| Dec. 2, 2005 #427 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
(1) US CA: INCURSIONS INTO PARADISE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, Calif. -- In this majestic, sprawling wilderness
on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada, hikers are being warned
about more than black bears and rattlesnakes. Now, back-country
visitors are being cautioned about armed guards, booby traps, and trip
wires that protect a skyrocketing increase of marijuana cultivation on
public land in California. | ||||||||||||||||||
These illegal plantations, National Park Service officials say, are the product of sophisticated Latin American drug organizations, which have turned to remote sites in the West to avoid increased attention to cross-border traffic since the Sept. 11 attacks. Several national parks, including Yosemite, have discovered marijuana within their boundaries, but few have been as heavily infiltrated as Sequoia. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We are sort of the poster child for this," said William Tweed, chief
naturalist at Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks. "We have
demonstrated very clearly that this is tied to international drug
cartels." | ||||||||||||||||||
Last month, officials from Tulare County, gateway to Sequoia, pleaded
with a House national parks subcommittee to create a $5.5 million task
force to fight marijuana cultivation on park land and lobbied for the
increased use of helicopters to find the fields. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(2) AUSTRALIA: BAD AND GOOD NEWS FROM THE BATTLE FRONT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
While Nguyen Tuong Van's arrest was seen as a victory in the fight
against heroin trafficking, other dangerous drugs seem to be slipping
through, writes Philip Cornford. | ||||||||||||||||||
EVIDENCE suggests the jury is out on claims by police and politicians
that the war on narcotics and the criminals who trade in them is being
won. | ||||||||||||||||||
Drug seizures in Australia are at their lowest levels in a decade. The
short-lived "drought" in narcotics is over, with users across Australia
reporting no problems buying heroin, cocaine and amphetamines. It is
"easy" to "very easy", they tell researchers. | ||||||||||||||||||
Even so, heroin users might be living longer - or at least fewer of
them are dying. Accidentally administered "hot shots" and overdoses are
the main killers, but they, too, are less common because the purity of
heroin has diminished as dealers increase additives to boost the number
of "deals" they can produce from raw, imported heroin, most of it top
No.4 grade from Burma, a white powder easily dissolved for injecting.
When heroin was more plentiful, purity was 70 per cent, but since then
it has dropped to 30 per cent. | ||||||||||||||||||
What is real is that heroin users are paying more for an inferior
product and some have switched to cocaine and amphetamines to get their
rush. But prices for cocaine and amphetamines are rising, too.
Amphetamines, especially ecstasy, are the most widely used drugs in
Australia and most of them are produced locally. Cocaine use is also
increasing. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(3) US CO: MAN SAYS HE'LL FIGHT MARIJUANA BUST (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Real estate consultant Eric Footer was so convinced Denver voters had
legalized adult marijuana possession in the Nov. 1 election that he
allowed police to search his car when they pulled him over for an
unrelated incident. | ||||||||||||||||||
An officer promptly found Footer's pot-filled vitamin bottle. But this
was the day after the city's voter-approved Initiative 100 became
certified, ostensibly changing local law to allow adults 21 or older to
possess 1 ounce or less of the weed. | ||||||||||||||||||
Footer, 39, described himself as confused and angered when he was cited
two weeks ago for having the pot and a pipe. | ||||||||||||||||||
" 'It's still illegal to possess marijuana in the city of Denver,' "
said Footer, repeating the cop's admonishment. "And he said it with
real conviction, like I should've known that." | ||||||||||||||||||
As Denver police, prosecutors and city leaders loudly maintained before
and after nearly 54 percent of voters approved I-100 at the ballot box,
authorities are continuing to prosecute marijuana possession cases
under state law, just as they've long done with 95 percent of local pot
busts. | ||||||||||||||||||
Now, Footer, backed by marijuana advocacy groups, vows to become the
first defendant to legally challenge Denver's refusal to adhere to the
legalization measure. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(4) GUATEMALA: COCAINE'S NEW ROUTE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Drug traffickers turn to Guatemala | ||||||||||||||||||
GUATEMALA CITY -- With Washington's attention focused elsewhere,
Guatemala has quietly become the transshipment point for more than 75
percent of the cocaine smuggled into the United States, according to US
authorities. Loosely patrolled borders, two coastlines, staggering
corruption, lax enforcement, and judicial impunity have long made
Guatemala a favored transit point for contraband. But with US resources
channeled toward battling drugs in Colombia and terrorism in the Middle
East, organized crime has made even more dramatic inroads here in the
past several years. | ||||||||||||||||||
In the first half of this year, traffickers moved 90 percent of US-
bound cocaine through Central America, much of it through Guatemala, a
top US Drug Enforcement Administration official told Congress this
month. | ||||||||||||||||||
As Mexico has stepped up antidrug patrols and interdiction in recent
