| Jan. 5, 2007 #481 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
(1) MINISTER DROPS IN AT INJECTION SITE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Conservative Tony Clement meets Insite staff and addicts | ||||||||||||||||||
VANCOUVER - Federal Health Minister Tony Clement paid an unexpected
visit to Vancouver's controversial supervised injection site in the
Downtown Eastside Wednesday, but left without indicating if it would be
permitted to operate beyond the end of the year. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I had a good chat with staff, asked a lot of questions and got a lot
of answers," Clement said. "That helps me do my job as health minister
and to report accurately what these facilities on the east side of
Vancouver are all about," he said on the pavement outside Insite, which
is North America's only legal drug-injection site. | ||||||||||||||||||
Clement was non-committal when asked if the visit had changed his mind
about allowing Insite to remain open. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I think I'm getting a deeper understanding [of the centre] and this is something that will enable me to be the best health minister for the country," he said, after talking to staff and addicts inside. | ||||||||||||||||||
In the past, the minister had expressed doubts that the centre lowers
drug use in the community or helps fights addiction. The Harper
government had threatened not to renew the site's licence -- it exempts
persons inside Insite from being arrested for possession of drugs --
when its permit expired last September. Clement finally renewed it
until next Dec. 31. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(2) SCHOOLS WOULD SET OWN POLICY ON SEARCHING STUDENTS UNDER LEGISLATION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A federal bill would require school boards to establish a policy
allowing teachers to search students they suspect of carrying drugs or
weapons. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Student and Teacher Safety Act passed the House on a voice vote in
the fall, but the American Civil Liberties Union and National School
Boards Association oppose the bill, which they say violates students'
civil rights. | ||||||||||||||||||
The most vocal critics of the proposal have called it a "strip search
bill." | ||||||||||||||||||
Lawmakers say the bill would help protect students and teachers and shield staff members who search students from being sued. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The federal law would require schools put in place policies permitting
full-time staff members and teachers to search students on school
grounds if the search is done to ensure the school remains free of
weapons or illegal drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
Schools that fail to comply with the law would risk losing a portion of
their federal funding. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(3) COLUMN: ADDING TIME DOESN'T STOP CRIME (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The great American crime drop is over. So why are conservative
commentators still pointing to U.S.-style incarceration as the cure for
the common criminal? | ||||||||||||||||||
Ask conservatives about crime and how to fight it, and a familiar story
will come out. | ||||||||||||||||||
In the 1990s, conservatives say, state and federal governments in the
United States got tough on crime. They sent criminals to prison. They
kept them there longer. And crime plummeted. So if we are serious about
fighting crime, we need longer sentences that will remove the worst of
the worst and make the rest think twice. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Increased imprisonment really is the best single means of reducing crime," the National Post claimed last week in an editorial that urged the Harper government to really crack down on criminals. Thanks to American experience, everyone knows that's true except "a handful of turtlenecked criminologists still hopelessly bogged down in the 1960s." | ||||||||||||||||||
It's curious that the Post's editorialist chose to accuse doubtful
criminologists of being stuck in the past because it is conservatives
who continue to drum out the more-prisoners-less-crime refrain who are
clearly not keeping up with the news. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(4) THE TIME HAS COME TO STOP THE WAR AND REFORM OUR DRUG POLICIES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The time has come for peace talks in the war on drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
It's not time to cut and run or to declare victory and head home. Nor
is it time to encourage or tolerate violations of existing law.
Instead, it's time to devise an intelligent exit strategy, one that
includes consideration of a regulated public health approach to drugs
instead of our current criminal justice model. | ||||||||||||||||||
As a career prosecutor, I see strong indications that our enforcement model may actually be counterproductive to public and personal safety. Violence spawned by the war on drugs continues to plague our communities. Violence exists in the form of assaults and murder by drug sellers as a result of deals gone awry or territorial disputes. | ||||||||||||||||||
We see violence in the form of robberies and burglaries by users
stealing money or guns to purchase or trade for drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
And, to a much lesser extent, we see random violence caused by drug- impaired people unwilling or unable to control their behavior. | ||||||||||||||||||
Drug policy reform, to include regulated access to drugs, could
substantially reduce all three types of drug crimes. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Robert L. Sand is Windsor County state's attorney. | ||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-9) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
With a new congress in place, will federal officials actually start
