| April 30, 2004 #347 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
(1) ACTIVIST - OTTAWA'S POT NOT WORTH SMOKING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
OTTAWA -- Nearly a third of the patients who got marijuana through Health Canada's medical access program have returned the product, says an activist who sees that as proof federal pot isn't worth smoking. | ||||||||||||||||||
"High school students in a cupboard could grow a product that is better and safer than what we're getting," said Philippe Lucas, who obtained the figures through the federal access to information law. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I think it's much weaker than the government claims. I'd really
suggest their testing is off."
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Lucas, director of Canadians for Safe Access, said tests commissioned
by his pro-pot lobby group have found the federal product contains
only 5.1 per cent THC rather than the 10.2 per cent claimed by Health
Canada. It doesn't even look appealing, he added.
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"Visibly, it's horrible. There's visible stock and stem and it's
ground far too fine to actually roll so you're forced to use it in a
pipe and when you do it burns very black with dark, acrid ash. "They
know it's no good, and they send it out to people who aren't just
suffering from minor aches and pains but in some cases have AIDS and
cancer."
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[snip]
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(2) TEENAGERS MISJUDGE DRUG USE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Survey Shows Figures Are Lower Than Students Think
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Drug and alcohol use by students at Palo Alto's public high schools and middle schools is not nearly as high as students think it is, a survey that drew responses from 75 percent of those students showed. | ||||||||||||||||||
Leaders of the community group that sponsored the survey hope to use
the results to reach "the kids who are saying, everybody's doing it
so I will, too," said Becky Beacom, the health education manager for
the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. | ||||||||||||||||||
The anonymous survey of 4,062 students at Palo Alto's two high
schools and three middle schools leaves no doubt that some students
drink alcohol and smoke pot. Twenty-eight percent of the high school
students said they have a drink in a typical month, and 28 percent
have smoked marijuana. Twenty-one percent use tobacco.
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But, Beacom said, turning those statistics around demonstrates that
most students neither drink nor smoke pot or cigarettes -- and
students don't understand that. The survey revealed the majority of
students think that drinking and drug use is the social norm, that
"it's skyrocketing, it's horrible," Beacom said. | ||||||||||||||||||
That misperception "can actually increase teen substance use, as
adolescents feel pressured to conform to what they believe is the
norm -- even if that belief is wrong," Beacom said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(3) BUSH OFFICIAL PRESENTS CASE AGAINST LEGALIZING MARIJUANA AS MEDICINE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
MONTPELIER - The two sides of the medical marijuana debate collided
here Tuesday, when a supporter of the controversial state legislation
loudly interrupted a presentation given by President George W. Bush's
deputy drug czar, who was in town to advise local lawmakers on drug
policy. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Bush administration strongly opposes decriminalizing marijuana for
medical purposes. The protester was among about 60 people who attended
Dr. Andrea Barthwell's hour-long public presentation at the Pavilion
Building auditorium. He said he was upset that the White House is
trying to influence the local debate. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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"They did not come here to listen to us, they came here to lecture us
on their drug policy," the unidentified male protester yelled before
being escorted out of the auditorium by security guards. "They have no
business coming here and affecting our local debate."
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The interruption curtailed a public question-and-answer session, which
did not resume. He was one of about 40 persons who earlier in the day
attended a rally on the Statehouse stairs supporting the use of
marijuana in medical treatment. The rally was called by several
pro-marijuana groups in response to Barthwell's visit. | ||||||||||||||||||
Before meeting with the public and catching a mid-afternoon flight back to Washington, D.C., Barthwell spent the morning at the Statehouse, where she met privately with Gov. James Douglas and testified before the House and Senate Health and Welfare committees. | ||||||||||||||||||
Douglas, who does not support medical marijuana use, said Barthwell was invited to Vermont in part to "meet with legislative committees and explain to them why legalizing pot is not a good idea." | ||||||||||||||||||
Although her marijuana stance clearly drew the most attention,
Barthwell also spoke with lawmakers about the administration's of
methadone to treat heroin addiction and a new federal initiative to
identify non-addicted drug users - so-called recreational users - and
get them off drugs before they either become addicted or convince
non-users to try drugs for the first time. Barthwell said marijuana
users are among the program's prime targets. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(4) POT BILL OK'D BY HOUSE, THEN SENT TO COMMITTEE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Hartford -- Advocates of the medicinal use of marijuana won and lost
Wednesday in the state House, providing a lesson in the quirks of
lawmaking. | ||||||||||||||||||
After two hours of debate, the House voted 75-71 to make it easier for
the seriously ill to use marijuana under state law. This was a big
victory because a similar bill fell a dozen votes shy of passage last
year, the first time advocates of medical marijuana use got a floor
vote in three years of trying. | ||||||||||||||||||
The supporters of medicinal marijuana did not have long to celebrate
the victory, though. | ||||||||||||||||||
A Republican opponent of the legislation raised a question of
parliamentary procedure that resulted in the bill being sent to the
Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee. | ||||||||||||||||||
Its advocates believe the committee referral essentially scuttled the
medical marijuana bill because the 2004 session ends in less than a
week next Wednesday. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy
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COMMENT: (5-9) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The continuously failed attempt to end the illegal drug trade kills
other types of American agricultural markets, hemp being the most
obvious example. But asparagus farmers in Washington state probably
never imagined they could be wiped out by the drug war. Due to
subsidies for crop substitution in Peru, the Washington asparagus
crop became too expensive to compete, putting farmers and factory
workers out of jobs.