years, traffickers are increasingly looking to Guatemala as a dropoff
point for their payloads. Senior Guatemalan officials said in
interviews that they would ask for stepped-up US military cooperation
and a permanent DEA base in the dense jungle bordering Mexico. Their
remarks followed the arrest this month near Washington, D.C., of
Guatemala's top three antidrug investigators on charges of narcotics
trafficking. Guatemalan authorities are also investigating allegations
of involvement by senior members of the Guatemalan armed forces in the
drug trade. The traffickers have already shown an ability to adapt in
the face of increased enforcement efforts. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
"The narco nexus may be stronger than the state now," said Julio Cesar
Godoy, Guatemala's deputy minister of security. "There are areas where
the army, police, local officials all work for narcotraffickers -- it's
like Colombia in the 1980s. . . . The narcos abuse and kill, and nobody
says anything because the judges, prosecutors, military commanders, and
governors are all bought off." In addition, the traffickers are buying
loyalty and recruiting among the population by "playing a role like the
state," he said. "They loan money, host parties, help pay for funerals,
provide jobs." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Is the American drug war entering a period of glasnost? Perhaps not,
but there are some signs that the flow of information, and possibly
minds, are opening up at a more local level. In California, an appeals
court ruled that a county-wide drug task force based in Los Angeles
needs to open its board meetings to the public. Other drug task forces
in the state may also be bound by the ruling. In Virginia, one school
district has actually reduced some punishments for drug violations,
recognizing overly harsh treatment as counterproductive. And a major
newspaper has recognized that the increasingly federalized war on meth
is not just a war on one drug; it's creating a whole new legal class
of drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
But some aspects of the old prohibitionist establishment remain as
cryptic as ever, as a group of store owners in Montana is realizing.
They know the feds have destroyed their businesses due to accusations
of drug paraphernalia sales, but those store owners aren't sure why
competitors with similar inventory aren't being targeted. And one
wants to know why the DEA didn't simply tell him there was a problem
before turning his life upside down. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(5) DRUG TASK FORCE MUST OPEN ITS MEETINGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A California appeals court has upheld a ruling that requires
countywide narcotics task force L.A. Impact to open its board
meetings to the public. | ||||||||||||||||||
The 2nd Appellate District court handed down the decision late Wednesday. The opinion could have statewide repercussions. | ||||||||||||||||||
"This ruling was imperative if the public is going to know where its
money is being spent," said open-government activist Richard McKee,
who, along with former Pasadena Weekly reporter Chris Bray, filed a
lawsuit last year to force the squad to open its meetings and its
books to the public. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Anytime a government agency is able to hide itself from public
scrutiny we are inviting trouble," McKee said. | ||||||||||||||||||
There are 41 similarly constituted narcotics squads in California
that are registered with the state Attorney General's | ||||||||||||||||||
McKee said he will ask Attorney General Bill Lockyer to alert these agencies that they must now comply with the state's open-meeting laws. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(6) SCHOOLS REDUCE PENALTY FOR DRUGS, ALCOHOL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
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The penalty for possessing alcohol and drugs in Harrisonburg City
Schools has been reduced but still carries the sting of suspension
and a report to police. | ||||||||||||||||||
The School Board has eliminated the portion of the punishment that
called for 30 days of alternative education outside of the student's
regular classroom. | ||||||||||||||||||
At their meeting last week, board members also discussed whether the use of alcohol and drugs should carry different punishments. | ||||||||||||||||||
In ending the requirement for alternative education, members said a change in class scheduling since the time the punishment was enacted essentially doubled the regular instructional time missed. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I don't think the punishment was fitting the crime when we were
knocking kids out of their AP [Advanced Placement] classes, or in a
worst-case scenario, could be knocking class ranking down, knocking
kids out of certain colleges or some scholarship programs," said
board member Tom Mendez. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(7) METH ABUSE MAY LEAD TO NEW CLASS OF DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Bill Would Restrict Access To Cold Medications | ||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- Congress is poised to pass a new law to restrict over-
the-counter sales of some decongestant pills that have been widely
purchased by drug dealers to make methamphetamine--the use of which has
gone up more than 150 percent in the last decade. | ||||||||||||||||||
A House measure expected to pass in coming weeks would require stores
to keep pills such as Sudafed--which contain pseudoephedrine, an
ingredient used in making meth-- in a locked cabinet behind a counter.
