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DrugSense Weekly
Nov. 12, 2004 #375


Table of Contents

* Breaking News (03/28/24)


* This Just In


(1) Justices Hear Case On Drug-Detection Dogs
(2) Canada: We'll Make Pot Laws, PM Tells Cellucci
(3) Two Marijuana Proponents Convicted Of Possession
(4) Editorial: Ashcroft II

* Weekly News in Review


Drug Policy-

COMMENT: (5-8)
(5) Medical Marijuana Vote Called Invalid
(6) Pressed To Do Well On Admissions Tests, Students Take Drugs
(7) Oxycontin Lawsuit Settled
(8) U.S. Calls Doctor Dealer, Not Healer

Law Enforcement & Prisons-

COMMENT: (9-13)
(9) Despite Drop In Crime, An Increase In Inmates
(10) More Women Fill Prisons
(11) Governor Seeks Rise In Prison Spending
(12) The Usual Suspects
(13) Police Say Suspects Chose Site

Cannabis & Hemp-

COMMENT: (14-18)
(14) Drugs And The Nation
(15) Nearly Three-Fourths Of West Has Medical Marijuana Laws
(16) Researchers Buzzing About Marijuana-Derived Medicines
(17) Pot Bill Could Mean Trade Slowdown - Congressman
(18) B.C. Considers Regulating Hydroponic Equipment

International News-

COMMENT: (19-22)
(19) Canadians Sentenced To 16 Years For Peddling Ecstasy In Vietnam
(20) Drug Trafficking On The Rise, Warns Ali
(21) The War On Drugs Is 'Lost'
(22) Public-Private Jail Proposal Sets Off Alarms

* Hot Off The 'Net


    Remembrance  And  Ignorance:  In Afghan Fields The Poppies Grow...
    Jean Cooper Arrest Protest - Up In Smoke Cafe
    Cultural Baggage Radio Show
    Keep The Government Out Of Your Medicine Cabinet
    Better Waking Through Chemistry
    Judging Prohibition
    Veterans For Medical Marijuana
    The D.A.R.E. Generation Returns to D.C.

* Letter Of The Week


    Drug  Laws  A  Threat  To  Individual  Rights  /  By  Chris  Buors

* Feature Article


    Playing Cops And Dealers At School / By Stephen Young

* Quote of the Week


    Brehon Somervell


THIS JUST IN    (Top)

(1) JUSTICES HEAR CASE ON DRUG-DETECTION DOGS    (Top)

High Court Is Asked to Decide on Legality of Such Searches During Traffic Stops

Nothing seemed unusual on the afternoon six years ago when Illinois state trooper Daniel Gillette pulled Roy Caballes over for driving six miles per hour faster than the posted speed limit of 65.

Gillette indicated he would let Caballes off with a warning.  But as Gillette went through some paperwork, a second trooper arrived with a drug-detection dog and began to stroll around Caballes's car.

The dog reacted to the scent of drugs in the trunk, and the troopers opened it to find a shipment of marijuana.  Caballes was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case.  To be decided is whether using a drug-detection dog on a car pulled over for a traffic offense is an invasion of privacy for which police need a specific justification, or merely an aspect of modern law enforcement no more intrusive than the sniffer dogs that routinely patrol airports and bus stations.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 11 Nov 2004
Source:   Washington Post (DC)
Copyright:   2004 The Washington Post Company
Website:   http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author:   Charles Lane
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04.n1602.a01.html


(2) CANADA: WE'LL MAKE POT LAWS, PM TELLS CELLUCCI    (Top)

Border Congestion Fears

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Paul Martin yesterday brushed aside warnings from U.S.  ambassador Paul Cellucci that a border crackdown will result if Canada decriminalizes marijuana, saying this country reserves the right to pass laws as it sees fit.

Asked his opinion of Mr.  Cellucci's prediction that relaxed marijuana laws in Canada will worsen congestion at border crossings with the United States, Mr.  Martin was unequivocal.

"Firstly, the legislation is before the House of Commons, then the parliamentary committee will have its discussions on all the various points, and we'll wait to see the legislation that comes from that," he said.  "But Canada will make its own laws, pure and simple."

Business groups have raised concerns over possible tie-ups resulting from more liberal marijuana laws in Canada, saying that even the current border morass costs Canadian businesses billions of dollars annually.  It is estimated that $1.2-billion in goods and services travel across the border each day, making it the world's most lucrative bilateral trading relationship.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 11 Nov 2004
Source:   National Post (Canada)
Copyright:   2004 Southam Inc.
Website:   http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Author:   Sean Gordon, CanWest News Service, with files from National Post
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04.n1602.a04.html


(3) TWO MARIJUANA PROPONENTS CONVICTED OF POSSESSION    (Top)

Two proponents of legalizing marijuana were convicted yesterday of misdemeanor counts of possession of marijuana during three protests at Independence National Historical Park after a federal judge rejected their claim that smoking was constitutionally protected because they are Rastafarians.

