| December 24, 1997 #026 | ||||||||||
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A DrugSense publication
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Table of Contents
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||
Struggling With the "Demonization" Demon
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All discussions of drugs and drug policy ultimately have to deal with the
ubiquitous "evil drug" paradigm. This idea has become a virtual demon
tormenting the cause of drug reform - it's a protean demon because it
assumes so many forms and intrudes itself into the debate in so many
unexpected ways. Once present within a specific discussion, exorcism is
usually impossible and its continued presence spells yet another defeat for
rational drug policy. | ||||||||||
The demon I speak of is the idea that certain specified "drugs" are inherently evil, immoral, wrong - "sinful," in the most basic sense of the word. This "demonization of drugs" has little basis in reality, but has become such an essential part of current human thinking that It justifies the (amazing) decision that the only permissible drug policy is to restrict manufacture and marketing of certain agents to a criminal monopoly. This decision, originating in the United States in the early days of this century, has been exported to the entire world as policy and is annually re-endorsed by all governments despite the grotesque aberrations already produced by an increasingly lucrative and powerful criminal market, a market totally dependent on the witless policy for its very existence. | ||||||||||
Ensconced deep within the conviction of most people, this idea of the innate evil of specified "drugs," lies within the realm of religious dogma, safely beyond the reach of reason. It justifies not only asinine policy decisions, but also Draconian punishments for drug users and precludes any rational discussion of policy which does not expressly condemn or attempt to eliminate drug use. One of the most fascinating phenomena for those few of us who have been able to get beyond the "evil drug" paradigm, is that tobacco and alcohol are clearly excluded in the eyes of most people. This is exemplified by Bob Herbert, columnist for the New York Times who recently expressed amazement that police would use the same tactics to counter tobacco smoking among teens as they have routinely applied to pot. It clearly matters not to Herbert that tobacco is inherently more addictive and orders of magnitude more harmful to health- his unvoiced belief that pot is sinful and tobacco isn't forms the basis for his outrage. | ||||||||||
Another of the many ways this idea is expressed is by insistence that any consideration of drug policy must include moral condemnation. A morally neutral attitude is simply not tolerated. One who insists on moral neutrality is branded as either a "woolly headed" idealist or a malign character who really wants to sell drugs to kids. The idea that moral condemnation is intrinsic to any discussion of drug policy is not limited to those who favor drug prohibition. A large segment of those espousing drug "reform" are also insistent that policy modifications must include a consideration of the moral dimension, either voiced as a condemnation of drug use or, as in the medical marijuana initiatives, specific guarantees that implementation of a policy won't increase "harmful" drug use. So insistent are reformist adherents of the "evil drug" paradigm on the necessity to address this issue, they are blind to the fact that injection of the idea into the discussion immediately weakens their position by diverting attention from their strongest argument - the benefits of marijuana to patients and focuses it where they are weakest - protecting "kids" against access to pot - never mind that the two are unrelated or that "kids" already have ample access, thanks to present policy. | ||||||||||
While it is impossible to profile the drug policy reform movement with complete accuracy, it is my conviction that a majority of our adherents are still struggling with some aspect of the idea that the moral dimension of drugs must be dealt with in our program for "reform." While this is the case, meaningful reform is a forlorn hope, absent some dramatic insight which allows us to shake off the noxious effects of the "evil drug" demon. If the current controversy over AMR and the spirit of the ideal initiative has any value, it will be because forcing us to consider this issue yet again may afford a few more of us with the means to get beyond the "evil drug" paradigm in our thinking. We have a very long way to go. | ||||||||||
WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||
Domestic News
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Drugs & Our Youth
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Clinton said Saturday he saw a "glimmer of
hope" in a new report finding a drop in illegal drug use by teens, but
Republicans said the study amounted to a "failing grade" for efforts to end
drug abuse.
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"A second major survey on drug use this year has confirmed that for the
first time since 1991, our teen-agers are beginning to turn away from
drugs," Clinton said in his weekly radio address.
