Table of Contents

* Breaking News (04/26/24)

* This Just In

(1) Fentanyl Causing Series Of Fatal Overdoses In U.S.
(2) Heroin: The Solution?
(3) Schoolchildren Face Random Drug Test Threat
(4) Editorial: A Flagging Commitment On AIDS

* Weekly News in Review

Drug Policy-

COMMENT: (5-8)
(5) Drug Cocktail Causing Overdoses From Philadelphia To Chicago
(6) Meth-Lab Litter Poses Hazard for Road Crews
(7) Violence From Its Twin City Spilling Into Laredo
(8) Column: Misguided DEA's Witch Hunt Leaves Patients Hurting

Law Enforcement & Prisons-

COMMENT: (9-12)
(9) Police Say They Are Disturbed the Dodgeville Couple Were Disturbed
(10) Family Continues To Fight Stigma Of Bogus Drug Arrests
(11) Court Backs Police Search Method: Laxatives
(12) How Effective Is Drug War?

Cannabis & Hemp-

COMMENT: (13-17)
(13) Weed Control
(14) Marijuana Muffins Eaten As Result Of Senior Prank
(15) Border Patrol Seeing Marijuana Increase
(16) Dutch Tell Drug Tourists To Take Trip To Belgium
(17) Out Of The Joint

International News-

COMMENT: (18-21)
(18) Hallucinating About Drugs
(19) Afghan Parliament Wants Opium Lobby Thrown Out
(20) Use Fungus To Destroy Drug Fields, Souder Says
(21) Magic Mushroom Users Turn To Exotic Alternatives

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Considered 80 Times Stronger Than Morphine

DETROIT -- Larry, a 53-year-old heroin addict, has two cardinal rules: Never shoot up alone, and shoot up only one person at a time.  If one overdoses, "you need someone there to bring you back," he said.

Larry, who asked that his last name not be used because of his habit, recited his rules after hearing that a mixture of heroin and a powerful painkiller has been killing users who believe they are taking heroin alone.

Officials from Philadelphia to Chicago have reported deaths from the drug, called fentanyl and considered 80 times more powerful than morphine.

In the Detroit area -- the apparent hub of the problem with more than 100 confirmed cases since last fall and as many as 41 possible deaths in the past eight days -- officials from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating and community organizations are scrambling to get the word out to users.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Thu, 01 Jun 2006

Source:	Grand Island Independent (NE)

Contact:

Website:	http://www.theindependent.com/

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/1023

Author:	Sarah Karush

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n704.a08.html

The Liberalisation Of Drug Laws In Zurich Has Led To A Massive Fall In The Number Of New Heroin Users, According To A Study Published Yesterday.  Now Britain, Which Has The Highest Number Of Drug Deaths In Europe, Is Being Urged To Follow Suit

Drugs charities called yesterday for Britain to abandon its tough approach to heroin use after research showed one European city had cut the number of new addicts by transforming the image of heroin into a "loser drug".

The UK should follow the example of Zurich, which adopted a liberal drug policy a decade ago, and has seen an 82 per cent decline in new users of heroin, experts say.

The change has been achieved by offering drug addicts in Switzerland "substitution" treatment with injectable heroin on prescription, as well as oral methadone, needle exchange and "shooting galleries" where they can give themselves their fix.

The new approach has medicalised drug use and removed its glamour, researchers say.  Crime and deaths linked with drugs have fallen, and the image of heroin use has been transformed from one of rebellion to an illness.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Fri, 02 Jun 2006

Source:	Independent (UK)

Copyright:	2006 Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd.

Website:	http://www.independent.co.uk/

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/209

Author:	Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n707.a03.html

Random drug testing could be introduced in all secondary schools to help children resist peer pressure and "just say no" to drugs.

The first UK school to introduce random drug testing posted their best ever exam results following a year-long pilot last year.

Now the Government has signalled it is keen for random drug testing to be rolled out nationwide, depending on the success of a pilot scheme they plan to introduce in Kent schools in autumn.

Headteachers and parents will be asked if they would like their pupils to take part in the pilot.

Kent was chosen by the Department for Education and Skills for the pilot because it was a local headteacher who first introduced it in his school with astonishing results.

Peter Walker is the former headteacher of The Abbey School in Faversham, Kent.  It's a non-selective specialist school for business and enterprise whose catchment area includes the second most deprived council ward in the county.  Last year 600 random drug tests were carried out on pupils aged between 11 and 18.

Testing was done by mouth swabs for all classes of drugs, including cannabis, cocaine and heroin.  Of the school's 960 pupils, 86% consented to be randomly tested.  Only one child tested positive, for cannabis.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Wed, 31 May 2006

Source:	Daily Mail (UK)

Copyright:	2006 Associated Newspapers Ltd

Website:	http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/108

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n700.a08.html

The AIDS epidemic turns 25 this week, and while new infections are declining in a few countries, the number of infected is still growing, especially among young women.  Globally, the epidemic seems to have more energy than efforts to fight it.

This week, United Nations members are meeting in a follow-up to the successful U.N.  special session in 2001, which pushed the world to take AIDS more seriously.  At that time, the countries created a detailed plan for attacking the disease, with specific targets.  Spending soared, from $1.6 billion in 2001 to $8.3 billion last year.

The nations now are supposed to be reporting on whether their targets are being met, and devising a plan of action for the next few years. Instead, they are watering down the original plan.  Ideologues, led by Washington, are taking out commitments to key programs, and wealthy nations worried about cost are replacing concrete goals with vague statements.  AIDS groups fear the world is moving backward.

