October 15, 1997 #016 |
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A DrugSense publication
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http://www.drugsense.org
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- * Breaking News (01/20/25)
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- * Feature Article
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Am I a Criminal?
by Laura Kriho
- * Weekly News In Review
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Drugs And Youth
Designer Drugs New Love Potion for the Hip Couple
International News
UK: Blair Set to Appoint Nation's Drug Tsar
Corruption Adding up for Many Countries
Panama Ponders Motives of U.S.
UK: Pot, Politics and Prejudice
Decriminalize Drugs For Own Use, Officer Says
New Ruling From The Lord Chief Justice: Let's Talk About Dope
Latin American Cities Criticize Drug War
Decriminalizing Drugs an Option, Dosanjh Says
Latin Cities Sign Drug Declaration
UK: Huge Majority Want Cannabis Legalised
Medical Marijuana
Physicians' Group Opposes Medical Marijuana,
Endorses Handgun Control
New Winds Blowing for American Drug Policies
Drug Initiative in Washington State
Medical Pot Battle Rages On
S.F. Study of Marijuana, AIDS Patients Is Approved
San Mateo Board Stalls Pot Stores
Arcata, Marin Try New Medical Pot Policies
Needle Exchange, AIDS and Heroin
Still Need for Heroin Trial Says Specialist
AIDS Controversy
Heroin-Prescribing Program in Switzerland Said to
Improve Addicts' Health
Sentencing
Hemp Seed Trial Continues After Plea Talk Fails
Jury Justice
Hemp Seed Case Ends in Mistrial
The War on Drugs
Opponents of HB3643 Turn in Almost Twice the Number of
Signatures Needed
Editorial: The Drug Czar Softens
Journalists Honor MN Editor
Republican is Best Known for Advocating Decriminalization of Drugs
Maryland Aims 'Drug Buster' at Prisons' Visitors, Workers
US Marijuana Production Hits New High
- * Hot Off The 'Net
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Miss America, Kate Shindle, Comes Out For Needle Exchange
Marijuana Arrests For 1996 Most Ever!
- * DrugSense Tip of the Week
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MAP Mailing List and Article Finding Hints
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FEATURE ARTICLE
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Am I a Criminal?
by Laura Kriho
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I was convicted of contempt of court after I refused to vote guilty when I
served on a jury in a methamphetamine case in Gilpin County, Colorado. I
believed the evidence was insufficient, but the other jurors wanted to
convict and get home for dinner. Our discussions became very heated. In
frustration, I told the other jurors that the defendant could get several
years in prison if we convicted her. (We weren't supposed to discuss
sentencing consequences.) I also said I thought it was a shame that drug
cases couldn't be handled by the family and community instead of the courts.
And I talked about the concept of jury nullification, the historic power of
juries to vote according to their conscience.
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Another juror sent a note to the judge describing the "improper" arguments I
was making. The judge declared a mistrial, and I was investigated. The
district attorney discovered that I was arrested (but not convicted) in 1985
for LSD possession, that I was an active proponent of cannabis law reform,
and that I was familiar with the doctrine of jury nullification.
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I endured a trial in October 1996 where nine of my fellow jurors testified
about how we deliberated. I was finally convicted of contempt (after four
months of deliberation by the judge) for failing to volunteer answers to
questions I wasn't asked during jury selection. According to the judge, I
knew that the information the prosecutor had later discovered about me was
important and should have volunteered it, even if I wasn't asked about it.
I was fined $1200. My conviction is under appeal.
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Since my prosecution, I have learned a lot about the history of juries and
the importance of the doctrine of jury nullification. Jury "nullification"
describes the historic power of juries to vote according to their
conscience, even if it is contrary to the evidence. Juries can "nullify"
laws in a particular instance, either because the jurors believe that the
law is unjust or because they believe the application of the law in a
particular instance would be unjust. A jury can acquit for any reason.
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This power is also referred to as jury "discretion." Just as police use
discretion on whether to enforce the law; and prosecutors use discretion
when charging someone with a violation of the law; and judges use discretion
in deciding whether to dismiss those charges; jurors also have the power to
use discretion in applying the law.
