Feb. 12, 2010 #636 |
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- * Breaking News (03/29/24)
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- * This Just In
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(1) President Finds Reception Is Mixed After Recent Slayings
(2) Drug Law Proposals Set To Be Rejected
(3) Covert Medical-Marijuana Growing Operations Surface In Suburban Homes
(4) State Asks Jackson Co. To Tighten Drug Tax Spending
- * Weekly News in Review
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Drug Policy-
COMMENT: (5-8)
(5) Cold Meds Rx Bill Goes To Governor
(6) City Condemns Juarez Violence: Resolution Deletes Marijuana Reference
(7) Drug Czar Should Go
(8) Mother Organizes Drug Forum To 'Fight Back' After Three Teen Deaths
Law Enforcement & Prisons-
COMMENT: (9-12)
(9) Spartanburg County Clerk Of Court Faces Drug Charges
(10) Salem Ditches Camp DARE To Save Money
(11) Education Moving Past DARE
(12) Teens Turning From Cocaine To Ketamine: Police
Cannabis & Hemp-
COMMENT: (13-16)
(13) Medical Pot Exceeds Law, But No Charges
(14) Marijuana Does Nothing To Help Memory In Alzheimer's: Study
(15) 'Father Of Medical Marijuana' Speaks
(16) As Pot-Smoking, Pill-Popping Baby Boomers Age, New Health Problems May Arise
International News-
COMMENT: (17-20)
(17) Safe-Injection Site To Go To Top Court S
(18) Drug Abuse In Prisons
(19) RCMP Raids 'Medical Marijuana' Club
(20) Drug Cartels Tighten Grip; Mexico Becoming 'Narco-State'
- * Hot Off The 'Net
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Jack Cole On The Dan Yorke Radio Show
CBS Bans Ad Calling For Marijuana Legalization Over 'Morals'
Safegames 2010
Why Are Police Opposing Marijuana Legalization? / Russ Belville
Drug Truth Network
Bad Policies Are Really What's Driving California's Huge Prison Costs
UNODC Predicts Stable Opium Crop In Afghanistan
NYU Forum On Ending The War On Drugs
- * What You Can Do This Week
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Write A Letter
- * Letter Of The Week
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Legalize It / Stace Tackaberry
- * Letter Writer Of The Month - January
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Patrick Brumm
- * Feature Article
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Keeping The Lights On / Mary Jane Borden
- * Quote of the Week
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Elie Wiesel
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
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THIS JUST IN
(Top)
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(1) PRESIDENT FINDS RECEPTION IS MIXED AFTER RECENT SLAYINGS
(Top) |
Pubdate: | Fri, 12 Feb 2010
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Source: | El Paso Times (TX)
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Copyright: | 2010 El Paso Times
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Author: | Adriana Gomez Licon, El Paso Times
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Caleron Told: Enough
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JUAREZ -- Anger, fear and skepticism received Mexican President
Felipe Calderon in Juarez on Thursday.
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Testimonials of leaders in the city where more than 4,500 people
have died in the past two years had the same theme: enough with the
violence.
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Calderon, his wife, Margarita Zavala, and seven members of his
Cabinet were surrounded by hundreds of heavily armed soldiers and
police officers.
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At the Cibeles convention center, business, religious and education
leaders complained about the brutality of the drug war, human-rights
violations by the military, unemployment and increasing taxes.
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The massacre that killed 15 people, mostly teenagers on Jan. 30,
triggered Calderon to visit the deadliest city in Mexico for the
second time in his administration. He sent his condolences to the
families of the victims and mentioned ambiguous changes in the
strategy to fight organized crime. The military presence will
continue in the border city.
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"It pains me as the president of the nation what's going on,"
Calderon said.
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Some relatives of those killed in the massacre showed their backs to
the president during his speech. Angry and upset, four mothers of
the victims killed in the birthday party massacre refused to attend
a private meeting with the president earlier at the community center
Casa Amiga.
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At one point, Luz Maria Davila Garcia, who lost her teenage sons in
the mass attack, interrupted a speech by Chihuahua Gov. Jose Reyes
Baeza Terrazas and bypassed security to talk to Calderon face to
face.
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[snip]
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(2) DRUG LAW PROPOSALS SET TO BE REJECTED
(Top) |
Pubdate: | Thu, 11 Feb 2010
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Source: | New Zealand Herald (New Zealand)
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Copyright: | 2010 New Zealand Herald
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A Law Commission report calling for possible decriminalisation of
some drug use and allowing cannabis for medicinal use is set to be
rejected by the Government.
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The commission said it agreed with vigorous law enforcement on
commercial drug dealers, but that there should be less emphasis on
punishment of personal possession and use, and more emphasis on
delivering effective treatment to addicts.
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However, Justice Minister Simon Power says there is no prospect drug
laws will be relaxed.
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The commission report says there is no doubt that alcohol and
illegal drugs both cause harm to the community, but "while the harms
and costs associated with alcohol are typically understated and
misunderstood, those associated with illegal drugs are often
generalised and overblown".
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It said the focus of drug laws should be on preventing the harm to
others from drug use, not on preventing self-harm or reflecting
moral values.
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[snip]
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(3) COVERT MEDICAL-MARIJUANA GROWING OPERATIONS SURFACE IN SUBURBAN
(Top)HOMES
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Pubdate: | Fri, 12 Feb 2010
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Copyright: | 2010 The Denver Post Corp
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Author: | Jace Larson, 9News
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HIGHLANDS RANCH -- From the outside, Chris Bartkowicz's house looks
like most of the others in his Highlands Ranch neighborhood.