trying to fix old bad drug laws? Analysis in the Wall Street Journal
suggests it is possible, and that would be a good thing. But the
real trick will be convincing legislators not to grandstand with new
drug laws that are worse than the old ones. | ||||||||||||||||||
The year end ritual of releasing statistics about teen drug use took
place again last month, and as usual, it showed some ups and some
downs. As usual, it didn't necessarily jibe with other local
measures of drug use rates, and as usual reporting about the
statistics revealed more about the author's bias than the actual
numbers. And, as usual, regardless of the results, we can expect
federal anti-drug officials to use the information to justify more
of the same bad policy. | ||||||||||||||||||
Also last week, another state plans a crackdown on salvia, while the
San Francisco Bay area watches as non-native hallucinogenic
mushrooms seem to pop up everywhere. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(5) SENTENCING GUIDELINES FACE NEW SCRUTINY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
New Congress to Examine Minimum Mandates; Crack Requirements Will
Get First Test | ||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- With Democrats poised to take control of Congress, law-enforcement officials are preparing to defend two decades of federal sentencing policies that mandated harsh prison terms on a variety of crimes and led to a boom in the prison population. | ||||||||||||||||||
Michigan Rep. John Conyers, the incoming chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Robert Scott ( D., Va. ) have already said they plan hearings early in the term to look at how nonviolent drug offenders are punished under mandatory minimum laws. | ||||||||||||||||||
An early target will be the prison terms mandated by Congress for
crack-cocaine convictions. Under current law, someone caught with
five grams of crack gets a five-year sentence, while it takes 500
grams of powder cocaine to trigger the same sentence, even though
there is no physiological difference. Critics have long maintained
that the law unfairly targets African-American communities, where
crack is more prevalent. In contrast, suburban white users tend to
prefer cocaine in its powder form. | ||||||||||||||||||
Mr. Conyers has called the crack-cocaine sentences the "most outrageous example of the unfairness of mandatory minimums." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(6) ILLEGAL DRUG USE AMONG TEENAGERS CONTINUES TO FALL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Prescription Abuse Persists, Survey Finds | ||||||||||||||||||
Federal officials are concerned that teenagers are abusing prescription medications and over-the-counter cold remedies even as their use of illegal drugs has generally declined over the past five years, according to a government survey released yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||||
Illegal drug use by teenagers has fallen 23 percent since 2001, but their use of prescription narcotics, tranquilizers and other medicines remains "relatively high," government investigators said. | ||||||||||||||||||
For the first time researchers asked whether teenagers were using
nonprescription cough or cold medicines to get high and found reason
for concern. Over-the-counter medicines often contain the cough
suppressant dextromethorphan, which alters mood and consciousness
when consumed in high doses and can cause brain damage or even
death, officials said. | ||||||||||||||||||
About 1 in 14 12th-graders, or 7 percent, said they had taken such
medicines to get high in the past year. Among eighth-graders, the
figure was 1 in 25, or about 4 percent. | ||||||||||||||||||
"This is now an area of drug abuse that we need to pay more
attention to," said Lloyd D. Johnston, the University of Michigan
researcher who led the annual "Monitoring the Future" survey, now in
its 32nd year. "My guess is that young people do not understand the
dangers of abusing these drugs." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(7) DRUGS, ALCOHOL ABUSERS GETTING YOUNGER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
SANTA CLARITA -- Specialists who work with local kids in therapeutic
programs and in the schools say drug and alcohol use among teens and
adolescents is skewing younger and younger. | ||||||||||||||||||
Statistics are hard to come by, but workers in the trenches say more
13- and 14-year-olds are paying a price for tangling with off-limits
substances. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We're getting called more and more by the middle schools to do drug
tests for kids and we're coming in and doing early interventions on
kids a lot," said Cary Quashen, founder of the nonprofit ACTION
parent and teen support program. "We're finding pot, alcohol, and
over-the-counter drugs like ( cough medicine ) seem to be real big
with young people." | ||||||||||||||||||
The group conducts programs in local high schools, and the for-profit Action Family Counseling program operates nine intensive outpatient programs and two residential treatment centers. | ||||||||||||||||||
Quashen said teen girls who opt for methamphetamine to help them
lose weight underestimate its pull. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(8) MAINE BILL SEEKS REGULATION OF LEGAL HALLUCINOGENIC DRUG (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Add a new name to the list of mind-altering drugs readily available
in Maine. Salvia divinorum, a potent hallucinogen closely related to
an ornamental plant commonly grown in Maine herb and flower gardens,
is for sale at smoke shops throughout the state. It's not illegal,
but Maine lawmakers in the coming session will take up a proposal to
ban or regulate it. | ||||||||||||||||||
A bill proposed by Rep. Chris Barstow, D-Gorham, seeks control over
the use, sale or possession of the plant. | ||||||||||||||||||
Barstow said Wednesday that he would prefer to ban the substance
outright in Maine, as has been done in a handful of other states.
