| Oct. 22, 2004 #372 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Table of Contents
| ||||||||||||||||||||
THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
(1) GROWING DANGER: DRUGGED DRIVING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Ohio Highway Patrol Trooper Leonard Gray had stopped to direct traffic
around a jackknifed truck in December 2002 when a car, traveling about
50 mph, hit him. Gray, 53, was flipped into the air, his head crashed
into the car's windshield and he landed - unconscious, with his legs
broken and head bloodied - on the pavement. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The driver who hit Gray, 61-year-old Ronald Hamrick, had been
convicted of drug possession previously and had cocaine in his system
when he was tested seven hours after the accident, Hocking County
assistant prosecutor David Sams says. | ||||||||||||||||||||
If Hamrick had been drinking alcohol and had registered a
blood-alcohol level of 0.08%, the case against him would have been
open and shut, Sams says: aggravated vehicular assault, with drunken
driving as a factor in the charge. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But Ohio, like most states, has no legal standard for determining what
level of drugs in a person's system makes him too impaired to drive.
The lack of such a guideline often makes it difficult for prosecutors
to prove cases of "drugged driving."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(2) ELEMENTARY STUDENTS FACE CHARGES AFTER BAGS OF MARIJUANA FOUND (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
ORLANDO, Fla. - Three third-graders in Orange County, Fla., face
possible felony drug charges after they were caught with bags of
marijuana at school, according to FLORIDA TODAY news partner WKMG
Local 6 News. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Deputies said the 9- and 10-year-old children were allegedly caught with the drugs at Pine Hills Elementary School on Wednesday. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The students were apparently spotted with the bags of drugs by a
teacher. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Orange County Sheriff's Office has sent the case to the state
attorney's office to decide whether to press charges against the
children. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[ends]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(3) GROUP PROMOTES DRUG POLICY CHANGE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - A new coalition of black professional organizations
called Wednesday for drug policies that focus on prevention and
treatment instead of imprisonment. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The National African-American Drug Policy Coalition is dissatisfied
with drug policies that keep a large number of black men in the prison
system. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The group is promoting what it calls therapeutic sentencing, in which
judges require those convicted of some drug crimes to undergo
treatment instead of being given jail time. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The coalition will encourage tough sentencing of those who deal drugs,
but will attempt to turn the focus and funding of drug policy toward
public health, said the coalition's executive director, Arthur L.
Burnett Sr., a retired senior judge. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[ends]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(4) SINGAPORE UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE FOR AUSTRALIAN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
SINGAPORE - A Singapore court upheld on Wednesday the death sentence
for a 24-year-old Australian man of Vietnamese origin found guilty of
smuggling 400 grammes of heroin while in transit at the island's main
airport. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Nguyen Tuong Van, arrested at Changi airport in December 2002 while
travelling from Cambodia to Melbourne, will be hanged unless his
lawyers and rights group Amnesty International win a bid for clemency
from Singapore President S.R. Nathan.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
If the petition fails, Van will be the first Australian citizen
executed in Singapore. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Wearing loose orange prison overalls, with his hands shackled, Van
showed little emotion as a Court of Appeal judge read the verdict to a
courtroom that included Australia's High Commissioner and Van's
mother, who wept after the sentence. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
In 1994, Singapore caused a diplomatic furore when it turned down Dutch government pleas for clemency and hanged 59-year-old Dutchman Johannes Van Damme for trafficking about 4.5 kg of heroin. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Singapore's drug laws are among the world's harshest. Anyone aged 18
or over convicted of carrying more than 15 grammes of heroin faces
mandatory execution by hanging. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy
| ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-9) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Proponents of a voter initiative in Alaska that would legalize
marijuana are suing the state's Lieutenant Governor, who is supposed
to be neutral in election matters. The activists say the Lt. Gov.
clearly showed his bias by allowing his office to write a statement
opposing the marijuana initiative. This isn't the first time he's
showed his bias; he also rejected valid signatures in previous
initiative attempts. Will the voters punish the sitting government
for its persistent meddling?
