enforcement -- possible improper prescribing by
doctors. Such prescriptions are considered a major source of pills
for the illegal market. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (9-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Law makers and law enforcers in Oklahoma have come to a startling
conclusion: tough drug laws fill prisons, but they don't really help
reduce drug problems. The stubborn methamphetamine trade in the
state has helped some to see this, but that don't expect change any
time soon. A former Reagan administration official is suggesting
that the U.S. further tap into its prison population as a cheap
labor market. Drug law enforcement is also bringing some cash to
Kentucky, where some prosecutors and police are accepting money from
defendants as part of pleas bargains. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Aggressive but careless enforcement of drug laws has brought terror
to another innocent household, this time in Chicago. A widow there
was horrified as police broke into her house before realizing they
had the wrong address. And, speaking of doing more harm than good,
police in Los Angeles are being accused of hassling needle exchange
programs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(9) METH LABS DEFYING NEW LAWS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
For over a decade, Oklahoma lawmakers have tried to fight meth
manufacturing, only to see a surge in makeshift labs jam the radar
of law enforcement and fill up prisons. Many of the laws passed have
tried to limit products used to make methamphetamine. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Still, the problem has mushroomed, with 1,254 labs seized in 2002
compared with none a decade earlier. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Now, policy makers and even veteran law enforcement officials are
beginning to realize, "we can't arrest our way out of this problem,"
said Scott Rowland, general counsel of the Oklahoma Bureau of
Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
New strategies stressing treatment are needed because most meth is
made to feed an addiction, not make a profit, he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Many involved in making the drug, using recipes on the Internet, are
supplying the habits of themselves and a few friends. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
One possible law Rowland is researching -- "at the risk of sounding
like a Nazi" -- would set up a civil commitment system for addicts
and small-time meth makers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The idea is to isolate users for weeks or months before trial so
they can be detoxified. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(10) BUSINESS BEHIND BARS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Former Reagan Attorney General Ed Meese has a way to slow the exodus
of jobs overseas: put prisoners to work. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Why the sudden interest? The U.S. prison population has reached 2.1
million, up from just 300,000 20 years ago. Cash-strapped state
governments are struggling both to cover the annual cost of
incarceration, which has swelled over that time from $3 billion to
$40 billion, and to find enough work to keep all those prisoners
occupied. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Prominent conservatives have been encouraging prisons to put inmates
to work for years. Led by Edwin Meese, the former U.S. Attorney
General and head of the Heritage Foundation, and Morgan Reynolds,
one of the first President Bush's economic advisors, they have
lobbied for real prison employment by the private sector--not just
make-work projects like stamping license plates or building
courthouse furniture. The benefits are difficult to ignore:
Businesses get cheap, reliable workers; inmates receive valuable job
training and earn more than they would in traditional prison jobs;
and the government offsets the cost of incarceration and keeps jobs
and tax dollars in the U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Corporate America has started to pay attention. The number of
inmates employed by the private sector is still relatively small:
10,000 prisoners working for about 250 companies. But that is up
significantly from the mere handful just ten years ago. Meese
estimates that companies could easily employ ten to 20 times as many
inmate workers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(11) PLEA DEALS QUESTIONED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
State police have been asked to look into whether Kenton County
prosecutors and Ludlow police improperly sought cash payments as
part of plea agreements with people arrested during a drug
investigation in the small river city. Several defense attorneys
recently received "proffers" -- an offer made during plea
negotiations -- that asked the suspects to pay up to $12,000 in
reimbursements to the Ludlow Police Department for the costs of its
investigation. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
About a week ago, one of those defense attorneys carried the
complaints to several Kenton circuit judges. Three of the judges
agreed to forward the information on to state police for
investigation. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Kenton Commonwealth Attorney Bill Crocket said the demands in the
proffers were made not by him or his assistants but by an overeager
Ludlow detective who overstepped his authority. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"Yes. I can say he proposed a recovery of anywhere from $5,000 to $12,000 or more," Crockett said. "We said, 'You can't do that.'" | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Crockett said Detective Bill Schilling was acting in good faith, but
