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DrugSense Weekly
March 9, 2007 #490


Table of Contents

* Breaking News (03/28/24)


* This Just In


(1) Student Questioned About Dad's Use Of Pot
(2) Shake-Up Aims To Replace 'Failed' Drug Laws
(3) House Rejects Bill To Legalize Medical Use Of Marijuana
(4) 'Shroom To Grow

* Weekly News in Review


Drug Policy-

COMMENT: (5-9)
(5) Dole Wants Drug Crackdown
(6) No Deal: 100 Years In Drug Case
(7) Arrest Disgraceful, Horrible, Parents Say
(8) Worldwide War On Drugs Lagging, State Department Says
(9) 'Dr. No' May Say Yes To Run For White House

Law Enforcement & Prisons-

COMMENT: (10-14)
(10) Measure: Toughen No-Knock Warrant Requirements
(11) Local Bill Toughens Meth Law
(12) Arrests Of Hollywood Officers Jeopardize 61 Criminal
(13) Ripley Police Chief Arrested On Federal Drug Charges
(14) Death Under Cover

Cannabis & Hemp-

COMMENT: (15-18)
(15) No Prosecution For A Little Marijuana
(16) Judge To Decide Validity Of Case Against Marijuana Advocate
(17) Ageing Hippies' Cannabis Ring
(18) Hemp Touted As A Healthy Food

International News-

COMMENT: (19-23)
(19) Poppy Wars
(20) Marketing Board For Opium Urged By Ex-NATO Official
(21) Drug War Is Overwhelming Guatemala
(22) Drug War Rips Apart Mexico
(23) 'Narco' Taxi Tours Profit On Mexico Drug War Chaos

* Hot Off The 'Net


    Kicking Down The Door At The "House Of Death"
    Cultural Baggage Radio Show / With Dean Becker
    Calderon Should Not Repeat Drug War Failures Of The Past / By Ethan Nadelmann
    RSA Drugs Report : Good, But No Cigar / Transform Drug Policy Foundation
    Cannabis Grandmother To Fight On
    Mouse Party

* What You Can Do This Week


    Call On Congress To Hold Hearings On Medical Cannabis
    Join DPR Activists From Around North America
    Job Openings At MPP

* Letter Of The Week


    Defend Medical Pot Users / Richard Bayer, M.D.

* Feature Article


    Government Opposes Freedom Of Choice On Both Ends Of Drug War
    / By Stephen Young

* Quote of the Week


    Royal Society of Arts Commission on Drugs

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THIS JUST IN    (Top)

(1) STUDENT QUESTIONED ABOUT DAD'S USE OF POT    (Top)

The Controversy Surrounding a Bill to Allow the Use of Medical Marijuana Hits Home for a Junior-High Student in Brooklyn Park.

Shannon Pakonen told a House committee Thursday that his 15-year-old son, Sam, was interrogated this week by a teacher at Brooklyn Junior High School in Brooklyn Park about his father's use of marijuana for medical purposes.

The incident, Pakonen said, demonstrates the need for legislation to authorize medical use of the drug.

Lisa Hunter Jensen, the Osseo School District's director of school/community relations, said the district had only sketchy information about the incident from the school's principal but said the district is investigating the matter further.

Telephone calls and e-mails to the school's principal and assistant principal as well as the Osseo School District's superintendent and school board members were not returned Thursday.

Sam Pakonen was pulled out of math class and told to report to his speech teacher, his father said.  While there, the teacher asked him about his father.  Were there marijuana plants in his house? Did he ever see his father smoke pot?

No, he replied.

That was on Tuesday.  Two days earlier, Sam's father, Shannon, had been quoted in a Star Tribune story about a bill in the Legislature to allow the use of medical marijuana in the state.  He was quoted saying he occasionally used marijuana to reduce tics and spasms caused by Tourette's syndrome, a neurological disorder.  Shannon Pakonen had also testified in support of the bill last month in a Senate committee hearing.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 09 Mar 2007
Source:   Minneapolis Star-Tribune (MN)
Website:   http://www.startribune.com
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/266
Author:   Mark Brunswick, Star Tribune
Cited:   http://www.district279.org/sec/bjh/
Referenced:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n272/a07.html
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n292.a06.html


(2) SHAKE-UP AIMS TO REPLACE 'FAILED' DRUG LAWS    (Top)

An independent commission called for a fundamental overhaul of the 35- year-old strategy aimed at eradicating drug abuse entirely.

This could lead to casual drug users being left alone by police, who would focus on pushers and serious criminals.

The report, from a body set up by the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), said the law was driven by "moral panic".

It suggested that harm caused by drugs had nothing to do with their legality and the main aim of public policy should be to reduce the amount of harm that drugs cause, not send people to jail.

The commission proposed replacing the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 with a Misuse of Substances Act that reclassified drugs - legal and illegal - according to the harm they do.

This would recognise that tobacco and alcohol can cause more damage than some illegal substances.  The report triggered a furious reaction, with Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader who is reviewing party policy on drugs, denouncing it as "worryingly complacent".

He said the suggestion that some drugs could be taken harmlessly was misleading.

"The RSA grossly underplays the damage done to individuals and society by the taking of psychoactive drugs."

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 09 Mar 2007
Source:   Daily Telegraph (UK)
Website:   http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/114
Author:   Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor
Cited:   http://www.rsadrugscommission.org/
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n291.a01.html


(3) HOUSE REJECTS BILL TO LEGALIZE MEDICAL USE OF MARIJUANA    (Top)

A proposal to legalize the medical use of marijuana failed Thursday in the House, dashing hopes of advocates who had picked up the support of Gov.  Bill Richardson for the measure.

The Senate previously had approved the proposal, and it would have gone to the governor had it cleared the House.  Richardson had said he would sign the proposal into law.

But the House narrowly rejected the bill, with 36 voting against it and 33 supporting it.