Consumers would be limited to 3.6 grams, or about 120 pills, per day,
and 9 grams, or about 300 pills, per month. Purchasers would also have
to show identification and sign a logbook. | ||||||||||||||||||
Government drug-fighters have rarely faced a threat like this: an
extremely dangerous stimulant, causing violent and paranoid behavior,
which can be made using relatively cheap and widely available cold
medicines. | ||||||||||||||||||
In an attempt to fight the meth plague without overburdening millions of cold sufferers, lawmakers are effectively preparing to create a new category of drug -- not prescription, but with many restrictions. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(8) MONTANA PIPE SHOP OWNERS INDICTED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The U.S. government indicted the owners of five pipe and tobacco
accessory shops in Montana this month, alleging they were
distributing illegal drug paraphernalia. | ||||||||||||||||||
In May, Drug Enforcement Administration agents in plainclothes and
unmarked cars swept through Missoula, Bozeman, Kalispell, Great Falls
and Billings, seizing pipes, cash, clothing items and business
records from one store in each city. | ||||||||||||||||||
Other stores selling similar merchandise in Montana were apparently
not targeted. | ||||||||||||||||||
Assistant U.S. Attorney Josh Van de Wetering would not comment on why the five specific stores were raided and not others. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We want to bend over backward to ensure that the people and the five
businesses who have been indicted in Montana receive a fair trial,"
Van de Wetering said. "Part of that means I can't comment on why
these guys are being indicted and no one else, or why they're being
indicted now and not before. I need to emphasize that they are
innocent until proven guilty." | ||||||||||||||||||
In Missoula, the seizure forced David Sil to close The Vault, a small
pipe shop he opened eight years ago on West Broadway. | ||||||||||||||||||
"It certainly ruined my life," Sil said. "They took everything, including all records and tax information, employee benefit money, medical expense money, rent money and all operating capital." | ||||||||||||||||||
Sil, 60, said even though his was a small business, The Vault
provided income for six families and individuals. | ||||||||||||||||||
Sil's attorney, Martin Judnich, said his client is bewildered by the
unexpected seizures. | ||||||||||||||||||
"David Sil was shocked to find out that after more than seven years
at that location and without warning or provocation, the federal
authorities seized essentially the entire store," Judnich wrote in a
letter. | ||||||||||||||||||
Judnich said for nearly a decade, Sil believed he was operating the
store in full compliance with state and federal laws. | ||||||||||||||||||
"It seems to me there were selected shops around the state that were
seized at the same time and without warning," Judnich said. "My
client closed his business because the DEA seized all his inventory,
so there really wasn't much of a business to continue." | ||||||||||||||||||
In a letter addressed to "My Fellow Montanans," Sil wrote: | ||||||||||||||||||
"Because I wanted to be in compliance with all laws, including
federal laws, I wrote to the FBI and ATF, declaring the exact nature
of my operation. | ||||||||||||||||||
"The last line of the letter stated, 'If there be any questions as
concerns legal compliance, please let me know.' | ||||||||||||||||||
"On May 18, 2005, the DEA let me know by traumatizing my store manager for 8 hours and simply taking just about everything." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (9-12) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Is the drug war an excuse for some police to take advantage of
citizens in weak positions? A court will decide in New Jersey, where
a drug informant is suing a local police department, saying she was
sexually assaulted by a narcotics officer, before the crime was
allegedly covered up by others in the department. In Tennessee,
police took nearly $10,000 in cash from a man who had nothing to do
with drugs, and now they're still holding on, even after a judge
ordered the money returned. | ||||||||||||||||||
Also this week, two ongoing trends continue: criticism of mandatory
minimum sentences mounts; and another regional drug task force faces
a huge budget shortfall thanks to federal cuts. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(9) INFORMANT WILL SUE JACKSON COPS FOR $10M (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Woman Claims Detective Sexually Assaulted Her; Says She Is Pregnant | ||||||||||||||||||
An attorney representing a female Jackson police informant has filed notice that the woman intends to sue Jackson Township for $10 million. | ||||||||||||||||||
The letter of tort claim notice, signed by attorney Robert
F. Varady, of the firm La Corte, Bundy, Varady and Kinsella, Union,
is required under the New Jersey Tort Claims Act prior to the filing
of legal papers, according to the letter. | ||||||||||||||||||
Jackson's township attorney, Kevin Starkey, was not available and did not return calls for comment made to his office and home on Nov. 19. | ||||||||||||||||||
Varady stated in the letter that the woman would be filing her suit against the township; its police department; Public Safety Director Samuel DePasquale, who will be retiring at the end of the year; his successor, interim public safety director Capt. Christopher Dunton, whose name was incorrectly stated in the notice of tort claim as Draton; Lt. Detective John Siedler; Detective Sgt. Denis Campbell; and the focus of her allegation, Narcotics Detective Anthony Senatore. | ||||||||||||||||||
The letter went on to describe an alleged relationship between the woman and Senatore that will be the basis for her legal action. | ||||||||||||||||||
"This claim rises from a series of incidents involving the
aforementioned police officers and public officials in which the
claimant was recruited to be a confidential informant to assist the
township and its police department in investigating and prosecuting
drug dealers in Jackson," the letter states. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(10) SUIT CLAIMS POLICE KEPT MAN'S $9,400 (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Georgian Wasn't Charged; Says He Was Targeted Because He's Hispanic | ||||||||||||||||||
A Rutherford County Sheriff's deputy confiscated $9,400 from a
Georgia subcontractor on suspicion of drug activity but never
returned the money even though investigators found no evidence of
wrongdoing, a lawsuit against the department claims. | ||||||||||||||||||
