| Aug. 5, 2005 #411 | ||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
(1) PORTLAND JAILBLAZERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Last month, Multnomah County Sheriff Bernie Giusto gritted his teeth and released 391 inmates from the county jail, including legions of drug dealers, drunk drivers, burglars, car prowlers, identity thieves, check forgers and assorted rip-off artists. | ||||||||||||||||
This spectacle has become numbingly familiar in Portland, a laid-back
city that is suffering from an acute shortage of jail beds, a surge in
property crimes, and a spike in methamphetamine use that led the state
Legislature this week to pass a law requiring a doctor's prescription
for cold and allergy medicines that could be used to make "meth."
So far this year, Sheriff Giusto has sprung more than 2,700 inmates --
and a town that prides itself on its progressive image is confronting
a crisis in public safety. | ||||||||||||||||
"The criminal justice system is teetering on the edge of collapse," fumes Mr. Giusto, whose own car was recently broken into in a lot across from his office, beneath a sign reading "Sheriff's Patrol." | ||||||||||||||||
What makes the sheriff's predicament particularly maddening is that a
few miles away, on the north side of town, sits the answer to his
prayers -- a brand new $58 million jail known as the Wapato Facility.
Secluded in an 18-acre parcel where sparrows chuckle in the cottonwood
trees, Wapato is the last word in detention. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
But the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners, reeling from revenue
shortfalls and paralyzed by infighting, has not given the sheriff the
money to get the jail up and running. So while local newscasts air
endless horror stories about crime and meth fiends, Wapato has yet to
play host to a single inmate. Sheriff Giusto calls it "a $58 million
echo chamber." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(2) WEST PALM DOCTOR JAILED FOR ILLEGALLY DISTRIBUTING PAINKILLERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A West Palm Beach pain management specialist was arrested late Tuesday on federal charges of illegally distributing the painkiller oxycodone. | ||||||||||||||||
Dr. Andrew D. Weiss, 44, of Boca Raton, faces one count each of
conspiracy and obstruction of justice and 39 counts of drug
distribution. The obstruction charge relates to allegations that Weiss
attempted to deceive a grand jury investigation by falsifying patient
records, according to the indictment. Each of the charges is punishable
by up to 20 years in prison. | ||||||||||||||||
A Vermont man, Marc Wells, 30, of Essex Junction, was indicted with
Weiss. He is charged with conspiracy, six counts of sending cash to
Palm Beach County residents and three counts of having oxycodone sent
to him. | ||||||||||||||||
It could not be determined whether Weiss had hired an attorney. He is
scheduled for a bond hearing Friday. | ||||||||||||||||
Weiss was involved with the illegal distribution of 12,000 oxycodone pills, U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta of Miami said in a statement. | ||||||||||||||||
"Illegally dispensing prescription medications is a serious federal crime, just like trafficking in cocaine and crack, and doctors who do this will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law," Acosta said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(3) DRUG-REFORM BOOKS NOT APPRECIATED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Not Welcome: Some Libraries Reject Books On Drug Reform | ||||||||||||||||
You can give a drug book to a library, but you can't make the library
shelve it. | ||||||||||||||||
Headquartered in Fayetteville, the Drug Policy Education Group, which
hopes to liberalize Arkansass drug laws, has donated more than $8,000
worth of books, videos, booklets and article reprints to 48 public and
college libraries across the state since 2002. DPEG has just completed
a survey to determine whether the donated materials are placed on the
libraries shelves. Materials not shelved are commonly sold at library
book sales at extremely low prices, which is not only a waste of our
resources, but also does not accomplish our goal of making these
materials available to the general public, a DPEG report on the survey
said. | ||||||||||||||||
DPEG studied the donation retention rates for eight books and three
booklets sent to all the libraries. It found that retention rates
diverged as widely as possible from 100 percent to 0 percent and that
the reasons for the discrepancy were not entirely clear, although high
rejection rates seemed to reflect the personal opinions/prejudices of
individual librarians more than factors such as the size and location
of the libraries. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(4) TELLURIDE MAY TICKLE TOKERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Enforcement of adult marijuana possession laws may soon go up in smoke
in Telluride. | ||||||||||||||||
The town council voted 6-0 Tuesday, with one member absent, to place an ordinance on the Nov. 1 ballot saying that prosecuting adults for small amounts of marijuana be the town's "lowest enforcement priority." | ||||||||||||||||
Organizers of the initiative drive gathered signatures and momentum to
let voters decide the issue in the laid-back ski town, where San Miguel
County Sheriff Bill Masters, a Libertarian, is no fan of the war on
drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
"We're pleased that the council gave us pretty good confirmation of our petition drive," said Ernest Eich, one of the organizers. | ||||||||||||||||