The most recent draft written by the nations does maintain the 2001 target of universal access to treatment, prevention and care, and sets a spending goal of $23 billion per year by 2010.  But Europe and the United States have successfully opposed including specific targets that would have provided clear, periodic measurements of whether countries were meeting goals.  In terms of money, the world will fall $6 billion short of what is needed this year, and we are falling further behind each year.

The drafts also show that on issues of interest to religious conservatives, the United States and Syria are holding down one side, joined at times by the Vatican and Saudi Arabia.  Washington, for example, has removed references that were in the 2001 declaration about providing clean syringes to drug users.  These efforts are desperately needed in many countries, like Russia, where the epidemic is largely spread by drug injectors.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Thu, 01 Jun 2006

Source:	New York Times (NY)

Copyright:	2006 The New York Times Company

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/298

Website:	http://www.nytimes.com/

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n702.a07.html

Domestic News- Policy

Several newspapers reported on the disastrous consequences of drug prohibition this week: tainted drugs nationwide; meth lab remnants causing hazards for road crews; and more violence.  Yet not one of those stories used the word prohibition or even implied that prohibition was the problem.  Of course, even if a drug isn't fully prohibited, drug warriors can still make people's lives miserable over it, as chronic pain patients know too well.

DETROIT -- Larry, a 53-year-old heroin addict, has two cardinal rules: Never shoot up alone, and only shoot up one at a time.  If one person overdoses, "you need someone there to bring you back," he said.

Larry, who asked that his last name not be used because of his illegal habit, recited his rules after hearing that a mixture of heroin and a powerful painkiller has been killing unsuspecting users who believe they are taking pure heroin.

Officials from Philadelphia to Chicago have reported deaths from the drug, called fentanyl and considered 80 times more powerful than morphine.  In the Detroit area -- the apparent hub of the problem with more than 100 confirmed cases since last fall and up to 33 possible deaths in the last week -- officials from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating, and community organizations are scrambling to get the word out to users.

The CDC says it has no national statistics on fentanyl deaths and has only been asked to investigate in Michigan.  But individual reports from a scattering of states indicate the drug is widespread.

In Philadelphia, there have been 20 confirmed deaths from heroin mixed with fentanyl since April 17, and test results are pending for another eight suspected cases, the city health department said.

In New Jersey, where officials first raised the alarm about the drug in April, there have been about 10 confirmed fentanyl deaths and another 10 to 20 suspected cases since last month, according to the state's poison control center.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Fri, 26 May 2006

Source:	Chicago Tribune (IL)

Copyright:	2006 Chicago Tribune Company

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/82

Author:	Sarah Karush, Associated Press Writer

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n674/a03.html

Toxic Trash Spurs Safety Campaign

Volunteers and maintenance crews who clean up roadside litter are being urged to watch for potentially toxic debris discarded from methamphetamine labs.

Transportation agencies in several states and organizations that promote highway cleanups are creating brochures and DVDs to educate workers about dangers from materials used to make the drug, also known as meth or speed.

"We felt it was important to notify the public that the trash you might as a Good Samaritan be out picking up on the side of the road could possibly be dangerous to you," says Lt.  John Eichkorn of the Kansas Highway Patrol.  The agency issued a news release in March that warned volunteers and highway cleanup crews.

Bystanders who come across materials used to make the drug can be burned or their lungs damaged from inhaling fumes.  Clues indicating a dumpsite include empty bottles attached to a rubber hose, the smell of ammonia and coffee filters stained red or containing a white powder residue.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Wed, 31 May 2006

Source:	USA Today (US)

Copyright:	2006 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co.  Inc

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/466

Author:	Charisse Jones, USA TODAY

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n697/a07.html

LAREDO, Texas - As the United States debates how to protect its border, Sergio Martinez ponders how to protect his life.

Martinez lives just across the muddy Rio Grande in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, where competing drug cartels are killing people at the rate of nearly one a day.

"I can't go out at night.  There is no law," said Martinez, 28, standing in the doorway of his small bodega on the main street just south of the border.  His business has dwindled by half, as frightened Americans stay away from once-popular Mexican shops, restaurants and clubs.

At least 115 people have been killed this year in the Mexican city of 330,000.  There have been no arrests. And the escalating violence has occasionally spilled across the border into booming Laredo, increasing tensions between the two countries as border security takes center stage in Washington.

President Bush has announced plans to send up to 6,000 National Guard soldiers to the Mexican border, to assist the Border Patrol with intelligence, surveillance, and other support activities.

"When the National Guard gets here, they're going to be running into guys with automatic weapons," said Rick Flores, sheriff of sprawling Webb County, which includes Laredo.  "This is the hottest spot on the Texas-Mexico border."

Police are killed with impunity in Nuevo Laredo.  On May 16, the chief of the homicide division and another officer were shot to death just after finishing lunch at a local restaurant.  On May 3, five Nuevo Laredo police were wounded by gunmen who attacked them in a restaurant with AK-47 rifles.  A month before, four federal officers were killed in a daylight attack on a downtown street. There has not been a police chief since the last one resigned two months ago; his predecessor, Alejandro Dominguez, was assassinated on his first day in office.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Sun, 28 May 2006

Source:	Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)

Copyright:	2006 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/340

Author:	Paul Nussbaum, Inquirer Staff Writer

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Laredo

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n695/a10.html

(8) MISGUIDED DEA'S WITCH HUNT LEAVES PATIENTS HURTING

Chronic pain management is officially part of the war on drugs.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Justice Department have had such bad results with controlling the illegal importation and use of heroin and cocaine that both departments have turned their focus on pain-management clinics to get some "success" stories.

