| Apr 28, 2006 #446 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
(1) DEA-BAHAMAS DRUG EFFORTS SEEN AS SUCCESS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
GREAT EXUMA ISLAND, Bahamas - "We've got dope in the water!" | ||||||||||||||||||
Kevin Stanfill, the top U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent in
the Bahamas, snapped shut his cell phone. An Army Blackhawk helicopter
pilot had just reported a possible air drop of five large drug bundles
in the water 30 miles south of Nassau - about an hour from "Hawk's
Nest," a U.S. antidrug installation on this island in the central
Bahamas. | ||||||||||||||||||
The DEA quickly got its own chopper into the air while the Royal Bahamas police launched a speedboat to check out a suspicious vessel near the possible drop zone. U.S. Coast Guard and Army helicopters circled the target area, waiting for the police boat to arrive. | ||||||||||||||||||
Within minutes, the 43-foot Bahamian police boat roared up at 50 mph.
Two officers boarded the boat and a diver plunged into the shark-
infested sea. | ||||||||||||||||||
The possible drugs, it turned out, were actually large squares of sheet
metal used by some fishermen to lure lobsters. The suspect boat was
innocent after all. | ||||||||||||||||||
But the recent episode witnessed by an Associated Press reporter and
photographers who accompanied DEA agents on patrol demonstrated the
challenges faced by U.S. and Bahamian officials, who are battling drug
traffickers in a 700-chain of islands as large as the state of
California. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(2) MARYLAND STUDENTS VOTE TO EASE MARIJUANA PENALTIES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Students at the University of Maryland, College Park joined a growing
national movement this month when they approved a referendum calling
for a relaxation of the school's marijuana policies. | ||||||||||||||||||
The referendum, which was included on the ballot for student government
elections, urges administrators to penalize marijuana possession the
same way as alcohol violations. Nearly two-thirds of students supported
the measure, though only 4,500 of the school's 25,000 undergraduates
voted in the election. | ||||||||||||||||||
The vote carries only symbolic weight, as students have no power to
change the school's drug policy. But administrators said they will
examine the issue. | ||||||||||||||||||
"All actions taken by our student government are taken seriously," said
Millree Williams, director of university communications. "The
university will give it consideration, as it does any student
initiative."
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In recent years, students at the University of Colorado, Colorado State
University, the University of Texas and Florida State University have
passed similar proposals, though the efforts have not yet prompted any
of the schools to revise their policies. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(3) COURT TOSSES GURU OF GANJA'S CONVICTION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Finding of Juror Misconduct Results in New Trial For Oaklander | ||||||||||||||||||
A federal appeals court Wednesday overturned the felony convictions of "Guru of Ganja" Ed Rosenthal of Oakland, finding juror misconduct warrants a new trial for the marijuana activist and author. | ||||||||||||||||||
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San
Francisco found a juror's conversation with an attorney friend during
deliberations compromised Rosenthal's right to a fair trial and
verdict. | ||||||||||||||||||
But while the ruling is good news for Rosenthal, it is not terribly
good for medical marijuana advocates. The appeals court rejected
Rosenthal's claim of immunity from prosecution as a city officer under
Oakland's medical marijuana ordinance. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Although the city of Oakland purported to authorize Rosenthal to
manufacture marijuana, he was not 'duly authorized' to do so, as state
law does not allow the manufacturing of marijuana by individuals other
than the patient or his primary caregivers," Circuit Judge Betty
Fletcher wrote for herself and Circuit Judges Marsha Berzon and John
Gibson. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(4) MAYOR GETS SECOND SUBSTANTIAL OFFER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A second man has contacted Mayor Sam Sullivan's office with an offer of
money to establish a harm reduction program for female sex trade
workers. | ||||||||||||||||||
Sullivan told the Courier Monday that a man who works in the mining
industry sent an email to him Saturday with an offer of $10,000. The
offer comes two weeks after another unnamed person said he would donate
$500,000. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I've been surprised so far about the offers already so maybe there will be more people willing to help," Sullivan said. "I know that a lot of people feel strongly about this. I do too. We all feel powerless." | ||||||||||||||||||
Sullivan wants the money directed to a credible group to prescribe
drugs or substitutes to sex trade workers to help reduce the need for
women to sell their bodies to obtain money for drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
The mayor's plan to prescribe drugs to addicts is nothing new. Prior to
his run for mayor last fall, he told the Courier the federal government
should ditch the city's heroin trials and simply start prescribing
drugs to addicts. | ||||||||||||||||||
Sullivan argues the crime rate would fall because-as police will
confirm-the majority of burglaries, car thefts and bank robberies are
committed by addicts. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy
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COMMENT: (5-7) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Rubber stamping denials and passing disabled addicts' applications
onto the Ontario Human Rights Commission will no longer be
acceptable protocol for Ontario's Social Benefits Tribunal.
Unfortunately thousands of Ontarians were forced to wait for the
Canadian Supreme Court to verify that "alcoholism and drug addiction
are clearly defined as disabilities under Ontario's Human Rights
Code."