Edward Forchion, 40, a perennial political candidate from Browns Mills in Burlington County who goes by the name "NJ Weedman," and Patrick L. Duff, 27, of Philadelphia, were convicted for their actions during demonstrations near the Liberty Bell on Dec.  20, March 20 and April

U.S.  Magistrate Judge Arnold C. Rapoport set sentencing for tomorrow, and Assistant U.S.  Attorney Kristin R. Hayes said each man faces a year's probation, with Forchion also facing a $750 fine and Duff a $500 fine.  Rapoport rejected their claim that the U.S. Religious Freedom Restoration Act exempted them from marijuana laws because marijuana is considered a sacrament in the Caribbean religion of Rastafarianism.

Pubdate:   Thu, 11 Nov 2004
Source:   Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/340
Author:   Joseph A.  Slobodzian


(4) EDITORIAL: ASHCROFT II    (Top)

Important Questions for Attorney General Nominee

The resignation of John Ashcroft as attorney general of the United States would be welcome had not President George W.  Bush appointed a replacement Wednesday who is cut from the same cloth.

White House counsel Alberto Gonzales, long rumored to be on the president's short list for the Supreme Court, has exhibited some of the same disdain for civil liberties displayed by Ashcroft.

The outgoing attorney general was the primary author of the U.S.A. Patriot Act -- including its provisions to seize library records and gag librarians from alerting patrons that the government was interested in their reading list.  Ashcroft's standard response to civil libertarian critics was "Treason!"

In pursuing hospital abortion records, he challenged the confidentiality of doctor-patient relations, and he crusaded against medical marijuana and assisted suicide even as his office was botching a much-ballyhooed terrorism case in Detroit.

Ashcroft's presumptive successor, subject to Senate confirmation, called the Geneva Conventions "quaint" when he wrote that the United States could waive protections for prisoners of war.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 11 Nov 2004
Source:   Detroit Free Press (MI)
Copyright:   2004 Detroit Free Press
Website:   http://www.freep.com/
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/125
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/ashcroft.htm (Ashcroft, John)
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/people/Alberto+Gonzales
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04.n1603.a09.html


WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW    (Top)


Domestic News- Policy


COMMENT: (5-8)    (Top)

Police officials in Ann Arbor, Michigan showed little respect for the will of the people last week.  Shortly after a new medical marijuana initiative was passed by a heavy margin of voters in the city, the police chief declared the law "invalid" and said police would not change the way they handle marijuana arrests.  Some residents have vowed to take the issue to court.

Will the dope cops start to cover college admissions testing? I wouldn't be surprised.  The Wall Street Journal reported that many students find that stimulants (even some illegal ones that will allegedly ruin one's academic life) help them score better on high pressure exams.

Purdue Pharma, which manufactures the demonized pain medication OxyContin, will pay a $10 million settlement to the state of West Virginia, while a respected pain doctor is starts a trial where he faces life in prison.


(5) MEDICAL MARIJUANA VOTE CALLED INVALID    (Top)

Oates Says Police Won't Change Enforcement Practices

A day after its approval by three-fourths of Ann Arbor voters, the medical marijuana initiative is getting the cold shoulder.

Ann Arbor Police Chief Dan Oates said in a written statement he has directed his officers to continue enforcement of all marijuana sale and possession offenses as they did before the vote.

Oates' decision came after City Attorney Stephen Postema said Wednesday that Ann Arbor's new medical marijuana initiative is invalid.

Although the initiative was legally and appropriately placed on the ballot after a petition drive, Postema said 27-year-old case law dictates that city officials can refer complaints for prosecution under state law even though it would be contrary to the city's new charter language.

[snip]

Medical marijuana proponents said Wednesday that the city's position means the matter is likely to wind up in court.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 04 Nov 2004
Source:   Ann Arbor News (MI)
Copyright:   2004 The Ann Arbor News
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/20
Author:   Tracy Davis, News Staff Reporter
Cited:   Ann Arbor Medical Marijuana Act http://www.aammi.org/
Cited:   Ann Arbor City Council http://www.ci.ann-arbor.mi.us/council.html
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1575/a01.html


(6) PRESSED TO DO WELL ON ADMISSIONS TESTS, STUDENTS TAKE DRUGS    (Top)

Stimulants Prescribed For Attention Disorders Find New Unapproved

BETHESDA, Md.  -- On the morning he was to take the SAT last March, a 17-year-old senior at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in suburban Washington went looking for a bottle of pills.  His score on practice tests had been too low and, with his sights set on an Ivy League college, he needed a miracle.  Or, friends suggested, Adderall.