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Federal drug warriors usually celebrate the tossing of money at such useless causes, but in a strange turn, the drug czar is suddenly feeling stingy when it comes to funding the request of a New York senator who wants more anti-drug money. Sen. Charles Schumer wants money for a new "High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area" designated in his state; the feds are resisting. Beyond the question of why John Walters doesn't want to send the money over, is the bigger question as to what good such HIDTAs have done anywhere in the country. | ||||||||||||||||||
Also last week, the maker of OxyContin pledged millions to help get
Florida's proposed prescription tracking system off the ground; a
settlement was made in a Oregon school drug testing lawsuit; and in
Illinois, a proposal advanced that would seal the records of some
non-violent drug offenders in order to give them a better chance of
getting a job after they've served their time. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(5) U.S. ASPARAGUS PRODUCTION HURT BY WAR ON ILLEGAL DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
TOPPENISH, Wash. - After 55 years of packing Eastern Washington
asparagus, the Del Monte Foods factory here moved operations to Peru
last year, eliminating 365 jobs. | ||||||||||||||||||
As the global economy churns, nearly every sector has a story about
U.S. jobs landing on cheaper shores. But what happened to the U.S.
asparagus industry is rare, farmers here say, because it became a
casualty of the government's war on drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
To reduce the flow of cocaine into the U.S. by encouraging farmers
in Peru to grow food instead of coca, the United States in the early
1990s started to subsidize the Peruvian asparagus industry, and
since then U.S. processing plants have closed and hundreds of
farmers have folded. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We've created this booming asparagus industry in Peru, resulting in
the demise of a century-old industry in America," said Alan
Schreiber, director of the Washington Asparagus Commission. "And
I've yet to hear anyone from the government tell me with a straight
face that it has reduced the amount of cocaine coming into this
country."
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[snip]
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(6) DRUG FIGHT MONEY STALLED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Schumer Is Pressing White House to Fund Upstate Efforts | ||||||||||||||||||
An attempt to bolster upstate New York's fight against illegal drugs
with millions of dollars in federal funds is stalled in the White
House. | ||||||||||||||||||
John P. Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy, is resisting an effort to have the regions that
include Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse and Albany designated a High
Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, which could bring $1 million to $3
million a year to help local law enforcement agencies fight the
importation and distribution of illegal drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
"He's giving us resistance," said U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.,
referring to Walters by his politically shorthanded title, "drug
czar."
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"It's always hard to get good things done in Washington," Schumer
added. "The drug czar, without even batting an eye, should understand
our needs in upstate New York."
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But Joseph Keefe, Walters' deputy director for state and local
affairs, said the upstate region does not fit the criteria for the
federal drug-trafficking designation, called a HIDTA. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(7) PHARMACEUTICAL FIRM OFFERS AID FOR PRESCRIPTION-DRUG TRACKING (Top)SYSTEM | ||||||||||||||||||
TALLAHASSEE . In an effort to overcome opposition in the Legislature
and to get a prescription-drug tracking system up and running in the
state, drug maker Purdue Pharma has offered to subsidize the cost of
running the massive electronic monitoring program -- an expense that
could exceed $3 million a year. | ||||||||||||||||||
Purdue Pharma, which manufactures the painkiller OxyContin, has
already pledged a $2 million to develop the system. | ||||||||||||||||||
The $2 million offer, attached to a deadline of getting legislative
approval for the system by July, was made as part of a 2002 decision
by the state attorney general to drop an investigation into the
company's marketing of OxyContin. | ||||||||||||||||||
The company's new offer is meant to ward off strong opposition to
the drug monitoring system among key House Republicans who see it as
costly, intrusive and ineffective as a tool for combating drug abuse
and Medicaid fraud. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(8) SETTLEMENT WRAPS UP DRUG-TEST CASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
OHSU and Others Will Pay $90,000 in Costs and Fees to Attorneys For
the Dallas High School Plaintiff
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Lawyers on Wednesday settled a class-action lawsuit over a
controversial study of drug testing in Oregon high school athletes,
ending years of court challenges to the research. | ||||||||||||||||||
The settlement calls for the Oregon Health & Science University, several school districts and some employees of both -- to pay the plaintiffs' lawyers $90,000 to cover their fees and costs. The defendants do not admit to any liability under the agreement, approved Wednesday morning by U.S. District Court Judge Garr King. | ||||||||||||||||||
The settlement gives no money to the two plaintiffs named in the settlement, students Beth Wade and Ivan Donayri. But Wade's New Jersey lawyer, Alan Milstein, told King he would give her $5,000 from the lawyers' portion "for the help they have given us." | ||||||||||||||||||
Milstein and two Portland lawyers filed the federal suit almost two years ago naming only one plaintiff: Wade, a former Dallas High School student. That suit asked the court to award at least $10 million in real and punitive damages on top of lawyers' fees and to bar researchers from using any data gathered in the drug-test study. King threw out nine of that suit's 10 claims a year ago. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(9) PROPOSAL WOULD LET JOB-SEEKING EX-CONS SEAL RECORDS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
SPRINGFIELD -- Eager to help ex-convicts start over, supporters of a measure to seal some criminal records from potential employers believe their efforts are picking up legislative momentum. | ||||||||||||||||||
They cheered loudly as an Illinois House judiciary committee
overwhelmingly approved letting former prostitutes and minor drug
offenders seek to seal records so they have a better chance of
landing jobs. ''Illinois is moving forward today, folks,'' Rep.