| ||||||||||||||||||||
A local government is demonstrating considerably more good sense in
investigating its own failures in the war on drugs. Officials in
Syracuse, New York understand they can't change state and federal
law, but they want an honest appraisal of what's really happening. I
have a feeling they're not going to be impressed. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Also last week, a new report says that "get-tough" anti-drug programs for young people like DARE and boot camps not only don't work, they actually encourage the problems they claim to address; while the DEA has information it doesn't want you to see. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(5) MARIJUANA MEASURE BACKERS SUE OVER OPPOSITION ACCOUNT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
ANCHORAGE--A group pushing the ballot measure to legalize marijuana sued Lt. Gov. Loren Leman on Tuesday over his office's role in writing a statement of opposition in the Official Election Pamphlet. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Yes on 2 seeks a court declaration that the role of Leman's office
in writing the opposition statement to Proposition 2 was improper
and unconstitutional. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The lawsuit also requests that the lieutenant governor acknowledge
that his office acted improperly and distribute that information to
voters. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Leman was traveling outside Delta Junction and could not be reached
for immediate comment. His chief of staff, Annette Kreitzer, said
the office had done nothing improper. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(6) COUNCILORS LOOK FOR BETTER WAY TO FIGHT DRUGS
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Policy experts to speak at public hearings spurred by auditor's
report, concerns. | ||||||||||||||||||||
A Syracuse Common Council committee today will begin examining local
alternatives to the war on drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Stephanie Miner, chairwoman of the council's finance committee, will
host four national experts on drug policy during public hearings
scheduled for today and Oct. 28.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
The hearings stem from last year's critical city auditor's report on
the money spent by Syracuse police to enforce minor drug crimes, and
by increasing concern by city residents that a new approach is
needed, Miner said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"It's become increasingly apparent to a lot of different people that
the war on drugs is not working," Miner said. "This is something
that's going on across the country, and we want to learn how other
communities are dealing with it, and if there's a way to spend money
more efficiently."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Other communities have made changes in emphasis and enforcement of
drug laws. But today's hearing - coupled with the auditor's report -
marks one of the few times a city government has taken it upon
itself to look critically at its approach and investigate
alternatives, said Nicholas Eyle, executive director of ReconsiDer,
an organization dedicated to reforming drug laws. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(7) PANEL: 'SCARE TACTICS' DON'T CUT TEEN CRIME
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Boot Camps May Raise Violence, Says Report That Backs Counseling | ||||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - Boot camps and other "get tough" programs for
adolescents do not prevent crime and may make the problem even
worse, an expert panel concluded Friday. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Laws transferring juveniles into the adult court system lead these
teens to commit more violence, and there is no proof they deter
others from committing crime, the panel said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
More promising, it said, are programs that offer intensive
counseling for families and young people at risk. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The 13-member panel of experts, convened by the National Institutes of Health, reviewed the available scientific evidence to look for consensus on causes of youth violence and ways to prevent it. | ||||||||||||||||||||
" 'Scare tactics' don't work," the panel concluded in its report,
released Friday. "Programs that seek to prevent violence through
fear and tough treatment do not work."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
The trouble with boot camps, group detention centers and other "get
tough" programs is they bring together young people who are inclined
toward violence and who teach each other how to commit more crime,
the panel said: "The more sophisticated [teens] instruct the more
naive in precisely the behaviors that the intervener wishes to
prevent."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(8) DEA SPARKS UPROAR IN BATTLE OVER REGULATION OF PAINKILLERS
| ||||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON The Drug Enforcement Administration has removed from its
Web site a "frequently asked questions" document for physicians and
law enforcement in their handling of opioid drugs, saying it
contained misstatements. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Pain control advocates blasted the move, saying the document was
meant to support physicians who feared prosecution in prescribing
the powerful drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The dispute is the latest chapter in a long running battle between
groups that promote more liberal use of pain medication and the DEA,
which is considering new restrictions to limit use of some opioid
drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Opioids are a family of drugs similar to morphine. They are used
primarily to relieve pain. However, because they cause euphoria, may
result in dependency and sometimes lead to accidental death, opioids
are tightly federally regulated. | ||||||||||||||||||||
DEA officials refused to comment on why the document was pulled from its Web site. But a Wisconsin University pain study group that helped prepare it said the DEA's action took it by surprise. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Law Enforcement & Prisons
| ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (10-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The unsavory culture of drug law enforcement was exposed again this
week in the wake of the fake drugs scandal in Dallas. An
investigation into the narcotics division of the Dallas police
department showed little oversight from anywhere else in the
department. Why do narcotics officers feel so entitled to do what
they will? Perhaps because not only superiors, but courts give them
so much leeway. In a new case out of Tennessee, a judge ruled that
undercover police can lie in court if it helps them to keep big drug
investigations covert. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The clear result of this "anything goes" mentality is corruption. In
Oklahoma, police as well as a district attorney allegedly took
whatever they wanted from innocent citizens under the guise of the
war on drugs. In Tennessee, police seemed to feel they could simply
cover up a botched fatal drug raid. A jury wouldn't let them get
away with it. If only more societal institutions showed such
resolve. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(10) POLICE CHANGES VOWED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The broken rules, careless police work and lax supervision cited
Wednesday as contributors to the Dallas police fake-drug scandal
were nothing new in the narcotics division. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Similar concerns came up more than a decade ago, and suggested fixes
were ignored, according to a report presented to the City Council on
Wednesday about the series of arrests of innocent people in 2001.
