| October 8, 1997 #015 | ||||
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A DrugSense publication
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Table of Contents
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||
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Are the Voters Ahead of Politicians When it Comes to Ending the War on Drugs?
By Kevin B. Zeese,
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On Friday enough signatures were submitted in Oregon to place on the ballot
a referendum challenging legislation that would recriminalize marijuana
possession in Oregon. (95,032 signatures were submitted, 48,841 were needed.)
In Arizona, signatures have already been submitted placing on the ballot two
referendums challenging elected officials steps to overturn the reform
initiative passed last November. A third initiative in Arizona takes away the
authority of the legislature to rewrite initiatives passed by the voters.
These votes, all scheduled for November 1998, will give us an opportunity to
measure whether our elected representatives are out of step with the voters
when it comes to drug policy reform. | ||||
The vote last week in Switzerland opposing a reversal of Swiss policy back to a zero tolerance drug strategy was an echo of the votes in California and Arizona last year. In Switzerland 70 percent of the population voted against zero tolerance. Even though the drug war vote was covered in the sheep 92s clothing of "Youth Without Drugs" the Swiss did not fall for the gimmick. | ||||
Last November, in the United States reformers had two election victories that shocked the political establishment. In Arizona, 65 percent voted in favor of medicalization (releasing non-violent drug offenders, taking away incarceration as an option for possession cases and allowing doctors to prescribe all drugs) and in California 56 percent voted for medical marijuana. | ||||
Even with these votes elected officials continue to call for more drug war. As was noted in the last two issues of DS Weekly, elected officials are going to great lengths to oppose voter reform initiatives. They are even using the government's military arm, through the national guard, to develop a national political strategy opposing voter reform initiatives. When a political or legislative strategy is not available they use their administrative and prosecution power. For example, the threats made against California doctors who recommend marijuana as a medicine. It seems that the more people vote for reform, the more drug war politicians stiffen their backs and oppose reform. | ||||
National polling indicates that voters realize the drug war is unwinnable.
Polls also show the public supports treatment instead of prison, medical
marijuana, medical heroin and needle exchange. The public supports a public
health-based strategy not a drug war strategy. On all of these issues
legislation is out of step with the views of voters. There seems to be a
disconnect between what the American people support and the drug policy
elected officials are giving us. | ||||
Drug policy has never before been decided by popular vote it has been the
province of small bodies 96 courts, legislatures and government agencies.
That may be changing. This November there will be another measure of voter
support for current drug strategy with the vote in Washington State. Next
year there is likely to be at least a half dozen states with various reform
initiatives on the ballot. If those votes are consistent with public opinion
polls and with recent reform votes there is likely to be more evidence of
support for ending the war on drugs. | ||||
Will elected officials bend to the wishes of voters or will their backs be
broken with continued refusal to accept the voters rejection of the drug
war?
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Kevin Zeese is President of Common Sense for Drug Policy and a Board member
of DrugSense. http://www.mapinc.org/kz/
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For more information about drug policy related voter initiatives please
visit the following URLs:
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http://www.pantless.com/~pdxnorml/history.html
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||
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Drugs And Our Youth
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No one is disputing that parents are society's primary ally in discouraging
young people from using drugs. The "kitchen table" is "the most important
weapon in fighting drugs," says retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, the Clinton
administration's anti-drug director. | ||||
"Parental involvement is the most reliable life preserver in a society that
tosses children into a sea of drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, which floods
their schools and saturates their TV, movies and music," says anti-drug
leader Joseph A. Califano Jr.
