A DrugSense publication                      http://www.drugsense.org/

Table of Contents

* Breaking News (12/21/24)

* Feature Article

    Together We Can Do So Much
    by Kevin B. Zeese

* Weekly News in Review

Drug Policy-

COMMENT: (1-2)
(1) OPED: A Corrupt 'War On Drugs'
(2) Small but Forceful Coalition Works to Counter U.S. War on Drugs
COMMENT: (3)
(3) Big News of the Year
COMMENT: (4-5)
(4) School Board OKs Locker Searches By Police Dogs
(5) Editorial: Not Good Enough
COMMENT: (6-7)
(6) Editorial: Alcohol Or Drugs, Little's Changed Since Volstead
(7) Program Sees Growing Numbers Of Young Adult Heroin Addicts

Law Enforcement & Prisons-

COMMENT: (8-9)
(8) OPED: Prison Nation
(9) U.S. Imprisoned Population May Hit 2 Million In 2000
COMMENT: (10-11)
(10) Rampart Case Takes On Momentum Of Its Own
(11) Editorial: Clouds Over U.S. Attorney's Office

Cannabis & Hemp-

COMMENT: (12)
(12) Medical Marijuana Proponent Is Jailed Pending Bail Hearing
COMMENT: (13-14)
(13) Darrell Putman, 49, Advocate For Medicinal Marijuana Use
(14) A Family Torn by Marijuana

International News-

COMMENT: (15-16)
(15) Bolivian Cocaine Farmers Are Going Bananas - and Straight
(16) Colombia Lawyers, Cops Learn To Team Up To Fight Drugs
COMMENT: (17-18)
(17) Scotland: Two More Deaths Add To Drugs Toll
(18) UK: Ecstasy And Agony

* Hot Off The 'Net

    Hawaii Representative Cynthia Thielen Receives "Hempy" Award
    THE YEAR ZERO -- Analysis By Richard Cowan

* Quote of the Week

    William Simpson, A.C.L.U.

* Tip of the Week

    How to make your letters SIZZLE

Together We Can Do So Much
by Kevin B.  Zeese
President, Common Sense for Drug Policy

Copies of the enclosed picture ( http://www.csdp.org/aro/page7.htm ) came across my desk just as the last century was ending.  It came at a time of reflection, when I was reading books on other social justice movements for the rights of blacks, women and gays.  It also came when the media was discussing the last century.

Looking at this photograph of the Alliance of Reform Organizations with Governor Gary Johnson reminded me of Helen Keller's comment; "Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much." We face an important and difficult challenge: getting America to recognize the importance of developing a drug policy that does not rely on force but is consistent with individual rights, limited government, public health and personal responsibility.

Other social justice movements illustrate the slow pace of change is often disheartening for those in the midst of it; Only when change is looked at in a historical context does it seem like the march toward justice was inevitable and rapid.  Perhaps the Internet and other forms of modern communication will speed change.  When you have a vision of a world where people are treated as equals, where drug use does not exclude a person from the social contract and where people are given the basic dignity all deserve, it is hard to accept another day of prohibition, discrimination and abuses caused by the present approach.

The death of Rufus King during this time added to my reflection.  Rufus was the old war horse of reform.  He wanted reform now. Often the frustration he exhibited with the pace of reform was something I imagine abolitionists felt in the 1840s when, after decades of abolitionist agitation, the Fugitive Slave Act became law allowing the return of slaves with virtually no due process and no court review.  I do not want to end my career with the drug war still flourishing.  I hope you will join me in committing to an increased effort to repeal drug prohibition early in the 21st Century.

In reviewing the 20th Century, Anthony Lewis wrote in The New York Times that "The great enemy of reason in this century has been political utopianism." Attempts at achieving utopia have meant sacrificing individuality to fit the utopian view of whoever was in power.  He noted how the advances of the last 1,000 years have been in science because it relies on the scientific method where theories need to be proved, facts understood and progress built on those lessons.  Unfortunately that approach is rarely applied to public policy.

The parallels to drug prohibition are evident.  Prohibition is a utopian policy - the stated goal of a drug free society has never been achieved and if it were achieved it would not be the utopia prohibitionists imagine.  Rather than adopting a scientific method, we seem to have adopted an anti-scientific method.  Drug prohibition enforced by drug war is aggressively pursued.  When it fails, rather than considering that drug prohibition may be unworkable, our society puts more money into the drug war, grants more power to the police and undermines public health and safety.