This time, city leaders vow to get it right. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"I believe that we will take these recommendations and put them to
good use and make sure that this doesn't happen again," said Dallas
Mayor Laura Miller, responding to the report during an emotional
briefing at City Hall. The two independent attorneys' who wrote the
report found that police commanders at every level didn't monitor
narcotics detectives' work or heed warning signs, leading to the
false arrests. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The shoddy supervision allowed officers to break rules and corrupt
confidential informants - who were paid on a sliding scale based on
the size of their drug busts - to take advantage of the system,
framing innocent people with billiards chalk bundled like real
drugs. "It was truly one of those situations where everyone was
looking at everyone else to do something about it," said Terence
Hart, a former federal prosecutor who wrote the report with former
Dallas County district Judge Lena Levario. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(11) JUDGE: OFFICERS MAY LIE ABOUT TRAFFIC-STOP REASONS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
In the cloak-and-dagger world of undercover drug investigation, just how far can officers go to conceal their secretive work? | ||||||||||||||||||||
U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Bruce Guyton wades into this
thorny area of the law with an opinion involving the seizure of a
kilogram, or a little more than two pounds, of cocaine found stashed
in a diaper bag inside Adrian Brown's car. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The cocaine, authorities allege, was a drop in the bucket for a conspiracy that funneled hundreds of pounds of the illegal powder from Atlanta to Athens to Knoxville. Brown, they contend, was part of a ring of drug traffickers led by Nathaniel Brinson Jr. | ||||||||||||||||||||
A task force of agents headed by the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration knew the odds were high that Brown had cocaine in his
car in August 2003. But they had a problem.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Brown and his alleged co-conspirators had no clue the DEA was on their trail. They were clueless of phone taps and surveillance teams and unaware of the government's efforts to build a conspiracy case. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The DEA-led task force wanted to snatch Brinson's cocaine and, perhaps, turn him into an informant in the process, but they were not ready to take down the entire alleged trafficking organization. | ||||||||||||||||||||
So, they concocted a ruse, testimony has shown. That ruse would
ultimately lead into a Knox County courtroom, where a Tennessee
Highway Patrol trooper would - on the witness stand - continue to
cloak the real reason he stopped Brown. If the trooper, at best,
blurred the truth or, at worst, lied, could Assistant U.S. Attorney
Mike Winck still be allowed to use that kilogram of cocaine against
Brown?
| ||||||||||||||||||||
In an opinion released last week, Guyton said he could. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(12) DA, TEAM NAMED IN MORE SUITS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Two civil racketeering lawsuits filed Wednesday in federal court claim the Muskogee County district attorney, his chief of staff and drug task force members illegally seized and sold private property. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The suits cite violations of RICO, the federal Racketeering
Influenced Corrupt Organization Act. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Oklahoma City attorney Robert Haupt had filed a similar suit in U.S.
District Court in Muskogee in July on behalf of a Muskogee mechanic,
Kimm Bushey. | ||||||||||||||||||||
That first suit alleges District Attorney John David Luton and Gary
Sturm, Luton's chief of staff, are responsible for depriving Bushey
of more than $5,000 in tools illegally forfeited and sold although
Bushey was not charged with a crime. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Former District Judge Jim Edmondson, now an Oklahoma Supreme Court
justice, earlier ordered Luton's office to return Bushey's tools.
