| September 30 ,1998 #066 | ||||||||||||||
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A DrugSense publication | ||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||
Editors Note: We don't normally insert a book review as our feature article but we feel that "Shattered Lives" deserved a little attention. This is a quality publication that puts a face on the drug war and its victims. It includes pictures of both victims and families, horror stories, and personal accounts of the devastation caused by the "War on Drugs" and is a very effective tool for quickly converting the uninformed, apathetic, or "fence sitters." | ||||||||||||||
We encourage our readers to both obtain a copy and to consider "Shattered Lives" as a holiday gift to someone who needs to realize how the drug war is destroying our country and our freedoms. | ||||||||||||||
"SHATTERED LIVES" (the book) | ||||||||||||||
A wake-up call to every American. | ||||||||||||||
Shattered Lives, Portraits from Americas Drug War | ||||||||||||||
By the creators of Human Rights and the Drug War: Mikki Norris, Chris
Conrad and Virginia Resner | ||||||||||||||
"The federal agents promised that if I refused to help them gain the
information against my husband, they would destroy my life. This they
did." | ||||||||||||||
Amy Pofahl, age 37 | ||||||||||||||
Meet Amy Ralston Pofahl, a victim of overzealous law enforcement. They
took her home, her business, her bank savings even her wedding ring. Now
they have her life. Amy is seven years into a 24-year sentence for a
crime she did not commit her estranged husband's conspiracy to import
and manufacture MDMA (ecstasy). | ||||||||||||||
In the name of the Drug War, families are being torn apart, children
orphaned, and homes and property seized as first-time, non-violent drug
offenders are thrown into U.S. prisons, serving harsh sentences of 10,
20 years and longer. | ||||||||||||||
Learn how we got here, the costs and the statistics, and what can still be done to bring a just end to what has become America's longest war. | ||||||||||||||
In this photo essay, you will see the faces and read the compelling
stories of America's new POWs. Your image of the Drug War may never be
the same... | ||||||||||||||
1998. ISBN 0-9639754-3-9. Paperback. 12 color pages. | ||||||||||||||
Toll-free credit card ordering 888-265-2732 | ||||||||||||||
Wholesale/distributor inquiries: 510-215-8326 | ||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||
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Constitutional Guarantees- COMMENT: (Top) | ||||||||||||||
Two Ninth Circuit decisions affected police powers; one, which refused
to allow a check for weapons at federal buildings to be routinely
expanded into a search for drugs was a victory for common sense. This
was offset by another case in which the court gave police carte
blanche to perform unannounced searches on parolees. These will, of
necessity, intrude on the privacy of their families or living
companions as well. | ||||||||||||||
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DRUG SEARCH BARRED AT FED BUILDINGS | ||||||||||||||
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Heightened security rules for searches at federal
buildings imposed after the Oklahoma City bombing are | ||||||||||||||
The rules must be narrowed to allow only searches for weapons and
explosives, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a case from
Hawaii. Officers would still be allowed to seize any contraband they
see in plain view while looking for dangerous objects, said lawyers in
the case. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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SEARCH FOR JUSTICE? | ||||||||||||||
A troubling California Supreme Court ruling on Monday could encroach on
Americans' protection from unreasonable searches and seizures under the
U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
The case under review involves the rights of parolees from prison and
people they associate with. | ||||||||||||||
The ruling enlarges police powers at the expense of private citizens'
rights and, once again, that expansion of power is tied to waging the
war on drugs. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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Prisons | ||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (Top) | ||||||||||||||
A report by the Criminal Justice Foundation directed attention to the
oft-forgotten conflict between higher education and prisons. The
Foundation was headquartered in San Francisco before moving to
Washington; with Berkeley also hosting a symposium on prison issues,
it isn't surprising that Bay Area newspapers produced three excellent
articles on the subject. | ||||||||||||||
One reports on the marked increase in prison labor, one is devoted to the foundation's report (plus a lame rebuttal from Wilson's office); the third is an excellent op-ed by Angela Davis. Her detailed analysis is right on the money; unfortunately her Sixties reputation may lead some to deny it the attention it deserves. She points out that continuing prison expansion has the potential to unite many disparate grass roots organizations in opposition to further expansion. | ||||||||||||||
