| Nov. 10, 2006 #474 | ||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
(1) PM TO UNWRAP DRUG-DRIVING BILL TODAY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Drivers who get behind the wheel while stoned on drugs will be targeted
in new legislation to be announced today by Prime Minister Stephen
Harper, sources have told The Globe and Mail. | ||||||||||||||||
Mr. Harper will unveil the legal changes in Kitchener, Ont., where he
will be accompanied by Senator Marjorie LeBreton, whose daughter Linda
LeBreton-Holmes and her 12-year-old son Brian were killed more than 10
years ago by a drunk driver. | ||||||||||||||||
Mr. Harper will announce that the Criminal Code will be amended to
allow police to apprehend and test drug-impaired drivers, something
that previous Liberal governments had tried unsuccessfully to enact,
government sources said. | ||||||||||||||||
That is the very least that the Conservative government plans to do,
said Andrew Murie, the chief executive officer of Mothers Against Drunk
Driving Canada. | ||||||||||||||||
Mr. Murie will be at the announcement today and will have a brief
private meeting with Mr. Harper. | ||||||||||||||||
Police officers have been asking for this type of power for many years
but scientific tests have not been available for roadside use to
accurately determine what substances a drugged driver has smoked,
ingested or injected. | ||||||||||||||||
Mr. Murie said the introduction in the United States of what is known
as a drug recognition evaluation has eliminated that roadblock in
recent years. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(2) POLICE: DELI SERVED MARIJUANA ON THE SIDE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Interested Customers Had to Know a Secret Code. | ||||||||||||||||
The Wyncote Mini Deli in Ogontz offered customers more than the
standard hoagie and chips: For an extra $25, police said, you could buy
a bag of marijuana to go with your meal. | ||||||||||||||||
But you had to know the code: Simply add a child-sized, barrel-shaped
container of Hug juice to your groceries and another $25 to your
payment. | ||||||||||||||||
"You had to do it at the same time," said Philadelphia Police Capt.
Chris Werner Narcotics Field Unit II. | ||||||||||||||||
And his officers did, he said. Time and time again. | ||||||||||||||||
As a result of the investigation - led by Sgt. Chester Malkowski and
Officer Gary Francis - police served search warrants on the store and
two other properties Wednesday night. They confiscated four loaded
guns, $15,000 in cash, and 22 pounds of marijuana with a street value
of $185,000, a particularly large seizure for this type of operation,
Werner said. | ||||||||||||||||
Arrested were [three names and ages redacted]. They were charged with having and intending to sell drugs and criminal conspiracy. | ||||||||||||||||
A citizen's call tipped police to the operation, Werner said. In recent
weeks, officers had purchased everything from Hot Tamales candy to beef
patties in their war against drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
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(3) STUDY FINDS SOME ADDICTS GAIN HEP C IMMUNITY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
VANCOUVER (CP) -- Injection drug users whose bodies spontaneously wipe out the hepatitis C virus may be four times less likely to become reinfected compared to people who haven't contracted the virus, says a new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia. | ||||||||||||||||
Jason Grebely, a PhD candidate in the department of anesthesiology,
pharmacology and therapeutics and lead author of the study, said
yesterday the immune systems of about 20 per cent of injection drug
users have the ability to naturally clear the virus. | ||||||||||||||||
People with the virus can be treated, but the treatment is complicated
and lengthy and isn't often practical for people that engage in risky
behaviour such as sharing needles and transmitting hepatitis C through
their blood, Grebely said. | ||||||||||||||||
Results of the study involving 1,400 injection drug users from
Vancouver's Downtown Eastside are published in the current issue of the
journal Hepatology. | ||||||||||||||||
Grebely will soon embark on a new study with a grant from the Canadian
Institutes of Health Research to determine if injection drug users who
receive treatment for the hepatitis C virus can also be protected from
reinfection. | ||||||||||||||||
He said Vancouver has some of the highest hepatitis rates in North
America and those who contract it can end up with serious medical
problems, including chronic liver disease. | ||||||||||||||||
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(4) AS MOB MOVES FROM CIGARETTES TO DRUGS, VIOLENCE RISES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
NAPLES, Italy -- Marco L. has a memento of the late summer night when
he and two friends were sprayed with gunfire by men on scooters, as the
friends chatted near the Gate of San Gennaro in the heart of Naples: a
bullet is still lodged near his hip. | ||||||||||||||||
The ochre walls of the piazza are also scarred, with pockmarks from
bullets gone astray. The security grate on the toy store has 80 bullet
holes, the owner estimates. | ||||||||||||||||
"They must have mistaken us for someone else," said Marco, a baby-faced
22-year-old in a red sweatshirt and jeans, who spent 15 days in the
