| Jan. 4, 2008 #530 | ||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||
(1) GERALD LE DAIN, 83: JURIST (Top) | ||||||||||
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His Landmark Commission on Drugs Urged Legalizing Marijuana in 1973 | ||||||||||
Already a Respected Legal Scholar, He Became an Improbable Counterculture Icon at the Height of the Hippy Era by Recommending Leniency and the Decriminalization of Recreational Drugs | ||||||||||
TORONTO -- Gerald Le Dain's respect for civil liberties went so far as
to rouse John Lennon and Yoko Ono from their bed. It was 1969, the
year of the couple's "bed-in for peace" at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel
in Montreal, and the year Judge Le Dain began chairing the much-
referenced but largely ignored Commission of Inquiry into the Non-
Medical Use of Drugs. | ||||||||||
The Le Dain commission's final report was one of the most politically explosive documents ever put before the federal government. The commission held 46 days of public hearings, received 365 submissions and heard from 12,000 people in about 30 cities and at more than 20 university campuses across the country. In its final report, in 1973, the commission recommended decriminalizing marijuana possession because the law-enforcement costs of prohibition were too great, and suggested that Canada focus on frank education rather than harsh penalization. It also recommended treatment for heroin addiction and sharp warnings about nicotine and alcohol. This was delivered at a time when hysteria about the evils of pot was on everyone's lips and many parents wanted the law to save their drug-addled teenagers. | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
In 1990, the U.S. Drug Policy Alliance instituted an award in Gerald
Le Dain's name, to be given to individuals involved in law who have
worked within official institutions "when extremist pressures dominate
government policies." The influential organization includes law-
enforcement officials, academics, professionals, health-care workers,
drug users and former users. "We sought to name the awards after our
heroes," said founder Arnold Trebach. "Gerald Le Dain was certainly
one of them. Few people realize the level of hate directed at drug
users and drug policy reformers decades ago." | ||||||||||
Judge Le Dain, the first Canadian to be so honoured, had earlier been
made a companion of the Order of Canada. | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
Gerald Eric Le Dain was born on Nov. 27, 1924, in Montreal. He died in
his sleep at home on Dec. 18, 2007. He was 83. He is survived by his
son Eric and daughters Barbara, Jennifer and Caroline. He was
predeceased by his wife, Cynthia, and by daughters Jacqueline and
Catherine. | ||||||||||
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(2) COLUMN: A MATTER OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY (Top) | ||||||||||
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On Dec. 31, the National Post comment pages published an open letter
by columnist Karen Selick that asked Justice Minister Rob Nicholson to
intervene in the extradition process against "Prince of Pot" Marc
Emery, which is scheduled to begin Jan. 21. For years, Mr. Emery has
been openly running a lucrative business in mail-order marijuana
seeds, selling to customers in both Canada and the U.S. Though this
is technically illegal in both countries, the Vancouver police and the
federal authorities took an indulgent view for years; Mr. Emery even
reported his income to Revenue Canada and paid taxes, listing his
occupation explicitly as "marijuana seed vendor." | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
Now Mr. Emery faces the possibility of lifelong imprisonment in a U.S.
federal penitentiary without parole. Needless to say, it is a fate he
has done much to tempt. He has been an overt opponent of the DEA and
the U.S. government, and never concealed his seed sales to the United
States or made any effort to avoid selling to American customers.
Quite the contrary: As he told CBS's 60 Minutes last year, "The whole
idea was that I would help facilitate the growth of so much marijuana
that the DEA and all the agencies of the United States would never be
able to destroy it at the rate I would help create it and that,
ultimately, I, one man, would neutralize the work of the entire DEA
with their multi-billion dollar budget." | ||||||||||
He has taken his battle to the propaganda front too, making highly visible donations to anti-prohibition groups in the United States. It's no surprise to him that the Americans want to clap him in irons. What might have been a surprise was the election of a Conservative government in Canada, one which has made tougher laws against marijuana growers and users a cornerstore of its political agenda. | ||||||||||
Still, that should not deter us from a fair assessment of his
incredibly risky argument-by-botany. Many of those who consider Mr.
Emery's plight get distracted by what sometimes seems like a desire
for martyrdom on his part, or by the ethical and medical
considerations surrounding the use of marijuana. The plain fact is
that Canadian law never practically considered his seed business a
major peril to public order or morals, or it would have done something
about it. Dozens, perhaps hundreds of mail-order growers are
continuing in the trade in B.C. even now. Marijuana is recognized as
having medical benefits by our government, as it is in the law of
nearly a dozen U.S. states. The U.S. is using the technical presence
of an unenforced law on our books to carry its drug war onto our soil.
