| September 16, 1998 #064 | ||||||||||||||||
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A DrugSense publication | ||||||||||||||||
SPECIAL BACK TO SCHOOL ISSUE | ||||||||||||||||
!!! HOW THE "War on Drugs" IS DEVASTATING OUR CHILDREN AND THEIR FUTURE !!! | ||||||||||||||||
EDITORS NOTE: As many of our nations youth will soon be returning to
school, we thought an issue which concentrates upon our next
generation to be timely. Please consider sharing a copy of this issue
with a parent who may not have considered the dangers the drug war
poses to their children. | ||||||||||||||||
In about 10 minutes a week you can stay aware and informed on drug
policy developments worldwide. | ||||||||||||||||
Consider investing another 10 minutes to write a letter to the editor
using the email addresses provided in this publication. | ||||||||||||||||
You CAN make a difference! | ||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Who Is Starting College This Fall? | ||||||||||||||||
We get an abundance of "off-topic" email at our office. The "delete"
key comes in handy, but now and then an off topic post has value. This
autumn I will speaking to students at colleges around the country. Who
are the young adults who are starting college this fall across the
nation? | ||||||||||||||||
Most were born in 1980. They have no meaningful recollection of the
Reagan era. They were pubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged.
Their lifetime has always included AIDS. | ||||||||||||||||
Atari predates them and the expression "you sound like a broken record"
means nothing. They may have heard of an 8-track, but haven't listened
to one. | ||||||||||||||||
The digital Disc was introduced when they were 1 year old. As far as they know, stamps have always cost about 32 cents. They have always had an answering machine. Most have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels. They were born the year that the Walkman was introduced by Sony and have no idea when or why Jordache jeans were cool. | ||||||||||||||||
They never took a swim and thought about Jaws. They don't know who Mork
was or where he was from. They find nothing strange about Gorbachev
doing pizza commercials and most of their parents were still in diapers
when the Beatles were on the charts. | ||||||||||||||||
I read this feeling more enlightened about the audience I would be
addressing in the coming months. I took this further and realized that
there were other things that reveal who the people starting college
this year are. | ||||||||||||||||
They don't know that a "urine test" used to be a physician's diagnostic
procedure. They can't remember early evening television without Fox
Network's COPS, replete with video of police agents battering down a
door and bleeps that filled in the words that begin with, "Get down on
the floor, M**** F*****!" | ||||||||||||||||
They don't realize that 20 years ago, the only job opening for a German Shepard was as a guard or guide dog; that a "buy and bust" meant you spent too much money at the grocery store, and a "no knock" was a neighbor that could enter your house with a verbal greeting. | ||||||||||||||||
They have not been taught that a "DARE" is something they shouldn't take, and a "tattle tale" is someone nobody wants to be. | ||||||||||||||||
Nora Callahan | ||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW | ||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Let's Really Protect Our Children | ||||||||||||||||
We constantly here politicians chest thumping about how we must spend
more on the drug war in order "to protect our children." Some of the
negative fallout that influences our nation's children is demonstrated
in the articles below. The truth of the matter is that the drug war
itself has caused unconscionable devastation on our children and it is
escalating at an alarming pace. Negative consequences range from
increased drug use resulting from an out-of-control black market to a
steady erosion of civil rights and individual liberty, from parental
incarceration and even to increasing numbers of our youth being
murdered, all as a direct result of the "War on Drugs." There is
little one can imagine that would be more beneficial to the children
of the world than implementing sensible drug policies that actually
bring about some measure of control. | ||||||||||||||||
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CHILD DEALER DOWNS COKE DURING RAID | ||||||||||||||||
A 10-year-old Honduran boy who swallowed 28 rocks of cocaine during a
Vancouver police sweep of Hastings Street is recovering in Children's
Hospital. | ||||||||||||||||
Police took the child to hospital after they saw him furiously swallowing the drugs during the raid, Staff-Sgt. Doug MacKay-Dunn said yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||
The boy spit up eight of the rocks on the way to hospital. Twenty more were
later pumped from his stomach. | ||||||||||||||||
``The kid could have died,'' said MacKay-Dunn. ``There's no way the
officers could have prevented him from swallowing.'' | ||||||||||||||||
Police are no longer allowed to use choke-holds to prevent dealers from
swallowing evidence. | ||||||||||||||||
Another 14-year-old Honduran youth also working as a ``runner'' at
