| Sept. 29 , 2006 #468 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
(1) DOUBTS ASIDE, U.S. SET TO BOOST COLOMBIA AID (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Alleged Corruption in the Army Sparks Concern on Capitol Hill. But It
Seems Unlikely to Affect Drug War Funding to the Top Ally in the
Region. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
BOGOTA, Colombia -- Despite growing bipartisan concern over alleged corruption in the Colombian army, the U.S. Congress appears likely to approve increased funds for this country's war on drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A final vote on Plan Colombia funding -- the largest U.S. foreign aid program outside the Middle East and Afghanistan -- probably won't take place until after the November congressional elections. But staffers and analysts in Washington say Colombia will receive more than $750 million, exceeding the $728 million for the current fiscal year. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Separate House and Senate versions to fund Plan Colombia each call for at least that much to be granted to the government of President Alvaro Uribe, the United States' staunchest ally in South America. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
But even Republican stalwarts such as Rep. Henry J. Hyde of Illinois, chairman of the International Relations Committee, are voicing concern over allegations of corruption in the Colombian army, an institution the U.S. has spent billions of dollars to train and expand. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(2) FEDS' WILY WEED CASH RUSE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A $4 million slash to medical marijuana research funding announced by
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty Monday (September 25) led to early
celebration among medpot activists. "It was really exciting this
morning when the rumour was that the Tories cut the whole program,"
says Vancouver Island Compassion Society founder Philippe Lucas with
only a small hint of sarcasm. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Turns out the Tories aren't stoner stupid. The "cut" represents money that hadn't actually been allocated, just earmarked for research. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Any elimination of funding for Health Canada's medpot program would,
activists argue, have put the feds in violation of the 2000 Parker
court ruling that upheld the right to medical pot and killed possession
laws. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Newly hired Health Canada spokesperson Jason Bouzanis says, "The
[Marihuana Medical Access Division, or MMAD] program is operating as
usual," processing applications and selling med cannabis to between
1,200 and 1,400 users. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Bouzanis confirms that only $2 million was ever doled out of the
original $7.5 million earmarked for reefer research, while about $5.5
million remains to be spent. Vancouver NDP MP Libby Davies has
requested that Auditor General Sheila Fraser look into the accounting
of all money spent on the program. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(3) SUSPICION IN THE CLASSROOM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Critics Say School-Search Bill May Violate Students' Constitutional
Rights And Force Teachers To Act As Cops | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Adopt a policy for searching students or lose federal funding. That's the ultimatum associated with the Student and Teacher Safety Act, which was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Sept. 19. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The legislation would require school boards to establish a policy
allowing full-time teachers and school officials, acting on reasonable
suspicion, to search any student they wish in order to ensure that the
school remains free from weapons, drugs or other dangerous materials.
Districts that fail to enact the guidelines would become ineligible for
federal funds through the Safe and Drug Free School program, from which
New York state received more than $7 million in the 2006-07 academic
year. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Supporters of the Student and Teacher Safety Act argue that the measure
would increase safety in schools while alleviating apprehension about
liability for teachers and other school officials. Opponents, although
they echo the need to improve safety, question the bill's potential to
violate students' constitutional rights as well as the appropriateness
of expanding the role of educators. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(4) OPED: TEXAS' NO-KNOCK SWAT COPS INVADE PEOPLE'S PRIVACY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
You and your law-abiding neighbors in Texas might be just one street
address away from a life-threatening, midnight raid by the local
paramilitary police unit. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
As these so-called SWAT squads increasingly become America's favorite
search warrant delivery service, bungled raids - including many to the
wrong address - have skyrocketed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In these assaults on private property, scores of innocent citizens,
police officers and nonviolent offenders have died. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In a recent Cato Institute report titled Overkill: The Rise of
Paramilitary Police Raids in America, Radley Balko describes how "over
the last 25 years, America has seen a disturbing militarization of its
civilian law enforcement, along with dramatic and unsettling rise in
the use of paramilitary police units (most commonly called Special,
Weapons and Tactics, or SWAT) for routine police work. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"The most common use of SWAT teams today is to serve narcotics warrants, usually with forced, unannounced entry into the home." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
These raids - as many as 40,000 per year - terrorize nonviolent drug offenders, bystanders and wrongly targeted civilians who are awakened in the dead of night as teams of heavily armed paramilitary units, dressed not as police but as soldiers, invade their homes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Earlier this year, Balko reports, on a tip from an informant, a Fort
Worth SWAT team fired several rounds of tear gas into the home of Steve
Blackman - - he was not home at the time - and then forcibly and
violently entered the home. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
To add to the destruction, the police also slashed the tires on
Blackman's truck. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Later, the police realize they trashed the wrong house. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The district attorney in Los Angeles has a great idea: ban drug
offenders from Skid Row. The move would be designed to slow the
illegal drug market around the area known for homelessness, but it
seems like officials would have just as good a chance of banning
homeless people from Skid Row. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The St. Petersburg Times ran an excellent editorial last week,
questioning a proposed new drug testing program for local public
schools. The editorial wondered why the district superintendent
seems so concerned with the bodily fluids of students. In other good
news, a pain doctor unjustly raided by police was given a big award
in a lawsuit; and the ONDCP changes tone the of its failed
anti-drug ads just enough to make them less offensive. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(5) DRUG OFFENDERS TO BE BANNED FROM SKID ROW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Under a New Strategy, Those Who Are Convicted of Narcotics-Related
Crimes in the Area Would Face Prosecution If They Return, the D.A.