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The interior is a different story.
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Bartkowicz has built a large medical-marijuana growing operation in
the basement of his $637,000 suburban home, and he is far from
alone.
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9News discovered that dozens of suburban homes around Denver have
been converted to indoor medical-marijuana farms.
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"Whether it's a small grow or a big grow, I don't think the average
person realizes how close to their front door it is," Bartkowicz
said.
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"I'm definitely hidden in suburbia," he said.
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A jungle of electrical wires and water hoses snakes from room to
room in the home's basement, all supporting Bartkowicz's nearly
$500,000 medical-marijuana operation.
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This year, he is hoping for a record profit.
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"I'd like to see somewhere in the vicinity of $400,000 " he said,
though he admits he could make as little as $100,000 depending on
what happens with proposed laws regarding medical marijuana.
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[snip]
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(4) STATE ASKS JACKSON CO. TO TIGHTEN DRUG TAX SPENDING
(Top) |
Pubdate: | Thu, 11 Feb 2010
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Source: | Asheville Citizen-Times (NC)
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Copyright: | 2010 Asheville Citizen-Times
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SYLVA - The Department of State Treasurer asked Jackson County to
take better control over spending money that came from taxing drug
dealers.
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Responding to an article Sunday in the Citizen-Times, state Fiscal
Management Section Director Sharon Edmundson said in a letter that
two county officials should sign off on checks from the narcotics
fund.
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Sheriff Jimmy Ashe since 2007 has directed $10,588 to sports
programs, trophies, booster clubs and a high school chorus,
according to documents obtained by the newspaper under state public
records law.
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The sheriff often spent the money with no oversight. In one case he
directed $3,000 to youth baseball teams - including a team on which
his son played.
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The N.C. Department of Justice in a memo to sheriffs said the drug
tax money is intended to help law enforcement "deter and investigate
crimes, especially drug offenses."
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Ashe said he directed the spending in response to personal,
sometimes unwritten requests from people in the community. His
captain over investigations signed the checks.
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The money came from supplies and equipment accounts within the
Sheriff's Office budget and was later reimbursed through its
narcotics fund.
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Sheriffs and police get 75 percent of taxes collected from drug
dealers in the cases they investigate.
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[snip]
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW
(Top)
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Domestic News- Policy
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COMMENT: (5-8)
(Top) |
In a time when many people's attention is focused on skyrocketing
health care costs, brilliant legislators in Mississippi just made it
much more expensive to deal with a simple cold. Sufferers will now
need to get a doctor's prescription to get over-the-counter cold
medication, all in the name of the war against meth.
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In other stupid vote news, the City Council of El Paso, Texas, did
approve of a resolution against violence in neighboring Juarez,
Mexico, but not until calls for the legalization of cannabis were
removed. Elsewhere, a cogent argument against the drug czar; and a
strange story about a crusade to save teen students from heroin
overdose, except none of the examples are students, and most aren't
teens.
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(5) COLD MEDS RX BILL GOES TO GOVERNOR
(Top) |
Pubdate: | Wed, 03 Feb 2010
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Source: | Clarion-Ledger, The (Jackson, MS)
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Copyright: | 2010 Associated Press
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The Senate on Tuesday sent to the governor House Bill 512, which
supporters say is designed to curtail the state's escalating meth
activity. The House earlier passed the bill. Gov. Haley Barbour said
he would sign the bill.
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The law would go into effect July 1. Oregon passed a similar law in
2006.
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Barbour said the new law would "make it more difficult to obtain the
ingredients for this drug that tears families apart and harms many
of our communities. Meth labs threaten public safety, and I don't
think there is any doubt we will see a drop in the number of labs in
our state."
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Only four senators voted against the bill. They were Sens. John
Horhn, D-Jackson; Walter Michel, R-Jackson; Willie Simmons,
D-Cleveland; and Chris McDaniel, R-Ellisville.
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Dozens of law enforcement officials, including Mississippi Bureau of
Narcotics Director Marshall Fisher, were in the Senate gallery
listening to the debate. Many of them have said they're "sick" of
the toll the drug has taken across the state, where 981 arrests were
made in 2009 and nearly 600 meth labs were seized.
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Pelahatchie Police Chief Glenda Shoemaker called the legislation "a
blessing." Shoemaker said meth has become a problem in her town of
1,500, located in central Mississippi. She said four meth labs have
been busted in recent years, a significant number for her town's
size. "These are people I know. People I love. I can't do anything
for them, and it just makes me want to cry," Shoemaker said,
referring to local addicts.
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Drug manufacturers had lobbied lawmakers for a real-time tracking
system instead of the prescription bill. They've said the
prescription bill likely will lead to meth addicts and cooks
crossing state lines to get the ingredients.
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Andy Fish, senior vice president of Consumer Healthcare Products
Association, a group that represents over-the-counter drug
manufacturers, said Mississippi had taken a step back in the fight
against meth.
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[snip]
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(6) CITY CONDEMNS JUAREZ VIOLENCE: RESOLUTION DELETES MARIJUANA
(Top)REFERENCE
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Pubdate: | Wed, 10 Feb 2010
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Source: | El Paso Times (TX)
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Copyright: | 2010 El Paso Times
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Author: | David Burge, El Paso Times
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EL PASO -- The City Council heard more than two hours of testimony,
but in the end backed away from supporting legalized marijuana as a
way to combat drug violence in neighboring Juarez.