But some people, he acknowledged, will oppose such heavy-handed
government oversight, and the measure could simply limit sales to
people over 18. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I'm not one for excessive government regulation," he said, "but
it's important to take steps to ensure that our citizens are being
protected and our communities are safe." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(9) TRIP FANTASTIC (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Mother Nature acknowledges no federal prohibitions on hallucinogenic substances, and, in spite of the law, soils across the city are coming alive with mushrooms of the intoxicating genus Psilocybe. | ||||||||||||||||||
"They're everywhere," says Dr. Dennis Desjardin, a professor of
mycology at San Francisco State University. "It's mostly Psilocybe
cyanescens. They come up all over the State campus here -- in the
parks, in yards, San Jose, in Marin. They grow almost anywhere that
people have spread wood chips." | ||||||||||||||||||
According to Desjardin, Psilocybe cyanescens will grow independently
on most available soils, especially those that have been disturbed
by gardening activity. As the mushrooms sprout, they draw up
wholesome minerals and nutrients, then reconstruct them into the
unlawful psychedelic alkaloids that have been sending free spirits
on lofty trips for decades. | ||||||||||||||||||
But the mushrooms haven't always grown wild here. | ||||||||||||||||||
"The reason they're really starting to show up around the Bay Area
is that people have them in cultivation," says Phil Carpenter,
co-manager of the Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz. "They grow them
and they escape. That's the best guess, because they're not native
to here." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (10-14) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
While it seems sometimes that things don't change too much in the drug war, a year-end incident suggests that the tide may be turning even faster than observers such as myself can notice. Drug cops in Texas were startled when one of their own decided he had had enough of the drug war. Not only was he getting out of the business, he made a video to help drug users avoid getting caught by police. | ||||||||||||||||||
In Rhode Island, the ACLU is suing the state's treasurer, who has implemented a system by which people convicted of drug dealing don't have the same access to crime victim benefits if they become victims after their convictions. Also in the news last week, private security firms are attempting to further consolidate their police power; a 16-year-old from Mississippi was charged with the murder of her unborn child; and the National Guard continues to be misused. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(10) EX-DRUG OFFICER PLANS TIPS VIDEO (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Officials Express Disappointment With 'Never Get Busted Again' | ||||||||||||||||||
An ex-Permian Basin Drug Task Force officer -- described as being a
fine lawman -- plans to sell a video that shows people how to get
away with having narcotics. | ||||||||||||||||||
Barry Cooper, who also worked for the Gladewater and Big Sandy
police departments, will begin to sell his video "Never Get Busted
Again" beginning Tuesday. | ||||||||||||||||||
Cooper said in a promotional video that "Never Get Busted Again,"
shows viewers how to "conceal their stash," "avoid narcotics
profiling" and "fool canines every time." | ||||||||||||||||||
Some of the law enforcement officers Cooper previously worked with
expressed great disappointment Friday. | ||||||||||||||||||
"He was very effective, and this is just a shame," District Attorney
narcotics officer Joe Commander said. "Barry Cooper was a very fine
officer, probably one of the best drug interdiction officers I've
ever worked with." | ||||||||||||||||||
Cooper told the Tyler Morning Telegraph he made the movie because he believes in the legalization of marijuana and thinks the fight against drugs is a waste of resources. Cooper said arresting marijuana users fills up prisons with nonviolent offenders. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(11) ACLU SUES TREASURER OVER NEW REGULATIONS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
PROVIDENCE -- The Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil
Liberties Union sued General Treasurer Paul J. Tavares yesterday,
challenging new regulations that allow his office to deny or reduce
compensation to crime victims who have been convicted of unrelated
drunken-driving or drug-dealing offenses. | ||||||||||||||||||
The treasurer administers the state's Crime Victim Compensation
Program, which pays claims to crime victims, under certain
conditions. | ||||||||||||||||||
Over the past two years, Tavares has adopted regulations that
authorize him to deny or reduce compensation if, in the preceding
five years, crime victims have been convicted on charges of driving
while intoxicated, selling or delivering drugs, or possessing drugs
with the intent to sell or deliver them. | ||||||||||||||||||
Steven Brown, executive director of the local ACLU affiliate, said
it is "unfortunate that the general treasurer has turned a program
that is supposed to aid crime victims into one that punishes them
for their past misdeeds. A former drug addict who is sexually
assaulted should not have to fear reduced compensation because she
once sold drugs to feed her habit." | ||||||||||||||||||
The lawsuit seeks a court order declaring the new regulations "null,
void and unenforceable." ACLU volunteer lawyer Frederic A. Marzilli
filed the suit in state Superior Court on behalf of the Drug and
Alcohol Treatment Association of Rhode Island. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(12) THE PRIVATE ARM OF THE LAW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Some Question the Granting of Police Power to Security Firms | ||||||||||||||||||
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Kevin Watt crouched down to search the rusted Cadillac he had stopped for cruising the parking lot of a Raleigh apartment complex with a broken light. He pulled out two open Bud Light cans, an empty Corona bottle, rolling papers, a knife, a hammer, a stereo speaker, and a car radio with wires sprouting out. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Who's this belong to, man?" Watt asked the six young Latino men he
had frisked and lined up behind the car. Five were too young to
drink. None had a driver's license. One had under his hooded sweat