Hastings and Abbott streets was turned over to the ministry of children
and families. He was placed in a group home where he is being
counselled by a youth worker. | ||||||||||||||||
[continues: 27 lines] | ||||||||||||||||
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BABY WAS USED TO CONCEAL SMUGGLED DRUGS | ||||||||||||||||
RAYMOND, Maine -- A 6-month-old baby who had cocaine in her bloodstream
was used by her stepfather to conceal drugs that were smuggled from
Lowell, Mass., police said. | ||||||||||||||||
Richard Davison, 41, of Raymond, was arrested by drug agents after they
learned from the Maine Department of Human Services that the baby had
tested positive for cocaine. | ||||||||||||||||
The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency seized $8,000 in cocaine and $1,000
cash from his home Monday. | ||||||||||||||||
Davison remained yesterday in the Cumberland County Jail, where he is
being held on charges of drug trafficking, furnishing cocaine to a
child and endangering the welfare of a child. | ||||||||||||||||
The convicted drug dealer and admitted addict told agents he cared for the baby during the summer until giving her to the DHS in mid-August, prior to a brief stint in jail, according to affidavits. | ||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
If this is "protecting our children" then we are failing 66% of the time. | ||||||||||||||||
TWO-THIRDS OF TEENS TRY DRUGS | ||||||||||||||||
Two-thirds of teenagers have tried illegal drugs and around a third
are recreational drug users. | ||||||||||||||||
The finding comes as the result of a five-year study of teenagers'
drug habits and offers the first solid evidence of a culture shift
towards recreational drug use in the UK. | ||||||||||||||||
The study also found that teenagers were using drugs intelligently and
made rational decisions to guide their drug-taking. | ||||||||||||||||
Research fellows from the department of Social Policy and Social Work
at Manchester University followed the progress of 500 youths from the
age of 14 until they were 18. | ||||||||||||||||
Ordinary Youths | ||||||||||||||||
The report authors say these were ordinary adolescents who led conventional lives and are now in work or at university. | ||||||||||||||||
By the time the subjects were 18, 64% had tried illicit drugs while
around three in 10 were recreational drug users. | ||||||||||||||||
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ONE YOUTH IN 20 HAS TRIED HEROIN, SCHOOL SURVEY FINDS | ||||||||||||||||
Heroin experimentation appears to be on the rise among NSW teenagers, with a schools survey revealing that one in 20 male youths had tried the drug, a tenfold increase on an earlier national study. | ||||||||||||||||
The 1996 secondary schools survey of 12- to 17-year-olds, released
yesterday by the State Government, also shows that girls are now almost
as likely as boys to try cannabis, previously considered more of a
problem among young men. | ||||||||||||||||
Drug experts said the best comparable data was the 1995 National Drug
Household Survey, where 44 per cent of male 14- to 19-year-olds had
tried cannabis, compared to 24 per cent of females. | ||||||||||||||||
The NSW schools survey shows that 39 per cent of boys and 31 per cent
of girls had tried cannabis but males were twice as likely to report
recent use than females. | ||||||||||||||||
The information manager for the National Drug and Alcohol Research
Centre, Mr Paul Dillon, said the two-year-old figures were "pretty
useless" because drug use changed constantly but the survey suggested
that drug education should start earlier in schools. The Minister for
Health, Dr Refshauge, said yesterday there had been a 10 per cent
increase in cannabis-dependent patients suffering drug-induced
psychosis between 1993 and 1997. | ||||||||||||||||
He committed $75,000 for new treatment programs for young people due to the possible link between cannabis use and mental illness. | ||||||||||||||||
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RISE SEEN IN LAKE TEENS' USE OF MARIJUANA | ||||||||||||||||
Although a survey of Lake County teens showed that alcohol and tobacco
use has declined in the last six years among high school juniors, the
study released Friday found that marijuana use has risen among 6th, 8th
and 11th graders. | ||||||||||||||||
Similar findings on marijuana use among teens appeared in a national government survey last month, prompting Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala to say that the rise was partly due to attitudes among students and parents that it is a low-risk, "soft" drug. | ||||||||||||||||
"Because they grew up at a time when marijuana was around, this
generation of parents has ambiguous feelings about it," said Peter
Mulhall, a researcher with the Center for Prevention Research and
Development at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who
conducted the Lake County survey. | ||||||||||||||||
The center did the study for the Lake County Fighting Back Coalition, a
federally funded umbrella organization that advises and trains
prevention groups in the county. | ||||||||||||||||
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COURT RULES SCHOOL'S DRUG POLICY IS ILLEGAL | ||||||||||||||||
