| December 10, 1997 #024 | ||||||||||
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A DrugSense publication
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Table of Contents
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Top Ten Articles of '97: Nominations Needed
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DrugSense (aka the Media Awareness Project) is compiling a list of the top
ten media stories of the year. | ||||||||||
This list will be helpful in showing the public that the reform movement is
making progress in getting its message out and shaping public opinion. This
list will include both electronic and print media. In addition, it will
include both single stories (e.g. Soros on the cover of Time) and series of
stories (e.g. the coverage on the shooting of Esequiel Hernandez, Jr., or
the NIH recommendation supporting methadone). | ||||||||||
We hope to publish this list before the end of the year so please let us
know your nominations quickly. Thanks.
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Kendra E. Wright,
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||
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From the Sun, 30 Nov 1997 edition of the Independent on Sunday | ||||||||||
Cannabis Campaign - Soros Adds Weight To The Cause
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George Soros, the multi-billionaire financier and philanthropist, is supporting the Independent on Sunday's campaign to decriminalise cannabis through his New York-based research foundation, the Lindesmith Center. | ||||||||||
In 1995 Mr Soros earnt the highest personal income reported by any private
citizen in the world, some $600m, but he also gave $300m away. Most of his
charitable donations go to educational and direct-aid projects in the former
Eastern bloc countries of the old Soviet empire. | ||||||||||
His philanthropic plan is to create the philospher Sir Karl Popper's concept
of an "open society" based on tolerance for minorities, intellectual freedom
and social self-restraint. | ||||||||||
Mr Soros was hardly known outside financial circles in Britain until October
1992 when he spearheaded a wave of speculative selling that eventually drove
sterling out of the ERM (Exchange Rate Mechanism). | ||||||||||
He started life in a humble Jewish home in Hungary and was 14 when the Nazis took over. After the Russians came in he escaped to England, went to the London School of Economics and studied under Professor Popper. He then became one of Wall Street's most brilliant fund managers and was worth $4m by 1969. Eleven years later, having become one of the world's most powerful financial speculators, he began to establish his "Open Society" foundations.= | ||||||||||
Last month he announced that he was prepared to spend up to half a billion
dollars in Russia on philanthropic projects which will include funds to
fight the spread of tuberculosis, improve mother and child medical care and
retrain personnel leaving the armed services. | ||||||||||
Nearer home, he has this year donated $15m to fund the fight to reform the US's draconian drug laws. In a personal statement, Mr Soros wrote: "I wanted to congratulate the Independent on Sunday's campaign to broaden the debate about cannabis policy. This is an important and courageous initiative. I hope others in the UK, the USA and elsewhere will follow your lead. | ||||||||||
"I am also pleased to see your newspaper make use of Marijuana Myths,
Marijuana Facts, a book published by The Lindesmith Centre. The book has
been strongly endorsed by the principal authors of the last two independent
US commissions on marijuana. | ||||||||||
"While I do not favour the outright legalisation of cannabis, I do favour its legalisation for medicinal purposes as well as broader decriminalisation, provided adequate safeguards are taken to minimise misuse among young people. I am delighted to find out that I am not alone. In a recent poll of British Members of Parliament, 70 per cent of those surveyed believe there is a good case for legalising cannabis for medicinal purposes.= | ||||||||||
"In the US, I was proud to support voter initiatives to legalise the
medicinal use of marijuana and I will continue to support such initiatives
in the future. It is a shame that the American War on Drugs continues to
block these efforts to remove sanctions on doctors and patients to treat
pain and nausea with whatever medications work. | ||||||||||
"Even more tragic is the fact that marijuana arrests in the US have more than doubled since 1991 . an absurd waste of our criminal justice resources.= | ||||||||||
"The Cannabis Conference is a timely step in developing a more rational drug policy in the UK and I believe it will influence the drug policy debate in the US and beyond. For too long the debate has been one-sided - dominated by those against the free exchange of ideas.With experts and leaders from such a wide range of disciplines, I am confident your conference will provide a model for future debates on drug policy.Very best wishes for your campaign and I look forward to seeing many others join this debate." | ||||||||||
Members of the Lindesmith Centre will attend our discussion at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre on Thursday. They will be joined by 15 MPs including Brian Iddon, Gordon Prentice and Dr Phyllis Starkey. | ||||||||||
The conference is being supported by Richard Branson and the Virgin group, and Anita Roddick and Body Shop. A spokesman for Body Shop said:"All the arguments need to be put before the public and judicary and since Lord Chief Justice Bingham called for debate, the Independent on Sunday kicked it off, and interest has gathered, the time for that debate is now." | ||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||
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Domestic News
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Adolescents
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House will launch a $178 million advertising campaign in January in an effort to reverse an alarming increase in drug use by America's youth, officials said Thursday. | ||||||||||
The media blitz will focus on youth ages 9 to 17 and their parents and seek
to counter the media's increasing portrayal of drug use as normal and
acceptable, they said. | ||||||||||
The campaign will buy prime-time television spots, radio and print ads,
outdoor billboards and ads on the Internet. It will also seek corporate
contributions and support from the entertainment industry in changing the
way drugs are depicted. | ||||||||||
Congress has approved $195 million in funding for the first year of the
five- year strategy, and final congressional approval of the plan is
expected before year end. | ||||||||||
"We want television-network involvement and assistance in a national effort
to stop the rise in youth drug abuse," White House drug policy chief Gen.
