| March 25, 2005 #393 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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NOTE TO READERS: Some DrugSense staff will be attending the NORML
conference in San Francisco next week, so DrugSense Weekly will not
be distributed on April 1. We will resume our regular publication
schedule April 8. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
(1) CANNABIS: TOO MUCH, TOO YOUNG (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
AT THE end of Jim van Os's street in the pleasant Dutch city of Maastricht there is a coffee shop. As with many such establishments in the Netherlands, "coffee shop" is something of a euphemism: most of its customers go there not to drink coffee but to buy and smoke dope. Van Os isn't too keen on the place. He doesn't like the shady characters it attracts. He doesn't like the fact that his children have to walk past it. And most of all he doesn't like that fact that the place breaks the law and sells marijuana to under-18s. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Van Os's fears are rooted in more than the usual parental angst. He
is a psychiatrist at the University of Maastricht who investigates
the effect of marijuana on people's brains - particularly
adolescents' brains. And the findings of his research make him worry
about the effects of all this dope smoking on the kids in his
neighbourhood. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Over the past couple of years van Os and several others have been building the case that, for some teenagers, smoking cannabis leads to serious mental health problems in later life, including schizophrenia. Van Os claims that marijuana is responsible for up to 13 per cent of schizophrenia cases in the Netherlands. And with cannabis use among teenagers on the rise, the age at first use falling, and the strength of cannabis on the up, he says the figure can only increase. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(2) SENATE HEARING ON OUTLAWING MARIJUANA STIRS STRONG FEELINGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
BILL 74: Debate May Rest on Which Experts Lawmakers Trust. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
JUNEAU -- The debate over recriminalizing pot has nerves on edge at
the Capitol. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Eagle River Sen. Fred Dyson, whose committee held a hearing on the
issue Wednesday, said he wanted an apology for what he called nasty
phone calls from people against a bill designed to make pot illegal
again. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The crux of Wednesday's debate was whether marijuana is dangerous enough for government to punish its users or if adult Alaskans should keep their right to smoke it in the privacy of their homes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
It's an issue with passionate views on both sides, and it generated
tension.
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[snip]
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The Senate Health and Social Services Committee is holding a series of hearings on Gov. Frank Murkowski's attempt to overrule state court rulings that adult Alaskans have the right to possess up to four ounces of marijuana for personal use in their homes. The bill would also make it much easier to prosecute pot possession as a felony. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(3) NORTH KOREA IS LIKELY A STATE SPONSOR OF DRUG TRAFFICKING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
SEOUL - In addition to the military threat it poses, North Korea is likely a state sponsor of drug trafficking, the U.S. State Department said in its annual International Narcotics Control Strategy Report. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
On at least two occasions in 2004, the report said, North Korean
diplomats were arrested after using their positions for drug
smuggling. In one instance, Egyptian authorities arrested two North
Korean diplomats with 150,000 tablets of a drug normally used to treat
seizures. And in December 2004, Turkish officials arrested two North
Korean diplomats and charged the men with smuggling more than $7
million worth of an illegal synthetic drug. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Though defector statements and various reports have linked the
government to illicit drugs, the closed nature of North Korean society
makes it impossible so far to confirm the link. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(4) IS HEMP LIKE POT? MAYBE NOT IN N.H. (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
CONCORD, N.H. - New Hampshire's state motto is "Live Free Or Die" and
yesterday House lawmakers said that includes the right to grow hemp, a
close relative of marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The 199 to 168 vote in favor of the proposal came despite opposition
from law enforcement authorities and advice from legal experts saying
it may violate federal regulations. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Supporters of the measure said hemp has unfairly been characterized as
like marijuana, and that it is used legitimately in a wide range of
products, including clothing, canvas, rope, fiberglass, insulation,
cement and paper. "Hemp is one of the oldest, most useful plants known
to man," said Rep. Derek Owen, Democrat from Hopkinton. He said it is
known for its strong fiber. He said New Hampshire farmers could grow
it as a niche crop. "This is not marijuana," Owen said. "This is
hemp."