If the Honourable Mr. Nicholson allows this to reach its logical
conclusion, and Mr. Emery is sent south for notional crimes committed
entirely on Canadian soil, it will constitute a blow to our national
sovereignty. | ||||||||||
After all, just imagine for a moment that the positions were reversed
-- that by some historical quirk, it was the U.S. that had adopted
liberal attitudes toward marijuana, while we were suppressing it here
at home with paramilitary force and penalties normally reserved for
killers and armed robbers. Does anybody think for a moment that a
Canadian politician or prosecutor could blithely dash off a letter to
Massachusetts or Texas and have U.S. law enforcement mobilized from
coast to coast to deliver a peaceable, otherwise law-abiding American
seed dealer into our hands? | ||||||||||
The Americans wouldn't stand for it. They'd raise hell about foreigners telling them how to run their country. And they'd be right to do it. The principle of extradition between friendly neighbouring democracies is an important one, but where ideas of justice are expressed in such a different manner as they are on a point like this -- where the people of two countries so plainly disagree about what is right -- co-operation is tantamount to a surrender of values. | ||||||||||
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(3) ROGUE COPS GET STIFF SENTENCES FOR SHAKING DOWN DRUG DEALERS (Top) | ||||||||||
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25 Years for Alleged Ringleader of Group That Robbed Dealers | ||||||||||
Three rogue Chicago police officers who robbed drug dealers of cash and narcotics were sentenced to lengthy prison terms Thursday by a federal judge who said the misconduct left him "at a total loss." | ||||||||||
U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman appeared most disturbed that the
officers resold the stolen drugs, putting "lethal poison" back onto
streets that they had sworn to serve and protect. | ||||||||||
"You and your merry band essentially raped and plundered entire
areas," said the judge, noting the robberies by the plainclothes
tactical officers in the Englewood District took place in some of the
city's poorest neighborhoods. | ||||||||||
The ring damaged the reputations of good cops and sullied the entire
legal system in neighborhoods where trust of the police already may
have been at its thinnest, the judge said. | ||||||||||
"People see and hear what goes on in these courtrooms, and the next time they look at a police officer, they see you," Guzman said. | ||||||||||
The judge sentenced Broderick Jones, 36, the alleged ringleader, to 25
years in prison; Darek Haynes, 37, to 19 years; and Eural Black, 44,
the only officer to take his case to trial, to 40 years, the statutory
minimum he could receive under the law. | ||||||||||
Five officers in all were indicted in 2005 for robbing dealers while
on-duty after being tipped to drug deals about to go down. The
officers wore their stars and body armor and often tried to make the
"rip-offs" appear to be legitimate traffic stops. | ||||||||||
One drug dealer, Brent Terry, 36, was also sentenced Thursday to more
than 20 years for helping target dealers for Jones. | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
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(4) AGENTS WARN OF NEW DRUG HITTING U.S. (Top) | ||||||||||
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Federal Officials Say 'Extreme Ecstasy' Is a Potent Drug Laced With
Methamphetamines. | ||||||||||
Federal agents are targeting a turbo-charged form of Ecstasy that is
gaining in popularity, fearing it will lead to fatal overdoses similar
to ones experienced a few years ago caused by heroin mixed with
fentanyl. | ||||||||||
Michigan and nine other states along Canada's border would see the
first wave of any such overdoses, and officials are warning that the
so-called "extreme Ecstasy," which is mixed with methamphetamines, is
becoming a problem. | ||||||||||
"They (drug dealers) are remarketing and packaging it and trying to
glamorize it," said Scott Burns, deputy director of the White House
Office of National Drug Control Policy. "We just went through this
issue with fentanyl. We learned a lot of things from that. We have to
get on it early and get on it aggressively." | ||||||||||
Lax views toward drug use in Canada, coupled with successes scored by
U.S. agents against European Ecstasy producers and smugglers, have
fueled the problem, Burns said. | ||||||||||
Federal agents seized about 5.4 million dosage units of Ecstasy in the
10 states near the Canadian border in 2006, up dramatically from the
568,000 units seized in 2003, according to statistics from Burns'
office. | ||||||||||
About 55 percent of the units had methamphetamines in them, Burns
said. | ||||||||||
Royal Canadian Mounted Police officials do not dispute that their
country has seen an increase in Ecstasy production or smuggling. They
said 5.2 million units smuggled in from Canada were seized in the
United States in 2004, up from 1.1 million in 2004, according to data
collected with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, RCMP
officials said. | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||
A year-end report out of Pennsylvania suggested that deaths related to oxycontin have decreased, deaths related to methadone have increased. At the same time, one Pennsylvania newspaper took the time to determine whether officials were following the law when they charged a man with possessing a toad with the intent of licking it. | ||||||||||
A pair of interesting opinion pieces fill out the section this week;
the first features Cynthia Tucker cogently dissecting the racial
implications of the drug war again; and Stanton Peele explaining why
presidential candidates who have tried drugs show that the drug war
is an unnecessary waste. | ||||||||||
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(5) METHADONE-RELATED DEATHS SOAR (Top) | ||||||||||
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A recent report issued by the National Drug Intelligence Center indicates an alarming trend in the number of methadone-related deaths - -- estimated to be about a 400 percent increase since 1999. | ||||||||||
And while some local experts agree that the NDIC's figure mirrors
that of local trends, they say the increase is not a result of
methadone clinics, commonly frequented by drug addicts to treat
heroin addiction. | ||||||||||
According to the report, methadone-related deaths increased from 786
in 1999 to almost 4,000 in 2004, as reported by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. | ||||||||||
In comparison, the number of cocaine-related deaths during the same
period increased 43 percent. | ||||||||||
In addition to treating heroin addiction, methadone is a commonly
prescribed narcotic used to treat chronic pain. | ||||||||||