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The council voted 6-2 Tuesday to condemn the violence in Juarez and
deleted a paragraph that called for the legalization of marijuana
and government regulation of its sale.
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City Reps. Beto O'Rourke and Steve Ortega co-wrote the resolution.
O'Rourke said he was against deleting the language about marijuana
legalization.
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He said it was an important part of addressing the ongoing violence
in Juarez, which has been responsible for more than 4,500 deaths in
the past two years.
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About 60 percent of the drug cartels' revenue comes from the sale of
marijuana to the United States, he said. Cutting off a significant
source of its revenue could prevent the cartels from continuing to
"kill and terrorize with impunity," he said.
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[snip]
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(7) DRUG CZAR SHOULD GO
(Top) |
Source: | Washington Times (DC)
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Copyright: | 2010 The Washington Times, LLC.
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Voters are disgusted by the reckless spending of politicians in
Washington. The backlash is coming, so policymakers are now
scrambling to do something, or at least be seen as doing something,
about the enormous federal debt. Now is a good time for Congress to
abolish government agencies that are outdated, dysfunctional or just
unnecessary.
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A prime candidate for abolition is the office of the so-called "drug
czar."
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The position of the drug czar was created by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act
in 1988. It was a time of drug war hysteria. Former first lady Nancy
Reagan called casual drug users "accomplices to murder." President
George H.W. Bush vowed to make the war one of his top priorities.
During his inaugural address, he said, "Take my word for it. This
scourge will stop." The conservative firebrand William Bennett
became the first czar and made headlines with brash talk of
beheading drug dealers. The nation's capital was declared to be a
"high intensity drug-trafficking" zone. There were raids and arrests
- including the notorious trial of then-Mayor Marion Barry.
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In theory, the drug czar's office was supposed to develop a
long-term strategy to win the drug war and bring about a "drug-free
society." Each year, the czar would call for more governmental
efforts to "reduce demand" and to "disrupt the supply" of narcotics.
Instead of millions, the government started to spend billions.
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The bureaucracy flourished as more agents were hired and more
high-tech equipment was purchased. The criminal justice system
expanded to handle the influx of cases. More prosecutors. More
judges. More prison guards.
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And yet, millions and millions of Americans continued using drugs.We
now know that Presidents Obama and Clinton were among them. Indeed,
nowadays, police agencies like the FBI can only recruit young people
if the agencies are willing to overlook past drug use.
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[snip]
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(8) MOTHER ORGANIZES DRUG FORUM TO 'FIGHT BACK' AFTER THREE TEEN
(Top)DEATHS
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Source: | Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL)
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Copyright: | 2010 The Daily Herald Company
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After three Lake Zurich High School alumni died of heroin overdoses
in the past 14 months, Lake Zurich mom Michelle Hines organized a
forum about drug use in the community.
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Hines, who facilitates Willow Creek Community Church's Christian
12-Step Program, said the stories are so heartbreaking that she
feels an urgent need to educate people about the dangerous drug
that's become trendy in the suburbs.
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"When I found out about all the kids dying, I thought, 'Enough
already.' Someone's got to do something. We've got to fight back,"
Hines said. "Heroin is in our town and kids are dying. If parents
don't know it's here, then they can't educate their kids. We're
doing the best we can to let them know."
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In December 2008, former Lake Zurich student Kelly Gawron, 19, was
found dead in her bed after overdosing on heroin.
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Then in June 2009, a 22-year-old Lake Zurich alumnus died in the
hospital, three days after overdosing, Hines said.
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A month later, a 21-year-old former student died in a halfway house,
struggling to recover from his heroin addiction, said his family,
who asked not to be identified.
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In an effort to prevent more deaths, the Feb. 9 forum at Lake Zurich
High School aims to educate people about the drug activity going on
in the community and teach them ways to help someone who is using
drugs.
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[snip]
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Law Enforcement & Prisons
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COMMENT: (9-12)
(Top) |
This week: more corruption; less DARE; and, police in Hamilton,
Ontario say cocaine is out while Ketamine is in, at least for the
local teen set.
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(9) SPARTANBURG COUNTY CLERK OF COURT FACES DRUG CHARGES
(Top) |
Pubdate: | Wed, 03 Feb 2010
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Source: | Spartanburg Herald Journal (SC)
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Copyright: | 2010 The Spartanburg Herald-Journal
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Spartanburg County Clerk of Court Faces Drug Charges Kitchens
Accused of Conspiring With Area Businessman to Sell Drugs Held As
Evidence
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GREENVILLE -- Federal investigators arrested Spartanburg County
Clerk of Court Marc Kitchens and an area real estate developer early
Tuesday after agents say Kitchens received $3,000 for a summer drug
deal -- and investigators believe the drugs in question came from
the evidence locker in Kitchens' office.
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Kitchens is accused of conspiring with Woodruff businessman Terry
Glenn Lanford to take cocaine and methamphetamine from the locker
and sell it to a drug dealer in the Orlando, Fla., area between
April 2009 and January 2010.
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That charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a
$2 million fine.
