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DrugSense Weekly
May 11, 2007 #498


Table of Contents

* Breaking News (03/29/24)


* This Just In


(1) Medical Pot Court Challenge Begins
(2) Beware The Drug War Fighters' 'Facts'
(3) DEA Agent Posed Suspect In Sombrero
(4) 'Tragic Case All Round'

* Weekly News in Review


Drug Policy-

COMMENT: (5-8)
(5) Niacin Won't Mask Drugs Large Doses Are Dangerous
(6) Students Learn Bleach Won't Fix Drug Test
(7) Drug Dealers Mix It Up For Younger Crowd
(8) Fruita High Students Admit To Distributing Pro-Meth Fliers

Law Enforcement & Prisons-

COMMENT: (9-12)
(9) City Taxpayers Pick Up Tab For Streetsweeper
(10) Track Money Seized
(11) Judge Sent to New Job After Complaints
(12) Drug Cartels Growing Here, Castor Says

Cannabis & Hemp-

COMMENT: (13-16)
(13) Marchers Advocate Legalizing Pot
(14) Hemp, Canola Studied For B.C. Bioenergy
(15) Posturing In Regard To Legal Pot Rather Amusing
(16) Portland Denies Permit For Hempstalk

International News-

COMMENT: (17-20)
(17) Venezuela Criticizes DEA As 'New Cartel'
(18) U.S. Raises Heat On Venezuela Over Drug Trafficking
(19) Occupation Forces Support Afghan Narcotics Trade...
(20) Tory Pledge Is Bizarre

* Hot Off The 'Net


    Joseph Califano On The Diane Rehm Show
    Constitutional Challenge Of Health Canada's Medical Cannabis Program
    Medical Marijuana Activist Raich Drops Federal Lawsuit
    Cultural Baggage Radio Show
    "We Made Brownies And I Think We're Dead."

* What You Can Do This Week


     Fight Injustice And Make Your Mother Proud!

* Letter Of The Week


     Remove Patients From War On Drugs / Michael Phillips

* Letter Writer Of The Month - April


     Herb Couch

* Feature Article


     No Quick Fix / By Marsha Rosenbaum

* Quote of the Week


     Pauline Sabin

DrugSense needs your support to continue this newsletter and many
other important projects - see how you can help at
http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm


THIS JUST IN    (Top)

(1) MEDICAL POT COURT CHALLENGE BEGINS    (Top)

A constitutional challenge to Canada's medical marijuana regulations began yesterday, part of the B.C.  Supreme Court trial of two Victorians charged after a police raid of a compassion club grow-op.

Defence lawyer John Conroy of Abbotsford said outside the courtroom that the constitutional challenge contends government regulations force Canadians onto the black market to buy marijuana.

And that interferes with the charter right to life, liberty and security of person, a position the defence says is supported by other court rulings.

On trial are Michael Swallow, 41, and Matt Beren, 32, both charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and with production of marijuana.

The two were arrested in May 2004 when West Shore RCMP raided a house near Sooke being used by the Vancouver Island Compassion Society to grow marijuana.

[snip]

The trial of Swallow and Beren began earlier in the week with defence lawyers seeking an application for a stay, based on the length of time the case has taken to come to trial.  The application was unsuccessful.

Philippe Lucas, spokesman for the Vancouver Island Compassion Society, said in an interview the group has assembled what it considers an impressive list of witnesses for the constitutional challenge but it was also bound to follow legal advice and seek the stay on behalf of the two accused men.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 11 May 2007
Source:   Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Website:   http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Author:   Richard Watts, Times Colonist
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n585.a10.html


(2) BEWARE THE DRUG WAR FIGHTERS' 'FACTS'    (Top)

Study Panning Safe-Injection Site Shows Need To Look Hard At Research

News flash: Vancouver's safe-injection site causes more harm than good.

So says the Drug Prevention Network of Canada, which last week reported "serious problems in the interpretation of findings" in a review of 10 studies about the site.

Research on the three-year-old site has to this point mostly been positive.

Among other things, there's been a drop in social disorder in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, an increase in the number of drug users wanting treatment and successful interventions in 400-plus potentially fatal overdoses.

But prevention network research director Colin Mangham contends the real picture is not nearly so rosy.  He reviewed some of the studies and found that while they "give the impression the facility is successful ...  the research clearly shows a lack of progress, impact and success."

Mangham's findings were reported straight up by the Canadian Press news agency last week.  They also made their way unchallenged into the online edition of Maclean's magazine, CBC Radio and some Canadian newspapers.

But as a number of intrepid bloggers have pointed out, the mainstream media outlets that took the CP story at its word did a disservice to anyone looking for all the facts.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 11 May 2007
Source:   Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Website:   http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Author:   Jody Paterson
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Safe Injecting Rooms)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n585.a11.html


(3) DEA AGENT POSED SUSPECT IN SOMBRERO    (Top)

RALEIGH - A Raleigh-based Drug Enforcement Administration agent had a Mexican suspect put on a sombrero and hold a Mexican flag and then took his picture, the suspect's attorney said.

The defense attorney, Jeff Cutler, said a prosecutor and law enforcement officers confirmed the existence of the 2005 photograph of Jorge Hernandez-Villalvazo during a pretrial meeting last week.  Within minutes, the prosecutor offered a plea deal, avoiding a trial and freeing Hernandez-Villalvazo.