Key findings of the report say the total amount of methadone
distributed in the last five years has increased, with the greatest
percentage occurring at the practitioner level. | ||||||||||
In addition, thefts of the drug from manufacturers and distributors,
such as pharmacies, are on the rise. | ||||||||||
Cambria County Coroner Dennis Kwiatkowski agrees with NDIC's
assessment. | ||||||||||
"Most of the drug deaths that we have had lately are | ||||||||||
Kwiatkowski said methadone has become the illegal drug of choice on
the street. | ||||||||||
"It seems like methadone has taken over for Oxycontin," Kwiatkowski said. "We don't see ( Oxycontin ) deaths like we used to. | ||||||||||
"Three or four years ago, there was a lot of Oxycontin on the
streets, and the drug task force and FDA really busted down on the
Oxycontin pushers," he continued. "Now there is a trend for
methadone." | ||||||||||
Kwiatkowski said people are obtaining prescriptions from physicians and then selling it on the street. Others are stealing the drug. | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
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(6) DRUG CZAR: JUST SAY NO TO TOAD LICKING (Top) | ||||||||||
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After he stopped laughing, York County drug czar Bill Graff got on
the phone with the Pennsylvania State Police crime lab. | ||||||||||
"You can lick all the toads you want," had been Graff's initial
response. "I don't think it's a crime. There's nothing in the (
state ) crimes code banning the licking of toads." | ||||||||||
Graff didn't believe it, but the question of toad licking came up
after a man was arrested in November in Missouri, accused of
possession of a Colorado River toad with the intent to lick it to
get high. | ||||||||||
But the chemists at the crime lab informed Graff, the county's first
assistant district attorney and head of the county drug task force,
that certain members of the bufo toad family - specifically the
Colorado River toad and the cane toad - secrete bufotenine, a
hallucinogenic alkaloid and a Schedule I controlled substance under
both federal and state drug laws. | ||||||||||
The chemists told Graff the question of toad licking to get high
does not come up very often. They said they vaguely remembered a
toad licking case "a long time Advertisement ago." The toads in
question are native to western and southwestern states. | ||||||||||
"I stand corrected," Graff said. "It's not just an urban legend. | ||||||||||
"So, I guess if you caught someone with a Colorado River toad, you
could charge them with a Schedule I violation. It's no different
from mushrooms or LSD. You would have to prove they intended to use
them to lick. I mean not having them as pets. | ||||||||||
"It would be delivery of a controlled substance, and the package is
the frog, I mean the toad." | ||||||||||
Pennsylvania State law does not specifically address bufo toads or
any other non-endangered amphibians. | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
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(7) COLUMN: DECADES LATER, WAR ON DRUGS IS STILL A LOSER (Top) | ||||||||||
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You don't hear much about the nation's "war on drugs" these days.
It's a has-been, a glamorless geezer, a holdover from bygone days.
Its glitz has been stolen by the "war on terror," which gets the
news media hype and campaign trail rhetoric. Railing against
recreational drug use and demanding that offenders be locked away is
so '90s. | ||||||||||
But the drug war proceeds, mostly away from news cameras and photo
ops, still chewing up federal and state resources and casting
criminal sanctions over entire neighborhoods. Some four or so
decades into an intensive effort to stamp out recreational drug use,
billions of dollars have been spent; thousands of criminals, many of
them foreigners, have been enriched; and hundreds of thousands of
Americans have been imprisoned. And the use of illegal substances
continues unabated. | ||||||||||
With the nation poised on the brink of a new political era, isn't it
time to abandon the wrongheaded war on drugs? Isn't it time to admit
that this second Prohibition has been as big a failure as the last -
the one aimed at alcohol? | ||||||||||
Every war has its collateral damage, and the war on drugs is no
different. As it happens, its unintended victims have been
disproportionately black. The stunning rise in incarceration rates
for black men began after the nation became serious about stamping
out recreational drug use. | ||||||||||
In 1954, black inmates accounted for 30 percent of the nation's
prison population, according to Marc Mauer, assistant director of
The Sentencing Project, a Washington-based group that advocates
alternative sentencing. Fifty years later, he wrote, blacks account
for almost half of all prison admissions. Much of that increase has
come from arrests for drug crimes. Very few of those black men are
wildly successful drug lords, such as the Harlem kingpin Frank
Lucas, portrayed by Denzel Washington in the film "American
Gangster." Instead, they are usually penny-ante dealers addicted to
their product. | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
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(8) OPED: DRUG USE AND THE CANDIDATES (Top) | ||||||||||
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In his 1996 autobiography, "Dreams from My Father," presidential
candidate Barack Obama admitted using alcohol and drugs in high
school. | ||||||||||
He was unusually frank compared to Bill Clinton and George W. Bush -- to name just two politicians reputed to have used drugs. | ||||||||||
Mr. Obama raised the issue again in November in Manchester, N.H. In response to a request by Central High School's principal that he reveal his "human side," he discussed his high school years in
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Then an influential New Hampshire Democrat and Hillary Clinton
supporter, Bill Shaheen, said Mr. Obama's drug use made him
vulnerable to attacks from Republicans. Mr. Shaheen quickly
retracted his remarks, but voter attention was directed to the
candidate's teen behavior just weeks before the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses
and Jan. 8 New Hampshire primary. | ||||||||||
Are there many other prominent people who used illicit substances
when young? Messrs. Bush and Clinton are likely only the tip of the
iceberg. According to the University of Michigan's Monitoring the
Future Survey, in 2007 about half of high school seniors had used an
illegal drug. More than seven of 10 seniors had consumed alcohol,
and 55% had been drunk. | ||||||||||
In fact, 44% drank alcohol in the past month. | ||||||||||
These figures rise and fall over the years: In 1980, the spring of