The local group was joined by Sensible Colorado, a nonprofit that
lobbies for easing restrictions on pot. | ||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Newsweek went a little drug crazy last week, but Jack Shafer of Slate noticed. Shafer picked apart Newsweek's scary meth cover story, and didn't find many hard facts to back sensational claims. Of course the biggest story of the week, the arrest of Canadian super-activist Marc Emery on orders of authorities south of the border, is covered in the Cannabis section of DrugSense Weekly. In other cross border drug control overkill, it was revealed that a provision of the U.S. Patriot Act allowed law enforcement authorities to use surveillance technology in a tunnel between British Columbia and Washington State that was allegedly used to transport drugs between the two nations. | ||||||||||||||||
With all this attention on Canada, it's interesting to note federal drug authorities are suggesting that the amount of drugs coming to the U.S. by way of Mexico is increasing dramatically. Is it really happening, or is it typical narco-hype to manipulate international relations? Who knows, but another form of hype from the ONDCP didn't make much of a splash. This time the propaganda warriors are blaming fathers' lack of communication skills for drug problems. | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) METH MADNESS AT NEWSWEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
This Is Your Magazine On Drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
Newsweek's inside story | ||||||||||||||||
The leading indicator that a national trend has peaked and has begun
its downward trajectory is often its appearance on the cover of one
of the newsweeklies. Newsweek's current scaremongering cover story,
"The Meth Epidemic: Inside America's New Drug Crisis," is a textbook
illustration of the phenomenon. | ||||||||||||||||
From its shrieking inside headline, "America's Most Dangerous Drug," to the gross-out photo gallery (a close-up of "meth-mouth," a prematurely aged meth casualty, and a burned survivor of a meth-lab explosion) the Newsweek package plays to readers' emotions. | ||||||||||||||||
But for all Newsweek's hysteria, it fails to deliver. | ||||||||||||||||
For instance, if meth is America's most dangerous drug, how many
people has it killed? Newsweek doesn't bother to explore the topic,
perhaps because it's so hard to pin down. In 2000, Oahu recorded 35
deaths, Phoenix 105, and Los Angeles 155. Meanwhile, New York City
recorded only three that year, while Long Island claimed 38.
According to Fred Leavitt's 1982 book, Drugs & Behavior, about one
usage in 2 million ends in a fatality. If meth is really the most
dangerous drug, you'd think the magazine would have provided some
sort of body count. | ||||||||||||||||
In one attempt to measure the meth "crisis," Newsweek cites federal estimates to report that about 12 million Americans have tried methamphetamine and 1.5 million are regular users. (Compare those figures with the government's rough estimate of 750,000 to 1 million heroin addicts and 2.7 million chronic users of cocaine.) But the magazine doesn't establish whether those numbers are up or down! How can they claim an epidemic unless they've got the numbers? | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(6) MEXICO MOVING MOST OF U.S. DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Albuquerque One Of 14 Cities Known As 'Staging Areas' For
Traffickers, DEA Says | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - Mexican drug traffickers have pushed aside their
Colombian counterparts and now dominate the U.S. market in the
biggest reorganization of the trade since the rise of the Colombian
cartels in the 1980s, U.S. officials say. | ||||||||||||||||
Mexican groups now are behind much of the cocaine, heroin, marijuana
and methamphetamine on U.S. streets, the officials say, with Mexican
law-enforcement agencies viewed as either too weak or too corrupt to
stop them. | ||||||||||||||||
Mexico's role as a drug-trafficking hub has been growing for some
time, but its grip on the $400-billion-a-year trade has strengthened
in recent years. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement | ||||||||||||||||
And the Key West, Fla.-based Joint Interagency Task Force South,
which coordinates federal drug interdiction efforts and | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(7) DRUG-TUNNEL BUST AIDED BY CONTROVERSIAL PROVISION OF USA PATRIOT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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As drug smugglers carried hundreds of pounds of marijuana through a
tunnel from Canada to the U.S. last month, federal officials heard
every word and watched nearly every movement with state-of-the-art
surveillance. | ||||||||||||||||
Investigators were able to surreptitiously install video and audio
bugging devices in the tunnel after receiving a judge's approval to
search the passage under a controversial provision of the USA
Patriot Act. | ||||||||||||||||
By obtaining a so-called "sneak-and-peek" warrant, law-enforcement
officials were able to enter the tunnel, and bug it, without
immediately telling the suspects a warrant had been issued. Regular
search warrants require that the subject of a search be notified
immediately after it has been conducted. | ||||||||||||||||
As Congress prepares to reauthorize some parts of the | ||||||||||||||||
"I think that the power that the government has under the Patriot
Act . is clearly contrary to the notion underlying the Fourth
Amendment," said former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr, a Republican from