hospital. "They fired 12 or 13 shots, and all three of us were hit." He
refused to give his full name for fear of retribution. | ||||||||||||||||
A wave of mob shootings and stabbings is terrorizing Naples, with
nearly a killing a day in the past two weeks. The violence, amplified
by an amnesty that freed 2,700 minor criminals from local prisons, is
so rampant that Prime Minister Romano Prodi visited Naples to discuss
sending in the army. | ||||||||||||||||
Living in a city that has long been synonymous with organized crime,
Neapolitans are inured to a measure of violence. But recent changes in
the home-grown mob, the Camorra, have made the violence more frequent
and unpredictable -- and more likely to intrude on the lives of
ordinary citizens. | ||||||||||||||||
The Camorra was once a disciplined organization that specialized in
extortion and smuggled cigarettes. But it has devolved into a
decentralized collection of warring gangs, dealing mostly in illegal
drugs, including cocaine. | ||||||||||||||||
Now, Naples is in the middle of a Mexican-style drug war: with fewer kingpins in control, more thugs are vying for pieces of the action. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A tough week for drug policy reformers in terms of elections. Two state-wide marijuana initiatives failed, while some local initiatives (discussed in the Cannabis Section below) passed. Medical marijuana was voted down in South Dakota, but not before the First Amendment rights of students who supported it were violated. And in Illinois, convenience stores aren't too worked up about complying with new meth laws, according to the State's Attorney. | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) VOTERS SAY NO TO LEGALIZING MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Nevada voters were just saying no to legalizing marijuana, welcoming
a hike in the state's minimum wage and keeping alive eminent domain
reform, among other decisions on ballot initiatives on Tuesday's
ballot. | ||||||||||||||||
With at least 1,620 of 1,913 precincts statewide reporting, Question 7, which would have allowed Nevada residents 21 years of age or older to possess an ounce of marijuana or less, was being rejected by 56 percent of voters. Only 44 percent were in support. | ||||||||||||||||
Las Vegas police Lt. Stan Olsen, who oversees legislative affairs for the department and who worked against Question 7, said the measure, the latest in a string of failed efforts to legalize the drug here, was pushed by outsiders rather than Nevadans. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(6) VOTERS NOT HIGH ON POT AMENDMENT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Colorado voters have pitched Amendment 44 aside like an assortment of stems and seeds found at the bottom of an empty bag of weed. | ||||||||||||||||
Tuesday's election results showed that the amendment failed by a
wide margin statewide. Across Colorado 688,987 or 60.7 percent voted
against the amendment, compared to 445,280 votes or 39.3 percent, in
favor. | ||||||||||||||||
In Mesa County, voters turned the amendment down by an even greater
margin. Results were 31,637 votes or 68.2 percent against Amendment
44 and 14,240 or 30.7 percent in favor. | ||||||||||||||||
The amendment would have decriminalized possession of less than one
ounce of marijuana by adults over the age of 21. Currently state law
makes possession of an ounce or less of pot a class 2 petty offense
punishable by a fine of up to $100. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(7) STUDENTS LOSE SHIRTS OFF THEIR BACKS FOR INITIATED MEASURE 4 (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
RAPID CITY -- Two Stevens High School seniors who wore T-shirts to school advocating the passage of Initiated Measure 4, the medical marijuana ballot issue, say their rights to political free speech were violated when the school principal confiscated the shirts, which were decorated with the image of a marijuana leaf. | ||||||||||||||||
David Valenzuela, 17, and Chris Fuentes, 18, were told by a Stevens
security guard to remove the shirts as they entered their
first-period class Oct. 20. Principal Katie Bray confiscated the
shirts a short time later. | ||||||||||||||||
Rapid City superintendent of schools Peter Wharton said Thursday
that the incident was a violation of school policy, not political
rights. | ||||||||||||||||
School policy forbids clothing that displays images of alcohol, drugs or tobacco products on school grounds. That policy is clearly communicated to all students, and it is not affected by what issues may or may not be on the ballot in an election year, Wharton said. | ||||||||||||||||
"Unequivocally, no. It had nothing to do with political speech," he
said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(8) ABOUT HALF OF STATE'S CONVENIENCE STORES FOLLOWING METH LAW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
SPRINGFIELD - Compliance is improving, but about half the
convenience stores selling ephedrine and pseudoephedrine products
are still not obeying a law designed to crack down on illegal
methamphetamine labs, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan
reported on Wednesday. | ||||||||||||||||
A statewide check by Madigan's office and the state police,
conducted Oct. 10-19, found 49 percent of convenience stores selling
ephedrine and pseudoephedrine products were fully compliant with the
law, up from 12 percent during a similar check last spring.