In the end people will face up to the failure and damage of current policy and change will come.  History shows reason is persistent - it challenges myths, discourages the dark, negative impulses humans harbor within them.  We need to keep putting forth facts and reason to challenge the myths and fear on which advocates of prohibition base their campaign.

The last century was freedom vs.  totalitarianism. Freedom seems to have won the century, but totalitarianism had its costs - more than 100 million people were killed in the name of ideology (and battles around this conflict continue).  Franklin Roosevelt, a key player in this conflict, ended alcohol prohibition as one of his first acts as President.  However, even countries at freedom's forefront have blood on their hands over the century and continue to have institutionalized inequities.  The war on drugs fits this history and remains one of the unfinished battles of the conflict between freedom and totalitarianism - how basic a freedom is being denied when people are told what they can put in their body and for what effect on their consciousness.

Early in my reform career the Reagan era dawned and intolerance for people who used drugs increased, harsh laws were passed on the premise that intimidation by government power would result in submission to force.  But the poet line "Do not go silently into that dark night" seemed to be the theme of a small band of reformers.  We supported people incarcerated, medical marijuana patients when they said no and were prosecuted, AIDS prevention activists who ignored laws that allowed the spread of deadly epidemics and joined others from various walks of life who publicly said: Prohibition cannot work and makes matters worse. People said no they would not go into that dark night they would not succumb to the negative impulses of the human psyche enshrined in harsh drug war laws, they would do what was right regardless of government intimidation.

In those early years of the revitalized Reagan drug war reformers were a very small group.  Slowly a national network of reformers, of people who care about this issue developed.  Now there are many capable people who improve each other's work and give great hope that reform can be achieved.  My overarching goal of the next year is to find ways for us to work together more closely and effectively.

I am sure you can add to this list, but the things that I think are needed for us to succeed are:

- ardent confidence in the need to end drug prohibition;

- education of our fellow beings with the facts that debunk the prohibitionist myths;

- agitation to highlight the unfairness and injustice of current policy;

- organization so that we get the most out of every opportunity and our limited resources;

- making room at the reform table for new reformers even if it means our role is diminished;

- supporting our political friends and showing our foes that standing for unjust, unworkable policies has a political cost; and

- as Winston Churchill said a commitment to "never give up, never, never give up."

Domestic News- Policy

Two items in major newspapers underscored the importance of responsible journalism in reform's effort to move drug policy issues from the debating hall to the ballot box.

William Raspberry of the Washington Post, who appears to be having a public epiphany on drug policy, excoriated the drug war for the second time in as many weeks; sadly, Christopher Wren of The Times continued to wield his double-edged stiletto with practiced ease.

Twenty years ago, my worry was the corrupting influence of drug trafficking - - not just on the addicts but on sheriff's deputies paid to be somewhere else when the big drop was made, on small-time politicians and judges and, eventually, I feared, on large and small governments.

[snip]

I still worry.  But it's the corrupting influence of the war on drugs that worries me now.

[snip]

And I'm still not ready to say just legalize drugs and be done with it.

But I am ready to end this stupid and ineffectual "war" on drugs that puts such a premium on locking people up.  And I am more convinced than ever that it's time to rethink "zero tolerance," mandatory sentences and all those feel-good nostrums that are corrupting our judicial system as much as the drug lords ever did.

Pubdate:	Mon, 03 Jan 2000

Source:	Washington Post (DC)

Copyright:	2000 The Washington Post Company

Address:	1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20071

Feedback:	http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm

Website:	http://www.washingtonpost.com/

Author:	William Raspberry

URL:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n005/a06.html

When voters in Maine went to the polls in November and endorsed the use of marijuana as a medicine, it was more than a victory for cancer patients and others who say marijuana will help relieve their pain.

For a small coalition of libertarians, liberals, humanitarians and hedonists, the vote was another step forward in a low-profile but sophisticated crusade to end the nation's criminal laws against marijuana and other psychoactive drugs.

[snip]

Critics say the agenda is more ominous: the legalization of marijuana and other drugs.  At a Congressional hearing in June, the White House director of national drug policy, Gen.  Barry R. McCaffrey, warned of "a carefully camouflaged, well-funded, tightly knit core of people whose goal is to legalize drug use in the United States."