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Opponents argued that may be true in name, but hemp also contains THC,
the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, albeit a low amount of the
chemical. Rep. Peter Batula, a Republican from Merrimack, said hemp,
if smoked, has a hallucinogenic effect on the brain similar to
marijuana and is considered dangerous to children. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy
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COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Now that a prescription drug database is coming to Kentucky, the
press is finally raising privacy concerns. In Texas, parents of
students who participate in extracurricular activities are now
required to attend anti-drug indoctrination classes. Yet, there is
rebellion against the drug war in Massachusetts where a community
group is protesting against harsh drug sentences for a group of
young people. And, an interesting story from Canada examines drug
culture in a community that has forbidden use of both drugs and
alcohol. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(5) NEW PRESCRIPTION SYSTEM RAISES PRIVACY QUESTIONS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
FRANKFORT -- Kentucky officials say a new system that allows
doctors, pharmacists and police to access prescription records over
the Internet is a faster, more efficient way to stop drug abuse and
improve health care. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
But some civil libertarians and health experts are concerned about the privacy of the system and question whether it will end up discouraging doctors from writing some necessary prescriptions. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
For more than five years, Kentucky has tracked prescriptions for
so-called schedule drugs, from the extremely powerful, addictive and
often abused narcotics like OxyContin to simple cough medicines with
codeine. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Under the old system, dubbed Kasper -- Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting, pharmacists and doctors would fax requests for information to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, which often took hours to fax back responses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The new program allows medical personnel and police to search for information online so they can get answers at any time. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(6) IN CARROLL, DRUG SCHOOL FOR PARENTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Kids' Extracurriculars Tied To Substance-abuse Seminars For Adults | ||||||||||||||||||||||
SOUTHLAKE - Parents in Carroll schools must head back to the
classroom to learn about teen substance abuse if their children want
to play football or sing in the choir. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Starting next school year, parents of students in sports and other
extracurricular activities in grades seven through 12 must attend a
new substance abuse education seminar. Carroll Senior High School
principal Danny Presley pitched the idea to a receptive school board
Monday. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"Our kids know that drugs and alcohol are dangerous, but they make
choices to use them anyway," Dr. Presley said. "The kids know what's
going on. They know who's drinking, who's doing pot. It's the
parents we've got to educate. There has to be accountability on all
fronts." Officials with the Texas Education Agency and the Texas
Association of School Boards said they have not heard of another
Texas school district making such a requirement. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Dr. Presley said about 80 percent of Carroll's secondary school
students participate in extracurricular activities. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Recent surveys have shown an increase in substance abuse among
Carroll students.The plan also comes after The Dallas Morning News
reported last month that nine Colleyville Heritage High athletes,
seven of them football players, admitted that they had used steroids
during the previous school year. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(7) DA ASKED TO REVISIT SCHOOL-ZONE CHARGES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
GREAT BARRINGTON -- More than 400 South County residents, business
owners and high school students have signed a petition asking
District Attorney David F. Capeless to reconsider seeking a minimum
mandatory two-year jail term for seven of the 19 young people
arrested last September on a variety of drug charges. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A letter being circulated with the petition from Concerned Citizens
for Appropriate Justice asks that so-called school-zone charges be
reconsidered only for those seven charged with small-scale marijuana
distribution. In all, 19 people age 17 to 24, the majority of whom
live in South County, were arrested on charges ranging from
marijuana possession to distribution of ketamine, a powerful horse
tranquilizer. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The majority of those arrested were also charged with committing a
drug violation in a drug-free school zone. State law requires judges
to sentence those convicted of a school-zone charge to a minimum of
two years in jail. A decision whether to levy the charge in the
first place lies with the district attorney. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"Our contention is not that criminal acts should go without consequences, but that not all of these young people should be looking at a minimum of two years in jail," the letter reads. "Punishment should be made in proportion to the crimes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(8) BAD INFLUENCES BEAT ARRIVAL OF ALL-SEASON ROAD (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Hairspray Drug Of Choice On Isolated Reserves
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STEPHENS ISLAND -- RCMP Const. Ben Sewell was telling me about the
ready availability of drugs and alcohol on the "dry" reserves at
Island Lake when he suddenly jumped up, walked into another room and
came back with a photograph. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
It showed rows and rows of hairspray containers lined up on a floor
-- 254 blue plastic bottles in all. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The bottles, which are purchased for less than $3 in Winnipeg, fetch
as much as $60 at Island Lake, where hairspray is the drug of
choice. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
One bottle, they say, is sufficient to get two people high, making it far more cost effective than, say, whisky, which also is available at $10 an ounce -- $400 for a 40-ounce bottle . | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The hairspray had been discovered in sealed freight sent by air to
Island Lake. Each bottle had been opened and the air had been sucked
out to prevent tell-tale sloshing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Sewell said the shipment represents a drop in the bucket of
contraband intoxicants and drugs that flow onto the reserves year
round despite bans on booze and anti-drug laws. "There are a million
ways to bring it in," he said. "This is the third busiest airport in
Manitoba. The amount of air traffic is unbelievable."