Many of the tools already had been sold, and a scheduled hearing
before Edmondson was called off when Luton's office allegedly agreed
to pay Bushey for the tools. That never happened.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Similar racketeering suits filed Wednesday allege illegal forfeiture and sale of private property owned by either Paul Kripp or Margaret Baude. Kripp's suit alleges auto repair supplies and machinery and trailers were seized illegally near Fort Gibson and sold. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Baude's suit contends Luton and Sturm caused her dead son's
belongings of a lifetime to be seized in an illegal search, and the
property was later sold by Luton's office. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Baude's suit alleges the defendants have formed "an illegal
enterprise and engaged in a pattern of racketeering for the purpose
of obtaining money and property for their own use and benefit or for
the use and benefit of the Muskogee County District Attorney's
Office."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(13) OFFICERS LIABLE IN SHOOTING; CITY TO BE TRIED NEXT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Jury Awards Victim's Family
| ||||||||||||||||||||
A federal jury's award of nearly $3 million to the family of a cemetery worker killed by police in a drug raid two years ago is the first step in a two-phase lawsuit, attorneys said Monday. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The jury's verdict of about $2.85 million Friday established damages
and liability against three Memphis officers in the death of Jeffrey
Robinson, 41, who was shot in the face by police July 30, 2002, at
his home at 1523 Rozelle next to the Baron Hirsch cemetery. He died
about six weeks later on Sept. 16.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Now the City of Memphis, also a defendant in the suit, will be tried
to determine whether Police Department policies and procedures
contributed to Robinson's death, said plaintiff's attorney Buck
Wellford. The city could be held liable for the compensatory damage,
which was $1.25 million of the total, and for attorney fees of the
plaintiff. | ||||||||||||||||||||
No trial date has been set. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The shooting occurred after members of the police vice and narcotics
squad acted on a tip and stormed the home Robinson shared with
another man who also worked at the cemetery. Robinson was shot after
police said he lunged at them with a box cutter. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Police said they found 2.2 grams of marijuana. Robinson was charged
with aggravated assault and possession of marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||||
During the trial, Wellford contended police planted the box cutter
in an effort to justify the shooting and arrested Robinson on false
charges. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Cannabis & Hemp-
| ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (14-18) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Big news from Canada, as uber-activist Marc Emery (publisher of
Cannabis Culture magazine, and founder of the B.C. Marijuana Party)
was released from the Saskatoon Correctional Center after serving 2
months of a 3 month sentence. Emery was found guilty of trafficking
for PASSING A JOINT at a rally - that's right my friends, Canada
ain't exactly Holland yet. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Our second story looks at the uneven application of prop. 215 across California. The article concludes with a great overview of all states that have legalized medical marijuana. As if to prove the point of uneven enforcement in Cali, our third story looks at a shameful situation in San Joaquin County, where a 26 year old quadriplegic named Aaron Paradiso was ordered to stand trial for cultivation and trafficking, despite having a physician's permission to use cannabis. Superior Court Judge Terrence Van Oss suggested that proposition 215, which legalized the use of medical cannabis in California in 1996, was misunderstood by voters. Is it me, or do some judges seem to get their appointments in Cracker Jack boxes? | ||||||||||||||||||||
Our fourth story this week is a comprehensive historical look at
Alaska's shifting legal relationship with cannabis, where the state
currently allows residents to keep up to 4 ounces of cannabis per
person in their homes. The legal battles surrounding this case
revolve around aspects of personal freedoms and expectations of
privacy, and may serve as a good template for reform in other
states. And finally, a story about Oakland's upcoming Measure Z,
which would allow for the regulated sale of cannabis by the city if
California should decide to legalize possession. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(14) 'PRINCE OF POT' GETS OUT OF JAIL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Released on Monday after 61 days behind bars, marijuana activist and
entrepreneur Marc Emery knelt in the Saskatoon snow and kissed the
cannabis-leaf flag his supporters have flown across from the
courthouse since Day 1. | ||||||||||||||||||||
He then launched into a contemptuous diatribe against Saskatchewan's
"intolerable" attitude and promised to try changing it from the
inside. He plans to establish a chapter of the Marijuana Party
within three months and offer a full slate of candidates in the next
provincial election. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Emery, the self-proclaimed prince of pot, was released from the
Saskatoon Correctional Centre at 8 a.m. after serving two-thirds of
his sentence, as required by law. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(15) STATE'S MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW IS UNEVENLY APPLIED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Enforcement of California's first-in-the-nation medical marijuana
law is all over the map, literally. | ||||||||||||||||||||
A patient in one place may be arrested next door. In Berkeley, for
instance, a doctor's note lets you carry 21/2 pounds of marijuana.