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Jury nullification is not a new or radical concept. It is an English
doctrine that was brought over to the U.S. and was well known to the authors
of the Constitution. Many of our early revolutionaries, accused of
victimless crimes against the Crown, were set free by juries of their
peers. Jury nullification of unjust laws helped secure our rights to free
speech, free press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion.
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Jury nullification allows citizens to send a message to legislators that
certain laws should change. For instance, one of the reasons Alcohol
Prohibition was repealed was that it became virtually impossible to find
jury to convict a person of an alcohol offense. The legislators got the
message.
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Until the end of the 19th century, judges routinely informed jurors of their
power to judge the law as well as the facts in a case. Although modern
courts agree that jurors do have the power to evaluate the law, they say
jurors don't have the right. Therefore, the courts no longer inform juries
of their lawful power (which the courts believe is not a right).
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My conviction has taken this reasoning a step further, implying that any
potential juror who possesses knowledge of the power of jury nullification
and who fails to volunteer that knowledge during jury selection, even if not
asked, can and will be prosecuted. The court has created a thought crime.
Hopefully, my conviction will be overturned in a higher court.
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Meanwhile, I hope that my knowledge and experiences will help empower juries
to fulfill their intended purpose as a check and balance on other branches
of government and thus enhance our systems of justice and legislation.
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Laura Kriho
Gilpin County, Colorado
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Laura Kriho has been an organizer for the Colorado Hemp Initiative Project
for five years. CO-HIP advocates the re-legalization of Cannabis sativa for
industrial, medicinal, and personal use.
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Donations to help pay for legal appeals can be sent to:
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The Laura Kriho Legal Defense Fund
P.O. Box 729
Nederland, CO 80466
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For more information on the Kriho case and other jury issues contact:
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The Jury Rights Project
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW
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Drugs And Youth
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Subj: | Designer Drugs New Love Potion for the Hip Couple
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Pubdate: | Wed, 08 Oct 1997
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Source: | Hamilton Spectator
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For special, romantic evenings, Peter and Maxine don't turn to fine wine and
soft music. They drop a drug called GHB. And the Ancaster couple say their
bedroom experience is better than ever.
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These twenty-something suburbanites are part of a new wave of young designer
drug users who are turning to chemistry to boost biology.
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"Without question, these nutrients are the best thing to happen to us since
the night we met," says Peter, 25.
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International News
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Subj: | UK: Blair Set to Appoint Nation's Drug Tsar
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Pubdate: | Sun, 05 Oct 1997
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Source: | The Sunday Times (UK)
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A CHIEF constable who once said he could envisage the legalisation of
cannabis and called for licensed brothels is on a shortlist to be Britain's
new "drug tsar".
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Keith Hellawell, chief constable of West Yorkshire, along with Ian Oliver,
chief constable of Grampian, and Peter Storr, an executive of the United
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Nations drug control programme, are three contenders out of 200 applicants
to lead Tony Blair's fight against the illegal use of drugs.
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Downing Street is refusing to identify the successful candidate, who will be
informed tomorrow. "The tsar will need to take a cool, hard look at what is
needed to smash this menace to society," said Blair when he outlined his
plans.
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Subj: | Corruption Adding up for Many Countries
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Mexicans once smiled about the prevalence of corruption in their society, so
much so that a bakery ran a television ad 25 years ago that depicted a
motorcycle policeman stopping a motorist for a bribe.
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"When he asks you for a mordida," said the announcer, playing on the Mexican
word for bribe that literally means bite, "give him our bread."
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No one runs such ads in Mexico any more. Corruption is no longer a joke.
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"We used to say that corruption greased the bureaucratic system in Mexico
and made it work better," Mexican journalist Cesar Romero says. "But now we
see that it is drowning the system."
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Mexico is not alone. Corruption has become so endemic in developing nations
and elsewhere that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have
decided to tackle the issue head-on.
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Subj: | Panama Ponders Motives of U.S. |
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PANAMA CITY - With the deadline for Washington to hand over the Panama Canal
still two years away, controversy is growing over whether the U.S. military
really intends to leave the isthmus.