The subcontractor, Juan Ibarra, further alleges in the civil suit that he believes he was targeted because he is Hispanic. | ||||||||||||||||||
According to the suit filed recently in District Court, Deputy
Kenneth Barrett stopped Ibarra, 37, of Smyrna, Ga., for speeding on
Nov. 10, 2004, and confiscated all but $20 of his money under the
Tennessee Drug Control Act. A search of the car showed no sign of
illegal activity, and Ibarra was neither arrested nor cited for
anything but speeding during the stop, records show. | ||||||||||||||||||
Barrett testified during a May hearing before an administrative judge
of the Tennessee Department of Safety that police dispatch told him
Ibarra was once arrested on a charge of possession of marijuana, but
the state didn't submit any evidence that Ibarra had prior drug
arrests, according to court documents. | ||||||||||||||||||
Ibarra said he received the money through subcontracting work with
Openlander Construction Co. The judge in the hearing ruled that
Ibarra had earned the money legally, and it should be returned to
him. Ibarra still has not gotten his money back, according to his
attorney, Jonathan Street. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(11) PRISONER OF THE STATUS QUO (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Despite widespread recognition that mandatory minimums is bad policy,
the politics of being 'tough on crime' precludes a more rational
approach to sentencing | ||||||||||||||||||
As a twenty-something federal prosecutor in Washington DC, during the
crack epidemic in the late '80s, David M. Zlotnick realized that
mandatory minimum sentences gave him more discretion than judges who
had been on the bench for decades. Since the US attorney's office had
the resources, it "prosecuted every five-gram crack-cocaine case."
Zlotnick recalls how the poor black kids caught with these small
quantities received "sentences of 10 to 15 years, as if they were
kingpins of some sort, which seemed absurd to me.O Cases involving
similar amounts of powder cocaine, which disproportionately involved
white defendants, got far less scrutiny. | ||||||||||||||||||
After four years as a prosecutor, Zlotnick became the first litigation director of Families Against Mandatory Minimums (http://www.famm.org/), a DC-based nonprofit founded in 1991 to challenge these sentences. And although FAMM was a relatively lonely voice at the time, a consensus has since developed among academics, judges, and others that mandatory minimums, which require specified prison sentences for particular offenses, represent a deeply flawed approach to criminal justice. Considering this, it's no wonder that officials at Roger Williams University law school, where Zlotnick is now a professor, had a hard time finding public comments in favor of mandatory minimums when they organized a symposium in October on sentencing rhetoric. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(12) SLANT DRUG UNIT SLASHED BY FEDS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A cut in federal funding may force authorities to disband Rock County's
drug enforcement unit. | ||||||||||||||||||
"The future of the unit is dire," District Attorney David O'Leary said
Wednesday after leaders of the unit met. | ||||||||||||||||||
Rock County had applied for $129,250 in federal funding, but officials learned earlier this month that the unit will receive nothing. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Rock County Narcotics Enforcement Team ( RCNET ) is made up of one
officer each from the Rock County Sheriff's Department, Beloit Police
Department and Janesville Police Department. | ||||||||||||||||||
RCNET is attached to the Stateline Area Narcotics Team, which is part
of the Illinois State Police. The three Rock County officers plus
three Illinois State Police investigators form the six-officer SLANT
squad headquartered in Beloit. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Some of that federal reimbursement was going to go to the expense of
those officers' pay," O'Leary said. "Obviously, that means they're
going to have to come up with that additional money to the tune of
$20,000 per department." | ||||||||||||||||||
On top of that, the federal grant in past years covered office rent and
utilities for the drug unit, which are projected to total $17,000 in
2006. | ||||||||||||||||||
"The reality is that none of the departments have that in their
budget," O'Leary said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (13-16) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Change keeps you on your toes, so we'll begin this week's hemp and
cannabis section with a column, and end it with an editorial (okay;
so it was a slow news week). In the 12th Washington Post column to
examine the incredible injustice and incompetence that led to the
death of Jonathan Magbie, Colbert King exposes evidence from the
Inspector General's investigation, which was conducted after the
27-year-old paraplegic died while in custody at D.C.'s Correctional
Treatment Facility. Magbie was serving a 10-day sentence for the
possession of cannabis at the time of his | ||||||||||||||||||
Good news from Colorado, where a victory for medical user Gene
Brownlee has illustrated ongoing problems with the interpretation and
implementation of the state's med-cannabis law. Brownlee was charged
with growing more plants than he was legally allowed, but his case
was dismissed due to the mishandling of evidence after it was
discovered that the police had illegally destroyed the seized
cannabis plants. And from California, news that six medical cannabis
dispensaries are fighting for just three compassion club permits made
available by Alameda County supervisors. | ||||||||||||||||||
Lastly, an editorial from the Beloit Daily News in support of AB740,
otherwise known as the Wisconsin medical cannabis bill. The
obviously uneven enforcement of federal cannabis prohibition at the
state level - particularly in regards to medical use - suggests that
it is high time for the federal government to consider legalizing the
therapeutic use of cannabis on a national scale. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(13) A SEARING PORTRAIT OF ABUSE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Magbie Experiences Respiratory Distress at [Correctional Treatment
Facility] September 24. | ||||||||||||||||||
[District Fire and Emergency Medical Services] paramedics arrived at
approximately 9 a.m. During an interview, one stated that they found
Magbie 'unconscious, very sweaty, and sitting at a 45-degree angle in
his wheelchair.' His diaper was saturated with 'very dark' urine and
his catheter drainage bag was filled with 'tea-colored urine.' One of
the paramedics stated . . . that it appeared that 'Magbie had not
been cleaned for several days.' His pupils were fixed and dilated.