he had to be told at least twice during the past few months that his
actions were outside the law. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(12) WIDOW TERRIFIED BY COPS' MISTAKE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The Chicago Police Department calls it an unfortunate mistake. Earline Jackson, a widow whose address was mistakenly listed on a narcotics search warrant, calls it the scariest night of her life. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"I wouldn't want anyone to go through this. It was frightening,"
Jackson, 73, said Saturday, a day after more than a dozen officers
burst into her home in the middle of the night. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"I asked them, `What did I do?' And they told me to get out of the way because they were looking for drugs," said Jackson, who lives in a first-floor apartment in the 4100 block of West 21st Street. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Police now say the warrant should have listed a similar address on
21st Place--one block south. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"It's unfortunate, but there was an apparent mix-up," said David
Bayless, a Chicago Police Department spokesman. "It looks like the
warrant was served to the wrong house." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(13) POLICE ACCUSED OF INTERFERING WITH NEEDLE-EXCHANGE EFFORTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Activists Say the State's Anti-AIDS Programs Are Being Hindered. a
Law Enforcement Spokesman Suggests That They Are Lying. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A human rights advocacy group Tuesday accused police in California of routinely interfering with legitimate needle-exchange programs intended to slow the spread of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Human Rights Watch, a New York-based group, alleged in a report that police intent on enforcing drug laws often arrest or hassle patrons of locally approved needle-exchange programs throughout the state. The group said that police, in effect, are discouraging people from using a public health program that could save their lives. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Public health officials have long focused on contaminated needles in
the fight against blood-borne diseases such as AIDS. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (14-17) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Much news on the medicinal cannabis front this week. Let's begin
with the exciting announcement that the Dutch government are now
making whole-plant cannabis available in pharmacies by prescription
from a physician. Over 1650 pharmacies will be licensed to supply 2
varieties of therapeutic cannabis - which is currently being
cultivated by 2 Dutch companies - to treat a number of serious
conditions such as HIV/AIDS and MS. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Our second story takes us to Canada, where the federal government
has finally begun supplying cannabis to a handful (ie. 6) legal
users. Jari Dvorak, an Ontario AIDS sufferer and the first outspoken
recipient of this product has given it 5 out of 10 when compared to
the higher potency product available on the street or through
compassion clubs. The cannabis, which has been standardized to 10%
THC, costs $150cdn for 30 grams. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Our third story examines the progress of clinical cannabis trials
currently underway in the U.K., including research on MS as well as
post-operative pain. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
And finally, an interesting first look at an edited version of Dr. Ethan Russo's comprehensive policy paper on cannabis in pain treatment, which will be presented at the American Academy of Pain Management conference taking place in Denver later this week. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(14) DUTCH MAKE POT A PRESCRIPTION DRUG (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The Netherlands this week will become the first country to make
cannabis available as a prescription drug, allowing pharmacies to
sell it to chronically ill patients, a top Dutch health official
said yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The Dutch government has given the country's 1,650 pharmacies the
green light to sell cannabis to people who have cancer, HIV,
multiple sclerosis and Tourette's syndrome in a ground-breaking
acceptance of the drug's medicinal use. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"It's a historic step. What is unique is that we are making it
available on a prescription-only basis through pharmacies," said
Willem Scholten, head of the office of medicinal cannabis at the
Dutch Health Ministry. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(15) CANADIAN FEDERAL POT GETS NOT-SO-HIGH MARKS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
An HIV-infected man, who is among the first of about 500 Canadians legally approved for medicinal marijuana, took his first toke of government-grown weed after picking it up from his doctor yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"I'd give it a five on a scale from one to 10," said Jari Dvorak,
who received a call Monday saying his two 30-gram bags of marijuana
had been couriered and were ready to smoke. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Despite the mediocre review, he said it was a significant day for
medicinal marijuana users nationwide. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"It's a happy moment for a lot of sick people in Canada," he said.