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US Senator Grassley strongly suggested that our Federal Drug Czar
should be fired for concentrating efforts against marijuana use
instead of methamphetamine. If we logically analyzed the substance
abused the most by our citizens - a war on alcohol would be correct
action. Oh yeah, we supposedly already learned our lesson on that
one. | ||||||||||||||||||
One of those lessons was that supply will always meet the demand. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(5) SUPREME COURT RULES ADDICTION CONSIDERED DISABILITY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Even though alcoholism and drug addiction are clearly defined as
disabilities under Ontario's Human Rights Code, thousands of
Ontarians ha ve been denied disability benefits for substance abuse
addictions. That's about to change following a Supreme Court of
Canada ruling Friday. | ||||||||||||||||||
A seven-year legal battle ended in victory for two Sudbury men and
the Sudbury Legal Clinic that represented them following a majority
4-3 decision by the country's top court. | ||||||||||||||||||
The court ruled legislation under provincial human rights codes must
now be considered by all government tribunals when handling appeal
cases by Canadian citizens applying for benefits, specifically,
disability benefits. | ||||||||||||||||||
The court ruled government agencies such as Ontario's Social Benefits Tribunal (SBT), which hears appeals from citizens originally denied access to the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), must consider provisions under provincial human rights regulations before rendering decisions. This includes provisions detailing alcoholism and drug addiction as defined disabilities. | ||||||||||||||||||
In far too many cases, the SBT simply rejects appeals and refers
people t o the Ontario Human Rights Commission, where less than six
percent of cases are ever heard, said Grace Kurke, legal counsel for
the Sudbury Legal Clinic. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(6) GRASSLEY WANTS DRUG CZAR FIRED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
DES MOINES, IA - Sen. Charles Grassley on Wednesday called for
President Bush to fire the nation's drug czar, claiming more needs
to be done to combat methamphetamine abuse. | ||||||||||||||||||
John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug
Policy, has been focusing too much on curbing marijuana use, said
Grassley, R-Iowa. | ||||||||||||||||||
Grassley said he wrote Walters calling for more action on meth and the response he received was "basically, bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo." | ||||||||||||||||||
"I think the president ought to fire the drug czar," Grassley told
reporters Wednesday during a conference call. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(7) METH LABS IN STATE DECREASING DRUG GETTING STRONGER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
LENOIR - New laws and smarter law enforcement have for the first
time in five years slowed the proliferation of "mom and pop"
methamphetamine labs statewide, but the chairman of a House
subcommittee acknowledged it's caused an increased demand for a much
more potent strain of Mexican meth to replace it. | ||||||||||||||||||
U.S. Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., chairman of the House Government Reform Subcommittee of Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources, made the statement during a field hearing on the impact of methamphetamine addiction in northwestern North Carolina. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Watauga County, which only two years ago led the state in such labs at 46 , had uncovered only one through March 31, according to the SBI. Home-cooked meth, however, had never accounted for more than a small portion of the meth consumed overall. Estimates range from 10 to 20 percent, with the vast majority coming from super labs in California and Mexico, so-called because of their capacity to produce at least 10 pounds of a highly pure drug in a day's time. | ||||||||||||||||||
Small-time kitchen cooks produce a less potent form of the drug,
often no better than 45 to 50 percent pure. | ||||||||||||||||||
The "ice" or "crystal meth" produced in super labs more often ranges
in purity from 80 to over 90 percent, making it, according to
Emmerson, a much more addictive drug. | ||||||||||||||||||
"The methamphetamine - or ice - that comes from Mexican super labs
is very potent and leads our users to a new level of addiction,"
Rutherford County Sheriff C. Philip Byers told the subcommittee
Tuesday. Controlled by Mexican gangs whose supply lines and
distribution networks have been established through their
decades-long control of the marijuana and cocaine trades, crystal
meth makes its way to North Carolina through major hubs, such as
Atlanta, before filtering through Charlotte to the largely rural
areas where most of its users reside. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Law Enforcement & Prisons
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COMMENT: (8-11) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A Vancouver Sun columnist covered a recent miscarriage of justice by
the B.C. Supreme Court. The judge whined about how difficult it is
for law enforcement to know all those citizen rights but correctly
concluded that, "The arrests breached the men's s. 9 Charter rights
not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned . . . " The injustice
came when the judge decided to let the evidence in anyway because,
"He decided people would be more affronted by the four men walking
free than by the police behaviour ..."
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Another Canadian article brings back the "quaint" term of Peace
Officer which most would probably not use to describe current law
enforcement officers. The writer does an excellent job of explaining
how the current police chief has wiped out all traces of the former
chief's efforts of bringing law enforcement closer to the
communities they serve. | ||||||||||||||||||
On the bright side of the law, LEAP's Peter Christ continues to spread their wise words during a lecture at Cornell University. | ||||||||||||||||||
An Alternet interview with the author of "Conned: How Millions of
Americans Went to Prison, Lost the Vote, and Helped Send George W.