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A University of Michigan study conducted for the Department of Health and
Human Services found that drug use among eighth graders remained stable for
most drugs from 1996-1997, and decreased slightly for marijuana, cigarettes
and certain other substances.
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For the first time in six years, the 1997 survey of drug use among
adolescents showed that daily use of marijuana among eighth graders
decreased from 1.5 percent in 1996 to 1.1 percent this year, while the
percentage of eighth graders disapproving of the drug's use rose from 76.5
to 78.1 over the same period.
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I called Brian Soucie, chief of the Gothenburg, Neb., Police Department, which has six officers, and asked how the crackdown was going. | ||||||||||
He told me it was going swell. I believed him. The Barney Fifes of
Gothenburg don’t mess around. They know what to do when confronted with the
menace of under-age cigarette smoking. They mobilize. They go undercover,
swapping their spiffy uniforms for civilian clothes. And then, very cleverly
using the department’s lone unmarked car, they hang out wherever an
unsuspecting kid might be tempted to light up. | ||||||||||
At times the cops use a video camera. After all, some kids might be tempted to lie. So you do what you have to do to make your case airtight. The fine in Gothenburg for smoking before you’re old enough is $56. | ||||||||||
I am as opposed to smoking as anyone, but this is nuts. Putting kids under police surveillance in the hopes of catching them with a lighted Marlboro is out of line. Worse, according to a story by The Times’s Barry Meier, Gothenburg’s exercise in overkill is just one example of a national trend toward harsher treatment of juveniles who succumb to the multibillion-dollar blandishments of the tobacco industry. Talk about blaming the victim! | ||||||||||
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OXNARD - Hailing him as a hero, Oxnard police said Wednesday that they have
awarded a special junior officer badge to a 3-year-old boy for helping them
arrest his father on charges of marijuana possession. And - after spending
the night in the Ventura County Jail and enrolling Wednesday afternoon in a
drug treatment program - the boy's father said he agreed that his son had
done the right thing. | ||||||||||
"I'm glad he did it," Keith Wallace said in a brief interview outside his
west Ventura home. It's a very humbling experience to be busted by your own
flesh and blood, he said. "It makes you want to stop using drugs. It gives
you the definite desire to stop."
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The child's mother, however, was not in such a positive mood. Described as
extremely angry when first contacted by police, she was in tears Wednesday
afternoon. "I can't take any more of this," she said.
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John Wiley was back in school Tuesday, two weeks after the Mannford Middle
School student was suspended for turning in a bag of marijuana to school
officials. But the 14-year-old student isn't sure how long he will stay in
the school system. | ||||||||||
His mother, Lenora, said the boy's trust in school officials has been shattered, and she worries about how other children will treat her son. | ||||||||||
"I think one of his problems was who was he going to turn to in case
something happened, if any of the other kids were heckling him," she said
Tuesday afternoon. | ||||||||||
"We'll finish this semester. We still need to talk, and we're still working
with an attorney."
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The school decided to let John back into school after "new evidence" came to
light. Officials said some other middle schoolers involved in the incident
had changed their stories. | ||||||||||
Mannford Middle School Principal Molly Gregory said the investigation into the incident was continuing and that some of the other students involved had begun to paint a different picture of what happened that morning. | ||||||||||
John contends that he was offered marijuana by some other students the
morning of Dec. 2.
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He said he accepted it so that he could turn it in, and when he did so, he
was suspended for possession of an illegal substance. | ||||||||||
His appeal of the suspension to the Mannford School Board was denied. | ||||||||||
[end]
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Hemp News
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A proposal to legalize the growing of hemp for industrial purposes is the
38th initiative certified to collect voter signatures for a place on
California's 1998 general election ballot. | ||||||||||
The petition drive, which started Friday, must collect verified signatures of 433,269 registered voters by May 18 to be placed on the Nov. 3 ballot. | ||||||||||
The proposal by Sam H. Clauder II of Garden Grove would legalize the
growing, harvesting, storage and use of hemp for use as a building material
or in the production of cloth, paper, fuels and various building materials
and industrial chemicals. | ||||||||||
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Heroin
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AUSTIN - The parents who had to arrange funerals for their teen-agers
probably didn't think much about the global marketing trends that led to
those sad days in the Texas suburbs. | ||||||||||
But Jane Maxwell thinks about those trends a good bit. She's convinced that
changing international politics, along with global marketing competition, is
one reason so many kids in prosperous green-lawn neighborhoods are dying
from heroin overdoses. | ||||||||||
"Heroin's back," she says, "And it's back big time."
