| May 6, 2005 #398 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1) LAWSUIT CHALLENGES RANDOM DRUG TESTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
A Columbia lawyer says a state policy violates protections against
unreasonable search and seizure. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Legal concerns have been raised over a policy by the Missouri Department of Mental Health to allow random drug testing of its 9,800 employees. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Columbia attorney Dan Viets filed a federal lawsuit against the
department Monday, claiming the policy violates employees'
constitutional rights. Viets, who also represents the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, filed the suit in the
Federal District Court for Western Missouri on behalf of mental health
employee Amy Proctor. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Viets said he is "virtually certain" that the department's policy is
illegal, and he wants the court to grant a permanent injunction to end
the testing program, which took effect Sunday. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Random drug testing is in particular illegal because it is a violation
of the Fourth Amendment," Viets said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects people against
unreasonable searches and seizures. Viets said the U.S. Supreme Court
has already ruled that random drug testing is "unreasonable," because
the word "random" indicates a search without cause. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(2) TO MANY OLDER PATIENTS IN PAIN, MARIJUANA ISN'T EVIL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Today's topic: Medical marijuana
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SEATTLE - Betty Hiatt's morning wake-up call comes with the purr and
persistent kneading of the cat atop her bedspread. Under predawn gray,
Hiatt blinks awake. It is 6 a.m., and Kato, an opinionated Siamese who
Hiatt swears can tell time, wants to be fed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Reaching for a cane, the grandmother pads with uncertain steps to the
tiny alcove kitchen in her two-room flat. After Kato gets his grub,
Hiatt turns to her own needs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
She is, at 81, both a medical train wreck and a miracle: surviving
cancer, Crohn's disease and the onset of Parkinson's. Each morning Hiatt
takes more than a dozen pills. But first she turns to a translucent
orange prescription bottle stuffed with a drug not found on her
pharmacist's shelf -- marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Peering through owlish glasses, she fires up a cannabis cigarette with a wood-stem match. She inhales. The little apartment -- a cozy place of knickknacks and needlepoint -- takes on the odor of a rock concert. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(3) NEW ZEALAND: STUDY LINKS CANNABIS AND CRASHES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Study Links Cannabis and Crashes
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Drivers who regularly use cannabis are at high risk of causing a serious crash, but not because they have just smoked a joint, a study has found. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Auckland University study of more than 1000 drivers found that
habitual users - who on average smoked at least once a week - had a
nearly 10-fold higher risk of having a serious crash. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Drivers who had smoked a joint within the last three hours initially
appeared to be at increased risk too, but this link disappeared when
factors such as their alcohol consumption and driving speed were taken
into account. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The researchers, whose paper has been published in the British journal
Addiction, do not know why habitual users are at increased risk. But
they do advise against roadside testing of drivers for cannabis use
because of the small numbers who have just had a toke and the virtual
absence of a link between that and serious crashes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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The journal paper suggested it was unlikely that the increased crash risk among habitual users was due to brain damage from the drug. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"It's much more likely to be things about habitual marijuana smokers, the way they drive, the type of people they are, than anything else, but we don't know," said one of the researchers, Dr Jennie Connor. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(4) PLAN TO HELP DRUG-ADDICTED MOTHERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 7th Circuit Solicitor's Office on Tuesday introduced a uniform
plan for treating drug-addicted mothers -- and for prosecuting them
if they don't complete treatment. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hospitals, police agencies and social service providers in Spartanburg
and Cherokee counties have agreed to the procedures, which prosecutors
are calling "Tough Love."