Georgia who leads the Patriot Act reform organization Patriots to
Restore Checks and Balances. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(8) FATHERS URGED TO TALK MORE ABOUT DRUGS TO THEIR KIDS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A new survey from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America shows
fathers don't spend as much time talking to kids about the dangers
of drug abuse as mothers do. | ||||||||||||||||
That needs to change, says Rhonda Ramsey Molina, president of
Coalition for a Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati. | ||||||||||||||||
Survey results showed that only 37 percent of fathers had talked to
their children four or more times in the past year about drugs,
compared to 45 percent of mothers. Numerous studies show that drug
use is lower among teens who report learning about the dangers of
drugs at home. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (9-12) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
In Kentucky, state government is attempting to pick up the slack for drug task force operations that have seen their budgets decimated by federal cuts. Also last week, the head of an Illinois drug court appears to have her own legal problems; another police chief is ousted in a drug-related scandal; and a Maryland county is in the midst of tearing down an entire neighborhood known as a drug market. | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) STATE GRANTS REDUCE BUDGET CUTS FOR THE NARCOTICS TASK FORCE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The Greater Hardin County Narcotics Task Force will pull its belt
half as tight as expected this year. | ||||||||||||||||
The task force, funded by a federal justice assistance grant awarded to Elizabethtown, was expecting a roughly $78,000 cut for the 2005-06 year. However, a one-time grant from the state's Office of Drug Control Policy will pump $42,317 back into its coffers. | ||||||||||||||||
This week, the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet passed out nearly
$4 million in grants, including federal justice assistance grants
and money generated through DUI fines. | ||||||||||||||||
As expected, the narcotics task force received $152,221, compared to
about $230,000 last year. | ||||||||||||||||
Task force director Wayne Edwards said the agency cut about $11,000
from its budget and will use seized drug money to make up for part
of the decrease. But the drug money is not a steady source of
funding, he said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(10) DRUG COURT CHIEF SORGER ACCUSED OF BATTERY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
GLEN CARBON - Police arrested the coordinator of Madison County's
Drug Court early Sunday morning on suspicion of domestic battery and
resisting a police officer. | ||||||||||||||||
Terri L. Sorger, 53, of 4 Oxford Lane, was arrested by Glen Carbon
Police and taken to the Madison County Jail just after midnight. She
was released later Sunday. | ||||||||||||||||
Glen Carbon Police Chief David Bradford confirmed Sorger had been arrested, but said Monday he did not know details surrounding the arrest. The arresting officer was not available for comment. | ||||||||||||||||
Sorger, whose phone number is unlisted, could not be reached for
comment Monday. A man who answered her door Monday evening said she
wasn't home. | ||||||||||||||||
Prosecutors had not filed any charges against Sorger as of Monday
afternoon. In misdemeanor cases, it sometimes take several days
before charges are filed, and sometimes charges are not filed at
all. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(11) KAHOKA POLICE CHIEF ARRESTED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
CHILLICOTHE, Mo. - The Kahoka, Mo., police chief faces a charge of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute after being arrested at a motel in Chillicothe, Mo., Thursday afternoon. | ||||||||||||||||
The charge alleges that Police Chief Steve L. Edlen possessed less than five grams of marijuana with intent to distribute. If convicted of the Class C felony, Edlen could face up to seven years in prison. | ||||||||||||||||
Edlen's arrest was the result of an undercover investigation
starting July 11 and conducted through an Internet chat room by
Livingston County Sheriff Steve Cox. | ||||||||||||||||
Through the process of the investigation, Edlen allegedly sent Cox
pornographic material believing Cox to be an adult female. Edlen
then reportedly made arrangements to meet Cox, with his dog, at a
Chillicothe motel. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(12) PR. GEORGE'S SET TO RAZE MUCH OF DEADLY DRUG MARKET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Half the homes are boarded up, windows are cracked, mattresses and
beer cans litter the streets. The stories of the neighborhood are
scrawled on its homes: "Mario R.I.P." | ||||||||||||||||
The 4700 blocks of Homer, Hudson and Huron avenues in Suitland are a
thriving drug market, police say, an area so notorious that Prince
George's County plans to tear down all the apartment buildings
there. | ||||||||||||||||
A major plan to revitalize the neighborhood has offered hope -- but
also has added to the danger, for now. As the county buys properties
and boards them up as part of the revitalization, the area has
become more desolate, Nealon said. | ||||||||||||||||
And officials fear that there could be more problems, particularly
for the neighborhood's youngest residents. | ||||||||||||||||
Several yards from the site of one of the killings, at the top of
the block on Homer Avenue, is a new school, standing out like fresh
laces on a ragged pair of sneakers. The $15.7 million Suitland
