October 15, 1999 #119 |
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- * Breaking News (11/04/24)
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- * Feature Article
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White Paper: General McCaffrey's History of Misinformation
by Kevin Zeese - Common Sense for Drug Policy
- * Weekly News in Review
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Drug Policy-
COMMENT: (1)
(1) A Sane Drug Policy
COMMENT: (2-3)
(2) In The War on Drugs, Lawmakers Have Widened the Military's
Power to Police American Citizens
(3) Dole Vows More Border Agents for Drug Fight
COMMENT: (4-5)
(4) Drug Testing for Self-Sufficiency
(5) Student Drug Testing
Law Enforcement & Prisons-
COMMENT: (6)
(6) Through the Looking Glass With the El Monte Police
COMMENT: (7)
(7) Seizing the Moment on Unfair Seizure Law
COMMENT: (8-9)
(8) New Tactic Goes Citywide After it Ends Drug Bazaars
(9) Chief Judge Appoints Panel to Review Handling of Drug
Cannabis & Hemp-
COMMENT: (10-11)
(10) Birdseed Latest Victim In Unending War Against Drugs
(11) Hemp Downer: DEA Seizure of Sterile Hemp Seeds Illegal
COMMENT: (12-13)
(12) Reefer Referendum
(13) Doctor Worm
International News-
COMMENT: (14-15)
(14) Now, State of Siege, Colombian Style
(15) What Next in The Colombia Drug War
COMMENT: (16-17)
(16) Canada: Rock OKs Pot Smoking for 14 Seriously Ill
(17) UK: Fresh Claims of Prison Brutality
- * Hot Off The 'Net
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New DrugNews Archive Search Capabilities
Governor Gary Johnson (R-NM) News Archive
Governor Johnson for President in 2000?
- * Quotes of the Week
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Institute of Medicine Principle Investigator John Benson, M.D
Barry McCaffrey, Albuquerque Journal, 10/8/99
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) |
White Paper: General McCaffrey's History of Misinformation
by Kevin Zeese - Common Sense for Drug Policy
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The Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Barry
McCaffrey, has been known to play 'fast and loose' with the facts,
especially when it comes to the success of his National Drug Control
Strategy. This year General McCaffrey was publicly taken to task for
inaccurately portraying the impact of Netherland's drug policies,
needle exchange and medical marijuana by public health leaders, civil
rights advocates and reform advocates.
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While this White Paper details factually inaccurate statements, the
drug czar has been correct in calling for increased drug treatment and
methadone maintenance. Common Sense applauds him for dealing with these
issues based on the facts and is willing to work with ONDCP in
developing more effective drug control strategies. However, to have
meaningful dialogue, it is imperative that our public officials have an
accurate, fact-based discussion.
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Common Sense provides a free online factbook on the drug war, available
at: http://www.csdp.org/factbook/ and is available for comment at
703-354-5684.
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McCaffrey
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"Each year drug use exacts $110 billion in social costs, contributes to
52,000 drug-related deaths . . . ." Letter from Barry McCaffrey to
Governor Gary Johnson, September 16, 1999.
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"Each year, approximately 50,000 Americans die from drug-related
causes." Testimony of Barry R. McCaffrey Director, Office of National
Drug Control Policy, "Building a More Effective Safe and Drug-Free
Schools and Communities Program" Before the House Subcommittee on Early
Childhood, Youth and Families, August 3, 1999
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The Facts
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The study Director McCaffrey used to estimate a $110 billion social
cost states that sixty percent (60%) of those costs are due to
drug-related law enforcement, incarceration and crime. These are the
costs created by our National Drug Control Strategy and our policy of
strict prohibition and incarceration. Only 3% of drug costs were from
victims of drug-related crime, and less than 40% of the $110 billion
social costs actually are due to the health impact of drugs.