Paramedics could not get Magbie to respond verbally to a 'pain stick'
or to ammonia. | ||||||||||||||||||
Both paramedics stated that the CTF physician they consulted upon
arrival informed them that Magbie probably had been in this state for
several hours before being noticed. . . . They assessed his vital
signs as unstable and determined that he needed to be transported to
the hospital immediately. . . . The paramedics stated that they were
delayed approximately 20-30 minutes because CTF officials would not
let them leave before transport paperwork had been completed and
Magbie's blood sugar level had been taken. [CTF physicians denied
this when interviewed.] | ||||||||||||||||||
The paramedics could not get their stretcher into Magbie's cell, and
the medical staff did not know how to operate his wheelchair in order
to move it into the hallway. Consequently, Magbie was lifted out of
his chair and taken out of the room to the stretcher. | ||||||||||||||||||
One paramedic stated that while they were trying to move Magbie out
of the CTF as quickly as possible, a correctional officer was trying
to handcuff Magbie. | ||||||||||||||||||
* Excerpt from "Special Report: Quality of Care Issues Related to the Custody of Jonathan Magbie," October 2005, by the Office of the Inspector General, Government of the District of Columbia. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(14) POT IN A PICKLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario and medical marijuana user Gene
Brownlee may not agree on much, but they both agree that Brownlee's
case should send a message about the state's medical marijuana
amendment. | ||||||||||||||||||
But what message? | ||||||||||||||||||
Brownlee, whose case was dropped by prosecutors because of police
mishandling evidence, hopes it tells law enforcement to be careful when
dealing with growers who use a state amendment to legally cultivate the
drug. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Before you disrupt a crop that is destined for medical patients, that
has been found legal by the state of Colorado, you better be damned
sure you know what you're doing," Brownlee said. | ||||||||||||||||||
But for Vallario, the case illustrates an unusual bind police find
themselves in when dealing with a medical marijuana dealer who they
believe is breaking the law. According to the amendment, police have to
preserve the plants until the case is finished. In this case, that
would have put them in the awkward position of police caring for over
100 marijuana plants for more than a year. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(15) SIX ORGANIZATIONS COMPETING FOR THREE CANNABIS PERMITS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Six medical marijuana clubs are competing for three permits to sell
cannabis in unincorporated parts of Alameda County. | ||||||||||||||||||
Six months ago, Alameda County supervisors passed a law limiting the number of dispensaries and establishing a selection process. The six clubs all applied for permits before the Wednesday deadline. | ||||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile, two of the clubs are contesting Sheriff Charles Plummer's
orders to close because they are too close to a school and a drug
recovery facility. | ||||||||||||||||||
One of those club owners, Jack Norton of the Health Center, said he
will fight the shutdown while moving his operation to either San
Lorenzo or Castro Valley because the competition for a permit isn't
as stiff in those areas. | ||||||||||||||||||
Under the law approved in June, only one dispensary will be allowed to operate in each of the three zones created within the county's unincorporated area: Ashland, San Lorenzo and Castro Valley. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(16) SHOW COMPASSION FOR THE SUFFERERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
IS THERE A certain amount of hypocrisy in believing the government should be aggressive in cracking down on illegal drugs, while allowing some chronically sick people to smoke pot to relieve their symptoms? | ||||||||||||||||||
Probably. | ||||||||||||||||||
So what. | ||||||||||||||||||
Only those who have never been desperately ill - or watched a loved one struggle with pain or nausea - could be so sure it's wrong to provide the option in certain extreme cases. For opponents, it's a principle. For the sick, it's a temporary escape from their world of pain. | ||||||||||||||||||
A PROPOSAL IN the Wisconsin Assembly - AB 740 - would allow law
enforcement to look the other way when marijuana is being used as a
"medical necessity." It would create a loophole in the state's criminal
law which could permit patients and their caregivers to administer pot
for relief of symptoms. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
International News | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (17-21) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Millions around the world were saddened by the death of
Australian Nguyen Tuong Van, who was executed by the rabidly
prohibitionist Singaporean government this week. Nguyen Tuong Van
had earlier been convicted of trying to smuggle heroin through a
Singapore airport. Supporters in Australia and around protested
Nguyen's execution, but to no avail. | ||||||||||||||||||
Elsewhere in Australia, activists at South Australia's largest
"rave party" said they would continue to safety-test pills as a
service to people attending the event. Under a strict
interpretation of South Australia's drug laws, government must
issue a permit to allow such tests, and recently threatened to
arrest volunteers who test pills. Tests look for the presence or