Bush to the White House," summarizes much of the research conducted
by journalist Sasha Abramsky. If you don't find the time to read his
book, PLEASE, make time to reach out to a few folks and encourage
them to register to vote. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(8) KEEPING THE PEACE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Winnipeg Police Need To Abandon War Mentality
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YOU will not find the term law enforcement officer in the Criminal
Code o f Canada. The term that is used is peace officer. There is a
big difference between keeping the peace and enforcing the law.
Peace keeping is a more proactive and preventive form of policing,
while law enforcement is more of a reactive approach. | ||||||||||||||||||
The previous police chief of the Winnipeg Police Service, David
Cassels, fully understood this difference and demonstrated this
understanding on h is first day on the job in May 1996. Cassels had
to face a large delegation of community groups from the Lord Selkirk
Park public housing development who were calling upon city council
for neighbourhood foot patrol officers to work in the local
community because of the growth of gangs, prostitution and drug
trafficking. Half of the housing units in this public housing
development were vacant and boarded up because people were too
scared to live in this neighbourhood. | ||||||||||||||||||
Cassels supported the request of the Lord Selkirk Park residents and
assigned neighbourhood foot patrol officers to begin working
immediately in the local community. Within a year, all the
boarded-up housing units were re-opened as people found that Lord
Selkirk Park was once again a safe place to live. Cassels went on to
establish over 20 of these neighbourhood foot patrol officer
positions in high crime neighbourhoods throughout the inner city of
Winnipeg in his first six months on the job. | ||||||||||||||||||
Chief Jack Ewatski has dismantled community policing over the past number of years. He has recently promoted Operation Clean Sweep as a strategy to address safety concerns in high crime neighbourhoods. This policing approach paints entire neighbourhoods as the place "where the bad guys live" and innocent citizens are often victimized by the police services' over zealousness to win the "war on crime." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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The average citizen would be surprised how few police officers are actually out patrolling the streets each day. The 1991 workload analysis study of the Edmonton Police Service indicated that only 25 per cent of police officers were involved in general patrol duties. Everyone else was in some form of specialist back up role or unavailable due to vacation time, sick leave or days off. | ||||||||||||||||||
Between 1980 and 1990, the Edmonton Police Service hired 45
additional police officers but had 72 less officers on the street;
between 1990 and 1994 when the police service shifted towards a
community policing approach -- four additional officers were hired
and there was 92 more officers on the street; between 1994 and 2004
with a shift away from community policing -- 125 more officers were
added to the force but there were 124 less officers doing street
level policing. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(9) POLICE WORK IN 'CHARTER MINEFIELD,' JUDGE SAYS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Officers Face Quandary Because Of 'conflicting Decisions' On Rights
Of Suspects
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A B.C. Supreme Court judge warns that police are facing a quandary
and the legal system is under strain because of the Charter of
Rights and Freedom s and conflicting decisions on the protections it
affords suspected criminals. | ||||||||||||||||||
Sitting on a case involving the seizure of more than 225 kilograms
of cannabis (worth at least $1 million), 13 kilos of psilocybin and
$100,000 in Canadian currency, Justice Richard Blair said police
breached numerous rights of the accused. | ||||||||||||||||||
He said that's because of the uncertainty caused by sometimes
conflicting judicial decisions over the past 25 years since the
panoply of civil rights protections were enshrined in the charter
and adopted by Parliament. | ||||||||||||||||||
That's a bad situation, the judge said in a surprisingly strident
commentary. Police "deserve to know with clarity" what restraints
they are under, he added. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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But, in the end, Blair couldn't bring himself to toss the evidence
-- only to make his cri de coeur for the almost impossible position
in which the Canadian Supreme Court has placed police. | ||||||||||||||||||
He decided people would be more affronted by the four men walking
free than by the police behaviour: "After considering and balancing
the interests of truth with the integrity of the criminal justice
system, I conclude that the exclusion of the evidence would
adversely affect the administration of justice."
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No kidding. | ||||||||||||||||||
Still, I wonder, why have such guarantees if those rights can be so
easily trampled without consequence?
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(10) DRUG POLICY ACTIVIST PETER CHRIST COMES TO C.U. (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Retired Policeman Proposes Legalizing, Regulating Drugs | ||||||||||||||||||
Peter Christ, of the organization Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition (LEAP), gave a lecture yesterday in HEC Auditorium on the
current state of the "war on drugs" and the international drug problem
the world faces. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Prohibition doesn't work," Christ said. "And that's the good part
about it. The bad part is that it has created crime and violence in
our society."