Cutler said the disclosure of the photo "was the driving force behind that plea deal." Hernandez-Villalvazo left the Wake County jail Friday, two years after his initial arrest on a charge of conspiring to traffic cocaine.  "They humiliated him," Cutler said.

Wake District Attorney Colon Willoughby, whose office handled the case, said taking the photo was a mistake.  "It shouldn't have happened," he said.  DEA officials on Wednesday would not identify the agent or release the photo.  "DEA is looking further into the matter," spokeswoman Ruth Porter-Whipple said from Atlanta.

The incident took place shortly after the arrest of Hernandez- Villalvazo, 41, in April 2005.  Hernandez-Villalvazo, a native of Mexico who has permanent U.S.  residency, had been living in the Zebulon area and buying cars that he took to Mexico to sell, Cutler said.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 10 May 2007
Source:   News & Observer (Raleigh, NC)
Website:   http://www.news-observer.com/
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/304
Author:   Sarah Ovaska
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n583.a10.html


(4) 'TRAGIC CASE ALL ROUND'    (Top)

Mother Accused Of Forcing Daughter To Have Sex For Drugs 'Taking This Quite Hard'

A crack-addicted woman whose developmentally challenged daughter was allegedly used for sex in an Etobicoke flophouse was described yesterday as a victim herself.

"This is a tragic case all round with victims, witnesses and the accused," lawyer Donald McLeod said after his 42-year-old client appeared briefly at College Park court.

The woman, facing a charge of corrupting a child, looked youthful but sad, holding her hand over her mouth and occasionally biting her lip.

She only once looked back at the handful of family members -- including her own mother -- sitting in court.  She was remanded into custody.

McLeod said he'll seek his client's release at a bail hearing next Tuesday, relying on the woman's large support network.

"She's a good candidate for bail, especially with the wealth of family support she has," McLeod said outside court.  "She is taking this quite hard.  She appears okay, but she has ebbs and flows. This is very difficult on her.

"She asked about her daughter and I was able to give her some information.  I haven't personally spoken to her. She is being taken care of."

The accused's mother, overcome with emotion, rushed from the courtroom before her daughter's arrival.

"I don't think anyone can imagine the impact this is having on this family," McLeod said.

"We're dealing with people involved in this case ...  (with) personal tragedies that will come out later.  Canadians at large will have to look at the broader issues in this case," he said, declining to elaborate due to a publication ban.

Toronto Police allege the woman traded her daughter for sex with men in exchange for drugs and money and also gave the girl crack cocaine.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 09 May 2007
Source:   Toronto Sun (CN ON)
Website:   http://torontosun.com/
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/457
Author:   Sam Pazzano, Courts Bureau
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n583.a03.html


WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW    (Top)

Domestic News- Policy


COMMENT: (5-8)    (Top)

Yet another way the drug war hurts children (and adults): falsely rumored, but very dangerous, adulterants for drug tests.  Young people, concerned about impending drug tests in two separate states last week, ingested things they thought would mask drug use.  In the first case, it was high doses of niacin; in the second, it was straight bleach, both more dangerous than the drug use sought to be hidden.

Prohibition fails the kids again as black market dealers allegedly try the Boone's Hill Farm strategy.  Just like the vintners of that sickeningly sweet wine, some street dealers are purportedly mixing illegal drugs with sweet flavorings to make them more appealing to young people.  And, in one more bizarre story from the kids and drugs file, two high school students in Colorado were suspended from school after apparently distributing pro-methamphetamine fliers as a gag.


(5) NIACIN WON'T MASK DRUGS; LARGE DOSES ARE DANGEROUS

Although it is touted on the Internet as a way to beat a drug test, taking large doses of the over-the-counter supplement niacin, also known as vitamin B3, is both ineffective and potentially dangerous, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania warn.

Emergency physician Manoj K.  Mittal of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and her colleagues reported last month in the Annals of Emergency Medicine that they had treated four patients for niacin overdose during the past two years.  All had taken large quantities of the vitamin after using marijuana or cocaine, and all recovered from the overdose of niacin.

Two patients, both in their early 20s, said they used the vitamin to conceal drug use before undergoing pre-employment urine tests to detect illegal drug use.  A third patient, a 14-year-old boy, said he took niacin the day before he was to meet with his parole officer; the fourth, a 17-year-old girl who was found unconscious, said she popped niacin after using ecstasy and marijuana.

Niacin is one of several over-the-counter supplements popularly believed to subvert the results of drug testing.  The authors note that a Google search for niacin plus the phrase "pass urine drug test" yielded more than 85,000 results.

It is erroneously believed, the authors write, that massive doses of vitamin B3 can rapidly flush drugs from a user's body and produce a negative drug test for marijuana and cocaine by speeding up metabolism.

In reality, they write, it can prove toxic, causing heart palpitations, vomiting, blood sugar abnormalities and liver failure. The recommended daily dose of niacin is about 14 to 16 milligrams per day; the 14-year-old who was treated at Children's said he took 5,500 milligrams.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 03 May 2007
Source:   Record Searchlight (Redding, CA)
Copyright:   2007 Record Searchlight
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/360
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm
(Drug Testing)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n558/a09.html


(6) STUDENTS LEARN BLEACH WON'T FIX DRUG TEST    (Top)

BAY MINETTE - Three Baldwin County juveniles reported this week that they drank bleach before taking drug tests in attempts to skew results, but authorities said drinking the liquid won't affect the test.

