| March 23, 2007 #491 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
(1) DEVELOPMENT OF A RATIONAL SCALE TO ASSESS THE HARM OF DRUGS OF (Top) POTENTIAL MISUSE | ||||||||||||||||||
Drug misuse and abuse are major health problems. Harmful drugs are
regulated according to classification systems that purport to relate
to the harms and risks of each drug. However, the methodology and
processes underlying classification systems are generally neither
specified nor transparent, which reduces confidence in their accuracy
and undermines health education messages. We developed and explored
the feasibility of the use of a nine-category matrix of harm, with an
expert delphic procedure, to assess the harms of a range of illicit
drugs in an evidence-based fashion. | ||||||||||||||||||
We also included five legal drugs of misuse (alcohol, khat, solvents,
alkyl nitrites, and tobacco) and one that has since been classified
(ketamine) for reference. The process proved practicable, and yielded
roughly similar scores and rankings of drug harm when used by two
separate groups of experts. The ranking of drugs produced by our
assessment of harm differed from those used by current regulatory
systems. Our methodology offers a systematic framework and process
that could be used by national and international regulatory bodies to
assess the harm of current and future drugs of abuse. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(2) PERILS GROW IN BATTLE FOR MEDICAL POT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Laws In Conflict -- Environment Dicey For Patients, Dealers | ||||||||||||||||||
A decade after Californians approved the medical use of marijuana, the
state's battle with the federal government over the use of marijuana
still is being fought hard, with contradictory results. | ||||||||||||||||||
In the past five years, the number of medical marijuana clubs --
stores authorized under state law where people can buy cannabis with a
doctor's approval -- has tripled in the state, to more than 300. But
club operators and pot growers are increasingly subject to federal
arrests, seizures and prosecution. | ||||||||||||||||||
Across California, smoking pot remains a gamble. Decisions over who
gets busted and who doesn't affect large numbers of medical pioneers,
average smokers and make-a-buck dope dealers alike. | ||||||||||||||||||
Last week, two federal court rulings in San Francisco gave contrasting victories in the dispute over whether the medical use of marijuana, approved by California voters, should be prosecuted or permitted. | ||||||||||||||||||
On March 13, a federal judge gave a win to the medical marijuana
forces, tossing out most of the U.S. charges against cannabis activist
and writer Ed Rosenthal, saying a five-year campaign to put him behind
bars gave "the appearance of vindictiveness." | ||||||||||||||||||
On the same day, however, another federal court ruled against Angel Raich, a severely ill Oakland woman who smokes marijuana to ease her chronic pain and had challenged U.S. laws against medical cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(3) GIVE IT AWAY NOW? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
One of the UK's top cops says his country's health system should be
prescribing heroin to hardcore addicts, according to a published media
report. | ||||||||||||||||||
Ken Jones, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, told
Britain's Independent newspaper that prescribing heroin would reduce
crime rates and prevent overdose deaths. | ||||||||||||||||||
"You need to understand there is a hardcore, a minority, who
nevertheless commit masses of crime to feed their addiction," Jones
told the paper last month. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We have got to be realistic." | ||||||||||||||||||
"I have looked into the whites of these people's eyes and many have no
interest whatsoever in coming off drugs. We have to find a way of
dealing with them, and licensed prescription is definitely something
we should be thinking about." | ||||||||||||||||||
Jones isn't the first law enforcement official in the UK to advocate
for prescribed heroin, but he is reportedly the most senior officer to
support the idea. | ||||||||||||||||||
Canada's Debate | ||||||||||||||||||
In an interview with 24 hours, his Canadian counterpart took a more
cautious position. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Heroin prescription programs are a treatment program, and any of the
debate and discussion about a particular mode of treatment really
needs to happen within the medical community," said Barry MacKnight,
Fredericton, New Brunswick's chief of police and chair of the Canadian
Association of Police Chiefs' drug abuse committee. | ||||||||||||||||||
MacKnight said he would prefer that law enforcement stay out of the
debate until medical experts have had their say. "We want to become
engaged in that only if it becomes a public-safety issue," MacKnight
said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(4) LICENCE TO KILL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Depending on your point of view, Richard Young was a deadbeat, a
thief, a liar, even a child molester. But, despite warnings to the
contrary, to the Mounties in Victoria he was a trusted informant, one
they paid handsomely. In exchange for his inside information on an
alleged heroin ring, which turned out to be more lies, they paid off
his debts, erased his past and gave him a new identity. He cost
taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. Then he vanished. And then
he committed murder. | ||||||||||||||||||
Richard Young wasn't recruited by the Mounties for his information. He
approached them in the summer of 2000 -- a "walk-in," as one officer
referred to him. | ||||||||||||||||||
The RCMP in Victoria have never explained why they thought this guy
would be useful. They didn't know a lot about him, and what they did
know wasn't flattering. He was being investigated by a local police
department on allegations that he defrauded his landlord of $48,000.