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[snip]
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(10) SALEM DITCHES CAMP DARE TO SAVE MONEY
(Top) |
Pubdate: | Tue, 09 Feb 2010
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Source: | Roanoke Times (VA)
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Copyright: | 2010 Roanoke Times
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Police Chief Jeff Dudley Said The Program Took Up A Lot Of
Man-Hours.
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After two decades and nearly 3,800 participants, Salem's Camp DARE
has become a victim of tight budget times.
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City Manager Kevin Boggess announced Tuesday that the free summer
camp, which annually hosted rising seventh-graders, will be cut
indefinitely, a move he said will save the city more than $100,000 a
year.
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Last year, 208 of 320 eligible students attended the camp, according
to city spokesman Mike Stevens. The eight-week camp hosts boys and
girls separately during weeklong sessions and, running from June to
August, falls in parts of two fiscal years.
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[snip]
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(11) EDUCATION MOVING PAST DARE
(Top) |
Pubdate: | Mon, 08 Feb 2010
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Source: | Sentinel, The (Carlisle, PA)
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Copyright: | 2010 The Sentinel, a division of Lee Enterprise
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With No State Funding For DARE Programs This Year, Alternatives Are
Being Considered For The Future
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When news broke last year that the state was pulling all funding for
the DARE anti-drug education program, Mechanicsburg and Carlisle
school districts and the associated police departments said they
were interested in continuing the program anyway.
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And so they did, with the departments reporting that they taught
DARE classes through this school year on the strength of community
donors and then absorbed the remainder of the cost.
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But changes are on the horizon.
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"Starting with next school year, we will be in a custom-made program
with Mechanicsburg School District," said Mechanicsburg police Chief
David Spotts.
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Spotts said the program, which is being developed by the district
and both Upper Allen and Mechanicsburg police departments, will
include some of the same drug and alcohol abuse and civic
responsibility focus that DARE does. However, he said, they are also
going to make it more relevant by adding information about current
issues like sexting, cyber-bullying and gangs.
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[snip]
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(12) TEENS TURNING FROM COCAINE TO KETAMINE: POLICE
(Top) |
Pubdate: | Fri, 05 Feb 2010
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Source: | Hamilton Spectator (CN ON)
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Copyright: | 2010 The Hamilton Spectator
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The animal painkiller ketamine is replacing cocaine as a street drug
of choice among teens, according to Hamilton police.
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Typically sold as a white powder in small vials of about a gram, the
drug, also known as Special K, looks like cocaine but costs a third
of the price. At about $10 to $20 a vial or a "bump," it's a cheap
alternative to the $50 a gram cocaine costs.
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"Kids are taking this but it's certainly not just the kids," said
Constable Perry Mason, a school resource officer. "It's an emerging
problem in the community and schools are just a reflection of the
community."
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Hamilton police say the street value of cocaine has nearly doubled
from $29,000 a kilogram in 2007 to $57,000 to $59,000 a kilogram
today.
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At the same time, the cost of designer drugs such as ecstasy and
Special K dropped. Club prices were about $20 a pill in 2007. Now
they're $5, police said.
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Today, an ounce of cocaine costs about $1,500 whereas an ounce of
ketamine goes for about $450 to $500.
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Cocaine, a stimulant, and ketamine, a fast-acting and powerful
anaesthetic and painkiller used in veterinary and human surgery,
produce different highs.
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But Sue Kennedy, executive director with Alternatives For Youth, a
local counselling service for youths with addictions, said it could
be more about experimentation than finding a similar high.
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"(It could be) kids are not even making the distinction between
ketamine and cocaine. 'Who cares? I'm just going to use something to
feel different to get a buzz or get high,'" she said. "Are kids
necessarily making the distinction? Depending who's dealing or
sharing or using, do they know what they're ingesting? Maybe, maybe
not."
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[snip]
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Cannabis & Hemp
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COMMENT: (13-16)
(Top) |
There was good news and bad news last week, or rather, good news
and bad journalism.
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Prosecutors in Washington State concluded that the law governing
whether qualified medicinal cannabis growers may or may not grow
collectively is too ambiguous to be enforced.
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Mice tasked with finding their way through mazes should avoid
injecting themselves with high doses of the synthetic cannabinoid
HU210, or at least, not expect it to mitigate the symptoms of
their Alzheimer's.
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Medicinal cannabis champion Denis Peron was in Oregon last week,
advocating complete legalization and regulation of the cannabis
industry.
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The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
predicted that aging, cannabis consuming baby boomers will swamp
the health care system by 2020.
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(13) MEDICAL POT EXCEEDS LAW, BUT NO CHARGES
(Top) |
Pubdate: | Tue, 09 Feb 2010
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Source: | Seattle Times (WA)
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Copyright: | 2010 The Seattle Times Company
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Calling the law unclear, King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said
Tuesday his office will not file criminal charges against a former
Seattle man who police said had more plants at his community medical-
marijuana garden than allowed under state law.
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Mark Spohn called Seattle police on May 26 after four armed men,
posing as FBI agents, entered his house and stole some of the recently
harvested marijuana plants he was growing at his Wallingford garden.
When police arrived they found that Spohn had more than 100 additional
plants, which he was growing for himself and 20 other authorized
medical-marijuana patients, according to court paperwork.
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Police seized the bulk of what they found, leaving 15 plants -- the
state Department of Health's limit for an individual medical-marijuana
patient -- and forwarded the case to the Prosecutor's Office.
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Satterberg said there is no specific state law when it comes to
community gardens.