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The plan was developed after Solicitor Trey Gowdy discovered, after
a Gaffney mother was charged last year with child neglect, that
agencies had no consistent policy on the treatment of drug-addicted
mothers and newborns. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Some mothers whose babies tested positive for drugs were being reported
to law enforcement, and others weren't. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gowdy formed a Drug Baby Task Force comprised of law enforcement, prosecutors, health care professionals and representatives from the alcohol and drug abuse commission to develop a plan of action. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
It's important, Gowdy said, that all women who want to kick a drug habit
are treated the same and are given treatment options before they face
jail time. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy
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COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lots of talk about marijuana in the U.S. this week, so much that some
has overflowed from the Cannabis section of DrugSense Weekly into this
section. Federal prohibitionists are searching desperately for reasons
to keep marijuana illegal, so they are going to heavily promote the
idea that marijuana use might possibly have a chance of increasing the
risk of complete craziness. It's been said before, many times, many
ways, but marijuana prohibition always leads to worse craziness than
marijuana use. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
While the feds are pushing marijuana as the worst drug problem
imaginable, the states have different focuses. In Oklahoma, cold
medicine buyers will be monitored by a Big Brother-type surveillance
system. In New Mexico, the governor wants all high school athletes
in the state to face drug tests. And in Kentucky, tax revenue that
has been traditionally spent on infrastructure improvements is now
going to anti-drug efforts. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(5) POT AND MENTAL ILLNESS LINKED, GOV'T SAYS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Government officials say recent research makes a stronger case that
smoking marijuana is itself a causal agent in psychiatric symptoms,
particularly schizophrenia. "A growing body of evidence now
demonstrates that smoking marijuana can increase the risk of serious
mental health problems," said John P. Walters, director of the White
House Office of Drug Control Policy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Administration officials pointed to a handful of studies to make
their case. One, from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration, found adult marijuana smokers who first began using
the drug before age 12 were twice as likely to have suffered a
serious mental illness in the past year as those who began smoking
after 18. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The ratio was 21 percent to 10.5 percent. Those who first started as
teens also were at significantly higher risk. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Also Tuesday, The Sentencing Project released a report that found
the government's "war on drugs" has become the "war on drug" as
police agencies increasingly target marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(6) GOVERNOR SIGNS ANTI-METH BILL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
A statewide online database that links pharmacies to ensure
customers don't buy more decongestants than medically necessary
should be operating by fall, the head of Oklahoma's drug agency said
Monday. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Connecting pharmacies statewide will allow pharmacists to check
whether a customer already has bought a maximum amount of
pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in the manufacture of
methamphetamine, said Lonnie Wright, director of the Oklahoma Bureau
of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The law will prevent people from buying more pseudoephedrine
contained in cold medicines than the maximum amount allowed a month,
or nine grams, he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The database system, which should be operational Nov. 1 when the new
law takes effect, is being paid for with a $450,000 federal grant,
Wright said. The money will purchase the hardware and software, as
well as provide for the connections. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(7) POTENTIAL LEGISLATION WOULD ALLOW DRUG TESTS OF HIGH SCHOOL (Top)ATHLETES | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gov. Bill Richardson, noting steroids are no longer just a problem
in professional sports, said Monday he wants New Mexico to begin
random testing of high school athletes in the state. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Richardson spoke at a steroid summit put together by the New Mexico Activities Association, the governing body for high school sports in the state, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"We may be talking about a drug problem that is out of control and
we don't know it," Richardson said. "We've got to have data on how
bad the problem is."
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He said he's appointing a task force that will draft legislation to be presented to lawmakers in January. The governor wants legislation that would allow for random testing of high school athletes, and said the state will provide $330,000 to get such a program started. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(8) COAL TAX MONEY EARMARKED FOR RURAL ANTI-DRUG EFFORT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
PIKEVILLE - A private hospital will receive public funding from coal
severance tax revenues to treat young drug addicts in Eastern
Kentucky. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pikeville Medical Center will receive $750,000 over the next two
years to help pay for a juvenile drug rehabilitation center, state
Sen. Ray Jones II, D-Pikeville, said yesterday.
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Coal severance tax money historically has been used for economic
development, including development of industrial parks and extension
of municipal water lines into communities where mining has fouled
wells. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jones said the state budget included an additional $1.5 million in
coal severance tax revenues to Operation UNITE, an anti-drug project
in 29 mountain counties. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
He said he expects that money also will go for operation of drug
treatment centers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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The program will not conflict with a federally subsidized
drug-treatment plant at Ashcamp, which will treat adult addicts, he
said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pike County Judge-Executive Bill Deskins said he supported the
appropriation for drug treatment, but intended to monitor the
program closely. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"There's so many things we could spend this money for -- think of
the blacktop that could buy. You'd better believe I'm going to
follow up and see that everything's done properly."
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[snip]
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Law Enforcement & Prisons
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COMMENT: (9-12) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Prison reform may be coming in North Carolina, but it doesn't
necessarily seem like the right kind. A plan proposed by legislators
would reduce many sentences for many crimes, including violent
crimes, in part because the jails are being crowded by meth
offenders. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
In Miami, a new report suggests that African Americans are not
targeted for more traffic stops than people in other racial groups.