Mr. Obama's 18th year, two-thirds of seniors had used an illicit
drug and more than 70% had consumed alcohol in the past month. There
has been massive drug and underage alcohol use by Americans over the
years -- more than 110 million Americans, according to the National
Survey on Drug Use and Health, have used illicit drugs. | ||||||||||
Yet the overwhelming majority of them -- like Messrs. Bush, Clinton
and Obama -- have grown up to be productive citizens. | ||||||||||
Some believe there's no need to know about their youthful
misconduct. | ||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||
COMMENT: (9-12) (Top) | ||||||||||
While politicians are still trying to think of new ways to get tough
on meth, their excesses are starting to be exposed by the people
impacted by the laws, like one mother from Arkansas. She may find
those excesses hard to undo, as story in the New York Times about
the unintended consequences of Newark, New Jersey's war on crack
shows. Also, another county takes a hard look at the drug war's race
statistics; and major newspaper rightfully mocks a state legislature
for taking the time to ban Salvia divinorum when the state clearly
has more serious problems. | ||||||||||
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(9) MOTHER WORKS TO MAKE SHORTENED SENTENCES FOR METH OFFENSES (Top)RETROACTIVE | ||||||||||
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LITTLE ROCK -- The one thing Lynn Burch wants for Christmas more than anything else is for her son to come home from prison. | ||||||||||
Nearly four years ago, Lynn and her husband, Jeff, who live in
Springdale, watched as their middle son, Daniel, stood before a
judge and was sentenced to 10 years in prison for manufacturing and
possessing methamphetamine with intent to deliver. | ||||||||||
The highly addictive drug, which had already made addicts of her two
other boys -- they have since gone into drug rehab and have kicked
the habit -- had their third son in its clutches. | ||||||||||
Daniel Burch was sentenced under a 1997 state law that added meth
offenses to the list of crimes that require murderers, rapists and
other violent offenders to serve at least 70 percent of their
sentence before they are eligible for parole. | ||||||||||
"It's heartbreaking," Lynn Burch said. "I've never said my son shouldn't do time. But I don't think they need to send him away for seven years when he was 23 years old. He won't get out until he's | ||||||||||
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"He's having to serve more time than some child molesters or people
that rape ... Ricky Crisp even served less time and he was convicted
of killing two." | ||||||||||
Crisp, whose 16-month-old daughter and her 4-month-old cousin died
in a sweltering car after he and a friend went looking for mushrooms
and arrowheads, was convicted in early 1999 of two counts of
second-degree murder and sentenced to 14 years in prison. The
Garfield man was paroled in December 2002 after serving just over
three years in prison. | ||||||||||
"I just don't understand it. I've just given up asking why," Lynn
Burch said. | ||||||||||
She said her son and other meth offenders need rehabilitation and
treatment rather than extended prison time. She said she has
counseled and helped several friends of her sons who are addicted to
the drug kick the habit. | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
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(10) DRUG WAR, MINUS SIGNS, PERSISTS (Top) | ||||||||||
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AS he drove slowly along the streets he first traveled more than 40
years ago, when he was still a young parole officer who wished he
could do more than just check in and move on, David Kerr was looking
for a sign. | ||||||||||
"It's been a while since I've seen one," he said about the signs
that are meant to mark the 1,000-foot perimeter around all schools
within which the penalty for dealing drugs is mandatory and more
severe than elsewhere. "The problem is, there are schools
everywhere. 'Entering Newark, Drug-Free School Zone,' that's what
the signs should say." | ||||||||||
But block after block, school after school, none were to be found.
The "Drug-Free School Zone" signs may be mostly gone here in the
Central Ward, but their impact persists, and they have surfaced
again at the center of a policy debate that exposes the wide gulf
between the two New Jerseys: the one that is dense and urban and
heavily black and Hispanic; and the one that is not. | ||||||||||
"It snares everybody, and really does nothing but put nonviolent
addicts in jail for a long time, people who should be in treatment
instead," said Mr. Kerr, 65, who left his state parole job in 1968
and started what is now the state's oldest and largest | ||||||||||
It was hard to argue against drug-free school zones when they were
established in New Jersey as part of a tough antidrug law in 1987.
Crack was spreading, and the war on drugs was escalating, arming the
police and prosecutors with new legal weapons. Dealers anywhere near
schoolchildren? Lock them up. | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
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(11) JAIL MORE LIKELY FOR BLACK DRUG USERS, STUDY FINDS (Top) | ||||||||||
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Black Hamilton County residents are sent to prison on drug
convictions 19 times more often per capita than whites, but local
District Attorney Bill Cox challenged the recent study that reached
the conclusion. | ||||||||||
The study, compiled by the nonprofit Justice Policy Institute,
compared the nation's 200 largest counties. It stated that 97
percent of those counties sent blacks to prison more often than
whites for drug-related convictions. | ||||||||||
Mr. Cox said the Justice Institute's claims are tied to a Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration study showing that
in 2006 about 8.9 percent of blacks admitted to using drugs in the
last month, and 8.5 percent of whites admitted to the same
practices. | ||||||||||
"There is a difference between being a drug user and being someone
who goes to jail for drugs," Mr. Cox said. "Drug users don't
typically go to jail. People who possess quantities of drugs for
resale go to jail." | ||||||||||
The Justice Policy Institute, based in Washington, D.C., reported
that, despite similar use patterns, black people account for more
than 50 percent of sentenced drug offenders, while they are about 13
percent of the nation's population. The research institution is
"dedicated to ending society's reliance on incarceration" and
promotes "appropriate alternatives" to it, according to its Internet
site. | ||||||||||
The institute found that in Hamilton County about 24 out of every
100,000 people are sent to state prison each year for a drug crime.