[snip]

Pubdate:	Sun, 02 Jan 2000

Source:	New York Times (NY)

Copyright:	2000 The New York Times Company

Contact:

Website:	http://www.nytimes.com/

Forum:	http://www10.nytimes.com/comment/

Author:	Christopher S.  Wren

URL:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n002/a10.html

The importance of a ranking politician embracing reform is demonstrated by an AP item: the debate sparked by Governor Johnson became New Mexico's leading news story for the entire year.

The governor's attempt to start a debate about legalizing drugs resonated with New Mexico news media more than any other story of 1999. In a year-end survey, Associated Press newspaper and broadcast members voted Gov.  Gary Johnson's drug debate as the year's top story.

It received a third more points than the second-place story, New Mexico's prison problems, which included the deaths of four inmates and a guard in private prisons.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Sat, 01 Jan 2000

Source:	Albuquerque Journal (NM)

Copyright:	2000 Albuquerque Journal

Contact:

Address:	P.O.  Drawer J, Albuquerque, N.M. 87103

Website:	http://www.abqjournal.com/

Author:	Richard Benke, The Associated Press

URL:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n002/a07.html

There are still those in the media who believe the drug war can be won.

Troubled by what it perceives as an increase in drug use by students, the West Allis-West Milwaukee School Board will begin allowing police dogs to search student lockers after Jan.  1. Superintendent Philip Sobocinski said the random searches, planned first for the district's high schools and middle schools, are intended to dissuade students from bringing drugs onto school property.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Wed, 29 Dec 1999

Source:	Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)

Copyright:	1999, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Contact:

Fax:	414-224-8280

Website:	http://www.jsonline.com/

Forum:	http://www.jsonline.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimate.cgi

Author:	Annysa Johnson, of the Journal Sentinel Staff

URL:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1416/a04.html

Holding the line in the war against drugs, especially when our youths are involved, simply is not good enough.

The recently released annual Monitoring the Future survey examining drug, alcohol and cigarette use among eighth-, 10th- and 12th graders indicates over-all teen-age drug use has remained stable for the third consecutive year.

[snip]

America's generals fighting this war must rethink their strategy and find a way to effectively reverse the trend to one that consistently sees a decline in drug use among the nation's teen-agers and adults.

Americans, all of us, must become involved in helping others turn away from drugs.

We can do better.

We must do better.

Pubdate:	Wed, 29 Dec 1999

Source:	Daily Courier (PA)

Copyright:	1999 Daily Courier

Contact:

Website:	http://www.dailycourier.com/

URL:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1416/a06.html

One of the factors encouraging Repeal was painful recognition that under Prohibition, alcohol abuse was occurring at ever younger ages. The same phenomenon has been noted for years in the case of drugs.

We begin today a series of editorials that draw perspective from News-Journal opinions written for this page earlier this century.  As we focus on current topics of public concern, it is remarkable how fresh those earlier editorial voices echo through time.  - the editors.

Bootlegging.  Rum-running. Speakeasies.

The words are redolent with nostalgia, but in 1930, they were the first hint of a storm on the horizon.

Prohibition still had three years left to run, but the public was starting to realize that the 1920 Volstead Act, which banned the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages, contained the seeds of serious trouble for the American criminal justice system.

[snip]

Prohibition is the direct ancestor of America's current drug problem. And until recently, officials were putting most of their time and money into solutions as outdated in the 1920s as they are now.

[snip]

If the state is serious about its war on drugs, it must learn the lesson that wasn't taught in the 1930s.  Drug abuse can't be stopped by arrest; it can't be kept out by prison bars.  Until society is ready to decriminalize drug use, meaningful, available treatment and community support are the only real answers.

Pubdate:	Mon, 27 Dec 1999

Source:	Daytona Beach News-Journal (FL)

Copyright:	1999 News-Journal

Contact:

Address:	PO Box 2831, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2831

Fax:	+1-904-258-8465

Feedback:	http://www.n-jcenter.com/letters.shtml

Website:	http://www.n-jcenter.com/

Forum:	http://www.n-jcenter.com/forum/edit/edit_board.shtml

URL:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1414/a07.html

Miguel Prieto regularly sees the havoc caused by heroin, crack and liquor.

But only recently has Prieto, the founder of Hispanic Urban Minority Alcohol and Drug Addiction Outreach Program, encountered the number of young adults, barely out of their teens, whose lives have been shattered by addictions to heroin.

Since July, nine of the 43 people treated in the Cleveland program's Casa Alma for men or Casa Maria for women were 18- to 20-year-olds.