Elementary School will open in three weeks as part of the
revitalization. | ||||||||||||||||
To get to the school, some of its 600 students would have to walk
through the violent stretch. The thought has prompted school
administrators to consider busing all students to the school,
regardless of how close they live. | ||||||||||||||||
"Safety will be a huge factor over there," Nealon said. | ||||||||||||||||
The county's revitalization plan for the area, called the Suitland
Manor redevelopment, includes buying and demolishing all of the
run-down apartments in a 33-acre area that includes Homer, Hudson
and Huron avenues. Eventually, possibly by 2008, condominiums,
apartments and retail will replace the blight. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (13-16) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
No doubt the biggest news this week in the cannabis community was
the arrest of Canada's "Prince of Pot," Marc Emery. Emery, as most
pot aficionados know, runs Marc Emery Direct, which, until Friday,
sold marijuana seeds from a building in Vancouver, British Columbia,
that also houses the B.C. Marijuana Party and Pot-TV. | ||||||||||||||||
The Drug Enforcement Administration had thirty-eight of its offices from across the U.S. investigate Emery. Under the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, a Canadian federal law administered by the Canadian Department of Justice, U.S. agents then requested that Vancouver police search Emery's premises and seize company records. Emery was subsequently arrested in Nova Scotia. You read it right - 38 U.S. DEA offices participated in the arrest of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil on U.S. charges that, as a matter of "priorities and resources," haven't been "enough" for prosecution in Canada for more than ten years! Our first article from the Vancouver Sun provides a good overview of this unseemly arrest. | ||||||||||||||||
The Vancovuer Sun didn't take long in responding to Emery's arrest with a column that lambasted and lampooned the bust, coining operation "a last gasp of the U.S. federal government's jihad on dope." Our second article reflects our Canadian cousins' outrage at these go-get-them-in the-other-country tactics, which have mired the U.S. in another war - can you say, Iraq? - as pointed out in our third article from the venerable Rolling Stone Magazine. | ||||||||||||||||
Never a friend to the drug war or the Iraq War, Rolling Stone offers
a condensed review of the current drug war quagmire. As noted in the
article, "Bush's War on Pot" has even inspired the arch-conservative
American Enterprise Institute to publish a report entitled, "Are We
Losing the War on Drugs?" concluding - no surprise! - that the
"criminal punishment of marijuana use does not appear to be
justified." | ||||||||||||||||
And, what's all this 'lighting up' on TV these days? HBO, FX, and Showtime are all airing comedies or dramas with marijuana as an ongoing theme. "A lot of baby boomers are baby bongers," says Kevin Nealon, co-star of HBO's new comedy about a pot-dealing soccer mom. But don't tell the DEA. Their next jihad will be on TV - literally. | ||||||||||||||||
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(13) UNCLE SAM ORCHESTRATES VANCOUVER POT BUSTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
'Prince Of Pot' Marc Emery Nabbed In Halifax: Seed Shipping Business
Shut Down By Police | ||||||||||||||||
Pot advocate Marc Emery was arrested Friday in Halifax after his
marijuana-seed shipping business on Hastings Street was shut down by
police as part of a sweeping investigation instigated by U.S.
authorities. | ||||||||||||||||
Vancouver police raided Emery's multi-million-dollar business on a request from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration ( DEA ), while angry protesters gathered outside chanting "Go home USA." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The search was requested by the U.S. government through the Mutual
Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, a federal law administered
by the Department of Justice. | ||||||||||||||||
The warrant was authorized Thursday in B.C.'s Supreme Court, based
on an affidavit provided by a Vancouver police officer. | ||||||||||||||||
U.S. authorities say the warrant was the result of an 18-month investigation of Emery's international seed-selling business. | ||||||||||||||||
The investigation involved about 38 DEA offices across the U.S. and
allegedly linked marijuana seeds sold by Emery to indoor grow
operations in several states, including New Jersey, Michigan and
Florida. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Asked why Vancouver police hadn't arrested Emery earlier, Chow said that "simply because a person is selling seeds is not enough." | ||||||||||||||||
The Vancouver police needed more substantive information, Chow said,
which the DEA recently provided. | ||||||||||||||||
"It was a matter of priorities and resources." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(14) ACTIVIST PREVIOUSLY ESCAPED IRE OF CITY POLICE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The long arm of Uncle Sam reached out and nabbed the Prince of Pot
in Halifax Friday in an outrageous infringement of Canadian
sovereignty. | ||||||||||||||||
Marc Emery, who runs the B.C. Marijuana Party, is one of about 40
brokers of marijuana seeds based in B.C. -- a $3-million-a-year
business he has operated for more than a decade. | ||||||||||||||||
If it's illegal, what have the Vancouver police and the RCMP being
doing -- waiting for the U.S. cavalry? | ||||||||||||||||
What happened Friday, in my opinion, was a last gasp of the U.S.