Advertisement | ||||||||||||||||
Ephedrine and pseudoephedrine are active ingredients in dozens of
nonprescription cold medicines, as well as a key ingredient for
manufacturing meth. A state law that took effect on Jan. 15 requires
customers to show a photo ID, be at least 18 years old and sign a
log before purchasing any over-the-counter medications containing
either of those two chemicals. The new law also requires that cold
medicines containing any amount of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine be
kept behind pharmacy counters, and limits customers to no more than
two packages of cold medicine at a time. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (9-12) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Drug seizures may be down at the U.S-Mexico border, but drug-related
police corruption seems to be up. Is there a relationship? And, in
more upbeat news, some inmates are getting training to be legitimate
entrepreneurs upon their release. | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) DRUG SEIZURES DOWN IN 2006 (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Drug seizures by the Border Patrol were down for the fiscal year
2006 in the El Paso sector and nationwide. | ||||||||||||||||
Agent Patrick Berry credited the reduction to "improved enforcement"
such as an increased number of agents and the presence of National
Guard troops. | ||||||||||||||||
The addition of National Guard troops in a support capacity "enabled us to first and foremost place more agents into the field," he said. | ||||||||||||||||
According to figures released by the agency, "Operation Jump Start,"
the placement of troops along the southern United States border,
accounted for the seizure of 49,000 pounds of drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
Berry said the Border Patrol received 1,920 new agents in the last
year. The El Paso Sector, which includes New Mexico, had seized
close to $151 million in illegal narcotics for the 2006 fiscal year.
That is down from slightly above $164 million seized last year. 2004
saw more than $230 million seized. | ||||||||||||||||
The numbers included cocaine, marijuana and heroin. Berry did not
have numbers for methamphetamine. The seizure numbers also do not
include ports of entry, he said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(10) EDITORIAL: UNREASONABLE SEIZURES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Legislature Should Review State's Forfeiture Law | ||||||||||||||||
Florida's Contraband Forfeiture Act is a bad law. It was a bad law a
decade ago when North Port police became embroiled in controversy
over the seizure of money and a car during a traffic stop, and it's
a bad law today, amid growing concerns that Bradenton police have
been carrying the measure to extremes. | ||||||||||||||||
The forfeiture act permits law-enforcement agencies to confiscate cash, vehicles and other assets if there's "probable cause" to believe that the property was obtained through illegal means. | ||||||||||||||||
The rationale for the act -- that authorities should confiscate the
ill-gotten gains of convicted drug dealers and other criminals -- is
sound. | ||||||||||||||||
But, in far too many cases, probable cause has been stretched beyond reasonable interpretation. People who have not been convicted of a crime, or even charged, have lost cash, cars and other possessions. | ||||||||||||||||
The Legislature needs to re-examine the forfeiture act and take steps to ensure that innocent people aren't left vulnerable to unreasonable searches and seizures and other potential abuses. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(11) SHERIFF AND SEVERAL DEPUTIES CHARGED IN DRUG TRAFFICKING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
By Fredrick Kunkle Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, November 3,
2006; B06 | ||||||||||||||||
The longtime sheriff of Henry County, Va., and 12 former and current
deputies have been charged with participating in a drug-trafficking
ring in the rural county on the North Carolina border, Drug
Enforcement Agency officials said yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||
Harold F. Cassell, 68, who has been sheriff since 1992, was alerted
to the illegal activity but did nothing to stop it, instead making
false statements and aiding in money laundering to cover it up,
federal officials said. | ||||||||||||||||
Twenty people, including sworn officers, employees and associates of
officers, dealt in illegal drugs, including cocaine, crack,
steroids, ketamine and hundreds of pounds of marijuana, over a
five-year period beginning in 1998, federal officials said.