"Apparently, there is a rumor going around that you can drink bleach to pass a drug test.  That is simply not true," Maj. Anthony Lowery of the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office said.

Circuit Court Judge Carmen Bosch said paramedics responded to a teen at the county courthouse who collapsed after his juvenile court hearing Wednesday afternoon.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 04 May 2007
Source:   Montgomery Advertiser (AL)
Copyright:   2007 The Advertiser Co.
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/1088
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm
(Drug Test)
Note:   Letters from the newspaper's circulation area receive publishing priority
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n558/a05.html


(7) DRUG DEALERS MIX IT UP FOR YOUNGER CROWD    (Top)

Use Names Like 'Cheese' And 'Strawberry Quick,' Add Candy Flavoring

DALLAS -- In their quest to lure new, younger clientele, drug dealers are mixing their wares with over-the-counter pain remedies and other familiar products -- even candy -- and peddling them under non-threatening names.

One such concoction, a blend of black tar heroin and Tylenol PM that goes by the name "cheese," has been linked to the deaths of 19 teenagers in Dallas, including two 15-year-olds.

"If you're a drug dealer you have to target a new audience all the time," said Garrison Courtney, a U.S.  Drug Enforcement
Administration spokesman.  "It's Marketing 101 for drug dealers."

Examples of the drug-mixing strategy also include candy laced with marijuana and, in several states, flavored methamphetamine.  In Arkansas recently, a mix of meth and strawberry-flavored powder normally used to create a children's milk drink turned up under the name "Strawberry Quick."

"They're calling it 'cheese,' they're not calling it 'heroin,' " said Dr.  Collin Goto, a toxicologist at Children's Medical Center Dallas.  "It becomes much more appealing to younger kids because it doesn't have the stigma, they're not as afraid to get started."

Dallas school district police first became aware of the
heroin-mixing trend in 2005, and its become a disturbing local phenomenon since.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 09 May 2007
Source:   Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Copyright:   2007 The Sun-Times Co.
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/81
Author:   Jamie Stengle
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n579/a08.html


(8) FRUITA HIGH STUDENTS ADMIT TO DISTRIBUTING PRO-METH FLIERS    (Top)

Two students from Fruita Monument High School admitted Wednesday to distributing fliers around Grand Junction that touted the benefits of using crystal methamphetamine.  The students came forward to school officials and were suspended, Mesa County School District 51 spokesman Jeff Kirtland said.

Officers with the Grand Junction Police Department removed hundreds of fliers from vehicles parked at Mesa Mall and Wal-Mart on Rimrock Avenue on Tuesday afternoon.  Fliers were also placed on cars at Fruita Monument High School and Grand Junction High School.

The fliers claimed meth use is good for weight loss, increasing athletic ability, improving awareness and curing colds.  They read, "Meth: One man's risk is another man's benefit!" and "Trusted and used since 1887," and "Don't let the Man melt your "Ice"!"

Police said Wednesday they considered the fliers a hoax.

The students who distributed the fliers did not violate the law, said spokeswoman Linda Bowman of the Grand Junction Police Department.  Bowman said the department didn't investigate the incident because the fliers didn't include a phone number, which would indicate a solicitation for business.  And, neither of the businesses pressed trespassing charges.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 03 May 2007
Source:   Daily Sentinel, The (Grand Junction, CO)
Copyright:   2007 Cox Newspapers, Inc.
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/2084
Author:   Amy Hamilton
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n560/a01.html


Law Enforcement & Prisons


COMMENT: (9-12)    (Top)

Citizens in Manchester, New Hampshire will likely pay twice this year for federal anti-drug pork that they really don't need.  The city council set aside funds to cover the possible loss of federal drug war funds, even though the federal funds could be restored. Guess the city has too much money.  Or police have too much power, as appears to be the case in another story from the state, in which government officials are seizing money from a racetrack because it was allegedly (and rather vaguely) tied to an illegal drug distribution case.  In another instance of police power run amok, a North Carolina judge won't be hearing certain criminal cases again, seemingly as a result of police complaints about her softness on drug and other crimes.  And where does all this police power get us? In Pennsylvania, police say Mexican drug cartels are more closely involved in the local drug trade than ever.


(9) CITY TAXPAYERS PICK UP TAB FOR STREETSWEEPER    (Top)

MANCHESTER - While city leaders keep up their fight to restore federal funding for a street-level drug fighting program, the new city budget passed Tuesday will have taxpayers pick up the entire cost of an identical operation - including paying overtime for state troopers and state drug agents.  An eleventh-hour budget several aldermen presented Tuesday gave police $632,000 more than the $1.8 million hike the mayor proposed - including $291,890 for a special anti-drugs and guns initiative.  Manchester police asked for $291,890 to fund Operation Streetsweeper this year, but were told the money wasn't available after Congress slashed funds for all federally earmarked programs.

Police Chief John A.  Jaskolka and Deputy Police Chief Glenn S. Leidemer said they were unaware the aldermen's budget set aside money for an identical initiative to make up for the lost federal funds until they got confirmation from city officials yesterday.

Leidemer said he had several discussions with the mayor's office and some alderman on how to make up the loss of Streetsweeper money.

