| Feb. 11, 2005 #387 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
(1) EXPERT RAILS AGAINST MEDICAL MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
MOUNT VERNON -- About a dozen people, some of them in education or counseling, turned out in Mount Vernon Wednesday to hear Dr. Andrea Barthwell talk about the need to take marijuana seriously. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Barthwell has embarked on a lecture series presenting the dangers of
marijuana use -- particularly in the face of Illinois House Bill 407,
which would create the Illinois Medical Cannabis Act. Barthwell is the
former deputy director for Demand Reduction from the White House
Office of National Drug Control Policy -- otherwise known as the
deputy drug czar. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The Illinois Medical Cannabis Act, sponsored by Rep. Larry McKeon,
D-Chicago, would allow a person diagnosed with what the bill describes
as a "debilitating medical condition" to be a card-carrying legal
cannabis user. The sick person and that person's primary caregiver
would be allowed to own up to 12 cannabis plants and two and a half
ounces of "usable cannabis."
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Barthwell said her "Illinois Marijuana Lectures" are not specifically
in response to the bill, which was filed Jan. 26 and sent to the Human
Services Committee on Feb. 2. Judy Kreamer, president of Educating
Voices and Barthwell's tour-mate, said she had asked Barthwell to
present these lectures as part of the organization's overall mission
to keep children from using drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(2) BATTLES WON, A WAR LOST (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
New And Dangerous Trends In The Andean Drug Business
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Looked at in one way, these are good times for America's drug
warriors, at least with regard to cocaine. Traditionally, some 70% of
the white powder has come from Colombia. The $3 billion in aid that
the United States has spent there since 2000 under Plan Colombia has
produced what American officials present as some spectacular numbers
especially since Alvaro Uribe became president two years later and
allowed large-scale aerial eradication of drug crops. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
At the last count by the United Nations, in 2003, land under coca in
Colombia was down to 86,300 hectares (213,200 acres) from a peak of
163,300 hectares in 2000. In 2004, contractors working for the United
States sprayed herbicide on 136,555 hectares of coca, a similar amount
to the previous year. That points to a further decline in cocaine
production last year, according to John Walters, who heads the United
States Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Yet to many people across and beyond Latin America, the Andean drug
trade seems as effective and dangerous as ever. The most telling
evidence is the price of cocaine. According to the Washington Office
on Latin America, an NGO, the ONDCP's own figures, released to
Congress but not yet to the public, show that in the United States a
gram of cocaine wholesaled for $38 in 2003, down from $48 in 2000 and
from $100 in 1986, with no fall in purity. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(3) DRUG QUESTION COULD BE REMOVED FROM FAFSA FORM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Drug Question Could be Removed from FAFSA Form
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A question that has brought much controversy and surprise among
students, educators and government officials could be removed from the
FAFSA financial aid forms soon. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The question as to whether or not the applicant has had a previous
drug conviction was recommended to be removed from the form by a
congressionally appointed committee last week. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Many personnel and students agree that the question has become or
should be irrelevant to receiving financial aid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"Drug use shouldn't have anything to do with receiving financial aid
because a guy could just be caught doing minor drugs once, gets caught
and gets kept out of college because he can't pay for it," freshman in
chemical engineering Gabe Ramos said. "All because of one stupid
mistake he made when he was 15."
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[snip]
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Many also wonder why people would answer "yes" when there is really
no way of checking if someone had used them or not. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(4) OPED: IT'S NO FIX, BUT IT'S THE BEST WE CAN DO FOR ADDICTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The official U.S. response to the free heroin trial about to begin in
Vancouver is predictably negative. A spokesman for John Walters,
director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy,
calls it "an inhumane medical experiment."