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General McCaffrey's failure to fully disclose the elements of this
figure are just one example of how the ONDCP director seeks to distort
the public's perception of drug policy.Source: The Economic Costs of
Alcohol and Drug Abuse in the United States 1992.According to SAMHSA,
the federal government's premiere substance abuse agency, about 20,000
people die each year from drug-related causes.
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"Drug-related" includes much more than deaths from drug overdoses: it
includes both illegal and illicit use of legal drugs, suicide,
homicide, motor vehicle injury, HIV, pneumonia, hepatitis,
endocarditis, infant deaths, and overdoses. Many of these deaths are
due to the illegality of the drugs involved. The 52,000 figure
McCaffrey refers to comes from "CSR Inc., unpublished research prepared
for ONDCP, 1999" which ONDCP has thus far refused to release for public
scrutiny. Considering that the SAMHSA figure of 20,000 already includes
deaths which are already only tenuously related to drug use, it is
difficult to accept that this number could be revised upward so
greatly. More importantly, if this data is not suitable for public
review, how can it be suitable for presentation as fact to Congress,
Governor Johnson, or journalists?
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McCaffrey
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"We're making progress in reducing illegal drug use and its
consequences." Letter from Barry McCaffrey to Governor Gary Johnson,
September 16, 1999.
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The Facts
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The only evidence of "success" comes from voluntary surveys conducted
by the federal government. Indeed, 20% of those selected for the
National Household Survey do not participate. Furthermore, the Survey
excludes all 1.8 million persons who are currently behind bars, many of
whom are imprisoned for drugs, but now do not show up on national
statistics.
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It is hard to tell how accurate the results are or what impact
increased drug war advertising has on survey responses. Second,
throughout most of the 1990s, these surveys have shown adolescent drug
use increasing (until last year when they showed a leveling off of
youth use).
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Third, the health and social consequences associated with drugs;
overdose deaths, mentions of drugs in hospital emergency rooms and
spread of disease, particularly AIDS, have worsened since 1978. Saying
that the nation has made progress on the consequences of drug use is
simply untrue.
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Similarly, the problems associated with the drug market; international
drug cartels, street gangs, police corruption and the purity of drugs
available have all worsened. For instance, the price of heroin has
fallen from $1,200 per pure gram to $317 per pure gram, while average
purity of street-level heroin has increased from less than 5% to 25%
since 1981. The price of cocaine is half of what it was in 1981 and the
average purity has risen from 40% to more than 70%.
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Declining prices and increasing purity are hard evidence of a
substantially increased supply of these drugs this is not evidence of
a successful drug strategy.Sources: National Drug Control Strategy,
National Household Survey on Drug Abuse; Monitoring the Future Survey;
Annual Medical Examiner Data; Drug Abuse Warning Network.
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McCaffrey
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"In the view of the nation's scientific and medical community,
marijuana has a high potential for abuse and no generally accepted
therapeutic value." Barry McCaffrey, July 22, 1997.
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The Facts
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"Federal authorities should rescind their prohibition of the medicinal
use of marijuana for seriously ill patients and allow physicians to
decide which patients to treat." Editorial, New England Journal of
Medicine, January 30, 1997.
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McCaffrey
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"Marijuana is also a gateway drug." Barry McCaffrey, July 22, 1997.
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The Facts
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For every 112 marijuana users, there is only one regular user of
cocaine and less than one heroin addict. Source: U.S. Government,
National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1996.
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"There is no conclusive evidence that the drug effects of marijuana are
causally linked to the subsequent abuse of other illicit drugs."
Source: | Janet E. Joy, Stanley J. Watson, Jr., and John A Benson, Jr. |
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(1999). Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. Division of
Neuroscience and Behavioral Research, Institute of Medicine.
Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
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McCaffrey
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"The murder rate in Holland is double that in the United States. That's
drugs." Barry McCaffrey, July 23, 1998.
