August 5, 1998 #58 |
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A DrugSense publication
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DRUGSENSE WEEKLY -
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- * Breaking News (12/30/24)
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- * Feature Article
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THE DRUG _POLICY_ PROBLEM - Part Two
Jeffrey A. Schaler, PhD
- * Weekly News In Review
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Drug War Policy-
OPED - McCaffrey: Media Blitz Is Effective Against Drugs
Kids and the Politics of the Drug War
Suppression Of Debate Is Monkey On Nation's Back
Dea Official Becomes Rich At The Expense Of Agency
DEA Drives Off The Old Guard
Drug War: Prison Front-
Police Say Prison Works
Corcoran Guards Thwarted Probe, DA Tells Lawmakers
Female Inmates To Be Sent Out Of State
Don't Look For Parole In Texas
Drug War: Sporting Front-
2 Track Stars Fail Drug Tests
Tour Goes On as Riders Close Ranks
Olympics Chief's Call To 'go Soft' On Drugs Attacked
Governing Body Of World Basketball Votes To Penalize Use Of Cannabis
Blowing Smoke: Marijuana Use NBA's Biggest Drug Concern These Days
Medical Marijuana-
Prop. 215 Disallowed In Pot Trial
Medical Marijuana Advocate Pleads Innocent To Conspiracy Charges
Oakland May Back Medical Pot Providers
MS Victims To Puff Pot To Test Medicinal Effectiveness
International News-
Heroin Scandal Rocks London's Devout Jewish Community
60 Mexico City Police Suspended For Drug Use
Alleged Drug Chieftan Threatens To Kill Americans
- * Hot Off The 'Net
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Peter McWilliams -Two sites to keep you informed
- * DrugSense Tip Of The Week
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Prison stats on-line
The November Coalition
- * Quote of the Week
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Norman Mineta
- * Fact of the Week
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) |
THE DRUG _POLICY_ PROBLEM - PART Two
by Jefrey A. Schaler, PhD
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Editors Note: This is Part two of Dr. Schaler's essay. Part one can be
read in the July 29 issue of the DrugSense Weekly Volume # 57. See:
http://www.drugsense.org/news.htm The remainder of this article will
be published in future issues.
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QUESTIONS WE NEED TO ASK AND ANSWER
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To understand the values and beliefs behind our federal drug policy, it
is necessary to ask some unpopular questions:
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Do illegal drugs cause crime? Given that drugs are inanimate objects,
are they capable of causing a human action?Can drugs "act" in the way
that people can?
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Does drug use in the form of "addiction" encourage people to commit
crimes other than the purchase and use of the drug itself? And if so, do
the crimes stem from the addiction or from circumstances involved in
the trade in illegal drugs, such as competition between dealers?
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Should drug policies that are based on the relationship between drug
use and crime be consistent with legal precedents?Should drug policies
reflect court opinions regarding the nature of addiction and criminal
responsibility, and vice versa?
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For the most part, U.S. drug policies are based on the assumption that
drugs cause addiction. But many leading researchers and thinkers
question the very existence of addiction as an empirical entity in the
sociological "positivist" sense, viewing it rather as a social
construct.
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Does addiction exist? Do drugs cause addiction? The answers to these
questions depend on what we mean by "addiction." If by addiction we are
referring to what drugs do to the physical body, then the answer to
both questions is yes. We know for a fact that drugs create changes in
the body, a physiological dependency often characterized by tolerance,
withdrawal symptoms, and death. However, if by addiction we are
referring to how drugs get into the body, the answer is less clear.In
this sense, research has produced no empirical evidence for the belief
that drugs can cause drug users to lose control of their
behavior.Furthermore, from a logical point of view, behavior is by
definition a matter of choice. Do the bodily changes effected by drugs
cause people to ingest more drugs in the same way that epilepsy causes
people to have seizures? Most people would say no.The two cases are
categorically different.
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It is important to be clear about the meanings of words. When applied
to human action, the term "behavior" refers to a mode of conduct or
deportment. Human behavior is moral agency and as such can never be
caused. Things are caused; people make choices.This difference is what
makes us human. To speak of human behavior as caused makes no more
sense than to speak of things as capable of choosing.Such confusion of
language is inaccurate and irrational. The English philosopher Gilbert
Ryle called this kind of mistake a "category error."
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Shall we then create and implement policy on the assumption that
addiction is simply a metaphor--that drug use is a moral issue ruled by
choice? In that case, how much policy making is called for?If we agree
that drug use is a choice--one that harms no one but the user--should
the government make any effort to control it?