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"I would bet any amount of money the U.S. has exerted extreme pressure
on Canada to abort this trial," Alex Wodak, a prominent Australian
addictions researcher, has said. He should know: U.S. opposition
helped to abort a heroin trial in his country. It is to Ottawa's
credit that Canada has resisted similar pressure from the Bush
administration, whose addictions policies owe more to narrow moralism
than to science, compassion or insight. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
And Canada must withstand more U.S. displeasure if the results of the
Vancouver experiment points to our introducing heroin by prescription
as part of our addictions treatment armamentarium. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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It would be simpler if the naive U.S. view were accurate, and addicts
could be induced or educated into achieving abstinence, if -- like the
highway signs erected by the Reagan administration--people could "just
say no." It isn't like that. The men and women I work with have had
every possible negative consequence visited on them. They've lost
their jobs, their homes, their spouses, their children and their
teeth; they've been jailed and beaten; they've suffered HIV infection
and hepatitis and infections of the heart valves and multiple
pneumonias and abscesses and sores of every sort. They will not, until
something spontaneously transforms their perspective on life, abandon
their compulsion to use drugs. The question is only this: How shall
we, as a society, respond to their predicament?
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[snip]
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy
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COMMENT: (5-10) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Former drug czar William Bennett and current drug czar John Walters
co-authored a book a few years ago called "Body Count," which
suggested that many problems in America were rooted in a phenomena
they called "moral poverty." Troubled families weren't suffering for
economic reasons; they were suffering for moral reasons. The theory
is easy to dismiss, but perhaps moral poverty explains a new set of
outrages in the drug war this week. The revelation that a secret
investigation into the killing of an American missionary and her
baby in Peru as part of supposed anti-drug efforts had been ended
without any prosecutions. Even more amoral is the refusal of the
U.S. government to share information about the incident with the
family of the victims. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
U.S. Rep. Mark Souder of Indiana doesn't seem to be holding much
moral capital this week either, as he defends propaganda efforts
from the Office of National Drug Control Policy. He says a
government office was wrong to label the propaganda as propaganda
because the federal government doesn't need to label its propaganda
as propaganda - that's the responsibility of the private media.
Sounds like Souder might be a little light on logical capital too.
Fortunately, Souder's immoral handywork against college students
throughout the country may be coming undone. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Unfortunately, we are all reaping what the morally deprived drug
warriors are sowing, as another report looks at inhalant abuse and
suggests 20 percent of all 8th grade girls have tried it. And yet
traditional drug hype continues. In Oklahoma, some government
officials wants to keep a record of every person who buys cold
medicine that could be converted to methamphetamine. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(5) U.S. DROPS CRIMINAL INQUIRY OF C.I.A. ANTIDRUG EFFORT IN PERU (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - After a secret three-year investigation, federal prosecutors have decided to end a criminal inquiry into whether at least four Central Intelligence Agency officers lied to lawmakers and their agency superiors about a clandestine antidrug operation that ended in 2001 with the fatal downing of a plane carrying American missionaries, Justice Department officials said this week. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"The Justice Department has declined a criminal prosecution," said
Bryan Sierra, a Justice Department spokesman, in response to a
question about the previously undisclosed investigation. The conduct
under scrutiny was part of a C.I.A. operation authorized by
President Bill Clinton beginning in 1994 to help the Peruvian Air
Force to interfere with drug flights over the country. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The Justice Department's decision ended an inquiry that current and
former government officials say was the most serious to focus on the
official conduct of C.I.A. officers since the Iran-contra affair in
the late 1980's. More broadly, the inquiry had been seen within the
C.I.A. as a message that employees could be held accountable for
operations that go awry, at a time when officers at the agency are
coming under scrutiny in other areas, like the interrogation and
detention of terror suspects. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"A criminal investigation is something that breeds a risk-averse
culture at C.I.A.," said a Bush administration official familiar
with the case. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(6) MISSIONARY'S DEATH HAUNTS PARENTS FOR ANSWERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Criminal Probe Dropped In Downing Of Peru Plane
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Gloria and John Luttig had no idea that federal prosecutors had been
investigating a clandestine Central Intelligence Agency operation
that was shut down after a Peruvian Air Force jet fired on a small
propeller airplane, killing the Luttigs' missionary daughter and
their infant grandchild. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The Luttigs, who live in Pace, reacted with frustration and anger to the revelation Sunday that the Justice Department last week dropped a criminal inquiry into whether four CIA officers lied to lawmakers and their superiors about a program that involved CIA surveillance airplanes helping the Peruvian Air Force intercept drug smugglers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"No one has ever given us any answers," said Gloria Luttig, leafing
through accordion files stuffed with correspondence and documents
regarding the incident. "We've written and written and called and
called. All we want is to know why."