[snip]

"We're seeing usage in younger children unheard of 10 years ago," said Stacey Frohnapfel, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services.  "We're seeing less usage overall, but what we do come across is younger children starting to use drugs and alcohol."

[snip]

Pubdate:	Sun, 02 Jan 2000

Source:	Plain Dealer, The (OH)

Copyright:	1999 The Plain Dealer

Contact:

Address:	1801 Superior Ave., Cleveland, OH 44114

Website:	http://www.cleveland.com/news/

Forum:	http://forums.cleveland.com/index.html

Author:	April McClellan-Copeland, Plain Dealer Reporter

URL:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n005/a07.html

Law Enforcement & Prisons
---------

There was growing evidence that, if nothing else, the sheer magnitude of the US prison population is becoming a national embarrassment; the role of the drug war in producing these numbers can't be hidden.

ONCE WE dust off our keyboards and realize our computers still work, Americans will have to deal with the real Y2K problem facing this country.  By Valentine's Day of the year 2000, America will achieve the dubious distinction of having more than 2 million of its citizens behind bars.

[snip]

America, with less than 5 percent of the world population, has a quarter of the world's prisoners.  There are six times as many Americans behind bars as are imprisoned in the 12 countries that make up the entire European Union, even though those countries have 100 million more citizens than the United States.  Our jails and prisons have become the 51st state, with a greater combined population than Alaska, North Dakota and South Dakota.  According to one Justice Department survey, one in three African-American boys born today will spend some time in prison in their lifetime.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Fri, 31 Dec 1999

Source:	San Jose Mercury News (CA)

Copyright:	2000 San Jose Mercury News

Contact:

Address:	750 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, CA 95190

Fax:	(408) 271-3792

Website:	http://www.sjmercury.com/

Author:	Vincent Schiraldi and Jason Ziedenberg

URL:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n006/a02.html

On Jan.  1, 1900, there were 57,070 people locked up in local, state and federal jails and prisons in the United States.  That was 122 inmates for every 100,000 Americans.

As of this Jan.  1, a new study estimates, there are 1,982,084 adults in U.S.  jails and prisons. That's 725 inmates for every 100,000 Americans.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Sat, 2001 Jan 2000

Source:	Washington Post (DC)

Copyright:	2000 The Washington Post Company

Address:	1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20071

Feedback:	http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm

Website:	http://www.washingtonpost.com/

URL:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n001/a04.html

How our jails and prisons became so full is revealed in painful detail by the Rampart Station scandal in Los Angeles- first aired publicly in mid September- and now spreading beyond anyone's expectations.

An article from Florida suggests that similar prosecutorial zeal also warps justice at the federal level.

LAPD:	Since Rafael Perez made initial revelations, investigators have

dealt with growing corruption scandal.

As former Los Angeles Police Officer Rafael Perez faced his second trial on drug theft charges earlier this year, the confident swagger of the tough anti-gang cop was gone.

[snip]

Whether driven by his conscience, as he claims, or motivated merely by self-interest, Perez lifted the lid on a Pandora's box of alleged police crimes and misconduct that has become the worst LAPD corruption scandal in more than 60 years.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Fri, 31 Dec 1999

Source:	Los Angeles Times (CA)

Copyright:	1999 Los Angeles Times

Contact:

Address:	Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053

Fax:	(213) 237-4712

Website:	http://www.latimes.com/

Forum:	http://www.latimes.com/home/discuss/

Author:	Matt Lait, Scott Glover, Times Staff Writers

Related:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1412/a09.html

URL:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1416/a01.html

Three recent events have brought embarrassment and discredit to the U.S.  Attorney's Office in Tampa.

A judge found one prosecutor guilty of violating The Florida Bar's rules of professional conduct for deliberately misleading a court by allowing a witness to testify under an alias.

Similarly, a panel of judges from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta said sanctions are justified against another prosecutor whose conduct before a grand jury the panel found ``condemnable.''

[snip]

Pubdate:	Mon, 27 Dec 1999

Source:	Tampa Tribune (FL)

Copyright:	1999, The Tribune Co.

Contact:

Website:	http://www.tampatrib.com/

Forum:	http://tampabayonline.net/interact/welcome.htm

URL:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1413/a09.html

Cannabis & Hemp-

In California, very sad news for the family and friends of patient Todd McCormick, who was returned to custody.