Willie Delgado, a Chicago Democrat who heads the committee, said
over the din last week. But others see unanswered questions and
potential problems that must be addressed. Some lawmakers are still
unclear on how many crimes could be sealed and whether there would
be exceptions for people seeking sensitive jobs, such as working
with children. | ||||||||||||||||||
And law enforcement officials say the bill really would not keep
potential employers from finding out whether job applicants have
criminal records. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Law Enforcement & Prisons
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COMMENT: (10-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A Virginia city will soon start unwarranted searches of drug felons,
if the
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felons agree to plea away their constitutional rights. In a Florida
town, several sources are reporting that police have been planting
drugs on suspects for some time. And speaking of deception, the
Dallas fake drug scandal enters a new phase, as a police officer who
was acquitted in a federal trial last year goes on to face state
charges in court. Strangely,=
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just before that trial is supposed to start, a key witness in the
scandal apparently committed suicide as he was scheduled to testify
to a grand jury. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(10) WARRANTLESS SEARCHES IN THE WORKS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Some Drug Offenders Temporarily Waive The Right In Plea Deals | ||||||||||||||||||
COLONIAL HEIGHTS - In an effort to force those involved with drugs
to shape up or ship out, Colonial Heights police will soon begin
periodic searches and seizures of some felony drug offenders without
a warrant or probable cause. | ||||||||||||||||||
Police will perform the searches on offenders who enter into plea agreements that include a waiver of their Fourth Amendment rights for a specific period of time, usually between one and two years, said Colonial Heights Commonwealth's Attorney Michael Lee. | ||||||||||||||||||
Searches will begin once a list of those who waived their rights is
compiled, which Lee said could be as soon as this week. Lee said he
believes the city is the first to create a method for the police
department to carry out the searches. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Fourth Amendment waiver policy was implemented in Colonial
Heights in 2000 after a 1998 U.S. Supreme Court decision upheld the
validity of Fourth Amendment waivers. Although the waiver has been
part of the city's plea agreements for about four years, until now
police had not taken advantage of it. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(11) FDLE INVESTIGATION NAGS POLICE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A State Investigation of Drug Arrests by Tarpon Springs Police
Continues, With Claims That Officers Planted Evidence. | ||||||||||||||||||
TARPON SPRINGS - A cloud of suspicion continues to hang over the Tarpon Springs Police Department and its efforts to make drug arrests, months after becoming the target of a state investigation. | ||||||||||||||||||
Chief Mark LeCouris said street informers have told him agents for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement have been asking whether police officers have planted drugs on suspects, a charge LeCouris denies. But one suspect has made that allegation to FDLE, and a lawyer in another case unsuccessfully made that argument in court. | ||||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile, Pinellas-Pasco Public Defender Bob Dillinger said his
office has received more than a dozen complaints from clients who
alleged that Tarpon Springs police planted evidence. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We've had clients pass polygraphs to that effect," said Dillinger,
who would not detail specific cases. "It came up frequently enough
that we started paying attention to it."
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[snip]
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(12) DOCUMENTS FOCUS OF CASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Officer denies state charges that he falsified reports on fake drugs | ||||||||||||||||||
It's the same fake-drug scandal and the same Dallas police narcotics detective acquitted in November by a federal jury. Yet some things will be different when the Mark Delapaz case is heard in state court. Just as he did in his federal civil rights trial, the former officer faces allegations that he knowingly submitted false police reports in some of the bogus drug arrests he made in 2001. | ||||||||||||||||||
But new state charges resulting from special prosecutor Dan Hagood's investigation involve documents and allegations about some fake-drug arrests that the federal jury never considered, according to the indictments. The forum and legal charges also are different. | ||||||||||||||||||
"It's less about violations of civil rights and more about false documents," said Barry Sorrels, a Dallas defense lawyer. "The federal prosecution accused Officer Delapaz of intentionally participating in illegal arrests of innocent people. , In this case, he's being accused of knowingly presenting false police records." | ||||||||||||||||||
Last year's federal case centered on whether Mr. Delapaz violated
the rights of four Hispanic immigrants he arrested on felony drug
charges. Their arrests - and those of at least 20 other people in
2001 - unraveled when laboratory tests showed that the evidence in
most cases was billiards chalk with little or no controlled
substances. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(13) PROSECUTOR'S DEATH LEAVES AN 'INEXPLICABLE MYSTERY' (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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But what broke me was the family of Dan Benavides. The way they
walked into the church in quiet dignity, their eyes puffy, their
lips quivering, their gaze fixed at the altar ahead. It was tough to
keep my composure. It didn't help when an older sibling, in
eulogizing him, choked on the word "brother."