Finally, a very cogent overview is supplied by a the Chicago Tribune,
which gives a good appraisal of the connection between the report and
the Berkeley conference. Expect incarceration to receive more press
attention as prison rolls increase; especially if gross tax revenues
should diminish. | ||||||||||||||
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IN THE JOINT ON THE JOB | ||||||||||||||
State prisons staff $155 million-a-year enterprise with inmates | ||||||||||||||
Behind razor wire and lethal electric fences at more than 70 factories
in California lies a hidden industrial empire, churning out an
astonishing array of goods ranging from eyeglasses and flags to chairs
and muumuus. | ||||||||||||||
It makes things that even Sears Roebuck & Co. does not usually stock,
like the ``bear proof'' locker for $425. Many prices are hard to beat -
women's blue jeans for $12.10, men's shoes $31.25, 100 percent cotton
nightgowns for $8.25. | ||||||||||||||
The home of this $155 million-a-year enterprise is the California state
prison system, viewed by most people as the maker of license plates,
not a vast network of modern industrial plants producing 24,000
varieties of 1,800 different items. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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Wilson's Office Calls Study `Drivel' | ||||||||||||||
Under the administration of Gov. Pete Wilson, more state tax dollars
have gone to prisons and corrections than to the state's top two
college systems - a gap that has never been wider in at least 30 years
- according to a study released Tuesday. | ||||||||||||||
The report, which was quickly denounced by Wilson's office, was issued
by a liberal think tank called the Justice Policy Group, and it cited a
growing trend across the United States to spend on corrections, not
instruction. | ||||||||||||||
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SEEING THROUGH THE ILLUSIONS OF THE PRISON-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX | ||||||||||||||
(Angela Y. Davis is History of Consciousness professor at the University of California - Santa Cruz and an organizer of the upcoming conference Critical Resistance: Beyond the Prison Industrial Complex. An earlier version of this article appeared in Colorlines magazine.) | ||||||||||||||
Imprisonment has become the response of first resort to the problems
facing people living in poverty. Our prisons thus appear to perform a
feat of magic. But prisons do not disappear problems - they disappear
human beings. And the practice of disappearing vast numbers of people
from poor, immigrant, and racially marginalized communities has
literally become big business. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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PRISON GROWTH STEALING FUNDS FROM SCHOOLS, ACTIVISTS SAY | ||||||||||||||
LOS ANGELES -- During the 1960s and early '70s as college students were
protesting the Vietnam War, another movement began pushing its way to
the fore: prisoner rights. | ||||||||||||||
Inspired in part by Angela Davis, the young black militant who was
imprisoned before being acquitted of kidnapping and murder charges in
1972, the movement focused on overcrowding, rapes and other inhumane
conditions in the nation's jails and prisons. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
Davis, 53, a professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz, as well as college students and other former prisoners, have scheduled a conference this weekend at UC-Berkeley titled "Critical Resistance: Beyond the Prison Industrial Complex" to draw attention to the issue. | ||||||||||||||
The conference is expected to call for a moratorium on prison
construction and a focus on preventive measures to keep people out
of prison. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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Annals of Interdiction | ||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (Top) | ||||||||||||||
As the implementation of drug prohibition falls increasingly under
military control it's to be expected that, despite what McCzar says,
the "war" in drug war will become less a metaphor and more a realistic
descriptive term. Evidence for this can be found in statements made
last week by two serving officers; first McC's successor as head of
the Southern Command weighed in with an assessment of the Colombian
quagmire which was eerily reminiscent of Westmoreland-. Don't these
guys read history? | ||||||||||||||
The second came from the head of the Coast Guard, who in classic
bureaucratic jargon, told Congress that he loved their concept of
purging drugs from the Western Hemisphere, but needed more dough to do
the job right. | ||||||||||||||
Finally, we have McCzar himself, clearly unwilling to give up the idea
of interdiction, but smart enough not to say anything too stupid. He
seems to be hoping for a high-tech magic bullet which will somehow
detect drugs without slowing the commercial flows that NAFTA demands.