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Christ worked as a drug enforcement agent for 20 years in Tonawanda,
N.Y. before retiring at the age of 42. Since 1989, he has devoted
his life to the reforming of drug policy nationally and
internationally by founding LEAP and delivering lectures around the
United States. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Christ outlined a policy of legalizing, regulating and controlling
drugs in order to deal with the crime problem. He related the
current situation with the past situation of prohibition in the
1920's to 1930's, recounting how it failed to solve the alcohol
abuse problem and how the only remnant that is left from that era is
the legacy of organized crime. According to Christ, 85 percent of
drug-related violence in society is not associated with people being
under the influence and hurting other people. Rather, it is due to
"market place disputes," a term the government calls crimes
surrounding the sale and movement of drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(11) DEMOCRACY BEHIND BARS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Author Sasha Abramsky talks about how mass incarceration -- and the
resulting disfranchisement of millions of Americans -- is destroying
our democracy. | ||||||||||||||||||
In his new book, "Conned: How Millions of Americans Went to Prison,
Lost the Vote, and Helped Send George W. Bush to the White House,"
award-winning journalist Sasha Abramsky takes us on a journey across
the nation, documenting through personal interviews of people in
prison, former prisoners, state legislators and advocates how felon
disfranchisement laws fundamentally undermine America's democratic
ideals. | ||||||||||||||||||
Today, nearly 5 million Americans are disfranchised from the right
to vote either because they are in prison, on parole or probation,
or because they live in a state that extends disfranchisement
beyond the end of one's sentence. Racial, ethnic and economic
disparities in the criminal justice system, and the "war on drugs"
have resulted in the most severe impact hitting communities of
color. Where African-Americans comprise only 12.2 percent of the
population and 13 percent of drug users, they make up 38 percent of
those arrested for drug offenses and 59 percent of those convicted
of drug offenses, causing critics to call the war on drugs the "New
Jim Crow." Nationally, an estimated 13 percent of African-American
men are unable to vote because of a felony conviction. That's seven
times the national average. | ||||||||||||||||||
The United States is the only "democracy" in which people who have
served their sentences can still lose their right to vote. As
Jamaica S., a 25-year-old on probation in Tennessee who lost her
right to vote shared in "Conned," "It seems when you're convicted
of a felony, the scarlet letter is there. You take it everywhere
with you."
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[snip]
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Cannabis & Hemp-
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COMMENT: (12-16) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
On the heels of the FDA's pronouncement that cannabis has no
accepted medical applications or therapeutic benefits, this editor
was swamped by the high volume of great press responses denouncing
the FDA's statement as being a case of federal politics once again
trumping science, common sense, and compassion. New York Times
Columnist John Tierney's column, which criticizes the FDA's
mishandling of medical cannabis science and research (as well as the
recent ban on the over-the-counter sale of Sudafed), was one of the
best of the bunch. | ||||||||||||||||||
Our next article takes us to Canada, where the Globe and Mail
reports that Marc Emery and two co-defendants were in court on
Monday to face private charges of conspiracy to violate foreign laws
filed by a B.C. man named Patrick Roberts. If the three are
convicted of these charges in Canada, it's unlikely that the DEA
extradition request related to the sale of cannabis seeds in the
U.S. will proceed.
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And from the U.K. this week, the sad news that Gary Youds, a 36 year
old man from Liverpool, has been sentenced to 12 months in jail after
pleading guilty to two charges of permitting the use of his premises
for smoking cannabis. Mr. Youds is the owner of a Dutch-style
cannabis cafe called the Chillin' Rooms, where the offenses allegedly
took place. | ||||||||||||||||||
And finally, two stories by the Eureka Times-Standard on last week's
annual NORML conference in San Francisco. The first is an interview
with NORML Director Allen St. Pierre, who discusses the cannabis
users group's goals for the coming year, and the second is a recap
of famed pothead and comedian Tommy Chong's lunchtime keynote
address at the conference. I've had the pleasure of attending the
last five NORML conferences, and would like to thank all of the good
folks who keep making this event a spring highlight for the cannabis
legalization movement. Keep up the good work, and smoke 'em if you
got 'em!