He grabbed a tiny blue pill from his little brother's prescription stash and swallowed it two hours before the test.  Despite some jitters when he took the test that he attributes to the drug -- a stimulant prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD -- he scored 200 points better than he had on a previous test.  In an interview recently, he credited the drug with keeping him alert and confident: "It just felt like I was on top of my game. I knew I was going to get the questions right."

Students have long taken stimulants -- ranging from caffeine to cocaine -- to help them stay up all night writing papers and cramming for exams.  Now, some high-school and college kids are using prescription drugs in hopes of improving their performance on the standardized admissions tests for college and graduate school, according to interviews with students, parents, test tutors and doctors.

"It used to be on the fringes completely, but now it's seeping into the mainstream," says Steven Roy Goodman, a college and
graduate-school admissions consultant in Washington.  "If you're one of hundreds of kids fighting for one of 10 spots, you'll do everything you can to get the extra edge."

[snip]

Pubdate:   Mon, 08 Nov 2004
Source:   Wall Street Journal (US)
Copyright:   2004 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/487
Author:   Nicholas Zamiska
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1592/a01.html


(7) OXYCONTIN LAWSUIT SETTLED    (Top)

Purdue Pharma To Pay State $10 Million

Drugmaker Perdue Pharma has agreed to give the West Virginia Attorney General's office $10 million to end a lawsuit accusing the company of dishonestly marketing the painkiller OxyContin.

The money will finance doctor continuing-education programs, law enforcement drug-prevention programs and community
drug-rehabilitation programs, according to the Attorney General's office.

A McDowell County circuit judge approved the settlement Thursday before jury selection was scheduled to begin, Managing Deputy Attorney General Will Steele said Friday.

"We are pleased to put aside our differences and begin a working partnership which will benefit all West Virginians," said Purdue Pharma spokesman Tim Bannon.  "Those funds and those programs will make a real difference in the lives of individuals and families confronted with the problem of prescription drug abuse."

Attorney General Darrell McGraw filed the lawsuit in 2001, about five years after the Stamford, Conn.-based company began shipping OxyContin to West Virginia pharmacies.

The lawsuit sought to recoup at least the $30.5 million state agencies spent on OxyContin between 1996 and 2003.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sat, 06 Nov 2004
Source:   Charleston Gazette (WV)
Copyright:   2004 Charleston Gazette
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/77
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1595/a03.html


(8) U.S. CALLS DOCTOR DEALER, NOT HEALER    (Top)

Trial On Drug Charges Begins In Va.

Federal prosecutors yesterday portrayed prominent pain doctor William E.  Hurwitz as a man who used his white coat and prescription pad to traffic in narcotics, spreading the abuse of addictive painkillers nationwide and ultimately leading to the deaths of several patients.

During the opening day of his trial in U.S.  District Court in Alexandria, prosecutors outlined a 62-count indictment against the McLean doctor that includes charges of drug trafficking resulting in death and serious bodily injury, conspiracy to traffic in controlled substances and health care fraud.

During the trial, which is expected to last as long as eight weeks and has drawn national attention from advocates for patients with chronic pain, prosecutors intend to prove that Hurwitz, 59, was "a drug dealer in his own right," entering into sketchy financial agreements with patients whom he provided with countless prescriptions for painkillers such as OxyContin -- sometimes up to 600 pills per day.

[snip]

Hurwitz's attorneys have denounced the charges against their client as an attempt by the government to criminalize good medical practice.  They say Hurwitz was providing needed pain management to a class of patients whose chronic suffering "destroys your body ... your soul."

"This case is not about drug dealing," said defense attorney Patrick S.  Hallinan, who is based in San Francisco. "This is a case about new science: the treatment of chronic pain with high opioid doses to ameliorate that pain."

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 05 Nov 2004
Source:   Washington Post (DC)
Copyright:   2004 The Washington Post Company
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author:   Leef Smith
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1580/a03.html


Law Enforcement & Prisons


COMMENT: (9-13)    (Top)

The prison population, particularly the number of women behind bars, continues to increase.  It's easy to understand why in places like California.  Even with a new governor, the budget process always seems to favor the prison system.  Drug task forces that prey on people in small, poor towns are helping to keep the prisons full in Texas as well.

Finally, another drug bust gone bad fatality, this time outside a shopping mall in South Carolina.  Police say the public wasn't in danger.


(9) DESPITE DROP IN CRIME, AN INCREASE IN INMATES    (Top)

The number of inmates in state and federal prisons rose 2.1 percent last year, even as violent crime and property crime fell, according to a study by the Justice Department released yesterday.

The continuing increase in the prison population, despite a drop or leveling off in the crime rate in the past few years, is a result of laws passed in the 1990's that led to more prison sentences and longer terms, said Allen J.  Beck, chief of corrections statistics for the department's Bureau of Justice Statistics and an author of the report.