Medical marijuana advocate Todd McCormick, who is awaiting sentencing for a federal drug conspiracy conviction, was jailed Monday pending the outcome of a hearing on whether he violated the terms of his bail.  The U.S.  attorney's office filed papers in Los Angeles federal court seeking to revoke McCormick's bond because of his arrest in November after a 90-mph freeway chase in Orange County.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Tue, 04 Jan 2000

Source:	Los Angeles Times (CA)

Copyright:	2000 Los Angeles Times

Contact:

Address:	Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053

Fax:	(213) 237-4712

Website:	http://www.latimes.com/

Forum:	http://www.latimes.com/home/discuss/

URL:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n008/a08.html

On the other coast, use of medical cannabis produced two quite different human interest stories in the Baltimore area.

Darrell E.  Putman, a former Army Green Beret and conservative Republican who turned to marijuana for medicinal purposes to treat his cancer, died Wednesday of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at University of Maryland Medical Center.  He was 49.

In the final months of his life, Mr.  Putman became an advocate for legalizing marijuana for medicinal use.  He smoked the drug to regain his appetite and gain weight in preparation for cancer treatment, and wanted other patients to reap its benefits.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Thu, 30 Dec 1999

Source:	Baltimore Sun (MD)

Copyright:	1999 by The Baltimore Sun, a Times Mirror Newspaper.

Contact:

Website:	http://www.sunspot.net/

Forum:	http://www.sunspot.net/cgi-bin/ultbb/Ultimate.cgi?ac

Author:	David Nitkin: Sun Staff

Related:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1283/a09.html

URL:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1413/a06.html

Arrested Mom Still 'Baffled' By Teen's Anger

Plenty of teenagers get yelled at by their parents for staying out late and lying about where they've been.  Plenty are told by their fathers to apologize to their mothers.  But when it happened to Kerry Tucker last August, the Takoma Park teenager lashed back in a singular and devastating way.

The 16-year-old marched down to the Takoma Park Police Department clutching photographs of her mother's basement marijuana garden and turned her in.

[snip]

The issue that is contorting the Takoma Park family is playing out in the shadow of the larger debate that is unfolding across the country, as increasingly vocal advocates push for the legalization of marijuana for medical uses.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Fri, 31 Dec 1999

Source:	Washington Post (DC)

Copyright:	1999 The Washington Post Company

Address:	1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20071

Feedback:	http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm

Website:	http://www.washingtonpost.com/

Author:	Fern Shen, Washington Post Staff Writer

Related:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1358/a07.html

URL:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1414/a03.html

International News

In a week with no hard news from Latin America, two puff pieces extolling drug war cooperation were featured.  It would be prudent not to hold one's breath while awaiting a decrease in cocaine production or an increase in Colombian law enforcement efficiency, however.

CHIMORE, Bolivia -- Claudio Beltran used to grow coca plants, but now he oversees dozens of other Quechua Indian farmers as they pick and process bananas for export.

[snip]

The United States government and the United Nations are investing tens of millions of dollars in the development of alternative crops to replace coca and fight the illegal drug industry.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Sat, 01 Jan 2000

Source:	Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA)

Copyright:	2000 Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Contact:

Website:	http://www.seattle-pi.com/

Author:	Peter Mcfarren, The Associated Press

URL:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n002/a01.html

BOGOTA, Colombia -- By eavesdropping on wiretapped telephones, police investigators uncovered a full-service drug ring.

[snip]

During the past four years, the programs -- one for prosecutors, another for police -- have trained 16 regional narcotics investigation units.  They also are helping develop special units to combat money laundering, corruption, human rights abuses and drug smuggling on the high seas.  This year, Colombia's three national police agencies will begin using a unified anti-narcotics curriculum that the programs developed.

For security reasons, officials who talked about the programs did not want their names published.  However, several Colombians who have participated were enthusiastic about the results.

``This is the first time we've done everything right,'' a naval officer gushed, commenting on a joint U.S.  Coast Guard and Colombian navy operation in late November, shortly after a training session.  ``We got the drugs, we got the traffickers, and we got the evidence that the prosecutors need to convict.''

[snip]

Pubdate:	Sun, 02 Jan 2000

Source:	San Jose Mercury News (CA)

Copyright:	2000 San Jose Mercury News

Contact:

Address:	750 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, CA 95190

Fax:	(408) 271-3792

Website:	http://www.sjmercury.com/

Author:	JUANITA DARLING, Los Angeles Times

URL:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n004/a08.html

From Europe, less optimism: Strathcylde's heroin-related death total increased by a shocking forty-eight percent despite year-long publicity.