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The problems surround a proposal to turn sprawling Howard U.S. Air Force
Base here - with its state-of-the-art military hardware and 2.6-kilometre
runway - into an international centre to fight drug trafficking throughout
the hemisphere.
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In Panama, and among several of its Latin American neighbours, the proposal
has opened old wounds over the 1989 invasion of Panama, raised concerns
about U.S. intervention elsewhere and hit all the hot buttons over American
involvement in Latin American drug wars.
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Subj: | UK: Pot, Politics and Prejudice
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Source: | Independent on Sunday, London, UK
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Labour would like to decriminilise cannabis for personal use but does not
dare. That was the message from senior ministers in private at the party's
conference last week.
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Despite the very scornful opposition from the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, in
his main platform speech, behind the scenes senior members of his party
applauded the Independent on Sunday campaign. One very senior minister spoke
of the need to overcome the "prejudice of the British people". He,
personally had no objection but he was fearful of the reaction from middle
England. Another said she was sure decriminilisation would come. Still
another indicated that if the police came out in favour of relaxation, then
Mr. Straw might bend.
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Subj: | Decriminalize Drugs For Own Use, Officer Says
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OTTAWA -- Canada should decriminalize the possession of small amounts of
illegal drugs for personal use, says a high-ranking officer with the
Vancouver police department.
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"I support that," deputy police chief Ken Higgins said here Tuesday, adding
that addiction should be treated as a medical problem and drug-selling as a
criminal one.
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"I'm not soft on drugs, believe me. People who traffic in this sort of
misery should be dealt with very severely."
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"Let's get the addicts out of the way for the time being and concentrate on
the trafficking and let [the health-care system] try to deal with
addiction."
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Subj: | New Ruling From The Lord Chief Justice: Let's Talk About Dope
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Pubdate: | Thu, 09 Oct 1997
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LONDON -- The country's most senior judge called for an open debate on
decriminalising the use of cannabis, Our Legal Affairs Editor Patricia Wynn
Davies says Lord Bingham has reignited a controversial debate that the
Government wishes would go away.
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Yesterday's statement by the Lord Chief Justice gave a significant boost to
the growing campaign for the decriminalisation of soft drugs. "It is a
subject that deserves, in my judgment, detached, objective, independent
consideration," he said.
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The campaign to ditch a law which to many has been long discredited, has
been led by the Independent on Sunday and a growing number of celebrities
and public figures in the face of government hostility.
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Subj: | Latin American Cities Criticize Drug War
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MEDELLIN, Colombia (AP) -- Drug policy officials from 10 Latin American
cities signed a declaration Wednesday criticizing global anti-narcotics
efforts for not doing enough to treat chronic drug abusers.
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"International cooperation prioritizes halting the cultivation and
trafficking of illegal psychoactive substances, while minimizing prevention
and treatment," the Medellin Declaration states.
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The document was the fruit of a two-day conference whose participants
included the organizers of German and Swiss programs that allow addicts to
consume illegal drugs in medically controlled settings.
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No representatives of U.S. cities were invited to the conference, held in a
city whose name is synonymous with the now-defunct cocaine cartel whose
principal market was the United States.
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Subj: | Decriminalizing Drugs an Option, Dosanjh Says
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Attorney-General Ujjal Dosanjh says drug addicts need to be treated with
more compassion, and decriminalizing the possession of illegal drugs for
personal use might be one way of doing that.
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Dosanjh said Wednesday he will place the issue of decriminalization before
his counterparts in other provinces later this year if B.C. police chiefs
and mayors agree that it's time to encourage debate.
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Vancouver Mayor Philip Owen and Police Chief Bruce Chambers said they are
ready to look at that and any other measure that might ease social and
health problems on the Downtown Eastside.
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"Obviously, we have a problem, and we have to consider all possible
solutions," Owen said. "The realistic thing at this point is to deal that
card on to the table and have a discussion."