Opponents disputed that marijuana was an effective medicine. "Medically it just really has no value.  For us to approve a drug like this tells our children and tells the rest of the people in this state that we, somehow as leaders, give tacit approval to the use of this drug," said Rep.  John Heaton, D-Carlsbad and a pharmacist. "That is absolutely wrong for us to do."

He described marijuana as "the No.  1 gateway drug to abusing other drugs in our society."

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 09 Mar 2007
Source:   New Mexican, The (Santa Fe, NM)
Website:   http://www.freenewmexican.com/
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/695
Author:   Barry Massey, The Associated Press
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n292.a09.html


(4) 'SHROOM TO GROW    (Top)

OPP, RCMP Bust Massive Pot Operation At Ottawa-Area Mushroom Farm

MOOSE CREEK -- A mushroom farm east of Ottawa contains what police believe is the largest indoor marijuana grow operation ever busted in eastern Ontario.

"It would be great competition for the Molson plant," OPP Det.  Sgt. Paul Henry said, comparing the grow operation to the January 2004 raid at the former brewery in Barrie.

Provincial drug officers stormed the Nordik Imperial Mushroom farm on Hwy.  138, about 60 km east of Ottawa Tuesday morning, after receiving a tip from Crime Stoppers last month.

Inside the 32,000 square-foot building, police found 3,100 marijuana plants worth an estimated $3.1 million.  Officers also found eight people, some of them still sleeping in cramped, makeshift bedrooms.

DESTINED FOR U.S.

"There wasn't a whole lot of shock in their eyes," Henry said.

Henry, speaking at a press conference in Embrun yesterday, said the grow operation had the potential to produce $3-million worth of marijuana a month.  He figures a large portion of the drugs were destined for the U.S.  and he suspects American authorities might "very quickly" get involved in the investigation.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 08 Mar 2007
Source:   Toronto Sun (CN ON)
Website:   http://torontosun.com/
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/457
Author:   Jon Willing, Sun Media
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n292.a05.html


WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW    (Top)

Domestic News- Policy


COMMENT: (5-9)    (Top)

The most interesting policy news this week actually leads off the cannabis section.  It's about how a county in Wisconsin is formally turning all low level marijuana possession into fine cases. Officials feel they have no choice due to constraints on resources. The stories in this section show how desperate the drug war has become everywhere else.  But instead of pulling back, at least one U.S.  Senator continue to push for more, despite strong evidence that it will do nothing to address the problem.

Elsewhere were illustrations of even more desperate failures: like the man who got 100 years for a couple ounces of cocaine; and a school principal accused of selling drugs from his office.  With all this desperation, the U.S., for another year, had the temerity to judge other countries on their drug eradication efforts.  In more positive news, at least one politician who has been a reliable opponent of the drug war is considering a run for the White House.


(5) DOLE WANTS DRUG CRACKDOWN    (Top)

Points To State As Trafficking Hot Spot

The number of Drug Enforcement Administration arrests doubled in North Carolina from 2003 to 2005, and U.S.  Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., wants something done about it.

Dole is calling for the establishment of High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area offices and increased federal funds to combat the escalation of drug trafficking in the state.

HIDTA classification would require proof that North Carolina is a national hot spot for drug trafficking.

Dole's request came during the week of a record-breaking Fayetteville drug bust in which policemen seized one ton of marijuana, 26 kilograms of cocaine and more than $3 million in cash.

"Anything that could alleviate drugs coming into the state of North Carolina would be good for the citizens," said Capt.  Bobby Chapman of the Fayetteville Police Department who worked on the bust.

He said the HIDTA office in Texas, the state where the seized drugs originated, assisted in the one-year investigation that culminated in the bust.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Mon, 05 Mar 2007
Source:   Daily Tar Heel, The (U of NC, Edu)
Copyright:   2007 DTH Publishing Corp
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/1949
Author:   Caroline Moakley
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n281/a01.html


(6) NO DEAL: 100 YEARS IN DRUG CASE    (Top)

FORT WAYNE, Ind.  -- A drug dealer who rejected a plea agreement that called for six years behind bars has instead been sentenced by a judge to 100 years in prison.

Sharico Devon Blakely, 28, was unfazed by the sentence Monday and maintained his innocence during the hearing as he interrupted his attorney, insulted the prosecutor and challenged Allen Superior Court Judge Kenneth R.  Scheibenberger.

"I'll be back.  Soon," he told the judge.

"The last guy that said that to me is still in prison,"
Scheibenberger replied.

"I'm an innocent man," Blakely protested.

"So is Charles Manson," Scheibenberger said

Blakely was convicted last month on three counts of dealing cocaine and possession with intent to distribute for selling more than 3 ounces of crack and powder cocaine to a confidential police informant in May.  Police also found nearly 2 ounces of cocaine in his apartment along with marijuana, prescription pain medication, a gun and nearly $5,000 in cash.

Deputy Prosecutor Jeff Stineburg asked Scheibenberger to give Blakely the maximum sentence of 100 years because of his record, which starts as a juvenile, includes three convictions for delinquency, one of which was for cocaine possession; and as an adult, 13 misdemeanors and four felonies, three of which were for dealing cocaine.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Tue, 27 Feb 2007
Source:   Indianapolis Star (IN)
Copyright:   2007 The Associated Press
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/210
Author:   Associated Press
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n255/a07.html


(7) ARREST DISGRACEFUL, HORRIBLE, PARENTS SAY    (Top)

BETHLEHEM - Parents waiting outside Nitschmann Middle School on Wednesday afternoon were outraged at the drug-dealing charges against a man who was supposed to be guiding their children.

Lynn Faraldo, who has a daughter in seventh grade, said the allegations that Principal John Acerra was dealing crystal methamphetamine out of his office set a horrible example for the students.

"It's disgraceful for the school district," particularly considering students are being taught not to use drugs, she said.

Darlene Sculley, whose son is an eighth-grade student, said Acerra was condoning drug use through his alleged actions.

"I think it's horrible.  Kids have enough crap to deal with in life," she said.