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Philosophical as these questions are, they should not be confined to
the ivory tower as some politicians and academicians may prefer. If the
advocates of a particular drug policy invoke science to justify their
actions, they should be required by a discerning public to examine all
available evidence, not just that which supports their political,
economic, or moral interests. If they invoke moral principles, they
should be challenged to defend those principles in a clear and rational
manner.
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Any meaningful discussion of the values expressed in drug policies
raises large philosophical questions. We might begin by asking which is
more important, health or liberty?Is it better to be sick and free from
coercion in a society where medicine and state are separate, or to be
healthy under the control of a therapeutic state?Can we trust our
medical guardians to refrain from the paternalism and the persecution
of "undesirables" exercised by theocracies throughout history?Who will
guard us from the guardians?
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The issue might be rephrased this way: Does the constitutional right to
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness include the right to harm
oneself? We accept the need for government to protect us from one
another, and we agree that the exercise of liberty at the expense of
another's freedom constitutes crime. But should the values of the
majority dictate the personal behaviors of a minority when such actions
harm no one else?Is it constitutionally proper for the government to
protect us from ourselves?
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Finally, can institutional methods of social control such as those
advanced by our current federal drug policies increase responsibility
and decrease liberty simultaneously? Or are these outcomes logically
incompatible? If they are incompatible, what is actually going on in
the field of drug control--and cui bono (who benefits)? Could it be
that any drug policy short of total repeal of prohibition is simply a
problem masquerading as a solution?These are questions we rarely hear
discussed in a public forum.
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) |
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Domestic News-Policy
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COMMENT: (Top) |
Fall-out from the ad campaign continued to resonate in the nation's
op-eds; prevailing opinion seems to be that not only are the ads
ineffective, the campaign itself is doing little to halt a growing
number of drug-war desertions in the media. McCaffrey was moved to
write this defense which is still making the rounds of major dailies
even as this is written. Kendra Wright's trenchant rebuttal was
published in the Austin American-Spectator.
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Next is David Morris' remarkably accurate assessment of the current
status of reform with the press; Morris analyzed how McCzar's Dutch
debacle was dealt with on the Internet. He was especially accurate for
someone who had yet to discover MAP (although he had found Cliff
Schaffer's library)
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A WSJ piece details amazing blindness at the DEA; a mid-level
functionary, cast in the mold of Aldrich Ames, brazenly siphoned a
million dollars a year in government funds directly into a dummy
company with his own name on it. Following on the heels of a
devastating GAO report, this could not have made good twenty-fifth
anniversary reading at the embattled agency.
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As if to underscore "embattled" the next article from an on-line
publication disclosed why DEA Director Tom Constantine isn't popular
with everyone at the agency.
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In contrast to McCzar's tortured syntax, Jerry Sutliff's succinct
treatment of a complex subject deserves to be read in its entirety.
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MEDIA BLITZ IS EFFECTIVE AGAINST DRUGS
By Barry R. McCaffrey
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Office of National Drug Control Policy has
just launched a national advertising campaign to stop illegal drug
use aimed at young people, 9 to 17 years of age, and the adults in
their lives. After test ads in 12 cities throughout the U.S.,
campaign has gone national, with regional adjustments for target
audiences.
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In some pilot cities, requests for information related to drug
prevention and treatment increased 500 percent after the ads appeared,
and calls to a national clearinghouse for anti-drug publications rose
300 percent.
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[snip]
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Pubdate: | Wed, 29 Jul 1998 |
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Source: | Chicago Tribune (IL) |
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Author: | Barry R. McCaffrey |
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KIDS AND THE POLITICS OF THE DRUG WAR
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This month House Speaker Newt Gingrich and President Clinton unveiled a
five-year, $1 billion advertising campaign to combat adolescent drug
use. Between cartoons, America's kids will be bombarded with
federally-sponsored anti-drug commercials. But while Republicans and
Democrats pat each other on the back for "knocking America upside the
head" on the dangers of drug use, both parties are guilty of
grandstanding on the teen drug problem without contributing
substantially to the solution.
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[snip]
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Since viewing the ads, my 14-year-old and 10-year-old have learned it
is possible to get high from everyday household products. How many
other children who would never have considered such products as
intoxicants now have the notion planted in their heads? This is not the
type of education I want for my children.