Whites are sent to prison at a rate of five per 100,000 white
people, while blacks are sent at a rate of about 95 per 100,000
black people, the report found. | ||||||||||
Walter Williams, a retired Chattanooga City Court judge now in
private practice, said the institute's findings confirm "what all of
us have been saying through the years." | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
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(12) EDITORIAL: LAWMAKERS MANAGE TO OUTLAW LICKING AN OBSCURE PLANT (Top) | ||||||||||
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Those creatively efficient politicians down in the Illinois
Legislature might be stumped on really important issues like funding
the CTA or betting our future on casinos. But they are clear about
saving us from ourselves -- even if we don't need it. Case in point:
the salvia ban. | ||||||||||
Lawmakers banned the sale and possession of Salvia divinorum, a
virtually unknown sage plant that causes hallucinations. People who
buy it in tobacco and "head" shops or online experience a 5- to
10-minute high, followed by a 20-minute comedown. Come New Year's
Day, anyone who smokes, licks, chews or possesses salvia will go
directly to jail -- for no less than four years. The penalty is the
same as shooting heroin or snorting cocaine. | ||||||||||
"I've seen the argument to legalize marijuana. It is a gateway drug,
like salvia could be a gateway drug," said state Rep. Dennis
Reboletti ( R-Elmhurst ), a former narcotics prosecutor who
sponsored the bill. Reboletti admitted he wanted to move forward on
banning the plant "rather than waiting for someone to be killed
because of it." | ||||||||||
Legislators must have been on something to zero in on this obscure organic substance, sometimes called "magic mint" or "Sally D" by salvia afficionados. The last time we checked, Illinois was not besieged by a salvia epidemic. We don't see the urgency in criminalizing a substance with no clear track record of causing people to act in a dangerous manner or hurt other people. | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||
COMMENT: (13-16) (Top) | ||||||||||
A new year begins, but the drug war rhetoric remains as tedious as ever. Critics in Texas are concerned that treating cannabis possession as a misdemeanor sends the wrong message to kids. | ||||||||||
Despite a recommendation last month from U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland that hemp advocates take their cause to congress, it seems congress lacks the political will to risk appearing soft on drugs. | ||||||||||
The Alberta Court of Appeal struck down an earlier human rights
tribunal ruling which found that an employer discriminated against a
cannabis consumer when they fired him for failing a drug test, noting
that the consumer did not seem to be "addicted," and was therefore
not "disabled" as he claimed, and that "the evidence established that
effects of cannabis use lingers for days particularly given that the
concentration of active ingredients is now many times higher than
it was in the past." | ||||||||||
Last year marked the passing of too many medicinal cannabis activists and patients, including Catherine Devries of Kitchener, Ontario. | ||||||||||
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(13) MARIJUANA TICKETS NOT CATCHING ON (Top) | ||||||||||
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Law Designed to Free Jail Space Not Used Beyond Austin As Prosecutors
Question Propriety | ||||||||||
Texas lawmakers thought they could help ease jail overcrowding when
they passed legislation allowing police to write tickets for
misdemeanor marijuana possession and a few other nonviolent crimes,
instead of hauling suspects to the clink. | ||||||||||
But the new law, which went into effect Sept. 1, is being used only in
Travis County. Prosecutors in Dallas, Tarrant and Collin counties
never set up a system to process the misdemeanor citations and, they
say, they have no plans to do so. | ||||||||||
"I think the Legislature was very sensitive to the fact that there are so many jails that are overcrowded," said Terri Moore, Dallas County's first assistant district attorney. "This was a great idea, but it raises a lot more questions that we are not ready to answer." | ||||||||||
The new law gives officers the option to arrest, as they have been doing, or write tickets for possession of less than 4 ounces of marijuana. Some supporters of the law say these nonviolent offenders could be treated the same as drivers who get caught speeding and agree to go before a judge. But critics say these class A and B misdemeanors, although not violent crimes, could still result in jail time and require investigators to build a solid case for prosecution. | ||||||||||
As a result, the burden of making sure that suspects make it to court
and no one is misidentified is higher. For Greg Davis, Collin County's
first assistant district attorney, one of his qualms with the new law
is the perception created by ticketing for a drug offense, instead of
making an arrest. | ||||||||||
"It may... lead some people to believe that drug use is no more serious than double parking," Mr. Davis said. "We don't want to send that message to potential drug users, particularly young people." | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
(14) N.D. DELEGATION WON'T TAKE UP HEMP ISSUE (Top) | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
The three members of North Dakota's congressional delegation see
little hope in Congress for state farmers who want to grow industrial
hemp. | ||||||||||
Members of the state's all-Democratic delegation -- Sens. Byron Dorgan
and Kent Conrad and Rep. Earl Pomeroy -- say they have no plans to
introduce or push legislation that would make it easier for farmers
around the country to grow the crop. | ||||||||||
U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland last month dismissed a lawsuit
filed against the U.S government by two North Dakota farmers, saying
federal law considers industrial hemp to be the same as marijuana,
which is an illegal drug. In his ruling, Hovland suggested asking
Congress to change the definition of industrial hemp to explicitly
distinguish it from marijuana. | ||||||||||
That idea has no traction in Congress, the state's delegation says. | ||||||||||
``When the (federal) drug enforcement agency takes this hard line
position, there is not the political will in Congress to challenge
them,'' Pomeroy said. ``No one wants to be involved in something that
some might perceive as loosening our drug laws.'' | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
(15) JOB DRUG-TESTING DEBATE NOT OVER (Top) | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
A court ruling against a fired marijuana user won't stop the
province's human rights commission seeking changes to workplace drug-
testing policies, a lawyer on the case said yesterday. | ||||||||||
"I think automatic termination is troubling because you're denying
someone employment," said Arman Chak, an Alberta Human Rights and
Citizenship Commission lawyer who represented the fired worker, John
Chiasson, during a recent court case. | ||||||||||
Chak noted the commission hasn't yet decided on whether to challenge a
ruling from the Alberta Court of Appeal rejecting Chiasson's claims
that a Fort McMurray employer's drug-testing policies were
discriminatory. While Chiasson himself admitted he was only a
recreational pot smoker, a lower-court judge had earlier ruled that in
firing anyone who tested positive for drugs, engineering and
construction company Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR) had essentially
treated him as an addict and therefore disabled. | ||||||||||
Alberta's human-rights legislation forbids discrimination on the basis
of disability. The appeal judges, however, have now ruled that safety
concerns justify workplace drug-testing policies, thereby overturning
the earlier court decision. | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
Chak pointed to evidence that a urine test showing the presence of
marijuana doesn't necessarily mean a person is impaired. He noted that
in Chiasson's case, the worker had started his job as a receiving
clerk at a Syncrude Canada construction site by the time the test
results came back. By then, it had been weeks since he had smoked the
pot. | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
(16) WOMAN LED FIGHT TO LEGALIZE MEDICAL MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
KITCHENER - In recent years, when people saw Catherine Devries of
Kitchener, they saw a tiny and obviously ill woman who needed to use a
wheelchair when she managed to get out of bed at all. | ||||||||||
But her family and friends don't remember the trail-blazing medical-
marijuana activist as frail. Anything but. | ||||||||||
"Cathy was a very, very strong fighter," said her father Carl Devries.