Barry McCaffrey said. | ||||||||||
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Hemp In The News
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The North American Industrial Hemp Council (NAIHC) recently met in St. Louis
to discuss the promotion and production of industrial hemp for food, fiber
and other materials. | ||||||||||
The council is made up of farmers, researchers and other agricultural
professionals who see a huge economic and environmental potential in the
U.S. production of industrial hemp. They are convinced that this crop will
provide income for farmers and processors in rural areas, benefit the U.S.
trade balance and enhance the environment. | ||||||||||
Industrial hemp was grown in this country starting in its colonial days until the 1950s when the drug enforcement bureaucracy defined industrial hemp as marijuana. Industrial products made from U.S. hemp, particularly fiber and oil products, played a major role in World War II. | ||||||||||
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Hemp is a great deal more than just an alternative textile fiber. It is one
of the few plants whose byproducts can either be eaten, sat on, written on,
worn, slathered on your body, painted on a wall or squirted into a machine.
It is also the subject of a worldwide controversy that involves such
disparate factions as farmers, government enforcement agencies,
environmentalists, supporters of legalized drugs and manufacturers of
textile, food and paper products. | ||||||||||
Historians say that hemp has been used in textiles since the 28th century
B.C., so there is no question about its viability or desirability for that
end use. The controversy, which is particularly acute in the U.S., stems
from the fact that the hemp plant, whose horticultural name is =93Cannabis
sativa=94 comes in several varieties, one of which is the source of=
marijuana. | ||||||||||
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Heroin
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Maryland will undertake a major effort to reduce repeat drug-related crime by forcing addicts on probation and parole to submit to drug tests as often as twice a week and by punishing those who fail to do so. | ||||||||||
Proponents say the program will be the biggest of its kind in the nation. | ||||||||||
Called Break the Cycle, the program will replace a system that imposes few
rules on the state's 25,000 drug addicts who are free on probation or parole
and who require treatment. | ||||||||||
State officials hope that rehabilitating those addicts will not only keep them out of jail but also sharply reduce burglaries, car thefts and other property crimes that result from addicts' efforts to support drug habits. | ||||||||||
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Marijuana
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The federal government earmarked $1 million in startup funds yesterday for a
coordinated effort with local authorities to go after heroin and
methamphetamine in the San Francisco Bay Area. | ||||||||||
The plan is part of a nationwide anti- drug campaign - targeting 22 regional
areas - that was announced in Washington, D.C., by White House drug chief
Barry McCaffrey. | ||||||||||
"What we are facing is not a national drug problem but a series of regional
drug epidemics," said McCaffrey, adding that anti-drug efforts must be
customized to fit specific regional problems. | ||||||||||
The retired Army general noted that while drug use remains a serious problem, drug-related crimes are on the decline and the number of Americans using drugs is also decreasing. "We are seeing results," he said. | ||||||||||
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Lee Brown, who moved to Houston three times during his restless career, will
now move into the mayor's job. | ||||||||||
Brown, the former police chief, defeated businessman Rob Mosbacher in
Saturday's runoff by a modest margin considering local mayoral races of the
last 25 years. | ||||||||||
With a complete but unofficial count of the vote, Brown got about 52
percent, leaving Mosbacher with about 48 percent. | ||||||||||
After notching a series of "firsts" in his academic and law enforcement,
Brown becomes the first ethnic minority elected mayor of Houston. Blacks,
Hispanics and Asian-Americans make up more than 60 percent of the city's
population. | ||||||||||
Brown became Houston's first African-American police chief in 1982. He left
the post in 1990. | ||||||||||
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Medical Marijuana