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[snip]
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Pubdate: | Fri, 31 Jul 1998 |
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Source: | Austin American-Statesman |
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U.S. SUPPRESSION OF DEBATE IS MONKEY ON NATION'S BACK
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On July 9, before he left on what his office called a "fact-finding"
tour to the Netherlands, U.S. drug czar Gen. Barry McCaffrey declared
the Dutch drug policy "an unmitigated disaster." The stunned Dutch
ambassador responded: "I must say that I find the timing of your
remarks [rather astonishing], six days before your planned visit [to
gain] firsthand knowledge about Dutch drugs policy and its results."
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[snip]
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Americans who believe that our drug policy is doing more harm than good
lack the power and resources of the drug prohibitionists. But they make
up for it in scholarship. Indeed, they seem to believe that simply by
presenting facts, they will convince the policy-makers.
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The motto of one Web site declares "Just Say Know." My favorite
information fount is the remarkable Schaffer Library of Drug Policy
(www.druglibrary.org/schaffer). The nation owes a debt to Clffford
Schaffer, .
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[snip]
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Pubdate: | Tue, 28 Jul 1998 |
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Source: | St. Paul Pioneer Press (MN) |
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Contact: | (Reader Advocate Nancy Conner) |
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Author: | David Morris, Columnist |
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Note: | Morris, a local author, lecturer and consultant, can be |
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reached at 1313 Fifth St. S.E., Suite 306, Minneapolis, Minn. 55414.
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DEA OFFICIAL BECOMES RICH AT THE EXPENSE OF AGENCY
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ARLINGTON, Va. - David Bowman's cubicle, usually a bureaucrat's ideal
of meticulous order, was a shambles. His desk had been rifled, his
computer was gone. This much, though, was left undisturbed on the
cubicle wall: the seal of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the
agency he had served for 21 years.
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[snip]
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Indeed. The Bowmans had lived luxuriously for years, thanks to the
father's mysterious side business, Bowman Enterprises Inc. The company
grossed $1 million a year on average. But investigators have concluded
that the money was illegally siphoned to a bogus company from DEA
headquarters here, in hundreds of checks averaging just under $9,000
each. In all, the government says in an indictment, Mr. Bowman stole
more than $6 million between 1990 and 1996.
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And for years, nobody noticed.
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[snip]
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Source: | Wall Street Journal |
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Pubdate: | Fri, 31 Jul 1998 |
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Author: | Phil Kuntz - Staff Reporter |
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DEA DRIVES OFF THE OLD GUARD
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Changing times brought on by Janet Reno have forced many of the
agency's most experienced, toughest agents into early retirement.
Their departure may be great news for drug cartels.
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They call themselves the "Jurassic narcs" - a fitting description for
such an endangered species.
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[snip]
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Source: | Insight On The News Online |
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Note: | Published in Washington, D.C. |
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TAINTED DRUG JUSTICE
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Milton Friedman pointed out over 25 years ago that prohibitionary laws
are at their core corrupting of law enforcement, the judicial system
and society itself.
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Drug transactions between seller and buyer are consensual - neither
makes the complaint about the activity. Consequently, law enforcement
authorities resort to using informants to obtain convictions.
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This leads inevitably to a point where, as was said by the 10th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals, "The judicial process is tainted and justice
cheapened when factual testimony is purchased, whether with leniency or
money" ("Loss of plea deals perils war on crime," July 20).
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The war on drugs would become nearly impossible should the 10th Circuit
decision stand. For that reason I am confident the decision will not.
The verbal contortions required to reverse the dead-on correct decision
will make interesting reading.
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GERALD M. SUTLIFF
Emeryville
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Pubdate: | Thu, 30 Jul 1998 |
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Source: | San Francisco Examiner (CA) |
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Prisons-
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COMMENT: (Top) |
Rapidly expanding prisons are among the more durable consequences of a
harsh drug policy. Even though they imprison at only one sixth the US
rate, British prison rolls are also at record levels, explaining why
the recommendations of a professional police organization provoked
squawks of outrage.
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Closer to home; the unsuccessful attempt to whitewash Corcoran
brutality may score some points for Gray Davis in November, but the
real problem is that an over-expanded, under-funded California prison
system is a ticking bomb.
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The poignancy of sending young mothers beyond their families' visiting
range obviously didn't register with economy minded legislators in
Wisconsin.
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Molly Ivins' long article explains how fear of recidivism has all but
eliminated parole in Texas.
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POLICE SAY PRISON WORKS
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Senior police officers have embarked on a collision course with the
Home Secretary, Jack Straw, by asking him to abandon plans for more
community punishments and, instead, to send even more criminals to
prison.