With a growing population of people suffering from severe chronic pain, prescribing strong opiates such as Oxycontin, have risen. Oxycontin, a Schedule II drug, gives up to 12 hours of time released pain control.

But it has also become the favorite drug of choice for illegal sale on the streets.  Why? If you crush the pill, the user gets an instantaneous high similar to heroin - without using a needle.  Since it's a legal prescription drug, finding an unscrupulous doctor is much easier than finding a heroin dealer.

This has resulted in a war between physicians, the DEA and patients who truly need strong medication.  The DEA doesn't care about the enormous impact they are having on the good doctors and patients who follow the law.  The DEA is watching pain-management clinics, mostly those owned or operated by minorities, to find a rotten apple in the barrel.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Tue, 30 May 2006

Source:	Albuquerque Tribune (NM)

Copyright:	2006 The Albuquerque Tribune

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/11

Author:	Barbara McKee, Tribune Columnist

Note:	McKee, a wheelchair user, is a freelance writer and producer.

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n697/a06.html

Law Enforcement & Prisons

The attacks on the innocent continue in the drug war.  And, as one family learned, a lack of charges won't necessarily prove to neighbors that you are innocent.  In Wisconsin, drug war tactics are becoming more invasive.  And in New York, a hard look how little society gains from the drug war despite the huge costs to both police and citizens.

Drug Force Apologetic For Raid Error

Profuse apologies and promises of restitution, repair and investigation were made by officials Wednesday in the wake of a botched drug raid at a Dodgeville apartment building.

A six-agency illegal drug task force on Monday initially broke into the wrong apartment and handcuffed an innocent couple as they were preparing to retire for the night.  After officers realized their error, they eventually took four people into custody at the adjacent apartment.

The two people who were released resided at 512 Montgomery St., Apt. 4.  The intended raid target was Apt. 3, said Lt. Scott Marquardt,
director of the Richland-Iowa-Grant Drug Task Force and a member of the Platteville Police Department.

Marquardt said he is investigating how the tactical unit mixed up the apartments and broke the big front window and ignited a "flash bang" device outside the window, then entered through the apartment door and handcuffed the couple.  Marquardt said he didn't know if the door was smashed in.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Thu, 25 May 2006

Source:	Wisconsin State Journal (WI)

Copyright:	2006 Madison Newspapers, Inc.

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/506

Author:	George Hesselberg

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n670/a08.html

FORT GAY -- Just weeks ago, Joetta Hatfield was slicing bologna for a customer in the 60-year-old, family-owned general store when the lady asked if it was true that millions of dollars were stashed in mattresses sold at the business.

"I said, 'Do you think I'd be standing here slicing bologna if I had millions in mattressesUKP'" she said.

It's been almost three years -- June 2003 -- since police swooped in on the Hatfield family business, arresting her husband, Shannon, and son, Landon, and charging them with selling cocaine.  A few months later, they returned and arrested Shannon again.  - advertisement -

In May 2004, Wayne County prosecutor Jim Young had the charges against those two and 17 others dismissed.  The "confidential informant" in the case -- the person police provided with money to make drug purchases -- later pleaded guilty to fraud.

Thomas Osborne, serving time in a Kentucky jail, admitted he did not buy drugs from most of those charged, that he gave police fake drugs and spent the $7,000 they gave him on himself instead of making drug buys.

"In my experience, I've never seen anything like that," Young conceded last week.

But many in Wayne County -- a mostly rural area dotted with small towns -- never seemed to realize the charges had been dropped, Joetta Hatfield said.  "They told lots of things, but [the mattress stash] was the best one," she said.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Sun, 28 May 2006

Source:	Charleston Gazette (WV)

Copyright:	2006 Charleston Gazette

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/77

Note:	Does not print out of town letters.

Author:	Tom Searls, Staff writer

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n687/a02.html

Swallowing dope or other contraband won't hide it anymore.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled that Milwaukee police officers were justified in using laxatives to search a man who had swallowed a bag of heroin during a 2002 drug bust.  The decision found that police did not violate Tomas Payano-Roman's constitutional rights against unreasonable search by forcing him to drink a laxative called GoLytely every 20 to 30 minutes until the drugs came out.

In its 5 to 2 decision, the court said the laxative use was acceptable because it was carried out under medical supervision and met dual medical-treatment and evidence-gathering purposes. Dissenting, Chief Justice Shirley S.  Abrahamson said the evidence should not have been allowed since police didn't get a search warrant.

Officers saw Payano-Roman swallow the bag as they approached him.  He pleaded guilty to possession of heroin and was sentenced to 60 days in jail.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Sun, 28 May 2006

Source:	Washington Post (DC)

Copyright:	2006 The Washington Post Company

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/491

Author:	Kari Lydersen

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n689/a01.html

After Flurry of Arrests, Many Cases Dismissed or Suspects Released

Thirty-eight suspected drug houses raided.  Seventy-six people arrested.

The police dubbed the three-day blitz "Operation Shock and Awe," after the mass bombings that launched the beginning of the Iraq War, and even invited the media along, like embedded war correspondents, to witness the dramatic busts.