shirt the tattoo of a Hispanic gang across his back. | ||||||||||||||||||
A gang initiation, Watt thought. | ||||||||||||||||||
With the sleeve patch on his black shirt, the 9mm gun on his hip and the blue light on his patrol car, he looked like an ordinary police officer as he stopped the car on a Friday night last month. Watt works, though, for a business called Capitol Special Police. It is one of dozens of private security companies given police powers by the state of North Carolina -- and part of a pattern across the United States in which public safety is shifting into private hands. | ||||||||||||||||||
Private firms with outright police powers have been proliferating in
some places -- and trying to expand their terrain. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(13) 16-YEAR-OLD MOTHER CHARGED WITH MURDER AFTER TESTS CONFIRM DRUG (Top)OVERDOSE KILLED BABY | ||||||||||||||||||
A 16-year-old Columbus girl has been arrested for murder after her
child was born dead last month. | ||||||||||||||||||
Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant's investigation led to the
arrest under the state's "depraved heart murder" charge. Merchant
determined that the baby died from a cocaine overdose. | ||||||||||||||||||
The girl's identity is not being revealed because she is a minor. | ||||||||||||||||||
The case is the second infant death charge brought by Merchant in the past four months relating to drug use by the mother. Tonya Regina Hairston, 32, of Columbus is currently awaiting trial on manslaughter charges after her baby was stillborn July 30. An autopsy on that baby determined cocaine toxicity caused its death. | ||||||||||||||||||
In the new case, Merchant determined that the death of the child was
clear. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Tests of the infant determined cocaine toxicity," he said. "In other words, the baby died from an overdose of drugs. The only way for those drugs to get into the unborn child is through the mother." | ||||||||||||||||||
Merchant called in the Columbus Police Department to further investigate the case and officers arrested the mother late Thursday. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(14) DEL. GUARD QUIETLY ASSISTS IN ANTI-DRUG EFFORTS | ||||||||||||||||||
These Soldiers Aren't Portrayed in Movies, but Their Role Is Key | ||||||||||||||||||
They work behind the scenes in the state's war against illegal
drugs, analyzing data, testing money for narcotics residue and
helping prosecutors build cases against traffickers. | ||||||||||||||||||
They don't go out on raids with the police, don't kick in doors or
roust dealers on street corners, but much of what they do helps law
enforcement agencies do just that. | ||||||||||||||||||
And when they aren't doing that, they are in schools and working
with community organizations in an effort to reduce the demand for
illegal drugs in Delaware. | ||||||||||||||||||
"A lot of what we do really goes unnoticed by the general public," said Maj. Rob Pankiw, who heads the Delaware National Guard's counter-drug unit. "But even though people don't know what we do or that we even exist as a unit, we've been pretty effective." | ||||||||||||||||||
For example, he noted, in the current fiscal year, the unit has
conducted ion scans of nearly $2 million in suspected drug money.
Those scans, which detect drug residue on bills, helped police
arrest 492 people. | ||||||||||||||||||
The ion scans also gave police the evidence they needed to seize
nine vehicles, 16 weapons, and more than 20 pounds of cocaine, crack
cocaine and marijuana during the year. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (15-19) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
2006 ended on a note of common sense from one guest columnist in one
paper, and for the optimists, it could be a good omen for the year
to come. | ||||||||||||||||||
Some nervous Nellies in Michigan are afraid a medical cannabis
petition drive could gain momentum, so they protect the status quo
at any price. Even terminal patients should not be allowed to smoke
whole plant cannabis because THC is available in pill form by
prescription, according to an expert in callousness. Not science,
the oath, logic, reason, humanity or other qualities a patient would
hope their physician would possess, are a match for the pharma
culture in which these experts live and work. | ||||||||||||||||||
For those in the mess that has become California's Prop 215, another
city has nixed dispensaries, including ones already operating. There
has never been state regulations governing the program, so a very
diverse interpretation has settled over the land, and chaos reigns -
not what the pioneers intended, I'm sure. | ||||||||||||||||||
A big disappointment in supposedly liberal Canada, when a heartless
police raid was carried out on a small, established medical cannabis
club on Vancouver Island right before the holidays. The result of
course, was many ill people suffered even more during the holiday
season, or if you believe the experts, the members should have got
prescriptions for Marinol instead. If only things were really that
simple. | ||||||||||||||||||
We end this section and begin 2007 with more common sense from
one columnist in one paper about the value of hemp over trees to
satisfy our need for pulp. It will be sooner then we think before it
becomes a necessity instead of a choice. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(15) MARIJUANA'S ONLY PROBLEM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
In purely objective terms, beverage alcohol is a recreational hard
drug: mind-numbing, easy to misuse and intimately connected with
aggression, carelessness, and despair. When a drugged individual is
involved in a violent crime or an accident, the drug is most often
alcohol. In America, alcohol is responsible for 65 percent of
murders, 55 percent of college rapes (that's 70,000 per year), 39
percent of traffic fatalities, 33 percent of all trauma injuries, 33
percent of drownings and other accidental deaths, and 25 percent of
teen suicides. About 150,000 Americans die from chronic | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
A similar scenario exists among pharmaceutical drugs, with
substantial risks accompanying their benefits. For pain,
over-the-counter painkillers including aspirin and Tylenol are
indispensable, yet they kill 15,000 people annually. The
antidepressant Paxil raises the risk of suicide. Xanax (for anxiety)
is highly addictive. Ambien (for insomnia) causes sleepwalking and
sleep-driving. Humira (for arthritis) triples the risk of cancer.