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"The law neither permits nor prohibits a collective [medical
marijuana] operation," Satterberg said, adding that he is not
"obligated to prosecute people because they have a few plants too
many."
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According to the memo announcing the prosecutor's decision to not file
charges, the law doesn't "explicitly address how marijuana should be
manufactured by a provider in a legal manner or how it should be
distributed to patients."
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"Chief among these ambiguities is the question of whether or not an
authorized provider of marijuana is allowed to provide for more than
one patient over a period of time," the memo says. "The statute is
simply unclear as to whether such activity is prohibited or not."
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Douglas Hiatt, a medical-marijuana activist and Spohn's lawyer, called
Satterberg's decision "the right thing to do."
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[snip]
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(14) MARIJUANA DOES NOTHING TO HELP MEMORY IN ALZHEIMER'S: STUDY
(Top) |
Pubdate: | Tue, 09 Feb 2010
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Source: | Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
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Copyright: | 2010 The Vancouver Sun
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Author: | Pamela Fayerman, Vancouver Sun Health Issues Reporter
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Synthetic Form Of The Drug Shows A Negative Effect In High Doses
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Marijuana does not appear to improve memory or reverse effects of
Alzheimer's disease, according to a University of B.C. study done on
mice bred to have genetic mutations for the disease.
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"We are a little surprised actually. Originally, we were hoping there
would be a positive effect, based on previous research," said Dr.
Weihong Song, the Canada Research Chair in Alzheimer's disease and a
UBC psychiatry professor.
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Wong said in an interview that the experiments were meant to validate
research going back about six years that showed that marijuana might
protect brain cells from injurious inflammation and even promote
regeneration of neurons.
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That got scientists excited about the possibility of a benefit, since
the brains of Alzheimer's patients shrink as cells die off.
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Six researchers affiliated with the Vancouver Coastal Health Research
Institute used a synthetic derivative of cannabis called HU210, which
is 100 to 800 times more potent than marijuana consumed by humans.
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In experiments, mice were initially taught how to get to a desired
location in a maze.
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The mice that got high dose HU210 did no better than control subject
mice, which got no drug, or those that got a low dose.
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[snip]
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Song concedes it's too early to conclude that medicinal marijuana
won't be useful in Alzheimer's disease, especially since the study,
published in the journal Current Alzheimer Research, was done in mice
and using high doses.
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"But what we can say at this point is that the previous research done
with rats and mice on the [beneficial] effects of synthetic
cannabinoids is not necessarily applicable to humans.
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[snip]
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(15) 'FATHER OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA' SPEAKS
(Top) |
Source: | Mail Tribune, The (Medford, OR)
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Copyright: | 2010 The Mail Tribune
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Author: | John Darling, for the Mail Tribune
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ASHLAND -- The man who opened the nation's first "pot club" for
medical marijuana users will come to town Tuesday to speak in favor of
legalizing marijuana.
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Dennis Peron, known as the "father of medical marijuana," supports
across-the-board legalization of marijuana. In a telephone interview,
he said enforcing existing laws costs the criminal justice system a
fortune.
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Peron is scheduled to speak from 6 to 7:30 p.m., Tuesday in the Meese
Auditorium in the Visual Arts Building at Southern Oregon University,
1250 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland. The free presentation is sponsored by
Ashland Alternative Health, a clinic that helps people obtain medical
marijuana cards.
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Peron championed California's 1996 medical marijuana ballot measure -
-- the first in the nation.
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His position is at one extreme in the range of opinions on marijuana's
role in society. Law enforcement officials say the present
arrangement, in which some people with a medical condition can legally
possess marijuana, makes enforcement of drug laws difficult.
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In Southern Oregon, police have arrested a number of medical marijuana
card holders for exceeding the number of plants they were allowed to
grow and seized hundreds of pounds of illegal pot in several widely
publicized arrests.
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Peron said the passage of medical marijuana laws changed the image of
pot from something used by "long-hair, hippie-crazy" people to a drug
of middle-class people.
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"It helped make (marijuana use) more benevolent. We changed the tide,"
said Peron. He said the thrust of his work now is ballot measures to
normalize distribution, so "you can get it at Walgreens," at
affordable prices.
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[snip]
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(16) AS POT-SMOKING, PILL-POPPING BABY BOOMERS AGE, NEW HEALTH PROBLEMS MAY ARISE
(Top) |
Source: | Boston Globe (MA)
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Copyright: | 2010 Globe Newspaper Company
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Author: | Kay Lazar, Globe Staff
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Legions of Pot-Smoking Hippies From Decades Past Have Apparently
Morphed into Middle-Aged Americans Who Carry With Them a Potentially
Large-Scale Drug Problem.
|
Roughly 8 percent of Americans ages 50 to 59 had used an illicit drug
in the past year, according to a recent survey by the federal
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Marijuana
was the most commonly used, but close behind was abuse of prescription
drugs, such as anti-anxiety medications, painkillers, and sleeping
pills.
|
The percentage of pot and pill abusers in this age group grew by more
than 50 percent between 2002 and 2008, as more baby boomers hit 50.
|
Now, researchers who conducted the survey worry that high rates of
lifetime drug use among boomers, that massive, society-altering
generation born between 1946 and 1964, is likely to create health
complications for millions of aging Americans and swamp the country's
drug-treatment programs.