Participants in the conspiracy also trafficked in seized weapons,
including a machine gun, according to a 48-count indictment returned
Wednesday in Abingdon and unsealed yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||
"The accusations are very serious, and we're taking them seriously.
He's presumed innocent," said Cassell's attorney, John E.
Lichtenstein. "He has a great deal of faith, both personal and
religious." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(12) AS RELEASE NEARS, THESE INMATES ARE ALL BUSINESS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Street Smarts Are Put to Good Use in Tex. Program | ||||||||||||||||
BRYAN, Tex. -- His street name was "T-Murder"; his turf, the Deadly
Nickel, as Houston's Fifth Ward is known in the 'hood. His business
put $25,000 in his pocket monthly. | ||||||||||||||||
Those were the days when Thomas Laquea Harrell Sr. ran his own crack
cocaine ring, a capital venture that landed him in the Texas prison
system with a 25-year sentence. Seven years of incarceration later
and a few weeks from being paroled, this entrepreneur is ready to go
back to work. But he's going legit. | ||||||||||||||||
Harrell has a written business plan, a marketing strategy, a net
profit/loss analysis, a projected income statement and a financial
summary. All he needs, Harrell recently told a panel of business
executives gathered inside the walls of the medium-security Hamilton
Unit, is a start-up loan. | ||||||||||||||||
"Hello, my name is Thomas Harrell Sr., the founder and owner of Yum
Yum's Mobile Catering Service," the animated 31-year-old inmate
announced. "We make hot, on-the-spot barbecue meals." | ||||||||||||||||
This was Harrell's pitch for his new business, one of 60 similar
plans presented by the graduates of an unusual Texas prison program
designed to harness a convict's street smarts and funnel them into a
legitimate venture upon release. | ||||||||||||||||
"We are not so much in the business of creating entrepreneurs as
leveraging their skills," said Catherine Rohr, founder of the Prison
Entrepreneurship Program, a nonprofit organization based in Houston.
"After all, it was their entrepreneurial skills that landed them in
prison." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (13-16) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
There were a lot of little winners and a couple of big losers in
Tuesday's election results. The losers were statewide ballot
initiatives in Colorado and Nevada which lost by approximately
60%-40%, while 'no mercy, no compassion' South Dakota boasts the
first loss for a medical marijuana initiative. The winners were
local 'low enforcement priority' initiatives in cities located in
California, Arkansas and Montana. | ||||||||||||||||
Unbelievably, "two police officers have sued Burger King Corp.,
alleging personal injury, negligence, battery and violation of fair
practices after they were served hamburgers that had been sprinkled
with marijuana." If this case doesn't get tossed, it would bode ill
for companies and employees everywhere - at what cost to all
involved will companies resort to in order to protect themselves
from such rare acts of worker deviance? | ||||||||||||||||
Since the cops in Canada had to refute their claim that traffickers
are trading cannabis for cocaine pound for pound when they could not
produce proof upon request, has the propaganda machine moved to
Jamaica in attempt to get more mileage from a myth that defies
economics, but is too good to pass up? | ||||||||||||||||
In South Africa, legal claims head to court when a man who was acquitted of growing hemp in cooperation with the government was raided and his crops destroyed by law enforcement. He wants a substantial amount of compensation for unlawful arrest and damages. | ||||||||||||||||
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(13) MISSOULA COUNTY APPROVES MARIJUANA INITIATIVE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A ballot measure recommending Missoula County law enforcement
officials make adult marijuana offenses their lowest priority passed
Tuesday night. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The initiative will make marijuana crimes the single lowest priority
for Missoula County authorities, but won't include marijuana sales
or drug use by minors as low-priority offenses. In no way will
Tuesday's passage of Initiative 2 legalize the drug, according to
Angela Goodhope, a spokeswoman with Citizens for Responsible Crime
Policy, the group that proposed the measure and landed it on the
ballot. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"We are very pleased that Missoula voters approved a clearer, safer
and smarter crime policy," Goodhope said. | ||||||||||||||||
Police Chief Rusty Wickman and Sheriff Mike McMeekin have publicly
voiced their concern about the initiative, saying they worry federal
dollars could be yanked from Missoula's drug enforcement programs in
retaliation to the measure. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"None of the negative outcomes our opponents predicted will come
true," Goodhope said. "We know that for a fact." | ||||||||||||||||
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(14) BURGER KING SUED OVER MARIJUANA IN POLICE OFFICERS' BURGERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The lawsuit says the officers were in uniform and riding in a marked patrol car when they purchased meals through the drive-through lane Oct. 8 at a Burger King restaurant in Los Lunas, New Mexico | ||||||||||||||||