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The challenge by the Police Superintendents' Association of England
and Wales comes at a time when the prison service is struggling to
cope with a record jail population of 65,000.
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[snip]
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Pubdate: | Sun, 26 Jul 1998 |
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Source: | Independent, The (UK) |
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Author: | Ian Burrell, Home Affairs Correspondent |
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CORCORAN GUARDS THWARTED PROBE, DA TELLS LAWMAKERS
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Special Hearing On `Blood Sport' Fights
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A district attorney told legislators yesterday that prison guards used
a code of silence to block his investigation of brutality at California
State Prison at Corcoran.
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The prosecutor testified before a special committee looking into
operations at the San Joaquin Valley prison, where eight guards were
indicted in February on federal charges of staging ``blood sport''
fights among inmates in which one convict was killed.
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[snip]
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Source: | San Francisco Chronicle (CA) |
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Pubdate: | Wed, 29 Jul 1998 |
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FEMALE INMATES TO BE SENT OUT OF STATE
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Panel allows move of 120 women to West Virginia prison to ease crowding
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Madison - In as little as two weeks, Wisconsin for the first time will
send female inmates to a prison out of state to ease severe crowding,
under a contract approved Thursday by a key legislative committee.
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[snip]
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Pubdate: | Fri, 31 Jul 1998 |
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Source: | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI) |
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Author: | Richard P. Jones of the Journal Sentinel staff |
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DON'T LOOK FOR PAROLE IN TEXAS
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[snip]
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The overall parole approval rate, according to the latest figures from
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, is 22 percent for both
violent and nonviolent offenders, which means it's actually much lower
for violent offenders. This is the lowest approval rate in state
history. Before 1992, the approval rate was about 60 to 70 percent and
was simply a way of managing the prison population.
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[snip]
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Pubdate: | Thu, 23 Jul 1998 |
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Source: | San Jose Mercury News (CA) |
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Author: | Molly Ivins, columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram |
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Note: | This item came from SJMN on-line edition |
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Drug War: Sporting Front-
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COMMENT: (Top) |
Two events illustrated how drug policy impacts sports; the Tour de
France was turned into a shambles over the issue of doping, and two
American Olympians were suspended for testing positive for performance
enhancing drugs.
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The IOC's position is as interesting as it is hypocritical: using
banned drugs is OK if you are merely cheating to win, but try taking
pot and we'll ban you.
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Speaking of recreational use, the little noticed FIBA decision could
become a big issue for NBA contract negotiators.
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TOUR GOES ON AS RIDERS CLOSE RANKS
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GRENOBLE, France--What doping scandal? After agreeing with
bicycle-racing authorities to discuss the sport's pharmacological
problems in the fall and deciding not to talk now about anything but
the athletic aspect of the Tour de France, the 147 remaining riders
continued Sunday to roll toward their rendezvous with the Alps. If
teams had psychologists instead of sports doctors they would say the
race is in denial.
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[snip]
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Pubdate: | Mon, 27 Jul 1998 |
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Source: | International Herald-Tribune |
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Author: | Samuel Abt, International Herald Tribune |
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2 TRACK STARS FAIL DRUG TESTS
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U.S. won't enforce IAAF suspensions
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Another drug scandal rocked international sports Monday when track and
field's world governing body announced that two of America's top
athletes, sprinter Dennis Mitchell and 1996 Olympic shot-put champion
Randy Barnes, had been suspended for possible doping offenses.
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[snip]
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Pubdate: | Tue, 28 Jul 1998 |
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Source: | Dallas Morning News |
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Author: | New York Times News Service |
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OLYMPICS CHIEF'S CALL TO 'GO SOFT' ON DRUGS ATTACKED
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LEADING figures in British athletics yesterday reacted in anger and
astonishment to calls by the president of the International Olympics
Committee (IOC) for a relaxation in doping restrictions.
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Juan Antonio Samaranch ignited the latest drugs controversy during a
Spanish newspaper interview when he demanded some "harmless"
performance-enhancing drugs be legalised in sport.
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[snip]
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Pubdate: | Tue, 28 Jul 1998 |
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GOVERNING BODY OF WORLD BASKETBALL VOTES TO PENALIZE USE OF
CANNABIS
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FIBA NOTE: The FIBA World Congress meeting this week in Athens elected
Abdoulaye Seye Moreau of Senegal as its new president. He replaced
American George E. Killian who served for eight years.