But when African Americans do get stopped, they are more likely to
be searched, which leads to more African Americans being arrested
during such stops, even though they are less likely to be found with
drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Also, the police corruption is more wild than usual this week in
Massachusetts, and a North Carolina county is trying to figure out
how to continue funding a drug task force. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(9) BILL WOULD SHORTEN PRISON SENTENCES FOR FELONIES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
It Saves Money At Expense Of Criminal-Justice System, Opponent Says | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
RALEIGH - Prison sentences for most felonies committed on or after Dec. 1 this year could be quite a bit shorter than the sentences are now, under a bill making its way through the General Assembly. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The bill would shorten the minimum sentence for most repeat
offenders by several months and in some cases by two years. As a
result, maximum sentences would be shorter, too. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The proposed changes wouldn't apply to first-degree murder or to
lower-level felonies, but they would apply to the large group of
crimes in between. Those include crimes from child abuse inflicting
serious injury to first-degree rape. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
A handful of crimes, such as second-degree murder committed by
someone with a long record, would require longer minimum prison
terms. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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The state's prison population has grown steadily in recent years,
from 22,848 in June 1994, to 31,914 in June 1999, to 35,205 in June
2004. Department officials expect it to grow to 45,312 by 2014.
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Officials say that there are several reasons for the increase, including the elimination of parole in 1994; the state's overall population growth; an increase in the percentage of felons being sentenced to active prison time; and new laws that lengthened sentences for certain crimes, such as making methamphetamine. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(10) REPORT: BLACKS EYED BUT NOT PROFILED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
No evidence exists that Miami-Dade police engage in racial profiling when pulling over motorists -- but blacks are heavily scrutinized once pulled over, a long-awaited study released Monday says. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Miami-Dade County police officers usually do not consider race when
making traffic stops, although black motorists often face more
scrutiny than others once they are pulled over, according to a
long-awaited study released on Monday. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The study -- ordered by the County Commission in 2000 and hailed
Monday as the most comprehensive look at racial profiling nationwide
- -- found ''no consistent, systematic or patterned'' targeting of
minorities for traffic stops. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
''In 70 percent of the time, officers, when they turn their lights
on, they do not know the color of the driver,'' said Geoffrey
Alpert, a sociologist from the University of South Carolina who
headed the study. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
''Race profiling is not a problem with Miami-Dade Police
Department,'' Miami-Dade Police Director Robert Parker said at a
press conference announcing the report's findings. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Some Complaints
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But skeptics complained that the study was made public six months
after it was turned over to police, a delay that prompted charges
that the department was trying to downplay the report. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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The study also analyzed what happens to motorists after they are
pulled over. The results were varied.
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Blacks were less likely to be charged with possession of illegal
items - - - such as drugs or weapons -- than Hispanics or whites and
were more likely to receive a verbal warning. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
On the other hand, they had their cars towed more often than other
two groups, as well as subjected to pat-down searches and
computerized background screenings, the study found. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
While the majority of traffic stops didn't result in searches, black
drivers were subjected to extra scrutiny 4.1 percent of the time,
compared to 2.7 percent for whites and 2.6 percent for Hispanics.
The result: Blacks get arrested more, the study said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(11) JURY TO HEAR SORDID TALE OF COP'S KINKY SEX, DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
A tale of kinky group sex and wife-swapping fueled by the voracious consumption of stolen drugs finally reached the bitter end when state police Sgt. Timothy White threatened to kill his wife before sticking the gun in his own mouth, prosecutors said yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
In a dizzying summation of the allegations that seemed more suited
to a Quentin Tarantino screenplay than a courtroom in staid Dedham
Superior Court, prosecutors William Bloomer and Dean Mazzone
convinced Judge Judith Fabricant to allow a jury to hear every
sordid detail when White's trial begins today. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"The marriage disintegrated from drug use and sexual episodes,"
Bloomer said. "The Whites were also participating in three-way
sexual episodes that caused tension."
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Bloomer said White once encouraged his wife to have sex with a
bouncer from a Boston nightclub only to have the encounter explode
into a violent argument when Timothy White was rejected in an
attempt to perform a sexual act on the man. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
White, 42, is accused of abusing his wife, Maura, and stealing up to
27 pounds of cocaine as well as marijuana and ecstasy that he was
supposed to destroy for the state police. The prosecutors said
because of "lax procedures" that allowed White to steal the drugs,
he and his wife began to deal large quantities of cocaine in the
fall of 2002 with Robert Crisafulli, 49, of Hyde Park and Nancy
White, a family friend of no relation, who all shared frequent group
sex. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(12) County Mulls Funding To Save Drug Task Force
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COUNTY MULLS FUNDING TO SAVE DRUG TASK FORCE
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Local officials agree the Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Drug Task Force
deserves to survive when its grant funding expires later this year.