The officers ate about half of their burgers before discovering marijuana on the meat. They used a field test kit to confirm the substance was pot, then went to a hospital for medical evaluations. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The incident has been publicized in late-night television jokes by
comedian Jay Leno and others, and Bregman acknowledged the situation
"seems somewhat humorous" at first glance. But he also called it
"deadly serious." | ||||||||||||||||
"God forbid these officers didn't realize their burgers were laced
with pot and then were called to a violent situation where they'd
have to draw their firearms," Bregman said. "Their lives were placed
in danger because of these idiots and Burger King." | ||||||||||||||||
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(15) GANJA FOR COCAINE TRADE BETWEEN J'CA AND CURACAO (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Drug mules are trading marijuana for cocaine in Curacao then reintroducing the cocaine to the streets of Jamaica, says Senior Superintendent Carlton Wilson of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) Narcotics Division. But Wilson said most of the cocaine was destined for the United Kingdom for sale and distribution there. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The heavy cultivation of ganja continued, Wilson noted, even in the
face of heightened efforts by the police to eradicate covert ganja
fields. Though the eradication process continues, Wilson reported,
the efforts of the police were being hindered by lack of proper
equipment, even with the assistance of the Jamaica Defence Force
(JDF). | ||||||||||||||||
" We know where the ganja is, but we can't access it," he said. The Narcotics Division estimates that a pound of ganja may fetch between $1,500 and $7000, depending on the scarcity, and to a lesser extent, the quality of the drug. Cocaine however, was fetching between $400,000 and $350,000 per kilogram, because of scarcity. | ||||||||||||||||
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(16) MILLIONS CLAIMED AFTER POLICE BURN DOPE CROP (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A businessman from Brits and a Menlo Park company have instituted a
damages claim for more than R5,8 million against Safety and Security
Minister Charles Nqakula, after police arrested the man and
destroyed his "scientific" dagga crop. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
According to court papers, the police raided De Beer's farm at
Kameeldrift, near Brits, in February 2004, arrested him and
destroyed his crops, stock and seeds. | ||||||||||||||||
This was despite the fact that he had been cultivating cannabis in
collaboration with the Agricultural Research Council under permits
issued by the Health Department since 2002, and had in fact
developed a new variety of cannabis for industrial use. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
He was prosecuted for unlawful cultivation and dealing in a
prohibited substance, but was acquitted. | ||||||||||||||||
Leading Prospect Trading, which owned the crop, is claiming R3,6
million damages, and De Beer more than R2,2 million for the injury
to his good name and reputation, legal costs, loss of income and
intellectual property rights and a loss of profits. | ||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (17-20) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
When a British Columbian social workers' union says that Canada needs more social workers, you can be sure it isn't for the money, increased job opportunities or career advancement, oh no. It is to save the children from drugs, of course. Last week, the "B.C. Association of Social Workers," cast a longing eye toward new laws in Alberta that give social workers powers to take children from parents who grow a cannabis plant in the basement. Claiming that social workers' powers to take children from parents who are involved with marijuana are too "erratic", the union wants sweeping new powers to take children they claim are "drug-endangered." | ||||||||||||||||
Bermuda has a problem with "crack houses," but new Attorney General
Philip Perinchief knows just what to do: give government more power
to "close" them. Pesky impediments like ownership and due process
are obstacles to be overcome for government. New government powers
to sweep away homes labeled as "crack houses" are needed, because,
"We had to search through some of the existing laws to see if we
could utilise those," said Perinchief, for, "We think the problem is
more extensive than we thought." Don't expect closing "crack" houses
to do much. The previous Bermuda government closed "crack" houses
only to find sellers shifting operations to "ordinary houses in
respectable areas." | ||||||||||||||||
While modern medicine in western nations claims to be based upon pure science, untainted by superstition or politics, the reality of the matter is quite different. For example, in the 1950s Canadian researchers discovered that LSD seemed to break the grip of alcoholism, but these results were largely ignored because of bad press received by LSD in the 1960s. These conclusions were presented in a review of the work of Erika Dyck, professor of the history of medicine at the University of Alberta. "Psychedelic therapy offers a more comfortable surrounding where withdrawn individuals can feel at ease," noted Dyck, while "only a minority of the patients showed anything remotely close to overly negative effects from the LSD." However the "negative media attention of LSD as a harmful recreational drug," said Dyck, "curtailed further clinical trials." | ||||||||||||||||