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[snip]
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Law Enforcement & Prisons
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COMMENT: (9-12) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
New Orleans is reconsidering its zero tolerance approach to crime
after high costs and limited results. An Alabama community fears the
loss of revenue from housing federal prisoners. A report cleared the
Washington D.C. judge who sentenced a quadriplegic marijuana user to
a jail sentence that ended his life. And, as if all that isn't
perverse enough, a police officer in Louisiana is accused of trading
urine for sex. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(9) ZERO TOLERANCE IS LOSING ITS PUNCH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
N.O. Revisits Strategy For Confronting Crime
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Eight years ago, the New Orleans Police Department dramatically
altered the way it conducted business, adopting the fashionable
"zero tolerance" approach to crime and flooding the streets with
uniformed patrols. Results were charted through computerized
statistics, and the top brass were held accountable at weekly
feet-to-the-fire strategy sessions. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The program was credited with playing a key role in chopping the
murder rate by more than half, from 424 in 1994 to 158 in 1999. But
a steady backslide in those numbers, with 265 murders last year, has
tripped alarms from police headquarters all the way to the mayor's
office. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
To get a grip on the problem, city officials are preparing for
another round of soul-searching and, if necessary, sweeping changes
-- prompted in part by the notion that the zero tolerance strategy
is bogging down police and prosecutors with too many arrests that
don't end up in convictions. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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It was in the course of studying the district attorney's office that
the Linder consultants noticed an alarming gap in the city's justice
system. Despite a record number of arrests by police -- more than
114,000 in 2004 -- convictions are down and crime remains stubbornly
high. The lion's share of arrests were for drug offenses but the
conviction rate on drug charges was less than 10 percent, Nagin
said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(10) PICKENS LOSING REVENUE FROM FEDERAL INMATES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
ALICEVILLE - Pickens County, which has reaped nearly $700,000 in less than two years by housing federal prisoners, will take a major financial hit when those inmates are moved out of its jail in Carrollton. The revenue lost will be a blow to a county trying to pay off more than $3 million in debt. Commissioners say they aren't likely to seek any tax or fee increases to make up the difference. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Pickens County Sheriff David Abston said Chester Keely, U.S. marshal
for the northern district of Alabama, told him that costs were too
great to transport prisoners between Birmingham and Carrollton. It
was also costly to pay court-appointed attorneys to drive the 110
miles between the two cities to visit their clients. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"They just told us it was a business decision," Abston said. The
county had a non-binding contract with the U.S. marshals to house 20
prisoners, but often kept more at times. Most of the prisoners were
in jail for non-violent crimes such as drug possession or identity
theft. County Administrator Cheryl Gary said the county anticipated
$274,000 in revenue from the prisoners. In 2004, the county got
$625,000 in revenue from housing federal prisoners. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The county built a new jail in 1998 at a cost of $3.1 million after
a federal judge ruled that the old jail was unfit. The order buried
Pickens County under a $4.5 million debt, which has been whittled
down to about $3 million since 1998. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(11) REPORT CLEARS D.C. JUDGE OF MISCONDUCT IN INMATE DEATH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
An inquiry into the death last year of a 27-year-old quadriplegic inmate has concluded that D.C. Superior Court made only a "limited and uninformed" inquiry about the man's medical needs before ordering him to serve a 10-day sentence for marijuana possession. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
But the investigation by the Commission on Judicial Disabilities and
Tenure cleared the judge in the case, Judith E. Retchin, of judicial
misconduct, concluding that she acted within the law and made an
effort to ensure that a D.C. jail would be able to care for Jonathan
Magbie. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The report cited "failures of communication among the participants
in this tragic sequence of events."