Many politicians and residents have applauded the city for taking action against drugs in Buffalo, but they also question how much impact the raids ultimately had.

A Buffalo News analysis found that of the suspects picked up during the raids conducted April 18 to 20, just 20 are facing felony charges, according to City Court records.

Sixteen suspects had their cases dismissed, at least some because the judge found there wasn't enough evidence to support the charges. At least 32 of the suspects were out of jail within 24 hours of being arrested.

The raids also yielded just a small quantity of drugs - 4 pounds, 13 ounces of marijuana and less than 7 ounces of cocaine and crack cocaine - especially considering 3 1/2 pounds of the pot was confiscated when a police officer stopped a driver for a moving violation during the time of the raids and just happened to find the drugs.  "It is discouraging," said Council Member Dominic Bonifacio Jr.  of the outcome. "We've all heard about the revolving door in the court system, but this proves it."

[snip]

Pubdate:	Wed, 24 May 2006

Source:	Buffalo News (NY)

Copyright:	2006 The Buffalo News

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/61

Author:	Maki Becker, News Staff Reporter

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n667/a05.html

Cannabis & Hemp-

We begin this week with a "must-read" Boston Globe article on UMass professor Lyle Cracker's ongoing attempts to get a DEA license to grow a supply of high-quality medical cannabis for research purposes.  Prof. Cracker has run into serious resistance from the U.S.  federal government, who insist that the NIDA-administered cannabis produced at the University of Mississippi is perfectly fine, despite significant evidence to the contrary.

Our next story is the sad tale of a seriously misguided senior prank.  It appears that two graduating high school students from Dallas tried to pull a prank on the school's administration by sneaking bran muffins laced with cannabis into the teacher's lounge. When school employees became ill, an FBI terrorism investigation was initiated because the case involved the potential contamination of the school's food supply.  To make a long story short, 18 year old Ian Walker and Joseph Tellini have both been charged with five felony counts of assault on a public servant, and now face up to 20 years in prison because of the incident involved a controlled substance.

Next a report that there has been a marked increase in the smuggling of cannabis across the U.S.-Mexican border this year, with seizures up to nearly 1 million pounds since September of 2005, compared to the 755,000 pounds seized in the 12 month period between Sept.  2004 and Sept.  2005. Our fourth story is a Daily Telegraph article about a controversial new approach to drug tourism being proposed by the Dutch city of Maastrich.  The plan involves moving existing coffee shops to the edge of the Belgium border.  Despite acknowledging that many of the "drug tourists" being serviced by these coffee shops come from Belgium, that country's lawmakers have argued that this plan threatens to undermine that country's "zero tolerance" approach to drug use.  And lastly this week, an entertaining interview with Tommy Chong, who discusses his "bong" bust and time in prison, thanking the DEA for making him "the Nelson Mandela of weed".

Research on the Medicinal Benefits of Marijuana May Depend on Good Gardening--and Some Say Uncle Sam, the Country's Only Legal Grower of the Cannabis Plant, Isn't Much of a Green Thumb.

Lyle Cracker has a number of plants on his mind.  An agronomist and professor in the Department of Plant, Soil & Insect Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, he's currently analyzing the active ingredients in black cohosh, which is used to alleviate symptoms of menopause.

[snip]

There is another medicinal plant that Craker would like to grow and study, but in this instance, his prospects will be determined in a courtroom.  Since 2001, Craker has been seeking a license from the Drug Enforcement Administration to establish a medical-marijuana growth facility at UMass-Amherst.  It would be the second such facility in the US; at present, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a federal agency, produces the only legal supply of cannabis in the country at the University of Mississippi.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Sun, 28 May 2006

Source:	Boston Globe (MA)

Copyright:	2006 Globe Newspaper Company

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/52

Author:	Jessica Winter

Note:	Jessica Winter is a freelance journalist in New York.  She

writes for The Village Voice, the Guardian (UK), Time Out London, and other publications.

Cited:	Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies

http://www.maps.org

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/people/Lyle+Craker

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/people/Rick+Doblin

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/people/Donald+Tashkin

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/people/Ethan+Russo

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Food+and+Drug+Administration

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n688.a03.html

Two students have been charged with giving a high school's employees marijuana-spiked muffins in a senior prank that sent 18 people to the hospital and triggered an FBI and terrorism investigation.  "I had no idea of the scope of my actions," Ian Walker, 18, said Friday, a day after he and friend Joseph Tellini surrendered to police.  They could receive 10 years in prison or more if convicted of felony charges.  Walker is accused of delivering adulterated bran muffins to the teachers lounge of Tellini's suburban school May 16 and claiming they were part of an Eagle Scout project.  When Lake Highlands High School employees ate the muffins, they began complaining of nausea, lightheadedness and headaches.  Most of those sickened were quickly treated and released, but Rita Greenfield, an 86-year-old receptionist, spent two days in the hospital.  "They were just thinking it would be fun to get these teachers all silly and giggly," Greenfield said.  "I do not think of this as a prank at all. It has caused heartaches and hard feelings."

The FBI investigated because the case involved a contamination of the food supply at a school.  A joint terrorism task force found that terrorism was not involved, but determined the muffins contained marijuana and turned up a surveillance video of the delivery.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Sat, 27 May 2006

Source:	Charlotte Observer (NC)

Copyright:	2006 The Charlotte Observer

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/78

Author:	Julia Glick, Associated Press

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n693.a10.html

Weighed down by 50-pound sacks of marijuana, they hike through the desert for days to reach remote drop-off points in the United States, then sneak back across the Mexican border.