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The investigation, disclosed for the first time in news reports
Sunday, began after Veronica "Roni" Bowers, 35, and her 7-month-old
daughter, Charity, were killed while flying from Colombia to Peru on
April 20, 2001. CIA contractors mistakenly identified a missionary
pontoon plane as a possible drug smuggling aircraft and summoned a
Peruvian jet, which fired the fatal bullets. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(7) SOUDER SAYS DRUG CZAR'S FAKE NEWS DIDN'T BREAK FEDERAL LAW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - The drug czar's office didn't break a federal law with
its packaged anti-drug news stories that were narrated by fake
journalists, Rep. Mark Souder, R-3rd, said Friday. But the video
news releases sent to hundreds of TV stations in the past three
years should have made clear that they were produced at taxpayer
expense, he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Souder, who chairs a subcommittee that oversees national anti-drug programs, said the General Accountability Office was wrong when it ruled that the Office of National Drug Control Policy violated the law by sending the pre-packaged news stories to TV stations without disclosing to viewers that the government had produced them. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, said the anti-drug video
news releases were "covert propaganda" and violated a ban against
publicity and propaganda. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The video releases "are complete, audio-video presentations that
ONDCP designed for broadcast by television news organizations as
news reports, without the need for any production effort by the news
organization," the GAO said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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One of the video news releases issued by the Office of National Drug
Control Policy, for instance, was about teen driving and marijuana
use. Its narrator identified himself as "this is Mike Morris
reporting." The GAO reviewed five other video news releases and said
that although they were mailed to TV stations clearly marked as
coming from the drug czar's office, the news clips themselves did
not tell viewers who produced the reports. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Souder said TV stations that aired them could have disclosed the
origin of the segments but chose not to. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(8) DRUG QUESTION ON FAFSA MIGHT BE ELIMINATED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Students who apply for financial aid in future years might notice a
query missing from the application. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The question about whether an applicant has had a previous drug
conviction was recommended to be removed from the Free Application
for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, last week by a congressionally
appointed committee. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"The drug question is irrelevant - it is not something that should
even be taken into account," said Tom Angell, communications
director for Students for Sensible Drug Policy. "The appearance of
the question on the form could deter students from applying - even
if they are actually eligible."
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[snip]
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(9) DATABASE FOR PHARMACIES MAY HELP CURB METH USE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
An online state database linking pharmacies is a key ingredient to
further reduce illegal methamphetamine labs, the director of the
state's drug agency said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A computer tracking system would prevent people from buying more
pseudoephedrine than the maximum amount allowed -- nine grams -- a
month, said Lonnie Wright, director of the Oklahoma Bureau of
Dangerous Drugs and Control. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
House Bill 2176, the state's anti-meth law which was enacted in
April, restricts tablet sales of pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient
of meth. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
One way Gov. Brad Henry is trying to strengthen the anti-meth law is
seeking legislative approval this session for an online database
between pharmacies. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(10) INHALANTS SEEP BELOW PARENTS' RADAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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A hidden epidemic is gaining momentum in America, experts say.
Children as young as fourth-graders are deliberately inhaling the
fumes of dangerous chemicals from a variety of household and office
products. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Inhalants, as they are known, are widely available and hard to
detect, and are fueling a dangerous trend: The most reliable annual
survey of drug use among children has found that inhalants are the
one group of drugs in which abuse is on the rise. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The chemicals travel rapidly to the brain to produce highs similar
to alcohol intoxication. Unlike the effect of alcohol, these highs
disappear within minutes, making it hard for parents to detect the
abuse. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The products, which can range from gasoline to cigarette lighter
fluid, cleaning supplies to adhesives, are often highly toxic and
addictive. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
New brain imaging research has shown that the chemicals can produce
lasting changes in the brain, as well as heart, kidney and liver
damage. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Some indications suggest the problem may be growing faster among
girls. Overall, nearly one in five eighth-graders has tried an
inhalant, usually by breathing from a rag or a bag doused with the
chemical. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The increase in abuse has tracked a sharp drop in youngsters'
perceptions of the risks of inhalants, said Lloyd Johnston, a
researcher at the University of Michigan who helps conduct the
annual "Monitoring the Future" survey of eighth-, 10th- and
12th-graders. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Law Enforcement & Prisons
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COMMENT: (11-14) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
See comments on moral poverty in the Domestic News-Policy section
above in reference to the first three stories. The good news, in the
fourth story, is that someone is trying to point out the
inconsistencies. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(11) TAPE REVEALS TERRIFYING CAMPAIGN IN WAR ON DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
They Launched The Attack With A Stunningly Simple Message. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"It's (expletive) over, son."