They also knew he owed his foster father $78,500 on a line of credit
he had taken out for him. | ||||||||||||||||||
But they signed him up as a police informant all the same. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
In oral arguments last week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard about the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" free speech case. Some of the mainstream media proved itself once again incapable of taking the issue seriously. The DrugSense Weekly Cannabis section below has details on New Mexico's new medical marijuana law, but we take note of the story in the Policy section too for political reasons, as New Mexico governor (and U.S. presidential hopeful) Bill Richardson does seem to be taking medical marijuana seriously, reportedly applying pressure to legislators to pass the bill. Richardson said he knows that the bill is "risky" politically, but when a politician openly says something is risky, it's probably not really risky any more. Will medical marijuana soon be a plank in one of the major parties' platforms? | ||||||||||||||||||
Also last week, in disturbing drug war news, some North Carolina
legislators want to give sheriffs the authority to barge into
pharmacies and check records; and, the New York Times reports on a
drug informant who claims DEA officials authorized him to commit
crimes. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(5) COURT PROBES STUDENT FREE SPEECH LIMITS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Rights May Hinge on Decision in 'Bong Hits' Case | ||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court dissected a Juneau teenager's sign
Monday and tried to divine whether its "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" message
was advocating drug use or just talking nonsense. | ||||||||||||||||||
Students' free speech rights could hinge on the outcome of the case. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Douglas Mertz of Juneau, Frederick's lawyer, struggled to keep the
focus away from drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
"This is a case about free speech. It is not a case about drugs,"
Mertz said. | ||||||||||||||||||
Conservative groups that often are allied with the administration
are backing Frederick out of concern that a ruling for Morse would
let schools clamp down on religious expression, including speech
that might oppose homosexuality or abortion. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
A decision is expected by July. | ||||||||||||||||||
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[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(6) RICHARDSON TO LEGALIZE MEDICAL MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
SANTA FE, N.M. - Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson, poised to sign a
bill making New Mexico the 12th state to legalize medical marijuana,
said Thursday he realizes his action could become an issue in the
presidential race. | ||||||||||||||||||
"So what if it's risky? It's the right thing to do," said
Richardson, one of the candidates in the crowded 2008 field. "What
we're talking about is 160 people in deep pain. It only affects
them." | ||||||||||||||||||
The legislation would create a program under which some patients _
with a doctor's recommendation _ could use marijuana provided by the
state health department. Lawmakers approved the bill Wednesday. The
governor is expected to sign it in the next few weeks. | ||||||||||||||||||
Richardson has supported the proposal since he first ran in 2002. But he pushed especially hard for it this year, leaning on some Democrats to change their votes after the bill initially failed. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(7) SENATE PANEL WANTS TO GIVE SHERIFFS ACCESS TO PHARMACY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
RALEIGH, N.C. - County sheriffs would be allowed to review pharmacy records while investigating the illegal use or sale of prescription drugs under a bill that cleared a Senate committee Tuesday. | ||||||||||||||||||
State law allows federal and State Bureau of Investigation agents,
along with certain state health regulators, to inspect | ||||||||||||||||||
The bill would allow only sheriffs _ not deputies or city police
chiefs _ to enter a pharmacy and ask for records. Proponents said
such authority would help local sheriffs investigate whether a
prescription holder may be illegally selling or obtaining
prescription drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
Sheriffs could share the information with other law officers or in
connection with a criminal investigation or licensing board hearing.
The bill was approved by a Senate judiciary panel, and now goes to
the full Senate for consideration. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(8) ROBBERY SUSPECT SAYS THE D.E.A. MADE HIM DO IT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Many people accused of crimes come up with unusual defenses and
alibis, but one sad-faced man now imprisoned at Rikers Island has
offered a novel one. He says he was working as an undercover
operative and committed a home-invasion robbery in 2004 with the
full knowledge and approval of the United States Drug Enforcement
Agency. | ||||||||||||||||||
The suspect, Juan Medina, currently on trial in State Supreme Court
in the Bronx, was arrested after first waiting for the police to
arrive. They found a .38-caliber revolver, two .38-caliber bullets
and three stolen cellphones in his jacket pocket. | ||||||||||||||||||
The D.E.A. has acknowledged that Mr. Medina, 24, was under contract
as an informant. But the agency has not come to his aid, and is, in
fact, helping prosecute him on charges of burglary, robbery and
criminal possession of a weapon stemming from the robbery at a Bronx
apartment. If convicted, he could be sentenced to 25 years in
prison. | ||||||||||||||||||
Last week, Joseph Mercurio, a D.E.A. special agent, testified that
neither he nor anyone else at the agency knew that Mr. Medina and
the drug gang he was trying to infiltrate had been preparing to
commit a crime. | ||||||||||||||||||
Mr. Medina has said that he had spoken to either Mr. Mercurio -- whom he knew only as "Joe," or to Mr. Mercurio's partner, Detective Therone Eugene, a k a "T.J." -- a few hours before the bungled crime, telling them that the gang was casing an apartment. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I always told them what I was going to do," Mr. Medina said during
an interview at Rikers Island before his trial started. "I was in
the wrong place at the wrong time." | ||||||||||||||||||
Mr. Medina, who had no previous criminal record, said he became
involved with the D.E.A. in the fall of 2004, a few months after his
father was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on drug
conspiracy charges. He said he was told that if he helped the
agency, his father might win an early release. ( He asked that his
father not be identified. ) | ||||||||||||||||||
"One of the agents who arrested my father said, 'If you know one of
his friends who he used to be with, you could help us,' " he said.