Appellate judges say Anderson district's testing program violates the
U.S. Constitution | ||||||||||||||||
ANDERSON, Ind. -- The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that Anderson Community Schools' drug-testing policy is unconstitutional. | ||||||||||||||||
The decision came five months to the day after Indiana Civil Liberties
Union attorney Ken Falk argued against the expulsion of Anderson High
School freshman James R. "Buddy" Willis II before the appeals court in
Chicago. Buddy, 15, was suspended for five days Dec. 10 for fighting
with another student. | ||||||||||||||||
Under a drug-testing policy adopted in August 1997, he was directed to
take a drug test when he returned to school Dec. 19. He repeatedly
refused the test and eventually was barred from school for the rest of
the 1997-98 school year, while Falk and school attorneys battled over
the constitutionality of the drug-test policy. | ||||||||||||||||
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MARINES WHO SHOT TEEN LACKED ADEQUATE TRAINING, REPORT SAYS | ||||||||||||||||
EL PASO - A military report that cleared the Marines involved in the
fatal shooting of a West Texas teenager of any crime also said that
they were not adequately trained for an anti-drug operation that placed
them among civilians. | ||||||||||||||||
The internal report also said commanders did not do enough to prevent escalation of the Marines' encounter last year with Esequiel Hernandez | ||||||||||||||||
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The mission "appears to have been viewed at every level of Marine Corps
command as more of a training opportunity than a real world deployment.
The failure to appreciate the difference had tragic consequences,"
wrote retired Marine Maj. Gen. John T. Coyne, who investigated the
shooting. | ||||||||||||||||
Parts of the report had been released earlier this summer. | ||||||||||||||||
The report specifically said brief training on the appropriate use of force did not balance combat responses drilled into Marines. | ||||||||||||||||
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RELATED ARTICLE | ||||||||||||||||
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CORRUPTION | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Not only are our children being endangered by existing drug policies
but their future rights to a safe and free society are being sabotaged
by the corrosive effects of our failed current attempt at prohibition.
The thought of widespread police corruption was unthinkable just a few
decades ago. Now it is commonplace. The attraction of easy drug money
is even too strong a lure for those who are sworn to "protect and
serve." | ||||||||||||||||
To add insult to injury we are building ten new prisons for every new
university. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where a
very high percentage of our children are going to wind up. And it
isn't Notre Dame! | ||||||||||||||||
L.A. COPS ACCUSE A COLLEAGUE | ||||||||||||||||
Officer charged: An alleged drug theft rocks a police force that,
whatever other controversy dogged it, long held itself all but immune
to graft. | ||||||||||||||||
LOS ANGELES -- As a police officer in the LAPD's busiest precinct, near downtown Los Angeles, Rafael Antonio Perez was responsible for investigating gang crimes and testifying against suspects in court. | ||||||||||||||||
Last month, it was Perez who entered the courtroom in handcuffs and a
blue county jail jump suit to hear charges against him: stealing three
kilograms (about 6 1/2 pounds) of cocaine from an evidence locker at
the Los Angeles Police Department. | ||||||||||||||||
Perez, 31, a nine-year employee who was arrested by his fellow officers
Aug. 25, pleaded not guilty to charges of drug possession, grand theft
and forgery. | ||||||||||||||||
The felony complaint against Perez contends he checked out, and never
returned, the cocaine from the property room March 2 by forging on the
evidence log the signature of another police officer with the same last
name. | ||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Are we really better off by having put our law enforcement officers on
"Commission?" Who is losing more in this case the occasional nabbed
drug dealer or the Constitution? | ||||||||||||||||
IOWA'S FORFEITURE LAW TAKES THE PROFIT OUT OF CRIME | ||||||||||||||||
Millions in cash and property have been seized by police and sheriffs | ||||||||||||||||
Samuel Vallejo lost more than his freedom when authorities nabbed him for drug dealing. They also seized four vehicles, $7,000 in cash, a cell phone and pager from a rural Polk County residence. | ||||||||||||||||
"It'll put him out of business for a while," said Chief Deputy Dennis
Anderson of the Polk County Sheriff's Department, which plans to sell
the vehicles at a public auction next month. | ||||||||||||||||
Vallejo, 25, is not alone in feeling the sting of Iowa's forfeiture
law. Police and sheriff s departments across the state have used the
law to acquire millions of dollars in cash, cars and other property
from people involved in drug dealing or other crimes. | ||||||||||||||||
While Iowa law enforcement agencies don't come across art deco mansions
and powerful cigarette boats like you might find in South Florida,