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The congress also voted to penalize the use of marijuana (cannabis) by
players in FIBA competitions.
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[snip]
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Pubdate: | Tue, 28 Jul 1998 |
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Source: | Guardian, The (UK) |
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Author: | Sarah Boseley Scripps Howard News Service |
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BLOWING SMOKE: MARIJUANA USE NBA'S BIGGEST DRUG CONCERN
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The stock line with regard to marijuana use in the NBA for years went
something like this: if commissioner David Stern walked in on a team at
half time and they were getting high, he would have no other recourse
than to smile and just say no if a player asked him if he had a light.
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Evidently, players rarely say no these days amid reports that as many
as 70 percent smoke pot at least on a recreational basis.
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Because it's not included with cocaine, heroin, amphetamines and opium
in the league's current drug policy. With the existing agreement with
the union being scrapped in the current lockout by owners, the
marijuana issue is one of the elements being carved into the
negotiations over a new deal.
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[snip]
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Pubdate: | Mon, 20 Jul 1998 |
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Author: | Mike Kahn, CBS SportsLine Executive Editor |
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Medical Marijuana
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COMMENT: (Top) |
The concerted attacks on 215 by hostile law enforcement at local,
state and federal levels leave little doubt about how important they
think marijuana prohibition is to their meal tickets.
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The shocking tactics used against David Herrick 2 weeks ago in an
Orange County court will probably be repeated against Marvin Chavez.
This judicial misconduct will hurt the prohibitionist's image in the
long run, but meanwhile, it actively victimizes advocates of medical
marijuana, many of whom are patients themselves. They are being made
to pay a terrible price for their compassion and humanity.
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In asking about Peter McWilliams' condition, I also talked to Ass't
Warden Linda Thomas. She wouldn't give me any useful information
either.
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Oakland is a rare bright spot: a friendly local government working
with an impeccable distribution team to see if medical marijuana might
become practical reality despite unrelenting federal opposition.
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In Britain, more details were released about the privately financed
research Effort to develop a workable system for administering
vaporized.
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PROP.215 DISALLOWED IN POT TRIAL
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Courts: | A judge says prosecutors can subpoena Cannabis Co-Op patients' |
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medical records.
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A Santa Ana judge ruled Friday that Orange County Cannabis Co-Op
founder Marvin Chavez cannot use Prop. 215 as a defence in his upcoming
pot-peddling trial, Chavez's defence attorney said.
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And Superior Court Judge Robert Fitzergald also upheld a prosecutor's
request for proof that people who obtained pot for alleged ailments
were actually ill, defence attorney Jon Alexander said.
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[snip]
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Pubdate: | Sat, 25 Jul 1998 |
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Source: | Orange County Register (CA) |
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MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATE PLEADS INNOCENT TO CONSPIRACY CHARGES
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LOS ANGELES, July 27 - A Los Angeles medical marijuana advocate pleaded
innocent Monday to charges that he conspired with several others to
grow massive amounts of the drug to sell to Cannabis Buyer's Clubs.
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Peter McWilliams, who claims he is suffering from AIDS and cancer, is
accused of conspiring with Todd McCormick to supply the clubs, which
distribute marijuana to those who say they use it as medicine.
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[snip]
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A status conference was set for Aug. 24 in front of U.S. District Judge
George King. Last week, McWilliams was granted $250,000 bail. So far,
he hasn't come up with the money to post it.
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Meantime, Assistant U.S. Attorney Fernando Aenlle-Rocha said he hopes
officials from the Metropolitan Detention Center will "take steps to
remedy the problem" of the defendant not receiving all of his
medications. Linda Thomas, a spokeswoman for the downtown lockup where
McWilliams is being held refused to discuss the case.
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[snip]
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Source: | KNBC - MSNBC affiliate in Los Angeles |
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Pubdate: | Tue, 28 Jul 1998 |
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OAKLAND MAY BACK MEDICAL POT PROVIDERS
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OAKLAND - The Oakland City Council is expected tonight to make
designated providers of medical marijuana "officers of the city,"
giving them legal immunity from criminal and civil actions.
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Robert Raich, attorney for the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative,
said the city's support should block the federal government's efforts
to shut down the pot club.
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"This will hopefully blast a hole right through the Controlled
Substances Act," said Raich, who is representing the club and its
executive director, Jeff Jones, in the pending federal lawsuit.