They are seldom illegal immigrants, but drug runners, physically fit and able to carry heavy loads for long distances.  In some cases, it's been the family business for generations.

Lately, they're getting caught running more drugs than ever -- often over the same desert routes used by undocumented immigrants -- with the U.S.  Border Patrol reporting a sharp increase in the amount of marijuana seized.

The Border Patrol's Tucson, Ariz., sector confiscated almost as much marijuana in the first 71/2 months of this fiscal year as they did all of last year, and seizures are up all along the border.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Sat, 27 May 2006

Source:	Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)

Copyright:	2006 Sun-Sentinel Company

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/159

Author:	Mark Stevenson, The Associated Press

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n678.a09.html

To most of the outside world, it is known as the dull Dutch market town where the treaty that created the European Union was signed in 1992.  Small wonder then, that the bulk of Maastricht's foreign
visitors come not for the history, but for the abundance of Amsterdam-style "coffee shops" selling marijuana.

Now, however, fed up at the growing numbers of drug tourists, Maastricht plans to move up to half of the offending cafes to the Belgian border - a scheme that has tested the spirit of European integration to its limit.

For the town's mayor, Gerd Leers, the move will simply relocate the cafes safely out of Maastricht and closer to their main market, which locals say is overwhelmingly young Belgians anyway.

But officials in Belgium, where cannabis remains illegal, say the plan will completely derail their own zero-tolerance policy on drugs.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Sun, 28 May 2006

Source:	Daily Telegraph (UK)

Copyright:	2006 Telegraph Group Limited

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/114

Author:	Justin Stares, in Maastricht

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Maastricht

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n689.a05.html

Tommy Chong and the 'Marijuana-Logues' comes to Blaisdell Concert Hall What's the curse? May you live in interesting times? Three years ago, as Americans were still reeling from the combination of al-Qaida and anthrax attacks, as American soldiers prepared to cross the border into Iraq, government prosecutors and law-enforcement personnel executed a daring raid.

By the close of business on Feb.  24, 2003, more than 50 individuals had been taken into custody, their weapons of destruction seized, their fiendish business operations shuttered.  America could breath a sigh of relief.  "Operation Pipe Dreams" had struck a blow against the sales of drug paraphernalia, such as bongs and pipes.

Stoners, beware.  As if they weren't paranoid enough!

One of those targeted was comedian Tommy Chong.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Sat, 27 May 2006

Source:	Honolulu Star-Bulletin (HI)

Copyright:	2006 Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n686.a04.html

International News

Thailand's caretaker Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, is at it again.  A few years back he instituted a slaughter, killing "more than 2,000 suspected drug traffickers...  during the six-month campaign that started in February 2003." Worst of all, "the government appeared to have given tacit permission for police to implement targeted killings of suspected drug traffickers," admitted Thailand's Nation newspaper this week.  Now, in 2006 -- never mind the number of Thai drug users is dropping -- Thaksin is whipping up yet another drug war.  Thaksin has previously declared victory in the 2003 drug war (and another one in 2004).  Declaring drug wars enables "him to score easy political points," pointed out The Nation.

What does an emperor (or satrap) do when informed he has no clothes? Why, banish the bearer of such unwelcome news, that's what! In Afghanistan, the upper house of the legislature declared the Senlis Council (a European drug-policy watchdog) "should stop their activities in Afghanistan and leave this country." Commenting on an utterly ineffective Afghan drug war, Senlis had earlier suggested that Afghanistan go the route of India, France, and Tasmania, and simply legalize the Afghan opium crop for legal painkillers like codeine and morphine, which are greatly in demand in developing countries.  The current Afghan government, installed by the U.S. in 2002 and widely described as a puppet regime, has overseen record increases in opium production after the Taliban had cut production to record lows in 2001.  The "activities" of the Senlis Council (explained a pious Afghan legislature) "were against a ruling by religious leaders against drugs, as well as the constitution, which also prohibits their production and use."

U.S.  Representative Mark Souder, Republican Congressman from Indiana, wants to prove to the world he's a more rabid drug warrior than anyone, including the drug czar.  Souder is bent on unleashing a biowar on "drugs" in Colombia and Afghanistan using the crop-killing fusarium oxysporum fungus.  But even the Bush administration's Office of National Drug Control Policy says that's too risky.  "It's an organism that could mutate into another organism that kills everything," admitted the drug czar's office.  Not even the recent outbreak of fusarium eye infections from contaminated contact lens solution worries Souder, who (financed by the riches of millionaire Mel Sembler of Straight Inc.  infamy), is up for re-election next November.  The "hostile use of a biological agent is biological warfare," noted Edward Hammond, director of the U.S.  office of the Sunshine Project, and violates international law.  Rued an unconcerned Souder: "We're frustrated and amazed at the resistance."

Resistance to the law banning magic mushrooms in the U.K.  last year has blossomed into forms unexpected by authorities.  Where once magic (psilocybe) mushrooms were legally sold, now myriad other hallucinogens are taking their place.  But as an article from the Independent newspaper this week points out, "these are not drugs where you have to break the law to sell, buy or consume them - they are all completely legal." Although they may be legal, such powerful drugs aren't toys and can be misused.  "People with mental health problems should not take them," according to U.K.  drug policy organization DrugScope, and if "you are going to experiment, do so in a safe and secure environment."