Lois Brensinger, whose children attended Nitschmann when they were younger, said she was a year behind Acerra at Bethlehem Catholic High School.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 01 Mar 2007
Source:   Express-Times, The (PA)
Copyright:   2007 The Express-Times
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/1489
Author:   Bevin Milavskythe, Express-Times
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n271/a03.html


(8) WORLDWIDE WAR ON DRUGS LAGGING, STATE DEPARTMENT SAYS    (Top)

WASHINGTON - The United States said Thursday that top anti-terror allies Afghanistan, Pakistan and Colombia had fallen short in the war on drugs despite enhanced counter-narcotics efforts, It also criticized perennial foes Iran, North Korea and Venezuela for not cooperating.  The State Department also noted backsliding in some key Latin American nations like Bolivia while it praised improved performances by Mexico and Asian transshipment points China and Thailand.

In its annual global survey of the drug war, the department said massive opium-poppy production in Afghanistan, long the world's top producer of the main ingredient for heroin, continued to pose a major threat.  "Afghanistan's huge drug trade undercuts efforts to rebuild the economy and develop a strong democratic government based on the rule of law," the department said in the 2007 International Narcotic Control Strategy Report.  "There is strong evidence that narcotics trafficking is linked to the Taliban insurgency.  These links between drug traffickers and anti-government forces threaten regional stability," the department said.  It added that corruption and security conditions hinder efforts to combat Afghan poppy production that shot up 59 percent to a record 5,644 tons from 2005 to 2006.

"More must be done," Anne Patterson, assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs, told reporters.  The report stressed that Afghan President Hamid Karzai remained committed to reducing the harvest but Patterson said that results remained "insufficient."

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 02 Mar 2007
Source:   Arizona Daily Star (Tucson, AZ)
Copyright:   2007 Arizona Daily Star
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/23
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n267/a10.html


(9) 'DR. NO' MAY SAY YES TO RUN FOR WHITE HOUSE    (Top)

Affable and unassuming, Republican Rep.  Ron Paul of Texas steps into a crowded Holiday Inn lobby packed with libertarian activists.  They all know him by name.  "I haven't seen you in two years," bellows Dick Marple, a former Republican state representative who leans over a vending table and plants a New Hampshire pin on the congressman's tie.

Minutes later Paul receives a standing ovation following an anti-war speech that blisters President Bush, the Republican Party and Democrats.

"It's another no-win war where Americans are dying needlessly," the Lake Jackson congressman told the New Hampshire Liberty Forum.

Paul, 71, is weighing his second run at the presidency.

He was the Libertarian Party candidate in 1988.  This time he's running as a Republican, although he concedes he's a long-shot.

He tells audiences some candidates will raise $100 million for the campaign.  Still, he said, he's running to win, on a platform to limit government and maximize personal freedom.

"It's worth the fight, as far as I'm concerned," Paul said.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sun, 04 Mar 2007
Source:   San Antonio Express-News (TX)
Copyright:   2007 San Antonio Express-News
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/384
Author:   Gary Martin, Express-News Washington Bureau
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n279/a02.html


Law Enforcement & Prisons


COMMENT: (10-14)    (Top)

It's something, but it's still too little too late in Georgia, where legislators want to add some restrictions to the use of no-knock warrants in the wake of a the killing of a 92-year-old in a drug raid.  In Illinois, on the other hand, it's too much too late, as a legislator proposes another toughening of meth laws - this time punishing those who would use a fake ID to purchase over-the-counter medicines used to make meth.  Elsewhere, there was more drug-related police corruption, while reporter Mara Leveritt took a look at the informant system in Arkansas.


(10) MEASURE: TOUGHEN NO-KNOCK WARRANT REQUIREMENTS    (Top)

ATLANTA - A bipartisan group of lawmakers called for tighter restrictions Wednesday on how police use "no-knock" warrants in the wake of a shootout that left an elderly woman dead after plainclothes officers stormed her home unannounced.

A measure by state Sen.  Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, would allow judges to grant the warrants only if police officers can prove a "significant and imminent danger to human life."

The measure, which was co-sponsored by Republican state Sen.  Jeff Mullis, was prompted by a Nov.  21 shootout between Kathryn Johnston and three Atlanta Police officers during a no-knock search for drugs in her northwest Atlanta home.  Johnston, who was 92, was killed and three officers were wounded.

Fulton County prosecutors said they intend to seek murder charges against three of the officers who raided the woman's home.  Police say Johnston fired a handgun and officers returned fire.  An autopsy report revealed Johnston was shot five or six times in the chest, arms, legs and feet.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 28 Feb 2007
Source:   Ledger-Enquirer (Columbus,GA)
Copyright:   2007 Ledger-Enquirer
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/237
Author:   Greg Bluestein, Associated Press
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n281/a06.html


(11) LOCAL BILL TOUGHENS METH LAW    (Top)

SPRINGFIELD - In the ongoing battle against the methamphetamine epidemic State Sen.  John Sullivan, D-Rushville, has introduced a bill that will increase the punishment for buying over-the counter ingredients for methamphetamine production with a fake or borrowed

The bill sailed through the Senate Judiciary Criminal Law Committee last week.  The vote was unanimous.

Ephedrine or pseudoephedrine are ingredients found in
over-the-counter medicines that are vital ingredients in the production of methamphetamine.

In recent years a number of laws have been put on the books to make it more difficult for would-be methamphetamine makers to purchase large quantities of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine.  One law requires the person to show a photo ID and sign a log book when they purchase the items.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Mon, 26 Feb 2007
Source:   Daily Review Atlas (Monmouth, IL)
Copyright:   2007 Review Atlas
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/4186
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n251/a02.html


(12) ARRESTS OF HOLLYWOOD OFFICERS JEOPARDIZE 61 CRIMINAL CASES THEY    (Top)HANDLED

A former state legislator charged with having sex with a teenager, a man accused in the rape of a 60-year-old woman, and a man who police said molested his 13-year-old stepdaughter are among defendants in 61 pending cases jeopardized by alleged corruption in the Hollywood police department.