Advair (for asthma) may cause pneumonia. Ketek (for infections) is
linked to liver damage. Thalidomide (newly approved for treating
skin cancer) causes horrendous birth defects. Children are put on
ADHD drugs (Ritalin, Strattera) even though each year thousands end
up in the hospital from bad reactions, hundreds of children taking
the drugs report having suicidal thoughts, and a few end up dead
from complications. Oregon physicians can administer intentionally
lethal "medicines" to terminal patients. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
If governments truly wanted to solve the marijuana problem, they
could allow the tobacco farmers to grow it, the government to tax
it, the FDA to inspect it, the liquor companies to sell it, the
police to control it, and the adults to use it. The only problem
with marijuana is that it's illegal. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(16) MEDICAL MARIJUANA BLOCKED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Emergency ban gives city time to deal with complex issue | ||||||||||||||||||
You can't sell marijuana in Taft now, even if it's for medicinal
purposes. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Taft City Council passed an emergency ordinance last week to ban
the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries for the next 45
days. | ||||||||||||||||||
Chief of Police Bert Pumphrey requested the emergency ordinance,
which went into effect immediately and required a four-fifths vote
of the council. | ||||||||||||||||||
The ordinance prohibits the current businesses from providing the
drug as well as the opening of a business for the purpose of
dispensing marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(17) EXPERTS: MEDICAL MARIJUANA BEST AS PILL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Smoking Might Benefit Small Number of Patients | ||||||||||||||||||
There's a lot of talk lately about giving Michiganders the right to
take a toke. | ||||||||||||||||||
A state House bill legalizing medical marijuana is going nowhere
this month, but already there is a petition drive out of Eaton
Rapids and talk of a second to allow Michigan voters to legally
light up. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Local oncologist Dr. Anas Al-Janadi called smoking marijuana "a very
bad way to administer good medicine." | ||||||||||||||||||
Al-Janadi, who treats cancer patients through the Michigan State
University Breslin Cancer Center, said he would never advocate
smoking weed for medicinal reasons. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Even if the patient is terminal," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||
Smoking, after all, is not the only way to medicate with THC. It is
available by prescription in pill form. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
"Who should make decisions about medical health - the patients and
their doctors or government officials?" asked state Rep. Leon
Drolet, R-Macomb County. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(18) COMPASSION CLUB RAIDED, NAMES TAKEN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Mark Russell, the founder of the Coombs chapter of the Cannabis
Buyers Club of Canada, who supplies marijuana to sick people who use
it for pain relief, was raided by members of the Courtenay RCMP on
Dec. 22 and now faces six counts of trafficking in a controlled
substance. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Russell, who has run the Mid Island Compassion Club for the past
five years and who has 85 clients, was taken to the Oceanside RCMP
station in Parksville, fingerprinted and released. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Russell says the compassion club has always been a money-losing
proposition for him and he makes ends meet by taking on odd jobs
such as driving a cab. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I've never made a living at it. I don't sell that much," he says.
"I'm not in the same category as a regular pot dealer." | ||||||||||||||||||
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(19) PAPER HERE TO STAY SO LET'S MAKE IT WITH HEMP (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The forest can't withstand our assault | ||||||||||||||||||
As a position this is a new one for me. I have sat in the midst of
vast and empty areas of clear-cut forest, complete devastation
stretching from horizon to horizon, and I have been clear in my mind
that our insatiable appetite for paper is the cause and that paper
has to disappear. There was a time when foresters looked at the
forest with a view to cutting timber to build houses, boats and
furniture. With that attitude there was a strong motivation to be
selective in cutting practices. Take the larger trees that are
suitable and leave the younger ones to mature. | ||||||||||||||||||
However, with the forest being our prime source of paper, the
planners view the trees not as timber but as pulp. Pffft to
selective logging. Mow it down and chip it. Send the experienced
foresters home and bring in the feller-bunchers, massive Dr. Zeuss
machines that wade into the forest like a lawn mower and take it
all. Take what timber you want and chip the rest and pack it off to
the pulp mill. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
We need to make paper out of something else. | ||||||||||||||||||
Hemp is the obvious choice. Hemp makes fine paper and the farming
and secondary industry would be a wonderful boon to local economies
everywhere. Farmers can grow it as a cash crop in just about any
environment where things grow. If the social sting were taken out of
the equation and local farmers could freely grow a cash crop with a
whole panoply of possible end products, do you not think they would?
Of course they would and the economic benefits would show up in town
quickly I am sure. | ||||||||||||||||||
But the miracle product, hemp, is beset with a huge pulp, paper and forest industry organized to work with wood and loath to change. This is a great sprawling empire including international corporations spanning the world in their influence, while down at ground level whole communities and large regions of the country are organized down to their grassroots to think wood pulp. These folks are not too keen to think change. Who pays the piper calls the tune and that tune is certainly not singing the praises of hemp. | ||||||||||||||||||
We need to retool for a different kind of world - and I would like to read my morning newspaper with a clear conscience please. | ||||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (20-23) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The U.S.-installed President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, forbade aerial spraying of plant-poisons on Afghan farms, to kill opium poppies. It would not happen, said he. But hard-core prohibitionists in the U.S. have been itching to forcibly douse Afghan farms in Taliban-friendly Helmand province for years, and so who cares what the Afghan President says? This week the U.S. got their wish and "enforced" spraying began, over the objections of U.K. "defence and diplomatic sources", who claim "US political interference" is to blame. "I think it is fair to say that we are at a turning point," a British source said in the Sunday Times, "We need to get the people on side. Eradication has to take place. But doing it the wrong way, as some Americans seem determined to do, will only cause havoc." | ||||||||||||||||||