"They said, 'You could get paid and you could also get your father
less time.' " | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (9-12) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Sometimes it seems there won't be justice in the drug war, as our
first story shows, but sometimes justice just takes 17 years to
catch up, as our second story shows. Drug-related police corruption,
however, appears to be perennial, as demonstrated by our last two
selections. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(9) OFFICER WON'T BE CHARGED IN KILLING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
WHARTON - A blood trail leading to a knife, testimony from an expert
in the use of force and a Texas Ranger led a Wharton County grand
jury Wednesday to decline to indict a Wharton police detective in
the killing of a 17-year-old during the service of a narcotics
search warrant. | ||||||||||||||||||
Police Detective Sgt. Don Falks shot to death 17-year-old Daniel
Castillo Jr. on Feb. 13 in Castillo's bedroom. | ||||||||||||||||||
On Wednesday, District Attorney Josh McCown said the grand jury
found there was insufficient evidence to charge Falks with a crime.
Further, he said, the grand jury felt the evidence proved the
shooting was justified. | ||||||||||||||||||
McCown took precautions before the grand jury session, seating them
at the Wharton County Sheriff's Office instead of the courthouse
annex building. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We wanted to make sure ( the jurors ) were brought in without being
harassed by anybody. There have also been potential death threats
made against Falks, but they were unspecified." | ||||||||||||||||||
Castillo's family wasn't threatening anyone, but even before the
decision was announced they were promising to have Falks kicked off
the force and to go after McCown at the ballot box. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I don't see ( Falks ) coming back to work for very long," said
Gloria Castillo, the victim's aunt. "We're going to run him out of
this community. If he goes to another one, we'll make sure they know
his history. He's not going to get away with this." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(10) POT SMOKER JAILED FOR LIFE IS FREE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Brown Embraces Freedom As Public Campaign Throws Open Prison Doors
After 17 Years | ||||||||||||||||||
By Brooks Egerton, The Dallas Morning News | ||||||||||||||||||
Tyrone Brown came home Thursday to a place he'd never been and
relatives he'd never met, 17 years after a single positive marijuana
test while he was on probation led a Dallas judge to sentence him to
life in prison. | ||||||||||||||||||
Mr. Brown guffawed one minute and melted into tears the next. At
every turn, he struggled to take stock of what freedom looked like:
his face on T-shirts, a bedroom with a window that opens, a kitchen
full of soul food, and well-wishers and camera crews from as far
away as New York. | ||||||||||||||||||
Having spent his entire adult life behind bars, his immediate
desires were simple. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I'd like to take a bath," he said. "I've been standing up for 17
years." | ||||||||||||||||||
Gov. Rick Perry granted the 34-year-old a conditional pardon last
week in a case that attracted national attention and came to
symbolize judicial inequities in Texas. | ||||||||||||||||||
"It still doesn't feel real," said his mother, Nora Brown. "I kept
pinching him." | ||||||||||||||||||
At a reception at her Dallas home, Ms. Brown paced among the storm
of food she'd cooked up, which included three types of cake because
she no longer knew which was her son's favorite. She couldn't bring
herself to rest, despite several days of sleeplessness and anxiety
attacks that made her nearly hyperventilate. | ||||||||||||||||||
Tyrone Brown was a poor teenager with no criminal record when Judge
Keith Dean initially put him on probation in 1990 for taking part in
an armed robbery in which no one was hurt. | ||||||||||||||||||
The drug test and life sentence that followed contrasted sharply
with another case in the same judge's court, both of which were
profiled last spring by The Dallas Morning News. In the other case,
a well-connected white man got probation for murder and, despite
several positive tests for cocaine and other violations, still
avoided prison. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(11) OFFICER BUNGLED 4 CASES, POLICE SAY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Charges Dropped Against 3 Defendants | ||||||||||||||||||
TAMPA - In 2005, Tampa police Officer Melodie Delgado participated
in about 70 undercover drug deals, focusing on people police thought
were members of a gang called the Drak Boys. | ||||||||||||||||||
Problem is, she couldn't keep track of whom she had arrested when
preparing some of her cases for trial, police said. | ||||||||||||||||||
Delgado, 42, bungled four cases so badly that prosecutors dropped charges in three of them and reduced the penalty in the fourth, according to internal investigation findings released Friday. | ||||||||||||||||||
One of the men whose charges were dismissed is awaiting trial on a new felony cocaine-possession charge from 2006, public records show. | ||||||||||||||||||
Maj. George McNamara called the carelessness distressing. "You have
to work the cases thoroughly through the criminal justice system,"
he said Friday. "What makes this so glaring is, in her failure to do
this, charges were thrown out." | ||||||||||||||||||
The police department reviewed these four cases after prosecutors raised questions during trial preparation about Delgado's methods of identifying the defendants, the internal investigation states. | ||||||||||||||||||