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Subj: | Latin Cities Sign Drug Declaration
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MEDELLIN, Colombia (AP) -- Drug policy officials from 10 Latin American
cities signed a declaration Wednesday criticizing global anti-narcotics
efforts for not doing enough to treat chronic drug abusers.
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"International cooperation prioritizes halting the cultivation and
trafficking of illegal psychoactive substances, while minimizing prevention
and treatment," the Medellin Declaration states.
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The document was the fruit of a two-day conference whose participants
included the organizers of German and Swiss programs that allow addicts to
consume illegal drugs in medically controlled settings.
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Subj: | UK: Huge Majority Want Cannabis Legalised
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Pubdate: | Sun, 12 Oct 1997
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Source: | Independent on Sunday
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THE overwhelming majority of British people want the personal and medical
use of cannabis to be made legal, according to a poll conducted for the
Independent on Sunday.
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Eighty per cent of the public want the law to be relaxed. Almost half those
polled, 45 per cent, said they were in favour of the current restrictions
being relaxed for those who needed cannabis for medicinal purposes, while
more than one in three, 35 per cent, wanted it to be legally available for
recreational use. The Government's policy of maintaining the status quo,
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that all cannabis possession should remain illegal, received the approval of
one in six, 17 per cent.
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Medical Marijuana
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Subj: | Physicians' Group Opposes Medical Marijuana, Endorses Handgun Control
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Source: | The Associated Press
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YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) -- The state's largest physician group Saturday opposed a
ballot initiative to legalize marijuana for medicinal use but endorsed a
proposed handgun-control measure.
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The votes, which were expected, came 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.
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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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"It's not unexpected," Killian told the Herald-Republic of Yakima. "The
leadership of this organization, at the behest of the lieutenant governor,
has been preparing for this vote for five months."
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Subj: | New Winds Blowing for American Drug Policies
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Source: | Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 278, no. 11
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Pubdate: | 27 September 1997
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Contact: | Dr. Lundberg, Editor of JAMA,
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On July 8, 1997, a star-studded group of American physicians (the self-named
"Physician Leadership on National Drug Policy") met at the New York Academy
of Medicine in New York City. Organized by David C. Lewis, MD, chaired by
June E. Osborn, MD, facilitated by Kenneth I. Shine, MD, and funded by
grants from the MacArthur Foundation and the Open Society Institute, this
group of physicians (listed at the end of this Editorial) met to discuss our
largely failing US national policy on illicit drugs and to ponder new
approaches.
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Subj: | Drug Initiative in Washington State
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TACOMA, Wash. (AP) -- As Washington state voters prepare to decide whether
marijuana should be legalized for medical use, those who decried such
measures a year ago have been noticeably quiet.
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Last fall, police, prosecutors and anti-drug forces that included White
House drug policy chief Gen. Barry McCaffrey ran commercials and spoke out
against medical marijuana ballot questions in Arizona and California.
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The initiatives -- which both passed by wide margins -- removed penalties
for possessing the drugs as long as they had been prescribed by doctors.
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With Washington voters preparing to vote on the same issue Nov. 4, the
picture is different. No visits from McCaffrey, no lavish TV commercials, no
threats from Attorney General Janet Reno to go after doctors.
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Subj: | Medical Pot Battle Rages On
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WASHINGTON - A 1993 videotape shows that supporters of medical marijuana
used the issue as a cover to advance their true goal of fully legalizing the
drug, Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley said Wednesday.
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Romley handed the videotape to the House Judiciary Committee during a
hearing on the medical use of marijuana. On the tape, an advocate of
legalizing marijuana is seen telling a San Francisco pro-drug conference
that medical access is "the key" to ultimately decriminalizing the drug.
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"Once you have hundreds of thousands of people using marijuana medically
under medical supervision, the whole scam is going to be blown," Richard
Cowan says on the tape. At the time, he was the director of the National
Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws, a group that supports
decriminalizing marijuana.
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Subj: | S.F. Study of Marijuana, AIDS Patients Is Approved
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Source: | San Francisco Chronicle
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San Francisco researchers have won approval for the first federally
sponsored study of the medical effects of marijuana on AIDS patients.