Thaksin's claimed surge in drug in drug use is not borne out by statistics from the top anti-narcotics agency

When caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced last week that he would resume active duty following a 45-day vacation, he suggested the country needed him at the helm to deal effectively with a plethora of problems that had cropped up in his absence.  One of the key problems cited to justify his return to the political centre stage was the supposed higher incidence of drug addiction among young people.

With more than a hint of drama, Thaksin made his announcement in front of a group of supporters who claimed to be grieving parents whose children had supposedly fallen prey to amphetamine addiction.

[snip]

If only Thaksin could back up his claim with reliable and accurate statistics to show that the scourge of drugs has come back with a vengeance and that the society as a whole is in jeopardy as a result.

A group of journalists went to Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), the government's leading agency in the fight against illicit drugs, to look for evidence of the "worsening drug situation" spoken of by the caretaker prime minister, and found none to support his claim.

According to the ONCB, there has been no indication whatsoever that the drug situation is getting worse.  Indeed, the anti-drug agency's statistics point to the opposite: the number of arrests in connection with drug trafficking has dropped dramatically in the past three years.

In 2002, the number of drugs-related arrests hit an all-time high of 215,209.  The number of arrests dropped to 102,417 in 2003, 55,505 in 2004, 58,853 in 2005, and 13,712 in the first quarter of this year.

[snip]

More than 2,000 suspected drug traffickers were killed during the six-month campaign that started in February 2003.  During this period, the government appeared to have given tacit permission for police to implement targeted killings of suspected drug traffickers. The killings tarnished Thailand's human-rights record and attracted worldwide condemnation, but there was scant criticism at home thanks to Thaksin's mastery of propaganda.

Thaksin declared victory in the 2003 drug war but subsequently declared several more wars against drugs after he found that doing so enabled him to score easy political points.

[snip]

Lest people believe they need a superhero like Thaksin to keep the drug situation under control, society should keep sight of the fundamental fact that the war on drugs cannot be won unless Thailand succeeds in reducing the demand for drugs, in addition to law enforcement.  As such, the war on drugs will necessarily take time and people should be sceptical about any quack doctor offering quick fix.

Pubdate:	Thu, 25 May 2006

Source:	Nation, The (Thailand)

Copyright:	2006 Nation Multimedia Group

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/1963

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n684.a07.html

KABUL:	The upper house of Afghan parliament wants a London-based

group pushing for the legalisation of Afghanistan's huge opium crop to leave the country, the counternarcotics ministry said Saturday.

A meeting of the upper house last week decided the Senlis Council "should stop their activities in Afghanistan and leave this country," the ministry said in a statement.  The international think-tank has been pushing for Afghanistan to legalise its opium crop, which supplies up to 90 percent of the heroin used in Europe, saying crop eradication will never work.  The group says opium production should be licenced and the crop used to make legal painkillers for developing countries, which it says have a growing demand for these drugs.

The upper house said the activities of the Senlis Council were against a ruling by religious leaders against drugs, as well as the constitution, which also prohibits their production and use.

[snip]

Senlis Council country manager Guillaume Fournier said they had not been officially told to pack up and leave.  The group's message, that crop eradication does not work, should be part of the political debate of a democratic Afghanistan, Fournier added.  Afghanistan is trying to deal with its flourishing opium trade, which experts say is fuelling the Taliban-led insurgency, by destroying opium fields and encouraging farmers to grow other less lucrative crops.  The United Nations and the Afghan government have estimated the total export value of Afghanistan's opium in 2005 at 2.7 billion dollars, equivalent to 52 percent of the country's official gross domestic product.

Pubdate:	Sun, 28 May 2006

Source:	Daily Times (Pakistan)

Copyright:	2006 Daily Times

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/2893

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm

(Decrim/Legalization)

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n686.a03.html

If a fungus can be unleashed to kill the plants that produce cocaine and heroin without contaminating the soil, Rep.  Mark Souder, R-3rd, contends, the U.S.  government should test it and then use it in the drug fields of Colombia and Afghanistan.

He's angry at what he sees as foot-dragging in the Bush
administration, especially in the drug czar's office.

"We're frustrated and amazed at the resistance to looking at alternative methods" of eradicating the drug-producing plants, Souder said.

But the drug czar, John Walters, and his staff say a coca-killing fungus -- Fusarium oxysporum -- might wreak havoc in the soil, ruining it for any kind of plants, including the crops the U.S. wants Colombian and Afghan farmers to grow instead of coca and poppies.  Cocaine is made from coca plants; heroin is made from poppies.

The government's own scientists, however, say those concerns are unjustified, based on tests Walters said haven't occurred.

[snip]

A recent outbreak of eye infections linked to contact lens solution has been blamed on one kind of Fusarium.

"It's an organism that could mutate into another organism that kills everything," said Thomas Riley, spokesman for the drug czar's office.  "The concern is if it mutates into something else, you've unleashed it on the wild."

He said the experiment by federal scientists "although interesting, was not conclusive concerning the safety and specificity of Fusarium."

Souder boils over at that attitude.  But his anger at the drug czar's office was eclipsed by his frustration with the lack of
communication among government agencies when he learned -- from a journalist -- that a coca-killing fungus was identified by the Agriculture Department and tested in Hawaii a decade ago.

[snip]

But spreading a non-native fungus in farmers' fields is tantamount to biological warfare, according to an organization created to stop what it says are dangers from biotechnology, and the U.S.  has signed an international treaty promising not to use biological weapons in a war zone.