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The priest called the passing of the 38-year-old Dallas County
prosecutor an "inexplicable mystery."
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Dan was found dead in his home last week, apparently of a suicide, a
week after a big demotion and just one day before he was scheduled
to testify to the Dallas County grand jury investigating the 2001
fake-drug scandal. | ||||||||||||||||||
Talk to former prosecutors, and they'll tell you: Dan was in a position to know a lot about how it was that dozens of bogus drug cases managed to worm their way through the criminal justice system right under the noses of prosecutors, judges and juries. | ||||||||||||||||||
Dan's family and friends have plenty of questions about how he died.
But there's no question about how he lived. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Cannabis & Hemp
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COMMENT: (14-18) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Great news from California last week as U.S. District Judge Jeremy
Fogel issued an injunction barring federal raids on WAMM, a
medicinal cannabis dispensary located in Santa Cruz, making it the
first federally legal compassion club in North America. WAMM was
busted by the DEA in September of 2002. Our second story is a
Washington Times article on this year's NORML conference, which took
place in Washington, D.C. last weekend. Your faithful editor had the
chance to both attend and speak at this year's great event, and I
certainly look forward to next year's conference. | ||||||||||||||||||
And bad news from Canada this week: the federal Liberal government has just tabled new legislation that would allow police to demand saliva, blood, or urine samples from drivers suspected of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs. And that's not all: in what is now a confirmed case of arson, the famous "pot-block" in Vancouver suffered a horrible fire this week which destroyed pot-friendly cafe Blunt Bros. and other small businesses in the same building. The B.C. Marijuana Party Headquarters located just next door suffered extensive smoke and water damage, but is expected to re-open by the end of the week. And just to make matters worse, the Saint John New Brunswick Cannabis Cafe - Canada's first over-the-counter cannabis retailer - has been busted by local police. Charges are expected to be laid against store employees. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(14) MEDICAL POT GROUP BASKS IN VICTORY, EYES NEW HARVEST (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Valerie Corral had just finished a conversation with an ill friend
Wednesday when the phone rang. | ||||||||||||||||||
This time there was good news, unlike much of what had come over the
past two years. | ||||||||||||||||||
In September 2002, her medical marijuana garden was raided by
federal agents who confiscated 167 plants. This was followed by
months of scrapping together marijuana for the 250-member Wo/men's
Alliance for Medical Marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
This week's news: U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel issued the
injunction that WAMM had sought barring future raids by the federal
government like the one that occurred that September morning at her
Davenport garden. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(15) GROUP PUFFS AGAINST POT LAWS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws was only hours into its convention Friday when the group's executive director made an announcement to the 80 or so people awaiting a seminar. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Let me remind you that this is Washington, D.C., and not San
Francisco," Keith Stroup said. "There are some people out front
taking their medicine and the hotel is threatening to call the
police ... there are rules and while we don't have to like them, we
have to play by them at this time."
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It was a nutshell message that addressed the three-decade battle
that NORML has waged on behalf of marijuana smokers nationwide by
lobbying Congress, defending arrested users and advocating changes
in national laws regarding marijuana use. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(16) OTTAWA MOVES LET POLICE TEST DRIVERS FOR DRUG IMPAIRMENT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The federal government introduced legislation yesterday that would
give police sweeping powers to charge drug-impaired drivers,
including intrusive physical testing that would allow them to take
saliva, blood and urine tests from motorists. | ||||||||||||||||||
The new bill would amend the Criminal Code to give police the authority to demand roadside standardized field sobriety tests when they have a reasonable suspicion that a driver is impaired by drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
It would also give investigators the right to administer drug
recognition expert evaluations, known as DRE evaluations, in cases
where the officer reasonably believes a drug-impaired driving offence
was committed. The tests are administered at a police station after a
driver fails a roadside test. Police would be allowed to collect
saliva, urine and blood samples to determine whether the driver has
drugs, including marijuana, in his or her system. Refusal to comply
would be a criminal offence. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(17) BLAZE GUTS 3-STOREY VANCOUVER HERITAGE BUILDING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A historic stretch of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside was shrouded in
smoke yesterday as fire raced through a turn-of-the-century
storefront heritage building. | ||||||||||||||||||
Billowing black smoke could be seen across the city, and crowds
gathered in a park across the street to watch fire crews battle the
blaze that began just after dawn. | ||||||||||||||||||
The fire destroyed the Blunt Brothers cafe, a second-hand clothing
store and a bookstore, all on the main floor of the three-storey
structure. There were no injuries.