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(12) POTHEADS AND SUDAFED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Police officers in the 1960's were fond of bumper stickers reading: "The next time you get mugged, call a hippie." Doctors today could use a variation: "The next time you're in pain, call a narc." | ||||||||||||||||||
Washington's latest prescription for patients in pain is the statement issued last week by the Food and Drug Administration on the supposed evils of medical marijuana. The F.D.A. is being lambasted, rightly, by scientists for ignoring some evidence that marijuana can help severely ill patients. But it's the kind of statement given by a hostage trying to please his captors, who in this case are a coalition of Republican narcs on Capitol Hill, in the White House and at the Drug Enforcement Administration. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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The statement was denounced as a victory of politics over science,
but it's hard to see what political good it does the Republican
Party. | ||||||||||||||||||
Locking up crack and meth dealers is popular, but voters take a
different view of cancer patients who swear by marijuana. Medical
marijuana has bee n approved in referendums in four states that went
red in 2004: Nevada, Montana, Colorado and Alaska. For G.O.P. voters
fed up with their party's current big-government philosophy, the
latest medical treatment from Washington's narcs is one more reason
to stay home this November. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(13) CONSPIRACY CHARGE AGAINST EMERY HEADS TO TOP COURT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The federal government will be asking a British Columbia Supreme
Court judge today to remove a potential obstacle in its attempt to
extradite Marc Emery, the so-called Prince of Pot, and his two
co-defendants to the United States to stand trial on
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Mr. Emery, Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams are facing a possible private charge under the Criminal Code of conspiracy to violate foreign laws. A private information asking for the charge to be laid was sworn in Provincial Court last August by Patrick Roberts, chairman of the nationalist Bloc British Columbia party. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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If the private prosecution is allowed to go ahead and the three defendants are convicted, it is unlikely they could be extradited to the United States. Any sentence imposed in Canada would likely be much shorter than a marijuana-trafficking conviction in the United States. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(14) CANNABIS CAFE MAN JAILED FOR A YEAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
THE owner of a Liverpool cannabis cafe, who ignored police demands
to close down, was today jailed. | ||||||||||||||||||
Gary Youds, 36, is starting a 12-month sentence for drugs offences after he repeatedly flouted laws banning Amsterdam-style cafes. | ||||||||||||||||||
Liverpool crown court was told Youds, a property developer, opened
the Chillin' Rooms in Holt Road, Kensington, and began allowing
people to smoke the drug in the cafe. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(15) NORML EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TALKS ABOUT THE YEAR IN MARIJUANA (Top)REFORM | ||||||||||||||||||
Marijuana is still illegal in the eyes of the United States
government, but that hasn't deterred the efforts of the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. | ||||||||||||||||||
Allen St. Pierre, the executive director of NORML, discussed the changes that have happened in the efforts to change marijuana laws. | ||||||||||||||||||
"In the year since we have spoken last the city of Denver has passed
an initiative that has made the penalty for an ounce of marijuana
zero dollars," St. Pierre said. "And in doing so it has now sparked
off a statewide initiative and that is an initiative that we support
strongly."
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NORML is helping to raise money for the initiative. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Decriminalization now exists in 12 states," St. Pierre said. "One
in three people in the United States live where marijuana is
decriminalized."
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[snip]
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(16) TOMMY CHONG ADDRESSES NORML CONFERENCE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Actor and comedian Tommy Chong entertained more than 500 National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws conference-goers
Friday. | ||||||||||||||||||
"If more people were stoned there would be less violence in the
world," Chong said. | ||||||||||||||||||
Chong was introduced by NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre. | ||||||||||||||||||
"It was Tom Chong the man that was wrongly sentenced to nine months
in jail when everyone else paid a fine," St. Pierre said. "I'm so
proud and happy that Tommy is joining us today."
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Chong took the stage to a standing ovation. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I would like to thank what's his name," Chong joked. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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International News
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COMMENT: (17-21) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
While the U.S. continues to pours billions down the drug-war hole in
Colombia, there's nothing to show for it. Cocaine prices in the U.S.
and world wide are falling, and more cocaine than ever flows from
Colombia according to another U.S. government report released this
week. Yet prohibitionists, ever willing to cherry-pick statistics to
bolster a political argument, aren't admitting defeat. We can "win
the war on drugs ," a chirpy Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) asserted this
week. That's right. Despite no drug war ever having succeeded in
keeping "drugs" from anyone, Burton, who has invested his political
career grandstanding against "drugs" sees hope. All we need is
"renewed vigilance and appropriate U.S. assistance," says Burton.
After billions wasted on Colombia already, Burton did not indicate
precisely how much "appropriate" assistance will cost to "win the
war on drugs."
| ||||||||||||||||||
A row over airline safety regulations at the international airport in Caracas, Venezuela, has U.S. officials fuming, according to a Knight Ridder newspaper article. The Knight Ridder article, claiming to quote a series of anonymous U.S. official sources, castigated the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chavez as corrupt and unwilling to fight drugs, desiring to "keep business as usual for [airport] drug traffickers." Earlier, President Hug o Chavez had accused the DEA of spying, a charge denied by the U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||
Canada's newly elected prime minister, Stephen Harper, has a