But he said neither he nor the chief received advance notice that the aldermen's budget contained funds to continue the program under another name.  The budget takes effect in the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The new budget will pay for 10 additional police officers - which would increase the force to 225 - and requires the department to have 220 sworn officers on board before it can begin spending money for the anti-drugs and guns initiative, Jaskolka said.

Operation Streetsweeper is a multi-agency initiative primarily geared to fighting street-level drug trafficking that had been funded through grants by the U.S.  Attorney's Office. It involves city officers partnering with state police narcotics investigators and agents with the Attorney General's Drug Task Force.  Most of the money is used to pay overtime, drug-buy costs, arrest "round ups" and overtime for state laboratory staff to do drug testing.

Jaskolka and Leidemer said they informed city officials beforehand that the undercover narcotics operation would not work without help from outside agencies since the city force lacks officers to do it alone.  The new city budget includes paying $139,220 in overtime to state troopers and drug investigators and state laboratory staff.

It also will pay $68,640 in overtime to Manchester undercover agents and another $15,000 to the force's special reaction team.

Meanwhile, Mayor Frank Guinta and city law enforcement leaders plan to meet with U.S.  Sen. John E. Sununu, R-N.H., today to discuss strategies to restore federal Streetsweeper funding.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 04 May 2007
Source:   Union Leader (Manchester, NH)
Copyright:   2007 The Union Leader Corp.
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/761
Author:   Kathryn Marchocki
Note:   Letters from newspaper's circulation area receive publishing priority
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n575/a06.html


(10) TRACK MONEY SEIZED    (Top)

The federal government has seized more than $3 million in proceeds of the 2005 sale of the former Lakes Region Greyhound Park from its former owners, citing a drug money-laundering operation that was run at the track in 2003 and 2004.  Moving under the broad powers of a federal drug money forfeiture statute, the Justice Department has essentially frozen $3.3 million paid for the track by Marlin Torguson, who re-opened the facility as The Lodge at Belmont and is not involved in the case.  The money was escrowed and has yet to be paid to various members of the Hart family and Vincent DiCesare of Massachusetts.

The government seized the funds last September, just days after lawyers for the long-feuding Hart family members agreed on how the proceeds should be split.  The money under seizure had been placed in an interest-bearing Merrill Lynch account during state court proceedings and negotiations involving the Hart family, according to Ronald Cook, an attorney for Hart Parimutuel, the company owned by former Lakes Region general partner Allan Hart.  Cook said the money remains in that account today and has never been disbursed to the owners.  In a civil case now pending at U.S. District Court, the Justice Department seeks a ruling by a judge or jury that the money should be forfeited to the government.  Attorney Cook and court papers filed by lawyers for other former owners say the proceeds of the sale should not be forfeited because that money is unrelated to the money that was being laundered through the track by former Belmont resident Randy Noe.

Noe has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges he conspired to sell oxycodone and launder money.  "The funds from the sale have nothing to do with Randy Noe's money," said Cook said in an interview yesterday.  "It's punishment. It's not like they're claiming that it's dirty money because it isn't."

But Assistant U.S.  Attorney Rob Rabuck said federal law allows for seizure and forfeiture of "any and all property involved in the money laundering, that would be the track, or any property traceable to the property involved in the money laundering," which, he said, would include the sale proceeds.  Cook said the Justice Department is also conducting a criminal investigation and has "interviewed some but not all of the ( former ) owners and a host of former employees."

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 04 May 2007
Source:   Union Leader (Manchester, NH)
Copyright:   2007 The Union Leader Corp.
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/761
Author:   John Distaso
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n571/a02.html


(11) JUDGE SENT TO NEW JOB AFTER COMPLAINTS    (Top)

Officers' Remarks About Norelli Were a Factor, Chief Judge Says

After complaints from Charlotte-Mecklenburg police about her rulings, District Judge Nancy Norelli has been removed from criminal court and reassigned to hear divorce, child custody and child support cases.  Chief District Judge Fritz Mercer told the Observer on Friday the complaints played a role in his decision to move Norelli to family court last month.  Officers had questioned Norelli's judgment in dismissing charges and acquitting defendants in cases involving drugs, guns, drunken driving and assaulting police officers.

Norelli, 56, responding to the complaints, said she tries to do what's right in her courtroom and she knows the law.

"I regret that some police officers disagree with my rulings to the extent that it has become a departmental issue," she said.  "The police have their job to do, and as a judge, I have my job to do. Police officers and judges do not always see eye to eye, but the system is designed to provide fair and equal treatment under the law."

Norelli, who said she didn't know until Friday that police complaints had anything to do with her reassignment, acknowledged that she's made mistakes over the years, but called the criticism from police "hurtful." But the judge quickly added: "I stand behind my decisions." It is unusual for a judge to be moved because of complaints against him or her, and some lawyers worry the decision could have a chilling effect on judges, who are supposed to be independent and shielded from outside pressure.  Keeping track of complaints Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Maj.  David Graham said he heard numerous complaints about Norelli and started collecting details early last year to determine whether a problem existed."It is highly unusual for us to go to this length," Graham said, "but our officers are out there risking their lives and working hard... and cases are being dismissed that shouldn't be dismissed."