Lots of luck, general. | ||||||||||||||
U.S. GENERAL SEES TURNING OF CORNER IN COLOMBIA | ||||||||||||||
KEY WEST, Fla. (Reuters) - The general leading the United States' war against the Latin American drugs trade said Thursday the situation was looking better in frontline Colombia, where American personnel have been helping the beleaguered military against traffickers' armies. | ||||||||||||||
Marine General Charles Wilhelm, commander in chief of the U.S. Southern
Command (SOUTHCOM), said that with a new president and a change in the
armed forces leadership, there were signs Colombia was "turning the
corner." | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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STATEMENT OF ADMIRAL JAMES M. LOY, USCG, ON THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE | ||||||||||||||
Good morning, Mr. Chairman Grassley, Chairman Coverdell, and
distinguished Committee and Caucus members. It is a pleasure to appear
before you today to comment on Coast Guard drug interdiction and the
proposed Western Hemisphere Drug Elimination Act. | ||||||||||||||
I applaud the Act's goal of strengthening our Nation's counterdrug
effort. This legislation recognizes that the security of our maritime
borders is a critical component of a balanced national strategy to
reduce drug use and its destructive consequences. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
First and foremost the Coast Guard must be able to maintain current
Services for all mission areas in fiscal year 1999 as requested by The
President. As a 3-year authorization, this legislation could result in
outyear funding risks. Without adequate outyear funding, I will not be
able to operate additional assets or to sustain the operational
increases for assets now in the Coast Guard inventory. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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NEW DRUG STRATEGY SOUGHT | ||||||||||||||
Director wants single official to coordinate border operations | ||||||||||||||
New York Times WASHINGTON - U.S. border inspectors searched slightly
more than a million commercial trucks and railway cars entering the
United States from Mexico last year. They found cocaine stashed in
cargo compartments on only six occasions, said Gen. Barry McCaffrey,
the White House director of drug-control policy. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
He said that more efficient cooperation and superior technology were
needed to interdict illegal drugs at the southwestern border and its 24
ports of entry and 39 other sanctioned crossing points. | ||||||||||||||
Buying more sophisticated radar, scanning and night-vision equipment,
he said, would cost a fraction of the $2 billion that the government
already spends annually to combat border smuggling. | ||||||||||||||
"I'm not talking about the Marshall Plan," McCaffrey said. "I'm talking
about better organization." | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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Medical Marijuana | ||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (Top) | ||||||||||||||
Without a doubt, the story of the week was the report from UCSF that
animal studies support the concept that cannabinoids reduce pain by
acting on specific neural pathways in a fashion similar to, but
demonstrably separate from, opioids. This will be pure gold in arguing
for passage of medical marijuana initiatives. The story, broken by the
afternoon Examiner, was picked up around the world; as were comments
by the Marijuana Policy Project. Maybe we're finally seeing some
balance in the coverage of drug issues. | ||||||||||||||
Even though the article from the UK was posted late, the views of
British LEOs dovetail so well with the logic of American sheriffs on
medical marijuana and the need for prisons that I just had to include
it. Clearly the prison-industrial complex is an idea with an
international following. | ||||||||||||||
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UCSF STUDY BACKS CLAIM POT KILLS PAIN | ||||||||||||||
Research adds to evidence drug is medically useful | ||||||||||||||
A circuit in the brain stem that is switched on and off by the active
ingredient in marijuana is the latest in a mounting pile of scientific
evidence pointing to the drug's ability to kill pain, a new UC-San
Francisco study said Wednesday. | ||||||||||||||
The substance, a synthetic form of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), has an
effect similar to morphine in an area at the base of the skull that is
known to block pain impulses. | ||||||||||||||
Importantly, researchers found that the substance uses a different way
to trigger the blockage, suggesting that marijuana-like drugs might be
developed as effective painkillers without the unwanted side effects of
opiates. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
Five states and the District of Columbia have initiatives on the November ballot similar to California's Proposition 215, which allows seriously ill patients to grow and use marijuana for pain relief, with a doctor's recommendation, without being prosecuted under state law. | ||||||||||||||
To cannabis advocates like Chuck Thomas of the Marijuana Policy
Project, the study is further proof that the thousands of people with
cancer, AIDS and other diseases who are using the drug to feel better
are on the right track. | ||||||||||||||
"These patients are not stupid and should not be going to jail," Thomas
said. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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DON'T GO SOFT ON CANNABIS | ||||||||||||||
THE Government is being urged not to legalize the use of cannabis for
medical treatment. | ||||||||||||||
Police chiefs are strongly opposed to the move on the grounds that drug
users will escape prosecution for possession by claiming they are
undergoing treatment. | ||||||||||||||
The Police Superintendents' Association, meeting in Bristol this week,
will ask home Secretary Jack Straw to fund research into the
therapeutic uses of cannabis so that proper controls can be introduced.