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[snip]
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(18) SAINT JOHN POT CAFE BUSTED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A city cafe was busted by police yesterday for allegedly selling
marijuana. Sgt. Kim Phillips of the Saint John force said officers
executed a search warrant at the Cannabis Cafe after a lengthy
investigation. | ||||||||||||||||||
About eight months ago the store's owner announced his shop would
provide pot at the counter. Phillips said the store has contributed to
drug problems in the area, particularly involving high school
students. | ||||||||||||||||||
He said charges of possession of marijuana for the purpose of
trafficking would be laid. | ||||||||||||||||||
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International News
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COMMENT: (19-22) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Plans made by the ruling Dutch right-wing coalition to curb coffee
house cannabis shops have met with opposition by local authorities
around the Netherlands. The government was fixing something that was
not broken, noted policy advisor Lex Estveld. "The entire Dutch
drugs policy of controlling and containing soft drugs has proven
reasonably successful." A statement issued by over 480 Dutch
municipalities objected to foreign prohibitionist pressure to
criminalize and jail marijuana users within Holland. | ||||||||||||||||||
More officers in the apparent parade of prohibition-corrupted police
are facing charges, this time in Toronto, Ontario. Mike McCormack,
the director of the Toronto Police Association was informed of
charges last week. The charges, including a "corrupt practices"
charge, stemmed from links to alleged organized crime and drug
figures in Ontario. Billy McCormack, the older brother of Mike, was
suspended from duties as a plainclothes officer (as his entire
plainclothes unit was disbanded) last week. Officers were accused of
taking "protection money" for notifying bars prior to enforcement
activities. | ||||||||||||||||||
In Russia, the drug police succumb to the same prohibition-provided
temptations as in Toronto. An article from The Moscow Times last
week revealed that Russian drug police are stepping up raids on
popular night clubs in the city. This is lucrative for the drug
agents, who are accused of running a classic protection racket.
Russian drug law reform advocate, Lev Levinson of New Drug Policy
said the raids aren't so much designed to fight drugs; instead they
seemed designed to enrich corrupted police. Police don't deny such
corruption exists. In Russia, as elsewhere, giving more money to
police is the answer, say police. Police claim they don't arrest
users, only dealers. After May 12, small-time drug possession will
no longer be an imprisonable offence. | ||||||||||||||||||
Gung-ho prohibitionists in the Philippines have discovered a new way
to keep Filipinos from the substances they want to take. Drug-law
true-believers and other prohibitionists took to the road last week,
in a grand anti-drug caravan. With their parade, the "anti-drug
crusaders" (prohibitionists on the government payroll) say they hope
to stop the "drug menace" in the Philippines. Beginning at the
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Quezon City, hundreds
of prohibitionist marchers will march to government agencies,
including the Philippine National Police headquarters. "The program
showed the participants that they only have two options; either to
lead a drug-free life, or live a miserable life because of drugs,"
PDEA Director General Anselmo Avenido proclaimed. The idea for the
anti-drug caravan was hatched by Philippine government agencies
tasked with enforcing drug prohibition. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(19) DUTCH AUTHORITIES OPPOSE TIGHTER DRUGS LAW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
PLANS to tighten up the Netherlands' famously liberal attitude
towards cannabis have met with strong resistance by local
authorities across the country. | ||||||||||||||||||
The ruling conservative coalition drafted the new tougher drugs
policy in the face of evidence showing a sharp increase in the
potency of marijuana openly sold in many towns. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
But the policy has been met with opposition by the Association of
Netherlands Municipalities which said the move threatens to
undermine years of successful drugs control. | ||||||||||||||||||
Lex Estveld, a policy adviser, said the government was trying to fix a system that was not broken. "The entire Dutch drugs policy of controlling and containing soft drugs has proven reasonably successful in recent decades. If you ask me, we haven't done bad when you compare us to other countries," he said yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
The cabinet acknowledged the long-standing policy of toleration had
not led to higher rates of marijuana use. But it said "the strong
increase in THC content, and the link between cannabis users and
psychological disorders, is a reason for concern". | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
Under the government plan, the southern town Maastricht, bordering Germany and Belgium, will conduct a trial of the policy barring the sale of marijuana and hashish to tourists. It was not clear whether customers would have to produce proof of Dutch nationality. | ||||||||||||||||||
A joint statement issued by 483 municipalities said the proposed measures would force the marijuana business underground. | ||||||||||||||||||
"The tone of the letter is too influenced by foreign [opinions] and
gives insufficient credit to the successes of local coffee shop
policies," said the statement. "Concentrating the trade in soft
drugs at coffee shops has the clear benefit of making it transparent
and controllable."
| ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(20) TORONTO POLICE OFFICIAL INFORMED OF CHARGES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Toronto Police Association director Mike McCormack has been notified
that he will be facing four charges, including one of corrupt
practices, under the Police Services Act. | ||||||||||||||||||
The charges, The Globe and Mail has learned, will relate to his
alleged connections to Jeffery Allan Geller, a deceased car salesman
who had a criminal record and a cocaine habit and who admitted to
links with organized crime. | ||||||||||||||||||
In addition, sources said, Mr. McCormack remains under a criminal
probe by the Toronto Police internal affairs unit. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
About 10 days ago, Billy McCormack, Mike's older brother, was
abruptly suspended with pay from his duties as a plainclothes
officer in the downtown 52 Division, and the entire plainclothes
unit disbanded the same night. | ||||||||||||||||||
Billy McCormack is alleged to have been involved in a protection
racket in which certain bars in the downtown entertainment district
paid police officers for tips on enforcement actions and help with
obtaining liquor licences and the like. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
In the larger probe in which Billy McCormack and Mr. McIntosh are
implicated, the general allegations are that officers were receiving
"protection money" in exchange for providing certain bars in the
downtown entertainment district with advance notice of enforcement
activities or with help in securing liquor licences. | ||||||||||||||||||
Sources said criminal charges in that probe are pending against as
many as four officers. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(21) ANTI-DRUG AGENTS TARGETING CITY CLUBS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
One night last November, men in camouflage wearing ski masks and
wielding Kalashnikovs burst into the popular nightclub Propaganda
and ordered people up against the wall. | ||||||||||||||||||
"It looked like 'Nord-Ost,'" said Roman Alyokhin, director of the nightclub in central Moscow, referring to the storming of the Dubrovka theater by Chechen militants in October 2002. "Only after three or four minutes did they finally identify themselves." | ||||||||||||||||||
They were agents from the newly formed anti-drug force. | ||||||||||||||||||
They searched club-goers for illegal substances, examined them for
signs of drug use and also seized dozens of video surveillance
cassettes, which Alyokhin said was illegal. Propaganda filed a
complaint with the Prosecutor General's Office, but nothing ever
came of it, he said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
From October through April, the drug force conducted more than 170
raids. Of the 200 people detained in the raids, 80 were formally
charged, more than half of them with dealing. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
Lev Levinson, head of New Drug Policy, an advocacy group for drug
law reform established last fall, said the raids have little to do
with battling drug trafficking and serve mainly to put money in the
pockets of drug agents. | ||||||||||||||||||
Levinson said his organization has been in contact with club owners,
who say they pay off the drug agents to prevent their businesses
from being raided. | ||||||||||||||||||
"It's strictly a commercial enterprise," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
By the time the raid is conducted, "we know when, how and by whom"
the drugs are being sold, Chuvayev said. | ||||||||||||||||||
Alyokhin, however, said the Nov. 30 raid on Propaganda netted only
the bare minimum. | ||||||||||||||||||
"They didn't find much: one gram of marijuana and an empty package
of Viagra," Alyokhin said, adding that he suspected even those minor
discoveries may have been planted. Viagra is sold without a
prescription at pharmacies throughout Moscow. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
While raiding clubs is only part of what the service does, Chuvayev
said his Moscow agents are cracking down on dealers, while leaving
drug users alone. | ||||||||||||||||||
"You have to treat drug users, help them get better," he said. "Drug
trafficking is what we're fighting."
| ||||||||||||||||||
Under amendments to the Criminal Code that Putin signed into law in
December, as of May 12, possession of small quantities of drugs will
no longer be punishable by a prison sentence but only by a fine.
Sentences for dealing and selling to minors, however, will be
harsher. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(22) ANTI-DRUG CRUSADERS LAUNCH CARAVAN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Busloads of anti-drug crusaders launched a caravan yesterday from
the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Quezon City to
various agencies, including the Philippine National Police
headquarters in Camp Crame, in a bid to stop the drug menace in the
country. | ||||||||||||||||||
According to PDEA Director General Anselmo Avenido, the campaign
dubbed as "Lakbay Aral Kontra Droga" is aimed at educating the youth
on the ill-effects of illegal drugs, the current drug situation and
the capability of the agency to detect illegal drug shipments. Also
part of the campaign are the popular K-9 dogs. | ||||||||||||||||||
Some 600 participants coming from the Sangguniang Kabataan and barangays from various municipalities in Metro Manila were given a tour of Camp Crame after a brief stop-over at the PDEA Museum. | ||||||||||||||||||
"The program showed the participants that they only have two options
either to lead a drug-free life or live a miserable life because of
drugs," Avenido said. | ||||||||||||||||||
Interior and Local Government Secretary Joey Lina, Anti-Illegal
Drugs Special Operations Task Force commander Deputy Director
General Edgar Aglipay and top PDEA officials also gave participants
a glimpse of the lives of former drug dependents that have ended up
at the National Mental Hospital in Mandaluyong City, the New Bilibid
Prisons in Muntinlupa City and the Center for Ultimate
| ||||||||||||||||||
Avenido said the program aims to touch the lives of the youth so that they can become a positive influence among their peers. | ||||||||||||||||||
"They can serve as catalysts of change for national development,"
Avenido said. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Lakbay Aral Kontra Droga was formalized during a signing of a
multi-agency agreement among the Dangerous Drugs Board, Department
of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), PDEA, PNP-AIDSOT Force,
National Federation of Sangguniang Kabataan and the National Youth
Commission. - Christina Mendez
| ||||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK AGAINST YOU
| ||||||||||||||||||
A DrugSense Focus Alert. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
CANNABIS 'SCRIPS TO CALM KIDS?