federal government's jihad on dope. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
That Canada is allowing it's law enforcement agencies and its legal
system to be used in this way is wrong. | ||||||||||||||||
If Emery and the others have been breaking the law, it's our problem
-- not Washington's. | ||||||||||||||||
Hopefully, our judges will toss the extradition request. | ||||||||||||||||
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(15) BUSH'S WAR ON POT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Forget Meth And Other Hard-Core Drugs -- The Administration Would Rather Waste Taxpayer Dollars In An All-Out Assault On Marijuana | ||||||||||||||||
America's long-running war on drugs has, literally, gone to pot. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
By almost any measure, however, the war has been as monumental a
failure as the invasion of Iraq. All told, the government sinks an
estimated $35 billion a year into the War on Drugs. Yet illegal
drugs remain cheap and plentiful, and coca cultivation in the Andes
-- where the Bush administration has spent $5.4 billion to eradicate
cocaine -- rose twenty-nine percent last year. "Drug prices are at
an all-time low, drug purity is at an all-time high, and polls show
that drugs are more available than ever," says Bill Piper, national
affairs director for the Drug Policy Alliance, a drug-reform
organization in Washington, D.C. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
In March, the archconservative American Enterprise Institute
published a report -- titled "Are We Losing the War on Drugs?" --
that concluded "criminal punishment of marijuana use does not appear
to be justified." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Those "activities" have left the feds with fewer troops to fight the
drug war. With America engaged in a quagmire in Iraq, at great cost
in lives and money, the administration is simply unable to push its
anti-drug agenda with the same intensity. "The president could sell
the War on Drugs in peacetime," says Timothy Lynch, director of the
Project on Criminal Justice at the conservative Cato Institute. "But
they don't want to embarrass themselves now that we're in the midst
of an honest-to-God shooting war. To continue that kind of rhetoric
in the middle of a real war, when American soldiers are getting
blown up in Iraq, makes it look trivial. | ||||||||||||||||
There's just no comparison." | ||||||||||||||||
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(16) MORE TELEVISION CHARACTERS ARE GOING TO POT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Is Hollywood going one toke over the line? Marijuana use is cropping
up on some critically acclaimed shows, and anti-drug forces fear the
glamorization of pot could boost its use among youths. | ||||||||||||||||
Who's lighting up: | ||||||||||||||||
* Pot is an ongoing theme on HBO's Entourage ( Sundays, 10 ET/PT ),
which centers on a rising young movie star and his New York buddies
who have gone Hollywood. Sunday's episode features two teens getting
high at a bat mitzvah. | ||||||||||||||||
* Streetwise Maurice "Smoke" Williams ( Kirk Jones ) lit up on last
week's premiere of Over There ( Wednesdays, 10 ET/PT ), FX's gritty
Iraq war drama. | ||||||||||||||||
* Marijuana is the core premise of Showtime dramedy Weeds ( Mondays,
10 ET/PT ), a dark version of Desperate Housewives suburbia with
Mary-Louise Parker as a pot-dealing soccer mom. In Sunday's special
preview, a teen sells pot to grade-schoolers until Parker's
character blackmails him to stop. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] Kevin Nealon, who co-stars in Weeds, says the show simply
underscores pot's prevalence in society. "A lot of baby boomers are
baby bongers," he says. | ||||||||||||||||
A 2003 study - the government's latest on drug use - found that 14.6 million Americans used pot at least once in the past month, up slightly from 2002. And more than 95 million have tried it. | ||||||||||||||||
"With so many having tried marijuana, it would be bizarre not to
expect that reality wouldn't be depicted in films and on TV," says
Bruce Mirken of the Marijuana Policy Project, the USA's largest
pot-policy-reform group. | ||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (17-20) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
In the Philippines, vigilante executions of drug suspects continue
in Cebu, and last week even the Governor took note. After two more
were gunned down in the customary manner (masked motorcycle .45
caliber gunmen), police hurriedly explained the victims were
suspected "drug pushers", so not to worry. Police in Cebu asked the
public for help solving cases. This is ironic, because the police
themselves are believed to be the source of the extralegal summary
executions of drug suspects. | ||||||||||||||||
In the U.K. recent changes to the laws which prohibit possession of
"magic mushrooms" have left cluster headache patients with a stark
choice: suffer or flout the law. Cluster headache sufferers have
been driven to suicide, the pain can be so terrible. Many cluster
headache patients in the U.K. say nothing else works like the
illicit mushrooms, so they will now break the law, rather than
suffer. Authorities have announced no plans to exempt cluster
headache patients from the new magic mushroom prohibition now in
effect. | ||||||||||||||||
The U.S. has certified Colombia on human rights, which allows some
$70 million in "aid" to flow once again to the Colombian military.