|
"We are projecting that by the year 2020, we will probably have enough
people in the 50-to-59 age group needing [substance abuse] treatment
that we will probably need to double the number of treatment
facilities," said Peter Delany, the substance abuse agency's director
of the Office of Applied Studies.
|
Delaney said that illicit drugs may cause greater impairment as users
get older.
|
"We do know," he said, "that physiology slows down as you age, so the
stuff processed out of your body faster when you were younger won't be
processed out so quickly when you are older."
|
That means that marijuana and abused prescription drugs may be
lingering longer in people who are now also likely to be regularly
ingesting prescribed medications, such as cholesterol-lowering
medicine or pills to tackle high blood pressure. That could result in
harmful interactions and side effects. It also means that unsuspecting
physicians may, for instance, misdiagnose symptoms of memory loss
caused by chronic marijuana use as memory impairments caused by the
onset of dementia, such as Alzheimer's disease.
|
[snip]
|
|
|
International News
|
COMMENT: (17-20)
(Top) |
As expected, the rightist Harper regime this week announced plans to
appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, to undo a provincial court
ruling allowing Insite, the supervised injection site in Vancouver,
B.C. It wasn't that Justice Minister Rob Nicholson was ordered by
party apparatchiks to loudly oppose Insite as a sop and distraction
tossed to the conservative political base, oh no! Rather, it is that
the existence of Insite raises abstruse legal points, "regarding the
doctrine of inter-jurisdictional immunity and the division of powers
between the federal and provincial governments," - points which the
justice minister feels obligated to explore.
|
When confronted with the need for a needle exchange - inside prisons
- government faces a dilemma. Allow a needle exchange which would
save lives (not to mention future health care costs) but in so
doing, admit not even the prohibition of prison walls keeps out
drugs. Or, to not admit the regular breaches of prison security and
futility of prohibition, by not allowing needle exchanges in prison.
While supporting needle exchange in prison, a piece in the Canadian
Chronicle Herald newspaper this week nicely glosses over this larger
issue. "In an ideal world, it would be impossible to smuggle drugs
into a jail, and that would solve the problem. But the real world is
not water-tight, and where there is a will, there is a way." Which
sums up the failure of prohibition.
|
In a heroic action to save children from the clutches of drugs, the
RCMP raided a medicinal marijuana dispensary in icy Nunavut, Canada
Jan. 29, sparing countless young lives from the death and
degradation which accompanies drug use. The proprietor of Nunavut's
first medical cannabis dispensary, Ed deVries, 51, instead claimed
that more than 500 citizens of Iqaluit (about 7% of the town) were
registered with Health Canada as legally able to use cannabis for
medicine. Eric Idlaut, of the Qikiqtaaluk Compassionate Society:
"Elders who use marijuana as medicine would benefit from having a
place they can obtain it without having to pay street prices."
|
The Arizona Republic this week ran a lengthy article on the newest
slogan to be repeated about Mexico. Because of the "drug cartels"
you see, we must now repeat the following mantra: "Mexico is a
'Narco-State'". Grudgingly, the Republic mentions legalization - if
only to immediately dismiss such an idea (which it buries near the
end of this whopper of an article). The real take home and take
action message the Republic would have us believe? The "government
needs to focus on the prosecution of crimes" - Mexico isn't jailing
enough of its own people. Because, you know, throwing lots of people
in jail always solves drug problems. Will Mexico never learn this
fact from the more enlightened United States?
|
|
() SAFE-INJECTION SITE TO GO TO TOP COURT
|
Pubdate: | Wed, 10 Feb 2010
|
---|
Source: | Province, The (CN BC)
|
---|
Copyright: | 2010 Canwest Publishing Inc.
|
---|
|
The federal government plans to ask the Supreme Court of Canada to
overturn a B.C. ruling that allowed a safe-injection site to remain
open, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said Tuesday.
|
"This case raises important questions regarding the doctrine of
inter-jurisdictional immunity and the division of powers between the
federal and provincial governments," he said.
|
[snip]
|
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n103.a08.html
|
|
() DRUG ABUSE IN PRISONS
|
Pubdate: | Tue, 09 Feb 2010
|
---|
Source: | Chronicle Herald (CN NS)
|
---|
Copyright: | 2010 The Halifax Herald Limited
|
---|
|
Needle Swap Worth A Try
|
PRISONS are closed environments. But they are no more circumscribed
than the debate about how to run them.
|
Judging by the tenor of remarks posted on our online news site, the
general public went into attitudinal lockdown immediately after a
report, released last week, recommended needle-exchange programs for
convicts who are drug addicts.
|
The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network makes a compelling case, backed
up by 50 testimonials from ex-prisoners, for giving "harm reduction"
policies a try in prisons. But the plea for reform contained in
Under the Skin is falling on the deaf ears of the electorate and of
elected officials.
|
Sadly, it is not just inmates who pay the price for such
short-sightedness. The sharing of contaminated, makeshift needles is
a plague in prisons, but the consequences cannot be contained there.