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With $1 million from the National Institutes of Health, doctors at San
Francisco General Hospital will spend two years studying how the drug
interacts with the latest AIDS medicines.
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The results of the study are certain to play a central role in the debate
over medical use of marijuana, not only for AIDS patients, but for sufferers
of numerous other diseases. It is a debate that led California voters last
year to legalize the medical use of pot, and has since become a major issue
in the wrangling over national drug policy.
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Subj: | San Mateo Board Stalls Pot Stores
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Source: | San Francisco Examiner
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REDWOOD CITY - San Mateo County supervisors passed an emergency ordinance
Tuesday that creates a moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries until a
local policy for them is developed.
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Passed by a 5-0 vote, the moratorium is intended to give supervisors time to
come up with zoning regulations that would govern locations and operating
procedures for dispensaries in unincorporated areas.
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The matter came before the Board of Supervisors after resident Salvador
Garcia asked about setting up what would have been the first such dispensary
in San Mateo County.
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Garcia wants to operate it in North Fair Oaks, an unincorporated part of
Redwood City.
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Subj: | Arcata, Marin Try New Medical Pot Policies
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Source: | San Francisco Examiner
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Pubdate: | Fri, 10 Oct 1997
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One town and one county in Northern California are trying a new way to deal
with medical marijuana - certifying the customers who need it.
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In less than a month, Marin County supervisors will likely approve a way to
accredit patients who can benefit from marijuana, said County Health and
Human Services Director Tom Peters.
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Needle Exchange,
AIDS & Heroin
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Subj: | Still Need for Heroin Trial Says Specialist
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The "fat lady has not sung" where the projected ACT heroin trial was
concerned, a leading Australian drug policy spokesman said yesterday.
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Alex Wodak, director of drug and alcohol services at St Vincent's Hospital
in Sydney, strongly criticised Prime Minister John Howard for intervening to
quash the trial earlier this year, but said not all hope had been lost.
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"The arguments for a heroin trial are as compelling now as they were before
the prime ministerial intervention," Dr Wodak wrote in an editorial in the
Medical Journal of Australia.
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"As Justice Wood [of the NSW Wood Royal Commission into corruption] pointed
out .. 'Without such a trial ... its efficacy or otherwise will never be
known.' Until attempted, it is very difficult to move forward or to consider
alternative strategies."
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Several of President Clinton's AIDS advisers say they are
considering resigning to protest the White House's refusal to spend federal
money on buying clean needles for drug addicts.
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Some members of the Presidential Advisory Council on AIDS said Wednesday
they also are upset the administration has not implemented other council
recommendations.
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"I think it's fairly serious," Dr. Scott Hitt, a Los Angeles physician who
chairs the 30-member council, said of the resignation threats.
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Leading the protest is council member Robert Fogel, a Chicago lawyer and
Clinton fund-raiser. He said Wednesday he plans to seek a vote on the
resignation at the council's next meeting in December.
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Subj: | Heroin-Prescribing Program in Switzerland Said to Improve Addicts'
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Health
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More than five years after closure of the notorious "Needle Park" in Zurich,
Switzerland The Swiss government has reported that an alternative,
three-year trial of controlled heroin prescribing for heroin addicts has
been a resounding success.
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Five years ago the failure of a daring Swiss experiment that permitted an
open air drug market in Zurich's Platzspitz park made headlines worldwide.
That experiment collapsed of its own weight when the open, unregulated
market attracted hordes of addicts and drug dealers from Europe and beyond.
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Television and newspaper stories featured nightmarish scenes of trampled
shrubbery, urine-soaked soil littered with syringes, and zonked out junkies
lying on park benches. Petty crime and overdoses soared. All this made for
sensational news and elicited much head shaking as to what this implied for
further attempts to deal with narcotics addiction in a medically oriented,
non punitive way (Psychiatric News, September 1, 1993).