authorities say the property seizures are a significant tool in their
war against drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
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DRUG PIPE REPORT SPURS CITY PROBE | ||||||||||||||||
Clive city and police officials are investigating allegations that a marijuana pipe was found at a July party attended by some city leaders and members of the volunteer fire department, authorities said Monday. | ||||||||||||||||
City officials said that the case is being investigated as a personnel
matter, and they would not provide details. | ||||||||||||||||
Clive City Manager Dennis Henderson said the incident reportedly took
place at a July 25 going-away party for the former fire chief at the
home of Dave Ennen, a volunteer firefighter and member of Clive's
planning and zoning commission. Ennon did not return calls to his home
Monday. | ||||||||||||||||
"The allegation is that there was a small, silver marijuana pipe
spotted at the party," Henderson said. | ||||||||||||||||
He would not comment on anyone involved and said that, to his
knowledge, no drugs were found. | ||||||||||||||||
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DRUG STING ROCKS U.K. PARLIAMENT | ||||||||||||||||
Peer allegedly offered cocaine to reporter | ||||||||||||||||
LONDON (AP) - One of the youngest members of Britain's House of Lords
was suspended yesterday after allegedly trying to sell cocaine to an
undercover reporter in the corridors of Parliament. | ||||||||||||||||
Joseph Phillip Sebastian Yorke, the 10th Lord Hardwicke, could face
expulsion from the Conservative party. | ||||||||||||||||
The move follows a report in the tabloid News of the World on Sunday that the lord tried to sell cocaine to one of its undercover reporters last week when members of the House were recalled to debate stricter security legislation after a fatal bombing in Northern Ireland. | ||||||||||||||||
Yorke, 27, runs a motor scooter shop and admits he only shows up at the House of Lords twice a week to collect his $330 in attendance fees. | ||||||||||||||||
He said he was "shocked and distressed" by the scandal. | ||||||||||||||||
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DRUG SEIZURE LAWS RIPE FOR ABUSE | ||||||||||||||||
Police tactics bring cries for reform | ||||||||||||||||
On New Year's Eve, Adam Townley sold marijuana to an undercover police
officer. He would end up paying for it with his car. | ||||||||||||||||
Eager to gain ownership of Mr. Townley's two-door 1990 Nissan -- taken
during his arrest -- Fairfax police agreed to a deal in which two
counts of drug trafficking against the 20-year-old from Union Township
in Clermont County were reduced to a lesser charge. | ||||||||||||||||
Police holding drug-raid loot Mr. Townley got his freedom. The police got
the Nissan. | ||||||||||||||||
The exchange, though perfectly legal under drug forfeiture law, raises
questions about the legitimacy of such tactics and the zeal with which
some police agencies pursue material goods enjoyed by the drug dealers
they arrest. | ||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE NET | ||||||||||||||||
TALK TO MIKE GRAY ONLINE THIS SATURDAY PM | ||||||||||||||||
Mike Gray will be the guest in the Legalize-USA chat room next Saturday
evening. This will be a moderated discussion to start with, followed by
an open discussion. | ||||||||||||||||
YOU can chat with DRUG CRAZY author Mike Gray this Saturday! | ||||||||||||||||
Just point your web browser to | ||||||||||||||||
for details and information about how to use your java enabled web browser or Internet Relay Chat (IRC) software to join the discussion. | ||||||||||||||||
Mike Gray, author of the China Syndrome and the much acclaimed Drug Crazy will discuss his insights into the background of the War on Drugs and how we may find a way out of it. More on Drug Crazy is at: | ||||||||||||||||
The chat on Saturday, Sept 19th, will be at the following time: | ||||||||||||||||
9:00pm-11:00pm EST | ||||||||||||||||
8:00pm-10:00pm CST | ||||||||||||||||
6:00pm-8:00pm PST | ||||||||||||||||
2:00am-4:00am the following day GMT | ||||||||||||||||
3:00am-5:00am the following day CET (Central European Time) | ||||||||||||||||
Join us! | ||||||||||||||||
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TIP OF THE WEEK | ||||||||||||||||
Hearty Congratulations to Marsha Rosenbaum of The Lindesmith
Center-West. Her article below was published in the San Francisco
Chronicle last Monday Sept 7. It can also be read at: | ||||||||||||||||
A MOTHER'S ADVICE ABOUT DRUGS | ||||||||||||||||
by Marsha Rosenbaum, director of The Lindesmith Center-West, a drug
policy institute in San Francisco, wrote this letter to her son, an
Urban High School freshman. | ||||||||||||||||
DEAR JOHNNY, | ||||||||||||||||
This fall you will be entering high school, and like most American
teenagers, you'll have to navigate drugs. As most parents, I would
prefer that you not use drugs. However, I realize that despite my
wishes, you might experiment. | ||||||||||||||||
I will not use scare tactics to deter you. Instead, having spent the
past 25 years researching drug use, abuse and policy, I will tell you a
little about what I have learned, hoping this will let you to make wise