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The commission's report, released yesterday, is one of three official inquiries into Magbie's death Sept. 24. An earlier investigation by the D.C. Department of Health faulted Greater Southeast Community Hospital for failing to provide adequate care to Magbie after he was brought there from the jail. The Office of the Inspector General is examining the actions of the jail staff. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(12) OFFICER ACCUSED OF AIDING FAKED DRUG TEST (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
'Clean' Urine Traded For Sex, Official Says
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A state probation officer who supervised hundreds of St. Tammany
Parish drug offenders was indicted Wednesday on allegations he
helped a 19-year-old woman pass her court-ordered drug test by
swapping his own urine for hers in exchange for sex. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Edward "Scott" Weiler, 42, was a probation officer in the 22nd Judicial District Court in Covington for three years. He resigned Feb. 4, shortly after the allegations surfaced, said Pam Laborde, a state Department of Public Safety and Corrections spokeswoman. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A grand jury formally charged him with two felonies: malfeasance and
obstruction of justice, said Assistant District Attorney Joe
Tosterud, who presented the evidence against Weiler. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Cannabis & Hemp-
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COMMENT: (13-17) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
My friends, I can assure you that it's a pretty good week at the DSW
when we get to feature articles by two of the great drug policy
journalists working today: Dan and Fred Gardner (unrelated); but
first news that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has ordered a 45
day moratorium on opening new compassion clubs to allow city staff
to design a regulatory policy for these medical marijuana
dispensaries. There are currently over 125 such dispensaries in
California, 37 of which are located in San Francisco. Our second
story this week is an extensive overview of the Raich/Monson V.
Ashcroft Supreme court case from O'Shaughnessy's, in which writer
Fred Gardner illustrates the importance of this case for the future
of both state rights and medical marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Our third story takes us to England, where Home Secretary Charles
Clarke has ordered the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to
review its previous conclusion that cannabis use was not associated
with health problems in light of recent studies linking cannabis use
and psychosis. With a federal election quickly approaching, the
ruling Labour government is apparently considering once again making
cannabis use an arrestable offense after downgrading it to Class C
just over 1 year ago. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
For the first time, our next two stories are from the same author.
Canadian uber-journalist Dan Gardner has published two great columns
addressing a couple of the biggest cannabis myths and
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And lastly, news that there will be no DSW next week, as this author and most of the DrugSense staff will be in San Francisco for the NORML conference. If you happen to be in the Bay area or have the means to get there, I can't recommend this always entertaining, educational and inspiring cannabis policy conference enough. For more information on the conference, which runs from March 31st to April 2nd, please got to: www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6437 . | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(13) NEWSOM DECLARES MORATORIUM ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA CLUBS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom called for a moratorium Monday on opening medical marijuana clubs in the city after learning that one plans to open on the ground floor of a city-funded welfare hotel. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Responding to Newsom's request, the Board of Supervisors is expected
today to introduce an emergency ordinance instituting a 45-day halt
on new cannabis clubs while the city investigates ways to regulate
them. Passage will require a yes vote from nine of the 11
supervisors at next week's meeting. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"We have frankly ... been lax on this," Newsom said. "I will take
personal criticism to the extent that I am the mayor of San
Francisco, that I have not been diligent, and nor has the elected
family been diligent, in the oversight. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"I believe in the core of my cores that medicinal marijuana is
appropriate and right," Newsom said. "That being said, I also think
there needs to be some common sense and grounding as it relates to
the proliferation of these clubs in San Francisco."