Says. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Frustrated by their inability to curtail skid row's burgeoning drug
trade, Los Angeles law enforcement leaders on Tuesday unveiled a new
but untested weapon: prohibiting people convicted of drug offenses
from returning to the area while on probation. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The strategy seeks to apply elements of gang injunctions,
prostitution arrests and "stay away" orders often used in domestic
abuse cases to potentially thousands of repeat offenders who buy and
sell narcotics in a part of skid row known as Los Angeles' drug
bazaar. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(6) EDITORIAL: SCHOOL DRUG TESTING SOUNDS LIKE WITCH HUNT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
It is time for the Hernando County School Board to refocus
superintendent Wendy Tellone's curious fixation on testing students
for drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In the past two years Tellone and her staff have brought three
proposals to the board that would randomly select certain groups of
students to submit urine samples, which then are tested for a
variety of drugs, including alcohol. After initially opposing the
recommendation because it is fundamentally unfair and oppressive,
the board eventually authorized the administration to pursue a
$418,000 federal grant that would pay for a drug counselor to
oversee the program. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
At first, Tellone wanted to test all high school and middle school
students who participated in any extracurricular activity or drove a
motor vehicle on campus. Now she has cast a slightly smaller net in
her exploitative fishing expedition: All high school students who
are athletes, cheerleaders or drive on campus. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(7) PHYSICIAN AWARDED $1.8M IN LAWSUIT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A jury awarded $1.8 million Thursday to a local doctor who sued
Gilchrist County Sheriff David Turner and a deputy in federal court
for a wrongful arrest in 2000. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Jurors found that Gilchrist County Deputy Kenneth Carlisle, who died
last year, had violated Dr. Andrew Nguyen's constitutional right not
to be arrested or have property seized without probable cause and
had falsely arrested and maliciously prosecuted the physician, the
jury's verdict form stated. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The jury also upheld a false arrest claim against Turner, who was
named in the case in his official capacity as sheriff. However, they
did not agree that Turner should be held liable for the civil rights
violation claim filed against both him and the deputy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The jury awarded $1,836,100 to Nguyen. The three-day trial started earlier this week at the federal courthouse in Gainesville . | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"It means a lot for me," Nguyen said Friday. "I'm looking for
justice for me. Justice was served in my case." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"With great power comes great responsibility," said Nguyen's
attorney Robert Rush, referencing a quote in the Spider-Man comic
series. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"One of the most precious features of American culture is that we
enjoy freedom. It sounds a little corny but the Fourth Amendment is
there to protect us from government action like this." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Nguyen, now 68, was arrested in March 2000 for six felony counts of
delivering a controlled substance and held in jail on a $60,000
bond. Three months later the case was dropped by the State
Attorney's Office, which cited insufficient evidence. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
An affidavit, created by investigators and using information from a
woman serving as officers' confidential informant, failed to note
that she had been Nguyen's patient since 1997 and falsely claimed
the doctor, a general practitioner, had failed to conduct any
physical exam of the woman, Nguyen's lawsuit stated. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(8) AD REPORT CARD: THIS IS YOUR ASS ON DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The New Case Against Pot? It Makes You Lazy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The spot: A high-school kid sits on a couch in a basement rec room,
next to a couple of stoner friends. Looking straight at the camera,
he says, "I smoked weed and nobody died. I didn't get into a car
accident. I didn't OD on heroin the next day. Nothing happened. We
sat on Pete's couch for 11 hours." The couch then magically
teleports into the midst of some wholesome teen scenes ( kids
mountain biking, ice skating, playing basketball ), while the
zonked-out stoners just sit there, looking bored. Our narrator
concedes that you're more likely to die out there in the real world
( "driving hard to the rim" or "ice skating with a girl" ) than on
Pete's couch back in the rec room. But, deciding it's worth the
trade-off, he says, "I'll take my chances out there." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In the past two decades, the Office of National Drug Control Policy
and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America have made countless TV
ads about the evils of illicit drugs. There was the one where that
tweaker chick on meth plucked out her whole eyebrow. There was the
one where Rachael Leigh Cook smashed up her kitchen. And, of course,
there was the granddaddy of them all: the fried egg. ( "This is your
brain on drugs. Any questions?" ) I've hated every single one of
these ads with a raging, righteous fury. Until now. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