In London, a Times story sent the usual mixed message: exaggerated warnings of the dangers of ecstasy along with a suggestion of less enforcement and the availability a more potent product for New Year's partying.

Strathclyde Total For 1999 Increases To Record 148 After Man Is Found Dead In His Room At Hostel For Homeless

THE YEAR in which Strathclyde recorded its highest number of drug-related fatalities, ended yesterday with the deaths of two more people attributed to drug abuse.

The death of Brian Miller, 33, at a hostel for the homeless in Glasgow, brought to 148 the total number of people in the region who died in 1999 as a result of drug misuse.

[snip]

Last year's drugs death toll showed a 48 per cent increase on the figure for 1998 when 100 people died as a result of drug misuse.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Sat, 1 Jan 2000

Source:	Scotsman (UK)

Copyright:	The Scotsman Publications Ltd 2000

Contact:

Website:	http://www.scotsman.com/

Forum:	http://www.scotsman.com/

Author:	Tracey Lawson

URL:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n001/a05.html

The Cool Millennium Partygoer Will Be Drug-free.

British use of the mood-changing "dance drug", Ecstasy, is thought to have levelled off in the past year or two, if only for the unnerving reason that it is being overtaken by the "recreational" use of ever cheaper cocaine in the nation's nightclubs.  But that trend could be reversed during the millennial celebrations that start tonight.

[snip]

Such evidence should help to destroy cherished teen illusions that Ecstasy or speed can be taken without inflicting the long-term punishment on the human body that older drugs, whose harmful effects are better documented, are known to cause.

The only advice that makes sense is to abstain from all drug use at all times.

Users may be less likely to be caught this weekend; the police say they will be too busy to deal with minor drug offences.

But self-policing makes especially good sense in the holiday weekend to come.  With drug manufacturers keen to cash in on the party atmosphere, there is less quality control than ever in the making of synthetic drugs seized recently by police; the National Criminal Intelligence Service gives warning that some millennial pills may be four times more powerful than usual.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Fri, 31 Dec 1999

Source:	Times, The (UK)

Copyright:	1999 Times Newspapers Ltd

Contact:

Website:	http://www.the-times.co.uk/

URL:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1414/a05.html

Hawaii Representative Cynthia Thielen Receives "Hempy" Award For Bringing Hemp Back to America

The 1999 Hempy Hempster of the Year Award has been given to Rep Cynthia Thielen (R-Kailua Bay) for her dedicated political action in the name of the hemp industry.

More information about Industrial Hemp and the Hempy Award may be seen at http://www.hemppages.com

Congratulations may be send to Ms Thielen at

THE YEAR ZERO -- Analysis By Richard Cowan

Newshawk:	http://www.drugsense.org/dpfwi/

Pubdate:	Fri, 24 Dec 1999

Source:	Marijuananews

Website:	http://www.marijuananews.com/

Note:	From MAP's Sr.  Editor: It is a pleasure to make an exception to our

'no web published only items' standard for this message from Richard Cowan. For readers who may not know, Richard's website is one of a number supported by MAP/DrugSense on it's servers.

Note:	In the spirit of the holidays, we are sending you a message of

hope and compassion for our future.  Best wishes for a very liberating New Year!

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1397/a03.html

Editors Note: Richard will be moving his site from the DrugSense family of support and forming an alliance with http://www.marijuana.com/ we wish both organizations all the best in this new endeavor.

"What are politicians going to tell people when the Constitution is gone and we still have a drug problem?" -- William Simpson, A.C.L.U.

How to make your letters SIZZLE

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The Style Guides section in particular can help anyone from the first time letter writer to the seasoned pro improve their letters and publication hit
rates

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NOW YOU CAN DONATE TO DRUGSENSE ONLINE AND IT'S TAX DEDUCTIBLE

DrugSense provides many services to at no charge BUT THEY ARE NOT FREE TO PRODUCE.

We incur many costs in creating our many and varied services.  If you are able to help by contributing to the DrugSense effort visit our convenient donation web site at
http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm

-OR-

Mail in your contribution.  Make checks payable to MAP Inc. send your contribution to:

The Media Awareness Project (MAP) Inc.
d/b/a DrugSense
PO Box 651
Porterville,
CA 93258
(800) 266 5759

http://www.mapinc.org/
http://www.drugsense.org/