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Sentencing
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Subj: | Hemp Seed Trial Continues After Plea Talk Fails
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Source: | Tribune-Herald, Hawaii
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Contact: | FAX: (808) 969-9100 Phone: (808) 935-6621
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An attempt to resolve the hemp seed trial of Aaron Anderson with a plea
agreement delayed the start of Thursday's session. But in the end Anderson
decided not to plea bargain with prosecutors, opting instead to go forward
with the trial.
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When asked why he decided not to enter into the plea agreement, Anderson
responded, "Because I'm not guilty. Why should I plead to something that I'm
not guilty of."
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Pubdate: | September 24, 1997
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Source: | San Fransisco Bay Guardian
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IN THE 1957 FILM 12 Angry Men, Henry Fonda stood up to 11 cantankerous
jurors and convinced them to examine their prejudices and consider the
consequences of their deliberations in the trial of an 18-year-old Latino.
Forty years later, a Colorado juror followed Fonda's example and paid the
price -- but set a precedent for justice in California and across the
country.
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In May 1996, Laura Kriho, a 32-year-old research assistant at the University
of Colorado, served on a Gilpin County jury for the trial of a woman charged
with methamphetamine possession. Kriho told the Bay Guardian she wasn't
convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant understood that drugs
were in her purse. But she went a step further: Kriho argued to the 11 other
jurors that drug possession cases should be handled by family and community,
rather than by the courts.
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Subj: | Hemp Seed Case Ends in Mistrial
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Pubdate: | Fri, 10 Oct 1997
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Source: | Hawaii Tribune Herald
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Contact: | Hawaii Tribune Herald, 355 Kinoole St., Hilo, Hawaii 96720
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The hemp seed trial of Aaron Anderson ended in a mistrial Wednesday after
jurors said they could not reach a unanimous verdict.
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"We are dead-locked," said the final written communication signed by all 12
jurors.
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Deputy Prosecutor Kay Iopa said she has not yet decided whether to retry
Anderson.
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"It's kind of premature," she said. "We need to evaluate it thoroughly."
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But court-appointed defense, lawyer Brian De Lima said that he will be
filing a motion to ask that the charge against Anderson be dismissed.
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The War on Drugs
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Subj: | Opponents of HB3643 turn in almost twice the number
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of signatures needed
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Pubdate: | Mon, 06 Oct 1997
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Opponents of a law that would recriminalize possession of small amounts of
marijuana said they turned in plenty of signatures Friday to force a vote on
the issue next year.
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Citizens for Sensible Law Enforcement said they turned in 95,032 signatures
to the state Elections Division, almost twice as many as the 48,841 valid
signatures needed to qualify a referendum for the 1998 general-election
ballot and prevent the new law from taking effect today.
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State elections officials have 15 days to verify the signatures, but given
the number turned in, it appears almost certain there will be enough.
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Subj: | Editorial: The Drug Czar Softens
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Pubdate: | Mon, 06 Oct 1997
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Source: | Orange County Register
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Judging just from the wire stories, we were almost ready to entertain the
hypothesis that "drug czar" Gen. Barry McCaffrey was showing signs of being
educable, perhaps even of adjusting views in response to evidence rather
than politics. After more investigation, it seems more likely that he is
simply reluctant to get out front on an issue where he thinks the
prohibitionists will continue to lose.
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That's progress of a sort, perhaps, but of a modest sort. What happened? At
a hearing of a House Judiciary subcommittee on crime, Florida Republican
Rep. Bill McCollum asked Gen. McCaffrey if he would come to Florida to
campaign against a medical marijuana initiative. Besides Florida, Alaska,
Washington, Arkansas, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia are
expected to consider laws to allow sick people legal access to marijuana in
the near future.
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Subj: | Journalists Honor MN Editor
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Source: | San Francisco Chronicle
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NOTE: | The San Jose Mercury News series that started all the discussion about
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CIA involvement in cocaine trafficking can be found at:
http://www.sjmercury.com/drugs/
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The executive editor of the San Jose Mercury News on Monday was named one of
the first recipients of the national Ethics in Journalism Award of the
Society of Professional Journalists.
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Jerry Ceppos was recognized for his May 11 column in which he acknowledged
several shortcomings of a controversial Mercury News series called "Dark
Alliance."