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Maxwell charts worldwide drug trends from Austin, where she's research
director for the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse and a member of
the National Institute on Drug Abuse community epidemiology work group. She
also holds a research fellowship from Australia's National Drug Strategy
program. | ||||||||||
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Marijuana
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Federal drug agents Wednesday searched the home of a man who is writing a book about the medical use of marijuana and who has been questioned in connection with the arrest of a pot activist, authorities said. | ||||||||||
The activist, Todd McCormick, is awaiting trial on charges of growing more
than 1,000 marijuana plants. He was arrested July 29 in a rented Bel-Air
home filled with more than 4,000 pot plants, which he said he was
cultivating to treat his cancer. McCormick said he was also using the
marijuana to contribute research to an upcoming book by Peter McWilliams,
whose Laurel Canyon home was searched Wednesday. | ||||||||||
McWilliams, author of several books on coping with depression, said he was working on his new writing project at 6:30 a.m. when Drug Enforcement Administration agents came to his home with a search warrant. | ||||||||||
He said agents spent about three hours searching his home in the 8100 block
of Mannix Drive and a house two doors down, where he lived for 11 years and
which he still owns. | ||||||||||
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Court-ruling reaction: Operation differs from S.F. club, authorities say. | ||||||||||
Despite a recent court ruling barring marijuana clubs from selling the drug
to patients, local law enforcement gave a thumbs-up Monday for the Santa
Clara County Medical Cannabis Center to continue providing pot to the sick
and dying. | ||||||||||
The decision came after a meeting involving San Jose City Attorney Joan Gallo, Police Chief Lou Cobarruviaz and Santa Clara County District Attorney George Kennedy. The three found that Friday's ruling by the 1st | ||||||||||
District Court of Appeal specifically targeted San Francisco's Cannabis
Buyers' Club, where state agents said they saw marijuana sold to people
without prescriptions and then resold on the street. The investigation,
which culminated in a raid and several arrests, also found children on the
premises. | ||||||||||
But San Jose's Cannabis Center on Meridian Avenue is "not a place where
people go and smoke. It's not a place where there are children," Gallo said.
"We think the (court) decision turns a great deal on the facts of the
Cannabis Club in San Francisco... We have a very different model here... We
don't think this ruling really impacts us."
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Now that the state Court of Appeal has barred marijuana clubs from peddling
pot for medicinal use, the Legislature should establish an accountable
distribution system to replace the haphazard and quasi-legal way it is sold
today. | ||||||||||
When voters approved Proposition 215 last year they legalized marijuana as
medicine. The law - though fuzzily written - was clearly intended to allow
seriously ill patients and their caregivers to grow and possess marijuana
for medical use when recommended by a doctor. | ||||||||||
Friday's ruling prohibited San Francisco's Cannabis Cultivators Club owner Dennis Peron from selling marijuana because he does not qualify as a "primary caregiver," a reasonable reading of the law. Attorney General | ||||||||||
Dan Lungren said the ruling applies to all 15 of the state's "cannabis clubs," and he will start closing them down within 30 days. | ||||||||||
Prop. 215 was not intended to provide job security for marijuana dealers or
pleasant lounging areas for dopers to smoke pot and socialize. It was a
humane solution to a controversial medical question that had become
hopelessly mired in drug-war politics. | ||||||||||
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The Drug War
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INDIANAPOLIS - The police Department,struggling to recover public trust
after four officers were charged in a drunken street brawl,was plunged into
turmoil again Thursday when the FBI announced an investigation into charges
that officers have been stealing from drug dealers. | ||||||||||
"We have to rid ourselves of the problems we have in this department once
and for all," Police Chief Michael Zunk said. "We cannot continue to be
embarrassed by bad officers."