choices. My only concern is your health and safety. | ||||||||||||||||
When people talk about ``drugs,'' they are generally referring to
illegal substances such as marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine (speed),
psychedelic drugs (LSD, Ecstasy, ``Schrooms'') and heroin. These are
not the only drugs that make you high. Alcohol, cigarettes and many
other substances (like glue) cause intoxication of some sort. The fact
that one drug or another is illegal does not mean one is better or
worse for you. All of them temporarily change the way you perceive
things and the way you think. | ||||||||||||||||
Some people will tell you that drugs feel good, and that's why they use
them. But drugs are not always fun. Cocaine and methamphetamine speed
up your heart; LSD can make you feel disoriented; alcohol intoxication
impairs driving; cigarette smoking leads to addiction and sometimes
lung cancer; and people sometimes die suddenly from taking heroin.
Marijuana does not often lead to physical dependence or overdose, but
it does alter the way people think, behave and react. | ||||||||||||||||
I have tried to give you a short description of the drugs you might
encounter. I choose not to try to scare you by distorting information
because I want you to have confidence in what I tell you. Although I
won't lie to you about their effects, there are many reasons for a
person your age to not use drugs or alcohol. | ||||||||||||||||
First, being high on marijuana or any other drug often interferes with normal life. It is difficult to retain information while high, so using it - -- especially daily -- affects your ability to learn. Second, if you think you might try marijuana, please wait until you are older. Adults with drug problems often started using at a very early age. | ||||||||||||||||
Finally, your father and I don't want you to get into trouble. Drug and alcohol use is illegal, and the consequences of being caught are huge. Here in the United States, the number of arrests for possession of marijuana has more than doubled in the past six years. Adults are serious about ``zero tolerance.'' If caught, you could be arrested, expelled from school, barred from playing sports, lose your driver's license, denied a college loan, and/or rejected for college. | ||||||||||||||||
Despite my advice to abstain, you may one day choose to experiment. I
will say again that this is not a good idea, but if you do, I urge you
to learn as much as you can, and use common sense. There are many
excellent books and references, including the Internet, that give you
credible information about drugs. You can, of course, always talk to
me. If I don't know the answers to your questions, I will try to help
you find them. | ||||||||||||||||
If you are offered drugs, be cautious. Watch how people behave, but
understand that everyone responds differently -- even to the same
substance. If you do decide to experiment, be sure you are surrounded
by people you can count upon. Plan your transportation and under no
circumstances drive or get into a car with anyone else who has been
using alcohol or other drugs. Call us or any of our close friends any
time, day or night, and we will pick you up -- no questions asked and
no consequences. | ||||||||||||||||
And please, Johnny, use moderation. It is impossible to know what is contained in illegal drugs because they are not regulated. The majority of fatal overdoses occur because young people do not know the strength of the drugs they consume, or how they combine with other drugs. Please do not participate in drinking contests, which have killed too many young people. Whereas marijuana by itself is not fatal, too much can cause you to become disoriented and sometimes paranoid. And of course, smoking can hurt your lungs, later in life and now. Johnny, as your father and I have always told you about a range of activities (including sex), think about the consequences of your actions before you act. Drugs are no different. Be skeptical and most of all, be safe. | ||||||||||||||||
Love, Mom | ||||||||||||||||
1998 San Francisco Chronicle Page A23 | ||||||||||||||||
US CA: OPED: A Mother's Advice About Drugs
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SPECIAL FOCUS ALERT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
PLEASE WRITE A LETTER ON THIS ONE
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Mademoiselle Magazine (Circulation 1.2 Million) Deserves hearty
congratulations for the excellent piece excerpted below. The
subscribers of this magazine (largely middle class female) is a
difficult target for the reform movement. Please consider writing a
brief letter of encouragement. If your letter gets published it will
have an equivalent ad value of nearly $1,000 per column inch and reach
well over a million people! | ||||||||||||||||
PRESCRIPTION POTHEADS | ||||||||||||||||
WHAT'S A NICE GIRL LIKE YOU DOING WITH A JOINT LIKE THIS? TAKING HER | ||||||||||||||||
One late night last June, Lee, 22 and two of her friends pulled their
car over to a curb in crime-ridden downtown Oakland. They wanted to buy
marijuana, which Lee smoked every day. She was completely out, and
couldn't get in touch with her regular contact, a dealer-slash-friend.