But exactly who should pay for the drug-busting agency -- and how --
has yet to be decided. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Board of Commissioners Chairman Bill Trueblood said he fully
supports continuing the program, and having the county pick up its
$200,000 annual cost. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"I feel it ever-more important that the county pick up the shortfall
and continue the program," Trueblood said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last week, Pasquotank Sheriff Randy Cartwright told commissioners
the eight-year-old drug task force will die unless local funding is
obtained to keep it operating. A $200,000 Governor's Crime
Commission grant that paid for the program and its three detectives
expires this year, he said. The grant money, which was received for
the first time in 1997, was never intended as a permanent source of
funding for the agency, Cartwright said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Commissioners Marshall H. Stevenson Jr. and John "Hank" Krebs said
they too want to see the drug task force continue, but they're not
ready to say the county alone should pick up the tab. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Cannabis & Hemp-
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COMMENT: (13-17) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
This week we begin with a Washington Post article on a new report
from The Sentencing Project, a Washington-based prison reform
think-tank, which shows that while the proportion of drug arrests
for heroin and cocaine went down 55% between 1992 and 2002, cannabis
arrests have risen from 28% to 45% of all drug related arrests. Our
second story comes to us from California, where Americans for Safe
Access have initiated a lawsuit against the city of Fresno for
forbidding the establishment of compassion clubs, despite state law
that allows for the dispensing of cannabis to legitimate medical
users. The dispute illustrates the uneven implementation of
proposition 215 in California's cities and counties. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Our third story illustrates how far we still have to go towards a
rational drug policy in the U.S., as farmer and hemp activist
Vanessa Bogenholm illustrates in her frustrated attempts to get hemp
cultivation legalized in California. Legislation that would make
this valuable cash crop legal in California is to be considered next
January. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Our fourth story is a column by Marc Hansen of the Des Moines
Register looking at attempts in Iowa to legalize medicinal cannabis.
The article includes a link to this weekend's Global Marijuana March
(May 7th). And lastly, another great article on Montel Williams'
continuing fight for the legalization of medicinal cannabis. Fresh
from hosting this week's epic MPP fundraiser in Washington, D.C. the
daytime talk show host explains the importance of cannabis in
allowing him to remain healthy and productive. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
For more information on this weekend's Global Marijuana March, go
to: http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/3324.html
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(13) MARIJUANA BECOMES FOCUS OF DRUG WAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Less Emphasis on Heroin and Cocaine
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The focus of the drug war in the United States has shifted
significantly over the past decade from hard drugs to marijuana,
which now accounts for nearly half of all drug arrests nationwide,
according to an analysis of federal crime statistics released
yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The study of FBI data by a Washington-based think tank, the Sentencing Project, found that the proportion of heroin and cocaine cases plummeted from 55 percent of all drug arrests in 1992 to less than 30 percent 10 years later. During the same period, marijuana arrests rose from 28 percent of the total to 45 percent. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coming in the wake of the focus on crack cocaine in the late 1980s, the increasing emphasis on marijuana enforcement was accompanied by a dramatic rise in overall drug arrests, from fewer than 1.1 million in 1990 to more than 1.5 million a decade later. Eighty percent of that increase came from marijuana arrests, the study found. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(14) MORATORIUMS, LAWSUIT MARK MARIJUANA DEBATE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
A lawsuit filed last week against a Central Valley city signals
medical marijuana advocates' growing concern over a municipal
backlash against cannabis clubs up and down the state. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Oakland-based Americans for Safe Access sued Fresno last Monday for
enacting a ban on medical marijuana dispensaries, which the group
says violates California laws entitling patients and caregivers to
the medicinal herb. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
But almost nine years after Golden State voters approved a
compassionate use law, what that law and a 2003 implementation law
actually allow remains somewhat vague. Many cities, experiencing or
fearing an explosion of dispensaries, recently have enacted
moratoriums on any new ones to allow time for developing
regulations. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(15) DEMYSTIFYING CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING PLANT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
WATSONVILLE -- George Washington grew it. And so did Thomas
Jefferson. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
It's hemp, and now Watsonville organic strawberry farmer Vanessa
Bogenholm would like to grow it as a profitable cover crop when her
berries are not in season -- and she took her case to Sacramento on
Wednesday. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
She tried to convince the Assembly's Agriculture Committee that nothing but fear and a lack of education stand behind the legalization of this controversial, yet misunderstood plant. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"People get this myth in their minds that (hemp is) dangerous or it's a drug, and that's what they run with -- even if it couldn't be furthest from the truth," said the 39-year-old Bogenholm. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Unlike its genetic cousin marijuana, hemp, which is grown for its
seeds and fibers, contains only minuscule amounts of
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Yet hemp, while it is legally sold in the United States, cannot be
grown here. Bogenholm's contention is if hemp is already being
imported to the United States by Canadian farmers and they're making
the money, why can't she and other U.S. farmers grow it for economic
benefit. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(16) HUMAN SUFFERING GETS LOST IN MEDICAL MARIJUANA DEBATE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Terry Mitchell showed up at Java Joe's looking as if he'd just escaped from a Grateful Dead concert. A 1975 Grateful Dead concert. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
He had the long hair and the headband with the button that said
"Like it or not, God made pot."