absence of party drugs and common adulterants such as MDMA, MDA,
PCP, amphetamines, and DXM. | ||||||||||||||||||
Police in Bahrain are miffed. While drugs like the traditional
hashish and cocaine are illegal in Bahrain, it seems the government
forgot to prohibit methamphetamines, according to a report in the
Gulf Daily News. "This means that whenever they (drugs) are
brought into the country, no-one can stop it and those bringing
them in can't be punished by law," claimed Brigadier Al
Mawada, Bahrain General Directorate of Criminal Investigation
director-general. | ||||||||||||||||||
In Pakistan, prison officials admit they have no more success
keeping drugs out of prisons than elsewhere. Prisons Inspector
General Sarfraz Ahmad Mufti confessed the futility of attempting to
prohibit drugs from prison, in an interview last week. Claimed one ex-
con: "If a person has money it is much easier to get drugs in jail
than in the open." | ||||||||||||||||||
Prohibitionists in the U.S. embassy in the Philippines want to keep certain people out of the U.S. Who are these people, you ask? People who have committed atrocities? War-criminals, perhaps? Well, maybe. But these days, the U.S. embassy in Manila seems most concerned with excluding former pot-smokers from America, no matter how far back in the past, or how little. Details revealed in a suited filed this week in California allege medical examinations are being used to surreptitiously extract confessions of drug (pot) use. The suit, filed against the U.S. State Department and Embassy in Manila, centers around "permanent denial of visas to persons who have admitted one time experimental use of drugs such as marijuana, or who admit drug use that is remote in time," to some 25 Filipinos seeking entry visas into the U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(17) SOUTHEAST ASIA EYES AUSSIE REACTION ON DRUG RUNNER'S DEATH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
The scheduled execution on December 2 of heroin runner Nguyen Tuong
Van, 25, has become a highly charged issue in Australia, triggering
calls for retaliation including economic sanctions and a boycott of
Singapore firms. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(18) RAVE PARTY TEAM DEFIES DRUG TEST BAN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Organisers of South Australia's largest rave party have vowed to
continue to offer testing of drugs at the event. | ||||||||||||||||||
The organisers of this weekend's Summer Enchanted rave party today
criticised the state government for not allowing pill testing, saying
it did not care about the health of young people. | ||||||||||||||||||
The drug testing is to allow customers to check what they are buying. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Under SA's Controlled Substances Act, the government must issue a permit to legally allow drug testing for the purpose of research. | ||||||||||||||||||
Enlighten said it had been threatened with arrest if it pressed ahead
with testing. | ||||||||||||||||||
Rave organisers Enchanted Crew said while no official pill testing
would occur, partygoers could still obtain kits to conduct their own
tests in unsupervised environments. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(19) POLICE HAMPERED IN DRUGS BATTLE..! (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
POLICE are powerless to stop some drugs already outlawed in the West
from entering Bahrain because they are still not listed here as
illegal, according to a senior officer yesterday. One of the most
common is Shabu - a methamphetamine that originates in the Philippines
- - said General Directorate of Criminal Investigation director-general
Brigadier Farooq Al Mawada. | ||||||||||||||||||
He revealed that police are powerless to stop the drug, also referred
to as "crystal meth" or "ice", from being brought into Bahrain because
it is technically legal. | ||||||||||||||||||
"This means that whenever they (drugs) are brought into the country,
no-one can stop it and those bringing them in can't be punished by
law," said Brig Al Mawada. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Brig Al Mawada said the reason the drug was still legal was because it
had not been registered with the Health Ministry as an illegal
substance, although it is in the US. | ||||||||||||||||||
He added that other people stay above the law by sniffing glue,
correction fluid and benzene - which is a component of gasoline, an
industrial solvent and is used in the production of drugs, plastics,
gasoline, synthetic rubber and dyes. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Some plants at homes are also drugs, but people plant them and we
can't do anything," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Brig Al Mawada, who was speaking at the end of a GCC Drug Combat Annual
Workshop at the Officers' Club, in Gudaibiya, said other smugglers hide
drugs in their shoes. | ||||||||||||||||||
He added that hashish was the most popular drug in Bahrain, while the
second most popular was cocaine. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(20) DRUG 'BUSINESS' IN JAILS CANNOT BE STOPPED: IG (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
* Says Very Few Officials Involved In Drug Trafficking | ||||||||||||||||||
* 'Convict Officers' Still Working For Jail Administrations | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Jail sources said that lower cadre jail staffers offered 'services' to
prisoners. A prisoner released from Kot Lakhpat Jail a few months ago
said, "If a person has money it is much easier to get drugs in jail
than in the open". | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(21) U.S. EMBASSY'S BAR-DRUG USERS POLICY QUESTIONED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