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sat, 05 May 2007
Source:   Charlotte Observer (NC)
Copyright:   2007 The Charlotte Observer
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/78
Authors:   Melissa Manware and Gary L.  Wright
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n569/a01.html


(12) DRUG CARTELS GROWING HERE, CASTOR SAYS    (Top)

Increasingly sophisticated and aggressive Mexican drug cartels are expanding in Southeastern Pennsylvania, flooding the market with high-grade cocaine at low prices, Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L.  Castor Jr. told state legislators yesterday.

Montgomery County's Narcotics Enforcement Team has seized 2,400 pounds of marijuana and 313 pounds of cocaine from Mexican-based drug organizations since 2004, said Castor, who showed legislators a cache of semiautomatic weapons, bags of cocaine and marijuana, and several talismans used by drug dealers for good luck when transporting drugs.

The cartels have "flooded the Norristown market with the highest-quality and lowest-priced cocaine ever found available in the area," Castor said.

He appeared before the Policy Committee of the House Republicans, an arm of the GOP caucus that develops policy proposals.

Castor did not say what proportion of the area's drug trade was controlled by the newcomers.  The area drug trade has been dominated by area residents, according to Lt.  Kevin McKeon, chief of investigations with the Norristown Police.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 04 May 2007
Source:   Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Copyright:   2007 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/340
Author:   Jeff Shields, Inquirer Staff Writer
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n567/a13.html


Cannabis & Hemp-


COMMENT: (13-16)    (Top)

Last Saturday activists in about 200 cities around the world took part in the Global Marijuana March.

There are farmers in the United States who can drive for an hour or so north to visit farms with huge fields of industrial hemp.  Yet the DEA can't figure out that industrial hemp and marijuana are not the same at all.  Oh, they may know, but are required to follow the official government disinformation on the subject.

File the column by Ray Hackett under strange, apparently true, and amusing.  Please follow the continued link to read it all.

It seems that the views of the chief DEA narc in Oregon has more influence with the Portland City Council than the large majority of Portland citizens who approved by initiative Oregon's medical marijuana law.  The narc was offended by authorized patients medicating inside a tent hidden from the public.  We wonder if this clown is related to Norbert the Narc.


(13) MARCHERS ADVOCATE LEGALIZING POT    (Top)

The smell of hot dogs and cannabis lingered in the air outside of City Hall on Saturday, as more than 50 marijuana legalization advocates gathered on the building's front lawn to celebrate the Global Marijuana March.

[snip]

Cannabis flags blew in the breeze and placards read "No U.S.  Drug War in Canada" and "Repeal Cannabis Prohibition." Leaders of the Saskatchewan Marijuana Party wanted to spread the message that cannabis prohibition is an issue affecting all Canadians.

[snip]

The local march and barbecue were part of a worldwide celebration of cannabis culture.  This year, more than 200 cities, from Tokyo to Mexico City, took part in the Global Marijuana March.

Pubdate:   Mon, 07 May 2007
Source:   StarPhoenix, The (CN SN)
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/400
Author:   Michelle Martin, The StarPhoenix
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Marijuana+March
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n572/a12.html


(14) HEMP, CANOLA STUDIED FOR B.C. BIOENERGY    (Top)

VICTORIA - Even before significant increases in temperature, climate change is starting to prompt shifts in B.C.  agriculture.

Increased interest in carbon-neutral fuel sources has put the focus on ethanol and biodiesel options for farmland.  One of the crops that has popped up around B.C.  is industrial hemp, a fast-growing plant that produces vegetable oil as well as tough fibre used in rope and textiles.

A 110-acre hemp crop was planted in the 100 Mile House area in 2006. The agriculture ministry says smaller hemp plantings have been done at Smithers, West Moberly near Fort St.  John and on Vancouver Island.

B.C.  Agriculture Minister Pat Bell said the 100 Mile House pilot project is being increased to 200 acres this year, to get to a volume where processing facilities could use it to produce fibre and potentially ethanol.  B.C. is following the lead of Manitoba, which has 28,000 acres in hemp, and Saskatchewan with 14,000 acres in cultivation.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sat, 05 May 2007
Source:   Maple Ridge News (CN BC)
Copyright:   2007 Maple Ridge News
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/1328
Author:   Tom Fletcher
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n573/a02.html


(15) POSTURING IN REGARD TO LEGAL POT RATHER AMUSING    (Top)

A reader to my blog by the name of Bruce posted this comment:

"Next time you talk with Congressman Courtney please ask him about this: http://majorityap.com/?q=node/18 ."

The Web page is a Republican-leaning group calling itself the Majority Accountability Project.  The specific item under discussion is the effort of the Marijuana Policy Project to decriminalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes.  The Accountability Web site points out how the marijuana lobbying effort is being focused at new House members, and specifically singles out U.S.  Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, for taking a $2,000 campaign contribution from the marijuana group's political action committee.

I soon received an e-mail from Chris Healy, head of the state Republican Party and former campaign manager to former U.S.  Rep. Rob Simmons.

Tagging his e-mail with the words, "Joe Courtney Drop the Bong," Healy was quick with his criticism.

"It seems Joe Courtney can't say no to drugs, or rather those who want to legalize them," he wrote.

I found it all rather amusing.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sun, 06 May 2007
Source:   Norwich Bulletin (CT)
Copyright:   2007 Norwich Bulletin
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/2206
Author:   Ray Hackett, Norwich Bulletin
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n582/a01.html


(16) PORTLAND DENIES PERMIT FOR HEMPSTALK    (Top)

Marijuana Organizers Blame a Drug Agent; the City Objects to People Openly Smoking Pot

Plans for the third-annual Portland Hempstalk, a festival celebrating and calling for the legalization of marijuana, went up in smoke Wednesday as the Portland City Council refused to grant a permit.