Drive to neighboring Emeryville, however, and you could be called a
dealer. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Eight years after its passage, the law remains unevenly applied
around the state. Recent changes designed to protect legitimate
users from arrest run up against federal law, which says marijuana
is an illegal drug, not medicine. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(16) JUDGE ORDERS RETRIAL IN MEDICAL POT CASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
A San Joaquin Superior Court judge Friday criticized voters for
legalizing medical marijuana and then ordered a Stockton
quadriplegic to again stand trial for cultivating and intending to
sell pot. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"The voters unfortunately didn't understand the issues at all," said Judge Terrence Van Oss, while questioning a doctor who had permitted Aaron Paradiso to buy marijuana from a Bay Area dispensary. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Van Oss later declined to elaborate on his statement. But it
reinforced medical-marijuana pro-ponents' concerns that Proposition
215 -- a law approved by voters eight years ago -- is not seen by
San Joaquin County law enforcers as legitimate. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"It's never a good sign when a judge questions the voters," said
Bill Pearce of the Valley Patient Alliance, a group that advocates
for people who use marijuana medicinally. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(17) HASHING IT OUT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
In the 1850s, Abraham Lincoln kept hammering away on a few basic
points about American law and society. One of those often-overlooked
points was a fairly simple one: Laws instruct citizens. Even if the
citizens create them, over time, laws inform public sentiment and
eventually alter social mores. | ||||||||||||||||||||
So what do citizens do when their laws send them mixed messages? How
do conflicting laws instruct a body politic?
| ||||||||||||||||||||
If Lincoln was right, and laws really do instruct the public, what
are Alaskans to make of our state's marijuana laws? Over the last 25
years - and especially the last six or seven - a sort of legal
schizophrenia has persisted in Alaska's courts with regard to
marijuana, with two recent rulings looming large over proposition 2
on November's ballot. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(18) MEASURE Z WOULD EASE POT USE LAWS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
After San Franciscans legalized medical marijuana in 1991, voters
statewide followed suit five years later. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Backers of Measure Z, the Oakland Cannabis Initiative, hope it will
have the same effect. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The measure would put Oakland at the forefront of efforts to
decriminalize adult, recreational pot use statewide. | ||||||||||||||||||||
It makes private adult marijuana offenses, including possession,
sales and cultivation of the herb, the lowest priority for Oakland
police. And it directs the city to set up a system of taxation and
regulation as soon as state law allows it -- which is largely
symbolic and, according to the city attorney's office,
| ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
International News
| ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (19-22) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
A repeated theme in the rhetoric of prohibition is to link drugs
with hated groups. A textbook example of this happened last week
when the Russian government proclaimed it "has determined" that
"all" the militants who held hostage hundreds of children in the
city of Beslan last month "were dependent on drugs." The Russian
government officials making the claim were quoted on the Russian
Interfax wire service, which was the centerpiece for an article in
the New York Times. Critics dismissed the government press release
as "Russian propaganda."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
In many places, "the foreigner," is a classic scapegoat and often an
irresistible target when "the foreigner" is accused of "drugs." Gung
ho Philippine prohibitionists, are always ready to serve up harsh
punishment to unrepentant sinners, and last week a judge in Pasay
City sentenced an Australian national to 12 years in jail for
marijuana. Surely the unlucky Aussie must have been a kingpin
pushing pounds of pot to get a sentence that long, right? Wrong. The
man, a medical marijuana patient, was convicted of possessing a mere
15 grams of cannabis. Although the hapless Australian man suffers
from arthritis, the "foreigner," was unable to provide the court
with "a doctor's prescription that he was allowed to use marijuana
for his ailment," according to the Philippine newspaper, "People's
Tonight."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
In South Korea, actress Kim Pu-son stirred up debate after her
cannabis arrest last July by filing a court petition appealing her
case. The petition challenges the constitutionally of the Korean
republic's prohibition of cannabis. "Current law prescribing
marijuana as a narcotic is unconstitutional, and banning marijuana
is in violation of the right to pursue happiness," the actress said
in a briefing last week. Jeon Kyoung-soo, president of a Korean
criminology institute last week confirmed that cannabis prohibition
indeed might not survive constitutional challenge, and so may need
to be placed in another category to enable government to continue to
punish cannabis users. Jeon admitted cannabis is a simply a plant,
and isn't considered addictive, according to "international