"She would not give up even when her life was extremely difficult for
her." | ||||||||||
Catherine died last Sunday in St. Mary's Hospital, at the age of 49.
Most of her life, she had struggled with a host of health problems and
pain. | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
The more public side of her was her activism. She was one of the first Canadians to be legally allowed to use marijuana for medical purposes. | ||||||||||
"Catherine fought very hard for that licence," said fellow medical-
marijuana activist Alison Myrden of Burlington. "She was one of the
first people to speak up about it and she should be recognized for
that . . . | ||||||||||
"She knew cannabis worked for her. I watched the difference when I saw
her smoke. She'd go from lying in bed and slumping over and falling
asleep to sitting up and talking a mile a minute. It was incredible,
the transformation." | ||||||||||
In 2000, police seized 21 grams of marijuana she had ordered from
B.C.'s Compassion Club, which provides the drug to sick people.
Devries went to court to get it back, and won. | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
International News | ||||||||||
COMMENT: (17-21) (Top) | ||||||||||
In the UK this week, North Wales Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom
was again at the center of a media-created tempest when he announced
that "ecstasy is safer than aspirin... Ecstasy is not a safe
substance and I'm not suggesting that it is. But it's much less
dangerous than, for instance, tobacco and alcohol, both of which are
freely available." Subsequent howls from prohibitionists were swift
and predictable, calling for the Chief Constable to resign for
holding such opinions. While the legalization of all drugs was
"inevitable" Brunstrom added, decriminalization was some "10 years
away." | ||||||||||
In Canada, two provinces were in the news because of harm reducing
crack pipe giveaway programs. In Ontario, the province agreed to
pick up the cost for the crack pipe program in the city of Ottawa.
Ottawa's crack pipe program had been funded by the city, but
discontinued. In the Province of B.C., Interior Health is "looking
into the possibility" for a crack pipe distribution of its own.
Crack pipe programs are intended to decrease transmission of
hepatitis B, C and tuberculosis. | ||||||||||
Communist China has a drug problem (despite the copious executions
of traffickers), but government there have just the solution, you
know, to protect the "children." The solution? Forced rehab, just
like they do in Mississippi, Texas and, Sweden. The compulsory
drug-rehab measures, now before the Law Committee of the National
People's Congress, lists opium, heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine,
morphine and cocaine as banned drugs. (No word on LSD, psilocybin,
MDMA, and khat.) | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
(17) DRUGS 'LEGAL IN 10 YEARS' CLAIM (Top) | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
The legalisation of all drugs is "inevitable", according to the Chief
Constable of North Wales. | ||||||||||
Richard Brunstrom, who has campaigned for drugs like heroin to be made
legal, says he believes the move towards decriminalisation is "10
years away." | ||||||||||
The chief constable said repealing the Misuse of Drugs Act would
destroy a major source of organised crime. | ||||||||||
He also said he thinks ecstasy is safer than aspirin. | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
(18) DRUG CALL CHIEF 'SHOULD QUIT' (Top) | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
A CONTROVERSIAL former Cleveland Police chief was facing calls to quit today after claiming ecstasy is safer than aspirin. | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
"Ecstasy is a remarkably safe substance - it's far safer than
aspirin," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. | ||||||||||
"But if you look at the Government's own research you will find that
ecstasy by comparison to many other substances, legal and illegal,
is a comparatively safe substance. | ||||||||||
"Ecstasy is not a safe substance and I'm not suggesting that it is.