And finally this week, the Canadian conservatives (Tories) continue
their drive to pack prisons with pot "criminals", and do it as soon
as possible and profitable. Canadian papers reported this week
Justice Minister Vic Toews is proposing to allow police to get a say
over the selection of judges, "raising suspicions his real goal is
to make it easier to put a Tory stamp on the country's judiciary,"
by stacking courts with judges eager to punish. "He is doing through
the back door what he can't do through the front door," said
Winnipeg South Centre MP Anita Neville. "It is part of loading the
committee to meet his agenda." | ||||||||||||||||
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(17) SOCIAL WORKERS SEEK RULES ON PROTECTING GROW-OP KIDS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
B.C. needs to give social workers clear guidelines when protecting
children found living in marijuana grow-operations or drug labs, the
B.C. Association of Social Workers said yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
In some ministry offices, social workers have deemed it sufficient for parents to simply move children away from the grow-op, where they are exposed to toxic chemicals and potential violence. In other communities, social workers launch more in-depth investigations into why parents put their children at risk in the first place. | ||||||||||||||||
"Our concern is that it's erratic all over the province -- the level
of investigations that go on around probably one of the most serious
child protection risks we have in the province," association
spokesman Paul Jenkinson said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The social workers association, a voluntary organization with about
1,300 members, has suggested B.C. might want to follow Alberta,
which recently passed a law making it clear that children exposed to
serious drug activity are victims of abuse and require protection.
The law allows officials to apprehend children solely on the basis
they are "drug-endangered." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(18) AG PROMISES RENEWED EFFORT AGAINST CRACK HOUSES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Renewed Action Has Been Promised to Shutdown Bermuda's Crack Houses. | ||||||||||||||||
New Attorney General Philip Perinchief said that previous warnings
about clampdowns have been slowed by legal problems. | ||||||||||||||||
"We had to search through some of the existing laws to see if we
could utilise those," he said, adding that new laws or amendments
would now be needed to tackle the issue. | ||||||||||||||||
Asked about the scale of the problem, the Attorney General said: "We
think the problem is more extensive than we thought." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Mr. Perinchief said that planning laws were being examined to see
whether crack-houses should be demolished or could be renovated. In
August, former Minister of National Drug Control Wayne Perinchief
said Government's vow to close 17 known crack-houses had stalled
because it lacked the necessary legal powers. | ||||||||||||||||
Only six crack-houses have been closed, he revealed, three of which
were not on the original list of 17. | ||||||||||||||||
To close them, Government used a housing act which allowed it to
close vacant and derelict homes, but that act was of little use for
tackling dealers operating out of ordinary houses in respectable
areas. | ||||||||||||||||
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(19) LSD TREATMENT MIGHT HELP ADDICTS START TRIP TO RECOVERY, PROF (Top)SAYS | ||||||||||||||||
EDMONTON - When most people hear the term LSD, images of little
pieces of blotter paper soaked in mind-expanding liquid that offer
users a new world of altered perception and oneness come to mind -
not to mention jail time. | ||||||||||||||||
The reputation of the drug may, however, hinder its potential as a
powerful treatment to a serious addiction. | ||||||||||||||||
Erika Dyck, professor of the history of medicine at the University
of Alberta, has been taking an historical look at the use of LSD as
a treatment for alcoholism. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The researchers' results showed significant rates of recovery and
helped strengthen the idea that alcoholism should be characterised
as a disease. | ||||||||||||||||
Although the approach gained support from the provincial government,
local chapters of Alcoholics Anonymous, and the bureau of
alcoholism, negative media attention of LSD as a harmful
recreational drug curtailed further clinical trials. | ||||||||||||||||
However, in an article published in the journal Social History of
Medicine, Dyck recently showed that there might be good reasons to
re-examine these experiments. She hopes that closer examination will
lead to a fuller understanding of alcoholism, especially the
emotional aspect of the addiction. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(20) POLICE GET SAY IN JUDGE SELECTION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Law-And-Order Representatives Will Sit On Judicial Advisory
