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A DrugSense publication
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Table of Contents
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DrugSense THIS WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||
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The issue of clean needles for IV drug users is one of great importance.
Clean needles save lives. You might be surprised to find out just who is
supporting needle exchange as a way to curb the spread of HIV and other
diseases. And it may make you wonder why so many people are still being
denied access to these life saving programs. | ||||||||||
This week learn about the benefits of needle exchange programs and what you can do to help implement these programs in your community. | ||||||||||
Thanks to Kendra Wright for this week's feature article, "Call for needle
exchange now!" DrugSense intends to publish a column each week. The column
will either be written by a member of DrugSense or a leader of another reform
organization. | ||||||||||
We have also added a review of the weeks top news stories from our daily
news digests. This newsletter contains a digest of the story with a hotlink
to the full story. Finally, this week we've added a feature what's hot on
the net. | ||||||||||
Feel free to submit columns or suggestions for columns along with other
comments to our editor, Tom Hawkins,
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Enjoy!
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FEATURE ARTICLE Of The WEEK
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Call for needle exchange now!
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by Kendra E. Wright, Manager, Harm Reduction Funders' Network
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The facts are in--US Secretary of Health Donna Shalala's review of all the
research, including studies conducted by the National Academy of Sciences,
the US Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health,
has found that needle exchange curbs the spread of infectious diseases
such as HIV/AIDS and does not increase drug use. | ||||||||||
Professional associations and opinion leaders have gotten the point and are
supporting the work of grassroots needle exchanges. Soon, the issue will be
considered by our elected representatives. They will have to decide: does
waging a losing, moralistic war against drugs take precedence over
protecting the nation's public health?
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By 1996, 205,000 Americans, nearly 37 percent of all reported cases, had
contracted AIDS as a result of contaminated syringes. Over 93 percent of
new AIDS cases among children from July 1994 to July 1996 was related to
injection drug use. While over 100 exchanges operate nationally, none have
sufficient funds. Every year thousands of Americans contract HIV/AIDS
because of federal refusal to fund programs and state laws prohibiting
needle exchange. | ||||||||||
Last week George Soros challenged political leaders to put aside moral, political agendas and heed science. Mr. Soros donated $1 million to needle exchange programs through the nationally respected Tides Foundation. Soros, an international opinion leader through his philanthropic and business acumen, is not alone in his call to support needle exchange. The American Bar Association, American Medical Association, U.S. Conference of Mayors and American Public Health Association have all passed resolutions supporting needle exchange. US Representatives Elijah Cummings and Nancy Pelosi have introduced pro-syringe exchange legisation in Congress and the Congressional Black Caucus' Health Braintrust, chaired by Rep.Louis Stokes, held hearings on HIV/AIDS which focused on syringe exchange. | ||||||||||
While needle exchange has become a mainstream issue supported by virtually all the major professional associations and many opinion leaders, this life-saving measure is still denied to American citizens. | ||||||||||
Right-wing advocacy groups like the Family Research Council argue that drug use is morally wrong and despite the fact that studies have consistently found that syringe exchange does not increase the prevalence of drug use, they say lowering the incidence of HIV/AIDS by providing clean needles to drug users sends the wrong message to adolescents. These groups are well-funded and play on the fears of American parents. We must join together to put an end to the status quo which is allowing this epidemic to spread uncontrolled. | ||||||||||
On September 17, 1997, the National Coalition to Save Lives Now! will
co-sponsor an event calling for Secretary of Health Donna Shalala to
lift the federal funding ban on syringe exchange. The rally will take
place in front of the US Department of Health and Human Services in
Washington, DC. Make plans to attend this event. Bring friends and
family members. | ||||||||||
Take action! Join George Soros, S Reps Cummings and Pelosi, the ABA, AMA and the US Conference of Mayors in supporting needle exchange. | ||||||||||
To get involved, do one or all of the following:
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1. Contact Chris Lanier at the National Coalition to Save Lives Now!