AT least 25 Filipinos have filed a federal suit in California against
the State Department and the US Embassy in Manila for allegedly using
medical examinations to extract evidence of drug use, a ground for the
denial of visas. | ||||||||||||||||||
The plaintiffs said only the Embassy in Manila is engaged in the
practice. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
"This is not a case about admitting drug addicts or drug dealers into
the United States. This case concerns the permanent denial of visas to
persons who have admitted one time experimental use of drugs such as
marijuana, or who admit drug use that is remote in time," said Robert
DuPont of R&A. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The law firm believes that officials at the Embassy are instructing
physicians to obtain admissions of past drug use, even experimentation,
and then use that information to permanently bar visa applicants from
entry. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Physicians are reportedly using deceit and misrepresentation, by
misleading individuals as to the consequences of answering repeated
questions regarding drug use. These actions undermine the whole medical
exam process which depends on trust in a doctor-patient relationship,"
DuPont said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
WISHING DRUG-WARRIOR THINKING | ||||||||||||||||||
By Ted Galen Carpenter | ||||||||||||||||||
No, the U.S. is not winning a battle vs. Coke. | ||||||||||||||||||
At National Review Online | ||||||||||||||||||
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/carpenter200512010823.asp | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
THE CANNABIS CUP | ||||||||||||||||||
(1st December 2005) | ||||||||||||||||||
Listen to the "Good Drugs Guide" report on the 18th Cannabis Cup in
Amsterdam. Over 1700 judges spent five days evaluating the world's
best strains of cannabis and bumping into furniture. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
ASKING DR SHULGIN | ||||||||||||||||||
(18th November 2005) | ||||||||||||||||||
Where do new mind-altering drugs come from? Who invents these things?
And why? Well, most seem to have been invented by one man: Dr Alexander
Shulgin. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
COCA COOKIES AND CONSTITUTIONAL DREAMS | ||||||||||||||||||
Decriminalization and How It Could Change Life for Bolivia's Cocaleros | ||||||||||||||||||
By Jean Friedsky, Special to The Narco News Bulletin | ||||||||||||||||||
December 2, 2005 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW | ||||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
MULTIDISCIPLINARY ASSOCIATION FOR PSYCHEDELIC STUDIES NEWS UPDATE | ||||||||||||||||||
November 30, 2005 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
DPA SEEKS DEVELOPMENT INTERN, NEW YORK, NY SPRING 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||
The Drug Policy Alliance is seeking student intern in the development
office of their New York headquarters. Interns will work closely with
development staff on data entry and data management, event planning
and preparation, and assist with administrative work. | ||||||||||||||||||
http://www.drugpolicy.org/about/jobsfunding/devjob112205.cfm | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
MAKE A FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION TO DRUGSENSE/MAP | ||||||||||||||||||
DrugSense and the Media Awareness Project offer many free services,
but these services are not free to offer. If you find this
newsletter and other DrugSense activities valuable, please help to
support us with your donations. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
THE BENEFITS OF MAKING DRUGS LEGAL | ||||||||||||||||||
By Redford Givens | ||||||||||||||||||
Despite Annabel Goldie's mistaken belief that there is a cure for
opiate addiction ( How we can win this war on drugs, November 14 ),
there is no treatment that cures addiction. Subjecting drug users to
harsher penalties and stricter treatment has failed again and
again. These failures are blamed on the addicts. | ||||||||||||||||||
Goldie's assertion that "drug abuse threatens the very fabric of our
society" is propaganda of the worst kind because drug-users become
addicts at about the same rate that drinkers become alcoholics. If
this minority could cause the destruction of civilisation, the world
would have gone back into the Dark Ages long ago. | ||||||||||||||||||
A more dangerous threat to society is fanatic drug crusaders who see
"abstinence" as a holy grail even though history shows that addicts
were productive citizens before Goldie's war on drugs began. In her
effort to promote a drug war, Goldie ignores the fact that no-one was
robbing, whoring and murdering over drugs when addicts could buy all
of the heroin, cocaine, morphine, opium and anything else they wanted
cheaply and legally at the pharmacy. | ||||||||||||||||||
When drugs were legal addicts held regular employment, raised decent
families and were indistinguishable from their teetotalling
neighbours. Overdoses were virtually unheard of when addicts used
cheap, pure Bayer Heroin instead of the expensive toxic potions
prohibition puts on the streets. Where drug crime was unheard-of,
there are prisons overflowing with drug users. Where addicts lived
normal lives, there are thousands of shattered families. Where
overdoses were extremely rare, there are thousands of drug deaths
every year. | ||||||||||||||||||
Annabel Goldie is peddling a lethal drug policy because illegal drugs
are sold in a criminal market where purity and dosage are unknown.