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[snip]
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(14) FATE OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA MOVEMENT MAY HINGE ON ASHCROFT V. (Top)RAICH RULING | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the case called Ashcroft et al v. Raich et al is likely to determine if and how the federal Controlled Substances Act applies to more than 100,000 people who use cannabis as medicine under the law in California and other western states. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The case was argued Nov. 29, 2004. The ruling is expected by June
2005. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A win for patient Angel Raich, her John Doe caregivers, and her
co-defendant Diane Monson, would confer legitimacy on everyone in
their situation. A loss could mean widespread, low-key terror with
the DEA picking off growers, distributors and persons of interest at
will. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(15) CLARKE REVIEWS U.K.'S 'TOO SOFT' LAW ON CANNABIS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The Government last night ordered a review of its controversial
decision - introduced just 15 months ago - to reclassify cannabis as
a less serious Class C drug. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, said he had asked the Advisory
Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) to say whether it had changed
its view as a result of "emerging evidence" of a link between
cannabis consumption and deteriorating mental health. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In a letter to Prof Sir Michael Rawlins, the chairman of the ACMD,
which was released yesterday, Mr Clarke said there was no evidence
that reclassification had led to an increase in use. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"However, there have been several studies produced since the
decision to reclassify cannabis was taken... into links and
associations between taking cannabis and developing mental
problems," he wrote
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[snip]
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(16) IS POT FAR MORE POTENT THAN IN THE PAST? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Pot today is "as much as seven times stronger than the 'grass'
available four years ago," warned an article in Newsweek. That was
in 1980. It was already a well-worn theme.
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And it continues to be a media standard, appearing several times in
this newspaper over just the last two weeks. Marijuana strength has
"skyrocketed from the giddy low potency highs experienced by happy
sixties hippies," Margret Kopala wrote, a claim that has been
repeated so often by so many sources that journalists and
politicians take it as an accepted fact, something "everybody
knows."
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But this claim, although widely accepted, is substantially
inaccurate. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In 2004, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction
(EMCDDA), a European Union agency, conducted a comprehensive review
of available evidence in Europe, the United States, Australia and
New Zealand. "Statements in the popular media that the potency of
cannabis has increased by 10 times or more in recent decades are not
supported by the limited data that are available from either the USA
or Europe," the report concluded. In New Zealand, the report added,
researchers found no increase in potency between 1976 and 1996. In
Australia, there was only a "modest" risk. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(17) HOW SCIENCE IS SKEWED TO FUEL FEARS OF MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Reports That the Drug Causes Psychosis Have Been Exaggerated, Writes
Dan Gardner in the Last of a Two-Part Series
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[snip]
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Much of the focus of this long debate has been on marijuana's
alleged effects on mental function, and over the past century an
enormous amount of research has looked for damage done by the weed.
Unfortunately, much of the research, on mental health and other
concerns, was dubious and its appearance followed a predictable
cycle: The research is released to lurid headlines, the evidence is
used as proof that the law must be tough or get tougher, and later,
when subsequent research fails to bear out the original study, the
fear is slowly and quietly forgotten. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Often, particularly in the past, the cycle was initiated by junk science. But even solid research today can be the cause of spurious fears when it is, as so often happens, grossly misreported. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A recent example comes from a Globe and Mail column two weeks ago in
which Dr. Jean Marmoreo warned that smoking marijuana can "fry your
brain." Her proof: A 2002 study by Peter Fried of Carleton
University found that those who smoke more than five joints a week
suffered a "five-point" drop in IQ. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The drop was actually four IQ points, not five. What the study also
found - -- but Dr. Marmoreo did not mention -- was that while young
people who had never smoked marijuana showed an average increase in
IQ of 2.6 points, those who had smoked marijuana but had stopped had
an IQ jump of 3.5 points. Most curiously, participants who were
currently smoking between one and five joints a week saw their IQs
increase by 5.8 points. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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International News
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COMMENT: (18-21) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Summary executions of suspected drug users continue in the
Philippines, the work of extra-legal death squads. On the island of
Mindanao last week, another drug user was shot on his doorstep,
killing him and wounding his brother. The man had earlier surrendered
to police after Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte urged drug users to
surrender to police to avoid harm. The International Herald-Tribune,
in an editorial released this week, drew international attention to
the summary killings which have largely gone unreported outside of
the Philippines. The killings, noted the Tribune, foster "the
long-running suspicion that the death squads were formed by the
government."