At the end of 2003, there were 1,470,045 men and women in state and federal prisons in the United States, the report found.  In addition, counting those inmates in city and county jails and incarcerated juvenile offenders, the total number of Americans behind bars was 2,212,475 on Dec.  31 last year, the report said.

[snip]

Alfred Blumstein, a criminologist at Carnegie Mellon University, said one of the most striking findings in the report was that almost 10 percent of all American black men ages 25 to 29 were in prison.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Mon, 8 Nov 2004
Source:   New York Times (NY)
Copyright:   2004 The New York Times Company
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/racial.htm (Racial Issues)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1591/a09.html


(10) MORE WOMEN FILL PRISONS    (Top)

WASHINGTON - The number of women in state and federal prisons is at an all-time high and growing fast, the government reported Sunday.

There were 101,179 women in prisons last year, 3.6 percent more than in 2002, the Justice Department said.  That marks the first time the women's prison population has topped 100,000, and continues a trend of rapid growth.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Mon, 08 Nov 2004
Source:   Kansas City Star (MO)
Copyright:   2004 The Kansas City Star
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/221
Author:   Associated Press
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/women.htm (Women)
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1591/a10.html


(11) GOVERNOR SEEKS RISE IN PRISON SPENDING    (Top)

SACRAMENTO - As he seeks to rein in California's budget, Gov.  Arnold Schwarzenegger is finding that there's some state spending even he can't control.

With the state's prison population surging to an all-time record, the Schwarzenegger administration in late September alerted lawmakers that it might need an additional $109 million to manage the nation's largest correctional system, according to documents obtained Tuesday by the Mercury News.

Coincidentally, that is roughly equal to the $108 million in labor concessions the governor negotiated earlier this year with prison guards.

Sen.  Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, a critic of the prison system, blasted the budget woes as "indefensible." She said Schwarzenegger could discard his entire plan to reform government and still save taxpayers money if he focused just on cutting costs in the prison system.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 10 Nov 2004
Source:   San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright:   2004 San Jose Mercury News
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Author:   Mark Gladstone
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1599/a04.html


(12) THE USUAL SUSPECTS    (Top)

Were there really 72 crack dealers in rural Anderson
County?

It began, as many drug stings do, with a lucky break.

In November 2002, a traffic cop pulled over a driver ferrying crack cocaine on U.S.  Highway 79 into the small East Texas town of Palestine.  Police believed they had caught a glimpse into a drug ring that was smuggling crack from Houston and Dallas into rural Anderson County, 40 miles southwest of Tyler.  The Dogwood Trails Narcotics Task Force, a regional alliance of local, state, and federal law enforcement, promptly launched an investigation.

When the arrests came two years later, residents of Palestine must have been surprised to learn that their small town apparently had more crack dealers than restaurants.  On October 13, teams from the Anderson County sheriff's office, Texas Department of Public Safety, U.S. Marshall's Service, and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) started at 7 a.m.  and swept through tiny Palestine (population 17,000) to round up an astonishing 40 indicted drug dealers.

[snip]

Curtis Bitz, head of the Dogwood Trails task force, told the Lufkin Daily News, "There's no question as to whether they did it or not."

An Observer examination of the charges, however, raises questions about the drug bust, especially about the sheer number of people charged as dealers.  Could there really be 72 crack dealers in little Palestine? And is it only a coincidence that all 72 of them are black?

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 03 Nov 2004
Source:   Texas Observer (TX)
Copyright:   2004 The Texas Observer
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/748
Author Dave Mann
Cited:   http://www.mapinc.org/tulia.htm (Tulia, Texas)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1572/a07.html


(13) POLICE SAY SUSPECTS CHOSE SITE    (Top)

Mall Shoppers Weren't At Risk, Department Says

North Charleston police say innocent people were never in harm's way when a drug sting turned deadly Wednesday night in a parking lot outside Northwoods Mall.

A North Charleston officer shot 20-year-old Jammar Antwan West of Charleston once in the chest at about 6:30 p.m.  after he fired one shot at police.  West died at the scene. No officers were hurt.

Undercover detectives set up the drug sting, but West and 18-year-old Lavon Drayton, the targets of the sting, chose the mall parking lot, said police spokesman Spencer Pryor.

Officers had to let the two men choose the location in order for the sting operation to work.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 05 Nov 2004
Source:   Post and Courier, The (Charleston, SC)
Copyright:   2004 Evening Post Publishing Co.
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/567
Author:   Steve Reeves,and glenn Smith
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1581/a01.html


Cannabis & Hemp-


COMMENT: (14-18)    (Top)

We begin this week with a great retrospective by former High Times editor Steve Wishnia on the cannabis-related initiatives put to U.S. voters in the 2004 federal election.  With victories in 17 out of 20 polls seeking to reduce the harms of cannabis prohibition on both recreational and medical users, these are the silver lining in an otherwise stormy election cycle.  Our second story goes one step further by investigating why the western states - 75% of which now boast laws protecting medicinal cannabis users - are leading the nation in progressive drug policy reform.