As the report points out, the prevalence of HIV and hepatitis C is
10 to 20 times higher in the prison population than in the general
population. Yet most prisoners eventually return to their families
and communities, where they spread diseases they might not even know
they are carrying.
|
Public health is but one of the concerns. Another is cost - and the
fact is that needle-exchange programs are far more cost-efficient
than treating patients with incurable, infectious diseases.
|
In an ideal world, it would be impossible to smuggle drugs into a
jail, and that would solve the problem. But the real world is not
water-tight, and where there is a will, there is a way. To
completely stop drug trafficking in prisons, you'd have to resort to
body cavity searches of all staff, visitors and volunteers every
single day.
|
[snip]
|
|
|
() RCMP RAIDS 'MEDICINAL MARIJUANA' CLUB
|
Pubdate: | Mon, 08 Feb 2010
|
---|
Source: | Nunavut News North (CN NU)
|
---|
Copyright: | 2010 Northern News Services Limited
|
---|
|
Charges Laid Against Two Men Involved With Qikiqtaaluk Compassionate
Society
|
IQALUIT - The RCMP raided Nunavut's first compassion club selling
marijuana for medicinal use Jan. 29, and charged two men with drug
trafficking.
|
Police seized two pounds of marijuana, $7,200 in cash, a GMC Yukon
and trafficking materials during a search of two Iqaluit residences,
according to an RCMP press release.
|
Ed deVries, 51, was charged with possession of marijuana for the
purpose of trafficking and possession of proceeds of crime. Sakku
Kripinak, 30, was charged with one count of possession of marijuana
for the purpose of trafficking.
|
[snip]
|
In an interview prior to his arrest, deVries said more than 500
people in Iqaluit, a city of nearly 7,000 people, were registered
with the society, including elders, and the list was growing.
|
"We're not in hiding. We're in an appropriate downtown location that
is respectful to the neighbourhood," he said. "We run controlled
hours, very strict hours, and we're acting in respect to the
neighbourhood."
|
[snip]
|
In an interview with Nunavut News/North before the bust, Qikiqtaaluk
Compassionate Society media representative Eric Idlaut said the idea
of a compassion club was becoming popular in Nunavut's other
communities.
|
"We're receiving a lot of inquiries from smaller communities on how
to become members with our society," Idlaut said. "The first inquiry
is how to become members of our society and how they can come up
with a compassionate society in their own communities."
|
Elders who use marijuana as medicine would benefit from having a
place they can obtain it without having to pay street prices, Idlaut
said.
|
[snip]
|
|
|
() DRUG CARTELS TIGHTEN GRIP; MEXICO BECOMING 'NARCO-STATE'
|
Pubdate: | Sun, 07 Feb 2010
|
---|
Source: | Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ)
|
---|
Copyright: | 2010 The Arizona Republic
|
---|
Author: | Chris Hawley, Republic Mexico City Bureau
|
---|
|
Rising Lawlessness Echoes State Of '90s-Era Colombia
|
MEXICO CITY - For months, the leaders of Tancitaro had held firm
against the drug lords battling for control of this central Mexican
town.
|
Then one morning, after months of threats and violence from the
traffickers, they finally surrendered.
|
Before dawn, gunmen kidnapped the elderly fathers of the town
administrator and the secretary of the City Council. Within hours,
both officials resigned along with the mayor, the entire
seven-member City Council, two department heads, the police chief
and all 60 police officers. Tancitaro had fallen to the enemy.
|
[snip]
|
Former President Ernesto Zedillo, writer Carlos Fuentes, former
foreign minister Jorge Castaneda and the former chief of Calderon's
National Action Party have publicly questioned the president's
strategy.
|
[snip]
|
But in Mexico, the government needs to focus on the prosecution of
crimes instead of flooding the streets with troops, Buscaglia said.
|
Only about half of detainees are ever convicted, and most are
low-level thugs, not the money launderers, accountants and managers
who keep the cartels running.
|
[snip]
|
Only three things could change the balance, said Ray Walser, an
expert on Latin America at the conservative Heritage Foundation: a
massive increase in U.S. drug aid, a large addiction-treatment
program in the United States or the legalization of drugs in the
United States.
|
None of these measures seems to be on the horizon,
Walser said.
|
[snip]
|
|
|
HOT OFF THE 'NET
(Top)
|
JACK COLE ON THE DAN YORKE RADIO SHOW
|
Retired Det. Lt. New Jersey State Trooper Jack Cole who is also the
Executive Director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition is on the
phone to talk about decriminalizing marijuana and the benefits of
legalizing drugs so that we can control them rather than the drug
dealers controlling them.
|
http://rope.wpro-am.fimc.net/Dan_Yorke/dy2-5cole.mp3
|
|
CBS BANS AD CALLING FOR MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION OVER 'MORALS'
|
By Paul Armentano
|
The fifteen-second ad, asserting that taxing and regulating the adult
use and sale of marijuana would raise 'billions of dollars in national
revenue,' was rejected out of hand
|
http://mapinc.org/url/FC8QRC0D
|
|
SAFEGAMES 2010
|
The SafeGames website as a resource for locals and visitors to
Vancouver. This website contains resources to help inform and connect
visitors with informational videos and handouts, various harm
reduction services available during the Olympics, and information on
SafeGames' partners.
|
http://safegames2010.com/
|
|
WHY ARE POLICE OPPOSING MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION?
|
If "cops don't make laws, they just enforce them", why are police
opposing marijuana legalization?