It points to the American experience where police have given up
prosecuting drug users in some states because courts routinely accept
medical usage as a defence. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
The superintendents - the frontline operational managers of the police
service - are also set for confrontation with ministers over plans to
reduce the prison population and save money by finding alternatives to
custodial sentences. The central theme of their annual conference will
be a debate on the subject Does Prison Work? At which controversial
former Director-General of the Prison service, Derek Lewis, will be a
guest speaker. | ||||||||||||||
The president, Superintendent Peter Gammon, is expected to tell the Home Secretary that prison is the only acceptable penalty for persistent offenders even if their crimes are not serious. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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Mexico | ||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (Top) | ||||||||||||||
Mexican events continued to embarrass the American drug war; the man
thought to be the main target in last week's shocking mass
assassination was, in addition to being a successful drug trafficker,
also an indigenous person from a tribe with an unsettled relationship
with both drugs and trafficking. That relationship was examined in a
long NYT article. | ||||||||||||||
Exiled ex- President, Carlos Salinas, now living in Dublin reacted strongly to Swiss allegations (they are investigating banking violations) of his brother's complicity in drug trafficking. As if that weren't enough, the article by Holger Jensen describes the present chaotic state law enforcement agencies south of the border. | ||||||||||||||
A somewhat different perspective is provided by a long article in the Baltimore Sun describing how narcotrafficantes have come to be revered as heroes in Culiacan, the smuggling capital of Mexico's wild west. | ||||||||||||||
DRUG GANGS DEVASTATE INDIAN VILLAGES IN BAJA CALIFORNIA | ||||||||||||||
SANTA CATARINA, Mexico - After five centuries of killing and pestilence
that began with the Spanish conquest, only a few hundred of Baja
California's indigenous people are left alive. And now they are being
hunted down and killed by drug traffickers. The violence began two
years ago when the leader of an indigenous village that resisted
traffickers' efforts to take over communal lands for drug cultivation
was gunned down, along with another Indian, in an ambush along a rural
road. | ||||||||||||||
While some have resisted, other Indians have been seduced by the quick
fortunes that can reward those who manage desert airstrips or offer
other services to the drug cartels. And that has resulted in a string
of killings in the Indian communities that cling to the arid hills 60
miles south of the California border. | ||||||||||||||
The violence took on horrifying new dimensions last week when two entire families of Indians from the Pai-Pai ethnic group, along with a household of neighbors, were dragged from their homes and shot to death in a driveway in Ensenada, a coastal city to which some Indians have migrated. It was Mexico's worst incident of drug-related bloodshed in memory. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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MEXICO CITY-Former President Carlos Salinas Gortari lashed out from
his self-imposed 0 seclusion Monday, warning Mexico's top justice
officials that they could be implicated in a widening scandal about
drug trafficking during his administration. | ||||||||||||||
Salinas counterattacked after the leak of a report claiming that his brother Raul virtually ran narcotics traffic in Mexico during the 1988-94 Salinas presidency. That secret report was drawn up by Swiss police investigating possible money laundering by Raul Salinas. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
His brother also denies criminal activity. But the secret report prepared by the Swiss police during their three-year investigation paints a devastating portrait of Raul. Expanding on previously reported allegations that he was tied to leading drug traffickers, it reportedly depicts the former president's brother as a virtual godfather. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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MEXICO BATTLES PLAGUE OF CORRUPTION | ||||||||||||||
Mexico is a country where crooked cops are the norm rather than the
exception and the worst of them prey on the capital. | ||||||||||||||
Authorities in Mexico City admit a daily average of 700 crimes involving weapons and resulting in the deaths of at least six people. That's the official figure. The Mexican press says it's much higher. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