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The Facts
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The Dutch homicide rate in 1995 was one-fourth that of the United
States (1.8 vs. 8.0). Source: FBI, Uniform Crime Reports and Dutch
Bureau of Statistics
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McCaffrey
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"The Dutch approach to drugs hasn't worked." Barry McCaffrey, July 23,
1998
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The Facts
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All categories of drug use in Holland are lower than in the US. While
32.9% of people in the US have used marijuana, only 15.5% of people in
Holland have done so; 5.1% in the US have used marijuana in the last
month; only 2.5% in Holland have done so. For cocaine, 10.5% in the US
have tried it, compared to 2.1% in Holland, while .7% have used cocaine
in the last month in the US and .2% have done so in Holland.Sources:
National Household Survey 1997 SAMHSA, Office of applied studies
Washington DC.; M. Abraham, P. Cohen, M. De Winter: Licit and Illicit
drug use in the Netherlands, Center for Drug Research, University of
Amsterdam.
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McCaffrey
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"The jury is still out on Needle exchange." Barry McCaffrey, August 16,
1996 "These programs are magnets for all social ills, pulling in crime,
violence, addicts, prostitution, dealers, and gangs and driving out
hope and opportunity." Barry McCaffrey, April 24, 1998.
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The Facts
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"A meticulous scientific review has now proven that needle exchange
programs can reduce the transmission of HIV and save lives without
losing ground in the battle against illegal drugs." Donna Shalala,
Secretary of HHS April 20, 1998
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Prepared by Common Sense for Drug Policy.
Contact Kevin B. Zeese, 703-354-5694
http://www.csdp.org/
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) |
A look at drug war trends as reflected by a selection of items sent to
the MAP archive during the previous Tuesday to Tuesday interval.
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Domestic News- Policy
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COMMENT: (1) (Top) |
A well written editorial in the Progressive took a very accurate
measure of the drug war as (irresponsible) public policy:
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(1) A SANE DRUG POLICY (Top) |
'The drug war is doing more harm than good. We are spending billions of
dollars on a policy that is not working.'
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-- Kenneth Sharpe, co-author of 'Drug War Politics: The Price of Denial'
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George W. Bush's little problem with putting to rest allegations of
past cocaine use does not concern us much. But what does concern us a
great deal is the destructiveness of U.S. drug policy.
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[snip]
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The war on drugs is a war on minorities. While illegal drug use does
not vary much by race, incarceration for illegal drug use sure does.
This crackdown on minority drug users explains much of the growth in
the prison population. ...
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Why this racial discrepancy? "Law enforcement pays more attention to
blacks than whites," says Vincent Schiraldi, director of the Justice
Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. "Blacks can't get cabs but they
get police cars. Our juvenile jails are a sea of black and Latino
faces. Minorities are being put behind bars for things that would be
unthinkable if they were white, middle class kids.
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[snip]
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Copyright: | 1999 Progressive Inc. |
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COMMENT: (2-3) (Top) |
One of many abominations of the drug war is its breach of traditional
(and Constitutional) exclusion of the military from civilian
policing. A thoughtful article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reviews
relevant history.
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Militarization of the drug war clearly didn't trouble Elizabeth Dole
when she delivered an anti-drug polemic during a stop along the
Mexican border.
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(2) IN THE WAR ON DRUGS, LAWMAKERS HAVE WIDENED THE MILITARY'S POWER (Top) TO POLICE AMERICAN CITIZENS
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The military's role in the siege of the Branch Davidians was no
aberration -- it was government policy.
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In a series of decisions over the past two decades, presidents and
Congress have consciously expanded the role of the military in the "war
on drugs."
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[snip]
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The involvement of the military in the drug war began in 1981 when
Congress passed the Military Cooperation with Law Enforcement Officials
Act that allowed the military to assist police in enforcing drug laws.
In 1986, Reagan issued a directive designating drugs as a threat to
national security and encouraging a tight-knit relationship between the
military and the police.