| ||||||||||||||||||
Fox News story featuring comments from former DrugSense Weekly
editor Tom O'Connell
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
GAO GREEN-LIGHTS WHITE HOUSE INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS
| ||||||||||||||||||
By Dan Forbes, originally published at Lewrockwell.com
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
FUMIGATIONS CONTINUE IN COLOMBIA DESPITE COURT ORDERED SUSPENSIONS
| ||||||||||||||||||
By Peter Gorman, published by Narconews.com
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW
| ||||||||||||||||||
04/27/04, Valerie & Mike Corral
| ||||||||||||||||||
Eighteen months after a brutal DEA raid on a medical marijuana
collective in Santa Cruz, California , the seriously ill collective
members finally got the protection from future raids and harassment
they have sought since filing suit against the federal government
one year ago. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
ECONOMISTS ON ILLEGAL DRUGS
| ||||||||||||||||||
by Mark Thornton
| ||||||||||||||||||
Economists are among the noteworthy proponents of the "legalization" of narcotic drugs, cocaine and marijuana. However, public proclamations have been few in number, short on details, and muted by recommendations such as Gary Becker from the University of Chicago who advocates legalization combined with a heavy "sin" tax to discourage use. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
MORE THAN 300 TELL CONGRESS: "WE'RE HERE. WE SMOKE. WE VOTE."
| ||||||||||||||||||
Hundreds Attend NORML's 2004 National Conference And Inaugural
Congressional Lobby Day
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
If Cameras Don't Get You, Dogs Will
| ||||||||||||||||||
By James E. Gierach
| ||||||||||||||||||
In the 1950s as a young student, I grew accustomed to the addition to
the Pledge of Allegiance of ''under God'' that my classmates and I
recited daily. And about once a year, we crawled under our desks in
recognition that during the Cold War, we might be bombed, and the
safest place was ''under desk.''
| ||||||||||||||||||
Today, we wage a war on drugs and ourselves, endlessly trying one new
strategy after another to make the war work and enjoin people from
doing what they will with themselves. To that end, public officials
have placed the citizenry ''under surveillance.'' They erect police
cameras that can sense bullets flying through air, monitor people
living out there, blue lights blinking in stare and give proof through
the night that Prohibition was still there. | ||||||||||||||||||
And if the cameras don't get you, then the drug-sniffing dogs during a
traffic stop might. And if the drug-sniffing dogs don't get you, then
the drug testing of your hair, saliva and sweat at work or school
might [''Drug tests may use hair, saliva, sweat samples,'' news story,
April 7]. | ||||||||||||||||||
Two decades after 1984, public officials who support the ''Big
Brother'' drug war might give consideration to the further
modification of the Pledge of Allegiance to provide ''under God and
under surveillance,'' with liberty and justice for all -- ''more or
less.''
| ||||||||||||||||||
James E. Gierach, Oak Lawn
| ||||||||||||||||||
Note: James Gierach is a former Cook County, IL prosecutor and has
recently joined Law Enforcement Against Prohibtion http://leap.cc .He
is is available by pre-arrangement to speak for LEAP to civic groups,
school groups, church groups etc. For more information on booking
James or any other LEAP speaker, contact Mike Smithson at
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Make Peace With Pot
| ||||||||||||||||||
Starting in the fall, pharmacies in British Columbia will sell
marijuana for medicinal purposes, without a prescription, under a
pilot project devised by Canada's national health service. The plan
follows a 2002 report by a Canadian Senate committee that found there
were "clear, though not definitive" benefits for using marijuana in
the treatment of chronic pain, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and other
ailments. Both Prime Minister Paul Martin and Stephen Harper, leader
of the opposition conservatives, support the decriminalization of
marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
Oddly, the strongest criticism of the Canadian proposal has come from
patients already using medical marijuana who think the government,
which charges about $110 an ounce, supplies lousy pot. "It is of
incredibly poor quality," said one patient. Another said, "It tastes
like lumber." A spokesman for Health Canada promised the agency would
try to offer a better grade of product. | ||||||||||||||||||
Needless to say, this is a far cry from the situation in the United
States, where marijuana remains a Schedule I controlled substance, a
drug that the government says has a high potential for abuse, no
accepted medical uses and no safe level of use. | ||||||||||||||||||
Under federal law it is illegal to possess any amount of marijuana
anywhere in the United States. Penalties for a first marijuana offense
range from probation to life without parole. Although 11 states have
decriminalized marijuana, most still have tough laws against the drug.
In Louisiana, selling one ounce can lead to a 20-year prison sentence.