This new spot, titled "Pete's Couch," doesn't offend me. It
acknowledges that smoking weed on your buddy's sofa is the "safest
thing in the world." ( Which is true. I actually had a friend named
Pete in high school, and we did get high on his couch. No turmoil
ensued. ) The ad's main contention is that it's important to get off
that couch and out into the world, where you can do things like ice
skate with other teens. ( Also true. It is indeed good to engage
with the outside world, instead of just sitting in your rec room.
Though I'd note that it's possible to smoke pot in your rec room one
day and then go ice skating the next. Or even just smoke pot and
immediately go ice skating--which, come to think of it, sounds like
a blast. Who's in? ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Whatever you may think of its arguments, this spot is quite a
departure for the ONDCP. Finally, an admission that using pot isn't
necessarily calamitous. It's possible we're seeing this about-face
only because previous scare-tactic ads were recently proved to
increase drug use. But either way, I applaud the new, more truthful
strategy. Lying is never what you want from your government ( even
if you've grown accustomed to it ). | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (9-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Police in High Point, North Carolina are trying a softer approach to
chronic drug dealing problems, according to the Wall Street Journal.
While critics call it "Hug-a-thug," some people are realizing that
tougher isn't always better when it comes to drug law enforcement.
Indeed, the next story seems to show the futility and waste of the
drug war, as a 16-year-old girl faces 40 years of prison in Texas
for allegedly smuggling cocaine. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Also last week, a Kentucky police chase following a botched drug bust leaves one man dead; a corrupt New Jersey police officer's deeds were exposed because he failed to keep up with his bills on a storage facility where he kept confiscated cash and drugs; and the heads of the Cali cartel are sentenced, but only after negotiations in which some family suspects associated with the case were cleared. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(9) NEW INTERVENTION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Novel Police Tactic Puts Drug Markets Out Of Business | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Confronted by the Evidence, Dealers in High Point, N.C., Succumb to
Pressure | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Some Dubbed It Hug-a-Thug | ||||||||||||||||||||||
HIGH POINT, N.C. -- For over three months, police investigated more than 20 dealers operating in this city's West End neighborhood, where crack cocaine was openly sold on the street and in houses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Police made dozens of undercover buys and videotaped many other drug
purchases. They also did something unusual: they determined the
"influentials" in the dealers' lives -- mothers, grandmothers,
mentors -- and cultivated relationships with them. When police felt
they had amassed ironclad legal cases, they did something even more
striking: they refrained from arresting most of the suspected
dealers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In a counterintuitive approach, police here are trying to shut down
entire drug markets, in part by giving nonviolent suspected drug
dealers a second chance. Their strategy combines the "soft" pressure
from families and community with the "hard" threat of aggressive,
ready-to-go criminal cases. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
While critics say the strategy is too lenient, it has met with early
success and is being tried by other communities afflicted with overt
drug markets and the violence they breed. Overt drug markets --
street-corner dealing, drug houses, and the like -- constitute one
of the worst scourges of poor communities. Such markets foment
violent clashes between dealers, as well as robbery by addicts
desperate for drug money. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(10) PANELISTS SAY 40-YEAR TERM HARSH FOR GIRL, 16 (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Area educators, health-care professionals and lawyers gathered
Saturday to discuss a decision by the county attorney's office to
seek a tougher punishment for a 16-year-old El Paso girl accused of
trying to smuggle cocaine into the U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"Our correctional system is so imperfect," said Cristina Cruz-Grost,
a child psychiatrist and forensic expert. "We need to come together
to educate and rehabilitate people who go through the system. E To
place a 16-year-old in the correctional department of Texas with up
to a 40-year sentence erases the potential for rehabilitation and
destroys her life." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The Ysleta district student, whose name was withheld because she is a juvenile, was allegedly caught trying to smuggle nearly 50 pounds of cocaine into the U.S. The street value of the cocaine is estimated to be between $280,000 and $700,000, officials said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Last week, a grand jury, at the request of the county attorney's
office, decided to allow the teen to be tried under the Texas
Determinate Sentencing statute. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Under the statute, the juvenile faces the possibility of a sentence
of up to 40 years in juvenile detention facilities and in adult
prison. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(11) MAN DIES AFTER POLICE CHASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
SUV Flees During Attempted Drug Sting | ||||||||||||||||||||||