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For two hours, authorities say, that message would be pounded into
Lester Eugene Siler's head and body, reinforced with the barrel of a
gun and echoed in threats of electrocution. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Handcuffed and surrounded, Siler was now a prisoner of the war on
drugs in Campbell County. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Seven months later, five former Campbell County Sheriff's Department
lawmen are poised to plead guilty to federal charges they conspired
to violate Siler's civil rights by beating, threatening and
torturing him. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Named in informations drafted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles
Atchley Jr. and filed last week in U.S. District Court are David
Webber, 40; Samuel R. Franklin, 42; Joshua Monday, 24; Shayne Green,
35; and William Carroll, 26. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In those documents, Atchley details a plot by the former lawmen to force Siler to put his signature on a form they could use in court as proof the convicted drug dealer agreed to let them search his home in the White Oak community in search of drugs and money. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Atchley lists in the documents disturbing examples of the lengths he
alleges these former lawmen were willing to go: threats to
electrocute Siler, drown him and break his fingers, beatings and
gunplay. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
But as shocking as those allegations are, they pale in comparison to
the bone-chilling account of Siler's ordeal captured on a secret
recording and laid out in a 59-page FBI transcript. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(12) DRUG RAID MAY COST MEMPHIS TAXPAYERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
City Negotiates With Son Of Gravedigger; $1 Million-Plus At Stake | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A botched drug raid by Memphis police that killed a gravedigger in
2002 has spawned a probe into whether evidence was planted, and it
could cost taxpayers more than $1 million. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The federal civil case against three narcotics officers, which went
to trial in October and ended with a nearly $3 million award for
Jeffery Robinson's family, raises questions about department policy
on drug raids. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A second case against the City of Memphis is separate. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Testimony in the October case convinced jurors that officers not
only wrongly killed Robinson, 41, a gravedigger and caretaker at
Baron Hirsch Cemetery, but tried to cover it up. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Officers Mark Lucas, Albert Bonner and Jeffrey Simcox were never
disciplined. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
And now, Memphis city attorneys are negotiating with attorneys for
Robinson's son, Jarvis Robinson, to settle a lawsuit against the
city. More than $1 million is at stake.
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[snip]
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(13) PAIR SUES OVER ALLEGED COERCED DONATION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A $20 million lawsuit has been filed against the Loudon County
Sheriff's Department over another alleged coerced donation to the
agency's drug fund. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Kenneth Wayne Templeton and his ex-wife, Tina Miller, both of
Kingston, filed the suit themselves Friday in Loudon County Circuit
Court, in connection with a January 2004 traffic stop on state
Highway 70. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
According to court documents, Templeton contends he was pressured by
deputies to contribute an undisclosed amount to the Sheriff's
Department drug fund in exchange for the return of his truck, which
was confiscated after the defendant's arrest on charges of DUI,
driving on a revoked license and possession of a Schedule II
narcotic. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
All charges against Templeton were dismissed in May 2004. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The suit names Loudon County Mayor George Miller, Sheriff Tim
Guider, Deputy Sheriff Paul Curtis, Chief Deputy Tony Aikens and the
estate of now-deceased Deputy Jason Scott, who made the initial
traffic stop, as defendants. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(14) ALCOHOL, NOT POT, SHOULD BE POLICE FOCUS, GROUP SAYS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
SAFER Wants Priority Shifted to Alcohol Enforcement
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Marijuana is a much safer drug than alcohol, a new campaign says,
and punishments for smoking a joint or taking a hit from a bong are
too harsh. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"Alcohol has long been linked to overdose deaths, sexual assault,
violent crime and vandalism on campus," said SAFER Executive
Director Mason Tvert, a recent graduate from the University of
Virginia. SAFER stands for Safer Alternative for Enjoyable
Recreation. The nonprofit group was founded last month and is
organizing campus chapters at the University of Colorado and
Colorado State University, Tvert said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The group is critical of public and campus policies regarding
marijuana, and is seeking to get an initiative on campus ballots
this spring that would ease marijuana restrictions. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Cannabis & Hemp-
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COMMENT: (15-19) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
This week we begin with a couple of stories on upcoming state policy
initiatives from the southwest. In New Mexico, a new medical
cannabis bill has been introduced by Senator Cisco McSorley
(D-Albuquerque). The bill would allow the state's Health Department
to oversee the program, which would include producing and
distributing cannabis free of charge to legitimate patients with
serious conditions. In the ongoing battle for the hearts and minds