agreements."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Finally this week a dispatch from the United States' neighbor to the
north, the nation of Canada. The Bush administration's hand-picked
attorney general, John Ashcroft (the man who ordered a naked statue
at the DOJ be draped upon his ascension), is visiting Canada this
week, and is expected to demand Canadians punish cannabis users and
growers more harshly. Ashcroft is also expected to ask Canada to
give up more sovereignty to the U.S., by allowing U.S. government
officials to go after people in Canada itself. Ashcroft is scheduled
to meet privately with Canadian Public Security Minister Anne
McLellan. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(19) RUSSIAN OFFICIAL SAYS BESLAN REBELS WERE ADDICTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
MOSCOW, Oct. 17 - Forensic analysis of the remains of 31 militants
who seized a public school in Beslan last month has determined that
all of them were dependent on drugs, a senior law enforcement
official said in a statement reported Sunday by Russian news
agencies. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The official, Nikolai Shepel, the deputy prosecutor general of
Russia's southern federal district, also said blood tests had found
very high levels of heroin and morphine among a majority of the
attackers who died as the siege ended, "which indicates that they
were long-term drug addicts and had been using drugs permanently
while preparing for the terrorist attack," according to the Interfax
wire service. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"These conclusions help us look at the Beslan tragedy from a new
angle," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The statement was not the first of its kind here. As terror attacks
have emanated in recent years from the war in Chechnya, many Russian
law enforcement officials and politicians have said those who plan
the attacks use hard drugs to coerce suicide bombers or to induce in
the bombers a semi-alert state that assists them in fulfilling their
grim assignments. Pro-separatist Web sites have dismissed the claims
as Russian propaganda. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(20) AUSSIE GETS 12 YEARS FOR MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
A PASAY City Regional Trial Court judge yesterday sentenced an Australian to 12 years imprisonment for possession of marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Branch 116 Judge Eleuterio Guerrero also ordered Francis Freeman to
pay a fine of P.3 million. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Court records show Demetrio Salvago, a frisker at the Final Check-in
counter at the Departure Area of Manila Domestic Airport, claimed
that authorities recovered almost 15 grams of dried marijuana leaves
from Freeman on April 26. | ||||||||||||||||||||
During the trial, Freeman alleged he was using the marijuana leaves
for his arthritis. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The foreigner failed to provide the court a doctor's prescription
that he was allowed to use marijuana for his ailment. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(21) DEBATES MOUNT OVER MARIJUANA BAN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
A narcotic crime expert claimed marijuana should not be regarded as
a narcotic, supporting a female actress who filed a petition with a
court to decide whether the laws banning marijuana are
| ||||||||||||||||||||
His remark and the petition are expected to draw a new debate on marijuana, which some often argue is safer than cigarettes. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
"Scientifically, marijuana is just marijuana, a plant, as ginseng is
just ginseng. It is neither a narcotic nor an addictive drug
according to international agreements," Jeon Kyoung-soo, president
of the Drug-Related Criminology Institute of Korea told The Korea
Times. | ||||||||||||||||||||
From this point of view, Jeon said current law governing narcotics may be unconstitutional, as the actress Kim Pu-son insists. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Kim was arrested in July for smoking marijuana and was sentenced to a suspended prison term of two years. She filed a petition yesterday to a Suwon court where her appeal is pending, demanding it review whether the law on narcotics is constitutionally acceptable. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Current law prescribing marijuana as a narcotic is
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Jeon of the drug criminology institute said current law on narcotics
will bring about ceaseless controversy, because it stipulates
marijuana, a non-narcotic according to him, as a kind of narcotic
and punishes people by the law. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Marijuana contains mild hallucinogenic properties, but its side effects are smaller than that of other narcotics such as philopon, or methamphetamine. The punishment should be different for those smoking marijuana and those taking other narcotics," Jeon said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
He also claimed it is desirable to regulate marijuana in a separate category from other narcotics by establishing a new law governing hallucinogenic materials generally. Those smoking marijuana then could be subject to punishment by the new law, Jeon added. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
"A growing number of scholars claim marijuana should be excluded from the list of narcotics. Ill recommend such a move through seminars and hearings with the institution," Jeon said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(22) DRUGS, GUNS ON TABLE FOR ASHCROFT'S CANADIAN VISIT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Fighting gun, drug and human trafficking along the Canada-U.S.