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I looked at the 51-year-old Mitchell and got college flashbacks. I
listened to his cogent arguments for making prescription marijuana
legal for medical purposes, but I wondered. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
This being Iowa and all, wouldn't he have a better shot at changing
hearts and minds if he looked more like Chuck Grassley than Jerry
Garcia?
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Nah. Probably not. State Sen. Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City
who looks nothing like Jerry Garcia, proposed such a bill during the
winter. It would have permitted prescription possession and use of
marijuana for glaucoma, nausea from chemotherapy and radiation,
multiple sclerosis, AIDS and a few other illnesses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(17) MONTEL WILLIAMS' BLUNT-TALKING WAYS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
TV talk show host Montel Williams, who suffers from multiple
sclerosis, offers one reason why he regularly uses marijuana: "It's
keeping me alive." He tells us that thanks to pot, "I am a
contributing member of society -- but the second I can't use medical
marijuana, you lose my tax dollars because I start staying in bed,
wallowing in chronic pain."
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Williams, 48, who divides his time between New York and Los Angeles,
is in town tonight to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the
Marijuana Policy Project, which supports reforming what he calls
"stupid and ignorant" laws that subject him to criminal penalties
for using pot. Also slated to speak at the gala at the Washington
Court Hotel: Democratic Reps. Barney Frank (Mass.), Dennis Kucinich
(Ohio) and Linda Sanchez (Calif.). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Williams, whose MS was diagnosed in 1999, concedes that marijuana
might not help all patients but calls it a safer course for him than
popping potentially addictive painkillers: "I have doctors who can
write me a prescription for OxyContin, the most powerful pain pill
on the planet, and if they are smart enough to do that, why can't
they write me a prescription for marijuana? . . . My worst side
effect might be a mild euphoria, which is way less than OxyContin or
Percocet or Vicodin."
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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International News
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COMMENT: (18-22) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
With murderous regularity, the death squad killings continue in the Philippines. A "suspected" drug pusher was executed in a parking lot, the 50th in a series of vigilante killings in Cebu. Police admitted that the man was on police blacklists, including "the watch list of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)." Extra-legal death squad killings of former drug arrestees has intensified after Philippine president Gloria Magapal Arroyo recently encouraged such killings. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Philippine prohibitionist press last week ballyhooed the
extradition from Hong Kong of a Chinese national accused of drug
crimes in the Philippines. The extradition follows an agreement
between China and the Philippines that allows for the extradition of
Chinese nationals to stand trial in the Philippines. Philippine
government and press hailed the extradition as a "drug war
breakthrough," as if extraditions would somehow finally make
prohibition effective. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Police tasked with enforcing prohibition in Vancouver, Canada, were
"frustrated". Police, despite arresting all the drug dealers they
can, see no result for all their efforts. They arrest dealers, but
people still want drugs, use drugs and sell drugs. Sometimes
Vancouver police would drive suspected drug dealers to a park, beat
them, and leave them to find their way home. When a rookie officer
told superiors about this, and filed a report in 2003, word got out,
and some of the "frustrated" officers were suspended. In a hearing
this week, the officers caught beating suspected drug dealers
bitterly complained that nothing they did stopped the buying and
selling of drugs. (Perhaps no one told the friendly officers that
drug prohibition has never succeeded.) The punished officers
asserted "we are the lions in the jungle," and admitted that to
"intimidate people" was indeed part of their jobs. Members of the
"Stanley Park Six" as the officers have come to be known, testified
at a police hearing last week. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile in Victoria, Canada, mayor Mayor Alan Lowe announced this
week that a team of experts is going to Switzerland and Germany to
investigate European safe-injection centers. A safe-injection center
in Vancouver, Canada had been a success, and credited with saving
lives that would have been lost due to drug overdoses. Mayor Lowe
and the Victoria City council are looking at establishing some type
of safe injection sites in Victoria, in the future. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
(18) MAN IN DRUG LIST SLAIN IN PARK LOT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
A suspected bigtime drug pusher included in the 1997 expose of Rep.