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The Marin County Board of Supervisors has approved the distribution of certificates allowing marijuana smokers to light up for medical reasons. | ||||||||||
The new law, approved Tuesday, allows the county to give out certificates to people who have verified illnesses that a licensed clinician deems appropriate to treat with marijuana. Supervisors John Kress and Steve Kinsey introduced the ordinance to clear up legal ambiguities caused by the passage of Proposition 215, which allows the use of marijuana for medical purposes. | ||||||||||
The federal government, however, still considers marijuana illegal. Marin
health director Thomas Peters said the certificates, which will cost $25 and
be valid for one year, will be issued only after verifying that the patient
is a county resident with a legitimate illness. | ||||||||||
1997 San Francisco Chronicle
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[end]
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The Wheels Of Reform Grind Exceeding Slow - And Rough. | ||||||||||
A year has passed since California and Arizona voters approved the use of
marijuana as medicine, a year of continuing legal maneuvering at both the
federal and state levels. Here is a brief summary of what has happened.
November 1996
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11/05/96: Voters in Arizona and California overwhelmingly approve initiatives endorsing the legal use of marijuana under a doctor's supervision. Proposition 215 in California exempts patients using marijuana medicinally from state criminal charges and also authorizes the cultivation of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Proposition 200 in Arizona states that physicians may prescribe marijuana to seriously ill patients. | ||||||||||
11/06/96: Arizona Governor Fife Symington (R) threatens to veto Proposition
200. Symington claims that he has the authority to veto successful ballot
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A Santa Ana man was ordered to stand trial on marijuana-sale charges after a
judge determined that he was not protected by the state's medical-marijuana
initiative. | ||||||||||
David Lee Herrick, 47, is accused of selling marijuana on three occasions and distributing the pot to medical patients while working as a volunteer with Orange County Cannabis Co-Op, said Marvin Chavez, founder of the co-op. | ||||||||||
Deputy District Attorney Carl Armbrust previously said Herrick broke the law
by accepting money for the marijuana. | ||||||||||
"They're trying to say he wasn't a caregiver," Chavez said, "I'm very angry.
This is a man who will have to stay in jail through the holidays. He was
doing this as a volunteer."
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Proposition 215, approved in November 1996 by 56 percent of California
voters, allows for the cultivation and possession of marijuana by people who
have a doctor's note. | ||||||||||
[end]
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Enforcement
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Washington (AP) -- From the border with Mexico to the port of New York and
out to the Great Plains, the war against drugs is being regionalized, White
House drug chief Barry McCaffrey said Wednesday. | ||||||||||
"What we are facing is not a national drug problem but a series of regional
drug epidemics," the retired Army general said as he closed a conference
that brought together officials of 22 "high-intensity drug trafficking
areas."
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Each is designed to tailor anti-drug efforts to local conditions. | ||||||||||
From a beginning of five such regions in 1990 with a federal investment of
$25 million, the focus areas have grown to 22, dividing a $162 million
federal payment, McCaffrey said. | ||||||||||
At a news conference, he portrayed them as an integral part of a strategy of
prevention, treatment, law enforcement and prosecution aimed at reducing
drug use by a third over the next decade. | ||||||||||
And he asserted that while drug use remains huge, drug-related crimes are falling and the number of Americans using drugs is decreasing. | ||||||||||
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Slamabad, Pakistan - The Clinton administration has decided to endorse an
ambitious U.N. program to eliminate drug production worldwide, according to
an American proposal on combating the drug trade. | ||||||||||
The proposal, which has not been made public, calls on governments "to
commit themselves to ending all illicit cultivation of opium poppy and coca
bush by the year 2008, using all available means, including alternative
development, eradication and law enforcement."