of Nevadans, State Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins - a Henderson
Police Deputy Chief - stated that cannabis wouldn't be legalized "on
his watch". A petition to legalize the use of one ounce of cannabis
by adults has to either be approved by the Nevada State Assembly in
40 days time, otherwise it will be put before voters in the 2006
mid-term elections. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Our third story is a fascinating examination of recent efforts to pharmaceuticalize the cannabis plant, with a focus on Britain's GW Pharmaceuticals. The comprehensive New Scientist article looks at the shifting political sands surrounding medicinal cannabis, and the many different regulatory and policy approaches adopted by Canada, the U.S. and the E.U. in this important and expanding health issue. Our fourth story focuses on efforts by the Spanish government to open up access to medical cannabis. In response to a proposal by Barcelona's College of Pharmacists, the Spanish Ministry of Health has announced a pilot project that will see 60 pharmacies and 4 hospitals distribute cannabis - in the form of either capsules or infusions - to legitimate medical users. And lastly, bad news from Canada this week, where an activist named Ted Smith has been convicted of trafficking and fined $500 for passing out a few joints at small rally at the University of Victoria. What's next! in this nasty judicial trend, arrests for liquor law violations for offering dinner guests a glass of wine? Smith may appeal the decision. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(15) CANCER SURVIVOR BACKS NEW MEXICO BILL ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Erin Armstrong, a 23-year-old woman from Santa Fe who is a cancer
survivor, dreads the day she gets taken off her parents' insurance
plan. After that, the medication she takes for nausea will cost her
$3,000 a month. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
That's why she is asking state lawmakers to pass a medical-marijuana
bill. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Sen. Cisco McSorley, D. Albuquerque, told reporters Monday that he
will sponsor a bill in which the state Health Department would
oversee a program to legally provide marijuana to sufferers of
specific medical conditions. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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McSorley, at a news conference Monday, said under his bill, medical
marijuana, grown at a facility licensed by the state, would be free
to patients suffering from cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, HIV
or AIDS, epilepsy or spinal-cord injuries. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(16) PERKINS COMES OUT STRONG AGAINST POT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
On the opening day of the Legislature, Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins declared that the House will not legalize marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Despite a citizens petition supporting legalization, Perkins, a
Henderson Police deputy chief, said he would not allow it because
crime and drugs go hand in hand and legalizing marijuana would make
matters worse. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
But those who back allowing adults to have one ounce of marijuana
say Perkins has it backwards. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Kami Dempsey, spokeswoman for the Committee to Regulate and Control
Marijuana, said the initiative petition "would start to take
marijuana out of the hands of drug dealers and put control where it
belongs, with the state."
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[snip]
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(17) CANNABIS: PRESCRIBING THE MIRACLE WEED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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If there is one thing more frustrating for a doctor than being unable
to deal with a patient's problem, perhaps it is knowing that there is
a drug that could help - but they are not allowed to prescribe it. For
Notcutt that drug is cannabis. Many patients with difficult-to-treat
conditions use cannabis to relieve their symptoms, but in most parts
of the world that makes them criminals. Otherwise law-abiding citizens
dislike having to get their treatments from drug dealers. And the
quality of the medication they get that way is variable to say the
least. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
But in the next few weeks Canadian regulators will decide whether to
approve an under-the-tongue cannabis spray called Sativex for multiple
sclerosis (MS) patients. As the world's first prescription
pharmaceutical made from marijuana, it would at last allow patients to
get their therapy in a safe and consistent formulation. The product
could become available in the UK in a year or so, and its British
manufacturer, GW Pharmaceuticals, is expected to file for approval
soon in Australia and New Zealand. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Sativex will not bring any miracle cures, and in countries like the US
where official hostility to marijuana is ingrained, patients may have
a longer wait for its benefits. All the same, the availability of a
cannabis preparation as a prescription medicine will mark a milestone
in a decades-long battle by doctors and patients for public acceptance
of medical cannabis use. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||||||||
(18) SPAIN TO TEST CANNABIS AS AID FOR PATIENTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Spain's socialist government has given the go-ahead for the most
wide-ranging trial of therapeutic cannabis ever conducted, putting
the country at the forefront of drug policy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Four hospitals, 60 pharmacies and up to 1,500 patients in Catalunya
will take part in a year-long pilot programme sponsored by the
regional government to establish the drug's effectiveness in
treating a range of conditions. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
'Experts agree cannabis has interesting therapeutic possibilities,'
said Rafael Manzanera, Catalunya's director of health resources. 'We
want to evaluate its efficacy across different groups of patients.