border will be key agenda items when U.S. Attorney General John
Ashcroft heads to Ottawa this week to meet with his Canadian
counterparts and dozens of law enforcement officials. | ||||||||||||||||||||
It will be the second visit in less than two weeks from senior
members of the Bush administration: Homeland Security Secretary Tom
Ridge came to Canada last week to discuss border security with
Public Security Minister Anne McLellan. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Mr. Ashcroft will meet with Ms. McLellan and Justice Minister Irwin
Cotler. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
A spokesperson for Mr. Ashcroft's office could not be reached for details on his speech, which he will deliver to the forum on Friday after meeting privately with Ms. McLellan and Mr. Cotler. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But on his last trip to Canada in July 2002, Mr. Ashcroft said he
would like to see Canada loosen restrictions to allow armed American
law enforcement officers to pursue suspects in Canada. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
THE DOPER VOTE
| ||||||||||||||||||||
By Jules Siegel, AlterNet, October 22, 2004. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Orthodox leftists seem to be incapable of understanding the size and
intensity of the anti-drug war movement. Do they think these people
don't vote?
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
WELCOME HOME MARC!
| ||||||||||||||||||||
After 60 Days at Saskatoon Correctional, Marc Emery is back! In an
inspired speech, he says that he is ready to go to jail again if
he has to for the cause. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
JONATHAN MAGBIE TRAGEDY
| ||||||||||||||||||||
On September 24, 2004, 27-year-old quadriplegic medical marijuana user
Jonathan Magbie died after being given the maximum sentence for a
first-time marijuana offence and, consequently, suffering medical
neglect in a D.C. jail.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
CHOOSE OR LOSE: DRUG LAWS
| ||||||||||||||||||||
The war on drugs has been a hot-button issue in each of the last 9
presidential elections. But this year, it's been pushed to the
shadows by the War on Terror. In this Choose or Lose special, MTV
reports how the War on Drugs has changed under the Bush
administration, and examines how it might evolve under a potential
Kerry administration. | ||||||||||||||||||||
AIRDATE TIME | ||||||||||||||||||||
Fri 10/22 7:30 PM | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
THE EPIDEMIC ON AISLE 6
| ||||||||||||||||||||
By Mark Schone, legalaffairs.org, November/December 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Busting a record number of methamphetamine labs hasn't rid the
Midwest of its latest drug scourge. Now cops want to make it
harder to buy cold pills that contain a key meth ingredient.
Will the drug lobby let them?
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
NATIONAL AFRICAN AMERICAN DRUG POLICY COALITION
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Leaders interviewed on Tavis Smiley Show, NPR
| ||||||||||||||||||||
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4118266 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
THE WRONG APPROACH
| ||||||||||||||||||||
By Tom Angell
| ||||||||||||||||||||
In "Yukon students divided on drug testing" ( news story, Oct. 6),
cross-country coach Matt Parent claims random drug testing gives
students "an excuse to not do drugs." But randomly testing students
who want to participate in after-school activities only gives young
people who've used drugs an excuse to avoid trying out for sports
teams or joining other activities. | ||||||||||||||||||||
School officials should welcome these at-risk students into
after-school learning environments during the crucial hours between
the end of the school day and the time their parents come home from
work. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Instead, the proposed drug-testing policy simply turns these
students toward the streets, where they'll be more likely to further
experiment with drugs. The school board should reconsider its
drug-testing plan, which surely won't be a quick fix for drug
problems. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Tom Angell, Washington, D.C. Angell is communications director of
Students for Sensible Drug Policy. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
BLACK COALITION TO TARGET EFFECTS OF DRUG POLICY
| ||||||||||||||||||||
For years, many of the nation's leading black legislators, attorneys
and social scientists complained that the nation's war on drugs was
both ineffective and unfair. | ||||||||||||||||||||
They blamed policies arising from that war for the disproportionate
number of African-Americans in prison. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But for years, little changed. | ||||||||||||||||||||
On Wednesday, a dozen African-American professional groups announced
the creation of the National African American Drug Policy Coalition,
hoping to spark reform with a two-pronged approach: In a handful of
cities, including Huntsville, Ala., they plan to advise judges to
offer treatment rather than prison sentences for drug crimes and to
push education and prevention in communities. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Nationally, they hope to launch a debate that will propel lawmakers
to change mandatory minimum-sentencing laws that the coalition
complains unfairly hurt blacks and other minorities. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Among the group's leaders is Kurt L. Schmoke, a former three-term
Baltimore mayor who, in 1988, called drug addiction a public health
problem and advocated decriminalizing drugs. His stance sparked a
national debate on drug policy. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Schmoke, once a prosecutor and now the dean of Howard University Law
School, will be co-chairman of the coalition. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Schmoke acknowledged that his stance on drug decriminalization did
not draw widespread support, but he distanced that position from
this latest effort. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"I have tried my best to ensure that people didn't see this as a
Kurt Schmoke operation, because it is not," he said Wednesday. "I do
strongly believe that this war on drugs should be more of a public
health war. I am very pleased that this organization has come about.