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Eyeing the upcoming U.K. elections, Afghanistan's deputy interior
minister Lieutenant General Mohammad Daud Daud toured England asking
for more money to fight drugs. "This is not just a national problem,
it is an international one," explained an optimistic Daud. Lt. Gen.
Daud, who expects a "reduction of between 30 and 90 per cent" in the
land used to grow opium, painted a picture of an efficient "Afghan
special counter-narcotics force," which (trained by UK special
forces) would stop the flow of opium and heroin from the landlocked
Asian nation. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
And finally this week from the province of British Columbia in
Canada, we revisit the Professor Plecas grow-op study, which claimed
marijuana growers in the province are rarely and insufficiently
jailed for their crime of growing the forbidden plant. B.C. police,
ever-envious of U.S. police manpower and budgets, seized upon the
Plecas study as proof positive jailing growers would stop them --
just like in the states. It turns out, the Plecas study was bought
and paid for by the RCMP, to the tune of $110,000. The study updated
an earlier B.C. grow-op study by Plecas which came to the same
police-friendly conclusions. "This was $250,000 of taxpayers' money,
essentially for the police to market their agenda," noted Joseph
Neuberger, a Toronto defense lawyer. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
(18) SHOT AT DOORSTEP (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Drug Surrenderee Nailed by Hitmen
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Two unidentified persons gunned down a man and wounded his elder
brother right at the doorstep of their shanty 7:30 last night at
Brgy 37-D, Quezon Boulevard, bringing the number of victims of the
vigilante-style of killings at 58. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Tony Villa, brgy. councilor of Brgy. 37-D confirmed to the Mindanao
Times, Abelong surrendered to authorities after Mayor Rodrigo
Duterte called on drug users to surrender so that they will not be
harmed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||||||||
(19) PHILIPPINE DEATH SQUADS EXTEND THEIR REACH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
DAVAO CITY, Philippines Tears welled in Clarita Alia's eyes when she saw the three unmarked tombs, one on top of each other. "There they are," she said as she stretched out her trembling hand, almost touching the cold, whitewashed concrete. "They're all gone." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Their tombs in a hilltop cemetery are a testament, not only to the
anguish of their 50-year-old mother, but also to the madness that
for years has gripped Davao City, where death squads roam, hunting
for suspected criminals and killing them. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Human rights groups said the killings have become an unwritten government policy to deal with crime, largely because of an ineffective criminal justice system and the tendency of the authorities to take shortcuts in the administration of justice. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
The execution-style killings in Davao City - 72 victims so far this
year, six of them children - are openly endorsed by local officials,
strengthening the long-running suspicion that the death squads were
formed by the government. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Although the mayor, Rodrigo Duterte, denied any responsibility in
the creation of the death squads, he ran for re-election last year
on a promise to eliminate criminals. The killings never stopped, and
he has repeatedly admonished criminals to leave his city or risk
death. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Bernie Mondragon, an official of the Coalition Against Summary
Executions, a nongovernment group, said extrajudicial killings "are
now the unwritten state policy in dealing with crime."
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Last year, in an act that human rights groups interpreted as an
endorsement by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of extrajudicial
killings, she named Duterte as her adviser on crime. When Arroyo was
later criticized, her officials said the government would never
support extrajudicial killings. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
When Osmena, the Cebu mayor, said this year that he wanted the
police "to be more aggressive" against crime, hunter teams emerged
overnight to hunt for suspected criminals. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
While Osmena denied in an interview having any knowledge or official
sanctioning of those hunter teams, he admitted to having told law
enforcers that "if you encounter a crime in progress, don't be shy.
Pull the trigger and I'll give you a bonus."
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(20) AFGHAN MINISTER SEEKS AID IN WAR ON HEROIN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The international community must continue to fund alternative development programmes in Afghanistan if the war on heroin and terrorism there is to succeed, Lieutenant General Mohammad Daud Daud, the country's deputy interior minister, said yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"This is not just a national problem, it is an international one ...