|
By Russ Belville, NORML Outreach Coordinator
|
http://mapinc.org/url/2BV1uLvY
|
|
DRUG TRUTH NETWORK
|
Century of Lies - 02/07/10 - Micah Daigle
|
Michael Daigle of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Allison Holcomb
of ACLU in Wash State, DTN editorial: "The American Dream", extracts
from PBS, CNN
|
http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/2770
|
Cultural Baggage Radio Show - 02/07/10 - Barry Cooper
|
Barry Cooper, former narc extraordiaire + Corrupt Cop Story with Phil
Smith & NPR extract on Bail Bond scams in US + Abolitionist's Movement
|
http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/2769
|
|
BAD POLICIES ARE REALLY WHAT'S DRIVING CALIFORNIA'S HUGE PRISON COSTS
|
By Margaret Dooley-Sammuli
|
By opting for a policy of sending low-level offenders to state prison,
California is far out of step with other states - and out of time.
|
http://mapinc.org/url/hA2PtjzF
|
|
UNODC PREDICTS STABLE OPIUM CROP IN AFGHANISTAN
|
10 February 2010 - In a report issued today, UNODC projects stable
cultivation of opium poppy in Afghanistan this year (measured in
hectares), with a possible decrease in production (number of tons).
"There is a good chance that Afghanistan will produce less opium this
year," said UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa.
|
http://mapinc.org/url/pVK6PkAW
|
|
NYU FORUM ON ENDING THE WAR ON DRUGS
|
The February 3 NYU Law Forum brought together a group of experts,
mostly from organizations seeking alternatives to the U.S.'s current
"war on drugs" method, to discuss potential models for drug
decriminalization.
|
http://www.law.nyu.edu/news/FORUM_LEGALIZING_DRUGS
|
|
WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK
(Top)
|
Write A Letter
|
Colorado In The News. A DrugSense Focus Alert.
|
http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0432.html
|
|
LETTER OF THE WEEK
(Top)
|
LEGALIZE IT
|
By Stace Tackaberry
|
Re. "Don't legalize it," by Carol James, letters, Feb. 1 I couldn't
agree less with Ms. Carol James' letter expressing her "opposition
against the legalization of marijuana in Summit County."
|
Of course, the law should never allow minors to purchase, possess or
consume marijuana or, for that matter, any intoxicating substance.
However, as an adult, I don't want Carol James, Christian Thurstone
or any government entity telling me, through legislation, what I may
ingest into my body. That's my business, not theirs. If after
consumption I should act irresponsibly by driving a motor vehicle,
operating heavy equipment, becoming abusive toward others, etc. then
the authorities should deal with me for that reason, not because
some nanny-folks have determined that something is not good for me.
Did we learn nothing from the almost 15 years liquor prohibition?
|
Stace Tackaberry
Breckenridge
|
Pubdate: | Fri, 05 Feb 2010
|
---|
Source: | Summit Daily News (CO)
|
---|
|
|
LETTER WRITER OF THE MONTH - JANUARY
(Top)
|
DrugSense recognizes Patrick Brumm of Madison, Wisconsin for his
three letters published during January. Patrick is a new letter
writer who wrote during the month in support of the Jacki Rickert
Medical Marijuana Act. You may read his letters at
http://www.mapinc.org/writers/Patrick+Brumm
|
|
FEATURE ARTICLE
(Top)
|
Keeping The Lights On
|
By Mary Jane Borden
|
Electricity is an interesting phenomenon. It gives light to see
clearly in the dark. With clarity, we perform better; trip over
fewer obstacles. Electricity is often taken for granted, as if it
will always be there each time we flick a switch. It's one of those
things that isn't missed until it's gone. When the lights go out,
everything changes.
|
For fifteen years, the drug policy community has benefited from a
knowledge base and information hub that, like electricity, has
quietly and efficiently "kept the lights on" to reform cruel and
corrupt drug policies.
|
The knowledgebase provided by DrugSense (http://www.drugsense.org)
serves as an "early warning system," letting us know about important
developments often as they happen. Over 130 like minded organizations
depend on the DrugSense hub to carry out their respective reform
missions.
|
DrugSense's many projects have helped to build the momentum that
allows us to stand where we are today: Fourteen states and counting
have passed medical marijuana laws. Californians will be voting on a
legalization initiative this fall. We now have cannabis colleges,
conferences, and expos. At this pivotal point in history, do we
allow the switch to flick off?
|
Like many organizations in these trying times, DrugSense's funding
base is shifting and shrinking. To make matters worse, its
controversial focus challenges efforts to secure funding from
traditional sources.
|
Despite these hardships, the quest for common sense in cannabis
policy has one important ally: YOU! And you are needed right now.
|
Please participate in the "Paying Forward - 420 Campaign" by making
a pledge in 420 increments - $4.20, $42.00, or $420.00 (or more) -
to DrugSense at http://www.drugsense.org/donate. Because DrugSense
is a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit, your contribution is tax
deductible.
|
Keep this electrifying movement going and its light of truth
shining. That way, we won't have to learn what is lost after it is
too late.
|
Mary Jane Borden is writer, artist and drug policy reform activist
from Westerville, Ohio. She serves as Business Manager/Fundraising
Specialist for DrugSense and as the Editor of Drug War Facts
http://www.drugwarfacts.org
|
|
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
(Top)
|
"The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference."
|
-- Elie Wiesel
|
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
|
http://www.drugsense.org/hurry.htm
|
http://www.drugsense.org/unsub.htm
|
|
Policy and Law Enforcement/Prison content selection and analysis by
Stephen Young (), This Just In selection by
Richard Lake () and Stephen Young, 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.
|
|
|
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving the included information for research and
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|
|
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