problem. Playing "soldier" in Afghanistan by supplying cannon-fodder
to shore up the U.S. occupation there isn't going well. To the
Afghan resistance, Canadian troops are 'little helpers' to the
Americans. And so , increasingly Canadians are getting hurt and
killed there. Time for a diversion, and what better diversion than
"drugs"? At home, Harper railed last week against "crime", promising
to enact "mandatory minimum jail terms" for a list of crimes (but
especially for marijuana). Couched in terms of saving "our children"
and an "epidemic of guns, gangs and drugs," Harper's proposed new
"mandatory minimums", will give a judge's traditional powers to
prosecutors, and allow prosecutors to determine sentences by
fine-tuning indictments. South of the border, in the U.S.,
"mandatory minimums" have proven to be extremely profitable to the
rapidly expanding private prison industry. | ||||||||||||||||||
Attempting to deflect attention from the quagmire that Canada's
garrison duty in Afghanistan is rapidly becoming, the media last
week screamed that "Poppy Farmers" were ready to cut a deal with
(of all parties) "Canadian soldiers." Well, at least a few "village
elders" may have proposed something like that, if Canadian military
public relations is to be believed. You see, the story goes, 15
"elders" speaking for "hundreds" of opium farmers asked the
important Canadian "soldiers" to allow them to grow opium, just one
more time this year. Canadian "soldiers", of course, had only a
politically correct reply. "We are caught in the middle ... Soldiers
realize the effect poppy growing has on Afghanistan and that
opium has in the world." Added another Canadian official, "Poppies
will kill this country if left to go unchecked." While Canadian
troops again last week came under increasing attack by Afghan
insurgents, news of the "elders" helped push reports of Canadian
causalities off the radar. | ||||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile Harper, according to Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan,
"offered assurance" that the supervised injection site in Vancouver
(Insite) would not be shut down. The supervised injection center has
been in operation since 2003, when launched as part of a city-wide
harm reduction effort. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(17) COCA CULTIVATION ON THE RISE IN COLOMBIA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The White House Said The Anti-Drug Campaign Is Working In Colombia, Despite Recent Results From A Survey That Indicated Otherwise | ||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is denying that the drug war
in the Andes is going badly, despite a U.S. survey showing that far
more Colombian acreage is planted with coca than previously
reported. | ||||||||||||||||||
The 2005 coca cultivation survey for Colombia, issued Friday evening by the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), estimated acreage at 356,000, a 26 percent increase over 2004. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
Murray said the survey of Colombia showed 96,000 acres of newly
located coca being grown in remote regions, in smaller and more
scattered plots. | ||||||||||||||||||
This made it more expensive for traffickers to grow and then process
the coca into cocaine, he said. But it also made it more difficult
for authorities to eradicate. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., who heads the Western Hemisphere
subcommittee of the House International Relations Committee, said
the drug war can be won but that Colombia needed help to replace the
23 aircraft lost in counterdrug operations since 2000. | ||||||||||||||||||
"With renewed vigilance and appropriate U.S. assistance, we can stem
the flow of illicit narcotics from Colombia and win the war on
drugs," he said in a statement. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(18) DRUG TRAFFICKERS WOULD BENEFIT FROM AIR TRAFFIC DEAL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
CARACAS, Venezuela - Among those pleased by efforts to end an air
traffic standoff between U.S. and Venezuelan officials are
undoubtedly the drug traffickers working at the Venezuelan capital's
Maiquetia international airport. | ||||||||||||||||||
In the last month, the two sides have been squabbling over airline safety regulations and threatening to cancel some commercial flights. But they now seem close to working out a deal that would avert a major slowdown in air traffic between the nations and, in turn, keep business as usual for Maiquetia's drug traffickers. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
As with most matters in U.S.-Venezuelan relations recently, the drug
issue has taken on political overtones. President Hugo Chavez has
accused the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of spying, and his
government has temporarily suspended relations between government
security personnel and the DEA. U.S. officials denied the
allegation. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(19) HARPER TO 'GET TOUGH' ON CRIMINALS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Wants Mandatory Minimum Jail Terms, No Conditional Sentences And
Sexual Consent Raised To Age 16
| ||||||||||||||||||
WINNIPEG -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper warned Wednesday the days
of cushy house arrest and weak jail sentences for criminals are over
in Canada. | ||||||||||||||||||
Speaking to a bipartisan crowd of 1,200 people at a Manitoba Chamber
of Commerce luncheon in Winnipeg, Harper promised to introduce three
separate justice bills, including mandatory minimum prison terms,
the end of conditional sentences, and a two-year increase in the age
of sexual consent. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
"Peaceful, law-abiding communities are an integral part of Canada's
traditional identity and values. Times ... have been changing and
the safe streets and safe neighbourhoods that Canadians have come
to expect as part of the Canadian way of life are threatened by
rising levels of gun, gang and drug crime."
| ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
The first of the three bills will create mandatory minimum prison
sentences for serious drug trafficking and weapons offences, crimes
committed by someone on parole, and repeat offenders. | ||||||||||||||||||
"This measure is going to go a long way to help beat back the
epidemic of guns, gangs and drugs that is plaguing our cities,"
Harper said to loud applause. | ||||||||||||||||||
"To those who would traffic drugs in order to peddle them to our
children, our message is clear; to those who would smuggle guns
across our border, our message is clear; to those who would bring
terror to our streets through their violent activity, our message is
clear -- we will empower the police and prosecutors with the tools
they need to discover your enterprises, shut them down and put you
behind bars."
| ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
"Simply put, the current practice of allowing some criminals who
have [been] convicted serious violent, sexual, weapons or drug
offences to serve out their sentence at home is unconscionable.