The prosecutions, each involving one of four veteran officers charged last week with corruption and drug offenses, are under review by lawyers in the Broward State Attorney's Office, said felony chief Jeff Marcus.

At the same time, the FBI continued to look into leaks from the Hollywood Police Department that prematurely exposed an undercover investigation of suspected dirty cops.  The leaks forced agents to wrap up the sting instead of following up on other leads that could have produced more arrests, according to a federal law enforcement official familiar with the matter.

Detective Kevin Companion, 41; Sgt.  Jeffry Courtney, 51; Officer Stephen Harrison, 46; and Detective Thomas Simcox, 50, are accused of providing services to FBI agents posing as mobsters in exchange for cash, sometimes using official police vehicles and equipment.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Tue, 27 Feb 2007
Source:   Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Copyright:   2007 Sun-Sentinel Company
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/159
Author:   Vanessa Blum and Ihosvani Rodriguez
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n257/a02.html


(13) RIPLEY POLICE CHIEF ARRESTED ON FEDERAL DRUG CHARGES    (Top)

Ripley Police Chief Bert Conely is out on $5,000 bond today after pleading not guilty to each of seven counts alleging he possessed drugs to sell them.

Conely appeared Tuesday before Magistrate Judge S.  Allan Alexander to enter his plea to the federal charges.

Although Conely is out on bond, he can't possess a firearm, must have no contact with government witnesses and must submit to supervision of the U.S.  Probation Office, according to Alexander's order.

The indictment was made public Tuesday.  It alleges that from May 17, 2006, until Nov.  21, 2006, Conely possessed marijuana and hydrocodone, a narcotic pain reliever with intent to distribute.  The indictment quotes Conely as saying that the marijuana came from Mexico and was in a vault at the police department.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 28 Feb 2007
Source:   Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (Tupelo, MS)
Copyright:   2007 Journal Publishing Company
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/823
Author:   Leesha Faulkner, Daily Journal
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n257/a04.html


(14) DEATH UNDER COVER    (Top)

At a particularly dismal moment in Martin Scorsese's "The Departed," a disgusted undercover cop mutters, "It's a nation of rats." Not quite.  But the film and the recent flap in the Northeast over t-shirts that demand "Stop Snitchin' " are calling attention to a part of the legal system that critics say has gotten out of control.

While it's impossible to get accurate counts due to the inherent secrecy of the practice, moderate estimates place the number of informants working for police agencies in the U.S.  in the hundreds of thousands.

Since the U.S.  Supreme Court OK'd the use of confidential informants 50 years ago, the practice has become a primary tool of the so-called war on drugs.  As one court noted:

"Without informants, law enforcement authorities would be unable to penetrate and destroy organized crime syndicates, drug trafficking cartels, bank frauds, telephone solicitation scams, public corruption, terrorist gangs, money launderers, espionage rings, and the likes."

Critics counter that the practice has become a dangerous public policy, compromising the integrity of police work, endangering both informants and innocents, eroding confidence in the rule of law enforcement, and often producing bad information.

The Little Rock Police Department and the Pulaski County sheriff's office would not disclose the number of informants in their files.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 28 Feb 2007
Source:   Arkansas Times (Little Rock, AR)
Copyright:   2007 Arkansas Times Inc.
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/583
Author:   Mara Leveritt
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n259/a08.html


Cannabis & Hemp-


COMMENT: (15-18)    (Top)

Dane County Wisconsin has surrendered the use of criminal prosecution for possession of under 25 grams of cannabis, and it was not achieved by ballot, nor court ruling but...lack of resources. Predictably, the cash cow of hefty fines will remain in place for the "insignificant cannabis cases," but the District Attorney was straight forward that crimes that produce real victims are priority.

Poor Ed Rosenthal - it must seem like another case of deja vu as he faces more court time over his past activities.  Based on allegations by the defense that this is a vindictive prosecution, the judge favorably ruled prosecutors must turn over paperwork to prove otherwise.

Hats off to some defiant UK baby boomers and seniors who refuse to give up their medicinal herb of choice despite the threat of a jail cell for ignoring their sentence.  The judge issued the ultimatum of "If you want to stand on your principles you can take your prison sentence - it's your choice."

Hemp growers in Australia and New Zealand are frustrated they can only grow hemp for oil-seed extraction (which only uses 20% of the plant) and not develop a hemp food or fiber industry.  The reason, according to government, is the public would get a mixed message about hemp versus marijuana.  Where have we heard that one before? Fortunately, many countries ignore hemp prohibition.


(15) NO PROSECUTION FOR A LITTLE MARIJUANA    (Top)

People who are busted in Dane County for having less than 25 grams of marijuana - a little less than an ounce of pot, or the equivalent of about 20 to 25 joints - will no longer face criminal prosecution, but they could still pay some hefty fines.

Citing a lack of resources and continuing staff reductions, District Attorney Brian Blanchard has told police chiefs his office will no longer file charges of criminal possession against individuals for having less than 25 grams of marijuana - an amount many law enforcement agencies consider to be for personal use rather than for distribution to others.

Blanchard's office also will not file charges for possession of drug paraphernalia related to marijuana use.

"This is not a radical departure from current practice," Blanchard said, adding that one of the major changes is that a person's criminal history will no longer be considered.

[snip]

Gary Storck, co-founder of the Madison chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and a medical marijuana activist and patient, welcomed the move saying, "I feel it's overdue."

But Storck criticized linking it to a lack of resources, with the implication that given additional staffing, criminal charges would be filed.

"This community has a history very much intermingled with cannabis, like it or not .  . . It's a tradition," Storck said. "I think most people understand a little bit of pot is no big deal."