Our message is clear. We can see the poverty of our farmers and the
responsibility there is to provide them with additional crops and
finance," Lt Gen Daud, who has special responsibility for combating
drugs, said during a visit to the UK. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
According to Lt Gen Daud, preliminary surveys suggest there will be
a reduction of between 30 and 90 per cent in the amount of land
being used to grow poppies in the coming months. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Earlier, in an interview with the FT, Lt Gen Daud painted an upbeat
picture of his government's new offensive on Afghanistan's rampant
opium trade. He said police and the Afghan special counter-narcotics
force, trained by UK special forces, were closing down heroin
producing laboratories as well as intercepting the trade in opium
poppies. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
With a British general election likely to take place in May, the UK
government has been anxious to retain a prominent role in
Afghanistan's battle against narcotics. The opposition Conservative
party in the UK has pointed to Afghanistan as the source of more
than 90 per cent of the heroin sold on British streets as evidence
that the government's war on drugs is failing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
(21) GROW-OP STUDY BLASTED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Bias Suggested: Critics Say Police Propagating Hysteria | ||||||||||||||||||||||
TORONTO --The RCMP is defending its decision to spend $110,000 on a
high-profile study warning of the increasing dangers of marijuana
grow-ops in B.C. -- and headed by a criminologist with extensive
links to police forces in North America. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Insp. Paul Nadeau says the funds were a good use of RCMP resources
and insisted the police force gave Darryl Plecas "total freedom" to
conduct his research. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"We just wanted the facts," says Nadeau, who heads the RCMP's
co-ordinated marijuana enforcement unit in B.C. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Joseph Neuberger, a Toronto lawyer who frequently defends clients
charged in marijuana grow-ops, says the study's executive summary
"panders to the hysteria police are propagating."
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
The report indicates that firearms were seized in six per cent of cases in B.C. between 1997 and 2003, according to police statistics. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Hard drugs like heroin or cocaine were found in less than four per
cent of raids and fires in indoor grow-ops occurred in less than
four per cent of cases. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"This was $250,000 of taxpayers' money, essentially for the police
to market their agenda," said Neuberger. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
THE LONE RANGER RIDES AGAIN
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A DrugSense Focus Alert
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WHAT IF TERRY SCHIAVO NEEDED MEDICAL CANNABIS TO LIVE?
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
By Richard Cowan at Marijuananews.com http://www.marijuananews.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
CANNABIS USE IN ADOLESCENCE: SELF-MEDICATION FOR ANXIETY
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
By Tom O'Connell, M.D., originally published in O'Shaughnessy's -
http://www.ccrmg.org/journal.html
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
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CANADIAN ADDICTION SURVEY (CAS)
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VANCOUVER -- Marijuana users are more likely than non-users to be
single, well-educated and earning a decent salary. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
That's one of the findings included in a detailed analysis of data
contained in the Canadian Addiction Survey. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The survey was originally released last year, but the analysis
released Wednesday reveals surprising variations in drug and alcohol
use according to income, education and marital status. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW
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LISTEN Live Tuesdays 7:30 PM, EDT, 6:30 CDT 5:30 MDT & 4:30 PDT at
http://www.KPFT.org/
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| ||||||||||||||||||||||
DOWNLOADABLE FULL-LENGTH BUSTED ONLINE
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The full-length version of our original movie BUSTED: The Citizen's
Guide to Surviving Police Encounters can now be downloaded for a small
$5.00 donation.
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Visit www.flexyourrights.org/busted/bittorrent-download.html, and follow the simple instructions to watch BUSTED on your computer. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
JUST SAY ... NOTHING
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
By Alexandra Marks, Christian Science Monitor. Posted March 22, 2005. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Today's parents are more likely to have used drugs in adolescence than
any other generation. Yet they're proving more reluctant to talk about
it to their children. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
A FIX FOR VANCOUVER'S ADDICTS
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By Am Johal, AlterNet. Posted March 22, 2005.