One man died after an alleged undercover drug deal with police led
to a chase yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The incident began about 2 p.m. near West Manslick and Mount Holly roads when undercover Metro Narcotics officers were attempting to make a drug buy from three people in a white Chevrolet Suburban, said Officer Dwight Mitchell, a Louisville Metro Police spokesman. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Metro Narcotics includes officers from metro police and other agencies, including the Kentucky State Police, Mitchell said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Two men and a woman were in the Suburban, Mitchell said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The driver of the Suburban backed up during the transaction,
striking a car and turning to go east on Fairdale Road, Mitchell
said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Two or three unmarked police cars, carrying seven undercover
officers, followed the Suburban, attempting to stop it, Mitchell
said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
After the Suburban crossed National Turnpike onto South Park Road,
the vehicle went out of control and flipped several times in the
2200 block of South Park Road. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Two of the occupants were ejected, Mitchell said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
All three occupants were taken to University Hospital, where one man
died, Mitchell said. The other two occupants suffered what appeared
to be non-life-threatening injuries. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(12) POLICE OFFICER IN NEW JERSEY KEPT EVIDENCE IN STORAGE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
NEWARK -- Bidding on the abandoned contents of a storage locker is
often a game of chance, sometimes producing valuable antiques, other
times a pile of moldy clothes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
One man who makes a living off such auctions had perhaps his most
interesting find last Wednesday. After winning three large bins from
one storage room, he opened them up and found five handguns; 30
police evidence bags containing cocaine, marijuana and heroin; a
pile of money; and nearly 50 case files from the Irvington Police
Department. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The man, who was not publicly identified, contacted his brother, a
detective in Passaic County. On Friday night, Essex County officials
arrested Officer Fredrick T. Southerland of the Irvington Police
Department and charged him with official misconduct and receiving
stolen property. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
He had rented the locker, but had fallen behind in his payments, so
under state law the facility was allowed to auction the storage
room's contents. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(13) CALI DRUG CARTEL SUSPECTS CLOSE TO PLEA DEAL IN MIAMI, LAWYERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Agreement Would Benefit Their Relatives | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The two brothers accused of running Colombia's notorious Cali
cocaine cartel are close to pleading guilty in a deal with federal
prosecutors that would give benefits to their family members,
defense lawyers for Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez-Orejuela said
Friday. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The men "are trying to do the honorable thing and save their
family," said David O. Markus, attorney for Gilberto | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The agreement, expected to be finalized as soon as next week, does
not require the accused drug kingpins to cooperate with the
government in other drug cases, he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
But the settlement is no sweetheart deal for the brothers. The tentative agreement calls for a 30-year sentence, meaning the men are likely to spend the rest of their lives in prison. In addition, they would give up billions of dollars worth of assets, said individuals close to the case who wished to remain anonymous. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"We're just about there," said Roy Kahn, who represents younger
brother Miguel Rodriguez-Orejuela. "A lot of things have been agreed
to in principle." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Gilberto Rodriguez-Orejuela, 67, known as "the Chess Player," and
Miguel Rodriguez-Orejuela, 62, known as "El Senor" have been held in
the maximum security wing of Miami's Federal Detention Center since
their extradition to the United States in 2004 on drug conspiracy
charges. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The deal would cap a massive government investigation into the Cali
cartel -- a family-run drug-trafficking syndicate that once supplied
80 percent of the world's cocaine. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
According to a half-dozen individuals close to the case: The agreement would grant immunity from prosecution to six of the men's grown children in Colombia and prevent the U.S. government in some circumstances from seizing family members' homes and other financial assets. The Treasury Department would remove 28 relatives from a list of suspected drug traffickers subject to economic sanctions. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (14-18) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Californians have tried to establish Prop 215 for 10 years while
subverters ensure it never gets fully implemented, and this week
brings several reports of skirmishes from the front-lines of that
long enduring battle - and one has a happy ending. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A U.S. judge gave Renee Boje one year's probation without