The investigation found that Delgado failed to review evidence
accurately from her undercover transactions before presenting her
cases to prosecutors. She also gave "sloppy" and "ambiguous"
testimony, police said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(12) NEW HAVEN WILL SCRUTINIZE PENSION REQUEST OF ARRESTED (Top)LIEUTENANT | ||||||||||||||||||
NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Mayor John DeStefano said Thursday that he has
requested an investigation into the earnings and payroll records of
a lieutenant who filed paperwork to retire days after his arrest on
theft charges. | ||||||||||||||||||
Lt. William White, the head of the narcotics unit, was charged
Tuesday with stealing nearly $30,000 in what he thought was drug
money, but was actually cash planted by the FBI at investigation
scenes. He was also accused of taking tens of thousands of dollars
in bribes from the bail bondsmen in return for capturing fugitives
who skipped bail. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Given the egregious nature of the federal charges pending against
this individual, we owe it to the taxpayers to scrutinize all issues
related to retirement before acting," DeStefano said. "This is a
person charged with serious violations of the public trust, who
operated with significant autonomy, including authorizing his own
overtime." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (13-16) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
It took many years, but another domino fell in the war against users
of medical cannabis, when New Mexico became the 12th state to
incorporate a law allowing use by the sick and dying. A state law
alone is not adequate protection for ill people when the feds can
still punish, and one Californian, Angel Raich, was hoping to seek a
remedy to that situation. Unfortunately politics won out, and the
Ninth U.S. Circuit Court favored the healthy, vibrant feds over the
disadvantaged sick. Nice guys, eh? | ||||||||||||||||||
Reefer Madness is scaling new heights over in the UK when a tabloid
which always favored reform of cannabis policy, caved to
authoritarian pressure, and decided that pot is the bane of society,
and has retracted all notions of legalizing it's use. | ||||||||||||||||||
North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson surprised the DEA when he went to headquarters to personally hand over a lot of cash and the applications from two state farmers who wish to plant hemp this season. Perhaps if U.S. citizens nationwide got behind them, it would be much harder for the DEA to ignore this very reasonable request. How much progress has really been made in the drug war if U.S. farmers still do not have the right to grow hemp? | ||||||||||||||||||
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(13) APPLAUD LAWMAKERS FOR MEDICAL POT BILL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
It took years, a lot of wrangling and considerable grief, but
finally New Mexico will join 11 other progressive and caring states
that allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes. | ||||||||||||||||||
Way overdue, it is the right thing to do, because its intent is
solely to bring comfort and relief to patients for whom marijuana is
a painkiller. It is such a simple, human thing to do that we are
moved to ask: What the heck took so long? | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Richardson and the Legislature deserve praise for cutting through
the nonsense, finally standing up and doing the right thing - even
if in the face of a regressive federal government that has refused
to compromise in its inhumane declaration that marijuana is an
illegal, controlled substance with no medicinal value. | ||||||||||||||||||
While federal courts continue to sanction that inhumanity with rulings against patients, doctors and medicinal marijuana, in New Mexico people in need of medical marijuana will at least know that their state government, governor and Legislature are on their side. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(14) THE CASE OF ANGEL RAICH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
So today we have the case of Angel Raich, who has been using medical
marijuana since 1997 to cope with the pain of scoliosis,
endometriosis, seizures and a serious wasting disease. She says
marijuana is the only thing that relieves her pain. She uses
marijuana every day, even though it is against federal law. Her
doctor says that if she stops using marijuana, she will die in
agony. | ||||||||||||||||||
She is not fond of being a lawbreaker. She is not fond of waiting for the feds to confiscate her stash and bring her up for arraignment on felony charges. So she has sued the government, contesting the ban on medical marijuana. Her case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where her petition was denied. | ||||||||||||||||||
Her very last constitutional challenge was denied last week, when a
three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court "reluctantly"
agreed that she had no case. Actually, the reluctance part was only
a 2-1 decision, because Judge Arlen Beam, visiting from St. Louis,
said that he wasn't reluctant at all and that bad people should be
punished. Here I paraphrase. | ||||||||||||||||||
So on one side: seriously ill woman in excruciating pain. On the
other side: comfortable judges expressing tasteful reluctance. I
know, if we ignore the laws we rip the fabric of society, and we
can't break a law just because we don't agree with it, and we
certainly can't interpret laws in order to get a desirable outcome.