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[snip]
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Pubdate: | Sun, 10 Oct 1999 |
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Source: | St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO) |
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Copyright: | 1999 Post Dispatch |
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Author: | William H . Freivogel, Post-Dispatch |
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(3) DOLE VOWS MORE BORDER AGENTS FOR DRUG FIGHT (Top) |
BORDERFIELD STATE PARK, Calif. -- With the U.S.-Mexico border as her
backdrop, Elizabeth Dole vowed Thursday to more than double the number
of border patrol agents if elected president, not as a way to fight
illegal immigration but to block the flow of drugs from Latin America
to the United States.
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Mrs. Dole, who is seeking the Republican nomination for president,
promised a renewed commitment to the war on drugs, bringing into the
fight two agencies, the U.S. Border Patrol and the National Guard,
whose primary mission has not traditionally focused on fighting drug
trafficking.
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[snip]
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Pubdate: | Fri, 08 Oct 1999 |
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Source: | New York Times (NY) |
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Copyright: | 1999 The New York Times Company |
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Author: | Diana Jean Schemo |
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COMMENT: (4-5) (Top) |
The Tampa Tribune praised a Michigan Program for drug testing
applicants for public housing with coerced "treatment" of positives.
In a rationalization worthy of Tony Blair, they saw the practice as
affirming the civil rights of the poor.
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In Wisconsin, school officials didn't seem to realize that testing
effectively for pot and ineffectively for alcohol will result in more
drinking- already the leading problem according to their students. Go
figure.
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(4) DRUG TESTING FOR SELF-SUFFICIENCY (Top) |
Despite a lawsuit seeking to stop it, a pilot program mandating drug
tests for welfare recipients began in Michigan on Oct. 1.
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The program, overseen by the state Family Independence Agency, is
designed to help those on the dole get ready for the rules of the
workplace, as well as to make sure the state isn't subsidizing drug
use. Those who test positive will be offered treatment and will be
denied benefits only if they refuse to be tested or treated.
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[snip]
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The Michigan program and others that are sure to follow may possibly be
ruled unconstitutional. So far the U.S. Supreme Court has been
reluctant to sanction drug-testing programs where public safety is not
at stake, but that shouldn't stop states from going through with
policies they can clearly see are for the public good.
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The Michigan drug-testing program is progressive, not punitive. It is
designed to help people turn their lives around. It will help them
break the bonds of dependency - chemical and otherwise - to eventually
lead independent lives. And that is the most fundamental right a
civilized society can offer.
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[snip]
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Pubdate: | Tues, 10/12 1999 |
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Source: | Tampa Tribune (FL) |
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Copyright: | 1999, The Tribune Co. |
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(5) STUDENT DRUG TESTING (Top) |
Stoughton Considers A Touchy Subject
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Supporters of required random testing see it as a deterrent, but some
students think it would be unfair.
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STOUGHTON -- The hallways of Stoughton High School look like most any
high school. Students on the verge of adulthood lope from classroom to
classroom, talking about their next test, their after-school job or
their prospects for a weekend date.
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Then there is the occasional hangover to worry about.
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"There are kids who do other (drugs), ... (but) "Drinking is the huge
problem."
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[snip]
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The test, if implemented, would likely test for drugs such as
marijuana, according to school officials. It could also test for
substances such as alcohol and nicotine.
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[snip]
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"The drug of choice is alcohol ... he said. "I'm skeptical that a
random drug-testing program would have a big impact on student alcohol
use. ... You're not going to screen on Monday for something that
happened on Saturday."
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[snip]
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Pubdate: | Thu, 07 Oct 1999 |
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Source: | Wisconsin State Journal (WI) |
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Copyright: | 1999 Madison Newspapers, Inc. |
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Author: | Phil McDade, Suburban reporter |
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Law Enforcement & Prisons
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COMMENT: (6) (Top) |
Patt Morrison's piece maintained the heat on the El Monte Police
Department- although it probably went right over their head.