Antonio Cuenco was shot and killed in a mall parking area yesterday,
raising suspicions he was another victim of vigilante-style killings
in Cebu City. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
SPO4 Erlando Metante, one of the responding homicide investigators,
identified the victim as Rosamun de los Santos, 29, who lived in
Barangay Suba. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
If investigators declare that de los Santos was killed by a
vigilante group, he would be the 50th victim since the rash of
killings started last Dec. 22.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
But he is not discounting the possibility that the killers were
vigilantes, or someone who harbored an old grudge against de los
Santos, who had a tough reputation in Pasil. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Watch List
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Supt. Pablo Labra II, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau (CIIB), said in a separate interview that de los Santos was in the CIIB's order of battle for suspected drug pushers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
He was also in the watch list of the Philippine Drug Enforcement
Agency (PDEA). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Labra said de los Santos was previously arrested by the Vice Control Section of the Cebu City Police Office and during PDEA operations. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Based on intelligence information gathered by the city police, de
los Santos allegedly replaced suspected big-time drug pusher
Wilfredo "Lao-Lao" Cabanit in the illegal drug trade after the
latter's arrest last year. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(19) DRUG WAR BREAKTHROUGH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
THE Hong Kong court's approval of the extradition of suspected
big-time drug lord Calvin de Jesus Tan, a native of Cabanatuan City,
is a major breakthrough in the war against illegal drugs, according
to Cebu City Rep. Antonio Cuenco.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"This is a big precedent in the government efforts to prosecute and
jail suspected drug lords. The message is clear ' these merchants of
death can never hide and get away with the cases filed against them
in our courts," said Cuenco, vice chairman of the House committee on
dangerous drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tan's extradition, Cuenco said, reaffirms that the Philippines-China
political relations has indeed become stronger following the visit
of Chinese president Hu Jintao to Manila last week. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"This is an early fruit of renewed cooperation between our two
countries in the areas of law enforcement, judicial security and
defense in order to address the serious threats posed by organized
transnational crimes that the House leadership was able to secure
during Hu Jintao's state visit," Cuenco said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(20) OFFICERS 'FRUSTRATED' BY DEALERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
An Officer Tells Hearing A Level Of Frustration Led To Police
Tactics
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
VANCOUVER - One of the Vancouver police officers disciplined for
taking three Granville Street drug dealers to Stanley Park and
beating them vented his frustration with the justice system and
career street criminals Tuesday during a police complaints hearing
in Vancouver. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Under examination by Dana Urban, counsel for the Office of the
Police Complaints Commissioner, Const. Ray Gardner said he didn't
believe anything he did would change the behaviour of the drug
dealers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
He said he does not believe the justice system works effectively
with people like the three drug dealers police assaulted in the park
on the night of Jan. 14, 2003.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"It appeared to me that it didn't appear to be working on individuals like Grant Wilson [one of the three]," Gardener said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The six officers pleaded guilty to three counts each of assault in the beatings and two of them, Gabriel Kojima and Duncan Gemmell, were recommended to be fired by VPD Chief Jamie Graham. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
They are currently suspended without pay, and are fighting to be
reinstated through the hearing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
(21) COPS 'LIONS IN THE JUNGLE' (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"We were encouraged to take ownership of Granville Street and other
problem areas," Gardner, the third member of the Stanley Park Six to
testify at a police complaint hearing, said Friday. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Six officers have pleaded guilty to assaulting three drug dealers in
Stanley Park. Four were handed severe suspensions and demoted. Chief
Jamie Graham has recommended the other two -- Gabriel Kojima and
Gemmell -- be fired. Kojima and Gemmell are fighting to have their
dismissal recommendations overturned at the unprecedented hearing by
adjudicator Donald Clancy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Were you ever taught by sergeants and inspectors to intimidate
people?" asked David Butcher, the lawyer for Gemmell. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Yes," replied Gardner. "It's just part of the job for a certain
part of society that doesn't respect the law. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"You let them know we are the lions in the jungle. There has to be a certain fear of police," Gardner said, adding that fear and respect enhances the officers' safety as they stroll the Granville beat. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(22) SWISS TOUR OF INJECTION SITES PLANNED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The fact a team from Victoria is heading to Europe to check out
supervised injection sites might lead one to believe such a facility
is much closer to becoming reality. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"From our perspective, Europe - if you're going to be building any
facility for either a safe injection or anything else - that is the
place to learn from," Mayor Alan Lowe said Monday. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lowe, Vancouver Island Health Authority chief medical health officer