About 70 policemen are fired every month for failing drug tests. But
police involvement in the drug trade and other crimes is so routine
that only the most horrific raise public ire. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
Ideally, says Mexico City's mayor, the only way to reform the force is
to fire all the cops and begin again. But, he points out, "past
administrations have fired thousands and then we just end up with
thousands of armed, unemployed cops on the street, many of whom become
criminals." | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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IN CELEBRATION OF DRUG SMUGGLERS | ||||||||||||||
`Narcoculture': In northwest Mexico, a culture of adoration grows for
narcotics smugglers, who beat the odds by getting their goods across
the border to feed the habits of gringos. | ||||||||||||||
CULIACAN, Mexico - Near the stage at a recent concert by the band Los
Tigres del Norte stand four young men in cowboy boots, large belt
buckles, tight jeans and cowboy hats. | ||||||||||||||
Three are college students - studying computers, architecture and
dentistry - and one is a teacher. But they are dressed like country
boys, as if they were not, in fact, born and raised in Culiacan, a city
of more than 700,000 people, capital of the Pacific coast state of
Sinaloa. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
The "narcocorrido" has become the favored pop music for much of
northwest Mexico. Ballads - telling of bandits or revolutionary heroes
- have been a part of Mexican folk music for at least a century.
Recently, the "narcoballad" has taken over the genre. | ||||||||||||||
Narcocorridos limn the exploits of drug smugglers - executions,
betrayals, shootouts with the "federales" - bloody events set to a
polka beat and obliviously cheerful accordion line. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (Top) | ||||||||||||||
English-speaking nations continue to read a litany of drug war
failures in their daily press; record seizures, record drug use, and
record police corruption. The headlines say it all. | ||||||||||||||
USE OF CRACK INCREASES TO RECORD LEVEL | ||||||||||||||
RECORD AMOUNTS of crack cocaine, the highly addictive drug, are
available on the streets of Britain, the Home Office and criminologists
have discovered. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
Cocaine seizures by customs and excise have risen sharply in the past
three years, from 940kg in 1995 to 2,074kg last year. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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DRUGS SEIZURES DOUBLE | ||||||||||||||
ILLEGAL drugs with an estimated street value of more than UKP6m were
seized by the RUC last year - double the total for the previous year,
it was revealed today. | ||||||||||||||
The RUC Drug Squad recovered UKP 6,614,955 worth of drugs in 1997, compared to UKP 3,282,110 in 1996 - a rise of over UKP3m. | ||||||||||||||
In comparison, statistics released in Scotland show UKP 9m of drug
seizures last year in an area roughly three times the size of Northern
Ireland. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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POLICE IN SEVEN FORCES INVESTIGATED FOR DRUGS, BRIBERY AND | ||||||||||||||
MORE than 110 police officers in at least seven forces in England and
Wales are being investigated, or face charges, in an unprecedented
series of anti-corruption inquiries. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
Superintendent Phil Jones, of Merseyside Police, said the case had
revealed the vulnerability of British police officers to corruption and
the "fabulous" bribes that drug dealers could offer. "Officers have
seen their income decrease sharply as overtime and allowances have been
abolished. At the same time, the money at the disposal of the drug
dealers has become huge. It has not been politically convenient to
accept there is a growing danger of corruption. But this is the
policing issue for the next century." | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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KIDS REPORTED USED AS DRUG MULES | ||||||||||||||
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (Reuters) - Honduran children are being used by
drug gangs to peddle cocaine in Canadian cities, a children's rights
group said yesterday. | ||||||||||||||
Casa Alianza officials said several children from Honduras had
swallowed stones of the drug crack, derived from cocaine, and were
seriously ill in Canadian hospitals after being caught by Vancouver