"Hostile use of a biological agent is biological warfare," said Edward Hammond, director of the U.S.  office of the Sunshine Project.

"If you apply a biological agent by force in a conflict zone, where people routinely even shoot down crop eradication planes, you are damn right that it's a hostile use.  This is the case in Colombia, and the same would certainly apply in Afghanistan," he said.

[snip]

Hammond said aside from the environmental and biological warfare concerns of launching a biological herbicide into Colombia, "coca farmers will figure a way around it pretty quickly.  Has years of spraying chemicals made a dent? Nope.  Fusarium oxysporum isn't a 'magic bullet' either."

[snip]

Now, Souder said, the fungus should be used on coca plants in Colombia.

That should never happen, Hammond said.

"Yes, of course, coca is not a good crop when it is grown to produce cocaine," he said.  "But the fact that a crop is destined for such a malicious product does not mean that you can suspend the law in your quest to stop it."

Pubdate:	Sun, 28 May 2006

Source:	Journal Gazette, The (IN)

Copyright:	2006 The Journal Gazette

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/908

Author:	Sylvia A.  Smith, Washington editor

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Fusarium

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Colombia

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Afghanistan

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/people/Mark+Souder

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n689.a06.html

They have exotic names like Funk Pills, Amsterdam Gold, Kratom Leaf and Ayahuasca Sacrament and promise effects which range from the mildly euphoric to "ecstasy-style" energy rushes and hallucinogenic experiences.

But these are not drugs where you have to break the law to sell, buy or consume them - they are all completely legal.  Dozens of new and ancient types of "legal highs" - derived from herbs, plants and cacti from South America and Asia and synthetic stimulants from New Zealand - - are available.  They can be bought, often at low prices, from internet-based companies and an increasing number of high-street "head" shops.

Ironically, the trade has been stimulated by the Government's decision last year to ban "magic mushrooms", which contain the hallucinogenic psilocin, which had been sold openly through the internet and in places such as Camden market in north London.  The ban left a gap in the market, with consumers and vendors looking for new products.

[snip]

Harry Shapiro, a spokesman for DrugScope, added: "People with mental health problems should not take them.  If you are going to experiment, do so in a safe and secure environment."

[snip]

Pubdate:	Tue, 30 May 2006

Source:	Independent (UK)

Copyright:	2006 Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd.

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/209

Author:	Terry Kirby, Chief Reporter

Cited:	DrugScope http://www.drugscope.org.uk/

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/hallucinogens.htm (Hallucinogens)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n694.a03.html

THE TOP 10 THINGS I KNOW ABOUT DRUGS

By Tony Newman, AlterNet.  Posted June 2, 2006.

We have to learn how to live with drugs -- because they aren't going anywhere.

http://alternet.org/drugreporter/36942/

CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW

Tonight:	6/02/06 - Fred Gardener, Editor of Medical Journal

O'Shaughnessy's, Dr.  David Duncan: Cannabis does NOT cause Cancer, Tom Angell, Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

Last:	5/26/06 Dr.  Gustavo de Grieff, former Atty. General of Colombia,

former ambassador, judge & LEAP board member + Terry Nelson of LEAP.

Audio:	http://drugtruth.net/cbaudio06/FDBCB_052606.mp3

Listen Live Fridays 8:00 PM, ET, 7:00 CT, 6:00 MT & 5:00 PT at www.KPFT.org

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BUY "BURNING RAINBOW FARM," SUPPORT MICHIGAN NORML

"Read this book and weep.  It reminds us that the War on Drugs created the template for America's brutal foreign policy of today and continues to tear at the very fabric of our national life." - John Sinclair

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CONVICT NATION

By Silja J.A.  Talvi

Mass incarceration: Who is it good for?

http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2680/

JOIN A MEDIA ACTIVISM ROUNDTABLE ONLINE

Gather with leading hearts and minds from the drug policy reform movement as we discuss ways to write Letters to the Editor that get printed.  We'll also discuss ways to get notable OPEDS printed in your local and in-state newspapers.  We'll also educate on how to increase drug policy coverage in your local radio markets.

Special focus in the month of June will be on possible drug law changes in Mexico; the Drug Czar's misinformation on cocaine interdiction efforts in Colombia and the FDA's comments on marijuana's medical efficacy and resulting media comment.

The conferences will be held throughout the month of June on Tuesday evenings starting at 9 p.m.  Eastern, 8 p.m. Central, 7 p.m. Mountain and 6 p.m.  Pacific in the DrugSense Virtual Conference Room. SEE: http://mapinc.org/resource/paltalk.htm for details on how you can participate.  Discussion is conducted by voice (microphone and speakers all that is needed - however, you may listen if you don't have a microphone) and also by text messaging.

Your host for the session is MAP's Media Activism Facilitator Steve Heath.  Questions about the meeting should be emailed only to him at

COURT DECISION ON WORKPLACE IMPAIRMENT DISTRESSING

By Bill Hildebrandt

As a Salem area employer, I wanted to comment on the recent decision from the Oregon Supreme Court regarding Robert Washburn's case.

My primary concern is with my employees' ability to function at work, and current drug testing programs fail to properly address this issue.  Since almost all workplace drug tests measure only the by-products of previous marijuana use, a patient such as Mr. Washburn may test positive without being impaired.  Ironically, the prescription drugs allowed by the court wouldn't bar him from work, but may impact his performance more than the cannabis over which he lost his job.

I hope the Supreme Court's decision doesn't encourage other employers to abandon a rational and common-sense approach to workplace impairment.