That has never been done before.'
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Patients will be prescribed cannabis capsules for four conditions:
multiple sclerosis (MS); the side effects of chemotherapy; lack of
appetite among Aids sufferers; and pain not eased by existing
therapies. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||||||||
(19) POT ADVOCATE TO BUTT OUT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Marijuana activist Ted Smith won't be smoking cannabis in public
anytime soon. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
He made his pronouncement Wednesday after Provincial Court Judge
Judith Kay imposed a $500 fine and left him with a trafficking
conviction stemming from a rally at UVic five years ago where Smith
passed out joints to a small crowd. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"The fine isn't the deterrent. The deterrent is knowing that I and
others can be charged for smoking marijuana in public," Smith told a
small crowd outside Victoria's court house. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"I feel I'm a scapegoat for the government, the university
administration and the police who have gone very far out of their
way to stop one person from smoking a few joints."
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
In fact, Smith was attending his weekly Hempology 101 club meeting
in November 2000 and speaking about the laws surrounding marijuana
use when he lit five joints, one by one, and passed them among
spectators. Plain-clothed police officers observed Smith's actions,
seized a small amount of marijuana and arrested the cannabis
advocate. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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International News
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (20-23) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In the Philippines, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte this week says "So be it!" to "government sponsored killings," according to a report in the Mindanao Times. So far in 2005, Davao City has made the grisly boast of at least one summary execution -- per day -- of suspected drug offenders. While Mayor Duterte has not directly admitted government police involvement in the summary executions of (largely) former drug arrestees, he hasn't done much to disavow such a notion, either. Last week was no exception as an "irked" Duterte shrugged off accusations. Duterte had earlier praised the DDS (Davao Death Squad) killings of drug suspects. Philippine citizens are beginning to speak out against the extra-legal (illegal) executions. IBP (Integrated Bar of the Philippines) Davao City president Carlos Zarate last week denounced the murders, and demanded an investigation, calling for the resignation of police if the death squad killings cannot be solved. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Mexican prosecutors claimed they nabbed the "spy" from a "major drug cartel" who was inside the office of Mexican President Vicente Fox. Officials say the cartel's alleged spy, Nahum Acosta Lugo, an aide to the president, was feeding information on the President's location to drug traffickers. Prosecutors refused to name the cartel involved. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In Afghanistan last week, U.S. officials repeated denials that they
were spraying herbicide on Afghan opium poppies. The Karzai
government last week sent a delegation to investigate claims of
spraying in Helmand province. "Leading aid agencies," according to
BBC reports this week, warned the U.S. that spraying could backfire
and destabilize the country. Afghanistan is said to supply some 90%
of the world supply of illicit opium, while drug exports are said to
be about 60% of the Afghan economy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
(20) KILLINGS GOV'T SPONSORED? "SO BE IT!" SAYS DUTERTE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Straight Talk
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Visibly irked by insinuations from the media and sectoral groups
that summary executions in the city are government-sponsored, Mayor
Rodrigo Duterte yesterday said, "so be it"
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
He said if he had to kill 200 criminals just to protect the 1,4
million people in Davao City from harm, he will do it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"I don't give a s__t on what they would say about me, I don't give a s__t about my image, If I stand alone in this belief so be it, If I rise and fall because of this image it's okay," Duterte said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The public should know how to discern why people get killed, he
added. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Copycat
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Duterte said that not all killings in the city should be attributed
to the so-called Davao Death Squad, even if the group "does not
exist as far as city hall is concern". | ||||||||||||||||||||||
He said people are already riding on the DDS issue as it has been
given media hype. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"The word there is mimicking, they are mimicking DDS," Duterte said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Carlos Zarate, IBP Davao City president, asked for a speedy and
sincere investigation on all extra-judicial killings, demanding
concerned law enforcement officers to step down if they cannot solve
it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
" If the heads of our law enforcement offices cannot do it, then
delicadeza demands that they resign and let someone else do the
job," Zarate said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||||||||