Our third story pops into the annual Society for Neurosciences Conference in San Diego, where nearly 200 papers were presented this year on the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids in treating serious conditions such as ALS, Parkinson's, stroke and MS.  In our fourth story this week, Congressman Mark Souder threatens Canada with a potential trade slowdown should the U.S.' northern neighbour and biggest economic partner chose to implement a newly revived bill that would make the minor possession of cannabis a ticketable offense.

And lastly, in a desperate attempt to stem the supposedly growing number of grow-ops in British Columbia, provincial Solicitor General Rich Coleman has put forth a proposal which would force hydroponic supply shops to set up a registry of whom they sell supplies and equipment to.  I'm sorry Mr. Coleman, did you just say that you want me to show ID and sign a form before I can buy a bag of dirt? No really, I'm happy to give up all of my rights to privacy and security to join your fruitless and unending fight against a benign, non-addictive, medicinal plant.  This should be a nice intermediate step until drug war zealots create a tracking device small enough to fit on my Zig-Zags.


(14) DRUGS AND THE NATION    (Top)

In an election whose outcome was determined by militaristic, theocratic culture warriors, medical marijuana in Montana was one of the few bright spots.

Even as 59 percent of the state's voters were going for George W. Bush and two-thirds opting to ban gay marriage, Montanans were approving Initiative 148, which would allow medical marijuana use by patients with a doctor's recommendation, by a 62-38 percent margin.

Two further-reaching state drug initiatives lost.  Alaskans rejected a proposal to legalize marijuana under regulations similar to alcohol, by a 57-43 percent margin, and Oregon defeated a measure to expand the state's medical marijuana law by 58-42.  The number of people voting against the Oregon initiative -- which would have set up state-licensed medical-herb dispensaries, so patients could obtain a legal supply -- almost exactly matched the number who voted to ban gay marriage.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 04 Nov 2004
Source:   AlterNet (US Web)
Copyright:   2004 Independent Media Institute
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/1451
Author:   Steven Wishnia
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04.n1592.a02.html


(15) NEARLY THREE-FOURTHS OF WEST HAS MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAWS    (Top)

With Montana's approval of a medical marijuana initiative, nearly three-fourths of Western states now have such laws -- while only two of the 37 states outside the West have adopted them.

Why is the West so much more receptive to the idea?

From a procedural standpoint, it's just easier to get pot issues on Western ballots because most states in the region allow such initiatives.  Nationwide, just 24 states allow citizens to put issues on the ballot by petition, bypassing the Legislature.  Eleven of those states are in the West.

But activists and political scientists also say Westerners are less willing than other Americans to tell their neighbors what they can and can't do.  And historically, Western states tend to be in front on social trends.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 05 Nov 2004
Source:   Herald Democrat (TX)
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/2710
Author:   Angie Wagner, Associated Press Writer
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04.n1580.a02.html


(16) RESEARCHERS BUZZING ABOUT MARIJUANA-DERIVED MEDICINES    (Top)

San Diego -- A decade ago, when Daniele Piomelli went to scientific conferences, he was often the only researcher studying cannabinoids, the class of chemicals that give marijuana users a high.

His work often drew snickers and jokes -- but no more.  At the annual Society for Neuroscience conference last week, scientists delivered almost 200 papers on the subject.

Why the attention? Many scientists believe marijuana-like drugs may be able to treat a wide range of diseases, far beyond the nausea and chronic pain typically treated with medical marijuana.

Researchers presented tantalizing evidence that cannabinoid drugs can help treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, Parkinson's disease and obesity.  Other researchers are studying whether the compounds can help victims of stroke and multiple sclerosis.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 05 Nov 2004
Source:   San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Author:   David Kohn, Baltimore Sun
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04.n1577.a07.html


(17) POT BILL COULD MEAN TRADE SLOWDOWN - CONGRESSMAN    (Top)

An influential U.S.  Congressman is predicting a trade slowdown if Canada decriminalizes marijuana possession.

"I believe there'll be more searches at the border both coming and going from Canada, which hurts our trade," said Republican Mark Souder, in an interview to be broadcast Sunday on CTV's Question Period.

"Trade is the anchor of our relationship and our friendship and anything that shows that down, complicates that."