But it's much less dangerous than, for instance, tobacco and
alcohol, both of which are freely available." | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
(19) INTERIOR HEALTH CONSIDERS PROVIDING CRACK PIPE KITS (Top) | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Interior Health is looking into the possibility of distributing
"crack kits" to help prevent the spread of disease. | ||||||||||
But it could be some time yet before people on the streets get them. | ||||||||||
The kits, supplied by the provincial government through the Harm
Reduction Supply Services Committee, are really just pieces of
rubber tubing which go on the end of crack pipes, that drug users
routinely share. | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
"At Interior Health we haven't made any decision about if or how we
would distribute them or use them," said IH's senior medical health
officer Andrew Larder. | ||||||||||
The province has given health authorities a year to decide whether
to take and distribute the kits to drug users. | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
Larder said researchers have known for years that using crack puts
someone at higher risk of testing positive for hepatitis B or C and
is associated with the spread of tuberculosis. | ||||||||||
A recent study found live Hep C virus on the ends of crack pipes | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
(20) PROVINCE TO FUND CRACK-PIPE PROGRAM IN CITY (Top) | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Access to free, clean crack pipes in Ottawa will continue next year despite the city's opposition to the controversial program. | ||||||||||
Jack McCarthy, director of the Somerset West Community Health
Centre, confirmed Friday in a conversation with a Ministry of Health
and Long-Term Care spokesman that the province will fund the program
without city involvement. | ||||||||||
"The minister is committed to funding this program," Mr. McCarthy
said, adding he is pleased with the news. | ||||||||||
The province will provide $287,000 to run the crack pipe program in
2008. The money will go toward paying for two outreach workers, | ||||||||||
The goal of the crack-pipe program is to reduce the sharing of used
crack pipes in order to curb the spread of diseases such as
hepatitis C and HIV. | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
(21) READY TO ADOPT ANTI-DRUG RULES TO PROTECT NATION'S CHILDREN (Top) | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Chinese lawmakers are expected to adopt the country's first anti-drug law to curb drug-related crime, reduce the soaring number of users and provide more appropriate care for under-aged addicts. | ||||||||||
The law's final draft was "ready for adoption", the Law Committee of
the National People's Congress (NPC) told the 31st session of the
NPC Standing Committee on its opening day Sunday, when the third and
possibly final deliberation of the began. | ||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||
Lawmakers said the introduction of an anti-drug law was imperative
to prevent and seriously punish drug-related crimes, protect public
health and maintain social order. | ||||||||||
Opium, heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine hydrochloride - commonly
known as "ice" - morphine and cocaine were listed as banned drugs in
the draft. | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||
DRUGSENSE 2007 IN REVIEW | ||||||||||
2007 saw almost fifteen thousand new news clippings added to the
drugnews.org archives. Over a half million different readers from
about 125 countries accessed the clippings during the year. Based
on a formula which recognizes that older clippings may have been
accessed more than the more recent ones, selections of the 600 most
read clippings by areas of the world are provided at the following
link: http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0357.html | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
DEATH BY DRUG WAR | ||||||||||
By Radley Balko at Reason Hit & Run | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
WHAT DARWIN COULD TELL US ABOUT THE "WAR ON DRUGS" | ||||||||||
By Sanho Tree, MinuteMan Media, December 27, 2007. | ||||||||||
Although it may seem counterintuitive, the "law and order" response by
our politicians only intensifies the problem. | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
HOLES FOUND IN U.S. CLAIMS OF A DRUG-WAR WIN | ||||||||||
by John Burnett | ||||||||||
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17621536 | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
NORML'S TOP 10 EVENTS IN 2007 THAT SHAPED MARIJUANA POLICY | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
DRUG TRUTH NETWORK WEBSITE UPGRADE | ||||||||||
DrugSense is proud to announce a new DTN website, at | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
DEA - 2007 IN PHOTOS | ||||||||||
"DEA enjoyed many successes in 2007 including the arrests of many
high-profile drug traffickers, record drug and money seizures, and the
largest steroid enforcement action in U.S. history. Many of these
operations are featured in a slide show that highlights a remarkable
year of accomplishments." | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
AN INTERVIEW WITH GEOFFREY GUY OF GW PHARMACEUTICALS | ||||||||||
GW is licensed by the UK Home Office to work with a range of controlled drugs for medical research purposes. The Group's lead programme is the development of a product portfolio of cannabinoid prescription medicines , including Sativex(r) Oromucosal Spray, to meet patient needs in a wide range of therapeutic indications. | ||||||||||
http://www.wallst.net/audio/audio.asp?ticker=AIM:GWP&id=4313 | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
BRUNSTROM ON DRUGS (AGAIN) | ||||||||||
Richard Brunstrom, the Chief Constable of North Wales has again hit
the news over his views in support of drug law reform. The media don't
seem to know quite what to make of him, torn between an intelligent
engagement in the debates he highlights, or tearing into him with
personal attacks. The most recent spasm of media coverage followed an
appearance on BBC's Today programme. | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
BUSH AND CALDERON ON OUTS | ||||||||||
'Merida Initiative' may not pass Congressional muster | ||||||||||
Grits for Breakfast | ||||||||||
It sounds like President Bush may already be suffering from buyer's
remorse regarding the proposed $1.4 billion anti-drug aid package,
according to a Mexican political reporter. | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
FINAL REPORT OF THE SEATTLE MARIJUANA POLICY REVIEW PANEL | ||||||||||
The "Final Report of the Marijuana Policy Review Panel on the
Implementation of Initiative 75" (Seattle's Lowest Law Enforcement
Priority initiative) has been filed with the Seattle City Clerk and
is available for download and review at the Panel's web page,
http://www.seattle.gov/council/mpp/, and also on the City Council's
homepage, http://www.seattle.gov/council/ | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
MARIJUANA ACTIVIST MAE NUTT DIES | ||||||||||
Medical marijuana activist and grandmother Mae Nutt, died January 1,