Bill Hildebrandt
Lafayette

Pubdate:	Mon, 22 May 2006

Source:	Statesman Journal (Salem, OR)

Referenced:	http://www.publications.ojd.state.or.us/S52254.htm

Marijuana Prohibition Makes War On Miraculous Gift

By Stephen Young

If a miracle suddenly appeared, would we try to learn from it or try to destroy it?

A common plant can relieve pain and muscle spasticity.  The plant's components show promise to inhibit tumor growth and control diabetes.

The plant contains remarkable substances identical to substances which already flow through human bodies and are thought to regulate critical functions from memory to mood.

A close relative of the plant also offers profitable but environmentally-friendly alternative fiber and food crops.

Research continues on the plant in the United States, but most studies focus on allegedly negative effects.

The plant is cannabis (more commonly known as marijuana), and the government does not see it as a miracle.  The government denies that marijuana and similar plants (like the very useful buy wholly non-intoxicating hemp) can ever be good.  But that denial took another hit from the facts recently.

Marijuana prohibitionists have long argued that since cannabis smoke contains more tars than tobacco, it must cause cancer.

A thorough study presented recently at The American Thoracic Society's annual conference showed that even heavy marijuana smoking did not increase the risk for lung cancer.  Indeed, in the study by Donald Tashkin of UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine, marijuana smokers showed slightly lower cancer rates than non-smokers.

This is not an entirely new finding, as a review of the literature on lung cancer and marijuana smoke by Dr.  Robert Melamede suggested last year.

Tashkin's study results should have been on the front page of every newspaper in the nation.  Why? Because we have been wasting lives and resources on a war based on faulty intelligence, only this war has been going on for close to 70 years.  And because the media has helped to disseminate this faulty intelligence for an even longer time, it bears the responsibility of correcting the record fully.

The initial reasons given for marijuana prohibition included its supposed propensity to turn users violent.  That misconception finally got cleared up as the drug became more popular in the 1960s and 1970s despite prohibition.  That era had its own litany of false stories about cannabis, including the absurdity that it made teenage boys sprout breasts.  More recently we heard that marijuana smoking will lead to lung, head and neck cancer.  It's a lie that is especially damaging considering the reality.

In other places in the world, marijuana is being studied medically, and not only for the relief from cancer treatments like
chemotherapy.  Research suggests cannabis might actually be an anti-cancer agent (which would explain why Tashkin's study showed marijuana smokers with lower lung cancer rates than non-smokers). Italian researchers last week seemed to show anti-cancer properties in substances found in cannabis.  This hasn't been widely publicized, similar to other promising research released in 2003, as well as research that goes back to the early 1970s.

If any other substance was involved, this would have been on the cover of major U.S.  news magazines. As it stands, unfortunately, most U.S.  media have missed most of the amazing new science related to cannabis and human health.

Substances called cannabinoids found in cannabis plants also occur naturally human bodies.  Special receptors exist around the body specifically to interact with the cannabinoids that we make or that cannabis makes.  The cannabinoids don't appear in any other plant. Kind of, well, miraculous, isn't it?

More research needs to be done on how cannabis and cannabinoids can be used beneficially.  For now, that research won't take place in the United States.

All U.S.  government-funded research starts with the presumption that marijuana is bad.  Researchers trying to learn about possible benefits report being denied a legal supply of the plant.

This notion that sending a wholly negative message about marijuana (even devoting a multi-billion dollar taxpayer financed ad campaign equating the plant with badness) will somehow keep our young people away from marijuana has also been exposed as a lie.  For the past several years teenagers surveyed on drug use say it's easy to get marijuana if they want it.

There are reasons for young people not to use marijuana.  Hearing over hyped scare stories about the substance isn't one of them.  A recent study of that multi-billion dollar taxpayer financed ad campaign showed many teenagers who viewed the ads became more interested in marijuana, not less.

The rationale for the war on marijuana, and the tactics used to fight that war, have been exposed as false and counterproductive. Each year police arrest more than 700,000 Americans for marijuana. This summer, police across the nation will be out cutting down wild hemp plants that can't intoxicate anyone.  Certainly all that police time could be spent on more pressing issues, and otherwise law-abiding citizens don't need to get drawn into the criminal justice system.

As it stands, we are wasting vast resources to destroy another beneficial resource and to ensure that our country stays behind the curve in terms of scientific research.  The next medical
breakthroughs related to this easily available plant won't occur in our country solely due to ingrained political myopia and cowardice.

We must take off the ideological blinders that decades of drug war have forced on us.  We could have new medicine, new crops for farmers, even new revenue streams for government through legitimate taxation, along with regulation schemes to better keep young people out of the market.

In fact, these things will happen one day.  It's all coming, and we could all save ourselves a lot of shame and misery by trying to learn from the miracle now, instead of wasting billings trying (but failing) to destroy it.

The miracle itself does not suffer for our actions, but we do.

Stephen Young is an editor with DrugSense Weekly and a member of the Board of Directors for Illinois NORML.

"In order to rally people, governments need enemies.  They want us to be afraid, to hate, so we will rally behind them." - Thich Nhat Hanh

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Policy and Law Enforcement/Prison content selection and analysis by Stephen Young (), Cannabis/Hemp content selection and analysis by Philippe Lucas (), International content selection and analysis by Doug Snead (), Layout by Matt Elrod ().  Analysis comments represent the personal views of editors, and not necessarily the views of DrugSense.

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