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sat, 06 Nov 2004
Source:   CTV (Canada Web)
Video:   http://pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-3199.html
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04.n1586.a09.html


(18) B.C. CONSIDERS REGULATING HYDROPONIC EQUIPMENT TO BATTLE    (Top)MARIJUANA GROWERS

Solicitor-General Rich Coleman says the B.C.  government may regulate stores selling hydroponic equipment as a way of cracking down on the marijuana trade.

Officials are studying a proposed law that would force hydroponic equipment sellers to keep a registry of their buyers -- which could then be forwarded to police, he told a B.C.  Liberal convention in Whistler.

"It might focus people's minds a bit more," he argued, speculating the registry would be similar to regulations facing Vancouver pawn shops, which have electronic links to police tracking property crimes.

B.C.  Liberals voted overwhelmingly to get tough with marijuana growers by regulating hydroponics.  Not everyone supports the strategy.  "Let's stop fighting a war that we can't win," said one delegate, who argued B.C.  Liberals are moving in the wrong direction -- especially as the feds consider decriminalizing possession of small amounts of pot.

Pubdate:   Mon, 08 Nov 2004
Source:   National Post (Canada)
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Author:   Jim Beatty, CanWest News Service
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04.n1592.a06.html


International News


COMMENT: (19-22)    (Top)

In the Southeast Asian nation of Vietnam, two Canadian nationals were each sentenced to 16 years for allegedly selling MDMA.  Police accused the two of distributing the drug in clubs in the south.  The two had been held since their arrests in 2003.  The verdict was handed down by a judge after a one-day summary trial last week.

Every Eastern African nation stands united in their reverence for prohibition, so this must be stemming the tide of drugs there, right? Of course not; prohibiting drugs only hands lucrative markets to criminals while the flow of drugs continues.  This is good news for career bureaucrats and police: they can attend seminars at resorts, and cry for bigger budgets.  At a seminar last week at Whitesands Beach Hotel, Mombasa, Kenya, police and bureaucrats from Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, as well as the host nation, Kenya, predictably asked for more power and money.  This was due to the "upsurge in crime," which, "posed a security threat," claimed police.  These, no doubt "problems caused by drug abuse and trafficking," would be cured by "closer co-operation among the region's law enforcement agencies." While prohibition budgets have increased, however, drug production and consumption also increase. Expect the same collection of prohibition-fattened bureaucrats to be at another resort seminar next year, calling again for more of the same.

While most government-salaried prohibitionists are content to maintain the lucrative drug-war charade, some do speak out.  Last week, former Interpol chief Raymond Kendall declared that the war on drugs was lost, and drug prohibition has failed.  "After a lifetime fighting drugs, Kendall admitted that the war on drugs is not having any effect any more," reported the Maltese newspaper, Independent on Sunday.  "Harm reduction," said Kendall, was the only effective solution, whereas prohibition leads to increased crime.

And from Quebec, Canada this week, plans to begin construction of U.S-style prisons-for-profit upset organizations that work to rehabilitate prisoners.  The prison, one of the first for-profit prisons in Canada, is slated for construction near Longueuil.  "We mustn't fall into the logic of the private sector," said Johanne Vallee, executive director of the Association des services de rehabilitation sociale du Quebec.  Vallee noted most prisoners in the province have "addiction and mental health" problems.  Expect the profitable new private prisons in Canada to fill up with petty drug offenders, just as have in the U.S.


(19) CANADIANS SENTENCED TO 16 YEARS FOR PEDDLING ECSTASY IN VIETNAM    (Top)

HANOI, Vietnam - Two Canadians were sentenced up to 16 years in prison for drug-dealing in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnamese news media reported Tuesday.

Randy James Sachs, 27, was sentenced to 16 years in prison and Nguyen Van Hai Sheena, 41, to 16 years at a one-day trial Monday, the Liberated Saigon newspaper said.

The two were arrested in May 2003 while distributing 1,000 ecstasy tablets to dealers in Ho Chi Minh City night clubs, the newspaper said.

Vietnamese media said Sachs and Hai were part of a ring that trafficked the pills from overseas to Ho Chi Minh City for distribution to dealers.

Pubdate:   Tue, 09 Nov 2004
Source:   Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Copyright:   2004 The Edmonton Journal
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/134
Note:   from CanWest News Service
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04.n1596.a09.html


(20) DRUG TRAFFICKING ON THE RISE, WARNS ALI    (Top)

Drug trafficking in Eastern Africa has increased in recent years, police commissioner Hussein Ali said yesterday.

It was, therefore, urgent for countries in the region to forge a collective strategy to fight the vice, he said.

He was speaking when he opened a three-day seminar at the Whitesands Beach Hotel, Mombasa.

Trafficking and consumption of the drugs had added to an upsurge in crime, especially in Kenya, and posed a security threat in the region, the police boss said.