2008 in Roseville, CA. Mrs. Nutt was a medical marijuana activist for
over 25 years, motivated by the cancer battle she witnessed in her son
Keith, who alleviated his chemotherapy symptoms by secretly smoking
marijuana. | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||
SUPPORT THE BC3 | ||||||||||
Extradition Hearing To Begin January 21 | ||||||||||
by Jodie Emery (21 Jan, 2008) | ||||||||||
Three Canadians face extradition to, and life imprisonment in, the
United States - but they've never been there! | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||
LET'S ABSORB LESSONS FROM THE U.S. | ||||||||||
By Paul Whitehouse | ||||||||||
I Read John Pye's letter ( Never forget the influence of this
devastating rug ) with some sadness. Like all police officers ( and
I was one for 34 years ) he knows that in order to prove a case you
need to assemble the evidence. Like many, he doesn't carry that
thinking with him when it comes to arguing for a particular policy
or course of action. If John Pye's position is the correct one, then
alcohol should be banned tomorrow. I was one of the first members of
the Durham Constabulary Drugs Squad when it was formed in 1969 to
deal with the results of The Misuse Of Drugs Act of that year. The
UK hadn't had a problem until then, but we had learnt from the
experience of the USA, which demonstrated such startling success
with its prohibition of alcohol some 50 years earlier, and we wanted
to follow them. | ||||||||||
Well, we've succeeded. The rate of consumption of all drugs has grown beyond our wildest hopes, the profits to be made are higher than anyone could have expected, and the proliferation of guns on our streets is moving towards the levels of Chicago in the 1930s. | ||||||||||
Are we able to learn from this? I remain confident that we will. The USA did eventually repeal its laws on the prohibition of alcohol. Let us destroy the market which we've created and stop encouraging young men to make so much money out of the misery of others. | ||||||||||
Paul Whitehouse | ||||||||||
Member, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Former Chief Constable
of Sussex | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||
THE 2007 LETTER TO THE EDITOR AWARDS | ||||||||||
By Richard Lake | ||||||||||
For the fourth year in a row, it is our pleasure to recognize Robert Sharpe as Published Letter to the Editor Writer of the Year for 2007 for the number of letters that he had published during the year. | ||||||||||
Robert Sharpe had 273 letters published last year, raising his
career total to an amazing 1,913 published, without a doubt the
record for any drug policy reform letter writer. | ||||||||||
In 1999, Robert started writing letters as a student at George
Washington University and a member of their Students for Sensible
Drug Policy ( http://www.ssdp.org/ ). Then he often used his SSDP
chapter membership in his signature block to improve his chances of
being published. We first recognized Robert's letter writing
accomplishments in May, 2000 as you may see in this photo
http://www.mapinc.org/images/Robert.jpg | ||||||||||
Today Robert writes as a volunteer for CSDP ( http://www.csdp.org ).
He signs his letters "Robert Sharpe, Policy Analyst, Common Sense
for Drug Policy, Washington, D.C." Robert tells us that he is
spending about an hour a day after work sending out letters, and
yes, many more are not published than are. Robert has provided us
with his tips for letter writing success at | ||||||||||
You may read all of Robert's published letters at | ||||||||||
The year's end brought another award: MAP's Published Letters
Platinum Award for achieving one thousand published letters to Kirk
Muse. You may view the award at | ||||||||||
Kirk writes, "'Powerful Paragraphs' helped me go from 1 in 50
letters published to 1 in 5 published!" | ||||||||||
Kirk also supports the Media Awareness Project by newshawking news
clippings, of which 894 were archived last year. By newshawking,
Kirk sees targets and frequently sends his letters to the editor to
the newspapers before others are even aware of the news clipping.
Kirk is pictured, with MAP editor Beth Wehrman, at the 2005 Drug
Policy Alliance conference here | ||||||||||
Each month during the year, MAP recognizes a letter writer for the
number of letters published during the previous month. Those
recognized during the past year, with links to the DrugSense Weekly
announcements, are shown on this webpage | ||||||||||
And every week a committee of letter writing experts selects one
published letter to recognize as the Letter Of The Week, by this
process http://www.mapinc.org/lte_awards/weekly.php#how | ||||||||||
The list of those letters is at | ||||||||||
We know of no major drug policy reform organization, none, which
somewhere on its website does not encourage the writing of letters
to the editor. It is perhaps the way that Internet connected
activists living anywhere may communicate their views to the huge
audience of newspaper editorial page readers at very little cost
other than their time. The difference between MAP's news clipping
service and others is the fact that we provide the contact
information with each clipping for writing letters. We hope you will
take advantage of it to write your own letters in the year ahead. If
you need suggestions for success please go to this webpage
http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides | ||||||||||
We thank all of you who do write letters. A graphical display of the
accomplishments, with links to their letters by simply clicking on
their names, for the top 100 letter writers is at | ||||||||||
A special thank you from MAP to Derek Rea. It is Derek who
volunteers his time every week by reading each and every published
letter and then recommends to the selection committee letters to
consider for Letter Of The Week. He also keeps us straight on the
Letter Writer of The Month recognitions. Derek is in a rare photo
with other MAPsters, seated, on the right, at | ||||||||||
Richard Lake is the Senior Editor for the Media Awareness Project's
news clipping service. | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||
"When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser."
-- Socrates | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
DS Weekly is one of the many free educational services DrugSense
offers our members. Watch this feature to learn more about what
DrugSense can do for you. | ||||||||||
TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS: | ||||||||||
Please utilize the following URLs | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Policy and Law Enforcement/Prison content selection and analysis by
Stephen Young (), This Just In selection by
Richard Lake (), International content selection
and analysis by Doug Snead (), Cannabis/Hemp
content selection and analysis, Hot Off The Net selection and Layout
by Matt Elrod (). Analysis comments represent
the personal views of editors, 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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distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving the included information for research and
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