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[snip]
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Source: | Sacramento Bee (CA) |
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Author: | Lesli Maxwell Bee Correspondent |
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MS VICTIMS TO PUFF POT TO TEST MEDICINAL EFFECTIVENESS
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The Guardian
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LONDON - The first human trials of the medicinal properties of
marijuana will controversially involve inhaling substances made from
the entire weed, not derivatives, it became clear Tuesday.
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Dr. Geoffrey Guy, chairman of GW Pharmaceuticals, a company he set up
with a license from the British Home Office to explore the medical uses
of marijuana, told the House of Lords select committee on science and
technology in London that he expected to move to clinical trials,
probably with multiple sclerosis sufferers, within the next few years.
He hoped the drug would be licensed as a medicine within five.
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[snip]
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Source: | Guardian, The (UK) |
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Author: | Sarah Boseley Scripps Howard News Service |
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International News
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COMMENT: (Top) |
The international scene provided little but embarrassment for the drug
war; London may have been shocked at criminal behavior from an
unaccustomed source, but Mexicans had to little reason for surprise.
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The bizarre Caribbean threat might easily have evoked memories of
Panama- that was the last time we invaded a sovereign country to make
a drug bust.
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HEROIN SCANDAL ROCKS LONDON'S DEVOUT JEWISH COMMUNITY
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The Orthodox Jewish community has been shocked by a series of arrests
of its members for alleged heroin smuggling. Police and Customs
inquiries are centering on a drugs link between Israel, Antwerp and
London.
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[snip]
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Source: | Independent, The (UK) |
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Pubdate: | Sat, 25 Jul 1998 |
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60 MEXICO CITY POLICE SUSPENDED FOR DRUG USE
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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Sixty officers from Mexico City's police force
were suspended Tuesday after failing a drug test, the latest blow to an
already dismal reputation for Mexico's capital police force.
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The suspended officers included delegates to two of the city's biggest
districts and two other high-ranking officials, the city's attorney
general Samuel del Villar told a news conference.
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The scandal came days after 15 policemen were arrested in a brutal rape
and kidnap case of three teenage girls.
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[snip]
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Pubdate: | Wed, 29 Jul 1998 |
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ALLEGED DRUG CHIEFTAN THREATENS TO KILL AMERICANS
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WASHINGTON -- A St. Kitts drug trafficker known as "Little Nut" is
threatening to randomly kill American veterinary students there if the
United States succeeds in extraditing him for trial, the State
Department said yesterday.
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The threats by 37-year-old Charles Miller, wanted in Florida for
cocaine smuggling, prompted an implicit warning that American
authorities are prepared to go after the man if he harms U.S. citizens.
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[snip]
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Pubdate: | Fri, 31 Jul 1998 |
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Source: | Standard-Times (MA) |
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Author: | George Gedda, Associated Press writer |
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top)
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Peter McWilliams updates
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Two sites are doing a good job of keeping us informed on the arrest and
incarceration of the nationally famous author and medical marijuana
activist Peter McWilliams. To review the latest on this developing case
see:
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http://www.marijuanamagazine.com/
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http://www.me.mtu.edu/~hull/
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TIP OF THE WEEK
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There is a really disturbing yet useful web page on the growth of the
prison industry at:
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http://www.abcnews.com/sections/us/DailyNews/prisons980802.html
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Be sure to click the Profits&Punishment banner.
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And by all means scroll down to "Prison Population and interactive Atlas"
Here you can click on your state on a US map to find incarcerations rates,
growth percentages and other prison growth stats. Great for cites and
quotes in LTEs
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The November Coalition
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Do you have a friend, relative, or loved one in prison who is a victim
of our failed and cruel drug policies?
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Do you need to provide examples of the hypocrisy and unfairness of our
existing policies?
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Please visit the November Coalition web page. There you will find the
names and horror stories of scores of people who have had their lives
ruined by foolish laws maintained by a corrupt and power mad federal
government.
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A ten minute visit to this page should convince nearly any open minded
individual that "The War on Drugs" is doing more harm than good. See
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top)
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`Being briefed by the CIA is like being a mushroom: you're kept in the
dark and fed manure' - Norman Mineta
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FACT OF THE WEEK (Top)
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Every year since 1975, 85% of high school seniors have said they find
illegal drugs "fairly easy" or "very easy" to obtain.
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Source: | Johnston, L., Bachman, J. & O'Malley, P. (1996). National |
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survey results from the monitoring the future study, HHS, National
Institute on Drug Abuse.
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News/COMMENTS-Editor - Tom O'Connell ()
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