Oh yes, and that never happens. | ||||||||||||||||||
Except, say, for Bush vs. Gore, where the Supreme Court, citing
nothing at all that made any sense, made George Bush president
because it wanted him to be president. And then it said: This ruling
is not a precedent, it's just a thing we felt like doing. Again I
paraphrase. So it's OK to bend the rules to get a Republican in the
White House, but it's not OK to bend the rules to allow a woman to
avoid agony. Yeah, those are values I can live with. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(15) CANNABIS: A RETRACTION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Yes, our front page today is calculated to grab your attention. We do not really believe that The Independent on Sunday was wrong at the time, 10 years ago, when we called for cannabis to be decriminalised. As Rosie Boycott, who was the editor who ran the campaign, argues, the drug that she sought to decriminalise then was rather different from that which is available on the streets now. | ||||||||||||||||||
Indeed, this newspaper's campaign was less avant-garde than it
seemed. Only four years later, The Daily Telegraph went farther,
calling for cannabis to be legalised for a trial period. We were
leading a consensus, which even this Government - often guilty of
gesture-authoritarianism - could not resist, downgrading cannabis
from class B to class C. | ||||||||||||||||||
At the same time, however, two things were happening. One was the
shift towards more powerful forms of the drug, known as skunk. The
other was the emerging evidence of the psychological harm caused to
a minority of users, especially teenage boys and particularly
associated with skunk. | ||||||||||||||||||
We report today that the number of cannabis users on drug treatment
programmes has risen 13-fold since our campaign was launched, and
that nearly half of the 22,000 currently on such programmes are
under the age of 18. Of course, part of the explanation for this
increase is that the provision of treatment is better than it was 10
years ago. But there is no question, as Robin Murray, one of the
leading experts in this field, argues on these pages, that cannabis
use is associated with growing mental health problems. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(16) N.D. FARMERS APPLY FOR HEMP PERMITS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
According to North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson,
his meeting with Drug Enforcement Administration officials last
month wasn't exactly encouraging. Johnson traveled to Washington,
D.C., in February (his second trip to the Capitol to meet with the
DEA) to hand-deliver the North Dakota industrial hemp-farming
licenses he's signed off on for two farmers -- the first two farmers
to be licensed to grow the environmentally friendly crop since the
state codified rules for the plant's cultivation last fall. Although
the state has licensed the farmers, they still need the nod from the
DEA in order to sow their seeds -- and whether the DEA will actually
allow the agricultural endeavor to go forward is still unclear.
"They made it clear that they continue to believe that industrial
hemp and marijuana are the same thing," he said. "So we had a
discussion about how I, and the rest of the world, have come to the
opinion that they are not the same thing. | ||||||||||||||||||
And my hope is that [the DEA] might start thinking about how to differentiate the two in their rules and their application." | ||||||||||||||||||
If history is any guide, it is unlikely that will happen or that the
narcos will sign off on the farmers' bid -- the agency has only ever
granted one request to grow the crop, to researchers in Hawaii,
whose permit has long since expired. | ||||||||||||||||||
More commonly, the DEA simply ignores requests to grow hemp, which they consider a danger to their anti-drug mission (indeed, the agency has yet to make a final ruling on an application made by researchers at North Dakota State University in 1999). The DEA theory that justifies their choke hold on domestic hemp production goes a little something like this: Marijuana and hemp are strains of cannabis. Pot is illegal; therefore, hemp is illegal, and allowing its cultivation would encourage the illicit production of marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||||
International News | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (17-20) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Things may be bad for cannabis users in Oklahoma or Alabama, but
they should consider themselves lucky not to be in Malaysia, where,
this week the Malaysian High Court reaffirmed the death penalty for
a cannabis offense. A man convicted of trafficking in cannabis when
he was caught with about two pounds of the flower in 1990, was
sentenced to death by hanging in 1994, but had been appealing the
sentence since that time. | ||||||||||||||||||
In Bolivia, uppity coca growers (already having elected one of their own to the presidency a few years ago) continue to press for reforms, last week kindly requesting that international companies "refrain from using the name of the sacred leaf" in product names like "Coca Cola". After coca industry representatives to a constitutional assembly proposed the ban, the Coca Cola company struck back with a press release denying "that Coca-Cola has ever used cocaine as an ingredient". The Coca Cola company "exported coca as a raw material for Coca-Cola, and we can't even freely sell it in Bolivia," complained one state government supervisor from Chapare. | ||||||||||||||||||
And from Australia this week, two editorials and one government
commission brazenly used the word "prohibition" to describe the war
on drugs this week. The first, by Phillip Adams and appearing in the
March 17th edition of The Australian, admits straight up, first
sentence: "Prohibition doesn't work." It would be hard to put it
more succinctly. "Didn't work for grog. Doesn't work for drugs... So
if you want something to flourish, ban it. Thus prohibition is the
drug pusher's best friend." | ||||||||||||||||||
In the March 20th edition of Australian publication, The Age,
entitled, "Sensationalism No Way To Fight Drug Addiction," Andrew
Macintosh reveals that the federal Australian Crime Commission's
recent Parliamentary Joint Committee report on amphetamines and
synthetic drugs also openly spoke of the failure of drug
prohibition. "Prohibition," said the Crime Commission, "while
theoretically a logical and properly intentioned strategy, is not
effective". The report, which recommended "harm-reduction strategies
and programs receive more attention and resources," was predictably
denounced by prohibitionists because it contained "harm minimisation
messages." | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(17) DUO TO BE HANGED AFTER LOSING THEIR FINAL APPEALS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Kota Kinabalu: Two death row prisoners failed in their bid at the
Federal Court here on Monday to reverse the death sentences imposed
on them by the High Court. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile, in Basil's case, he appealed that the conviction and
sentence to be set aside or alternatively reduced to that of
possession only. | ||||||||||||||||||
Basil was sentenced to death by hanging by the Sandakan High Court on Sept 26, 1994 for trafficking 1,241gm of cannabis in a taxi in front of the general market in Sandakan on Jan 31, 1990. | ||||||||||||||||||
He was charged under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act
which carries a mandatory death sentence. | ||||||||||||||||||
On June 3, 2002 the Court of Appeal affirmed the conviction and
sentence imposed by the High Court. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(18) BOLIVIANS: COCA-COLA SHOULD DROP 'COCA' (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
LA PAZ, Bolivia --Always Coca-Cola? Not if Bolivia's coca growers
have their way. The farmers want the word "Coca" dropped by the U.S.