But it's not something I created, and it's not about decriminalizing
drugs."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Schmoke said instead he wants to help fix what he calls "one of the
most important issues affecting the quality of life in urban
America."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
He was elected to his first term as mayor in 1987, and shortly
afterward he said the nation's drug policy was as big a failure as
Prohibition. He advocated medical treatment for addicts instead of
jail time. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Treatment, advocates hoped, would reverse a disturbing trend
reported in 2002 by the Justice Policy Institute: In 1980
African-American men in colleges and universities outnumbered those
in prison by more than 3-to-1. But two decades later, 791,600 black
men were incarcerated for drug-related crimes, compared with 603,032
enrolled in college. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The notion that the nation's drug policies are ineffective is not
new. But what sets the coalition's effort apart is its collaborative
nature. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"We have had a fragmented approach for some time, but we have never
had all these groups working together," said Arthur L. Burnett, a
retired Washington, D.C., superior court judge, who is the full-time
executive director of the coalition. | ||||||||||||||||||||
And its goals are ambitious. Supported in part by the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation, the group plans to see results within the next
five years. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The national component will be launched in February, with a
conference bringing together partners to strategize a national
debate. The Coalition includes such groups as the National
Association of Black Law Enforcement Executives, Congressional Black
Caucus Foundation, National Bar Association and National Association
of Black Psychologists. | ||||||||||||||||||||
On the local level, the group is targeting seven pilot cities:
Baltimore; Washington; Chicago; Seattle; Huntsville, Ala.; Flint,
Mich.; and another city to be named in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Smaller advisory groups will work to influence local judges and to
lobby legislators. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"The drug courts are fine, but they are only dealing with an
infinitesimal amount of people," said Burnett, a judge of 31 years,
who helped advocate for drug courts years ago. "They don't have all
the resources to deal with all the people who really need help. One
of our big missions is to educate legislative bodies for more
intensive and more elaborate treatment. To do that, they need more
money."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Beyond reforming decades-old drug laws, Burnett wants to see black professionals play a larger role mentoring children in communities and keeping them out of the streets - and away from drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Sure, there are mentoring programs out there, but they have been
episodic, small and fragmented," he said. "These organizations need
to come together and make educating young people the basis for their
existence. We need to be concerned with doubling the numbers of
black lawyers and doctors."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Drug policy affects more than dealers and addicts, he
| ||||||||||||||||||||
"We're not dealing with drug policy only as it impacts the criminal
justice system, but it is a part of the whole problem of the
dysfunctional black family, the lack of jobs and unemployment. Drugs
is the thread that runs through all this."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
"To fear the examination of any proposition appears to me an
intellectual and moral palsy that will ever hinder the firm grasping
of any substance whatever." - George Eliot
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
DS Weekly is one of the many free educational services DrugSense
offers our members. Watch this feature to learn more about what
DrugSense can do for you. | ||||||||||||||||||||
TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS:
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Please utilize the following URLs
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Policy and Law Enforcement/Prison content selection and analysis by
Stephen Young (), Cannabis/Hemp content selection
and analysis by Philippe Lucas (), International
content selection and analysis by Doug Snead (),
Layout by Matt Elrod ()
| ||||||||||||||||||||
We wish to thank all our contributors, editors, NewsHawks and letter writing activists. Please help us help reform. Become a NewsHawk See http://www.mapinc.org/hawk.htm for info on contributing clippings. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving the included information for research and
educational purposes. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO DRUGSENSE ON-LINE
| ||||||||||||||||||||
-OR-
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Mail in your contribution. Make checks payable to MAP Inc. send your
contribution to:
| ||||||||||||||||||||
The Media Awareness Project (MAP) Inc. |
 | current issue | this issue |