supervision if she remains in Canada, and that finally concludes the
legal fight that began when Renee was charged with cannabis-related
offenses along with Peter McWilliams and Todd McCormick in a LA
mansion back in the first years of Prop 215. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In the latest twist on the government anti-drug campaign, the ONDCP posted a series of 30-second spots on YouTube, the extremely popular internet video-sharing site. The comments are not displayed and the ratings have been disabled, so they don't seem concerned with what the public thinks about this use of public money or the message. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
And we end with a "believe-it-or-not" story from Poland where a
woman who fed cannabis to her cow was sentenced to three years in
prison. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(14) RIVERSIDE COUNTY BANS MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Supervisors vote to prohibit the centers, alleging crime risks and
saying federal law still deems the plant illegal. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to prohibit
medical marijuana dispensaries, calling them magnets for crime and
citing federal laws prohibiting the drug. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The decision comes nearly 10 months after Riverside County became
the first county in Southern California to issue photo | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The board also voted to outlaw marijuana-growing cooperatives and to
join San Diego and San Bernardino counties in suing the state to
overturn the state law requiring counties to issue medical marijuana
cards. The counties contend that the federal prohibition of
marijuana use takes precedence. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Tuesday's hearing, which drew about 80 spectators, pitted local law enforcement agencies against dispensary proponents, who tried to shake the image of medical marijuana users as illicit drug users. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"They're pushing everyone out onto the streets," said Nathan Archer,
38, of San Diego, who said he started using marijuana medically
seven years ago for chronic pain following a construction accident.
"They've said in there they're going to arrest us, but for what? For
trying not to suffer?" | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Opponents say that if medicinal users need marijuana, they should
grow their own, not buy it at a dispensary that would be an easy
target for robberies and assaults. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
But cannabis is a finicky plant, several medicinal users told the
board, and growing your own isn't always easy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"I can't grow it myself. I've tried and failed every time," said
Ryan Michaels, 24, who said he started using marijuana two years ago
for pain after he fractured his arm. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(15) GUILTY PLEAS IN POT SNACKS CASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A Lafayette man pleaded guilty Tuesday to making marijuana products
that looked like popular candy and soda brands, accepting almost six
years behind bars. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The products were distributed to medical marijuana dispensaries
across several Western states; patients say Affolter's "Beyond Bomb"
line of products were appetizing ways of taking their medicine.
Medical use of marijuana is legal under California law but remains
banned by federal law. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Affolter pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to
manufacture and distribute marijuana, and agreed to serve a
five-year, 10-month federal prison term. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Affolter first was indicted by a federal grand jury in March on charges of conspiracy and manufacturing and distributing marijuana after DEA agents raided his home and production facilities, seizing marijuana plants and products, more than $150,000 in cash and several firearms. A witness-tampering charge was added in June. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(16) POT ACTIVIST SETTLES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
VANCOUVER -- An American pot activist who launched an intense legal
fight against extradition to the U.S., has quietly settled her legal
and immigration issues. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
After negotiating a plea agreement of simple possession of marijuana
with U.S. prosecutors, Renee Boje dropped her extradition appeal in
B.C. and returned to California from B.C. last month. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
She had faced a prison term of 10 years to life in connection with a
medical marijuana grow operation. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Her lawyer, John Conroy, said instead of that sentence a U.S. judge
gave Boje one year's probation without supervision if she remains in
Canada. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The judge ordered that if she goes back to the U.S. for more than 72
hours during that one-year probation period she would have to report
to a supervisor. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"It's a good resolution," Conroy said. "She wanted to go through the
immigration process (in Canada) and these appeals had to be
abandoned." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The appeal of a decision ordering Boje back to California was officially dropped yesterday in the B.C. Court of Appeal. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(17) YOUTUBE MEETS REEFER MADNESS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Today's young people are no more receptive to anti-drug propaganda