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But in a troublingly large number of homes, parents appear to have left the front lines in the war on drugs: Many baby boomers are ambivalent about marijuana use because of their own experiences with it and because they hear conflicting information about the danger it poses. | ||||
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WASHINGTON -- Federal officials are scrambling to head off what they fear may become an epidemic of heroin addiction among America's youth. | ||||
While overall illicit drug use among younger teens declined recently, the
proportion of eighth graders who said they've tried heroin doubled between
1991 and 1996. And last year, about a quarter of American teen-agers said
heroin is easy to obtain, according to a survey by the National Institute
on Drug Abuse. | ||||
Young people don't understand heroin's lethal effects, experts told
health-care providers and social workers gathered here Monday at a
conference to plan an attack on the drug. | ||||
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Parental ambivalence about marijuana stems, in part, from a lack of
definitive answers for these three questions:
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Is today's marijuana more potent than that of the 1960s and '70s? | ||||
Yes, say federal officials. The potency level of marijuana rose around 1985 and has remained relatively constant since then, Medical College of Virginia professor Billy R. Martin says. No, say professors Lynn Zimmer and John P. Morgan in their book "Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts." A federal study of marijuana potency at the University of Mississippi shows that potency levels have changed only slightly from the 1970s, they say. | ||||
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BOTHELL - Questioning the medical ethics, constitutionality, cost and need
for random drug testing, dozens of parents urged the Northshore School
District last night not to become the fifth district in the state to impose
the policy on high-school athletes. | ||||
Drug testing is being weighed by a Northshore School Board task force, which will make a preliminary report to the board Nov. 12. | ||||
"This is totally the wrong message to send to kids," said Frank Dellino, a counselor and coach at Northshore's Skyview Junior High, who called for the district's money to be spent on drug-abuse prevention. "This does not reflect the best of what we know to prevent kids from using drugs." | ||||
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International News
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JACK Straw, the Home Secretary, stamped on the idea of decriminalising
cannabis yesterday after a newspaper launched a campaign to allow personal
use of it. | ||||
He said that those advocating legalization of cannabis were "irresponsible"
and that such a move would lead to a huge increase in its consumption. The
effects of using cannabis were not fully known, and the drug could
aggravate mental illness and lead to high rates of absenteeism, Mr Straw
said. | ||||
He spoke after the Independent on Sunday launched a campaign to legalize
the drug both for medicinal and personal use. The newspaper warned that its
drive - backed by Paul Flynn, the Labour MP, a leading policeman and a
consultant psychiatrist - would continue until the law was changed. Support
has also come from members of the business, arts, higher education and
legal worlds. | ||||
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PARIS - Justice Minister Elisabeth Guigou on Tuesday ruled out any liberalisation of France's strict drug laws, backpedalling on hints the Socialist-led government might be more tolerant of soft drugs. | ||||
"All drugs are dangerous," Guigou told RTL radio, answering with a flat
"no" when asked if the government which came to power in June might relax
narcotics laws. | ||||
"Prohibition must remain a point of reference. As justice minister and as a
mother, I consider that's a necessity," she said. | ||||
Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin admitted during the campaign that he
had twice smoked hashish and suggested he would decriminalise use of soft
drugs if elected. | ||||
"Legalising sounds like justifying, penalising is absurd. I think we have to find a line somewhere between the two," he said in April. | ||||
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The Canberra Times reported on August 20 in relation to the proposed heroin trial that "after a heated debate, ministers fell into line with the view of Prime Minister John Howard that to allow the trial would send the wrong signal to the community." When Switzerland started their heroin trial in 1994 they had gained the dubious distinction of the highest rate of heroin addiction in Europe after strong adherence to a prohibition policy. | ||||
The Swiss community has a conservative reputation and Australian proponents
of a policy of "Just say no to drugs" assured us that the Swiss would
reflect John Howard's view that heroin trials send the wrong signal. After
two years experience of improvements to health, a decrease in crime and a
dramatic reduction in the number of used syringes littering their parks and
streets, the Swiss have emphatically endorsed their brave trial of a better
way to deal with the drugs menace. If only our Government had the courage
to read the signal the Swiss community have sent us. | ||||
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LONDON - Forty percent of young Britons believe cannabis should be legalised, according to an opinion poll published on Friday. | ||||
But nearly seven out of 10 people canvassed by the NOP Research group said they believed legislation would lead to more widespread use of drugs. | ||||
"There seems to be a strong feeling amongst the younger generation that the legalisation of 'soft' drugs such as cannabis should be given greater consideration," said NOP consumer researcher Mandy Atkin. | ||||
The Independent on Sunday newspaper has launched a campaign to
decriminalise cannabis. But the government reacted quickly to the call,
saying the campaign was irresponsible and changing the law would increase
consumption. | ||||
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NEW figures collated by the House of Commons library for Labour MP Paul
Flynn indicate that the number of seizures of cannabis in 1995 surged to
91,325, while only 6,468 seizures of heroin were made. Yet over an 11-year
period from 1984, only five deaths were linked to cannabis, while 1,144
people died from the effects of heroin. | ||||
Mr Flynn rejected Home Secretary Jack Straw's "preposterous" claim that
legalising cannabis would increase drug use and feed more money to drug
dealers. "That is precisely what the present policy of prohibition has
done every one of the past 20 years. And will do, unless changed, for the
next 20. | ||||
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Medical Marijuana
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Yakima - The state's largest physician group has opposed a ballot
initiative to legalize marijuana for medicinal use but endorsed a proposed
handgun-control measure. | ||||
The votes, which were expected, came Saturday at the Washington State
Medical Association's House of Delegates annual meeting at the Yakima
Convention Center. The voice votes reflected recommendations made earlier
this week by committees studying the issues. | ||||
Initiative 685, the medicinal-drug measure, is sponsored by Dr. Rob
Killian, a Tacoma physician, but has lacked general support within the
medical association. | ||||
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Some rattled San Mateo County officials scrambled Friday to determine how they might regulate medical marijuana clinics after learning that a San Francisco man might want to bring one to North Fair Oaks. | ||||
Even before a proposal by Salvador Garcia is filed, officials were already talking about moratoriums and possible arrests. Garcia's is the first such inquiry that county officials have received for the clinics. | ||||
"It surely would help if we got some direction from the state on this
issue," said San Mateo County Supervisor Mike Nevin. "But I would support a
moratorium on this."