Police. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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EASY STREET FOR HARD DRUGS | ||||||||||||||
HARD drugs such as heroin and speed are readily available in Adelaide. | ||||||||||||||
Inquiries by The Advertiser suggest most users have "contacts" from
whom they can easily buy drugs such heroin. | ||||||||||||||
Some dealers are also known to sell drugs in and around hotels,
although the risk of being caught is far higher. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||
Thanks to Tom Paine for the following: | ||||||||||||||
Below is a web page of nothing but CHARTS against the Drug War. It has
clickable LINKS and a clickable table of contents. It is a
one-of-a-kind compilation, and it succinctly, quickly, and graphically
exposes the truth about the horrors of the U.S. Drug War. Feel free to
use any or all of it in any way anywhere. | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
As the movement to eliminate criminal penalties for the medical use of
cannabis grows, it becomes even more important for everyone to take
every opportunity they can to speak out. By signing this petition, you
will demonstrate that the American public has passed the point of
tolerance for the persecution of suffering people by denying them
medication that is safe and effective. Please sign this petition and
then pass it on to at least ten more friends. Let me know about your
efforts! | ||||||||||||||
The petition is located at: | ||||||||||||||
http://www.e-thepeople.com/etp2/affiliates/national/fullview.cfm?ETPID=0&PET
ID=50381&ETPDIR=affiliates/national | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
CASE SENSITIVE!!!!!! | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
The petition above is hosted by E-The People, | ||||||||||||||
At E- The People, you can: | ||||||||||||||
-Send a letter to any one of 140,000 local, state, and federal
officials in 7,000 towns and cities! | ||||||||||||||
-Start a petition to fix a pothole or change a policy, and promote it
on our national site! | ||||||||||||||
-Sign a petition about a cause you care about! | ||||||||||||||
E- The People is sponsored by the Alex Sheshunoff Initiative, an
organization dedicated to the empowerment of communities through
technology. | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
TIP OF THE WEEK | ||||||||||||||
The MAPNews Service. | ||||||||||||||
One of the DrugSense missions is to provide you with current news on drug policy related topics. By visiting and becoming familiar with our many services you can decide what best suits your needs. It is a combined effort of hundreds of NewsHawks, editors and volunteers worldwide. It is designed not only to keep you informed but to encourage you to reply to various articles via letters to the editor. | ||||||||||||||
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all the time. This service is for the very serious drug news reader. You
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Subscribe or unsubscribe to either service easily at: | ||||||||||||||
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It is replete with some easily identified, concise, and informative
editorial comment by Dr. Tom O'Connell. | ||||||||||||||
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The DrugNews Archive - is a easily searchable collection of nearly 20,000 news articles it is an amazing information resource that is limited only by your imagination on what you wish to search for information about. It is very effective at finding answers to drug policy questions, cites, quotes, etc. quickly and reliably. See: | ||||||||||||||
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||
"A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high
virtues of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of
necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger,
are of higher obligation." | ||||||||||||||
--Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), U.S. president. Letter, 20 Sept. 1810 | ||||||||||||||
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FACT OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||
The "Gateway Theory" | ||||||||||||||
The gateway theory takes a statistical association between an extremely
popular behavior, marijuana use, and an unpopular behavior, cocaine use,
and then implies that one causes the other. There is no evidence to this
assertion, and CASA (National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse)
acknowledges that it has not been able to determine if there is any causal
relationship between the two. | ||||||||||||||
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