Committees | ||||||||||||||||
OTTAWA -- Canada's cops are about to get a say over who can be a
federal judge under changes Justice Minister Vic Toews is set to
unveil soon. | ||||||||||||||||
The latest part of the Tories' law-and-order agenda will see police representatives added to the judicial advisory committees operating in each province that assess the qualifications of potential judges. | ||||||||||||||||
But given the way Toews has previously railed against activist
judges with Liberal ties, his plan to reform the system is also
raising suspicions his real goal is to make it easier to put a Tory
stamp on the country's judiciary. | ||||||||||||||||
"The law-enforcement community is a very important aspect of the
justice system and to date they have been under-represented in that
process," Toews said Tuesday in an interview. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Winnipeg Liberal MP Anita Neville, who has been a frequent critic of
Toews, said she suspects the changes are part of his desire to stack
the courts with judges who share his political views. | ||||||||||||||||
"He is doing through the back door what he can't do through the
front door," the Winnipeg South Centre MP said. "It is part of
loading the committee to meet his agenda." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
What are the politics at play? | ||||||||||||||||
JUSTICE Minister Vic Toews is no friend of judicial activism. Plus,
he loves reaching out to police as part of his law-and-order agenda.
The concern here is that Toews is looking to score political points
by getting cops on the advisory committees who may then make it
easier for him to find appointments who will be hang-'em-high
judges. | ||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
20/20 TRANSCRIPT - TYRONE BROWN SERVING LIFE FOR A JOINT | ||||||||||||||||
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CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW | ||||||||||||||||
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ELECTION DAY 2006 | ||||||||||||||||
See a complete list of results for marijuana-related measures from
ballots throughout the country. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
VISIT TRUE COMPASSION | ||||||||||||||||
Drug Free America Foundation, Inc. is proud to announce the launch of
its new website www.truecompassion.org. "True compassion" is a public
service ad campaign dedicated to raising awareness about the
consequences of drug use. | ||||||||||||||||
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YOUR BRAIN ON DRUGS | ||||||||||||||||
Funny animation. As seen on www.dudehelp.com | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
ELECTION RESULTS - WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR REFORM? | ||||||||||||||||
A DrugSense Focus Alert. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
LOOK AT YOURSELF BEFORE YOU CRITICIZE CANNABIS | ||||||||||||||||
By Jeff Pickens | ||||||||||||||||
In response to the opinion printed by Mr. Cowles of Breckenridge, I
must ask everyone to take a moment and think about what kind of
country do you want to live in? | ||||||||||||||||
I understand that marijuana and drugs in general have a negative
conotation in the minds of most people, but it seems to me that any
effort to legislate morality or what people like to do in the
privacy of their own homes is a step towards facism. | ||||||||||||||||
I can see if someone is smoking pot in front of your kid or in
public might be a nuisance, yet their are many things that are a
nuisance to me. | ||||||||||||||||
First, I find people who think their opinions should apply to
everyone are a nuisance, does that mean these people should not be
tolerated anywhere? To those of you who feel that voting for this
referendum is saying that it is OK for our kids to smoke pot, I say
to you look at your own example of alchohol. | ||||||||||||||||
As for statistics saying pot is more harmful than cigarettes and
alcohol, I would like to point out that the whole point of
statistics is to use information, these so called scientific
studies, to get an agenda across. Anybody can lie using statistics
and pass it off as fact to the ignorant masses. | ||||||||||||||||
Think for yourself, make your own conclusions about drugs, and apply
it to you and yours. In short, mind your own business, get a life,
and maybe just maybe you can do something constructive for society
rather than wasting your energy on what other people do in the
privacy of their own homes. | ||||||||||||||||
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ... What does that mean
to you? | ||||||||||||||||
Jeff Pickens | ||||||||||||||||
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LETTER WRITER OF THE MONTH - OCTOBER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
DrugSense recognizes Redford Givens of San Francisco, the webmaster
for the Schaffer Library of Drug Policy | ||||||||||||||||
You may read his published letters at | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Reefer Madness | ||||||||||||||||
REEFER MADNESS | ||||||||||||||||
By Jordan Smith | ||||||||||||||||
According to federal Drug War czarina Bertha Madras, deputy director
for demand reduction at the White House Office of the National Drug
Control Policy, there's both good and bad news about teen drug use.