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(6) THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS WITH THE EL MONTE POLICE (Top) |
Imagine the man on the witness stand is accused of killing another man,
and has pleaded not guilty, contending that he acted in fear of his own
life. The prosecutor asks: "Sir, you told several versions of what
happened that night."
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[snip]
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Which one, which ones, would you have the jury believe?" Stop imagining.
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Now we are in the court of public opinion, hearing similar accounts
about the El Monte police SWAT team. The dead man is Mario Paz, the
65-year-old man killed in his underwear when SWAT shot off the locks
and burst in an hour before midnight on Aug. 9, looking for drug
evidence that wasn't there. And you, the public, are the jury. Which
version would you be inclined to accept? Or would you side with Lewis
Carroll's Looking-Glass Queen, who has sometimes "believed as many as
six impossible things before breakfast"?
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[snip]
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Source: | Los Angeles Times (CA) |
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Copyright: | 1999 Los Angeles Times |
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Address: | Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053 |
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COMMENT: (7) (Top) |
The OCR is usually good for one or more penetrating analyses of drug
policy; this week they updated Henry Hyde's asset forfeiture reform
and urged no changes by the Senate; they also weighed in on Colombia
(see International).
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(7) SEIZING THE MOMENT ON UNFAIR SEIZURE LAW (Top) |
One of America's most essential liberties is the right to protection
against unreasonable searches and seizures, which is enshrined in the
Fourth Amendment. Unfortunately, a 1984 federal law allowed almost
unlimited seizures of people's property without compensation and even
without a finding of guilt in a court of law.
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[snip]
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California Sen. Dianne Feinstein's office told us that she is
supporting a bill to be introduced next week by Republican Jeff
Sessions of Georgia, her fellow member of the Judiciary Committee,
because it doesn't go as far as the Hyde bill and has the support of
law enforcement organizations.
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[snip]
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We fail to see what in the Hyde proposal could aid real criminals.
Sen. Feinstein needs to check with state Sen. Burton on what the
feelings on this bill are in her party...
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HR 1658 should be passed unaltered by the Senate. Americans once again
deserve to have restored their Fourth Amendment right to protection
against unreasonable searches and seizures.
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Pubdate: | Mon, 04 Oct 1999 |
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Source: | Orange County Register (CA) |
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Copyright: | 1999 The Orange County Register |
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Section: | Local News,page 6 |
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COMMENT: (8-9) (Top) |
The NYPD, clearly untroubled by past drug corruption scandals
confidently predicted that a new strategy will permanently reduce drug
trade in the city. A more certain prediction is increase in the city's
police budget.
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Meanwhile, the NY Supreme Court Chief Justice appointed a panel to look
at reducing drug prison terms; it's clear that any reductions will
entail more coerced "treatment" backed by criminal sanctions.
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(8) NEW TACTIC GOES CITYWIDE AFTER IT ENDS DRUG BAZAARS (Top) |
A two-year-old effort to rid the Lower East Side of its street-corner
drug bazaars has worked so well that senior police officials say they
want to expand it to every precinct in the city.
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The two-pronged strategy would involve establishing a permanent
anti-drug unit in each precinct and retraining officers to go after not
only street-level dealers but also the organizations that supply them.
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[snip]
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Police officials said the number of narcotics officers was being
increased to 3,000, and Chief Kammerdener said that by the end of the
year, their retraining at the Police Academy would be complete and they
would be stationed in every precinct.
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[snip]
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Source: | New York Times (NY) |
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Copyright: | 1999 The New York Times Company |
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(9) CHIEF JUDGE APPOINTS PANEL TO REVIEW HANDLING OF DRUG CASES (Top) |
In outlining the state court system's priorities at the start of the
new millennium, Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye announced yesterday the
appointment of a commission to examine how to better handle drug cases.