soft drink company, arguing that the potent shrub belongs to the
cultural heritage of this Andean nation, where the coca leaf infuses
everyday life and is sacred to many. | ||||||||||||||||||
A commission of coca industry representatives advising an assembly rewriting Bolivia's constitution passed a resolution Wednesday calling on the Atlanta, Ga.-based company to take "Coca" out of its name and asking the United Nations to decriminalize the leaf. | ||||||||||||||||||
The resolution demands that "international companies that include in their commercial name the name of coca (example: Coca Cola) refrain from using the name of the sacred leaf in their products." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Coca-Cola released a statement Thursday saying their trademark is
"the most valuable and recognized brand in the world" and was
protected under Bolivian law. | ||||||||||||||||||
The statement repeated the company's past denials that Coca-Cola has ever used cocaine as an ingredient -- but was silent on whether the natural coca leaf was used to flavor their flagship soda. | ||||||||||||||||||
"They need to understand our situation," said David Herrera, a state
government supervisor for the coca-rich Chapare region. "They
exported coca as a raw material for Coca-Cola, and we can't even
freely sell it in Bolivia." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(19) BAN IT AND WATCH IT FLOURISH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
PROHIBITION doesn't work. Didn't work for grog. Doesn't work for
drugs. Failed with porn. Hopeless with ideas. Not only does
prohibition not work, it's entirely counterproductive. | ||||||||||||||||||
Applied to alcohol in the United States from 1920 to 1933, prohibition
added to alcoholism and nurtured gangsters such as Al Capone, while
writing a blank cheque for corruption at every level of the political
and justice systems. | ||||||||||||||||||
Applied to drugs, prohibition teamed with useless exercises in interdiction gave narcosis increased countercultural cred, recruited millions of users and addicts, created countless drug lords with their mules, pushers and enforcers and encouraged limitless corruption -- up to and including the corruption of national governments. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
In a democracy, ideas, good and bad, come crashing through the door.
In dictatorships they creep through the cracks. Even the combined
threat of the KGB and the Gulag failed to stop the Soviet's samizdats,
the whispering and finally the shouting of dissent. Ditto for any
other totalitarian society you can name. Combine human recalcitrance
with increasingly subversive technology and censorship is as old hat
as John Kerr's topper. | ||||||||||||||||||
So if you want something to flourish, ban it. Thus prohibition is the
drug pusher's best friend and secrecy the surest way of spreading
secrets. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Taboo or not taboo? If you want to promote something, persuade the
church or state to condemn it or, better still, ban it. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(20) SENSATIONALISM NO WAY TO FIGHT DRUG ADDICTION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Drugs policy arouses strong emotions. People see drug users and fear the unknown. The traditional response from politicians, particularly conservatives, has been to exploit these fears for political gain. The outcome has been an over-reliance on law enforcement as a means of stamping out both the supply and use of harmful drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Penalties have been increased for drug offences, funding has been
increased for drug law enforcement, the Government has run several
prevention campaigns based on dramatic images of the dangers
associated with drug use and money has been directed to | ||||||||||||||||||
Given this history, the recently released report on amphetamines and
other synthetic drugs by the federal Parliamentary Joint Committee
on the Australian Crime Commission is a brave document. | ||||||||||||||||||
Most notably, in contrast to the report from the House of Representatives Standing Committee, the committee unanimously supported harm minimisation and recommended that "harm-reduction strategies and programs receive more attention and resources". | ||||||||||||||||||
In its conclusions, the committee said "prohibition, while
theoretically a logical and properly intentioned strategy, is not
effective". It also argued that "the current national approach to
illicit drugs - supply reduction, demand reduction and harm
reduction - - will achieve greater outcomes if a better balance
between these approaches can be reached". In common parlance, this
means there should be less emphasis on law enforcement and more on
education and drug treatment. | ||||||||||||||||||
Unfortunately, it is a rare event when any government body decides
to make drug policy recommendations that are based on evidence. The
report was not received warmly by the Government. | ||||||||||||||||||
The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family and
Community Affairs has also launched another drug-related inquiry,
seemingly to counter the recommendations made by the joint
committee. And in its recent hearings, the chairwoman of the
committee, Bronwyn Bishop, attacked representatives from the
Department of Health for publishing documents containing harm