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sat, 03 Mar 2007
Source:   Wisconsin State Journal (WI)
Copyright:   2007 Madison Newspapers, Inc.
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/506
Author:   Sandy Cullen
Cited:   Madison NORML http://madisonnorml.org/
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Dane+County
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n268.a10.html


(16) JUDGE TO DECIDE VALIDITY OF CASE AGAINST MARIJUANA ADVOCATE    (Top)

San Francisco -- A federal judge has asked the United States attorney here to submit all trial preparation memorandums in the case against a leading advocate of medical marijuana so that the court can determine if the government has been pursuing a "vindictive prosecution."

The judge, Charles R.  Breyer, ordered the review at the request of lawyers for Ed Rosenthal, a spokesman in the effort to legalize marijuana who has been in a closely watched court battle with the government.

At a motion hearing in Federal District Court here on Friday, defense lawyers for Mr.  Rosenthal urged Judge Breyer to dismiss an array of federal drug, money laundering and tax evasion charges against their client, saying an appellate court judge had overturned his conviction in a nearly identical case last year.

The new charges, outlined in a federal grand jury indictment issued in October, accuse Mr.  Rosenthal of 14 felonies, including conspiracy to grow and sell marijuana for medical use, laundering $1,850 and failing to report income from the sale of crop plants on his tax returns.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sun, 4 Mar 2007
Source:   New York Times (NY)
Copyright:   2007 The New York Times Company
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author:   Carolyn Marshall
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/people/Ed+Rosenthal
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n272.a06.html


(17) AGEING HIPPIES' CANNABIS RING    (Top)

A couple of ageing hippies have escaped jail sentences for their part in a cannabis co-operative run by women in a South Yorkshire village who smoke 'joints' to ease their painful joints.

Jacqueline Bell and Valerie Owen were among a circle of six friends aged from 42 to 70 living in Highfields, Doncaster, who clubbed together to buy the drug because of their various medical conditions.

And today they vowed to carry on smoking dope even though they risk going to prison for ignoring a sentence imposed by a judge at Doncaster Crown Court.

Recorder Peter Kelson QC said he realised they would carry using cannabis because they had strong feelings about it and told them: "If you want to stand on your principles you can take your prison sentence - it's your choice."

[snip]

Pubdate:   Mon, 05 Mar 2007
Source:   Sheffield Star (UK)
Copyright:   Sheffield Newspapers 2007
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/413
Author:   Russ Newton
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n275.a04.html


(18) HEMP TOUTED AS A HEALTHY FOOD    (Top)

Hemp growers want the Government to overturn food standards that are preventing them from establishing a food-product industry in Canterbury.  Industrial hemp, related to the cannabis-plant species, can be grown in New Zealand for oil-seed extraction, but regulations prohibit the rest of the low-THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) plant from being developed into a food product.

The major challenge facing hemp growing was the lack of consent to sell hemp-seed foods, said the director of Midlands Seeds and managing director of Oil Seed Extractions, Andrew Davidson.

The latter company had a licence to process hemp, but could sell only hemp-seed oil, he said.

Davidson said the hurdle would have to be overcome if the industry was to develop hemp's commercial advantage in crop production and justify the investment required to develop a fibre-processing plant.

"The Government believes it will send a mixed message to the public about hemp versus marijuana, with which we strongly disagree, because Canada, the United States and Western Europe are successfully selling hemp-seed foods."

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 02 Mar 2007
Source:   Press, The (New Zealand)
Copyright:   2007 The Christchurch Press Company Ltd.
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/349
Author:   Tim Cronshaw
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/find?330 (Hemp - Outside U.S.)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n275.a02.html


International News


COMMENT: (19-23)    (Top)

The pressure is on to allow Afghan farmers to sell their opium to legal western markets: like Australia, Turkey and India all do now. While there is a worldwide glut of illegal opiates (raw smoking opium and heroin) unbelievably, in 2007, there is actually a worldwide shortage of legal painkillers like codeine and morphine. This week, former Canadian ambassador to NATO, Gordon Smith, added his voice to the growing list of those suggesting that Afghan farmers simply be allowed to sell their opium in some kind of legal market.  "It's not a frightfully good option, but it's better than any others that anyone else has come forward with," said Smith.  An editorial from the Ottawa Citizen newspaper this week put it as follows.  "Eradication will not work... The goal must be to let Afghan poppy farmers make a living without having to deal with smugglers and militias: Bring them over to our side, rather than forcing them onto the enemy's."

The Central American nation of Guatemala has a request of the colossus of the north, "Send more money." Why? It is because of the drugs, you see.  An Associated Press piece this week tries to make the case for bigger helpings of drug war cash from Uncle Sam.  Issues of national sovereignty aside, "At the U.S.  government's request, the Guatemalan Congress has passed laws to strengthen law enforcement's investigative abilities," AP admits.  But although Washington has long dictated policy in Guatemala, corruption remains rampant.  In 2005, the head of an elite Guatemalan anti-narcotic force was arrested for "conspiring to import cocaine".  Perhaps if Washington sends more money to the Guatemalan police and military, that will clean it up after all.

Mexican president Felipe Calderon, ever-obedient to the dictates of prohibitionists in DC, sent in the troops.  In less than a year, Calderon ordered some 20,000 Federales into six Mexican states to "fight drugs" (mostly to rip up small marijuana plots).  The result? More "bloodshed in a war between rival drug cartels."

And finally this week, although it is not quite "Tijuana Taxi", drivers in other Mexican cities - cities which have seen drug cartels shoot it out in the streets - are giving "narco taxi tours". In Mazatlan, taxi tourists can pay about 20 dollars for a narco tour that includes areas famous for "a battle between cartels that killed 2,000 people last year." Points of interest on this "ghoulish" tour are said to include a beach-front disco owned by the Arellano Felix brothers' cartel, as well as the spot where "police shot dead cartel brother Ramon Arellano Felix in 2002."


(19) POPPY WARS    (Top)

Razing the field of an impoverished Afghan farmer, even if it's full of poppies, is no way to sell him on the benefits of development and democracy.  Yet that's the approach some NATO troops are taking, and it's costing us big, according to the former Canadian ambassador to NATO, Gordon Smith.