"We should rejoice. This is the beginning of something Canada can be
proud of." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(16) TESTING TIME FOR U.K. CANNABIS USERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Now post-surgery patients are to be part of a Medical Research
Centre study to test cannabis for pain relief. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The trials are being carried out at hospitals throughout the UK, including Princess Alexandra in Harlow, South Essex, and Ipswich Hospital in Suffolk, where researchers hope to measure the effects of cannabis plant extract against other pain-relieving drugs. [snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Lawrence Wood, chief executive of the Colchester-based charity
Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre, was less reticent. He thinks the
study is long overdue. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"Medical people have known for years that, when it comes to pain
relief, cannabis works," he declared. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"A lot of people out there who have multiple sclerosis (MS) find
cannabis is the only thing which really works for them - but it is
still illegal." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(17) CANNABIS AND PAIN MANAGEMENT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The following article is an edited composite of a Policy Paper on
Cannabis in Pain Treatment presented to the American Academy of Pain
Management by Dr Ethan Russo, MD | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Effective treatment of acute, chronic and intractable pain is a
critically important public health concern in the world today.
Despite a vast array of analgesic medicines including | ||||||||||||||||||||||
For over a century, international commissions have studied the issue
of cannabis, and virtually uniformly recommended its | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (18-21) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In Vancouver, Canada, a promised safe-injection center will open "in
the next week or so," according to Mayor Larry Campbell. Campbell
made the opening of a safe-injection center a priority after running
on promises to effectively handle the drug problem in Vancouver's
downtown Eastside. Campbell, who secured some $2 million in
operating expenses for the first year, was "positive the money will
be there for the second and the third and the fourth and the fifth
year." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A Canadian federal judge last week ruled that the Church of the
Universe in Hamilton, Ontario, has a valid legal argument based on
freedom of religion. Members of the Church of the Universe call
cannabis the "tree of life," and assert they should be allowed to
consume cannabis as a part of their religion. However, Justice
Frederick Gibson refused to consider a claim that the church also be
permitted to distribute cannabis, also. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Loving loud and dramatic sweeps to force people and places to be
drug "free", the government of General Santos City in the
Philippines ballyhooed the "surrender" of some 400 "suspected drug
pushers and users." The blacklisted people, many in fear of
government-sponsored death squads roaming the countryside, were
promised by police that their names would be removed from police
blacklists of "pushers and users." Untroubled by details such as
proving innocence or guilt (as is required even by Philippine law),
suspects appearing on police blacklists were ordered to report to
police stations by September 15, or "face the full force of the
law," reported the Sunstar General Santos, a Philippine newspaper.
In the Philippines, as in nearby Thailand, the "full force of the
law" often includes extra-legal death squads, openly recognized to
be the police themselves. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
And in Thailand this week, another lofty pronouncement from the Thai
government that Thailand would be made "drug free" starting October
2. Despite the utter historical failure of any regime anywhere on
earth to force hapless subjects to be "drug free," confident Thai
officials believe they are different. With a trail of some 2,500
bodies so far this year left by quota-filling Thai police death
squads, it is anyone's guess how many more drug 'offenders' will be
sacrificed in a bid to improve the current Thai regime's political
standing. Thai anti-drug bureaucrats declared October 2 would begin
a phase that "would be intense, with careful checks on all
communities, villages, schools and factories." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(18) DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE'S SAFE-INJECTION SITE TO OPEN 'IN NEXT WEEK (Top)OR SO,' SAYS MAYOR | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Vancouver's long-awaited safe-injection site for drug addicts will
open "in the next week or so," one of its greatest champions said
yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"Health Canada is in town and yesterday they went down and looked at
it," said Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell, who essentially won his
job after promising to deal with the drug problems in the Downtown
Eastside. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Campbell said he had secured $2 million from Premier Gordon Campbell
to operate the site in its first year. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"I am positive the money will be there for the second and the third
and the fourth and the fifth year," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(19) POT RELIGION EARNS LEGAL MERIT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Two pot-smoking, nudist reverends - who call marijuana the "tree of life" - have a genuine legal argument based on freedom of religion that they should be allowed to toke, says a federal judge. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Justice Frederick Gibson refused the federal government's request to
throw the novel case out of court, instead allowing it to go to
trial. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Brothers Michael Baldasaro and Walter Tucker, the bishop and abbot
of the Church of the Universe in Hamilton, Ont., say they feel