than the "Reefer Madness" crowd, judging from the response to a new
campaign by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Last week, the ONDCP posted a series of 30-second spots on YouTube,
the Internet video-sharing site. The government ads, all previously
seen on TV, are now featured alongside countless amateur videos in
which the mostly young subjects sing, dance, rant and clown for the
camera. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Visitors who use YouTube's search function to find videos associated
with words like drugs, weed, pot or 420 (a reference to marijuana,
we learned) may stumble on the slick spots produced by "ONDCPstaff,"
described in a user profile as an 18-year-old who lives in
Washington, D.C. We found the spots amusing and hip, but that just
goes to show you. YouTube regulars have assigned them ratings no
higher than 1.5 stars (out of 5). | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The ONDCP isn't posting viewer comments, but you don't have to look
hard to find them elsewhere. "The ONDCP has created a YouTube
profile and it's about as cool as you might expect," reads a posting
on stopthedrugwar.org. "Teenagers are a little smarter than the
government gives them credit for," reads another, at | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A federal study did find that drug use by youngsters who are 12 to
17 has gone down slightly the last three years in a row. At the same
time, it has gone up among those who are 50 to 59. Maybe the
government should forget about YouTube and try to get its message
out through the AARP. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
(18) WOMAN CAUGHT GROWING GRASS FOR COW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A POLISH woman who grew marijuana to calm the nerves of her cow has
been charged with cultivating a narcotic by police in the western
town of Lobez. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The cow had been "skittish and unruly" - once breaking a person's
arm - - until someone suggested mixing cannabis in with its feed,
the woman told police. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"The cow became as calm as a lamb," the 55-year-old woman said,
according to the PAP news agency. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The woman's plants, grown from seeds she bought at a market, reached
nearly 3m tall and were extremely potent, police said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Marijuana possession is a crime throughout Poland. The woman faces
up to three years in jail if convicted. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (19-22) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
When yet another splendid little drug war goes all wrong, how do you
put it to the population in Peoria? The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
decided to play it as follows. The morass in Afghanistan, that isn't
the eastern front of a collapsing guerilla-war quagmire, a-la
Vietnam, oh no. You see, explains the Post-Dispatch, the failure may
be simply explained by not being tough enough on "drugs." The
problem is that the military isn't doing enough, doing enough to
fight those drugs (the poppy flower). If only the military, with
their big, strong planes and men would fight "drugs," then all would
be well in Afghanistan. The Post even quotes a DEA bureaucrat who
decries "inadequate military support," so there! | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile, it is dawning on more realistic thinkers that the entire
Afghan opium crop could be simply purchased at "$600-million -- less
than the $780-million the United States budgeted last year for
eradication," according to Canadian Nobel laureate John Polanyi,
quoted in the The Globe and Mail newspaper this week. Don't expect
Polanyi's suggestion, which echoes earlier recommendations by the
European Senlis Council, to get too far with the ruling
prohibitionist regime in Washington. After all, if we simply license
Afghani farmers to what farmers in Turkey, Tasmania, India, and
France do now (that is, grow opium legally for legal medicines),
where would drug warriors' jobs go? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Back at the U.N. headquarters in New York, there was "Anger at U.S.
Policies" as The Washington Post put it last week. Bolivia's
president, Evo Morales, speaking to the General Assembly while
holding a coca leaf, said the following concerning U.S.-led coca
"eradication" programs. "With all respect to the government of the
United States, we are not going to change anything... We do not need
blackmail or threats." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
And from Canada this week, Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan announced he
will take a fact-finding trip to Europe, possibly to Finland,
Germany, Holland, and Switzerland, to learn more about how their
drug policies have reduced crime and disorder. "The problem we have
here in this city is not a technical one. The problem is a political
one. We need buy-in from the citizens." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
(19) "A FAILED SYSTEM" (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- As Afghanistan's growing illicit drug trade puts the
country's future in doubt and fuels a deadly insurgency, the
finger-pointing is starting. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
President George W. Bush said last week that Afghan President Hamid
Karzai, a key U.S. ally, must wage a tougher fight against the opium
poppy and should be "held accountable" for the results. Bush said
failure would imperil "democratic legitimacy and international
support." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile, questions are being raised about the proper role of U.S.