Andalucia, Spain, is set to authorize prescription heroin on a "case
by case" basis. The Council of Andalucia made the move after
research indicated "heroin maintenance improves health twofold over
methadone in long term addicts," reported the Spanish El Pais
newspaper last week. The Health Ministry will have to allow
"compassionate use of the drug on a case by case basis." At it
stands now, the Andalucian government has "opted to turn a blind eye
to heroin maintenance." | ||||||||||||||||||
An article from the San Francisco Chronicle last week focused on the
new Mexican president's military campaign of prohibition in the
Mexican state of Michoacan. President Felipe Calderon continues to
loudly "fight" against "drugs" in the state with broad military
sweeps and searches, checkpoints, and the destruction of marijuana
fields there. Police shall "take back the territory that organized
crime has seized," proclaimed his interior minister, Francisco
Ramirez Acuna. "I don't think Mexico has the ability to do that,"
said one analyst. Noted another: "I'm afraid the government is
trying to make a big splash with this operation that, in the end,
may end up with a few traffickers in jail, who will only be replaced
the next day." | ||||||||||||||||||
When it comes to any mind-altering substance, politicians seem to
have a favorite answer: ban it! Politicians in New Zealand are no
exception, and have been preparing to ban the "party pill" BZP after
some pro forma hearings on the drug. BZP (benzylpiperazine) gained
popularity in recent years as a stand-in for MDMA, which is illegal
in New Zealand. We leave you this week with a thought-provoking
piece from the Nelson Mail. Banning BZP, writes the Mail, "would
make criminals out of thousands of young New Zealanders without
stopping the trade. Party pills would go underground to join the
long list of other illegal recreational drugs available to New
Zealanders, some of which are far more potent and deadly." Ban the
drug, but people will get it anyway, if not something "far more
potent and deadly." That's the history of prohibition. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(20) DOUBTS GROW AS SPRAYERS TARGET AFGHAN POPPIES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A CAMPAIGN of enforced crop-spraying to destroy the opium poppy
fields will get under way in southern Afghanistan in the next few
weeks, despite fears that it will undermine attempts to win the
battle for hearts and minds with the Taliban. | ||||||||||||||||||
British defence and diplomatic sources claim the campaign is the
result of "US political interference" and is throwing Nato plans
into turmoil. Coupled with the imminent replacement of the British
general commanding Nato troops with an American, the sources predict
a breakdown in security. | ||||||||||||||||||
The spraying is likely to damage legitimate crops that farmers grow
to feed their families. It could increase support for the Taliban at
a time when Nato and the Afghan government are trying hard to
persuade the population that they should back international
reconstruction efforts. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The Taliban are paid by poppy farmers to protect their crops and
would be ideally placed to capitalise on the widespread anger among
farmers that is likely if drugs eradication is not handled
carefully. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I think it is fair to say that we are at a turning point," a
British source said. "We need to get the people on side. Eradication
has to take place. But doing it the wrong way, as some Americans
seem determined to do, will only cause havoc." | ||||||||||||||||||
The push for enforced spraying, opposed by both the British and the
former Helmand governor, Engineer Daud, was a key reason for his
removal this month, the sources said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(21) ANDALUCIA TO PROVIDE PRESCRIPTION HEROIN TO LONG TERM ADDICTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The Ministry Of Health Will Have To Authorize "Compassionate Use" Of
The Drug On A Case By Case Basis | ||||||||||||||||||
Heroin as medicine. The Council of Andalucia is formally requesting
permission from the Ministry of Health to administer the drug to a
group of addicts in Granada as if it were an experimental medicine.
The Council's decision is based on the clinical research with heroin
it has undertaken, which shows that heroin maintenance improves
health twofold over methadone in long term addicts who have not been
able to give up the drug. The Health Ministry will have to authorize
compassionate use of the drug on a case by case basis, but the
formal request puts the Ministry in an awkward position. The
department run by Elena Salgado has until now opted to turn a blind
eye to heroin maintenance. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The Andalucian Executive will make use of the 1993 royal clinical
trial decree, which defines compassionate use of a medicine
administered to "select patients, following clinical research, of
products in the final phases of research." | ||||||||||||||||||
The Andalucian researchers have already finished their research and
concluded that heroin maintenance improves physical health 2.5 times
as much as methadone and have published the results in the Journal
of Abuse Treatment. Additionally, patients treated with heroin break
the law less and have improved social situations. They have gone
down from injecting themselves in the streets from 25 times a month
to eight. Crimes have gone from 11 a month to one. | ||||||||||||||||||
There have been similar studies in Holland, Switzerland and Germany, all with similar results. The objective is not to cure addiction in patients with poor health and years of use, but rather to improve their state, bring them into the health system, reduce delinquency, avoid infections and reduce the use of adulterated street drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(22) MEXICO FIGHTS CARTELS IN WESTERN STATE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Some Praise Effort but Say They Doubt It Will Do Much | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Such police checkpoints -- aimed at vehicles carrying drugs -- are
part of Operation Michoacan United, launched by Mexico's new
President Felipe Calderon, a Michoacan native who narrowly won the
election in July and began a six-year term on Dec. 1. Michoacan is
his first attempt to make good on a campaign promise to fight
organized crime. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
To date, Operation Michoacan United has raided several thousand
marijuana fields and arrested about 60 suspects, including Elias
Valencia, a leader of the Valencia drug gang. Authorities have also
confiscated at least 112 weapons, 6 tons of marijuana and 300 pounds
of seeds, three yachts and $2 million in cash. More than 18,000
people have been searched, along with 8,000 vehicles and boats,
authorities say. | ||||||||||||||||||
Authorities will "take back the territory that organized crime has
seized," said Francisco Ramirez Acuna, Mexico's new interior
minister. | ||||||||||||||||||
But Jorge Chabat, a crime analyst at the Center for Economic
Research and Teaching in Mexico City, doubts the police dragnet will