First, the good news: For the fourth year in a row, the government's
annual teen drug-use survey reveals that drug use among adolescents
is, overall, on the decline. | ||||||||||||||||
Now, the bad news: While drug use may be on the decline, statistics also show that "everyday in our nation, 3,000 young people start using marijuana," Madras told a smattering of people at a press conference at Austin's Phoenix House rehab center last month. | ||||||||||||||||
Finally, the real news: Madras is full of shit. | ||||||||||||||||
She may come across full of grandmotherly good intentions, but she
is, nonetheless, a federal propaganda pusher -- no more, no less.
Indeed, after a brief feel-good session with two just-say-no Austin
teens who've never tried drugs -- and vow they won't -- two
recovering drug-addict teens ( one of whom told reporters that
"smoking one joint can mess up your whole life" ), and a San Antonio
pediatrician, Madras trained her czarina guns on pot as the
"gateway" to a life of hard-drug use. Teens who use marijuana, she
said, are more likely to "proceed onto cocaine and other drugs," she
said. "That's what research tells us." | ||||||||||||||||
Fortunately, that's not what research tells us, though Madras
unflappingly adhered to the party line when Reefer Madness
questioned her about the so-called gateway theory. | ||||||||||||||||
While she agreed that alcohol and tobacco are illegal for kids to
possess or use, she insisted that it is marijuana that acts as a
junkie tipping point. | ||||||||||||||||
To wit: she said a recent study by Mount Sinai School of Medicine
professor Yasmin Hurd, published in July in the journal | ||||||||||||||||
If true, that might lend some support to the theory; unfortunately, as with most quantifiable "facts" Madras offered on her recent trip to town, her characterization of Hurd's study was, simply, wrong. | ||||||||||||||||
In fact, if anything, Hurd's study seems to send another nail into
the coffin of the government's beloved gateway theory. | ||||||||||||||||
While Hurd did find that rats given THC as adolescents ( she began
exposing them at just 28 days old ) did self-administer a larger
quantity of heroin than did the control rats, the control rats
became addicted to heroin at exactly the same rate as the
pot-exposed group. | ||||||||||||||||
In other words, both groups of rats were flying high on smack, regardless of whether they'd ingested THC. To NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre, Madras' characterization of the Hurd study proves one thing only: "the remarkable things researchers have to do to torture these mammalians to get them to use more drugs," and thus "prove" the government's beloved gateway theory. Indeed, while Madras says the Hurd study is significant because it removes "socio-economic factors" and other mutable qualities -- like, say, a family history of addiction -- that might skew the theory, and focuses simply on neurological factors, NORML policy analyst Paul Armentano notes that it's impossible to extrapolate the results to humans because Hurd exposed the rats to THC as infants. "This could not, and should not, be replicated in humans," he said, "to give infants THC to see if their brains can be manipulated in that way." | ||||||||||||||||
Of course, that doesn't stop the ONDCP from trying to shove this
junk down the throats of the public -- the office may be against
drugs, but it's still a propaganda-pusher, and apparently it doesn't
have much trouble finding users. | ||||||||||||||||
Indeed, when told about the rat study, one local television reporter
thanked Madras for the information: "[We've got] quite a few pot
believers in our newsroom," the reporter told Madras, "so I'm glad
you gave us that information." | ||||||||||||||||
Fortunately, others are more skeptical: Take, for example, Mayor
Will Wynn's Chief of Staff Rich Bailey, who looked stunningly
uncomfortable at the press conference. The problem, Bailey told
Reefer Madness, is that he was under the mistaken impression that
the event was to be a "roundtable discussion" among teens, parents,
and media. | ||||||||||||||||
When he walked into the Phoenix House, and found out the event
wasn't organized as a discussion, he didn't know what to say to
introduce the event, he said, so Madras' handlers helped him out,
providing talking points. | ||||||||||||||||
The result? Bailey introduced the day with this: "Austin mirrors the
national trend [of a] reduction in drug use; however, the mayor is
very concerned about the increase of teen marijuana and alcohol
use." Does that make sense? | ||||||||||||||||
And, is Wynn really worried? | ||||||||||||||||
No, said Bailey, "but that's what they told me to say." | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"Justice may be blind, but she has very sophisticated listening
devices." - Edgar Argo | ||||||||||||||||
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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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