(21) MEXICO SAYS DRUG CARTEL HAD SPY IN PRESIDENT'S OFFICE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
MEXICO CITY - A major drug cartel had a spy inside the office of
President Vicente Fox who fed one of its traffickers precise
information about the president's movements for more than three years,
prosecutors here say. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The attorney general, Rafael Macedo de la Concha, would not say
which cartel was believed to be buying information from the insider,
one of the president's aides, but federal agents investigating the
leaks raided several houses on Saturday. Reforma, one of Mexico's
most respected daily newspapers, reported that the houses belonged
to Hector Beltran Leyva, a top lieutenant of Joaquin Guzman, the
most ruthless and wanted trafficker in Mexico. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The aide, Nahum Acosta Lugo, was arrested in secret on Thursday
after federal investigators looking into drug trafficking discovered
evidence that he had been giving information about the president's
private schedule to a particular drug trafficker. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
"There are no facts or elements that would at this time make us
worried that the security of the president of the republic is in
risk," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
(22) OFFICIAL DENIES U.S. INVOLVEMENT IN AFGHAN OPIUM CROP SPRAYING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
"There is no credible evidence that spraying has taken place in
Helmand," the embassy said in a statement late Tuesday. "No agency,
personnel or contractors associated with the U.S. government have
conducted or been involved in any such activity in Helmand or any
other province."
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Afghan officials said earlier they had sent a team from Kabul to
southern Helmand province, a key opium-producing region, to
investigate a report from the governor that aircraft sprayed fields
there last Thursday. "We of course would like to wait and see what
the details are when that team comes back," presidential spokesman
Jawed Ludin said. "However, I do not have to wait for that report in
order to restate the government's and the president's position
(that) we oppose very strongly the option of air spraying." US
officials preparing a campaign against Afghan drug barons initially
pressed for Colombia-style crop spraying to dent an industry that
last year supplied nearly 90 percent of the world's opium, the raw
material for heroin. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
(23) U.S. WARNED OVER AFGHAN DRUG CULL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The U.S. has been warned by some of the world's leading aid agencies
that its plan to eradicate Afghanistan's opium fields could
backfire. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In a letter to new U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, they
warn that any "premature" act risks destabilising large parts of the
country. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
They call for a greater emphasis on providing rural development and
alternative crops for opium farmers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The UN says drug exports now account for 60% of Afghanistan's
economy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
DRUG TEST NATION
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
By Paul Armentano
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
At Reason Online
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
SCIENTISTS CENSOR WHAT THEY STUDY TO AVOID CONTROVERSY
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
And 'Lunatic-Proof' Their Lives, Researchers Find
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
By Lila Guterman, Chronicle of Higher Education
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Unwritten social and political rules affect what scientists in many fields study and publish, according to a paper published today in Science, and those constraints are even more prevalent than formal constraints, such as government or university regulations. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
WORRY FREE LOBBYING ONLINE WORKSHOP
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
The Alliance for Justice Presents, Worry Free Lobbying
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Join the Alliance for Justice in its continuing series of online
trainings for nonprofits as we explore the rules for lobbying
by 501c(3) public charities.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Tuesday February 15th at 2:00 Eastern Time (1 pm CST & 12 noon MST &
11 am PST & 10 am Alaska & 9 am Hawaii)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
You will need a computer with internet access and working computer
speakers in order to participate. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
http://www.allianceforjustice.org/events/eventDetail.asp?eid=768 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
LIVE AUDIO WEB CHAT WITH SASHA AND ANN SHULGIN
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Tuesday, February 22 at 3 PM PST / 6 PM EST
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance will be moderating
a discussion with Dr. Sasha Shulgin, the noted psychedelic chemist
and pharmacologist, and his wife Ann Shulgin, the beloved writer
and therapist.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/ctt.asp?u=1696787&l=78278 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Tommy Chong: Free, and Back on the Road
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Listen to this story... by Terry Gross
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Fresh Air from WHYY, February 7, 2005
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4488902 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