minimisation messages, saying "this document is full of harm
minimisation. The Prime Minister said that he is opposed to harm
minimisation and that we do not have it." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
It is hoped there will come a time when enough politicians recognise
that drug use disorders are a health problem that cannot be solved
by harsh drug laws or sensationalised advertising. | ||||||||||||||||||
Andrew Macintosh is deputy director of the Australia Institute. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
WILL THE SUPREME COURT SEPARATE "DRUG SPEECH" FROM FREE SPEECH? | ||||||||||||||||||
By Daniel Abrahamson, AlterNet. Posted March 23, 2007. | ||||||||||||||||||
Justices in the Supreme Court's "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case appear to be
interested in turning "Just Say No" into "Don't Even Say It,"
curtailing free speech rights. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
IT'S BEEN AN 'ALL OUT WAR' ON POT SMOKERS FOR 35 YEARS | ||||||||||||||||||
Thirty-five years ago this month, a congressionally mandated
commission on U.S. drug policy did something extraordinary: They told
the truth about marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
By Paul Armentano, AlterNet. Posted March 22, 2007. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
MP LIBBY DAVIES ADDRESSES CANADIAN STUDENTS FOR SENSIBLE DRUG POLICY | ||||||||||||||||||
Libby Davies, MP (NDP-Vancouver East, BC) delivers the keynote address
at the opening of the founding Canadian Students for Sensible Drug
Policy Conference. (McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, March 16,
2007.) | ||||||||||||||||||
Now available at the National Capital Reformers Video Vault -
http://www.ncrefs.ca/ | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
BONGWATER INTO WHINE | ||||||||||||||||||
Drug warriors push broad censorship of student speech. | ||||||||||||||||||
By Jacob Sullum, March 21, 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
RICHARD NIXON ON POT | ||||||||||||||||||
March 22, 2007 - Washington, DC, USA | ||||||||||||||||||
Previously Unheard Nixon Recordings To Be Broadcast Exclusively On
NORML's Daily AudioStash | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Listen Live Fridays 8:00 PM, ET, 7:00 CT, 6:00 MT & 5:00 PT at
www.KPFT.org | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
HOW THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY GOT IT HORRIBLY WRONG ON CANNABIS | ||||||||||||||||||
The Independent on Sunday jumped on the skunk-panic bandwagon this
weekend with a brash tabloid headline: 'Cannabis - An apology', above
a figure of 10,000 in big red letters - which we are informed is the
number of teenagers treated for 'cannabis addiction' last year,
apparently ten-fold higher than back in 1997. | ||||||||||||||||||
http://transform-drugs.blogspot.com/2007/03/how-independent-on-sunday-got-it.html | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
WRITE A LETTER | ||||||||||||||||||
Bong Hits 4 Jesus Is About Free Speech, Not Drugs - A DrugSense
Focus Alert. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
PROHIBITION INCREASES DRUG USE: TEACHER | ||||||||||||||||||
By Dan Banov | ||||||||||||||||||
Editor, The News: | ||||||||||||||||||
Well, the proof is here with a new survey reported on marijuana use
by Vancouver coastal Health. The survey showed that more children
use marijuana than cigarettes. | ||||||||||||||||||
In other words, prohibition increases use of drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
I ran in the last election as a Marijuana Party candidate even
though I have never used marijuana. I ran because, as a teacher, I
saw that students could access marijuana and other illegal drugs
more easily than legal cigarettes. | ||||||||||||||||||
Efforts to eliminate drug use does not stop drug use -- it only
wastes resources that could be better deployed. | ||||||||||||||||||
It is not difficult to understand how young minds can be influenced
by someone who makes a commission selling drugs by showing how hip
they are. | ||||||||||||||||||
You compare this to buying legal cigarettes, which require ID from
some glaring salesclerk. After buying cigarettes they then have to
view scary pictures and threats. | ||||||||||||||||||
Most students are brought up to make right choices and education makes a difference. Making drugs illegal only makes drugs more attractive. Every student in school can easily find any drug with a few inquiries. If you have children, just ask. They know a lot. | ||||||||||||||||||
Dan Banov | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
LETTER WRITER OF THE MONTH - FEBRUARY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
DrugSense recognizes Moe Brondum of the Saskatchewan Marijuana
Party, North Battleford, Saskatchewan for his seven letters
published during February. This brings his total published letters,
that we know of, to 14. | ||||||||||||||||||
You may read his published letters at: | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
WAR ON DRUGS IS WAR ON OUR OWN PEOPLE | ||||||||||||||||||
By Ellen Taylor | ||||||||||||||||||
Mike Goldsby, a highly-respected local expert in drug addiction,
declared in last week's My Word opinion, "I have nothing good to say
about methamphetamines." | ||||||||||||||||||
The estimated 1.4 million users in the U.S. would disagree.