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"This is a major development," the head of the U.N. drug control agency, Pino Arlacchi, said when asked about the American position. | ||||||||||
The Clinton proposal will be presented for adoption to a U.N. drug control
committee that is scheduled to meet in Vienna on Friday. Arlacchi said he
thought it would be accepted. | ||||||||||
It was particularly important, Arlacchi said, that Washington endorse the
10-year timetable. | ||||||||||
In a change of policy, the administration recognizes alternative development
projects as a means of combating drugs by giving peasants other sources of
income. Past administrations have focused on tough laws to stop the supply
of drugs. | ||||||||||
At the same time, Arlacchi received some advice here at the end of a visit to Afghanistan intended to get the Taliban rulers to crack down on poppy | ||||||||||
growing. "We told him don't let them pull the wool over your eyes," said a
senior European diplomat who met with Arlacchi on Friday, along with
representatives from some 20 other countries concerned about drug
trafficking. | ||||||||||
[end]
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WASHINGTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. government is banking on border task
forces to be set up with Mexico by the end of this year to reverse its poor
results in the war on drug traffickers, counter-narcotics officials said on
Wednesday. | ||||||||||
But they said many details, particularly the key issue of whether U.S.
agents will be allowed to carry guns and use them on the Mexican side of the
border, must still be ironed out. | ||||||||||
The anti-drug officials said the violence and corruption spawned by the Mexican drug cartels had reached unprecedented levels on both sides of the frontier, and cries of victory over the Ciudad Juarez cartel after the death of its leader, Amado Carrillo Fuentes, had been premature. | ||||||||||
The new binational strategy involves the creation of three Border Task
Forces, most probably in Tijuana, El Paso and Reinosa, though officials were
cagey about the exact locations. | ||||||||||
"We will have the beginning of decent binational task forces by the end of this month," said White House anti-drug policy chief Barry McCaffrey. | ||||||||||
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International News
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Editors note: The IoS Cannabis Campaign has web pages at:
http://www.independent.co.uk/sindypot/index.htm
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George Soros, the multi-billionaire financier and philanthropist, is supporting the Independent on Sunday's campaign to decriminalise cannabis. | ||||||||||
Mr Soros, one of the world's richest men, is backing our drive to change the
laws on the personal possession of cannabis for recreational and medical
purposes through his New York-based research foundation, the Lindesmith
Centre. | ||||||||||
In 1995 Mr Soros earnt the highest personal income reported by any private
citizen in the world, some $600m, but he also gave $300m away. Most of his
charitable donations go to educational and direct-aid projects in the former
Eastern bloc countries of the old Soviet empire. | ||||||||||
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The French health minister, Bernard Kouchner, is in favour of the partial legalisation of cannabis. He is the third member of the present French government in recent months to express a view of this kind. | ||||||||||
Mr Kouchner said last week that the medicinal prescription of cannabis should "obviously" be legalised. The Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin, has already said that he favours decriminalisation. The environment minister, Dominique Voynet, has called for outright legalisation of the drug. | ||||||||||
The issue will be one of several drug-related questions to be studied in
depth at a conference at the health ministry in Paris next Friday and
Saturday. The conference brings together politicians, civil servants,
doctors and drugs experts, who will make cautious recommendations to Mr
Kouchner. | ||||||||||
French officials say that the meeting is not likely to push for an immediate change in the repressive 1970 drug law. But it may call on the government to encourage a public debate on the subject to allow new legislation to be developed before the next presidential and general elections in 2002. | ||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||
Check Out The Web Site Of Legalize USA
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Anyone who has not yet visited may like to check out the seemingly new site
of Legalize-USA, which has several US, Canadian and Australian major reports
on harm reduction, statistics on drug use and crime, prohibition and
alternatives. Their web site address is:
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One of the reports there is a full version of Beyond Prohibition, the report
Steve Bolt and Dave Burrows wrote for Redfern Legal Centre last year. It can
be found at:
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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. | ||||||||||
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We wish to thank each and every one of our contributors. | ||||||||||
Mark Greer
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