The poppy eradication effort (poppies are used in heroin production) is a function of the United States government's drug policy -- and a bad policy it is.  U.S.-sponsored efforts to wipe out the coca crop in Colombia have only pushed cultivation into neighbouring countries while enhancing the power of drug lords' private armies and promoting corruption in the police and military -- precisely the conditions we're trying to undo in Afghanistan.

Eradication will not work.  Once we accept that, we can think about new approaches, such as the one Mr.  Smith's team proposes: a central marketing board that would buy up the Afghan poppy crop and re-sell it to drug companies to make opiates such as morphine.

As a first step, we could invite farmers to sell their poppy crops to buyers working for drug companies, or to western governments through a legitimate market.

The goal must be to let Afghan poppy farmers make a living without having to deal with smugglers and militias: Bring them over to our side, rather than forcing them onto the enemy's.

NATO will not win the trust of Afghans by destroying their livelihoods.

Pubdate:   Mon, 05 Mar 2007
Source:   Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright:   2007 The Ottawa Citizen
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/topic/poppy (Poppy)
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n275.a08.html


(20) MARKETING BOARD FOR OPIUM URGED BY EX-NATO OFFICIAL    (Top)

OTTAWA -- An international marketing board for opium, similar to Canada's wheat board, would better fight terrorism and the booming drug trade in Afghanistan instead of current poppy-eradication programs, a former NATO ambassador says.

Destroying poppy crops, a major plank of American and British anti-drug policy, only drives farmers closer towards the Taliban, said Gordon Smith, Canada's NATO ambassador between 1985 and 1990. He's the lead author of a report released Thursday that urges the continuation of Canada's military presence beyond the current 2009 deadline, but also says current NATO policies need a shake-up.

His study, prepared for the Calgary-based Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute, urged the creation of an international clearing house to purchase opium crops and prevent money from entering the hands of Taliban insurgents or traffickers.

Afghanistan remains the largest heroin producing and trafficking country, producing more than 90 per cent of the world's opium poppy supply in 2006.  That's 172,000 hectares according to recent American estimates -- a 61 per cent jump from the previous year.  Opium exports account for one-third of the country's combined licit and illicit GDP, according to the United Nations.

"In a perfect world nobody would be allowed to grow poppies and all would be well," Smith said Thursday.  "It would never be leak-proof. It's not a frightfully good option, but it's better than any others that anyone else has come forward with."

Fair opium prices and central regulation by the Afghan government and foreign states would also help alleviate international morphine shortages, said Smith, a former deputy minister of foreign affairs and now the executive director of the University of Victoria's Centre for Global Studies.

Poppy cultivation remains the only lucrative career choice for many impoverished Afghans, living under the burden of three continuous decades of civil war.

But strong links exist between Afghanistan's burgeoning
narco-economy and the Taliban insurgence against NATO and Afghan forces, according to a U.S.  State Department report also released Thursday.

"Traffickers provide weapons, funding, and personnel to the Taliban in exchange for the production of drug trade routes, poppy fields, and members of their organizations," the report said.

Barnett Rubin, a former UN adviser on Afghanistan, argued in 2003 that the marketing board concept would represent disaster for small Afghan farmers, keeping prices low along the lines of African coffee, tea, and, cocoa boards.  An auction house in Kabul, with sales taxed by the central government, represented a better idea, said Rubin, a New York University professor.

Pubdate:   Fri, 02 Mar 2007
Source:   Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright:   2007 Winnipeg Free Press
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Author:   Andrew Thomson, CanWest News Service
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n266.a06.html


(21) DRUG WAR IS OVERWHELMING GUATEMALA    (Top)

Murder Of Politicians By Police Just Latest Indication
Of Challenge

Guatemala City (AP) - Guatemala knows it is losing the battle against drug trafficking - its police, military and justice system are beholden to traffickers who use the country as a way station for Colombian drug shipments to the U.S.

In a case that has laid bare the extent of corruption in the Central American nation, FBI agents are trying to help discover who ordered the murders of three Salvadoran politicians and the Guatemalan police officers who said they were told to kill them.

[snip]

Asks Bush for aid

Berger says he needs more help in fighting organized crime and will ask President Bush when he visits March 12 to provide U.S. helicopters, planes and radar equipment.

The U.S.  government complains that three-quarters of the cocaine reaching U.S.  consumers moves through Guatemala. Traffickers use speed boats and planes to carry tons of drugs along the narrow Central American isthmus, dropping off shipments in the Guatemalan jungle before sneaking them into Mexico and up across the U.S. border.

[snip]

Police purged

Guatemalan authorities argue that seizures are not a good measure of their anti-drug efforts because in the past, traffickers have offered corrupt authorities huge amounts of cocaine to stage busts.

Guatemala has tried to change that by purging police forces - including its elite anti-narcotics unit.  In 2005, the group's director, Adan Castillo, was arrested in Virginia for conspiring to import cocaine to the U.S.  and his 401 agents were given drug and lie detectors tests.  Only 50 passed.

[snip]

At the U.S.  government's request, the Guatemalan Congress has passed laws to strengthen law enforcement's investigative abilities, such as allowing undercover agents and phone taps.  Guatemala's Interior Ministry has yet to implement the measures, however.

Pubdate:   Tue, 06 Mar 2007
Source:   Star-News (NC)
Copyright:   2007 Wilmington Morning Star
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/500
Author:   Juan Carlos Llorca, Associated Press
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/find?236 (Corruption - Outside U.S.)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n284.a06.html


(22) DRUG WAR RIPS APART MEXICO    (Top)

The Conflict Between Cartels Takes Violence To Bloody
New Extremes

In An Attempt To Halt The Bloodshed In A War Between Rival Drug Cartels, Mexican Police Have Begun Random Vehicle Inspections On The Beach At Acapulco

ACAPULCO, Mexico -- On the sun-kissed beach, women paraded by in bikinis, vendors sold cheap bracelets to the tourists and heavyset men in Speedos sipped margaritas.