In Washington State, supplying any amount of marijuana brings a
recommended prison sentence of five years. | ||||||||||||||||||
About 700,000 people were arrested in the United States for violating
marijuana laws in 2002 (the most recent year for which statistics are
available) - more than were arrested for heroin or cocaine. Almost 90
percent of these marijuana arrests were for simple possession, a crime
that in most cases is a misdemeanor. But even a misdemeanor conviction
can easily lead to time in jail, the suspension of a driver's license,
the loss of a job. And in many states possession of an ounce is a
felony. Those convicted of a marijuana felony, even if they are
disabled, can be prohibited from receiving federal welfare payments or
food stamps. Convicted murderers and rapists, however, are still
eligible for those benefits. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Bush administration has escalated the war on marijuana, raiding
clinics that offer medical marijuana and staging a nationwide roundup
of manufacturers of drug paraphernalia. In November 2002 the Office of
National Drug Control Policy circulated an "open letter to America's
prosecutors" spelling out the administration's views. "Marijuana is
addictive," the letter asserted. "Marijuana and violence are linked
... no drug matches the threat posed by marijuana."
| ||||||||||||||||||
This tough new stand has generated little protest in Congress. Even
though the war on marijuana was begun by President Ronald Reagan in
1982, it has always received strong bipartisan support. Some of the
toughest drug war legislation has been backed by liberals, and the
number of annual marijuana arrests more than doubled during the
Clinton years. In fact, some of the strongest opposition to the arrest
and imprisonment of marijuana users has come from conservatives like
William F. Buckley, the economist Milton Friedman and Gary Johnson,
the former Republican governor of New Mexico. | ||||||||||||||||||
This year the White House's national antidrug media campaign will
spend $170 million, working closely with the nonprofit Partnership for
a Drug-Free America. The idea of a "drug-free America" may seem
appealing. But it's hard to believe that anyone seriously hopes to
achieve that goal in a nation where millions of children are routinely
given Ritalin, antidepressants are prescribed to cure shyness, and the
pharmaceutical industry aggressively promotes pills to help
middle-aged men have sex. | ||||||||||||||||||
Clearly, some recreational drugs are thought to be O.K. Thus it isn't
surprising that the Partnership for a Drug-Free America originally
received much of its financing from cigarette, alcohol and
pharmaceutical companies like Hoffmann-La Roche, Philip Morris, R. J.
Reynolds and Anheuser-Busch. | ||||||||||||||||||
More than 16,000 Americans die every year after taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin and ibuprofen. No one in Congress, however, has called for an all-out war on Advil. Perhaps the most dangerous drug widely consumed in the United States is the one that I use three or four times a week: alcohol. It is literally poisonous; you can die after drinking too much. It is directly linked to about one-quarter of the suicides in the United States, almost half the violent crime and two-thirds of domestic abuse. And the level of alcohol use among the young far exceeds the use of marijuana. According to the Justice Department, American children aged 11 to 13 are four times more likely to drink alcohol than to smoke pot. | ||||||||||||||||||
None of this should play down the seriousness of marijuana use. It is a powerful, mind-altering drug. It should not be smoked by young people, schizophrenics, pregnant women and people with heart conditions. But it is remarkably nontoxic. In more than 5,000 years of recorded use, there is no verified case of anybody dying of an overdose. Indeed, no fatal dose has ever been established. | ||||||||||||||||||
Over the past two decades billions of dollars have been spent fighting
the war on marijuana, millions of Americans have been arrested and
tens of thousands have been imprisoned. Has it been worth it?
According to the government's National Household Survey on Drug Abuse,
in 1982 about 54 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 25
had smoked marijuana. In 2002 the proportion was . . . about 54
percent. | ||||||||||||||||||
We seem to pay no attention to what other governments are doing. Spain, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands and Belgium have decriminalized marijuana. This year Britain reduced the penalty for having small amounts. Legislation is pending in Canada to decriminalize possession of about half an ounce (the Bush administration is applying strong pressure on the Canadian government to block that bill). In Ohio, possession of up to three ounces has been decriminalized for years - and yet liberal marijuana laws have not transformed Ohio into a hippy-dippy paradise; conservative Republican governors have been running the state since 1991. | ||||||||||||||||||
Here's an idea: people who smoke too much marijuana should be treated
the same way as people who drink too much alcohol. They need help, not
the threat of arrest, imprisonment and unemployment. | ||||||||||||||||||
More important, denying a relatively safe, potentially useful medicine
to patients is irrational and cruel. In 1972 a commission appointed by
President Richard Nixon concluded that marijuana should be
decriminalized in the United States. The commission's aim was not to
encourage the use of marijuana, but to "demythologize it." Although
Nixon rejected the commission's findings, they remain no less valid
today: "For the vast majority of recreational users," the 2002
Canadian Senate committee found, "cannabis use presents no harmful
consequences for physical, psychological or social well-being in
either the short or long term."
| ||||||||||||||||||
The current war on marijuana is a monumental waste of money and a
source of pointless misery. America's drug warriors, much like its
marijuana smokers, seem under the spell of a powerful intoxicant. They
are not thinking clearly. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
"Temperate temperance is best. Intemperate temperance injures the
cause of temperance, while temperate temperance helps it in its fight
against intemperate intemperance. Fanatics will never learn that,
though it be written in letters of gold across the sky."
- Mark Twain's Notebook, 1896
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