Colombian rightist president Alvaro Uribe is considered an ally with
the U.S. in the "war on drugs." Colombia is the target of massive
U.S-sponsored chemical spraying in an effort to eradicate the coca
plant. Despite U.S. efforts, cocaine remains cheap and widely
available on U.S. streets. | ||||||||||||||||
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(17) VIGILANTE-TYPE KILLINGS SCARE PROVINCE; GUV ORDERS PROBE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Two men were killed in vigilante fashion in barangay Luray I, Toledo
City Monday night, raising speculations that vigilantes operating in
Cebu City have reached to other areas in the province. | ||||||||||||||||
Jaime Richard Lasaga, 24, and Novelito Tarungoy, 22, both residents
of the barangay, were fired upon by two motorcycle-riding men while
sitting on a bench. Lasaga sustained three gunshot wounds in
different parts of his body while Tarungoy suffered a gunshot in the
chest. The two were killed instantly. | ||||||||||||||||
Newly assigned Toledo City police chief, P/Supt Leodegario Acebedo, yesterday said that he was told that Lasaga was a former bigtime drug pusher in the city while Tarungoy was also a drug peddler. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The perpetrators wore bonnets and used a .45 caliber pistol in
killing Abella. | ||||||||||||||||
Alarmed by the vigilante-style executions in the province, Governor
Gwendolyn Garcia yesterday ordered Cebu Provincial Police Office
chief Drusilio Bolodo to look into the killings in Carcar and Toledo
City. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(18) 77 UNSOLVED MURDERS PROD COPS TO SEEK PUBLIC HELP (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The ever rising number of people being killed vigilante-style has
alarmed the Cebu City Police Office, prompting acting Director
Melvin Gayotin to appeal to the public to help the police in running
after the perpetrators. | ||||||||||||||||
"It is already alarming but without the cooperation of the public,
we will have difficulty solving the problem," Gayotin told reporters
yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(19) HEADACHE SUFFERERS FLOUT NEW DRUG LAW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Calls For Clinical Trials And Rethink Of Legislation As Patients Claim That Magic Mushrooms Can Relieve Excruciating Condition | ||||||||||||||||
Patients who suffer from cluster headaches - a debilitating medical
condition for which there is no cure - are flouting the government's
ban on magic mushrooms because they say the psychedelic fungi are
the only thing to relieve the pain of their attacks. | ||||||||||||||||
In the past two years scores of British cluster headache sufferers
have turned to magic mushrooms, prompted by reports from the U.S.
that suggest that LSD and psilocybin - the active ingredient of
magic mushrooms - may be able to control the intensity and duration
of their headaches. | ||||||||||||||||
Although some have experimented with psychedelics before, the
majority have no history of drug taking. But many say they would
rather risk jail than forgo a substance that lets them lead a normal
life. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Cluster headaches come in cycles and are caused by a swelling of the blood vessels in the brain. Sufferers say the pain exceeds that of passing a kidney stone or of childbirth without anaesthetic. | ||||||||||||||||
Some have found the pain, which typically extends over one side of the head and face, so unbearable that they have committed suicide. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(20) U.S. CERTIFIES COLOMBIA ON RIGHTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
After a long delay, the State Department decided to certify Colombia
on human rights, allowing the country to obtain about $70 million in
aid. The move drew complaints from rights activists. | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - The State Department has issued a long-delayed human-
rights certification for Colombia, freeing about $70 million in aid
despite complaints that its government is soft on security forces
accused of abuses, human-rights activists said Tuesday. | ||||||||||||||||
The department was expected to issue a formal statement today, one day before President Bush is to meet with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe - - a top U.S. ally in the war on drugs -- at his Texas ranch. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
But for the first time since the plan's money began flowing, the
State Department late last year delayed the rights certification
because of concerns that Uribe's government had not moved strongly
enough in some cases of alleged abuses. | ||||||||||||||||
Uribe was elected in 2002 on a promise to return security to a
country almost torn apart by leftist guerrillas and right-wing
paramilitaries. Security forces have long been accused of
cooperating with the paramilitaries, which regularly execute
suspected guerrilla sympathizers. | ||||||||||||||||
Eric Olson, Americas director for Amnesty International, said U.S.