have much impact on cartel business. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I don't think Mexico has the ability to do that," said Chabat. "But Calderon feels he should do something to establish some public order and send a message to the cartels that he is prepared to act tough." | ||||||||||||||||||
Jose Arturo Yanez, of Mexico City's National Institute for Criminal
Law, agreed. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Where are the cocaine and heroin seizures? What about the meth labs?" asked Yanez. "I'm afraid the government is trying to make a big splash with this operation that, in the end, may end up with a few traffickers in jail, who will only be replaced the next day." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(23) TO BAN, OR NOT? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
In spite of what the supporters and detractors of party pills think, the Government does not face a simple choice as it examines implementing a ban said the Nelson Mail in an editorial on Friday. | ||||||||||||||||||
The pills have been legal for long enough for them to become
strongly established on the recreational drug list. In the six years
since they emerged as a fashionable new drug they have been sampled
by a high percentage of young New Zealanders. | ||||||||||||||||||
A survey released in June showed that a startling 38 percent of
Kiwis aged 20-24 had used party pills in the previous 12 months,
while another survey found that one in five aged 13 to 45 had tried
them. These figures indicate very wide use - and acceptance - of a
drug that was previously unheard of, and now the Government is
considering attempting to shut down the supply. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
However, a ban on this one drug, perhaps extended to include the other party pill staple, trifluromethylpiperazine, would make criminals out of thousands of young New Zealanders without stopping the trade. Party pills would go underground to join the long list of other illegal recreational drugs available to New Zealanders, some of which are far more potent and deadly. Is that what Mr Anderton wants? Of course not. He is acting with the best of intentions but is up against a youth culture that wallows in intoxication obtained by any means, legal or not. That is the real issue and it cannot be addressed by adding party pills to the illegal drug list. | ||||||||||||||||||
There is no satisfactory answer but the least harmful way forward is
to regulate party pill manufacture and sale with the same rigour
applied to the drug that does most damage, alcohol. At least, users
could rely on accurate information about dosages and make their
purchases untainted by illegality. It's hardly ideal, but better
than a ban that can't succeed. | ||||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
WARNING FOR CANNABIS USERS IN EAST ANGLIA | ||||||||||||||||||
Drugs users across East Anglia were last night warned to exercise
extreme caution after research showed cannabis supplies are being
contaminated with harmful glass particles. | ||||||||||||||||||
Full story at link below | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
LIES, DAMNED LIES, AND DRUG WAR STATISTICS | ||||||||||||||||||
New book published by the State University of New York Press
provides a brief yet complete background on the major issues
pertaining to America's war on drugs. It covers topics such as the
role of ideology and claims-making in drug war policy formation, how
to analyze policies such as the drug war, the history of America's
drug war at home and abroad, goals of the drug war, agencies that
fight the drug war, and the drug war budget. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
PEE NO EVIL | ||||||||||||||||||
The anti-steroid crusade jeopardizes everyone's privacy. | ||||||||||||||||||
By Jacob Sullum | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
JUST SAY 'FAILURE' | ||||||||||||||||||
The War on Drugs hasn't cut use, but it has squandered billions of
dollars and kept our prisons full. That's why local governments like
Sacramento's are coming to the fore in some areas of drug-policy
reform. | ||||||||||||||||||
By Sasha Abramsky | ||||||||||||||||||
http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Content?oid=oid%3A259869 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Factors Associated with Premature Mortality Among Young Injection Drug
Users in Vancouver | ||||||||||||||||||
According to findings published in a recent article, premature
mortality is 13 and 54 times higher among young men and women
who use injection drugs in Vancouver than among the
general population in Canada. | ||||||||||||||||||
http://www.harmreductionjournal.com/content/pdf/1477-7517-4-1.pdf | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Live Fridays 8:00 PM, ET, 7:00 CT, 6:00 MT & 5:00 PT at www.KPFT.org | ||||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||||
WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
REGISTER NOW FOR ASA'S CA CONFERENCE | ||||||||||||||||||
Register Online for a Free Chance to Win a Volcano Vaporizer! | ||||||||||||||||||
ASA's state conference, "Implementation = Victory: Preparing for the
Next 10 Years," http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3784, is now
just a week away. It will be held on January 12th-14th in Burbank,
CA and basic registration, costs only $50. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
TEENS AND DRUGS | ||||||||||||||||||
By John Chase | ||||||||||||||||||
The claimed 23 percent reduction of teen drug use from 2001 to 2006
is technically true but is still very small ( "Teens' use of illegal
drugs drops," Page 1, Friday ). For example, high-school problem
smokers ( those who smoke every day ) fell to 4 percent from 5
percent. That's 25 percent, according to data from | ||||||||||||||||||
Because the drug war gets the credit, let's look at the other side
of the ledger. First, the annual $10 billion spent to house half a
million drug prisoners and $20 billion spent by the federal
government on the drug war. Also, the unintended consequences:
Perjured testimony by government witnesses; women and low-level
dealers imprisoned because they have no information to offer
prosecutors. Consider how the exorbitant profit of the illegal
market attracts unskilled men to run "meth labs" and sell drugs on
the street. Finally, those suffering from illnesses who use
narcotics to relieve pain are sent to prison because they cut
corners to get the relief denied them by the Drug Enforcement
Administration. | ||||||||||||||||||
That 23 percent reduction is really a 1 percent decline in problem
smokers. Even if the drug war gets all the credit, it is a bad deal
for Americans. | ||||||||||||||||||
JOHN CHASE Palm Harbor, Fla. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
We The People, The 110th Congress, And Peace In The War On Drugs | ||||||||||||||||||
By Bryan W. Brickner | ||||||||||||||||||
The 110th Congress of We the People took the oath of office this week, which means they swore to defend the words in the U.S. Constitution. So ask yourself this question: did George Washington and his band of revolutionaries design a government to wage war on We the People or a government to make peace between We the People? | ||||||||||||||||||
The answer, according to the Constitution, is peace. | ||||||||||||||||||
The means to peace and healing are located in Article 1 of the U.S.