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[snip]
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The new commission, headed by a former U.S. Attorney for the Southern
District of New York, Robert B. Fiske Jr., will have an explicit
mandate to explore ways of adding new Drug Treatment Courts to the
staple of 15 such courts in operation. Sentencing in these courts is
held in abeyance as long as a defendant successfully attends a
treatment program.
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[snip]
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Pubdate: | Thur, 07 Oct 1999 |
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Source: | New York Law Journal (NY) |
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Copyright: | 1999 NLP IP Company |
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Address: | 345 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010 |
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Cannabis & Hemp-
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COMMENT: (10-11) (Top) |
The power play of the month is the DEA's illegal attempt to wreck a
burgeoning North American hemp industry; for years DEA lobbyists told
state legislatures hemp has no economic future; now they're attempting
to make those predictions come true. What remains to be seen is
whether they get away with it.
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Don't look for any help from Canada.
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An amplification from Denver explains the applicability of "illegal;"
not that such niceties have ever deterred the DEA.
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(10) BIRDSEED LATEST VICTIM IN UNENDING WAR AGAINST DRUGS (Top) |
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has opened a new front in its
ever-expanding war against drugs, and the news is not good for your pet
parakeet.
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On Aug. 9, the U.S. Customs Service seized nearly 20 tons of birdseed
at the U.S.-Canadian border and continues to hold the contraband in a
Detroit warehouse. The reason? The shipment by Kenex Ltd., a Canadian
company, consisted entirely of sterilized seeds gleaned from its
harvest of industrial hemp.
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[snip]
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Perhaps the real reason for the DEA's action is the current resurgence
of interest in industrial hemp, which is occurring on a global scale at
the same time AIDS and cancer activists have fought for the right to
use higher-THC varieties as medication.
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[snip]
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Just as it has fought the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, the
DEA must consider industrial hemp a threat to its hard-line stance
against marijuana. That may explain why it urged Nicaraguan officials
to burn the first commercial seed and fiber crop of another Canadian
company, Agro Hemp, which had spent five years in Nicaragua developing
a tropical strain of industrial hemp.
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Although a Nicaraguan court failed to find Agro Hemp guilty of
wrongdoing, its botanist has languished in a Managua jail for nearly a
year.
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It's enough to make a canary sing the blues.
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Pubdate: | Sun, 10 Oct 1999 |
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Copyright: | 1999 Auburn Journal |
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Address: | 1030 High St., Auburn, CA 95603 |
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Author: | Patrick McCartney, Journal City Editor |
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Note: | Our NewsHawk writes: Pat McCartney is a City Editor, in a |
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zero-tolerance county. McCartney shows great skill and patience in
educating his audience without offending their local values. He can be
reached at .
Please: | see our ALERT "DEA Tries To Kill North American Hemp Industry": |
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http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0130.html
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(11) HEMP DOWNER: DEA SEIZURE OF STERILE HEMP SEEDS ILLEGAL (Top) |
The seizure of 39,000 pounds of sterilized Canadian hemp seed at the
Detroit International Airport eight weeks ago has several severely
bummed-out Colorado companies jonesing for an explanation.
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The sterilized seed, which was produced by Kenex, Inc. of Ontario,
Canada, was seized in Detroit on Aug. 9 by U.S. Customs agents acting
on orders from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. According to the DEA,
the seed was found to contain minute amounts of THC, which is
classified as an illegal drug under the federal Controlled Substances
Act.
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[snip]
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"What the DEA did with the Canadian seed is completely illegal," said
Kathleen Chippi, co-owner of the Boulder Hemp Company. "We weren't
using any of the Kenex seed, so we haven't been subpoenaed or had
anything confiscated yet, but our concern is that the DEA is
accountable to no one."
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[snip]
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Pubdate: | Sat, 09 Oct 1999 |
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Source: | Colorado Daily (CO) |
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Copyright: | 1999 Colorado Daily |
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COMMENT: (12-13) (Top) |
The focus for medical cannabis supporters shifts to Maine which will
consider an initiative on Nov. 2. Judging from these reports, there
is considerable support tempered by a large element of fear.