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Subj: | Republican is Best Known for Advocating Decriminalization of Drugs
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Pubdate: | Thu, 09 Oct 1997
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Source: | Los Angeles Times
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SANTA ANA - Orange County Superior Court Judge James P. Gray began a leave
of absence Wednesday to campaign for the congressional seat now held by Rep.
Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove).
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Gray, a Republican best known for supporting the decriminalization of drugs,
has hinted for several weeks that he was weighing such a campaign.
Republicans Lisa Hughes, a family law attorney and certified public
accountant, and Anaheim City Councilman Bob Zemel also have announced their
candidacies.
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Subj: | Maryland Aims 'Drug Buster' at Prisons' Visitors, Workers
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Pubdate: | Sat, 11 Oct 1997
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Source: | Houston Chronicle
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Originally Published in the Baltimore Sun October 2, 1997
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BALTIMORE -- The hand-held vacuum looks like a Dust Buster, but it collects
more than just lint. Call it the drug buster.
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With this new drug-detection system, called the Ionscan 400, the state is
searching for the most minute traces of illegal narcotics on people who
visit or work at Maryland's prisons. Officials say it's more accurate than a
drug-sniffing dog -- and never gets tired or needs food or exercise.
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Subj: | US Marijuana Production Hits New High
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Source: | Scotland On Sunday, Edinburgh, UK
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It is the marijuana harvest season in California, and this year is like no
other. It has been confirmed tha the US is no longer a mere drugs market for
latino cartels but is also a land they now literally plough.
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Drug enforcement agents in California's famed 'emerald triangle' started to
notice the change in the early 1990s. Marijuana plants, high-grade
sinsemilla worth a minimum of UKP2,500 for one pound wholesale, started
appearing in oddly straight, long rows. And on a scale never before seen.
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At one location, thousands of the illegal plants had been planted on old
logging roads on private forestry land. Then there was the field that
confirmed the agents were facing farmers, not dabblers; sheriffs' deputies
found a cache of 100,000 seedlings in 17 clandestine greenhouses camouflaged
by a canopy of foliage. Enough for several fields.
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HOT OFF THE 'NET
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Miss America, Kate Shindle, recently came out for needle exchange.
Originally she was opposed to needle exchange saying drug use was against
the law. Then she looked at the facts and changed her mind.
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Weekly readers can let her know they appreciate her looking at the facts and
not being afraid to tell politicians the truth -- needle exchange is good
public health policy and good drug policy.
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To let Kate Shindle know that her stand is appreciated readers can leave a
message on the Miss America web site located at
http://www.missamerica.org/talktous.html
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Marijuana Arrests For 1996 Most Ever!
FBI Data Confirm Clinton's Marijuana War To Be Toughest
In Nation's History
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For the full report please see the National NORML site:
http://www.norml.org/news/fax/97-10-07.shtml
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See the Marijuana Policy Project's site at http://www.mpp.org/arrests.html
for a graph of marijuana arrests over the last seven years.
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DRUGSENSE TIP OF THE WEEK
(Top) |
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MAP Mailing List and Article Finding Hints
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Looking for a past item from MAPTalk, MAPNews or MAPTips? Want to subscribe,
unsubscribe or find out more about what each of these lists has to offer?
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The MAP Mailing Lists page at http://www.mapinc.org/lists/maplists.htm has
what you need.
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This page also provides a description of each list along with a form for
handling list processor commands without all that extra e-mail.
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Articles cited in the DrugNews-Digest are available on the Media Awareness
Project's Wide Web site at http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/ for two weeks
following publication.
|
Older articles are kept in the MAPNews-Digest archive at
http://www.mapinc.org/lists/mapnews/
|
Archives are keyword searchable and both provide a simple search form. More
advanced searches can be made using the form at
http://www.mapinc.org/search.htm
|
Each article summary in the DND includes an URL for viewing the complete
article online as well as a file name you can use to request the article by
e-mail.
|
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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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Senior Editor: Mark Greer,
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We wish to thank each and every one of our contributors.
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