whether or not you can attend their event. They will tell you how to get
involved. | ||||||||||
2. Sign up for DRCNet's needle exchange chat list at:
http://www.drugsense.org/nep.htm
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3. Donate any amount to the Tides Foundation designating your contribution as matching funds towards George Soros' grant for needle exchange. | ||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||
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Forbes starts opposition ads to drug initiative
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OLYMPIA - Former - and future? - presidential candidate Steve Forbes is
working to defeat a Washington state citizens' initiative to liberalize
drug laws. | ||||||||||
But in using the initiative to also attack President Clinton, Forbes has angered Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, a Democrat who invited the magazine magnate and 1996 Republican presidential candidate to help defeat Initiative 685. | ||||||||||
In a radio commercial that is to begin airing in Seattle on Monday, Forbes attacks "powerful radical special interests" that he says are backing Washington's initiative and a medical-marijuana measure in Washington, D.C. | ||||||||||
It is the first sign of an opposition campaign against an initiative whose
backers have raised more than $400,000, the vast majority of which has come
from two millionaires in Arizona and Ohio. | ||||||||||
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Photo caption: HAPPY TO BE FREE: Todd McCormick, right, gets a hug from Brett Harrelson, brother of actor and marijuana activist Woody Harrelson. McCormick got out of jail after his $500,000 bail was posted Tuesday,by Woody Harrelson through a third party. (photo of Todd&Brett)The Associated Press | ||||||||||
Law: Todd McCormick needed the marijuana from his 4,000 plants as cancer
medicine, he says. | ||||||||||
By MICHAEL FLEEMAN The Associated Press
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LOS ANGELES-A man arrested for growing more than 4,000 marijuana plants in
a Bel-Air mansion said Thursday that he was a simple"gardener"developing
new strains of marijuana to treat his own cancer. | ||||||||||
"This is a situation that I find absurd,"Todd McCormick told a news
conference on the patio of the same five-story mansion raided by
authorities last month. "I'm growing a flower here and I'm going to suffer
a decade in jail? It's just amazing."
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Lawyer details defense in border shooting case
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By RONNIE CROCKER and THADDEUS HERRICK
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Copyright 1997 Houston Chronicle
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Even as federal authorities were set to begin a civil rights investigation
of his client, attorney Jack Zimmermann poured forth many of the details he
believes contributed to the so-far successful defense of the Marine
corporal who shot and killed a border teenager during an anti-drug patrol
May 20. | ||||||||||
A day after Cpl. Clemente Banuelos, 22, was cleared by a grand jury in Marfa, Zimmermann described for reporters the series of polygraph tests the Marine passed two months after the fatal shooting. He touted the consensus of five experts debunking the widely reported conclusions of Texas Rangers that an autopsy report conflicted with the Marines' version of what happened. | ||||||||||
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California's medical marijuana law can be used as a defense in cases that
arose earlier and were not yet final when the initiative passed last
November,a state appeals court ruled Friday. | ||||||||||
The 1st District Court of Appeal also said that although Proposition 215
expressly provides a defense only to charges of cultivating and possessing
marijuana for medical use,it also can be used to counter chances of
transporting marijuana. | ||||||||||
The amount and method of transport must be "reasonably related to the
patient's current medical needs," the court said. | ||||||||||
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To Philanthropist, Needle Exchange Just Saves Lives
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By CHRISTOPHER S. WREN
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NEW YORK -- In a philanthropic gesture certain to elicit outrage as well as
gratitude, financier George Soros is spending $1 million on sterile needles
to be handed out to heroin and cocaine addicts who risk AIDS and other
diseases by sharing needles. | ||||||||||
"Probably of all the money that we spend on various projects," Soros said, "this is the one that is actually going to save the most lives." | ||||||||||
But it is also likely to fuel attacks from his critics, who have accused
him of subsidizing what they contend is a stealth campaign to make drugs
legal. | ||||||||||
Soros has spent close to $20 million trying to change how Americans look at
illegal drugs. That is but a fraction of many millions that he has
contributed to bold and obscure causes in support of democratic change from
Eastern Europe to Asia. | ||||||||||
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Marijuana Medically Useful but Issue Still Hazy, NIH Says | ||||||||||
By David Brown
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A panel of experts convened by the National Institutes of Health reported
yesterday there is some evidence that smoking marijuana may be a useful
treatment for many medical conditions, but said there is no proof that it
is better than available legal medications. | ||||||||||
The evidence for marijuana's usefulness to date comes mostly from patient
testimony and small clinical studies that, in general, are not up to the
standards required of new drugs, the group of nine scientists wrote.