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(12) REEFER REFERENDUM (Top) |
Is Marijuana Good Medicine? And Is The Ballot Box The Best Place To
Decide That Question?
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It was 1990. A house on Sherman Street in Portland's Parkside
neighborhood. A drug deal was about to go down. "Betty" (the real
names of those involved have been changed at their request) waited in
the car while her husband, "Rick," went inside...
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"Everybody involved knew it was illegal. But it's like a starving
person stealing an apple. We loved [Virginia] and we wanted to give
her a shot."
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[snip]
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Before she smoked marijuana, Virginia had "no interest in food," Betty
said. "After smoking, she was interested enough to eat whatever she
wanted." The nausea vanished, her appetite returned and the weight
loss stopped. Today, Virginia is alive and healthy. She doesn't smoke
pot or use other illegal drugs. But she doesn't dare to speak out
about the medical benefits she believes she received from marijuana
because some family members hold jobs that could be jeopardized if it
became known she had once smoked dope.
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[snip]
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Although it's not hard to find folks who've used pot
to treat the side effects of chemo, wasting syndrome from AIDS and
other illnesses, the campaign to legalize medical marijuana in Maine
is sadly lacking in spokespeople with firsthand knowledge of the
issue. With one exception, those who say they've been helped by the
drug refuse to allow their names or photos to be used for fear of the
backlash.
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[snip]
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Pubdate: | Thu, 07 Oct 1999 |
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Source: | Casco Bay Weekly (ME) |
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(13) DOCTOR WORM (Top) |
There are doctors in Maine who believe legalizing marijuana for medical
purposes is good medicine. But try to find one with the courage to say
that publicly. Asking pro-pot physicians to openly endorse the
referendum question on the Nov. 2 ballot seems to cause cases of the
shakes reminiscent of the camera work in "The Blair Witch Project."
It's enough to give the average doctor motion sickness.
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[snip]
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Pubdate: | Thu, 07 Oct 1999 |
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Source: | Casco Bay Weekly (ME) |
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International News
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COMMENT: (14-15) (Top) |
With both major parties clearly committed to further pursuit of folly
in Colombia, the dimensions of the necessary emergency aid package
became the major issue. Typically, the Orange County Register was one
of the few to comment on the wishful thinking involved.
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(14) NOW, STATE OF SIEGE, COLOMBIAN STYLE (Top) |
WASHINGTON -- A Latin American country slides toward chaos. Leftist
guerrillas attack the government, right-wing death squads attack
guerrilla sympathizers, peace talks falter. The economy spirals
downward, scattering thousands of refugees, and fears of instability
sweep through the region. The United States hurries to the rescue with
hundreds of millions of dollars in aid.
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With the Colombian Government facing its most serious crisis in years,
Clinton Administration officials confirmed last week that they are
putting together a package of military and economic assistance that
could reach dimensions not seen in the hemisphere since the cold war.
They are also trying to reassure anyone who will listen that Colombia
today really looks nothing like El Salvador once did.
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[snip]
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Pubdate: | Sun, 10 Oct 1999 |
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Source: | New York Times (NY) |
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Copyright: | 1999 The New York Times Company |
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(15) WHAT NEXT IN THE COLOMBIA DRUG WAR (Top) |
The most disturbing aspect of the current crisis in Colombia is the
extent to which the U.S. war on drugs has strengthened the most violent
and ruthless elements in Colombia and given them every reason to
continue their war-like ways. Unless some way is found to ameliorate,
or even eliminate, the disruptive effects of the way the war on drugs
has been carried out in Colombia, sending more money and more aid is
likely only to increase the killing and the suffering.