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Needle Exchange
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Increasing evidence suggests that needle and syringe exchange programs
(N/SEPs), operated in conjunction with education and counseling programs,
significantly reduce transmission rates of HIV and other blood-borne
diseases in injection drug-using populations. According to an article
published in the Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, the
programs may lead more injection drug users to seek treatment for
addiction. Worldwide studies have found no evidence linking N/SEPs to
increased drug use. At the National Institutes of Health Consensus
Development Conference on Intervention to Prevent HIV Risk Behaviors in
February, participants recognized both the scientific evidence supporting
N/SEPs and the political will that is blocking their standardization in the
United States. | ||||
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The War on Drugs
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HERNDON, Va. - The Fingerprint Drug Screening Device(TM), the only drug
screening product available that links drug testing results with an
identifiable fingerprint, has just been submitted to the FDA for 510(k)
clearance. | ||||
Developed and to be marketed by Point of Care Technologies Inc. (Point of
Care), this rapid non-instrument assay was created to detect the presence
of illicit drugs in urine. | ||||
"We expect to receive FDA clearance quickly since the Fingerprint Drug
Screening Device is an improved version of our first generation drug
screening product and is based on technology which has previously been FDA
cleared," stated Michael R. Pratt, president and CEO.
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"As soon as we receive clearance, we will immediately begin shipping to fill stocking orders placed by our network of distributors." | ||||
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SALEM, Ore. - A law that would restore criminal penalties for possessing
small amounts of marijuana was blocked Friday when more than 90,000
petition signatures were turned in to the state. | ||||
The law, passed by the 1997 Legislature, was to have taken effect
Saturday. It would make it a crime with a potential 30-day jail term to
possess less than an ounce of the drug. The offense now is a civil
violation carrying a maximum $1,000 fine. | ||||
The signatures turned in Friday were almost twice as many as the 48,841 needed to block the law and refer the issue to voters in November 1998. | ||||
"I'm confident they will make it on the ballot," said Scott Tighe,
elections manager in the secretary of state's office. | ||||
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WASHINGTON - The number of marijuana smokers in the Netherlands didn't
immediately change in the 1970s when police stopped enforcing laws against
the drug. But when it was sold openly at coffee shops in the 1980s, pot use
almost tripled, according to a new study. | ||||
Robert MacCoun of the University of California, Berkeley, said the research suggest that the lack of marijuana penalties may not cause more people to seek the drug, but being able to buy it easily could trigger wider use. | ||||
"What the Dutch experience shows is that deciding not to throw drug users
into prison is a very different issue from deciding to make commercial
sales of the drugs available," said MacCoun, co-author of a study being
published today in the journal Science. | ||||
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AUSTIN -- It was heralded the "Al Capone Tax," an innovative and lucrative
way for the state to heap torment on Texas drug traffickers by requiring
them to pay taxes on their illicit merchandise. | ||||
But almost a decade after it was approved by the Legislature in a fervent
anti-drug climate, officials have been forced to take a fresh look at the
law taxing illegal drugs. | ||||
While $2.3 million has been collected from 140 defendants and more than
9,000 others have been billed for $13.2 billion in taxes, penalties and
interest, questions have arisen about the constitutionality and
effectiveness of the anti-drug tax. | ||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||
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Dr. Grinspoon Reports the Medicinal Benefits of Cannabis
to House Crime Subcommittee
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For the full story see the National NORML report at
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Back Issues of DS Weekly Available
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Missing an issue of DS Weekly? Archives of all the issues are available
through the DrugSense web site. You can browse back issues on the 'Net or
have them sent to you via e-mail. See http://www.drugsense.org/nl/ for
details. | ||||
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DRUGSENSE TIP OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||
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MAP Editor Position Filled
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We at MAP and DrugSense wish to thank Kiril Dubrovsky for the fine service
he has provided as MAP's Drugnews Editor. Kiril's efforts helped to make
Drugnews one of our highest rated features. Thank you, Kiril and best of
luck with all your future endeavors. | ||||
Richard Lake has accepted the position of Drugnews Editor. Richard is
uniquely qualified as he has been a volunteer editor providing days off for
Kiril for some time. Welcome, Richard.
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We received resumes from many qualified applicants. Thanks to all those who
applied for this position. | ||||
The Media Awareness Project has made remarkable strides in archiving
current drug policy articles and letters to the editor from media sources
world wide. This is largely a volunteer effort and more help is always
needed. | ||||
Newshawks look for drug policy items in their favorite newspapers and
magazines and send them to our MAP Editor, Richard Lake, to be included in
the daily news summary and news archive. | ||||
Those interested in finding out more about becoming a MAP NewsHawk please
see http://www.drugsense.org/active.htm#hawk
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DS Weekly is just another of the many free services DrugSense offers our
members. Watch this feature to learn more about what DrugSense can do for
you. | ||||
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We wish to thank each and every one of our contributors. | ||||
Mark Greer
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