On the boardwalk, though, machine gun-wielding members of Mexico's elite federal police force pulled over cars for random inspections, stopped city buses and checked trunks and IDs.

More than 250 people were executed last year in Acapulco as the sweltering Pacific resort became the latest battleground between rival cartels battling for supremacy of the multibillion-dollar drug trade.

After what experts called a decade of paralysis, corruption and inefficiency, newly elected President Felipe Calderon has sent 20,000 Mexican military and federal troops to six states to confront the drug cartels.

It remains to be seen whether Calderon's operations, the defining action of his young administration, will restore law and order or are a publicity gambit, as his critics allege.

What is more clear is that as the war between the Matamoros-based Gulf Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel plunges into its third year, Mexico has passed into a stage of violence unprecedented in the nation's modern history.

Police are gunned down inside their own headquarters, the executions videotaped by gloating hit men.  Traffickers are decapitated, their heads spilled across dance floors as warnings.  Federal legislators are sprayed with bullets.  Singers are murdered after concerts. Former safe harbors such as Monterrey have become battlefields. Beach resorts have become militarized zones.

"The Mexican state wasn't ready for this war," said Jorge Chabat, a Mexico City analyst who specializes in criminal justice.  "The narco-traffickers have traditionally lived in their own dimension, with their own laws.  Until recently, the narcos didn't leave that dimension.  Now we're seeing them leaving, like ghosts leaving a haunted house."

Drug violence is nothing new in Mexico.  What is extraordinary is the extreme violence of recent months.

Luis Astorga, a sociology professor at Mexico City's National Autonomous University, said that the Gulf Cartel, with its armed wing of former army officers known as Zetas, has accelerated the level of destruction.

"It's part of the psychological war, which they learned in the counter-insurgency while they were in the military," he said. "They're killing machines without ethical brakes.  In the old days, they put heads on spears to paralyze their adversary.  But (the Gulf Cartel's) rivals have the same logic, so they've entered a violent spiral."

Few people expect Calderon to dismantle the cartels or even seriously weaken them.

"He's trying to establish a minimum of order," Chabat said.  "He's sending a message that someone is in charge."

Calderon has earned praise from the Bush administration for his firm stance against the cartels and for extraditing some top drug lords, including Osiel Cardenas, who was running the Gulf Cartel from his maximum-security prison cell.

The operations are widely seen as a stopgap.  The Mexican government has neither the manpower nor money to keep them going indefinitely.

So far the operations have met with mixed success.  Even critics acknowledge that soldiers have brought order to some far-flung pockets that have long existed beyond the rule of law.  And while experts warn that it is too early to tell, it seems that the blistering pace of drug killings -- more than 2,000 in 2006 -- has slowed since the military was unleashed.

Pubdate:   Sun, 04 Mar 2007
Source:   Kansas City Star (MO)
Copyright:   2007 The Kansas City Star
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/221
Author:   Jeremy Schwartz
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n272.a08.html


(23) 'NARCO' TAXI TOURS PROFIT ON MEXICO DRUG WAR CHAOS    (Top)

Streetwise cabbies in northern Mexico are cashing in on the chaos of a violent drug war by whisking wide-eyed visitors about town in macabre tours of seized narco properties and famous murder scenes, Mexico City's Reforma newspaper reported on Sunday.

Taxi drivers in the Pacific coast city of Mazatlan satisfy tourists' ghoulish fascination with a battle between cartels that killed 2,000 people last year, for about 200 pesos ($18) a trip, the newspaper said.

Located in the state of Sinaloa, one of the worst hit by recent violence in the war between an alliance of local traffickers and the powerful Gulf Cartel, Mazatlan has its fair share of historic drug violence "must-sees."

A boarded up discotheque on Mazatlan's beach front, once the property of the Arellano Felix brothers, who ran a fierce cartel that was once Mexico's most powerful but is now said to be largely dismantled, is the starting point for most tours, Reform reported.

Then comes the spot on the nearby street where police shot dead cartel brother Ramon Arellano Felix in 2002.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Tue, 06 Mar 2007
Source:   Age, The (Australia)
Copyright:   2007 The Age Company Ltd
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/5
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n279.a03.html


HOT OFF THE 'NET    (Top)

KICKING DOWN THE DOOR AT THE "HOUSE OF DEATH"

Narco News, and reporter Bill Conroy in particular, have driven the story since The Dallas Morning News first broke it in 2004.

I recently caught up with Giordano (via e-mail) to talk about the House of Death story, his definition of Authentic Journalism and the impact blogs like his are having on the way news is covered.

http://www.dallasobserver.com/blogs/?p=2544


CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW

Tonight:   03/09/07 - Dir.  of LEAP: Jack Cole debates US Atty. Eric Melgren

Audio:   http://drugtruth.net/007DTNaudio/FDBCB_030907.mp3

Last:   03/02/07 - Michael Gilbert of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

Audio:   http://drugtruth.net/007DTNaudio/FDBCB_030207.mp3


PRESIDENT CALDERON SHOULD NOT REPEAT DRUG WAR FAILURES OF THE PAST

What President Calderon is doing now differs little from what his predecessors did at the start of their terms.  So what should Calderon do?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ethan-nadelmann/


RSA DRUGS REPORT : GOOD, BUT NO CIGAR

So the drugs report from the RSA is finally out.  After a lengthy two year gestation period I now have all the report in front of me, all 335 pages of it - and its mostly pretty good too.  You can read the press release, the exec summary, or the full volume here and judge for yourself.

http://transform-drugs.blogspot.com/


CANNABIS GRANDMOTHER TO FIGHT ON

A grandmother who "self medicates" with cannabis to ease her depression has vowed to continue to use the drug in defiance of a judge's jail warning.  Patricia Tabram, 68, walked free from court despite a jury taking only 15 minutes to convict her of growing and possessing cannabis, but she was ordered to carry out 250 hours community service and pay UKP1,000 costs.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 07 Mar 2007
Source:   Peterborough Evening Telegraph (UK)
Website:   http://www.peterboroughet.co.uk/
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/961
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n291.a08.html
Video:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dZFWKnOTUk


MOUSE PARTY

This Flash Media presentation primarily depicts how drugs interact with dopamine neurotransmitters to demonstrate the brain's reward pathway.