Nevertheless, medicine should not write off smoked marijuana's "medical
utility," they said. | ||||||||||
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Dip in Youth Drug Use Hailed by Officials as Sign of Hope | ||||||||||
By Roberto Suro
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After four years of increases, the use of marijuana and other illegal drugs by teenagers appears to have declined slightly last year, according to an annual survey by the federal government released yesterday. | ||||||||||
Administration officials and experts on drug abuse greeted the report
cautiously and warned against premature optimism. "Illicit drug use is
still unacceptably high, but there is a glimmer of hope," said Health and
Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala.
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The 1996 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse found that 7.1 percent of
youths age 12 to 17 had reported using marijuana in the month before they
were interviewed. That was not significantly different than the 8.2 percent
rate reported for 1995. But it did suggest that teenage marijuana use was
no longer escalating as it has since 1992, when the survey calculated that
3.4 percent of youths in that age bracket used illegal drugs. | ||||||||||
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* HOT OFF THE NET (Top) | ||||||||||
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This week two of the leading Zine's critiqued the federal government's
recent announcement that marijuana is as addictive as heroin. These reviews
of the research are must reading. | ||||||||||
Salon Magazine www.salonmagazine.com Cynthia Cotts, "REEFER MADNESS: Reporters were apparently too stoned to question two hopelessly flawed studies 'proving' that marijuana is a gateway to heroin," August 18, 1997 | ||||||||||
Slate Magazine ww.slate.com Phillip O. Coffin, "I SMELL A RAT: Should
we take seriously the new scientific "findings" that pot is as addictive as
heroin?" August 9, 1997
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ACTIVIST NEWS From The 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||
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Canadian Constitutional Challenge Update
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Chris Clay gives us this update on Thursday's decision... | ||||||||||
Although Judge John McCart generally agreed with our witnesses that cannabis is a relatively safe substance, he ruled against us, claiming he didn't have the authority to strike down the laws. Now we will appeal to the Ontario Court of Appeals, and the appeal will likely be heard before Christmas. | ||||||||||
You can get the full story along with details on the upcoming appeal at the Hemp Nation web site, http://www.hempnation.com/index.html | ||||||||||
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The Journey For Justice made great progress bringing the plight of
med mj patients to the attention of the Ohio lawmakers. You can find
out more about the Journey and the planned Journey For Justice II at
http://gnv.fdt.net/~jrdawson/wheelchairun.htm
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM MAPTalk (Top) | ||||||||||
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Thanks very much for the press release. We'll pass it along to our producers. | ||||||||||
By the way, there have been other "medical marijuana" arrests following the
passage of 215. For example:
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http://www.channel2000.com/news/stories/news-970605-185106.html | ||||||||||
However, Mr. McCormick's certainly involved the largest amount of marijuana. | ||||||||||
Again, thanks for the information. | ||||||||||
Sincerely, C.C. Sandorfi
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PBS News Hour with Jim Lehrer
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To the Producer:
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Among serious students of addiction and drug policy, Joseph Califano is
notorious as an inveterate liar and dissembler on behalf of drug
prohibition. His infamous Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse
specializes in pseudo science consisting of carefully designed commercial
polls intended purely to reinforce whatever "fact" the center is pushing at
the time. These reports have to be self published because no self
respecting professional journal would touch them with a ten foot pole. The
Center typically holds press conferences which are reported in gullible
newspapers or releases its results via interviews such as the one conducted
on your August 13 program by Elizabeth Farnsworth. | ||||||||||
snip
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Sincerely,
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AMERICAN MEDICAL MARIJUANA ORGANIZATION (AMMO)
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AUGUST 16, 1997
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
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SAN FRANCISCO California's medical marijuana law can be used as a defense in cases that arose earlier and were not yet final when the initiative passed last November, a state appeals court ruled Friday. | ||||||||||
The 1st District Court of Appeal also said that although Proposition 215
expressly provides a defense only to charges of cultivating and possessing
marijuana for medical use, it also can be used to counter charges of
transporting marijuana. | ||||||||||
The amount and method of transportation must be "reasonably related to the
patient's current medical needs," the court said. | ||||||||||
snip
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DRUGSENSE TIP OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||
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Need the names, addresses and E-mail of your elected officials in a hurry?
You can get this information by simply entering your zip code by using
the "Zipper" at http://www.voxpop.org:80/zipper/
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You can even send a letter to an entire committee at:
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The DrugSense Newsletter is compiled and edited by Tom Hawkins, National . | ||||||||||
Mark Greer
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