Under Canada's new national government, serious offenders are going
to serve out their sentences where they ought to -- in prison,"
the prime minister said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
Harper challenged the opposition parties to vote down the bills at
their own political peril. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(20) POPPY FARMERS PROPOSE DEAL WITH CANADIANS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Say They Won't Seed Next Season If Harvest Allowed To Proceed | ||||||||||||||||||
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A large group of Afghan poppy farmers has
handed Canadian soldiers an unusual offer, pledging not to grow the
illicit plant next year if they're allowed to harvest their crop
this year with no interference from Afghan officials intent on
crushing the country's opium trade. | ||||||||||||||||||
More than 15 village elders, representing hundreds of farmers, recently made the plea to soldiers at Canada's remote firebase near the town of Gombad, in the rugged countryside north of Kandahar. | ||||||||||||||||||
"They're afraid of the government plowing up their fields," said Maj. Kirk Gallinger, who commands company of Edmonton-based troops trying to fight the Taliban in the district around Gombad. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
"We are caught in the middle," Maj. Gallinger said. "Soldiers
realize the effect poppy growing has on Afghanistan and that opium
has in the world. We understand the importance of the eradication
program. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, the Canadian commander of coalition forces
in the south, said the opium trade must be destroyed and that
Canadian forces do support the anti-poppy work of the national
government in Kabul. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Poppies will kill this country if left to go unchecked," he said in
a recent interview. | ||||||||||||||||||
But Brig.-Gen. Fraser is equally adamant that Canadian troops aren't
here for this reason. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We're not here to do poppy eradication. That's not our job." | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(21) PM WON'T SHUT INJECTION SITE, SAYS MAYOR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper has offered assurance he
won't move to shut down Vancouver's supervised injection site for
drug users in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, Vancouver Mayor Sam
Sullivan said Wednesday. | ||||||||||||||||||
Harper criticized the Liberal-endorsed pilot project early in the
campaign leading to the election in January, but Sullivan said
earlier this week he received private assurance later in the
campaign that Harper had no plans to withdraw federal approval of
the initiative. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We discussed his commitment during the campaign -- that he did not
want to facilitate drug use but he was interested in the local
innovations that come forward, and he's open to them," Sullivan said
Wednesday after meeting here with Harper. | ||||||||||||||||||
The pilot project was launched in September 2003 after Health Canada agreed to an exemption under the Controlled Drug and Substances Act. Health Canada said this week the government will consider extending the exemption when it expires later this year. | ||||||||||||||||||
Carolyn Stewart Olsen, Harper's press secretary, said the prime
minister wasn't available to comment publicly on the meeting with
Sullivan. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
FDA PLAYS POLITICS WITH POT
| ||||||||||||||||||
By Michelle Chen, The NewStandard. Posted April 26, 2006. | ||||||||||||||||||
Last week's ludicrous governmental report, which denied the efficacy
of medical marijuana, is the Bush administration's latest attempt to
divorce science from policy. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
THE TOXICITY OF RECREATIONAL DRUGS
| ||||||||||||||||||
Alcohol is more lethal than many other commonly abused substances | ||||||||||||||||||
Robert S. Gable
| ||||||||||||||||||
http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/50773 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW
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| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
NORML MARIJUANA REFORM CONFERENCE WRAPS UP
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
SPEECHES FROM THE NORML 2006 CONFERENCE
| ||||||||||||||||||
Hear selected speeches and interviews from the NORML 2006 Conference. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
THE COSTS OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE IN CANADA
| ||||||||||||||||||
The Costs of Substance Abuse in Canada 2002 estimates the total cost
of substance abuse in Canada to be $39.8 billion, which represents a
cost of $1,267 to each individual Canadian. | ||||||||||||||||||
http://www.ccsa.ca/CCSA/EN/Research/Research_Activities/TheCostsofSubstanceAbuseinCanada.htm | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
THE SPIN DOCTORS SPIT ON SCIENCE
| ||||||||||||||||||
DrugSense FOCUS Alert #328 - Tue, 25 April 2006
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
CJPF JOB OPPORTUNITY
| ||||||||||||||||||
The Criminal Justice Policy Foundation is seeking an administrative
assistant. This is an ideal position for a detail-oriented person who
wants to work with a high degree of independence in a small office for
social justice. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
MARIJUANA AND PAIN
| ||||||||||||||||||
By Michael R. Sanders
| ||||||||||||||||||
My dad is 88 years old and has advanced cancer. He has had treatment
that would make any person very sick. | ||||||||||||||||||
I don't know how long he has to live, but I am ashamed that I cannot
legally help him eat. He has no appetite and his pain is bad
sometimes. Marijuana can stimulate hunger, which, in his case, would
extend his life. It also can augment painkillers. It breaks my
heart, but Dad would never do anything illegal. Soon, he will lie
at Jefferson Barracks Cemetery. He was a Navy Seabee and served in
and around the Philippines and New Guinea. | ||||||||||||||||||
If marijuana were legal for terminal and chronically ill patients, I
could extract THC and make a butter, which looks like regular
butter but is green. He would eat and have more strength, and the