military forces in the counter-narcotics effort. The State
Department and Drug Enforcement Agency are wrangling with the
Pentagon, saying drug interdiction and eradication efforts need
greater military support. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., who has spent a great deal of time in
Afghanistan examining counter-narcotics efforts, authored the
12-page critique. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A DEA official says the memo accurately depicts the inadequate
military support and that the agency needs more helicopter air
support for its missions, among other things. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
(20) THERE'S A WAY TO END AFGHANISTAN'S AND THE WORLD'S PAIN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday,
Prime Minister Stephen Harper stressed the historic importance of
the UN-sponsored intervention in Afghanistan. The rich have
conspicuously come to the aid of the poor in the common interest.
Calling it the UN's "greatest test," Mr. Harper said, "we cannot
afford to fail." He then warned that "we haven't made Afghanistan's
progress irreversible. Not yet." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The gravest danger to this important project is that the foreign
forces in Afghanistan come to be regarded not as saviours, but as
invaders. One reason that this may happen has yet to receive proper
attention. It lies in the aggressive poppy-eradication program
promoted by the United States. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In addition to being ineffective, this program alienates the population and materially assists the Taliban. It is, moreover, the wrong policy, given the global shortage of essential painkillers -- morphine and codeine -- that are obtained from opium. The poppies are needed and, if properly regulated, could provide a legal source of income to impoverished Afghan farmers while, at the same time, depriving the drug lords and the Taliban of much of their income. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
This argument has been made by the Senlis Council, a think tank with
offices in London, Paris and Kabul that specializes in security
studies and global drug policy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Could opiates made from Afghan poppies make up the shortfall, if the
INCB were to license growing there, as it does in France, India and
Turkey? Undoubtedly. Meeting the global demand for pain medication
has been estimated to require about double the current Afghan
production. Maia Szalavitz, a senior fellow at Stats, a media
watchdog group, has estimated the cost of buying the entire Afghan
poppy crop at the current market price, set today by Afghan drug
lords, as about $600-million -- less than the $780-million the
United States budgeted last year for eradication. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
(21) ANGER AT U.S. POLICIES MORE STRIDENT AT U.N. (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Smaller nations resent the proliferation of annual report cards issued by the State Department, often under congressional mandate, that grade countries on how well they observe human rights, allow the practice of religion, combat drugs and other issues. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Last Monday, the State Department issued its list of countries that
are major suppliers, producers or transporters of narcotics, and
once again Bolivia was on the list. The next day, Bolivia's
president, Evo Morales, held up a coca leaf during his speech to the
General Assembly and denounced what he called a "neo-imperialist"
approach to coca eradication. "With all respect to the government of
the United States, we are not going to change anything," Morales
said. "We do not need blackmail or threats." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
(22) MAYOR PLANS TRIP TO EUROPE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Sullivan And Entourage To Study Drug Programs To Create Support For
Insite | ||||||||||||||||||||||
VANCOUVER - Mayor Sam Sullivan announced Tuesday he plans to go to
Europe with a small group of business people, community | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Sullivan said the trip, which will possibly include visits to
Amsterdam, Finland, Switzerland and Germany, will create "political
momentum" to get support from the provincial and federal governments
for Vancouver's supervised-injection site and future | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"The problem we have here in this city is not a technical one. The
problem is a political one. We need buy-in from the citizens," said
Sullivan. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
As well, he said, "we'll see if we can learn something from what
they have done." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Federal Health Minister Tony Clement recently visited Sweden to look
at its drug programs. Sweden is renowned for being the European
country most aligned with the United States in its attitudes towards
drug addiction. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
BOLIVIAN PRESIDENT EVO MORALES ON DEMOCRACY NOW | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Morales' rise to power began with his leadership of the coca growers union and his high-profile opposition to the U.S.-funded eradication of the coca crop. He helped to lead the street demonstrations by Indian and union groups that toppled the country's last two presidents. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Listen Live Fridays 8:00 PM, ET, 7:00 CT, 6:00 MT & 5:00 PT at
http://www.kpft.org/ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
WELCOME TO THE NEW DRUG SCARE OF 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
By Maia Szalavitz | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Meth, we hardly knew you; say howdy to methadone - the new demon drug according to the media, who - oops - helped turn it into a hazard. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
http://www.stats.org/stories/welcome_drug_2007_sept27_06.htm | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