closer to God when they smoke "the holy plant." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Gibson, in a ruling released last week, concluded that there may be
"potential room for relief" for the reverends to be cleared of
possession charges, but he drew the line at them being able to
traffic. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"I am satisfied that there is evidence before the court that the
plaintiffs sincerely believe that marijuana, or as they prefer, "the
tree of life," is a sacrament to them and in their church," wrote
Gibson. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"It facilitates their communication with God, their peacefulness and
their openness to God and to other persons." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(20) 400 DRUG PUSHERS, USERS SURRENDER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
FOUR hundred suspected drug pushers and users voluntarily surrendered to the local police command late Saturday afternoon. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
This brought the total number of suspected drug pushers and users who surrendered to the local police to around 600 since government stepped up its campaign against illegal drugs last June 16. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
For voluntarily giving themselves up, their names would be stricken out from the police's long list of drug pushers and users. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The local police command is keeping a long list of persons suspected of being involved in the illegal drug activities in the city. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Earlier, the City Government and the local police warned anybody
involved in the illicit drug trade to voluntarily surrender or face
the full force of the law. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Suspected drug pushers and users were given until Sept. 15 to voluntarily turn themselves in to the local authorities. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
So far, only five out of the city's 26 barangays were declared
drug-free. These include Barangays Fatima, San Isidro, Conel, Ligaya
and Batomelong. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Mayor Pedro Acharon Jr. told reporters that before a certain
barangay can be declared drug-free, there must be a resolution duly
approved by a concerned barangay council and a certification signed
by the Anti Drug Council declaring the area drug-free. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The City Government and the police will also appoint guardians from
among the local residents with good moral standing to help in the
monitoring of the progress and activities of those undergoing the
drug rehab program. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Acharon said he would ask the City Council to pass a measure
allocating a budget for the livelihood projects of the drug pushers
and users who showed interest in starting a new life. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(21) FINAL DRIVE TO 'DRUG FREE' STATE BEGINS OCT 2 (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Checks To Intensify In All Communities | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The war on drugs will be intensified in all communities to ensure
Thailand is free of the scourge by Dec 2, ahead of His Majesty the
King's birthday on Dec 5, Interior Minister Wan Muhamad Nor Matha
said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A meeting of intelligence agencies and the national centre to defeat
drugs agreed yesterday that efforts would be redoubled during the
two months from Oct 2, he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A long-term plan for combating drug trafficking and for treatment of
addicts was also presented at the meeting. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Narcotics Control Board secretary-general Pol Lt-Gen Chidchai
Wannasathit said the anti-drug campaign during the 60-day countdown
period would be intense, with careful checks on all communities,
villages, schools and factories. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The first stage of the government's war on drugs ran from Feb 1 to April 30, and focused on law enforcement and rehabilitation of addicts. The second stage, from May 1-Oct 2, concentrated on strategic adjustment. The final 60 days was the countdown to Dec 2. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
BAD SCIENCE DRIVES DRUG WAR HYSTERIA | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A DrugSense Focus Alert. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
WAR OF ETERNITY | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Drug policy panel featuring Dr. Mitch Earleywine, Dr. David Duncan, Mike Gray, Sanho Tree and Canadian barrister Eugene Oscapella. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Al Giordano, publisher of narconews.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Dr. Geoffrey Guy, Exec. Chairman of G.W. Pharmaceuticals
http://www.gwpharm.com/ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Listen online at: http://www.kpft.org/ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
CAL NORML MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION COULD YIELD $1.5-$2.5 BILLION PER YEAR | ||||||||||||||||||||||
California NORML estimates that a legal market for marijuana
could yield the state $1.5 - $2.5 billion. A basic $1 per joint
excise tax would yield about $1 billion to the state, while the state
would save over $150 million in enforcement costs for arrests,
prosecutions and prison. Additional benefits would accrue from
sales taxes and spinoff industries. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
http://www.canorml.org/background/CA_legalization.html#analysis | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
MARIJUANA AND MOTIVATION | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Mitch Earleywine, USC Professor and author of "Understanding Marijuana," debunks the popular, yet scientifically unsound, argument that marijuana leads to lethargy, or 'amotivational syndrome'. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Be sure to log your opinion on this topic in the DPA Discussion Forum. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
U.S. Drug War Is An Abysmal Failure | ||||||||||||||||||||||