Organizers say the event was undone by an activist federal agent who has told medical marijuana users that they should turn to Jesus for pain relief.

At a recent marijuana parade, the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration office in Oregon "was exhorting individual medical marijuana patients to give up their addictions to marijuana and take Jesus into their hearts.  Jesus would cure their pain," said Ann Witte, a Portland lawyer and one of several Hempstalk planners seeking City Council help.  "It is the DEA which is behind the move to stop Hempstalk."

City leaders acknowledge that Kenneth Magee, who leads U.S.  Drug Enforcement Administration operations in Oregon, complained about the open use of marijuana at Hempstalk and echoed the federal agency's official line: Although the feds support research, they say marijuana has no proven medical use.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 10 May 2007
Source:   Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
Copyright:   2007 The Oregonian
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/324
Author:   Anna Griffin, The Oregonian
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n582/a09.html


International News


COMMENT: (17-20)    (Top)

A war of words broke out between the U.S.  and Venezuela over "drugs" last week as drug czars and justice ministers traded charges. Venezuelan Justice Minister Pedro Carreno barred U.S.  drug agents from the country after calling the U.S.  a "new cartel". "The United States with its DEA monopolizes the shipping of drugs like a cartel," Carreno said.  "We determined that we were evidently in the presence of a new cartel." The U.S.  denied the charges, and shot back some of its own via U.S.  Drug Czar John Walters, who was in Brussels this week.  Walters responded that Venezuela has become a "safe base" transshipment point for cocaine.  Walters urged European nations to pressure Venezuela to "cooperate" with the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reported this week.

Controversial author and professor Michel Chossudovsky wrote this week that the Afghan occupation forces themselves support the opium trade, and that western banks profit from it.  "The proceeds of this lucrative multibillion dollar contraband are deposited in Western banks." Chossudovsky made his comments in the North Shore News newspaper, Quebec, Canada.  "The Golden Crescent drug trade, launched by the CIA in the early 1980s, continues to be protected by U.S. intelligence, in liaison with NATO occupation forces and the British military," says Chossudovsky.  And what of the Senlis Council, a European NGO that earlier recommended that Afghan opium simply be purchased (for a fraction of what is now spent to try to make the opium go away)? "The Senlis' campaign is part of the propaganda campaign," says Chossudovsky.  "It has contributed to providing a false legitimacy to Afghanistan's opium economy...  which ultimately serves powerful vested interests."

We leave you with an OPED from the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper in Canada that takes the Conservative Party to task for a "bizarre" pledge made by party leader Hugh McFadyen to deny legal aid to "anyone previously convicted of drug trafficking".  This is contrary to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Winnipeg Free Press pointed out, and likely to be overturned.  "Mr. McFadyen's automatic denial for some accused would, as the NDP noted, merely waste the court's time.  The Tory leader is grandstanding for short-term political gain," writes the Winnipeg Free Press.


(17) VENEZUELA CRITICIZES DEA AS 'NEW CARTEL'    (Top)

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuela on Monday said it will not allow U.S. agents to carry out counter-drug operations in the country, accusing the U.S.  Drug Enforcement Administration of being a "new cartel" that aids traffickers.

Justice Minister Pedro Carreno said the South American nation suspended cooperation with the agency in 2005 after determining that "they were moving a large amount of drugs." President Hugo Chavez at the time also accused the DEA of spying.

"The United States with its DEA monopolizes the shipping of drugs like a cartel," Carreno told reporters.  "We determined that we were evidently in the presence of a new cartel." He did not elaborate.

Spokesman Brian Penn said the U.S.  Embassy categorically denies the accusation and called the DEA "the leading agency combating drug trafficking around the world."

[snip]

"The Venezuelan government doesn't accept blackmail," Carreno said. Security agencies are willing to follow up on any information provided to track down traffickers, he added, but "what we will not permit them to do is carry out operations in our territory."

Pubdate:   Mon, May 7 2007
Source:   Associated Press (Wire)
Copyright:   2007 Associated Press


(18) U.S. RAISES HEAT ON VENEZUELA OVER DRUG TRAFFICKING    (Top)

BRUSSELS -- Latin American drug cartels are using commercial airports and ports in Venezuela as a "safe base" to ship increasing quantities of cocaine to Europe, according to U.S.  antidrug czar John Walters.  The comments by Mr. Walters, director of the White House's office of National Drug Control Policy, added to an escalating war of words between Venezuela and the U.S.  over global narcotics trafficking.  Mr. Walters urged European nations that have better relations with Venezuela than the U.S.  has to persuade President Hugo Chavez to cooperate more in combating the narcotics trade.  Mr. Walters's visit to Brussels also included talks with European Union officials on drug eradication in Afghanistan.  Mr. Walters said he wasn't accusing Mr.  Chavez or other senior Venezuelan officials of involvement in the trade.