Dr. Richard Stanwick and CEO Richard Waldner, city manager Joe
Martignago and special projects coordinator Nancy Taylor are
travelling to Bern, Switzerland and Frankfurt, Germany for five days
next month to investigate the European experience. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
He said through discussions with counterparts in Europe, a plan may
be brought forward that could "satisfy all of the needs of injection
drug users on the streets of Victoria, whereas in Vancouver it
satisfies about one-sixth."
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
A safe injection site could, among other things, reduce the spread
of AIDS - - "one case prevented would pay for the trip" - the number
of ambulance trips and emergency room time. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
While Insite has been, from most reports, a success, Lowe said other models may be better suited for a smaller centre such as Victoria. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Before we move forward we need to actually do our homework," he
said, adding that Victoria city council remains supportive of such a
facility. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Council last year approved a harm-reduction policy that endorsed a
four pillars approach - treatment, prevention, housing and
enforcement. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"We have to have an informed and knowledgeable public before we
proceed on this subject," Stanwick said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
MAP ONAIR SCHEDULE UPDATED
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Please consider Bookmarking this schedule as a tool for spotting
OnAir radio and TV shows with DP reformers across North America. The
site is constantly updated. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Curently listed events include radio or web broadcasts featuring Dr.
Robert Melamede (cannabinoids and how they help the human body);
Howard Wooldridge (LEAP) and the Happy Hempstress (OH)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Many radio shows offer online listening and accept phone calls
during the show with toll free numbers in most cases so listeners
nationwide have a chance to participate. Some TV shows offer similar
call-in segments as well. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Also this calendar lists the many events hosted by DrugSense in the
new MAP Online Virtual Conference Room. Most events are open to DPR
activists from anywhere in the world. A few are private and open to
DPR activists within a specific state, province or affiliated with a
specific DPR-org. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Scheduled media activism training include discussion about how to
Newshawk clippings to MAP, how to write Letters to the Editor which
get printed, how to write press releases which increase media
coverage, how to increase radio/TV/newspaper coverage of drug policy
reform in your area. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
FACES OF COMPASSION
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Vancouver Island Compassion Society, http://thevics.com/, has
launched "Faces of Compassion", a video morphing project by Stephanie
Thanase that illustrates the remarkable diversity of the members and
staff of the VICS. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
MDMA LITERATURE REVIEW UPDATED
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) has
updated it's extensive review of MDMA literature covering the period
from March 2004 to January 2005. See
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
MEDICAL MARIJUANA DEBATE HEATS UP
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- The war of words in the nation's battle over medical
marijuana use escalated Wednesday with television star power
squaring off against federal health officials. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Video
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
GLOBAL MARIJUANA MARCH
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
More Than 180 Cities To Hold Cannabis Rallies This Weekend | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
May 5, 2005 - New York, NY, USA
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
New York, NY: Marijuana law reform activists in over 180 cities
worldwide will hold marches on Saturday, May 7, to call for an
end to the criminalization of cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The annual event, the "Global Marijuana March" (formerly the
"Million Marijuana March"), is coordinated by Cures-Not-Wars
in New York City. A list of participating cities is available
at:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
MARIJUANA NEWS WORLD REPORT FOR MAY 2ND
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
With Richard Cowan
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Drug Czar Imports Scottish “Expert” Who Says Cannabis As Big A Threat As
Heroin. Scotland Is A Total Mess. Interview With Steve Kubby About New
Revelations In His California Case
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
ENTHEOGENESIS II
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
May 21-23 2005, Vancouver, BC
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
This year's conference theme is "From Darkness Back to Light" and will
have a focus on the use of entheogens from the time of the Dark Ages,
when these substances were widely surpressed and were limited to occult
use following up to our modern age of information when the entheogens
returned to their former popularity. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Listen Live, Fridays 8:00 PM, ET, 7:00 CT, 6:00 MT & 5:00 PT at
http://www.KPFT.org/
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
WITNESSES TO POT'S MEDICINAL VALUE
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
By William S. Eidelman MD
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
In my own medical marijuana consultant practice, I see many older folks
who benefit from marijuana's varied physiological effects -- pain
reliever, sleep promoter and appetite stimulant, as well as
anti-anxiety, anti-nausea and anti-spasmodic relief, just to start at
the top of the list. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The article quotes Walters as saying "the standard of simply feeling
different or feeling better" is not proof of being safe and effective.