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/units/addiction/drugs/mouse.cfm


WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK    (Top)

CALL ON CONGRESS TO HOLD HEARINGS ON MEDICAL CANNABIS

ASA is asking Congress to support our call for congressional oversight hearings to investigate why federal agencies resist full implementation of the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine in their 1999 report, Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. E-mail your Senators and Representative and urge support for congressional hearings to investigate why federal agencies discourage medical cannabis research.

http://www.americansforsafeaccess.org/CongressionalHearings


JOIN DPR ACTIVISTS FROM AROUND NORTH AMERICA

Tue.  March 13 /07, 09:00 p.m. ET

Join leading hearts and minds from the drug policy reform movement as we discuss ways to write Letters to the Editor that get printed.  We'll also discuss ways to get notable OPEDS printed in your local and in-state newspapers.

http://www.mapinc.org/onair/details.php?id=2407


JOB OPENINGS AT MPP

The Marijuana Policy Project has two new job openings available:

1.  IT Director (Washington, D.C.)

2.  Campaigns Analyst (Minnesota)

For both positions, please visit http://www.mpp.org/jobs for full job descriptions, salary information, and instructions on how to apply.


LETTER OF THE WEEK    (Top)

DEFEND MEDICAL POT USERS

By Richard Bayer, M.D.

"Democrats spar over medical pot for workers ( Feb.  26)" was incomplete.

I was the filing chief petitioner for the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act in 1998.  The law, ORS 475.300, begins: "Patients and doctors have found marijuana to be an effective treatment for suffering caused by debilitating medical conditions, and therefore, marijuana should be treated like other medicines."

Polling shows that three out four Oregonians support medical marijuana.  Patients who use cannabis as medicine ask for the same rights as those using medical morphine.

Professionals routinely test for impairment during patient encounters.  Some businesses use computer simulations. Moreover, blood tests are available for THC, the chemical in cannabis that causes the high.

The U.S.  Department of Transportation states that urine testing "cannot be used by itself to prove behavioral impairment."

Sen.  Rick Metsger's bill [to make it easier for employers to fire workers who use medical marijuana] has nothing to do with impairment but everything to do with money as he seeks to bury the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Sen. Floyd Prozanski's [opposing] bill supports disabled Oregonians.  Can compassion compete with money?

Richard Bayer, M.D.
Southwest Portland

Pubdate:   Sat, 03 Mar 2007
Source:   Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
Referenced:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n000/a026.html


FEATURE ARTICLE    (Top)

GOVERNMENT OPPOSES FREEDOM OF CHOICE ON BOTH ENDS OF DRUG WAR

By Stephen Young

After three years, it finally happened in my state.  The medical cannabis bill that has lingered in committee since being introduced back in 2004 will go before the full senate and, perhaps, the full Illinois legislature sometime this session.

I applaud everyone who was involved and hope for the best as the bill progresses.  It seems like the time may have finally come. Legislators anywhere would have to be blind not to see all the amazing medical advances being made in regard to cannabis ( see my colleague Mary Jane Borden's look from last week's DrugSense Weekly feature article.

http://www.drugsense.org/dsw/2007/ds07.n489.html#sec6

Here in Illinois, unfortunately, a few legislators do indeed appear to be blind, as the vote to get the bill out of committee was a narrow six to four in favor.

As with most state medical marijuana bills, there are limitations on who can benefit from the law.  I am happy to see anyone who can benefit from cannabis be able to use the law, but there will be people who could benefit from cannabis who won't be able to use the law.

When it actually enters the legislative process, medical marijuana becomes more about scaling back the number of potential users, as opposed to broadening access.  The legislators say they don't want the law abused, making the pool of people under possible protection smaller, even as science shows the pool of people who could benefit growing.

Take any other substance with the same medical potential, legislators would be clawing over each to get access to constituents, and to get development contracts in their states.  The media would have new headlines every day about the Wonder Drug.

Sometimes, when government gets excited about a new drug, it even uses its power to induce citizens to take it.

For example, several states have been considering broad use of the HPV vaccine, which is designed to guard women against cervical cancer from the human papillomavirus.  Since the vaccine is believed to be most effective before a woman becomes sexually active, advocates want mandatory vaccination at a relatively young age.  Some legislators have bought into the idea, though not without intense and secretive lobbying by the firm which makes the vaccine ( more news broke about the story in New York just today.

http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzmerc095122894mar09,0,5992376.story

This is a relatively new medicine, yet some government officials want to use pre-teen female populations from entire states without exception to essentially serve as guinea pigs.

Cannabis, on the other hand, has been used for thousands of years.  We know about the main effects and the side effects.  Many who use cannabis medically and otherwise perceive few negative effects at all.  We are only starting to understand how many different people might benefit from some type of cannabinoid therapy - there's no doubt the pool of potential beneficiaries will grow.

And yet, legislative officials who don't seem to know how to search the web for a few selections from a wide choice of medical journal articles, want to make sure that not too many people get it.

Again, some is better than none, and absolute prohibition remains ridiculous.  I assume (and hope) as government loosens its grip on cannabis, it won't go to the other extreme and consider forcing citizens to take the miracle herb.

It should be, like other medical decisions, a matter of personal choice.

Stephen Young is an editor with DrugSense Weekly.


QUOTE OF THE WEEK    (Top)

"The evidence suggests that a majority of people who use drugs are able to use them without harming themselves or others.  The harmless use of illegal drugs is thus possible, indeed common."

-- Royal Society of Arts Commission on Drugs


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