Productivity-oriented professionals with demanding careers praise
the increased alertness afforded by meth. Timber fallers, mill
workers, truck drivers, and others in dangerous occupations extol
the stamina it provides. The military has always depended upon meth
as a source of courage and quick reaction time. Poor people, trapped
in multiple low-paying jobs or the exhausting paperwork demands of
public assistance, emphasize its empowering and antidepressant
effect. | ||||||||||||||||||
These people agree that, like other drugs, meth can be fatal. But
its high morbidity and mortality, they would add, rest in the fact
that its use is illegal. | ||||||||||||||||||
Like marijuana, also a medicine, meth is a multibillion-dollar
criminal industry. There is naturally violence where such huge
profits are to be made. | ||||||||||||||||||
As revealed by Gary Webb in his San Jose Mercury News articles on crack cocaine, successful drug networks involve protection and exploitation by government agencies, including law enforcement. Police departments flourish on grants for drug interdiction. The domestic cost of the War on Drugs was $51 billion in 2006. | ||||||||||||||||||
The penal system, increasingly privatized, prospers as well. The
public pays an annual $27,000 for each of 2.5 million prisoners. As
a society, we are invested in this industry: Some cities are almost
exclusively supported by their prisons. | ||||||||||||||||||
I recently attended a conference, "Methamphetamine, Hepatitis and
HIV," in Salt Lake City, where drug policy analysts described "set
and setting" as determinants of how a drug or medicine will affect
an individual. | ||||||||||||||||||
The law enforcement vendetta against meth, and media use of such
slogans as "meth kills," linking it to deviance, disease and
violence, provides a hostile setting, and amounts to a | ||||||||||||||||||
Public opinion as reflected in Times-Standard op-eds echo the official contempt. One guest opinion praised the policies of MaoTse-tung for summarily executing drug offenders. Another called it "terrorism," and suggested soliciting Homeland Security money. | ||||||||||||||||||
The recent killings by the Eureka police were attributed to the victims' use of meth, which is rapidly becoming a license to kill. Even Mike Goldsby, in saluting law enforcement's "vital role in holding addicts accountable," regretted that "there are not enough police or jails to arrest, convict and incarcerate every addict." | ||||||||||||||||||
A declaration of war is an open invitation to ignore the rights of
individuals in the name of a more urgent destiny. The War on Drugs
is no exception. | ||||||||||||||||||
Harsher sentences than for murder, illegal searches and seizures,
intrusive urine testing, property forfeitures, disenfranchisement,
ineligibility for public support, housing, school loans or food
stamps, loss of children: Fourth, fifth, eighth and fourteenth
amendment protections are widely denied meth users. | ||||||||||||||||||
Demonization of meth cripples democracy. A minority of our citizens
even votes, let alone takes an active role in policy decisions which
will affect their and their childrens' lives. | ||||||||||||||||||
Involvement in illegal and socially-condemned activities has
estranged large segments of the population from political life.
Paranoia prevents users from exercising their first amendment rights
to express their opinions. Thus, in a democracy already handicapped
by apathy, a stigmatized class is prevented from defending their own
interests. | ||||||||||||||||||
This has powerful implications. One op-ed reported that 70 percent
of children in some Humboldt County schools come from "meth homes."
Urine tests at local clinics confirm wide use. | ||||||||||||||||||
Paul Gahlinger, M.D., commander of the Davis County Jail in Utah,
observed that his inmates, 65 percent meth convicts and one-third
female, attribute their incarceration not to meth but to the chaotic
problems of poverty. They have no plan to stop using. | ||||||||||||||||||
It is evident that meth is endemic, a street medicine used to treat
endemic conditions of life in the American culture of speed,
performance, achievement, self-absorption, alienation, waste and
neglect. | ||||||||||||||||||
The War on Drugs amounts to a war on our own people. It is contrary
to the precepts of Christianity and all other religions, and
destructive to the foundations of democracy. | ||||||||||||||||||
We must treat the human conditions which cause suffering, instead of
demonizing the medicine that relieves the symptoms, if we wish to
restore family and human values to our communities. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
"Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
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Policy and Law Enforcement/Prison content selection and analysis by
Stephen Young (), Cannabis/Hemp content selection
and analysis by Deb Harper (), International
content selection and analysis by Doug Snead (),
Layout by Matt Elrod (). Analysis comments
represent the personal views of editors, and not necessarily the
views of DrugSense. | ||||||||||||||||||
We wish to thank all our contributors, editors, NewsHawks and letter writing activists. Please help us help reform. Become a NewsHawk See http://www.mapinc.org/hawk.htm for info on contributing clippings. | ||||||||||||||||||
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