The article then says, "Walters argues that there is not a whiff of
clinical proof qualifying smoked pot as medicine." This is simply not
factual. True, there are no double-blind studies because such studies
have been blocked by federal law. However, there are countless published
case reports proving the medical value of cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The federal government is willfully avoiding the truth that cannabis is
safe and effective. Cannabis does not cause death or organ damage. It is
one of the safest drugs in that way, safer than aspirin, which kills
thousands every year. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
It is time for the people to demand that their government get in line with the truth, and allow the use of cannabis for medical purposes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
William S. Eidelman MD
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pot: The Sina Qua Non Of A Drug War
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
By Sam Smith
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The war on drugs was the first major test by the country's elite to
see if Americans would willingly surrender their constitutional
rights. It turned out that they would and so for the past twenty
years invasions of civil liberties increased, America threw more and
more of its young people into prison, while exploding drug war
budgets did nothing to stem the growth of the drug industry.
Further, the drug war was a useful testing ground for repressive
measures instituted following September 11. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
But to make all of this work you need a sufficient quantity of
drugs, they had to be easy to find and a sufficient number of people
had to use them. This is where marijuana came in. Although marijuana
is far less danger than such legal drugs as cigarettes and alcohol
and, even as a medical prescription, far less hazardous than ones
routinely given out by doctors, it had the constituency, physical
bulk and ubiquity to make it just the thing for adding to police
budgets and taking away from human rights. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The war on drugs will undoubtedly be regarded by historians as a
crucial precursor of the end of the First American Republic. It
tested the waters of repression and found Americans willing to
accept it. Even liberals outside of strong civil liberties advocates
proved disastrously indifferent to what was going on. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
A new report from the Sentencing Project ( see
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Of the 450,000 increase in drug arrests during the period
1990-2002, 82% of the growth was for marijuana, and 79% was for
marijuana possession alone;
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Marijuana arrests now constitute nearly half (45%) of the 1.5
million drug arrests annually;
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Few marijuana arrests are for serious offending: of the 734,000
marijuana arrests in 2000, only 41,000 (6%) resulted in a felony
conviction;
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Marijuana arrests increased by 113% between 1990 and 2002, while overall arrests decreased by 3%; 1 Cooper, G. (2001, August 20). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
- New York City experienced an 882% growth in marijuana arrests, including an increase of 2,461% for possession offenses; | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
- African Americans are disproportionately affected by marijuana
arrests, representing 14% of marijuana users in the general
population, but 30% of arrests;
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
- One-third of persons convicted for a marijuana felony in state
court are sentenced to prison;
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
- An estimated $4 billion is spent annually on the arrest,
prosecution and incarceration of marijuana offenders. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sam Smith is a writer, activist, social critic and author of four
highly acclaimed books, the latest of which is Why Bother? This
piece was originally published at The Progressive Review -
http://prorev.com/index.htm
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Never say anything on the phone that you wouldn't want your mother
to hear at your trial." -- Sydney Biddle Barrows
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
DS Weekly is one of the many free educational services DrugSense
offers our members. Watch this feature to learn more about what
DrugSense can do for you. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Policy and Law Enforcement/Prison content selection and analysis by
Stephen Young (), Cannabis/Hemp content selection
and analysis by Philippe Lucas (), International
content selection and analysis by Doug Snead (),
Layout by Matt Elrod ()
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
We wish to thank all our contributors, editors, NewsHawks and letter writing activists. Please help us help reform. Become a NewsHawk See http://www.mapinc.org/hawk.htm for info on contributing clippings. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
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