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The first heroin prescription program in North America brings hope to chronic drug users and controversy to those conducting the study. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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FBI PAYS LORETTA NALL A VISIT
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
http://usmjparty.blogspot.com/2005/03/fbi-pays-loretta-nall-visit_25.html | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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DEATH PENALTY FOR I.V. DRUG USERS
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
The Bush administration is considering imposing a gag rule on
U.S.-funded groups that provide clean needles to addicts, despite
their huge success in preventing the spread of HIV. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
By Maia Szalavitz
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/03/24/needle_exchange/index_np.html?x | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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DEA AGENT SHOOTS HIMSELF
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
A video that surfaced on the Internet shows a DEA agent accidentally
shooting himself in the hip while lecturing a group of students in
Orlando about gun safety. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/07/17/national/main563855.shtml | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
CALMING EFFECTS OF CANNABIS CAN HELP PSYCHOTICS
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
By Greg Francisco
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
A recent Province editorial brought to mind my experience as a young counselling intern working in the mental-health-services field. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
I had observed that my clients were tobacco consumers at a rate
several times that of the general public. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
I wondered if it was possible that something in tobacco actually
caused schizophrenia? Turns out the phenomena had already been well
studied. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Results showed that nicotine wasn't causing mental illness. Instead,
clients who were already mentally ill were using nicotine to
self-medicate their symptoms. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The same is true for cannabis. One limited New Zealand study
documents a slightly higher rate of psychosis in daily users of
cannabis when compared to non-users. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The calming effects of cannabis are well known. So, is it surprising
that persons suffering a psychosis would be more likely to use this
natural herb to reduce their own symptoms of anxiety and
disorientation?
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
The only thing the New Zealand study demonstrates is the danger of
using raw data to justify pre-conceived biases. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Greg Francisco,
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
One Hundred Plus Music Fans Arrested at Michigan Nightclub | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Early Sunday the 20th, a police raid on a Flint, Michigan nightclub
left law-abiding patrons paying for the crimes of a few. After
undercover officers bought drugs from several patrons of the club,
local police decided to raid Club What's Next at 1:40 AM, blocking
the doors and handcuffing and searching club-goers. According to
reports from at least two club-goers, women were stripped and
subjected to full cavity searches. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The police made 17 arrests on felony drug charges and at least one hundred more, in which, in most cases, the individuals' only offense was "frequenting a drug establishment," a misdemeanor offense that will go on their record. People who simply came out to dance, and were searched and not found in possession of any drugs, now face 90 days in jail and a $500 fine. They also face a criminal record with all the legal and social barriers that brings. Those charged with "frequenting a drug establishment" include a DJ hired to spin records at the club and the owner of a record company - both of whom were strip searched and not found in possession of any drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"This is abuse of police power pure and simple," said Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance. "It's un-American to punish people for the crimes of others." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
According to news reports, a similar raid occurred in Flint in 1999.
About 80 people were arrested that year at a party. Seven people in
attendance were charged with drug possession, and police wrote about
80 tickets for "frequenting a drug establishment."
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
The controversial raid of Club What's Next is also similar to a 2002
incident in Racine, Wisconsin. In that case, hundreds of music fans
were also ticketed for being in a nightclub where a few people used
drugs. Those ticketed had no drugs on them and the police did not
have any evidence that they had ever used drugs. Their only offense
was dancing at a nightclub where other people who used drugs were
arrested. Although only three drug arrests were made, police issued
citations to 445 innocent attendees with a penalty of $968 each for
being "patrons of a disorderly house." The Drug Policy Alliance
launched a nationwide grassroots campaign to raise awareness of the
Racine raid and the local ACLU filed a lawsuit. The charges were
eventually dropped. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Now, the Drug Policy Alliance is working to get music fans locally
and around the country to contact the Flint city council and mayor.
In the first twelve hours of the campaign, 1700 people have taken
action. "Every voter in Flint, Michigan should realize that this
could happen to them," said Bill Piper. "Imagine you're having a
beer at your favorite bar and the police come in and arrest you and
everyone else in the bar because unknown to you someone is using
drugs in the bathroom. It's outrageous."
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Drug Policy Alliance - http://www.drugpolicy.org
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| ||||||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"Civil liberties are always safe as long as their exercise doesn't
bother anyone." - Anonymous
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Policy and Law Enforcement/Prison content selection and analysis by
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and analysis by Philippe Lucas (), International
content selection and analysis by Doug Snead (),
Layout by Matt Elrod ()
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