THIS IS YOUR ASS ON DRUGS | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The new case against pot? It makes you lazy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
By Seth Stevenson | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
ADHD DRUGS BECOME A FAMILY MATTER | ||||||||||||||||||||||
By Marilyn Elias, USA TODAY | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder is becoming a condition that
family members are treated for together: Parents of children taking
ADHD medication are about nine times more likely to also use the drugs
than parents of children who aren't on these drugs, according to a
prescription analysis out today. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-09-27-adhd-drugs_x.htm | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
THE ALEX JONES REPORT SPECIAL - IN STUDIO WITH CELE CASTILLO | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Alex talks with former DEA agent and author Cele Castillo live in
studio about John Negroponte, the fake drug war and US Agencies
smuggling drugs into the US. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
MAP FOCUS ALERT: DEFUND TERRORISTS - END PROHIBITION | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Write a letter today! | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
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. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The conferences will be held every Tuesday evening 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
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speakers all that is needed - however, you may listen if you don't
have a microphone) and also by text messaging. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
MEDICINAL MARIJUANA 'SAVED MY LIFE' | ||||||||||||||||||||||
By Carl Anderson | ||||||||||||||||||||||
To the Editor: | ||||||||||||||||||||||
I just finished reading the Roger Pratt letter entitled, "The great
marijuana cover-up," in today's paper ( NDN, Thursday Sept 21, 2006)
and had to respond immediately. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Almost 10 years ago, I suffered a serious head injury in an MVA.
Five years after that, I was sleeping about 10 hours a week, was
suicidally depressed, unable to work and was consuming anywhere
between 20 and 30 thousand dollars a year in prescription drugs.
About $1,000 was out of pocket, the rest was paid for by the
Canadian taxpayer. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Then one of my friends introduced me to medical marijuana and less
than five years later I sleep regularly, have little depression, am
able to work and am only consuming about 300 dollars a year in
prescription drugs. Before this, I had not used marijuana since
early adulthood. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Given these circumstances, I found his letter extremely offensive and arrogant with overtones of outright ignorance. Mr. Pratt clearly has no experience in medical issues including the debilitating side effects of prescription drugs and the relatively inert properties of cannabis. This drug saved my life and is also saving people like Mr. Pratt and all Canadian taxpayers 20 to 30 thousand dollars a year. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
People should be applauded for successfully taking responsibility for their own health rather than be put down by people who have no idea about the true nature of cannabis, or any other drug. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Carl Anderson | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The Drug War And The Coup In Thailand | ||||||||||||||||||||||
By Doug Snead | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Last week, the (now) deposed Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
went to the U.S., to give a speech at the U.N. and have his picture
taken with his friends in Washington. But folks back home in
Thailand weren't exactly "down" with the PM's activities over the
past few years. Activities like egging on Thai police to summarily
execute thousands of Thai drug "offenders." Harsh, foul | ||||||||||||||||||||||
This week in Thailand, the newly formed ruling Council for
Democratic Reform under Constitutional Monarchy (CDR) ordered that
the existing Police oversight commission be replaced, and also took
measures to "de-politicise the Royal Thai Police." The ousted
Shinawatra "was known to have used police and other law enforcement
officials to commit crimes," reported the Thai Nation newspaper,
"including human rights violations linked to the controversial war
on drugs, in which some 2,000 suspected drug traffickers were killed
under dubious circumstances." ( For the whole report see
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n1268/a06.html ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In a frank admission, Thailand's Nation newspaper goes on to reveal
that "Police officers regard themselves as an extension of the state
responsible for keeping peace and order rather than acting as public
servants." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Toppled Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was able to use Thai police forces to summarily execute thousands of his Thai countrymen for "drugs," and execute them in an extra-legal (read: illegal), and cowardly manner. It would be ironic if Shinawatra's ouster by military coup will mean those killed by Shinawatra's police thugs in extra-legal executions will finally get the justice they deserve. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Doug Snead is an editor with DrugSense Weekly and author of the book
Drug War Propaganda. Please visit | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty. The activist
is the man who cleans up the river." -- Ross Perot | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Policy and Law Enforcement/Prison content selection and analysis by
Stephen Young (), Cannabis/Hemp content selection
and analysis by Deb Harper (), International
content selection and analysis by Doug Snead (),
Layout by Matt Elrod (). Analysis comments
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views of DrugSense. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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