[snip]

As evidence, Mr.  Walters cited the February seizure at Mexico City's airport of a metric ton of cocaine packed into at least 20 suitcases on a commercial airliner that flew in from Caracas.  He said so large a shipment through a commercial airport suggests local corruption.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 09 May 2007
Source:   Wall Street Journal (US)
Page:   A14
Copyright:   2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/487
Author:   Marc Champion
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n576.a12.html


(19) OCCUPATION FORCES SUPPORT AFGHAN NARCOTICS TRADE...    (Top)

The occupation forces in Afghanistan are supporting the drug trade, which brings between 120 and 194 billion dollars of revenues to organized crime, intelligence agencies and Western financial institutions.  The proceeds of this lucrative multibillion dollar contraband are deposited in Western banks.  Almost the totality of revenues accrue to corporate interests and criminal syndicates outside Afghanistan.

The Golden Crescent drug trade, launched by the CIA in the early 1980s, continues to be protected by US intelligence, in liaison with NATO occupation forces and the British military.  In recent developments, British occupation forces have promoted opium cultivation through paid radio advertisements.

[snip]

While the controversial opium ads have been casually dismissed as an unfortunate mistake, there are indications that the opium economy is being promoted at the political level (including the British government of Tony Blair).

[snip]

The Senlis' campaign is part of the propaganda campaign.  It has contributed to providing a false legitimacy to Afghanistan's opium economy.  (See details of Senlis Project), which ultimately serves powerful vested interests.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sat, 05 May 2007
Source:   North Shore News, The (CN QU)
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/4497
Author:   Michel Chossudovsky, Prof.
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n566.a10.html


(20) TORY PLEDGE IS BIZARRE    (Top)

IN search of a wedge issue in the election campaign, Conservative Leader Hugh McFadyen soldiers on to out-do the New Democrats on law and order.  But on Sunday, his promised reforms slipped from a get-tough agenda into the bizarre.

Mr.  McFadyen pledged a Tory government would deny legal aid to anyone previously convicted of drug trafficking, benefiting from the proceeds of crime or being part of a criminal organization.  As a lawyer, Mr.  McFadyen should know he cannot wield that kind of power over the courts.

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees access to counsel, among a long list of fundamental rights for the accused.  These rights protect an individual (and, by extension, the people) from the power of the state and the arbitrary application of law. Successive Canadian court rulings have enunciated the necessity of state-funded counsel for those who cannot afford a lawyer when charged with a serious offence.  Further, in R v. Rowbotham in 1988, an Ontario appeal court upheld a judge's power to order that a state-paid lawyer be appointed to ensure a fair trial, even if the accused was denied legal aid.  Mr. McFadyen's automatic denial for some accused would, as the NDP noted, merely waste the court's time. The Tory leader is grandstanding for short-term political gain.

[snip]

Cutting crooks off legal aid is a cheap sound-bite that aims to weaken the administration of a justice system designed to work in everyone's interest.

Pubdate:   Tue, 08 May 2007
Source:   Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright:   2007 Winnipeg Free Press
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n574.a08.html


LETTER WRITER OF THE MONTH - APRIL    (Top)

DrugSense recognizes Herb Couch of Nelson, B.C.  for his four letters published during April which brings his career total, that we know of, to seven.  Herb is the Western Canada Director for Educators For Sensible Drug Policy http://www.efsdp.org Herb also newshawks for MAP under a variety of newshawk lines, adding substantially to the number of news clippings archived.

You may review his superb letters at
http://www.mapinc.org/writer/Herb+Couch


HOT OFF THE 'NET    (Top)

JOSEPH CALIFANO ON THE DIANE REHM SHOW

"High Society"

Joe Califano declared smoking tobacco "public health enemy number one" when he served as Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare in the Carter administration.  Today he's calling for a new attitude in American attitudes toward all substance abuse and addiction, and a revolution in how we deal with these problems.  He joins Diane to outline his vision.

http://www.wamu.org/programs/dr/07/05/09.php#13177


CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE OF HEALTH CANADA'S MEDICAL CANNABIS PROGRAM

Hoping that the grass is greener on the other side of a legal challenge.

The B.C.  Supreme Court is currently hearing a constitutional challenge of Health Canada's medical cannabis program.  The case was brought to court by the Vancouver Island Compassion Society.  Philippe Lucas is the founder of the Vancouver Island Compassion Society, and a medical marijuana user himself.  We spoke to him earlier today, during a break in the case.

Audio:   http://www.thevics.com/audio/aih_lucas.mp3


MEDICAL MARIJUANA ACTIVIST RAICH DROPS FEDERAL LAWSUIT

SAN FRANCISCO -- An Oakland mother of two who smokes or eats marijuana every few hours to ease chronic pain said Thursday she would quit her losing legal battle in federal court to legally take the drug.

http://www.ktvu.com/news/13299981/detail.html


CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW

Tonight:   05/11/07 - Gabriel Sayegh of Drug Policy Alliance re
Rockefeller drug laws, Eric Sterling of Criminal Justice Policy Foundation on US drug laws.

Audio:   http://drugtruth.net/007DTNaudio/FDBCB_051107.mp3

Last:   05/04/07 - Five Houston City Council candidates discuss
drug laws.

Audio:   http://drugtruth.net/007DTNaudio/FDBCB_050407.mp3

Listen Live Fridays 8:00 PM, ET, 7:00 CT, 6:00 MT & 5:00 PT at http://www.kpft.org/


"WE MADE BROWNIES AND I THINK WE'RE DEAD."