|
[snip]
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Pubdate: | Tuesday,October 12,1999 |
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Source: | Orange County Register (CA) |
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Copyright: | 1999 The Orange County Register |
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|
|
COMMENT: (16-17) (Top) |
Elsewhere, Canada continued its impossible straddle of the medical
cannabis issue while prison conditions in the UK moved in a more
recognizably American direction- one consistent with the Labour
Government's "tough on drugs" posturing.
|
(16) CANADA: ROCK OKS POT SMOKING FOR 14 SERIOUSLY ILL (Top) |
Ottawa -- Another 14 Canadians are free to smoke marijuana for
medicinal purposes today even as the government takes an epileptic to
court for suppressing his seizures with therapeutic pot.
|
Pubdate: | Wednesday, October 6, 1999 |
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Source: | Calgary Herald (Canada) |
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Copyright: | 1999 Calgary Herald |
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Address: | P.O. Box 2400, Stn. M, Calgary, Alberta T2P 0W8 |
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Author: | Bruce Cheadle; Canadian Press |
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|
|
(17) UK: FRESH CLAIMS OF PRISON BRUTALITY (Top) |
Last Monday Paul Boateng swept into Brixton Prison on an urgent visit.
The prisons minister was not there for a photo-opportunity but to heed
a desperate plea for help. This had come from the governor of the high
security jail, in South London, after an alarming spate of suicide
attempts.
|
Once Mr Boateng had left, one prisoner sat down in his cell and wrote
an impassioned letter to a close friend.
|
[snip]
|
His account confirms that drug use is endemic and that prisoners spend
much of their time locked inside their cells. And he confirms the
rumours that 30 prisoners have tried to kill or mutilate themselves.
|
[snip]
|
Pubdate: | Sun, 10 Oct 1999 |
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Source: | Independent on Sunday (UK) |
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Copyright: | Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd. |
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Address: | 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5DL |
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|
|
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top)
|
New DrugNews Archive Search Capabilities
|
Matt Elrod has once again worked his magic on the news archive. The
entire archive has been put into a relational database. You can now
search by author, title, source, area, and date range and sort your
results three ways from Sunday. You can view your results in three
different levels of detail including excerpts. From each article you can
see more from the same author, source and area.
|
You now have the ability to filter out LTEs, hone in on opinion pieces
or news articles, include or exclude specific areas.
|
We will be providing a bit of explanatory documentation and links for
those unfamiliar with database capabilities but Matt has, as usual,
made an incredibly complex search capability quite intuitive and simple
for even beginning users.
|
Matt welcomes comments on the new archive at:
He has already made many refinements based on user feedback and has
more improvements on his "to do" list.
|
|
Governor Gary Johnson (R-NM) News Archive
|
An archive of news articles documenting the exceptional media coverage
garnered by Governor Johnson has been created utilizing the newly
enhanced DrugNews archive. The URL below will provide any interested
party with all articles covering Governor Johnson.
|
http://www.mapinc.org/johnson.htm
|
|
Governor Johnson for President in 2000?
|
There has been a committee established to draft Gov. Johnson to run for
the office of President.
|
The address is http://www.garyjohnson2000.org/
|
|
|
QUOTES OF THE WEEK (Top)
|
"We concluded that there are some limited circumstances in which we
recommend smoking marijuana for medical uses."
|
-- Institute of Medicine Principle Investigator John Benson, M.D., at
IOM's 3/17/99 news conference
|
"Smoked dope is not medicine . . . I think it's a crock."
|
-- Barry McCaffrey, Albuquerque Journal, 10/8/99
|
|
DS Weekly is one of the many free educational services DrugSense offers
our members. Watch this feature to learn more about what DrugSense can
do for you.
|
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http://www.drugsense.org/unsub.htm
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News/COMMENTS-Editor: | Tom O'Connell () |
---|
Senior-Editor: | Mark Greer () |
---|
|
We wish to thank all our contributors, editors, NewsHawks and letter
writing activists.
|
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In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving the included information for research and
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