officials did not cite specific instances of progress at a briefing
Tuesday on recertification, noting only a Bogota "strong commitment
to do more." | ||||||||||||||||
"This decision is a major blow to the promotion of human rights in
Colombia and is based on only the narrowest reading of the law and
the thinnest of evidence," said Dr. William F. Schulz, executive
director of Amnesty International USA. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
THE DRUG POLICY WRITERS GROUP | ||||||||||||||||
The Drug Policy Writers Group (DPWG) connects activists with authors to facilitate increased opinion page coverage of drug policy reform. | ||||||||||||||||
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NEW STATE DEPARTMENT STATS CONTRADICT MEDIA'S NARCO-WAR HYPE | ||||||||||||||||
But U.S. Government and Media Still Want a Shoot-Out in Nuevo Laredo | ||||||||||||||||
By Bill Conroy | ||||||||||||||||
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MARIJUANA NEWS GLOBAL CONSPIRACY REPORT | ||||||||||||||||
With Richard Cowan | ||||||||||||||||
US Fails To Get Marc Emery Without Bail, Canadian Political Blowback
Begins, Mexico The Real Problem, Kubby Zings Drug Czar And An Interview
With Michelle Rainey | ||||||||||||||||
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AMERICA'S PRISON EXPLOSION EXHIBITED AT INTERNATIONAL MAP EXHIBITION | ||||||||||||||||
A new map showing how prisons expanded across the United States over
the previous century is being exhibited at an international map
exhibition in A Coruna Spain. | ||||||||||||||||
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CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW | ||||||||||||||||
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WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK | ||||||||||||||||
Help Focus Attention On Marc Emery's Arrest | ||||||||||||||||
DrugSense released a Focus Alert this week titled, "Is Canada A United
States Puppet?" | ||||||||||||||||
It gives instructions on how to get your voice heard on this important
issue. | ||||||||||||||||
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LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
PAIN TREATMENT DOES NOT EQUAL DRUG ABUSE | ||||||||||||||||
By Scott M. Fishman, M.D. | ||||||||||||||||
Drug abuse and undertreated pain are both serious public health crises,
but the solution to one should not worsen the other. | ||||||||||||||||
Laura Landro's July 13 article, "The Informed Patient: Patients Press
Doctors on Pain Issues," brought forward some of the more relevant
issues faced by physicians who treat patients for pain. | ||||||||||||||||
It was refreshing to read an article that addressed these topics head on, especially in regard to the legal risks that many physicians perceive as they consider prescribing strong medicines for pain. The lack of pain-care education for general practitioners is partially responsible for hesitancy in prescribing opioid medications, leaving patients with cancer and other acute and chronic disorders undertreated due to overcautious physicians. Appropriate education for physicians as well as for patients can relieve many of these fears of addiction. | ||||||||||||||||
Although medicine has succeeded at curing diseases and extending
life, your article highlights the fact that we have not done as well
at improving quality of life. It was noted that chronic pain is
estimated to affect more than 50 million Americans, and recent polls
have shown that the majority of these individuals are older people
-- suggesting that our "cure-focused" medical system is now at risk
of creating victims of our own success. | ||||||||||||||||
Your readers should know that there is a specialty branch of medicine
with physicians who are experts in the care of hard-to-treat pain. This
specialty, called Pain Medicine, uses a comprehensive and integrated
approach that applies a variety of techniques from different areas of
medical expertise. | ||||||||||||||||
While your article focused on medications, medications are only part of the arsenal of pain-reliving treatments, which spans from psychological approaches ( such as biofeedback, hypnosis and behavior modification ) to injections and even surgically-implantable devices in the spinal cord. This is a new and growing specialty that needs increased public recognition and an official place within organized medicine. | ||||||||||||||||
If patients are to have the option of pain control when it is needed
most, we must avoid unnecessarily putting physicians in the middle of
two heated health-care crises. | ||||||||||||||||
Neither the serious epidemics of drug abuse nor undertreated pain are helped by trying to solve one problem at the expense of the other. | ||||||||||||||||
Shifting governmental roles in pain care from health agencies to law enforcement -- focusing on preventing drug abuse rather than easing suffering -- is unlikely to help either of these problems. | ||||||||||||||||
Targeting doctors as criminals has an unfortunate chilling effect on
the average willingness to treat pain and suffering. | ||||||||||||||||
Appropriate medical decisions, including those involving legitimate use
of strong pain relievers, should not be dictated by the actions of the
DEA or other branches of law enforcement, but must remain in the hands