pain-relieving qualities of marijuana might help the painkillers,
which make him constipated and sick. | ||||||||||||||||||
I hope that someone will care more for people like my dad than for a
drug war that is making it more difficult for patients to get what
they need, sans politics. | ||||||||||||||||||
Michael R. Sanders, Crestwood
| ||||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
GOD, NORML AND THE FDA
| ||||||||||||||||||
By Stephen Young
| ||||||||||||||||||
When my hands were anointed with the sacred oil, it was something
like a religious experience, as far as such a thing is possible in
the basement of a Holiday Inn. | ||||||||||||||||||
At the very least, it was an interesting exchange about religion. | ||||||||||||||||||
As I strolled among the tables at the NORML conference in San
Francisco, Rev. Tom Brown was passing out flyers about the use of
cannabis as a sacrament. He looked sort of like a biblical prophet,
with a flowing whit e beard and clear blue eyes that seemed both
calm and intense as he spoke. | ||||||||||||||||||
Rev. Tom talked about organized religion and the protection it was
afford ed in the United States, not only by the Bill of Rights, but
by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. That law protects people
who engage in practices that some might consider dangerous, like
snake handling or the ingestion of hoasca tea, so long as those
practices take place within a religious ceremony. | ||||||||||||||||||
Individuals who use cannabis as a religious sacrament, he said,
share the same protection. A cannabis user need only go through a
few steps to declare their residences as places of worship, and
themselves as minister s. | ||||||||||||||||||
The concept made some sort of sense. But, I said, I didn't know if I
would be interested in doing that for a few reasons. First, I'm a
Lutheran who attends services with some regularity, and it seemed
disingenuous to proclaim myself as a minister in a new religion
while still practicing another religion that has its own established
sacrament. | ||||||||||||||||||
Rev. Tom shared a long history of Christianity which suggested there would be no contradiction. Indeed, he said, the oil with which Jesus anointed followers contained cannabis. Then he produced a small bottle containing a brown oil. He said it was made according to an ancient recipe and include d aromatic herbs and other ingredients. It smelled sweet and a little pungent; something like cinnamon was discernable among the various scents . He poured a bit on one of my palms and said I should rub my hands together. | ||||||||||||||||||
I did so and felt glad for the experience. | ||||||||||||||||||
I went on to talk to more people and watch several interesting presentations in San Francisco. During the conference, I had the chance to share a talk about DrugSense and the Media Awareness Project with a polite and attentive audience. Unfortunately, I had another commitment while a panel on "Marijuana, Religion and Sacrament" took place, but I did get to chat briefly with Roger Christie, whose THC Ministries ( http://www.thc-ministry.org ) also proclaims religious protection for the sacramental use of cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||||
I was reminded of Rev. Tom soon after I returned home. I was
catching up on the news and finally read the Food and Drug
Administration statement
| ||||||||||||||||||
As I read the statement, I was amazed to see that the other side
seemed to be embracing religion as well, although in more of a
stealth fashion. The FDA's statement isn't about science, as it
cites no specific research. It might be looked at as political, but
it doesn't announce policy change or shift in power. | ||||||||||||||||||
It is simply a statement of belief: what religious scholars might
call a creed. The FDA has majestically taken what it wants from
available texts and ignored the rest, then conveyed this creed as if
it were truth from on high. The statement implicitly designates
contrary views as heretical while boldly announcing that the grand
theology is shared by bureaucratic brethren at the DEA and ONDCP.
Hallelujah!
| ||||||||||||||||||
Karen Armstrong, a former nun who has written a series of books about religion, was recently interviewed in the Chicago Tribune. She said when she started writing, she was skeptical of religion and very conscious of all its negative aspects. But, over time, she came to see the positive side of religion, particularly the encouragement of kindness. She said she now tries to be kind in her own life. | ||||||||||||||||||
At the NORML conference, I saw attendees and presenters expressing
kindness and compassion toward others. I perceived Rev. Tom's
interaction with me as a bit of kindness in the form of an attempt
to share enlightenment. | ||||||||||||||||||
The last time I went to a ONDCP event (a student drug testing "summit" - http://www.drugsense.org/dsw/2004/ds04.n342.html#sec5), I saw the organizers primarily endorsing fear and coercion. | ||||||||||||||||||
I hope religious freedom stays strong in America. The FDA, DEA and
ONDCP and their representatives should believe what they want to
believe. These federal agencies, though, have overstepped their
bounds and gone way beyond First Amendment protections in trying to
live their beliefs. They have no right to demonize individuals, to
officially withhold medicines, or to direct violence at non-believers
bold enough to bypass the high priests. | ||||||||||||||||||
Rev. Tom may have been evangelizing, but he certainly wasn't trying
to impose his religion on anyone else. In that sense, even if the
feds' beliefs are very strong (though I doubt they are), their
spiritual evolution is clearly several generations behind Rev. Tom
and just about everybody else I met in San Francisco. | ||||||||||||||||||
Stephen Young is an editor with DrugSense Weekly and the author of
Maximizing Harm. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
"The FDA says there's no -- zilch, zero, nada -- shred of medicinal
value to the evil weed marijuana. This is going to be a setback to the
long-haired, maggot-infested, dope-smoking crowd." - Rush Limbaugh,
April 21, 2006
| ||||||||||||||||||
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content selection and analysis by Doug Snead (),
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