So there she was, on a dark, desolate corner where she'd heard she
could score some weed. | ||||||||||||||||
A man rode up on a bicycle. "You want a twenty-dollar bag.?" he asked. Lee, who was in the driver's seat, sensed danger as she put the bill in his hand. Sure enough, he whipped out a knife. "Give me all your jewelry and money," he ordered. When he leaned into the car, Lee noticed a gun peeking out of his jacket. She pulled three rings off her left hand. On was a cherished friendship band her god-sister had give her seven years ago, when Lee tested positive for the HIV virus. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"The government approach is inhumane," says Chuck Thomas of the
Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C., an advocacy group that
wants to legalize medical marijuana. "They bust ill patients' doors
down, drag them downtown, take their mug shot and throw them in jail
like common criminals." The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
admits Lee could do time if she were caught with as little as one
joint. "We're not out looking for AIDS patients, but people who use
marijuana are breaking the law," says DEA spokesperson Rogene Waite.
"And we follow the law on this." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The Criminally Ill? | ||||||||||||||||
Marijuana is illegal, but it's also good medicine. Ninety human studies indicate that cannabis sativa (the species name for marijuana) relieves many of the symptoms that accompany AIDS, multiple sclerosis (MS), epilepsy and chemotherapy treatment for cancer. Unfortunately, most of the studies have not met strict Food and Drug Administration guidelines, and the FDA has not approved further research. So marijuana remains classified with LSD and heroin as a Schedule 1 drug (that means it's highly addictive, has no therapeutic value and can't be prescribed by a physician). | ||||||||||||||||
There are three main medical uses for marijuana; as an anti nauseant
and an appetite stimulant (for AIDS and chemo patients); as an
antispasmodic, or muscle relaxant (for spasms that accompany MS, epilepsy
and paraplegia). Most of the medical establishment - including the
American Medical Association, the American Cancer Society, the American
Public Health Association and many state nurses' organizations - support
research into therapeutic use of this versatile drug. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
A Different Kind Of Health Club | ||||||||||||||||
I met Lee at the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, a club in
Oakland, California, that sells marijuana to patients who have a
doctor's recommendation. The only daughter of divorced parents, Lee grew
up with her mom and step-dad in a tough San Francisco neighborhood, where,
at age 15, Lee was raped by an acquaintance. "I thought he was trying to
get me pregnant, so I told him I'd be down at the clinic in a minute to
abort it," Lee says. "He told me, 'I'm giving you something the clinic
can't cure'" - HIV. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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[SIDEBAR] | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Copyright 1998 by the Conde Nast Publications Inc. Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. | ||||||||||||||||
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Thanks to Eric Skidmore for the following: | ||||||||||||||||
Check out this quote from a Molly Ivins column, September 8, 1998, in
the Anchorage Daily News. The quote is attributed to Upton Sinclair, a
turn of the century muckraker, famous for "The Jungle" exposing the
Chicago meat packing industry. | ||||||||||||||||
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary
depends on his not understanding it." - Upton Sinclair | ||||||||||||||||
This obviously has implications for the drug warriors, law enforcement,
treatment counselors, urine testers, media parasites, forfeiture
benefactors, etc. The list is endless. | ||||||||||||||||
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FACT OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Commissioned by President Nixon in 1972, the National Commission on
Marihuana and Drug Abuse concluded that "Marihuana's relative potential
for harm to the vast majority of individual users and its actual impact on
society does not justify a social policy designed to seek out and firmly
punish those who use it. This judgment is based on prevalent use patterns,
on behavior exhibited by the vast majority of users and on our
interpretations of existing medical and scientific data. This position also
is consistent with the estimate by law enforcement personnel that the
elimination of use is unattainable." | ||||||||||||||||
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