YOUTH DRUG POLICY IS RUINING LIVES
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
By Jack A. Cole
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Many thanks for Shahien Nasiripour's thoughtful article, "Students
could face up to 15 years in jail" ( Saturday ), alerting readers
that teens caught selling small amounts of drugs in their high
schools will be prosecuted as adults. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
This policy will accomplish nothing other than ruining the lives of
16 of our children and destroying their families. Treating children
as adults will not lower the incidence of death, disease, crime or
addiction. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
For 35 years, we have fought the war on drugs with these policies,
and all that has changed is drugs are cheaper, more potent and far
easier to get than they were in the 1970s, when nearly a thousand
young people went to jail as a direct result of my work as an
undercover narcotics agent. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
I can't say how many of those children would have gone on to become
valuable citizens had I not intervened, but I'm sure the number
would be huge. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Think of all the folks you know who used an illegal drug as a youngster, then put the drugs behind them and went on to live productive lives. Many are now members of our government. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
You can get over an addiction, but you will never get over a
conviction. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Jack A. Cole, New Jersey State Police Lieutenant ( retired ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Medford, Mass. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Junk Science
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
By Scott Henson
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
It's a shame when politics corrupts science, because the public
continues to distrust the scientists for politicizing their findings
long after their transient policy goals are a distant memory. That's
what's happening, in my view, to the National Institutes on Health's
Institute on Drug Abuse. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A new study (see http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6975)
purports to show us that marijuana use is especially dangerous, but
I think it shows the opposite. The study found that pot smoking may
cause slight narrowing of blood vessels hindering blood flow to the
brain, which the researchers hypothesized may explain examples of
memory loss. But the study also found higher blood flow levels to
the brain overall among pot smokers, which seems contradictory.
Whatever the case, here's the kicker:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
"After a month without cannabis - during which the volunteers agreed
to remain in a clinic, with no access to marijuana - Cadet repeated
the sonography. The resistance to blood flow of light and moderate
users - who usually smoked an average of 11 and 44 joints per week,
respectively - was starting to return to normal."
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
So for those smoking an average of 44 joints per week (!), the
discovered ill effects wear off in a month once you quit. They wear
off over a longer period for heavier smokers who quit. Either way,
the vast majority of marijuana smokers are consuming a lot less than
44 joints per week, if only restricting their intake from pure
economic motivations. A "joint" is a pretty imprecise measuring
stick, but it sounds like folks who smoked up to a couple of ounces
per week get over the described ill effects through abstinence in
the short term. That says to me most people aren't at serious risk
-- that's a helluva lot of pot smoking!
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
This junk science reminds me a lot of the problems with Texas'
forensic labs
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Part of the reason the work of forensic scientists helped convict
innocent people in Texas is that scientists only answer questions
prosecutors ask them, and prosecutors only ask questions where they
think the answer will prove their case. That's a problem, because
which questions scientists ask dictates, to a large extent, what
answers they'll find. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
So sure, when they study the fellow who smokes 50 JOINTS PER DAY,
they find significant health concerns, but I wonder how bad they are
compared to someone who, say, drinks a fifth of whiskey every day,
which might be an equivalent level of substance abuse. In fact, I'll
bet the 50-joint-per-day smoker has a lot of other problems, too --
where did they even find somebody who smokes that much pot, and how
is it even remotely possible? I'll bet even Tommy Chong in his
heyday never strung together too many 50 joint days in a row -- how
in the world can this be considered indicative of what happens with
"heavy use"? I'd have considered 44 joints per week pretty heavy
use, but I'm no expert. Then, it would appear that at the National
Institute on Drug Abuse, the experts aren't so very expert, either,
just well-credentialed shills for the drug war. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Scott Henson is a Texas based political consultant. One of his clients is ACLU of Texas, for whom he advocates for criminal justice reform. Check out his blog, Grits for Breakfast, where this first item appeared, at http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"I have yet to meet a man as fond of high moral conduct as he is of
outward appearances." - Confucius
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