[snop]

Mr Adadi Rajab (Tanzania), Ms Elizabeth Kuteesa (Uganda), Mr Emmanuel Bayingana (Rwanda), Mr Tshehayou Kinfu (Ethiopia), Mr Patrick Obimo (the sub-regional Bureau in Nairobi) and Mr Joseph Kamau (Kenya) were among the CID and anti-drug unit heads attending the meeting.

Brig Ali called for closer co-operation among the region's law enforcement agencies, enhanced cross-border investigations, joint operations and frequent exchange of intelligence as drug trafficking transcends national boundaries.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Tue, 09 Nov 2004
Source:   Daily Nation (Kenya)
Copyright:   2004 Nation Newspapers
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/868
Author:   Daniel Nyassy, Nairobi
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04.n1601.a05.html


(21) THE WAR ON DRUGS IS 'LOST'    (Top)

One of the biggest problems faced by governments is drug addiction and the crime it brings with it.

The tactics used by the U.S.  and many European governments to tackle this problem are similar to those used in military battles and is based on prohibition.  Unfortunately, prohibition does not seem to be improving the situation.

Former Interpol chief Raymond Kendall has admitted that drug prohibition has failed - in fact he claimed that it has made things worse.  In an article in French newspaper Le Monde, Kendall declared the war on drugs lost and said that enforcement policies had failed to protect the world from drugs.  The only effective solution was "harm reduction".  In 2008, the UN drug conventions policy renewal will take place and Kendall called for Europe to take the lead in a reform policy that has never been seen before.

The UN convention states that all countries are obliged to pursue growers, dealers and users in an attempt to hold back an unstoppable tide.  Prohibition leads to an increase in crime and while most countries believe that an increase in drug seizures is a sign of success, it might mean that more drugs are available on the market at a cheaper price.

[snip]

After a lifetime fighting drugs, Kendall admitted that the war on drugs is not having any effect any more.  He suggested "medicalising" drugs instead of criminalising them.  Doctors will prescribe "pharmaceutical opiates" to the addicts which, he said, will reduce overdose deaths by 80 per cent, as well as see a "sharp cut in the delinquency rates of drug addicts".

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sun, 07 Nov 2004
Source:   Independent on Sunday (Malta)
Copyright:   2004, Standard Publications Ltd
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/2885
Author:   Juan Ameen
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/find?143 (Hepatitis)
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04.n1587.a11.html


(22) PUBLIC-PRIVATE JAIL PROPOSAL SETS OFF ALARMS    (Top)

Quebec looking at South Shore site.  Prisoner rehabilitation groups concerned programs might be outsourced, too

Plans by the province to build a jail on the South Shore under a public-private partnership formula - and possibly have it operated by the private sector as well - have upset organizations working to rehabilitate offenders.

"We're urging the government to exercise great caution," said Johanne Vallee, executive director of the Association des services de rehabilitation sociale du Quebec, of the jail expected to go up in the Longueuil area.

"We mustn't fall into the logic of the private sector," where the main aim is to make profits, she said, giving the example of privately run jails and prisons in the U.S., France and Britain.

[snip]

Vallee said that trend is troubling because the majority of provincial inmates are struggling with addiction and mental-health problems.  They need more personal contact with jail staff - not less, Vallee said.

In September, Vallee's association, which represents 50
organizations, put together a committee of experts to examine the issues surrounding privately operated jails.  The one on the South Shore would be a first for Quebec and among only a few in the country.

The rehabilitation association's committee, whose members include criminologists and former Corrections Canada administrators, is to table its report to the association's board of directors next week, Vallee said.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Tue, 09 Nov 2004
Source:   Montreal Gazette (CN QU)
Copyright:   2004 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc.
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/274
Author:   Debbie Parkes
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04.n1596.a02.html


HOT OFF THE 'NET    (Top)

REMEMBRANCE AND IGNORANCE: IN AFGHAN FIELDS THE POPPIES GROW...

By Richard Cowan at Marijuananews.com

http://www.marijuananews.com/news.php3?sid=776


JEAN COOPER ARREST PROTEST - UP IN SMOKE CAFE

This video features interviews conducted after the protest rally in Hamilton, Ontario in response to the arrest of 70-year-old diabetic and medical marijuana user Jean Cooper.  Prince of Pot Marc Emery, the featured speaker, explains recent examples of medical marijuana user persecution and the Canadian drugged driving bill.

http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-3214.html


CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW

11/09/04: Ethan Nadelmann, Matt Elrod, Scarlett Swerdlow, Bruce Mirken

MPEG:   http://www.drugtruth.net/MP3/FDBCB_110904net.mp3
REAL:   http://www.drugtruth.net/ram2rm/to110904.ram

Archives:   http://www.drugtruth.net/


KEEP THE GOVERNMENT OUT OF YOUR MEDICINE CABINET

The United States Attorney General could soon have the power to look in your medicine cabinet and prosecute you (along with your doctor) if he doesn't like what he sees.  Act today to make sure this doesn't happen!

http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=22713&ms=painhp


BETTER WAKING THROUGH CHEMISTRY

An overextended, overmedicated insomniac turns to Provigil, the skyrocketingly popular pill that's been a godsend for the narcoleptic, the jet-lagged and the just plain dog-tired.