of medical professionals. That way, patients can trust that their
physicians are free to respond to their suffering and prescribe
medicines that are in their best interests. | ||||||||||||||||
Scott M. Fishman, M.D. Chief, Division of Pain Medicine Professor of Anesthesiology University of California, Davis Davis, Calif. | ||||||||||||||||
( Dr. Fishman is president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine, author of "The War on Pain" and co-author of "The Massachusetts General Hospital Handbook of Pain Management and Essentials of Pain Medicine." ) | ||||||||||||||||
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Meth Science Not Stigma | ||||||||||||||||
By David C. Lewis, M.D. | ||||||||||||||||
An excerpt from an open letter to the media. | ||||||||||||||||
To Whom It May Concern: | ||||||||||||||||
As medical and psychological researchers, with many years of experience studying prenatal exposure to psychoactive substances, and as medical researchers, treatment providers and specialists with many years of experience studying addictions and addiction treatment, we are writing to request that policies addressing prenatal exposure to methamphetamines and media coverage of this issue be based on science, not presumption or prejudice. | ||||||||||||||||
The use of stigmatizing terms, such as "ice babies" and "meth
babies," lack scientific validity and should not be used. Experience
with similar labels applied to children exposed parentally to
cocaine demonstrates that such labels harm the children to which
they are applied, lowering expectations for their academic and life
achievements, discouraging investigation into other causes for
physical and social problems the child might encounter, and leading
to policies that ignore factors, including poverty, that may play a
much more significant role in their lives. The suggestion that
treatment will not work for people dependant upon methamphetamines,
particularly mothers, also lacks any scientific basis. | ||||||||||||||||
Despite the lack of a medical or scientific basis for the use of
such terms as "ice" and "meth" babies, these pejorative and
stigmatizing labels are increasingly being used in the popular
media, in a wide variety of contexts across the country. Even when
articles themselves acknowledge that the effects of prenatal
exposure to methamphetamine are still unknown, headlines across the
country are using alarmist and unjustified labels such as "meth
babies." | ||||||||||||||||
Just a few examples come from both local and national media: | ||||||||||||||||
* CBS NATIONAL NEWS, "Generation of Meth Babies" (April 28, 2005) at
CBSNews.com | ||||||||||||||||
* ARKANSAS NEWS BUREAU, Doug Thompson, "Meth Baby Bill Survives
Amendment Vote" (Mar. 5, 2005) | ||||||||||||||||
* CHICAGO TRIBUNE, Judith Graham, "Only Future Will Tell Full Damage
Speed Wreaks on Kids" ("At birth, meth babies are like `dishrags'")
(Mar. 7, 2004) | ||||||||||||||||
* THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, Lance Pugmire, "Meth Baby Murder Trial
Winds Up" (Sept.5. 2003 at B3) | ||||||||||||||||
* THE SUNDAY OKLAHOMAN, "Meth Babies" (Oklahoma City, OK; May 23,
2004 at 8A) | ||||||||||||||||
* APBNEWS.COM, "Meth Infants Called the New "Crack Babies" (June 23,
2000). | ||||||||||||||||
Other examples include an article about methamphetamine use in the
MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE that lists a litany of medical problems
allegedly caused by methamphetamine use during pregnancy, using
sensationalized language that appears intended to shock and appall
rather than inform, "...babies can be born with missing and
misplaced body parts. She heard of a meth baby born with an arm
growing out of the neck and another who was missing a femur." Sarah
McCann, "Meth ravages lives in northern counties" (Nov. 17, 2004 at
N1). In May, one Fox News station warned that "meth babies" "could
make the crack baby look like a walk in the nursery." Cited in "The
Damage Done: Crack Babies Talk Back," Mariah Blake, COLUMBIA
JOURNALISM REVIEW Oct/Nov 2004. | ||||||||||||||||
Although research on the medical and developmental effects of
prenatal methamphetamine exposure is still in its early stages, our
experience with almost 20 years of research on the chemically
related drug, cocaine, has not identified a recognizable condition,
syndrome or disorder that should be termed "crack baby" nor found
the degree of harm reported in the media and then used to justify
numerous punitive legislative proposals. | ||||||||||||||||
The term "meth addicted baby" is no less defensible. | ||||||||||||||||
To read the rest of this open letter, and to see the wide range of
medical specialists who have signed it, please visit: | ||||||||||||||||
http://www.jointogether.org/sa/news/features/reader/0,1854,577769,00.html | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to
be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which
knowledge gives." - James Madison | ||||||||||||||||
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Policy and Law Enforcement/Prison content selection and analysis by Stephen Young (), Cannabis/Hemp content selection and analysis by guest editor Mary Jane Borden (), International content selection and analysis by Doug Snead (), Layout by Matt Elrod () | ||||||||||||||||
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