By Gene Tinelli | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Bravo for your editorial exposing the meeting between certain MPs of Prime Minister Jean Chretien's party and the U.S. deputy drug czar (A Dopey Lobby, Aug. 27.). The U.S. drug war is an abysmal failure, yet some want Canada's policy to mimic the faulty U.S. model. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
For example, Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch has prepared legislation
called the Vital Interdiction of Criminal Terrorist Organizations
Act, or Victory Act. Basically, this would extend the infamous
Patriot Act provisions to drug possession and use. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The government's rationale is that money from illegal drug profits
fuels some terrorist activities, ignoring that the only reason for
the incredible profits is because of the illegality of the drugs due
to prohibition. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Do not allow Canada to be blackmailed into drug policy rigidity by
certain MPs and our drug czar's office. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Gene Tinelli, addiction psychiatrist, Department of Psychiatry and
Behavioral Science, Upstate Medical University, N.Y. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
LETTER WRITER OF THE MONTH - AUGUST (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
DrugSense recognizes Stephen Heath of Clearwater, Florida for his six
letters published during August, bringing his career total that we know
of to an impressive 102. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Steve leads the Drug Policy Forum of Florida http://www.dpffl.org which
has an excellent state email discussion list. Also a MAP activist, he
writes Focus Alerts, newshawks and is a MAP editor. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Additionally, this month he begins a new job assisting the folks at
LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) with advertising and
publicity in Florida. http://leap.cc/ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
You can read all of Steve's excellent letters by clicking this link: | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Tandy's New Drug-War Strategy Is Old News | ||||||||||||||||||||||
By Jacob C. Hornberger | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Newly appointed Drug Enforcement Chief Karen P. Tandy has announced
that her goals will be to target drug organizations, dry up their
money supply, and dismantle them entirely. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Wow! What a novel and profound idea! Now, why in the world didn't
previous DEA chiefs think of that before now? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
But wait a minute! I think they did! What about all the cartels that have been targeted and destroyed since Tandy graduated from law school in 1977, six years after President Nixon declared war on drugs? Do the Medellin and Cali cartels come to mind? And what about all the drug lords who have been busted over the years, such as Carlos Lehder and Antonio Noriega? Surely Tandy knows about them. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
And what about the asset-forfeiture laws, whose fruits have been
used to fund drug-enforcement agencies for years? Surely Tandy is
also familiar with them. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
If these things haven't proven successful after 30 years of drug
warfare, why should we expect them to prove successful in the
future? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
One big problem, of course, is that they don't teach economics in
most law schools in the country. If they did, Tandy would know that
even if the government succeeds in knocking off drug organizations
or drug kingpins there will always be more waiting in the wings to
take their place. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Why? Because exorbitant black-market profits inevitably arise from
the artificially high black-market prices of the illegal drugs. In
fact, the more the government cracks down on drug organizations and
drug lords, the higher the price goes, which attracts even more drug
organizations and drug lords. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Despite any good intentions she might have, the result will be the same for Tandy as it has been for all other drug-war chiefs for the last 30 years. It's called the law of supply and demand. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Think about all the record drug busts that the drug warriors have
made for the past 30 years of drug warfare. Think about how the DEA
trumpeted those drug busts as great successes in the war on drugs.
Think about how they were used to justify ever-increasing budgets
for the DEA. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Now ask yourself: Did any of them do anything to reduce the supply of drugs? Did any of them result in victory in the war on drugs? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In fact, just recently, we've read that Bolivian authorities have
seized 5 tons of cocaine in a record drug bust and that U.S.
officials have indicted one of Mexico's most powerful drug cartels,
the Zambada-Garcia organization, and arrested 240 people as part of
that drug bust. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
That's all great, but haven't we heard this a thousand times before? And would someone mind explaining to me why new record drug busts are considered a success in the decades-long war on drugs? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
For the past 30 years, the drug war has destroyed countless lives
and wasted millions of dollars of taxpayer money. Karen Tandy's
appointment as the new DEA chief reminds us of another downside to
the war - the horrible waste of lives devoted to what is arguably
the most nonproductive and destructive government program in U.S.
history. We'd be doing both Tandy and the world a favor by bringing
it to an end. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Jacob Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom
Foundation - www.fff.org | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"Every violation of the truth is not only a sort of suicide in the
liar, but a stab at the health of human society." - Ralph Waldo
Emerson | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
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