Constitution - that is peace and healing between groups in the
United States, to include all citizens, even the millions of
"illegal drug" users. | ||||||||||||||||||
The thesis is simple: our House of Representatives is not designed
as the founders left it to us. This is not an abstract argument such
as interpreting the meaning of the commerce clause, but rather
simple 18th century math - which works the same way as 21st century
math. | ||||||||||||||||||
Why math? Because it is unequivocal. The founders used numbers to
convey how to represent We the People. They did so for both the
House of Representatives and the Senate. | ||||||||||||||||||
Here are the words for the House of Representatives in Article 1,
Section 2: "The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for
every thirty Thousand." | ||||||||||||||||||
That is what it says and the founders put it there for a reason. The
reason is because numbers tell a story. Think of it like this: the
ratio of one Representative for every 30,000 citizens is the
equivalent of each state receiving two Senators. No one questions
the constitutional validity of two Senators per state, as Article 1,
Section 3 dictates. Again, the Constitution is unequivocal: "The
Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from
each State." | ||||||||||||||||||
Constitutionally speaking, one ratio cannot be valid (the one for the Senate) and the other invalid (the one for the House). | ||||||||||||||||||
Even though we, the citizens of today, may have forgotten or never understood the significance of the House ratio, the founders were well aware of it. They put it in our Constitution as a written guarantee for us in the future. That is what constitutions provide: they are healing words of peace so we don't fight about things. | ||||||||||||||||||
That's right =96 healing words of peace. The House representation ratio of one for every 30,000 is a constitutional fact. It means we are not supposed to fight about it. The amendment process is the only constitutional means for changing the words in Article 1. Instead, the ratio has been ignored through wilful neglect. We the People of the 21st century have forgotten what it means to be a nation represented in a constitutional House of Representatives. | ||||||||||||||||||
Hmmm, here is where the drug war, or any other political issue
facing our nation, might be different. Perhaps in a constitutional
House of Representatives, one based on representing the people
according to their numbers, federal programs like the war on illegal
drug users would have ended by now - and perhaps may never have even
started. | ||||||||||||||||||
Washington and his revolutionaries were radicals. One of their radical ideas was representing We the People according to our numbers. Why? Because, as James Madison wrote, if you increase the size of the system (i.e., the House of Representatives), it becomes "less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens." (Federalist 10) | ||||||||||||||||||
That is how the founders designed representation in the | ||||||||||||||||||
Here is an example, the political hot-potato of research into
cannabis and the human cannabinoid system. Since all humans have a
cannabinoid system, more research would clearly, in the name of
science, benefit all citizens. Since cannabis consumers are and have
always been a minority group in the United States, our interests and
knowledge have not been voiced or heard. But that does not mean the
founders designed a system to exclude our interests and knowledge.
On the contrary, they did the opposite. | ||||||||||||||||||
Using the constitutional ratio of one Representative for every 30,000 people, California, with its 33 million citizens and ten years of medical cannabis knowledge, would have over 1,100 Representatives in a constitutional House. With that many members, "new" ideas such as medical cannabis would no longer be abstract. | ||||||||||||||||||
With that many members from California - not to mention all the
other states - the science in support of cannabis and the
cannabinoid system would be heard and new ideas would develop.
Instead, beginning in 1937, we have 70 years of federal "marijuana"
prohibition. Since the age requirement for membership in the House
of Representatives is 25 years old, and it is another number that is
always enforced, We the People live under a federal prohibition
passed by white men born prior to 1912. | ||||||||||||||||||
Well, in designing a system to represent We the People, the founders
gave all of us, even the "illegal drug" users, a constitutional
right to be represented according to their numbers. In making peace
in the drug war, we should remind the 110th Congress of the words
they have sworn to defend, to include these twelve words: "The
Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty
Thousand." | ||||||||||||||||||
When looking for solutions, solutions that heal, it is wise to look in likely places, and one's Constitution is one of those places. | ||||||||||||||||||
Bryan W. Brickner is the author of 'Article the first of the Bill of
Rights' (2006) and the novel 'hereafter' (2006). He received his
doctorate in political science from Purdue University in 1997 and is
a freelance speaker and writer in Chicago. For information about
ordering 'Article the first of the Bill of rights,' visit
http://www.lulu.com/bryanbrickner | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
"Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the
comprehension of the weak..." - John Adams | ||||||||||||||||||
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