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Patrolman Myron A. Powell, 35, a seven-year veteran, is charged with
shooting a suspected drug dealer to death during an apparently botched drugs
and cash robbery this month. Convicted drug dealer Michael A. Highbaugh, 33,
who was also charged in the slaying, told police that he and Powell had been
robbing dealers for four years. | ||||||||||
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(NOTE: The complete Dark Alliance series can be found at
http://www.mercurycenter.com/drugs/start.htm)
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Connection was alleged in Mercury News series; critics skeptical of
government investigation
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BY PETE CAREY Mercury News Staff Writer
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WASHINGTON - The Central Intelligence Agency has concluded that it played no
role in launching America's crack epidemic, contradicting a key assertion in
a Mercury News series published last year. | ||||||||||
That conclusion was reached after a year-long investigation described by
knowledgeable sources as "the most extensive" probe of itself ever conducted
by knowledgeable sources as "the most extensive" probe of itself ever
conducted by the CIA. The investigation was performed by a dozen
investigators and included several hundred interviews and a review of
200,000 pages of documents, according to sources familiar with the
investigation. | ||||||||||
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WASHINGTON - A lawmaker who has been outspoken about a Mercury News series
implying the CIA helped launch America's crack epidemic denounced federal
government agencies Thursday for their handling of investigations related to
the series. | ||||||||||
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, blasted the CIA for leaking conclusions
of its investigation to reporters this week and called for the immediate
release of the CIA probe and a separate Justice Department investigation.
Both reports were scheduled for release this week but were delayed
indefinitely at the Justice Department's urging -- apparently because they
would compromise an ongoing drug case. | ||||||||||
Both Waters and Rep. John Conyers Jr., of Michigan, ranking Democrat on the
House Judiciary Committee, also called for the release of 40,000 pages of
documents relating to the Justice Department inquiry. | ||||||||||
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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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The French government will approve the experimental use of cannabis in
hospitals next year as a first tentative step towards a relaxation of the
country's draconian drugs laws.
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Discussions are also to be held early next year on the abolition of prison
sentences for possession of small quantities of cannabis and other soft
drugs. Depending on public reaction, this could lead towards a broader
decriminalisation of cannabis use.
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Although Lionel Jospin's government has ruled out any formal change in drugs
laws in the near future, it is expected to use its discretionary powers to
alter the repressive French legal landscape. To help to massage public
fears, and counter political opposition, the government has commissioned a
study of the relative dangers of cannabis and other illegal substances, when
compared to legal drugs such as alcohol and nicotine.
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To many physicians, the opium poppy conjures up images of illicit drug use,
yet morphine and other poppy products are regarded as effective
therapeutics. Matters are not as clear cut for a similarly cultivated weed -
Cannabis sativa.
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Interest in cannabis and its active constituents, cannabinoids, as
therapeutic agents has increased recently. Of the 60 or so cannabinoids,
only the main psychoactive component, [delta] 9-tetrahydroacannabinol (THC),
is commercially available (dronabinol). This drug and the THC analogue
nabilone are licensed for a few indications only.
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This year, both the US National Institutes of Health and the British Medical
Association released reports on the potential therapeutic uses of cannabis
and cannabinoids. Each report concluded that cannabinoids may be potentially
useful as analgesics, anti-emetics, antispasmodics, appetite stimulants, and
in treatment of glaucoma and epilepsy. Much of the evidence is anecdotal, or
from small controlled trials of oral dronabinol or nabilone. The potential
medical utility of cannabis cannot be gauged by studying only these drugs,
says NIH. Other cannabinoids could have important actions, or could modulate
THC's effects. And, THC pharmacokinetics differ between oral THC and smoked
cannabis products.