By Larry Smith, salon.com

http://salon.com/mwt/feature/2004/11/12/provigil/index_np.html


JUDGING PROHIBITION

For the past thirty years Judges have looked on as America?s War on Drugs has played itself out before their eyes.  They have seen the inevitable increase in police powers and erosion of civil rights needed to facilitate the investigation of drug offenses.  They're finally speaking out.

http://www.judgesagainstthedrugwar.org/


VETERANS FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA

This website's mission is to provide support for veterans regarding medical marijuana.

http://vfmm.hempusflag.com/cms/index.php


THE D.A.R.E.  GENERATION RETURNS TO D.C.

Mark your Calenders!

The SSDP 6th Annual National Conference will be held November 18-21 at University of Maryland @ College Park

http://ssdp.org/home/ssdp_conference2004_info.htm


LETTER OF THE WEEK    (Top)

DRUG LAWS A THREAT TO INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS

By Chris Buors

Re: Police and infrared camera intrusions into your home.  "The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the forces of the Crown.  It may be frail.  Its roof may shake, the wind may blow through it, the storm may enter, the rain may enter, but the King of England cannot enter; all his forces dare not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement," said 1800s' British Prime Minister William Pitt.

I used to think a man's home was his castle, too.  I learned the hard way that the police can pretty well enter your home any time the neighbour calls 911.  Looks like the police can now enter any home they want whenever they darn well please.

I just thought I would remind Canadians about the way it was before every single right our ancestors spilled their blood for was diminished to the point of uselessness by our government's war on drugs.

Milton Friedman warned 30 years ago that drug prohibition would result in a police state.

Prohibition has now had 96 years as a social policy failure.

In the interests of equality, I say we give drug liberty a 96-year try and see if that works.

Chris Buors
Libertarian Party of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Man.

Pubdate:   Wed, 03 Nov 2004
Author:   Chris Buors
Source:   Windsor Star (CN ON)


FEATURE ARTICLE    (Top)

Playing Cops And Dealers At School

By Stephen Young

Out of all the heinous things that happen in the name of the drug war, one kind of story never fails to wash a wave of nausea over me.

The stories involve a young-looking, undercover police officer who infiltrates a high school to save it from drugs.  Usually, it leads to a headline, like one in the Knoxville News-Sentinel last week: "Drug-dealing students busted by undercover cop."

See http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1590/a04.html for the whole story.

The headline may sound noble, but the details aren't.

From the story:

"Students sold the drugs, many of which may have been taken from home medicine cabinets, for a pittance, Police Chief Rick Scarbrough said.

"'They (students) are not as street-savvy and business-savvy as our usual street dealers are.  They almost give the drugs away.'"

Really? Why would that happen? Is that what a ruthless pusher would do?

Sounds to me like some kids are looking for friendship, social acceptance and approval.  Because police can pretend to be students looking for drugs convincingly enough, some students pretend to be drug dealers as well as they can.  It would be a silly game, if the consequences for students weren't so real.

The reason these stories bother me so much is that I remember high school.  I didn't use illegal drugs, and probably wouldn't have recognized many had I seen them up close.

But it was fairly common knowledge who did use drugs.  When some self-confident, interesting new student with a hint of danger tried to befriend me in class, would I have eventually pointed him in the direction where I thought the drugs were? Would I have tried to get some myself and pass it along if he or she had encouraged me?

We didn't worry about such questions back when I was in high school in the middle Reagan years.  It didn't seem like a bastion of constitutional protection then, but we didn't even have
drug-sniffing dogs in the hallways.  Now these operations happen all the time; search the MAP archives ( http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/ ) from all years using keywords like "undercover" and "high school" to find more examples.

In fact, such undercover programs have been in use for so long in the Los Angeles area, most of the students who have been "caught" (or is it more appropriate to say "entrapped"?) recently are in special education classes - see
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1029/a05.html

There's no question that the war on drugs is a war on young people at their most vulnerable, but it occasionally offers a real lesson. When a new baby-face narc comes to school, students quickly learn they can't put too much faith in anyone, particularly the police.

Stephen Young is an editor with DrugSense Weekly and operator of http://www.decrimwatch.com/


QUOTE OF THE WEEK    (Top)

"We fight for simple things, for the little things that are all-important.  We fight for the right to lock our house doors and be sure that no bully with official sanction will break the lock." -Brehon Somervell


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