Making drugs legal and regulating them would end the "drug deaths"
and crime associated with drug prohibition. | ||||||||||||||||||
Redford Givens, webmaster | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
GOOD DRUGS | ||||||||||||||||||
By Annalee Newitz | ||||||||||||||||||
Researchers Discovered That Chemicals From Marijuana Rejuvenate an
Area of the Brain Linked With Learning. | ||||||||||||||||||
My favorite news bump of the past couple of months started in one of
my favorite Canadian cities: Saskatoon. | ||||||||||||||||||
Researchers there at the University of Saskatchewan demonstrated that
marijuana rejuvenates cells in the hippocampus, an area of the brain
associated with learning and memory. Neuroscientist Xia Zhang and
his team injected rats with a superpotent chemical synthesized to
resemble a chemical found in a typical puff of pot. And, under the
influence of this mega-marijuana, the rats started growing new brain
cells. | ||||||||||||||||||
Please tell me this means that all those annoying PSAs with Rachael
Leigh Cook smashing things and talking about "your brain on drugs"
will have to be rethought -- or possibly just erased from the
nation's cultural memory. Then again, with all those new brain cells
we'll be growing, it might be hard for us to forget. | ||||||||||||||||||
I don't want to jump on the I-told-you-so bandwagon about this,
because the U of S study comes with all the usual disclaimers: Rats
aren't the same as people; the drug the rats took wasn't exactly the
same as marijuana; the drug was administered in ultradoses; don't do
this at home; etc. But it's still hard not to dance around a little
when I find a good, solid scientific study that doesn't just
reiterate all the old propaganda about how pot rots your brain and
turns you into a zombie. | ||||||||||||||||||
There are a lot of weird historical reasons for that propaganda, not
the least of which is racism. Alcohol, a drug that is arguably more
debilitating and socially destructive than pot, is a European
vice. Pot, on the other hand, was used by Natives across the
Americas. | ||||||||||||||||||
It was outlawed in the United States during the 1930s -- roughly
around the same time that young Natives were being rounded up and put
into orphanages to be "civilized." It was also around this time that
black jazz musicians were enjoying the weed as well. | ||||||||||||||||||
But no group was more closely associated with marijuana than
Mexicans. In 1935 a representative from a California antidrug group
told the New York Times, "Marihuana, perhaps now the most insidious
of our narcotics, is a direct by-product of unrestricted Mexican
immigration." Legislators chose to use the Mexican word for the drug
to intensify this connection. And pot regulation started in states
near the Mexican border -- where it was being imported at a rapid
clip -- and culminated in the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act, a federal law
that made nearly all pot trafficking a crime. | ||||||||||||||||||
None of the legislation that prohibited marijuana sales was motivated
by health concerns. In fact, the hearings leading up to the 1937 law
dealt very little with "this is your brain"-style issues: The main
evidence used to demonstrate the ill effects of marijuana ( other
than its connection with Mexicans ) was a few sensationalist articles
from Hearst newspapers about how pot turned upstanding citizens into
criminals. | ||||||||||||||||||
After the Marihuana Tax Act went into effect, law enforcement
gradually cracked down on all the US citizens trying frantically to
grow their hippocampi. But people interested in bringing scientific
fact into this mystified kerfuffle were also there trying to remind
everyone that drugs weren't the problem. | ||||||||||||||||||
I was reminded of this quite forcefully the other day when I picked
up a first edition of Aldous Huxley's 1946 monograph Science,
Liberty, and Peace on the street in New York City's East Village. In
it, Huxley argues that the government uses science to keep its
citizens in line, thus perverting science from its aim of
enlightenment. Huxley is also the author of another famous
monograph, The Doors of Perception, a very eloquent defense of
mescaline and other banned drugs as tools for mind expansion. As his
novel Brave New World makes clear, Huxley was well aware of the
negative uses to which drugs could be put, but he still argued that
people should be free to try them, because they might also have
educational properties nobody understood yet. | ||||||||||||||||||
The guys with stoned rats over at the U of S are scientists in the Huxley tradition: They refuse to be cowed by propaganda that prevents us from discovering the possible benefits of drugs. I don't know about you, but I'm feeling kind of high on science right now. | ||||||||||||||||||
Annalee Newitz is a surly media nerd who once got her cat stoned but
didn't notice any intelligence-enhancing side effects. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
"Wars are precipitated by motives which the statesmen responsible for them dare not publicly avow. A public discussion would drag these motives in their nudity into the open, where they would die of exposure to the withering contempt of humanity." - David Lloyd George | ||||||||||||||||||
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