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Marijuana was being smoked openly and business was booming yesterday less
than 24 hours after Vancouver police raided and shut down two downtown pot
emporiums. | ||||||||||
"A quarter of a million dollars was looted by the police overnight," said
owner Marc Emery, fresh from a night in jail and puffing a joint as hundreds
of pot-connoisseurs browsed in his reopened Hemp B.C. store and others
filled the adjoining Cannabis Cafe. | ||||||||||
Police seized an estimated $l.6 million worth of marijuana-related
merchandise, including "tens of thousands" of seeds in the raid, said police
spokeswoman Const. Anne Drennan.
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"We seized a minimum of $100,000 worth of bongs, vaporizers and hash pipes.
And tens of thousands of marijuana seeds worth about one and a half million
dollars," she said. | ||||||||||
"We seized computers and computer records as well as papers and
documentation records, because that is the system that is used for the
trafficking of the seeds."
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TORONTO (CP) - A court ruling which legalized marijuana for medical use for
an Ontario man is being appealed. | ||||||||||
The Crown Wednesday filed formal notice of appeal in the case of Terry
Parker, 42, a Toronto epileptic who says he uses pot to control seizures. A
Toronto judge stayed charges of possession and cultivation of pot against
Parker on Dec. 10.
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Judge Patrick Sheppard also ordered police to return 71 pot plants and
growing equipment they'd seized. | ||||||||||
Sheppard ruled that certain sections of the marijuana law are unconstitutional in cases where the drug is used for medicinal purposes. | ||||||||||
Parker has yet to get his pot plants back. Police have said some of the
plants may no longer exist. | ||||||||||
Parker's lawyer, Aaron Harnett, said the Crown may try to keep the plants until the appeal, which is likely to be heard in early spring. | ||||||||||
A three-judge panel may decide to hear the case in conjunction with another appeal being launched by marijuana advocate Chris Clay, of London. | ||||||||||
Clay lost a constitutional challenge earlier this year to remove marijuana
from the Criminal Code. | ||||||||||
He is appealing his conviction on possession and trafficking charges. | ||||||||||
[end]
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||
Esequiel Hernandez Memorial Gallery
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December 20 was the six month anniversary of the shooting of Esequiel
Hernandez, Jr. The Drug Policy Forum of Texas, DrugSense, Drug Policy
Foundation of New Mexico and Common Sense have worked together to develop a
web site to memorialize Esequiel and the incident. | ||||||||||
You can view it at:
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National Toll-Free Radio Show Call-In List
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Thanks to Washington State activist Darral Good there is now an extensive
list of toll-free call-in numbers for many major talk shows. Many of these
shows can be heard live via Real Audio software available at
http://www.real.com/
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Internet technology combined with free call-in numbers make a powerful tool
for any activist. Check out the list today at
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OCTA Site Gets "Political Site of the Day" Award
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A Pennsylvania-based web site named the Political Site of the Day listed the
Oregon Cannabis Tax Act site as their pick for the day. Shortly thereafter
they got a hit on their web site from someone using a computer with the US
Senate. FYI...
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You can find Political Site of the Day at
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Also, you might want to consider joining the Political Site of the Day
discussion group - details are at the site. | ||||||||||
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DRUGSENSE TIP OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||
Unwrapping Laddered Text in Eudora E-Mail
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Those of you who use Eudora e-mail software and have been living with,
trying to read, and truly detesting laddered text, here's a tip for you:
Eudora PRO has the ability to unwrap the text.
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Go to Edit/Message Plug ins/Unwrap Text next time you see this irritating
laddering occur and you should now have unwrapped text. We hope this
information proves valuable for some of you. | ||||||||||
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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. | ||||||||||
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Mark Greer
Posted to this usenet group by: Richard Lake Senior Editor; Mapnews, Mapnews-Digest and Drugnews-Digest email: http://www.DrugSense.org/drugnews/ For subscription information see: http://www.MAPinc.org/lists/ Quick sign up for Drugnews-Digest, Focus Alerts or Newsletter: http://www.DrugSense.org/hurry.htm |