Here's one for the Drug War Injustice files: A Cop in Dearborn, Michigan lost his job because he and his wife were caught making up marijuana brownies.  Naturally, he acquired the weed by taking it off criminal suspects in the line of duty.  But I can't decide whether the real outrage is that Cpl.  Sanchez was allowed to quit his job without any criminal charges being filed or that the reason he got caught was that he got so stoned he called 911 thinking he and his wife were "overdosing" on marijuana.

http://www.theagitator.com/archives/027802.php


WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK    (Top)

FIGHT INJUSTICE AND MAKE YOUR MOTHER PROUD!

The holiday we celebrate this Sunday originated as a protest to the carnage of the Civil War, by women who had lost their children and spouses to violence.  This Mother's Day, let's honor that history by speaking up for the women who have lost their children to America's longest-running war: the war on drugs.  New York residents, make your mother proud and take action!

http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/action/


LETTER OF THE WEEK    (Top)

REMOVE PATIENTS FROM WAR ON DRUGS

By Michael Phillips

I am a 36-year-old man with an inoperable brain tumor, which causes multiple seizures a day.  I have been a patient at Children's Hospital and the Kirklin Clinic since the age of 8.  I have had four unsuccessful brain surgeries.  I have been on every seizure medication known to mankind, as well as some that never received Food and Drug Administration approval.

A few years ago, I saw a program on marijuana being used as a seizure deterrent.  I decided to try marijuana as a medicine, and I have had better results using marijuana in its natural form than from any other treatment in my life.  My seizures have decreased from six to eight per day to one seizure every six to eight weeks.  My neurologists have documented this in my medical records.

I have also been arrested twice for possession of marijuana.  It caused me great hardship both on a psychological level and a monetary level.  I wondered then, as I do now, why people in 12 states are treated like patients and allowed access to medical marijuana, but here in Alabama I am treated like a criminal for trying to treat my illness.  Are people in other states somehow more deserving of treatment options than Alabamians?

There is a bill, HB 206, before the House Judiciary Committee called the Compassionate Care Act, which would protect physicians who recommend marijuana to their patients for certain illnesses like cancer, multiple sclerosis, HIV and seizures.  It also would protect the patients, like me, who use marijuana as medicine from being prosecuted under state law.  Please call your elected officials and tell them to vote yes on the Compassionate Care Act.

If we must have a war on drugs, can we at least remove the patients from the battlefield first?

Michael Phillips
Millbrook

Pubdate:   Sun, 6 May 2007
Author:   Michael Phillips
Source:   Birmingham News, The (AL)


FEATURE ARTICLE    (Top)

NO QUICK FIX

By Marsha Rosenbaum

School-Based Drug Testing Is Costly, Intrusive and Counterproductive.

Though touted by the Bush administration as the "silver bullet" that will force teenagers to "just say no," random drug testing is of questionable effectiveness.  It is also costly, counterproductive and violates basic American values.  That's why the million-member California State PTA, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Education Association, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, and the majority of the nation's school districts oppose school-based drug testing.

According to the Academy of Pediatrics, "There is little evidence of the effectiveness of school-based drug testing in the scientific literature." In fact, the only federally funded, peer-reviewed study, which compared 94,000 students in 900 U.S.  schools, found no difference in illegal drug use between schools with and without a testing program.

Before subjecting secondary school students to a policy as invasive as random drug testing, evidence of its efficacy should be more conclusive than anecdotes offered by a few enthusiastic proponents and a drug testing industry that stands to reap billions.

Drug testing is costly.  With federal grants, individual schools, many of them strapped for funds, spend between $10,000 and $40,000 per year for testing.  This money could be used more productively for sports, arts, drama, music and other extracurricular activities that keep teens engaged between3 and 6 p.m., when they are bored and unsupervised.  The funds could also be used to hire credentialed counselors who could focus full-time on substance abuse and related mental health issues.

Drug testing, regardless of how it's packaged, is an invasive diagnostic procedure.  Like other health issues, alcohol and other drug use should first and foremost be the domain of parents and physicians.  If parents want to drug-test their own children, they can easily buy over-the-counter kits at their local pharmacies or see their family doctors, leaving schools out of it.

There is no quick fix for the complex issue of substance abuse. Quality drug education and after-school programs that help students thrive will best result in the kind of responsible decision-making that endures beyond the teen years and into adulthood.

Dr.  Marsha Rosenbaum, a medical sociologist, directs the San Francisco office of the Drug Policy Alliance.  She is co-author of Making Sense of Student Drug Testing: Why Educators are Saying No.

Pubdate:   Tue, 08 May 2007
Source:   USA Today (US)
Copyright:   2007 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co.  Inc
Related:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n574.a01.html


QUOTE OF THE WEEK    (Top)

"In preprohibition days, mothers had little fear in regard to the saloon as far as their children were concerned.  A saloon-keeper's license was revoked if he were caught selling liquor to minors.  Today in any speakeasy in the United States you can find boys and girls in their teens drinking liquor, and this situation has become so acute that the mothers of the country feel something must be done to protect their children." -- Pauline Sabin


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Policy and Law Enforcement/Prison content selection and analysis by Stephen Young (), Cannabis/Hemp content selection and analysis by Richard Lake (), International content selection and analysis by Doug Snead (), This Just In selection, Hot Off The Net selection and Layout by Matt Elrod ().  Analysis comments represent the personal views of editors, not necessarily the views of DrugSense.

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